Meal Sweet Home: Farm Lady

Chapter 37 Seaweed Salmon

After many days of hard thinking and meditation, Nan Yan finally made a decision that was neither too big nor too small, that is to start a business by setting up a stall.

When she was still living in modern times, she heard the story of a hotel chain.The couple originally sold wontons on the side of the road. After years of hard work and mutual support, they finally became the big bosses of a hotel chain.However, the husband and wife team divorced when the hotel was booming.Therefore, some people can share adversity, but they cannot share wealth.

The small stall business is simple and easy, but it is also difficult.The key is to first decide what kind of food business to do.

After careful observation and repeated thinking over the past few days, Nan Yan decided to start the following three food businesses, namely kimbap, homemade kimchi and roasted eggplant with minced garlic.

Why did you choose these three as a small stall business when you first came out?Firstly, I thought of the gourmet stall business, which is nothing more than snacks such as tea eggs, tofu flowers, dried fragrant, etc. These snacks have long been popular in ancient times, but the taste is not as improved as modern people; secondly, the three things that Nan Yan thought of Such snacks are unheard of by ancient people, and they are mainly vegetarian. The vegetables and fruits grown by Nanyan can be used, and there is no need to spend more money to find ways to buy meat.

The method of roasting eggplant with minced garlic is the simplest. You only need to prepare a few eggplants, a large amount of minced garlic, and various ingredients and spices, prepare an oven and put them on the market.

The practice of home-made kimchi is also relatively simple. First, wash the cabbage, white radish, a little carrot and green pepper, and cut them into strips or blocks. Marinate the above-washed vegetables with salt for five to eight hours. That is, three to four hours, the main function is to let the cabbage out of the water.

Then pour out all the water that comes out.At this time, it is best to taste the taste. If it is too salty, you can rinse the dish with water several times. If it is too light, you can add salt.

Wash a small amount of ginger, slice garlic one by one, and cut an apple into small cubes.Put them all into the dish, and then add a small amount of pepper, chili sauce, white vinegar, and sugar.White vinegar and sugar must be put more, so that the taste will be good.

After everything is adjusted, put it into the altar and store it in a cool cellar. It can be eaten in a day or two.

The last thing to talk about is kimbap. Although the process of kimbap is not complicated, the ingredients are very important.

After observing these days, Nan Yan discovered that the men from Aunt Zhang's house next door only brought back the common types of sea fish every time they went out to sea, and they never brought back seaweed, salmon and other seafood.

In order to find out the reason, Nan Yan specially greeted Qi Yuhao, and went to sea with Uncle Zhang and his three sons.

You can't wear that light and fluffy outfit when you go out, it's too eye-catching, it's inconvenient, and it's easy to get scratched accidentally.Aunt Zhang was very enthusiastic, and specially found some clothes worn by ordinary peasant girls when she was young, which were elegant and clean.These clothes are intended to be worn by Xiangmei when she grows up, but now they can be used in advance.

Nan Yan didn't dislike it at all, she put it on with satisfaction, and wore a floral scarf on her head. On the whole, she looked like a beautiful and refined peasant girl, very good-looking.

Along the way, with the protection of the strong Uncle Zhang and the three sons of the Zhang family, the journey went smoothly.It's just that the fishing work at sea is done by men, and women are rarely seen.Even if there are three or two, they are the little daughters-in-law of the fishermen who are relying on the sea who have been blown black by the sea wind. They wash, cook and do housework for them all day long.

Therefore, fair-skinned and beautiful-looking women like Nan Yan appeared on the fishing boats out to sea, which naturally made all the fishermen's eyes bright and pleasing to the eye.

At this moment, Zhang's father and son had already cast their fishing nets and started working. They told Nan Yan to sit in a clean place on the deck and just watch quietly without help.

There were a few fishermen that Nan Yan didn't know on board, and among them was the owner of a maritime merchant that Zhang's father and son often mentioned.

Fishing at sea is much more difficult than fishing in a lake.To estimate the weather at sea, to estimate which sea area has more fish, and to prevent the attack of huge creatures in the sea...

Anyway, in a word, although sea fish are more profitable than lake fish, they also take a lot of risk.

The weather is not bad today, the wind is sunny and the lake is calm.It was just a whole morning of salvage, but not a few sea fish were brought up, and the fishing boat was still groping for the place where the fish schools were concentrated.

No wonder the father and son of the Zhang family spend several days fishing each time. Sea fish cannot be caught in a short while.

When it was close to noon, the fishermen who put on were still trying to catch sea fish, but this time, apart from the small amount of sea fish, there were also some seaweed and slightly purple things.

Just as the second son of the Zhang family was about to throw the weeds back into the sea, the sharp-eyed Nan Yan immediately got up from the small bench and stepped forward to stop them.

"Hey, don't throw it back into the sea, it's a good thing!" Nan Yan squatted down, peeled off the weeds caught in the sea, and carefully observed the slightly purple things.

