Miao Chu

In Chapter 241
While Lin Yiwen was busy weeping in front of the teacher, Song Miao was busy cooking.

Song's shop is exceptionally busy today.

Because he had previously promised Master Cao to make some meat and vegetable steamed buns to send to the Imperial Academy Chancellor and the other teachers and officials, so that they could taste them.

According to the other party, if everyone agrees, they will be the "brick" to knock on the Imperial Academy's kitchen door in the future; if they disagree, it will just be his personal treat for others to try.

But in Song Miao's view, the other expensive items were fine, but the food such as meat, vegetables and steamed buns was not expensive and the quantity made was not large. Moreover, if this matter succeeded, the result would be entirely beneficial to her, helping Song's business.

What kind of logic is there in the world to expect someone to pay you for a kind introduction?

She originally planned to make a batch of steamed buns first, distributing some to the patrol shops and the Kyoto government office, and sending the rest to the Imperial Academy for tasting. However, yesterday, Dabing had something to do at home and had to take a day off. In addition, the amount of food she was selling had increased, so she really couldn't spare the time to make steamed buns anymore and had to postpone the time.

So today, in addition to setting up the stall as usual, we had to increase the quantity and amount of ingredients we bought to prepare for the next day's stall and to make various kinds of steamed buns. We also had to prepare lunch for the teachers and prepare to receive Madam He, who was coming to visit with her granddaughter in the evening. Even Song Miao was busier than usual.

Fortunately, the meals at the teachers' small tables were mostly home-style dishes. Both Cheng Erniang and Dabing were hardworking, and she had become quite skilled. She would wash, chop, stir-fry, and stew according to the time, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

Noon arrived quickly.

After not seeing each other for many days, not long after noon, a group of gentlemen arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. Although they were shielded from view, they were all covered in sweat.

As soon as she entered, Song Miao had basins of water brought to her.

The teachers soaked their handkerchiefs in a copper basin filled with freshly drawn well water, which was cool and refreshing. After wringing them half-dry, they wiped their faces with the damp, cool handkerchiefs—they wiped their foreheads and necks, removing the sweat and leaving only a cool sensation.

After they dried their faces and hair, the tea was poured.

It's not the perilla drink commonly seen in summer, but hawthorn leaf tea brought back from Huazhou. It was left to cool for half a day early in the morning, so it's cool but not cold, sweet and refreshing. Drinking it only quenches thirst and doesn't upset the stomach.

The two doors were wide open, the curtains were lifted, and even the doors and windows of the outhouse were opened. A round table was set up in the center, and everyone sat around it, washed their faces, and drank tea. A breeze blowing through the windows helped the group of old men recover considerably from their previous listlessness.

Having spent their entire lives as teachers, most of them are always talking. Now that they've calmed down and seen Song Miao again, they have so much to say.

The group first greeted her, then asked her about her situation in Huazhou, whether her journey back was tiring, and when her restaurant was scheduled to open and how the preparations were going. They noticed that the restaurant had been repainted and praised it for looking much brighter. When they learned that Cheng Erniang had done it herself, they couldn't help but praise her again and urged Song Miao to "hire a few more helpers like her."

Song Miao replied to each of them, and then called Dabing over to introduce him, saying that he was a new helper in the restaurant.

She mentioned Huazhou, but only briefly, saying that she helped cook some communal meals.

This displeased Dabing, who was pouring water from a basin nearby.

He couldn't hold back any longer, and he couldn't bear to see Song Miao receive even a single word of praise, so he quickly added, "My wife is in charge of cooking for three or four thousand people all by herself! She's amazing! There are one or two hundred people in the kitchen, and they all follow her orders!"

"Now that the river is dredged, the laborers and workers from Weizhou and Huazhou are reluctant to leave. Firstly, they are reluctant to give up their subsidies, and secondly, they are reluctant to give up much of the food in the kitchen—they all say that when they are at home, the same food tastes completely different!"

