Miao Chu

Chapter 43: Slutty mouth
She tasted it last time, and it was indeed top-quality Lipu taro.

With the arrival of spring, taro naturally cannot be stored for long and should be eaten as soon as possible.

In that case, why not cook a dish with taro and meat?

Considering the reasonable cost and the convenience of eating it without having to spit out bones or remove shells, pork is still the best choice.

Pork and taro.

Song Miao thought of a dish that is served at the end of a festival in the south: taro with braised pork.

The ingredients for this dish are particularly important. First, you need to select good meat, preferably real pork belly, with layers of fat and lean meat overlapping each other, at least five layers, before it can be called pork belly.

If you want to choose the best taro, the top choice is naturally Lipu taro.

It also needs to be served with an extremely fragrant sauce—the most important thing is that it must contain a portion of Guangnan fermented bean curd.

At this time, fermented bean curd was available in various parts of the Great Wei, but the fermented bean curd from Guangnan tasted different from that of other places. It was smaller in size, soft and smooth in texture, and had a translucent gelatinous layer on the surface that fermented—this layer had a unique aroma. Inside, it was salty and fragrant without being cloying, full of umami flavor, and had a long-lasting aftertaste.

With these three things, and if you control the heat well, you can make something truly outstanding.

Although it was just an extra dish, we ordered a main course. The pork belly in this braised pork was quite fatty, so we needed to add a side dish to cut through the richness.

The students brought two bags of peaches today. They were sour, but that had its advantages. They were very crisp, and hard-crisp at that.

There's a corner of perilla already planted in the backyard, and another patch of mint. As soon as the weather warms up, the stems and leaves spread all over the ground. Although the leaves are small and tender, and the fragrance isn't as strong as it is in the summer, they're still usable.

With peaches and perilla leaves, and just a little young ginger, you can make peach, perilla, and ginger soup. It's sweet and sour, slightly spicy, a touch of salty, and crunchy—perfect with rice.

With these two extra dishes, even if the Imperial Academy's kitchen is really perfunctory, they should still be able to send in two bowls of rice and a few steamed buns, enough to fill them up and eat well, so they won't be treated too badly.

With the plan in place, Song Miao washed and sliced ​​the sour peaches, then salted them to marinate. She went to the backyard, gathered a large patch of perilla leaves, picked off the mature leaves, washed them, and let them dry.

While it was still somewhat light, she took out a lantern and prepared to go out to buy some young ginger.

However, just after locking the door and taking only a few steps, Song Miao saw two people coming towards her from the opposite direction.

The two walked one after the other, not exchanging a word. But when they heard Song Miao close the door and saw her coming with a lantern, they immediately scurried to the side of the road like mice seeing a cat, fearing that they might actually run into each other.

It was already quite dark, so it was difficult to see the faces of the people opposite. I could only barely make out that they were two men, but I didn't know their ages.

One of the two was of medium height, while the other was very thin and short.

Both of them were dressed casually.

Song Miao glanced at him briefly, without looking at his face, and left with her lantern.

She had walked quite a distance before she heard the two people knocking on the door behind her and speaking in hushed tones, as if they were introducing themselves.

They knocked on the door opposite the Song family's house.

There had been a lot of commotion at home, with fighting and shouting, but the house across the street didn't respond at all, and the gate was tightly shut. The two of them knocked on the door, their voices were soft and their movements were small, but they knocked it open in no time and quickly slipped inside.

The door immediately closed again.

Song Miao turned around and glanced at the door again, secretly calculating the time in her mind.

She bumped into people both morning and evening and they went inside.

But during these days, almost no one has been seen entering or leaving that house.

Where have all the people gone?

Is there a back door? Or are they just hiding from people?

As she was thinking, she had already left the alley, walked down another street, and arrived at the main street intersection.

At this point, the important matter at hand naturally takes precedence.