"Sister Yan, these are weeds in the sea, what's so good about them." The second son of the Zhang family asked back.

"Second brother, do you often get these?" Nan Yan asked.

"Yeah, I often catch it, but I throw it back into the sea." The second son of the Zhang family said without thinking.

Nan Yan held the purple thing up to her nose and smelled it, and said with certainty: "This is seaweed, it's a good thing."

"What? What kind of food? This is seaweed!"

It was only then that Nan Yan remembered that this was ancient times, and they probably didn't even know what it was.

"This dish is edible. It tastes delicious and contains rich nutrients." Nan Yan said.

At this time, the boss of Haishang came over, put his hands behind his back, and said roughly: "This is Hai's hair, quickly throw it back into the sea!"

"Why?" Nan Yan was puzzled.

Uncle Zhang said: "The boss said to throw it into the sea, just throw it into the sea, hasn't it been done all the time!"

"But there must be a reason, right?" Nan Yan still held the big handful of seaweed in her hand, refusing to throw it away.

The boss of Haishang frowned slightly, and said: "This sea hair is the hair of the sea god, if we touch his hair, it will bring misfortune."

"Oh, so that's how it is. I've been hunting sea fish for so long, and this is the first time I've heard of it." The eldest son of the Zhang family sighed, "Hurry up and return Sea God's hair, don't provoke him."

Nan Yan laughed "puchi", still holding on to the seaweed tightly, "Don't be superstitious, these are just legends. There are no such legends about sea gods, they are all made up stories for disobedient children .”

Nan Yan stood up, held the seaweeds in her hands, and said to the owner of the sea merchant: "Uncle, I saw your daughter-in-law secretly using this sea hair to make soup in the cabin just now, how can this be explained?"

"This..." The maritime boss, who had a slightly fierce face just now, was speechless now.

It is said that he secretly used this sea hair for cooking, but he was discovered, and the sea boss was ashamed and annoyed.

In fact, not only the sea merchant boss, but also the fishermen on the seaside know this legend, so everyone will not tell the story of secretly eating sea hair in their family, so as to prevent more people from knowing and causing great disrespect to the sea god.

"Uncle, don't worry! I definitely want this sea hair, but I won't tell others that it is the sea god's hair. I will give it a nice name." Nan Yan said with a smile.

"Sister Yan, let her take it back if she wants, there are so many in the sea. I don't believe any rumors or legends!" The eldest son of the Zhang family patted his chest and said.

The owner of Haishang didn't nod or shake his head, but just turned and left, presumably a tacit consent.

Nan Yan happily picked up these seaweeds into the basket, and after taking them back to dry, they can be stored for a long time.

"Sister Yan, if you want more, we will continue to fish!" said the third son of the Zhang family.

"Okay, I will take as much as you fish, but don't forget that you are here to fish, it's not a big deal here." Nan Yan responded with a smile.

It was rare to see this fresh scene of fishing at sea, and Nan Yan enjoyed it, so the time passed quickly.In the evening, Zhang's father and son finally found a place where fish schools were densely packed, and they caught a lot of fish with fishing nets, and there were many kinds of fish.

"Finally a big harvest!" Uncle Zhang smiled with his white teeth exposed.

"No, I'm lucky today!" The eldest son of the Zhang family echoed.

A few of them worked together to open the huge fishing net, and the sea fish were still alive and kicking.I saw them pick and choose, leaving the part of the common sea fish, and the other side of the strange-looking fish species were ready to be thrown back into the sea.

"Wait a minute!" Nan Yan suddenly stood up from the bench and stepped forward to stop her.

She stepped forward and carefully observed a gray-black fish with a long body and spots all over its body. Without thinking, she said, "This is a salmon!"

"What, what fish?"

Nan Yan's words always confuse Zhang's father and son, but they have never met a young woman with such extensive knowledge.

"This fish is a good thing. After processing, it can be eaten raw!" Nan Yan explained.

"Eat it raw? That's disgusting!" The third son of the Zhang family looked at the salmon with disgust.

"No, it's not disgusting at all. If you don't believe me, I can cook it for you when I get back." Nan Yan said, picking up the salmon back into the basket.

Some people may ask, isn’t the fish in the sea stale after being brought back?And it's still summer, so it didn't take long before it broke down.

In fact, as early as in ancient times, people have learned to make ice.It is very practical to make ice by dissolving saltpeter in water.

After Nan Yan went back, she could open up the salmon and slice it into slices, and then store it in ice.

It can be said that going to sea this time was rewarding. Since Nan Yan was also in the fishing queue, Uncle Zhang insisted on not staying overnight tonight, and went straight back to West Lake Village, and came back tomorrow.

Nan Yan finally learned the reason why people in ancient times did not dare to eat seaweed, and why there were so few types of sea fish on the table.

The so-called food culture has been passed down through thousands of years of experimentation. What Nan Yan has done is only to accelerate people's understanding of more food.

(End of this chapter)