"When we were about to return to the capital, the constables of Huazhou Prefecture were crying and begging her to take over the public kitchen! Some people even secretly slipped me snacks and fruit, saying that as long as I could persuade my wife to stay, there would be plenty of benefits in the future, and they would even reserve a place for me in the public kitchen!"

The more Dabing talked, the more proud he became, gesturing wildly as if he wanted to repeat every word he had heard that day.

Song Miao laughed and said, "What a load of rubbish! You just keep talking nonsense and don't care whether others have any shame or not. Although I have done some work and deserve some credit, it is not as exaggerated as you say!"

However, everyone in the room only believed the flatbread and ignored her, instead grabbing a boy and asking him questions over and over again.

The flatbread had been surrounded by dozens of aunts and women from Huazhou. Compared to the number of women there, the dozen or so teachers here were nothing. They were not intimidated at all and were already vividly recounting how Song Miao had dealt with the filthy cooks and how there was croton and so on.

Song Miao found it amusing and tried to stop them several times, but the teachers chased her away, saying that they not only wanted to eat Song Xiaoniangzi's cooking, but also wanted to hear about Song Xiaoniangzi's deeds.

After finally hearing the whole story, everyone sighed. Then someone asked, "Since Miss Song has done so many things, is Old Min's son-in-law the one surnamed Cen? Does he know how to conduct himself properly? How are you planning to get credit for her?"

"If you had known Huazhou was such a mess, you wouldn't have gone! It's exhausting, annoying, and it even makes us miss our meals!"

"Exactly! In just two months, you even look thinner!"

Some, still very dissatisfied, turned and chased after Master Chen to defend Song Miao, saying, "Brother Chen, your junior brother abducted our people and doesn't even know how to treat them properly. He only paid them so little, yet he treats them like cattle and horses? You really need to keep a close eye on him!"

Immediately, many people responded.

Having gone two months without Song's meal, the scholars were already seething with anger. Unable to find Han Lisa, they could only jokingly ask Master Chen to take charge when he returned.

Master Chen, who used to speak eloquently and often, suddenly changed his tune.

He shouted, "What do you mean 'I have to keep a close eye on him'? That guy surnamed Han is studying in the upper dormitory, didn't you teach him? Aren't you his teachers?? I didn't teach him at all. In fact, I'm not his teacher, you are! Who is neglecting their duties and occupying a position without doing their job??"

Master Chen was older and held a higher position. Once he started acting shamelessly, no one could do anything about it, so they had no choice but to turn their attention to attacking Han Li.

As they were talking, various dishes were served one after another.

With food available, no one dared to complain anymore; everyone was busy getting their bowls and chopsticks ready.

Knowing that everyone loses their appetite in the summer, and that most of the teachers are old and have poor teeth, today's dishes are simple, appetizing, and easy to chew.

There are two types of staple food: noodles and porridge.

The noodles are thin, pulled very thin, not known for their chewiness, but definitely not soggy either, with a slight chewiness and a strong noodle aroma. The porridge is plain white porridge, cooked very thick, with the rice grains bursting open, so thick that it could even rise to a small mountain in the bowl. If you stick chopsticks upright into it, they pour down very slowly, with almost no porridge water.

To complement both ingredients, serving as both a topping and a side dish with porridge, Song Miao used the most seasonal cowpeas to make a dish of olive vegetables, cowpeas, and minced meat.

The olive dish is homemade. Fresh olives are washed, boiled thoroughly, cut in half, and then simmered in oil with pickled mustard greens, salt, and oil for a whole day until they turn dark and unappealing, but they smell wonderfully fragrant. Before serving, sesame oil and garlic oil are added, making it even more fragrant.

The preserved olives prepared this way are salty and savory with a unique olive aroma. They can be eaten with plain porridge without any other meat or vegetables, and you can easily finish a whole bowl.