It was already dark, and the vegetable shops might not be open anymore. Fortunately, there was a family at the street corner who specialized in selling all kinds of pickled vegetables.

Song Miao went up and asked, and sure enough, the shop still had fresh young ginger, so she paid a little more money and bought several large pieces.

By the time she returned home, it was already completely dark.

The house across the street was completely dark, with no lights visible from afar, as if no one lived there. But as you got closer and listened carefully near the gate, you could hear a constant commotion coming from inside.

Song Miao didn't linger at the door. After confirming everything was in order, she went home. This time, she carefully locked the door, pulled the cart over to block the door, and propped up the door jamb.

By the time they made their round trip, the peaches had released a lot of water from the salt. This water was peach juice, full of peach fragrance, just right for use. While they were at it, they chopped the dried perilla leaves into pieces and sliced ​​the newly bought young ginger. They squeezed the two together to extract the juice—the juice was a deep purplish-red color, filling almost half a basin. When they smelled it, the basin was filled with the fragrance of perilla and the aroma of tender ginger.

Mix this juice with white vinegar, Zhejiang vinegar, and granulated sugar, stir it with peach slices, let it soak, cover it to prevent insects and ants, and then you don't need to do anything else, just wait until tomorrow.

That night, Song Miao did not go back to her room to rest. Instead, she dragged out a rickety rattan chair, propped up the chair legs, laid out a mattress, and slept directly in the main hall. The knife rack was placed on the ground to the side, so she could reach for a knife immediately if needed.

Fortunately, nothing happened that night.

The next morning, before dawn, Song Miao went out to the butcher shop.

She went to several butcher shops and, taking advantage of the early hour, picked out the most beautiful half-piece of pork belly from the butcher shop that day.

This is the lower pork belly, located in the pig's belly. Compared to the upper pork belly, which usually has only three layers, it has more layers and a better ratio. Although it doesn't reach ten layers, it still has a full eight layers of fat and lean meat. When you press it with your hand, it is soft and very elastic. Even without any complicated cooking methods, it is delicious when simply boiled in water and dipped in sauce.

With the pork belly in hand, Song Miao stopped at a general store along the way to buy some seasonings before heading home.

Making such a grand dish can't be rushed. She set up two stoves, one for heating oil and the other for searing the skin of pork belly. No matter how good the pork is, if the skin isn't properly prepared, it will still have a slight gamey smell. It just depends on whether the person eating it has a discerning palate to detect it.

She used firewood and charcoal to scorch the pig skin, burning it until it was black. After scorching and washing it, she boiled it thoroughly in water with ginger, scallions, and Sichuan peppercorns.

While the pork belly was boiling in the water, the oil on the other side was almost hot. She peeled the taro, cut the large taro in half, sliced ​​it into three-tenths-inch thick pieces, and slowly fried them in the oil.

It took more than half an hour to fry four or five large taro roots, and by then the whole house smelled delicious.

The taro slices had been left to cool for a while, and the thinnest outer layers had already cooled down a bit. When you gently touched them with a spatula, they made a scraping sound. You could tell how crisp they were without even eating them. Combined with their aroma, they were simply irresistible.

Song Miao is also human, and naturally she can't help but make mistakes.

She first stole a piece of taro scraps, and sure enough, it was fragrant and crispy, with the aroma of oil and taro, crispy on the outside and fragrant on the inside—but since it was scraps, it didn't have much of a soft and powdery texture, so it was still not quite right. Then she stole two more pieces from the middle that were the softest and most powdery, and dipped them in granulated sugar. This time, the fried taro slices dipped in sugar were fragrant and sweet, soft and powdery, and even if they weren't served as a dish, if a few children came, they could easily devour the whole bowl as a snack.

After frying the taro and boiling the pork belly, we wiped it dry, poked holes in the skin, and then rubbed it with salt and vinegar before frying the meat.

If you apply vinegar, the skin of the pork will easily crack open.

