Chapter 59, Inn No. 59: Roast Duck and Fish Soup

After seeing off all the guests, Yunyin didn't rest. She had to start preparing the ingredients needed for tomorrow's banquet. Some dishes needed to be prepared today, otherwise there wouldn't be enough time tomorrow.

She prepared plum juice as a drink, which needs to be boiled in advance and then chilled in well water so that it will be very refreshing the next day.

She also needs broth, which is essential for cooking, every day. So she uses a lot of chicken, duck, fish and meat every day, all of which Zhang Lin buys early in the morning.

One of the main dishes is roast duck, which also needs to be prepared in advance. However, it can be done in the early morning. She takes the duck that she bought and cleaned, makes an incision at the neck, inserts a prepared bamboo tube, and blows air into it. This will allow the skin and meat to separate during roasting.

After scalding and drying the skin, apply crispy skin glaze, stuff the duck's cavity with seasonings such as scallions, peppercorns, star anise, and salt, pour in Shaoxing wine, seal the opening with bamboo skewers, and then hang it in a cool, shady place to air dry. At this time, the temperature is low, so even in summer, the duck will not spoil.

After air-drying for several hours, remove the ducks, brush them with crispy skin glaze again, and continue air-drying. This time, Yunyin Roasts six ducks. In addition to one being used in banquet dishes, the others can also be sold separately.

Yunyin prepared what she needed. By this time, the inn had quieted down. She walked to the side of the official road, where it was still bustling with activity. Many people were rushing over, all wanting to taste what the mooncakes Yunyin made tasted like.

Fortunately, she had prepared quite a few of these small mooncakes, and the oven is still running, baking continuously. Zheng Guilan is also in the kitchen continuing to wrap small mooncakes and give them to the villagers.

Perhaps because Luo Tian and Zhang Lin were tall and strong, and with the help of the villagers from Linjiang Village to maintain order, the people here were relatively orderly. Of course, there were also people who wanted to take advantage of the chaos, but they were all discovered by Zhang Lin.

Besides the people who came to collect mooncakes, Yunyin also saw some people carrying baskets. Curious, she went up to them and asked, "What are you doing here?"

The man placed the basket by the roadside and said to Yunyin, "Miss Yun, I heard that your restaurant is about to open. So I got some good stuff. Do you think your restaurant needs it?"

Not long ago, she was the one selling things to Luo Man's restaurant, but now someone is selling things to her. She looked at the things in the person's basket, which was a basket of clean lotus roots, long and thin, and looked very tender.

By then, lotus roots were indeed ready to eat. She inquired about the price, which was ten coins per pound, a reasonable price, so she bought the whole basket of lotus roots.

Just after buying lotus roots, another person came over with a basket and said, "Miss Yun, are you buying fruit here? I heard you bought fruit from the people of Letao Village, is that right? I also have some fruit here, do you want some?"

His basket was filled with large, yellow-skinned pears. Although they had rough skin and thick flesh, these pears were very juicy and quite sweet. However, she still wanted to taste them to be sure, so she asked, "May I try some?"

"Of course," the man said, handing over a pear. "The pears from our Sweet Pear Village are very sweet; many people like them."

It turned out that this person was from Sweet Pear Village, named Tian Yang. Yunyin casually wiped the pear with her sleeve, took a bite, and found it to be juicy, with water dripping from the corners of her mouth. She wiped away the water and finished the pear in one go.

"I'll take this basket," Yunyin asked him. "Is it two coins a pound?"

Yunyin remembered that the pears she had seen in the county were 2 coins a pound. The man said happily, "That's right, 2 coins a pound. We sell them for the same price in the city."

After buying the pears, Yunyin remembered something and called out to him, "Does your village have any leftover pear branches from pruning the pear trees?"

Tian Yang: Yes, there were quite a few left. We burned them all, but we still have quite a few left at home. Why is Madam Yun asking this?

"I need to buy some pear branches. Could you deliver them to me first thing tomorrow morning? How about fifteen coins for a bundle?"

This price is much higher than the firewood sold in the village to the county town. He asked incredulously, "Really fifteen coins a bundle?"

Yunyin naturally knew that firewood in the county could sell for five coins a bundle, but some could sell for ten coins; the price varied depending on the type of wood. She was buying pear branches to roast duck, so she naturally didn't think the price was too high.

She nodded and said, "Yes, it's fifteen coins a bundle. You delivered it for me, okay?"

Tian Yang readily agreed: "Of course, no problem. I'll bring it to you first thing tomorrow morning."

The next morning, Yunyin lit the oven and used the pear wood branches she had bought. The oven was already very hot. Yunyin put the dried ducks in in batches. Her oven could only hold three ducks at a time, so she had to roast them in two batches.

While the duck was roasting, she went to prepare the ingredients for the lion's head meatballs. She washed and soaked the pork belly, drained it, removed the skin, diced it, chopped it slightly, added salt, scallion, ginger, and water, stirred it into a paste, then added starch and continued stirring until it became sticky. Finally, she added chopped lotus root and shaped it into large meatballs.

Lion's head meatballs taste better with water chestnuts, giving them a sweet and refreshing flavor. However, water chestnuts are only available from November onwards, so they are not available now. Fortunately, Yunyin bought lotus root, which is a good substitute.

Fry the meatballs in oil until golden brown. Leave a little oil in the pot, add the prepared broth, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, and other seasonings. Bring to a boil, then transfer to a small pot, add the fried meatballs, and simmer over low heat until the meatballs are cooked. Pour out some of the broth from simmering the meatballs, thicken the sauce with cornstarch, and plate.