Stir-frying preserved olives and cowpeas together is for the scholars, so the aroma is secondary and the most important thing is that they can be chewed. Song Miao doesn't use the most fragrant oil-stir-frying method. Instead, she cuts the cowpeas into small pieces, blanchs them first, boils them until soft, drains them, and then stir-fries them with preserved olives and sautéed minced pork until the flavors of the three are so intertwined that they are indistinguishable. Only then is it taken out of the pot.

The noodles were rinsed in cold water as soon as they were taken out of the pot, and they are now soaking in cold water, so they are cool. The preserved olives, minced meat and green beans, on the other hand, are fresh out of the pot and hot.

Use long chopsticks to pick up the noodles and put them into the bowl. Add several large spoonfuls of preserved vegetables, minced meat and green beans, and mix them slightly. The topping is hot and the noodles are cold. When the two are combined, the temperature is just right for eating.

Whether noodles are best eaten as dry noodles, lo mein noodles, or soup noodles depends on many factors, such as the variety of wheat, the fineness of the flour, the strength and degree of kneading, the seasonings added—salt, sugar, oil—and their amounts, as well as the noodle-pulling technique, and so on.

The thin noodles Song Miao made this time were the kind that absorbed the toppings very well, especially since the toppings included olive vegetables. The olive vegetables were extremely finely chopped, practically strands, and had been soaking in oil since they were first introduced, so they stuck to the noodles almost immediately upon contact.

So, after slurping the noodles, there's no need to worry about them lacking flavor. It's as if the noodles have been reborn, transformed into a fragrant and rich olive vegetable noodle dish, as if they were born together. The aroma of the noodles and olives blends with the salty and savory flavors, creating an incredibly mellow bite, accompanied by green beans and minced meat.

Cowpeas are in season right now, and they're so tender. After blanching them thoroughly, they're stir-fried with minced pork and preserved olives until they're cooked through. When you bite into one, the aroma of wheat, the flavor of preserved olives, the caramelized aroma of minced pork, and the juice of the cowpeas all roll around in your mouth. It's the most homely and most palatable flavor.

This dish is also excellent with porridge. When you scoop a spoonful into cold porridge, the oil from the olive vegetable oil and the grease and juice from the stir-fried minced pork and green beans will turn the porridge around it a dark brown color—this part tastes the best.

If you shovel the vegetables and porridge into your mouth together, the thick porridge will blend everything into a chaotic mess. One bite is fresh, another is fresh, and yet another is the tender sweetness of green bean juice. The base is porridge that has been cooked until it has released rice oil. At this moment, if you gently close your mouth, the rice grains that have already bloomed will be flattened instantly, squeezing out the rice soup inside, which is cool and refreshing.

Green vegetables are cauliflower.

Chop the cauliflower into small pieces, blanch it in a little oil, and then stir-fry it with chopped dogwood and mustard seeds. The result is a plate of tender green cauliflower. Scoop it into a bowl with a spoon, and take a bite. The cauliflower pieces have softened but still retain their original shape. The broth is very sweet and slightly spicy, with a fragrant spiciness and a rich, oily texture. It's so delicious that you'll never get tired of it.

Two dishes and two staple foods were served first. Once they were laid out, the scholars, skilled in their craft, each took what they liked without needing any instructions or assistance from Cheng Erniang and Dabing.

The person who ate the noodles originally wanted to try the taste, but after taking a bite, they almost swallowed a small bowl in the blink of an eye—a bowl is only two bites—and were now picking at the leftover ingredients at the bottom of the bowl.

As for those who drank the porridge, they were equally eager to try it. After taking a spoonful of thick porridge into their bowls, they only managed one bite with olive vegetables, minced meat, and green beans before realizing it wasn't good. They quickly swallowed the rest of the porridge and hurriedly went to get a second serving.

Seeing that everyone was eating too quickly, Song Miao had to advise, "There's still the main course to come, everyone slow down and save some room!"

Soon the main dish was ready, but it was a steamed dish called Steamed Pork Belly Overnight.