Large pork belly takes a long time to fry. After being fried twice, it is finally fried through. The pork skin is golden brown, with big oil bubbles and crackling. When you scrape it with a knife, it makes a crisp sound and smells incredibly delicious. While it's still hot, you can immediately soak it in the water used to cook the meat to make tiger skin.

After the meat was soaked and sliced, it was mixed with the taro slices that had been fried earlier and then mixed with a sauce. The main ingredients of the sauce were fermented bean curd and fermented bean curd juice from Guangnan West Road, as well as soy sauce and cooking wine, along with various spices and seasonings. Finally, according to Song Miao's own taste, she added a few pickled plum pieces and pickled yellow peel fruit to enrich the flavor.

After marinating for about half an hour, estimating that the marinade had soaked in the flavor, she carefully stacked a piece of taro and a piece of fried pork belly together, then arranged the ingredients from the basin into a large bowl.

The bowl used is also important; it should be of appropriate depth and not too wide. Place a pair of taro pieces flat at the bottom, and arrange the rest vertically.

Once everything was arranged, a large portion of pork belly was served with five large taro roots, making a total of eleven bowls.

Pour the remaining sauce into the bowl, steam it, and then you're finally done.

With plenty of ingredients in the bowls and a long steaming time, the aroma of fermented bean curd mixed with the fragrance of taro and meat wafts through the house while it's steaming, a truly enchanting experience that makes your mouth water.

Seeing that it was almost time, Song Miao took out two large food boxes and a bamboo basket.

That food box is the kind of takeout food commonly used in restaurants these days. It has charcoal on the bottom and vegetables on the top, with a copper partition in the middle to keep the food warm.

Of the eleven bowls of taro, Song Miao kept one bowl that she liked best for herself, prepared two other bowls to send to Sun Lizheng's house, and gave the rest to the students of the Imperial Academy to fill their stomachs.

Eight bowls of taro with braised pork belly seem like a lot—this dish is substantial but not very appetizing, so one person can't eat much. There are eight students, and even if you include those who helped copy the books earlier, there are only about twenty people. Plus, there's food from the kitchen. Each person can only eat three to five bowls of taro with braised pork belly at most, and there might even be leftovers in the end.

However, the weather isn't hot right now, so it's fine to eat leftovers. When it's time for dinner, just steam it over water—or if you're too lazy to steam it, just put it back in the food box, add some charcoal to keep it warm, and it will still taste good in the afternoon.

After properly distributing the taro and braised pork, Song Miao brought out the perilla, peach, and ginger. As soon as she lifted the lid, the aroma of perilla and young ginger wafted out, but the peach fragrance mixed with the sweet and sour flavor was still very distinct.

She took a spoon and scooped out a bowl, making sure to save some of the purest, sweet and sour peach juice for herself before putting the bowl back into the basket and covering it again.

It was still early, but considering the round trip time, it was just right.

Song Miao carried two large food boxes and a bamboo basket on her back as she went out the door.

Although there was a lid, Song Miao felt that the aroma of taro and braised pork always followed her, whether it was her imagination, the aroma had grown legs and could seep out from under the lid, or a little soup had accidentally spilled out when she put it in.

As she walked along, amidst the bustling crowds, passersby would often stop, sniffing and looking around in confusion.

Some people even asked their companions aloud, "Can you smell that? What smells so good?"

Hearing their questions, Song Miao almost chuckled out loud, but dared not answer. She quickened her pace and headed towards Sun Lizheng's house.

When she arrived at the field, she unloaded the food box and bamboo basket and placed them beside the gate. She then cleared out the bamboo basket, put a bowl of taro and braised pork inside, and then picked up the bamboo basket to knock on the door.

Sun Lizheng, who had been away for two days, returned home early that morning.

He took a nap, but then he was starving. He got up and went to find Zhu Shi, asking, "Is there anything to eat at home?"