The presentation of banquet dishes is also very important. The lion's head meatballs are surrounded by neatly arranged small green vegetables, drizzled with a dark brown broth. The red and green colors are very pleasing to the eye.

After finishing the lion's head meatballs, the guests who had booked the banquet arrived. Yunyin asked Zheng Guilan to go and entertain them, while she began preparing to serve the dishes.

As always, cold dishes are served first: cucumber salad, pork belly with garlic sauce, minced pork and minced meat, and poached chicken. Then, braised lion's head meatballs and stir-fried soft-shelled eel are also served.

Just then, the roast duck was ready. Yunyin took the duck out, poured out the hot broth, filled it with steamed lotus leaf buns and seasonings, and took the duck to the main hall.

Yunyin said to Huo Yu, "I heard from your son that you especially love to eat duck, so you must not miss this duck today."

Huo Yu was her old customer. He had been coming to her since she was just a small food stall owner. Because she often went out of town and didn't return until late at night, his son had also come to see Yunyin.

He was relieved after eating Yunyin's food, and he even came to like it. He often brought his father to eat there, and when he learned that Yunyin Inn had opened, he immediately came with his father to support it.

Huo Yu stroked his beard and said, "Then he definitely didn't tell you that not only do I love to eat duck, but he also loves to eat duck."

Huo Yu's son, Huo Chen, smiled sheepishly and said, "I love all of Yun Niangzi's dishes."

Yunyin placed the duck on the table and used a knife to slice the duck meat, skin and all, into pieces. One duck could be sliced ​​into 108 pieces. She arranged the pieces on a plate, placed the duck carcass separately, and added salt and pepper. She said to them, "You can wrap the duck meat with pancakes, shredded scallions, and cucumber. This bowl is a dipping sauce I made, specially for the duck meat. You can enjoy it slowly."

Huo Chen was amazed by her skill in slicing the duck and attracted by the aroma of the duck filling the room. He couldn't help but wipe his hands with a handkerchief and start eating as Yun Yin had suggested.

Seeing that his son didn't hand him any first but started eating on his own, Huo Yu glared at him and decided to take matters into his own hands, so he rolled up a pancake and started eating it too.

Crispy skin and fragrant meat, with crunchy cucumber and scallion shreds balancing the greasiness of the meat. One bite reveals a rich, savory sauce that makes you want to eat another bite after finishing the first one.

After finishing his meal, Huo Yu wiped his hands and said, "I told you long ago that Yun Niangzi's cooking skills were no worse than those of the chef at Manxiangju. I was right. The taste of this duck is absolutely amazing."

“Miss Yun, if you didn’t run a restaurant, but only made this duck, you could sell quite a lot every day.”

On the other side, guests who hadn't booked a banquet smelled the aroma and couldn't help but ask, "Miss Yun, are you selling these ducks? If so, I'd like to try some."

Yunyin packed up the knives and looked at the inquiring customer, saying, "We're only roasting 6 today. Huo Langjun and the others ate one, so there are five left. You can buy half or a whole one."

Before the man could speak, Huo Chen said, "Miss Yun, let's reserve one. I'll take it back for my mother to try."

Huo Yu nodded and said, "That's right, we can't forget your mother."

Seeing this, the other customers also started buying, worried that there wouldn't be enough for them to share. When it was the last two tables' turn, there was only one roast duck left. After thinking for a moment, Yunyin said, "How about you each have half a duck?"

The people at the two tables looked at each other and could only compromise, saying, "Then let's leave it at that. Why don't you do more, Lady Yun?"

Yunyin smiled and said, "Even if you eat the same thing all the time, you'll get tired of it. Six a day is just right, and you can also try other dishes."

After selling the roast duck, she returned to the kitchen. By then, the sea bass had been steamed. She took it out and chopped it up. She put lard in a pot, added scallions and sautéed them until fragrant. She then poured in broth and brought it to a boil. After that, she added shredded bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and ham. After boiling again, she added the fish and the broth from steaming the fish. Finally, she seasoned it and sprinkled it with shredded ginger and chopped scallions.

After making the fish soup, Yunyin asked Zheng Guilan to serve the dishes, while she finished making the other dishes that Huo Yu and the others had ordered. There was still some bird's nest soup left over from the previous Peony Bird's Nest Soup, so she just used it this time. Wensi Tofu was not difficult to make, but you had to be careful when cutting the tofu into strips. After cooking the tofu strips, you could put them into the soup and serve the Wensi Tofu.

Looking at the tofu that Yunyin had cut into threads as thin as silk, Fang He exclaimed in surprise, "Miss Yun, should I learn how to make this too?"

Yunyin nodded and said, "Of course you should learn. Since you want to learn cooking, you must learn knife skills. If you can cut tofu as thin as silk threads, your knife skills will be considered mastered."

Fang He said earnestly, "I will try my best to learn and I will definitely be able to cut tofu into strips."

Yunyin: "Then keep up the good work. Okay, call your mother over to serve the dishes."

After the Wensi Tofu was served, she asked Fang He, "Could you prepare the peony part for the Peony Swallow Dish this time?"

Fang He, who had just been full of enthusiasm, immediately deflated upon hearing this. "Are you really going to let me do it? I've only been learning for a short time."

"Carving peonies isn't difficult. Didn't I teach you before? Just follow my instructions and get started. Don't let me finish cooking before your flower is finished."

"I understand." Fang He immediately picked a radish from the basket and began carving a peony.