The dried fish is washed and dried, then pan-fried in a dry pan to release its aroma. It is then chopped into pieces slightly wider than a finger. This dried fish is not actually dried overnight, since it is transported all the way to the capital. If it were dried overnight, it would have gone bad halfway through the journey. However, it is lightly salted and lightly dried, and has a strong fish flavor.

Select fresh pork belly with a good balance of fat and lean meat, slice it, place a layer of lean pork belly at the bottom, a piece of dried fish in the middle, and a layer of fatty pork belly on top. Add some shredded ginger, bring enough water to a boil and steam, then steam the whole dish.

Once steamed thoroughly, remove the top layer of fat and render the oil. Sprinkle with shredded scallions, ginger, and green onions, then pour the hot meat and oil over it to sizzle.

This dish features dried fish in the middle layer that absorbs the aroma and oil from the fat layer above during steaming. It is oily and succulent, unlike ordinary salted fish which is dry and bitter. The fish meat retains a good springy texture, but the layers are slightly separated, making it easy to remove even the bones. It is very flavorful, with meat juices oozing out between the layers of meat.

The gravy is a mixture of the juices from the steamed pork belly and the fish itself. It's so delicious that you can only close your eyes and sigh, not even having time to say anything to praise it.

The lower layer of pork belly offers another unique flavor. It absorbs the salty and savory taste of the dried fish in the middle, while still being red meat. Because it's pork belly, the fat and lean meat are perfectly balanced, giving it a slightly crisp texture without being tough or greasy. It bursts with a rich, succulent juice that's both fishy and porky, making it incredibly delicious.

The dried fish is dried to perfection, steamed to the perfect temperature, and the fish and meat complement each other perfectly. It's a very simple dish, yet it's irresistible to everyone at the table.

Everyone frequently picked up their chopsticks, and the large plate was completely devoured in the blink of an eye.

The meal ended with all the noodles and porridge gone, and all the dishes were eaten clean. Even the scallions and other side dishes on top of the steamed fish and pork belly were picked up and eaten.

Just as they were still enjoying themselves, Song Miao had someone bring out a bowl of steamed eggs for each person.

The steamed egg was incredibly tender, smooth and delicate, without any air pockets, and bursting with egg flavor. It was only drizzled with a very thin layer of soy sauce. When you scooped it up with a spoon, there was practically no resistance. When you put it in your mouth, it was more like delicate than smooth; it would break at the slightest touch and slide right down your throat into your stomach. It made the few teeth on our already fragile teeth feel like they were superfluous. It was so tender that it brought tears to our eyes.

While others were scraping the bottom of the bowl, the old scholar, who had eaten the fastest and had nothing left to scrape, sighed and said, "Young lady, a trip to places like Huazhou is enough. Don't go to other states again. I'm getting old, and every meal I eat is one less I can have!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone agreed. Even the youngest student, You Xuelu, joined in the fun, saying, "That's right, Miss Song, I'm also looking forward to eating one less meal a day!"

All of them were scholars, and they praised each other endlessly for their long-awaited reunion. Finally, it was getting late, so they had to call the coachman to prepare to return to the Imperial Academy.

Everyone got into the car and bid a reluctant farewell to Song Miao and the others. One person said to another, "Don't worry, young lady, I'm already writing the menu. I'll bring the draft over tomorrow so you can choose a font!"

Someone else said, "I also have an idea for the recipe book. I've already drawn a outline of it. I'll bring it over for you to see tomorrow!"

Just as they were talking, and the car was about to leave, someone suddenly called out, "Wait, wait, I need to go to the snow house!"

—But it was Master Chen.

He got off the carriage, winked at Song Miao, went to the backyard, and shoved a roll of something into her hand, whispering, "Take a look and see if this is any good!"

Without going to the snow room, he grinned slyly, went out the door, climbed into the carriage, and urged the driver to leave.

(End of this chapter)