At this opportune moment, Madam Zhu said, "I cooked taro this morning, and there are some leftover fried dough sticks from last night. I've brought you a cup of tea to eat."

Then he asked, "I saw you were tired, so I didn't ask too many questions—how is it, have you found the second child yet?"

Sun Lizheng frowned and said, "Someone said they saw him in a small gambling den in Luosi Temple in the west of the city last night. I went to arrest him, but I couldn't catch him. They said he just left. But at least we have some news."

Zhu sneered, "If you ask me, there's no need to catch them. They'll come back on their own once they've lost everything."

Frustrated, Sun Lizheng couldn't help but curse, "Why don't we just gamble ourselves to death out there!"

He gritted his teeth and said, "If he dares to come back again, I'll definitely make it clear to my uncle and aunt that I'll lock him in the house and never let him out again—no amount of money in the family will be enough to ruin him!"

Zhu had heard this countless times, but she was too lazy to pay attention. She went to bring out taro and fried dough, poured some tea, and then went to do other things.

While Sun, the village head, was still cursing, he finally breathed a sigh of relief—knowing that the person was safe and sound, and with news of their capture, they would likely be brought back in the next couple of days.

He felt relieved and his spirits lifted. After tidying up, he came out and saw taro and fried dough on the table. He picked up the taro, peeled it, and ate it first.

Authentic Lipu taro is delicious even when simply boiled in water, but it's a bit monotonous and dry, making it hard to swallow.

After taking a few sips of water, Sun Lizheng couldn't resist and said to his wife, "We can try other ways to cook this taro. It's a waste to boil it. The pork ribs you used to braise earlier were quite good."

Zhu glared at him: "Who eats ribs every day!"

"You can cook meat with it too!"

"I don't have time for that. I need to go to the shop to check the accounts later—if you want to eat, cook it yourself!"

Sun Lizheng, though scolded and shrinking back, didn't give up. He slapped his forehead and naturally remembered the stir-fried taro with sugar that Song Miaoshou had made last time. He said, "The other day I went to see that Song girl. She took some taro strips that had been fried in oil and stir-fried them with sugar to make something called 'tan ta sau'. It tasted absolutely amazing, so fragrant and sweet. Isn't that your favorite flavor? How about we make it sometime when we have some free time?"

"What is this taro with sandy coating?" Zhu asked in surprise.

"You forgot about that last time? When I brought the food back in the food box, that Miss Song asked what flavor you wanted. Since you like sweet things, I specifically told her I wanted something sweet!"

Sun, the village head, was momentarily stunned. He was eager to take credit, but as he spoke, he suddenly realized something was wrong, and his voice gradually faded away.

Oops!

He'd been so busy these past two days that he'd misremembered and said the wrong thing—the taro he'd run into that day, which he was supposed to bring back for his wife, had already been eaten by someone else…

It would have been fine if I hadn't said anything; I could have just kept it a secret. But today I had to be so rude!

Sun Lizheng felt flustered and quickly tried to brush it off with some words.

However, Zhu was not stupid. After years of marriage, she managed to find out the truth behind it in just a few words.

She wasn't unreasonable, but seeing her husband's timid appearance, she was both angry and amused. She scolded, "That Miss Song specially made this for me, and you're using it to give to someone else—I'm too ashamed to ask for it back. How could you give it away and then make an exact copy for yourself!"

Sun, the village head, dared not answer. He was chuckling to himself when he heard someone knocking on the door.

Upon hearing that voice, he didn't even have time to identify who it was. Overjoyed, as if he had found a pillow when he was sleepy, he hurriedly said, "Madam, please sit down. I'll go answer the door! I'll go answer the door!"

Many thanks to book friend 20220916074852062 for the two sachets I received, and to book friends 20211005072629096 and miya爱古言 for one sachet each. =3=
Thank you to my cat, Egg, for gifting me this amazing typing tool! Thank you so much! ^_^
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(End of this chapter)