Chapter 106 Leng Tao

Chen Hanxing thought about it for a while, and calculated that it would not take many days: "Have you checked the date?"

This question stumped Wen Zhenyi: "No."

"Don't you plan to pick a date?"

"It's better to do it today than to wait for a day."

"It seems there's nothing wrong with you thinking that way."

After dinner, Old Lady Wen and the others drove their ox carts back to the village. They bought six acres of land today and had to go to the fields to check on the situation.

When Shen Hanxing left, he said to Wen Zhenyi, “I have nothing to do tomorrow, so I’ll come to your store to help.”

"Very tired."

"Maybe if I'm a little tired, I'll have a better appetite."

Wen Zhenyi did not refuse and walked them out of the store together.

Old Man Wen looked at Wen Yongnan and said, "Little boy, study hard in the private school and keep an eye on Xiaoman."

"I understand, Grandpa."

"Chengwen, the store will be short-staffed now that we're gone, so you guys will have to work harder."

"Don't worry, we can handle it."

Old Lady Wen patted the children's heads and said, "We are leaving now. You should go to bed early."

Wen Zhen saw that they had all left. The bustling shop was less crowded and still felt a little empty.

"Mom, is there any news about my aunt and the others?"

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it. A couple of days ago, they heard that their mutton offal soup business was booming and they were making a lot of money every day. Your second cousin didn't go to the government office, but started a business with your aunt."

"This is great, it gives my second cousin something to do."

"Yes, she lets us go and play when we have time."

"When the store business stabilizes, we will go and take a look."

Ma Yinghe smiled and nodded: "Yi Yi, what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"We're going to make cold dishes tomorrow and need chicken, so we need to kill the chicken today."

"Okay, let's do it now."

Wen Zhenyi also plans to make both meat and vegetable cold dishes so that ordinary people can eat them.

She killed the chicken, plucked the feathers, and did not waste the chicken offal or blood, preparing to save them for their lunch tomorrow.

After preparing a few chickens and marinating them with seasonings, they were hung in the well.

Wen Zhenyi now gets up earlier than usual every day. Now that he is not in the village, he can't run, so he can only do a set of boxing in the backyard to stretch his muscles.

Ma Yinghe and the others were used to this in the village. As long as it didn't rain, they would get up early, do a set of boxing in the backyard, and then start preparing breakfast.

Zhu Tao also began to learn slowly. Ma Yinghe taught her seriously and asked her to start with the basics.

In the past few days, Zhu Tao practiced basic skills and felt his legs trembling when he walked. Now he doesn’t feel that way anymore, but he still feels very tired.

Wen Zhenyi put a few chickens in a ceramic basin and steamed them in a steamer.

"Dad, please help me pound the chrysanthemum leaves into a paste. I need its juice."

"Okay, I'll pound it for you now."

Wen Zhenyi asked Ma Yinghe and Zhu Tao to help cut the seasonings while he started to prepare the sauce.

There are many kinds of sauces for Leng Tao. She chose to use chicken juice, so that whether it is vegetarian or meat, it can have a rich meaty flavor.

Wen Chengwen squeezed out the juice from the chrysanthemum leaves and handed it to Wen Zhenyi.

She poured chrysanthemum juice into the white flour and kneaded the dough, turning it into a light green color.

Ma Yinghe looked at the dough in her hand: "This is similar to the dyed dough we made last time."

"Mom, this is dyed noodles, but the dyeing materials are different." Wen Zhenyi said as he put the kneaded noodles aside to let them rise for a while.

She went to check on the stewed chicken and poked it with chopsticks. It shouldn't be too mushy, as that would make it lack chewiness, nor too hard, as that would affect the taste.

When the lid of the steamer was opened, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of chicken, making those who got up early in the morning to work feel their stomachs rumbling.

Zhu Tao looked at the chicken in the steamer: "Yi Yi, is it ready?"

"It will take another quarter of an hour." He said as he put the lid back on.

After a quarter of an hour, Wen Chengwen took out the chicken from the steamer and asked, "Yi Yi, do you want it chopped smaller?"

"Don't chop it small. Let it cool down a bit and then shred it into chicken strips. Keep the steaming liquid for me. I'll use it to make the sauce."

"Okay." Wen Chengwen put the chicken on a colander to cool, and put the steamed chicken soup in a basin.

Wen Zhenyi's dough has also risen. He rolls it out with a rolling pin and sprinkles a layer of flour on it to prevent it from sticking.

She folded the perfect amount of noodles into a fan shape and cut the edges into even strips of the same width with a knife. She planned to save the noodles at both ends to make their breakfast later.

Ma Yinghe, Zhu Tao and Wen Chengwen were tearing the chickens into shreds and putting them in a basin for later use.

Wen Zhenyi looked at the time and started to cook the noodles. He put the rolled noodles into boiling water and cooked them until they were 70% cooked, stirring them constantly to prevent them from sticking together.

After the noodles are cooked, use a colander to scoop them out and rinse them in the cold river, then soak them in the freshly drawn well water for a while.

Allow the noodles to cool thoroughly to make them chewier.

Wen Zhenyi filled a bowl with noodles, poured the prepared chicken sauce on it, and sprinkled it with chicken, shredded carrots, chili peppers and other ingredients.

"Mom and Dad, Xiao Taozi, have breakfast first."

Ma Yinghe wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, washed her hands, and took the bowl from Wen Zhenyi: "Is it cold?"

"Well, the weather is too hot and no one has much appetite, so I thought of making some cold dishes."

"This is good. If I were asked to eat a bowl of hot noodles now, I really wouldn't want to eat it." Wen Chengwen picked up the bowl and stirred the noodles evenly.

Zhu Tao took a bite and said, "It's delicious. I feel a lot cooler."

Wen Zhenyi took a bite and felt that it was still a little lacking: "It would be better if there were some ice cubes."

"Ice cubes?" Wen Chengwen turned to look at her.

"Well, it will taste better if you chill it with ice."

"It's impossible that there is no ice in our place in winter." Wen Chengwen smiled and shook his head.

Ma Yinghe nodded. "Yes, ice in other places is stored in the winter and can be used when the weather gets hot. But we don't have winter here."

"Mom, ice doesn't have to be found only in winter."

"Is there any other solution?"

"Yes, but you have to wait a little longer. I asked Brother Shen to help me find some things. You will know when the things arrive."

Wen Chengwen looked at her in disbelief: "Yi Yi, can you really make ice?"

“Yes, and the cost is very low.”

Ma Yinghe took a deep breath and said, "I've heard your grandfather say before that ice is a very valuable commodity no matter where it is. Even wealthy families may not be able to use it."

“Is it expensive?”

"It's very expensive. Your grandfather also heard from the county magistrate that in the capital, a square 1.5 meter of ice costs five taels of silver."

--

Little knowledge.

Lengtao was recorded in "Shilin Guangji" - Southern Song Dynasty. Chen Yuanliang.

The earliest record shows that Lengtao was made from young leaves of Sophora japonica, which was very popular during the Tang and Song dynasties. Later, it evolved into chamomile leaves.

Later, noodle shops in the Song Dynasty often offered a series of cold noodles in the summer. Items included dried bamboo shoots and minced pork noodles, shredded chicken noodles, cooked minced bamboo shoots and pork noodles, and silver thread cold noodles.

There are four recipes for cold noodle sauces in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, namely the simple sesame paste version, recorded in "A Collection of Necessary Things for Home"; the complex sesame paste version, recorded in "A Record of Forestry"; the simple gravy version, recorded in "A Complete Collection of Necessary Things for Home"; and the complex gravy version.