Five-flavor powder

The premium Taibai liquor is famous for its excellent taste and novel way of buying it, which has led to a surge in sales of regular Taibai liquor as well.

People have a herd mentality. Seeing that premium Taibai liquor is so popular, some people will be curious about what it is and why it is so expensive.

Curiosity will drive them to learn about premium Taibai liquor.

In most people's view, the higher the price, the better the quality. When people buy expensive things, they can get material satisfaction and enjoyment on the one hand, and their sense of self-worth will be enhanced on the other hand.

After all, being able to afford expensive items is a reflection of a person's wealth and status.

Seeing that his wine cellar was almost empty, Peng Gaofei hurriedly ordered the caravan to leave the city overnight and rush to Qingzhou to bring back another batch of wine. At this time, time is money, and the caravan must go and return as soon as possible to prevent the premium Taibai wine in the warehouse from being sold out.

How popular is the premium Taibai liquor?

Even Sun Lixuan couldn't buy it. Who is Sun Lixuan? The eldest son of the Duke's mansion couldn't buy this wine, which shows how popular the premium Taibai wine is!

Because the lottery system for selecting participants added a lot of uncertainty, Sun Lixuan couldn't use his status to exert pressure for a jar of wine, which resulted in him not being able to buy any.

There are a total of 3,000 jars of premium Taibai liquor, numbered starting with 1, 2, and 3. Once they're sold out, that's it. Apart from the few hundred jars of premium liquor that have been released, the rest are all in Fu Zhiqiao's wine cellar. Currently, premium Taibai liquor is in a state of being available but not on the market; even if you have the money, you may not be able to buy it.

Xie Zhuo gave the jar he bought at Peng's Tavern to Sun Lixuan.

Sun Lixuan was worried about not being able to buy any wine. As a lover of Taibai wine, he soon heard the news that the premium Taibai wine was going to be sold. He had to work for the Embroidered Uniform Guard during the day, so he had to send his servant to queue up and draw lots. However, the servant had terrible luck and didn't win once in three days. He almost wished he could go up and draw lots himself.

Sun Lixuan was in high spirits after receiving the wine from Xie Zhuo. He laughed and said, "I'm going to hold a banquet tomorrow so that Xu Zhang and Shen Nan can see what real fine wine is!"

He immediately sent invitations to his "fellow buddies," inviting them to a gathering.

The gathering was held at Qiongxianlou Restaurant. In a private room on the second floor, there were six people, including Sun Lixuan, sitting around a round table.

Sun Lixuan invited his peers, all scions of prominent families whose status was not much different from his own.

Sun Lixuan, dressed in a new brocade robe, sat in the main seat and spoke: "I recently acquired a jar of top-grade Taibai wine, and I would like to invite you gentlemen to taste it." After speaking, he waved his hand, and the waiter came forward to fill everyone's wine cups.

The clear, transparent wine was slowly poured out, and the young men all showed expressions of surprise. Given their status and position, they had drunk countless fine wines, but this was truly the first time they had ever seen wine as clear as water.

Taibai wine used to sell well in the capital, but it was only known among wine lovers. High-ranking officials and nobles bought their food from familiar shops, so they naturally did not know the special features of Taibai wine.

First, he smelled the aroma of the wine, then took a small sip to taste it. The spicy and mellow wine burst in his mouth. Xu Zhang put down the wine glass and exclaimed, "The wine is fragrant and smooth. I have no regrets in this life to be able to drink such a fine wine."

During the meal, someone nodded in agreement: "The wine is clear and fragrant; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a fine wine!"

Looking at everyone's reaction, Sun Lixuan secretly felt pleased: "I'm glad you all like it."

He also kindly reminded everyone: "This wine is very strong, so you need to drink it slowly."

Xu Zhang asked, "Where did you get this wine?"

Sun Lixuan recounted his experience of buying wine at Peng's Tavern, which drew laughter from everyone.

"Is this lottery really that interesting?"

"Whether it's interesting or not, you'll know once you try it!"

Sun Lixuan served his guests premium Taibai liquor, which was both impressive and tasteful. Everyone in the private room raised their glasses and drank together. The banquet was a great success, and it also brought Taibai liquor into the spotlight of the elite circles.

*

The launch of the premium Taibai liquor was a great success, and Fu Zhiqiao sat at home happily collecting money.

Defu and Cheng Yexuan had been busy with the restaurant renovations and would only report on the progress every few days. Fu Zhiqiao was a little unaccustomed to suddenly having free time after being so busy for so long.

The location of the restaurant has been decided, and the decoration, table and chair making and other matters are proceeding in an orderly manner. Fu Zhi Qiao can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being, while Xie Zhuo is as busy as ever. The two can only meet briefly after he finishes his shift.

Xie Zhuo has been busy checking grain and weapons at the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War lately, and he still made time to accompany Fu Zhiqiao to Peng's Tavern.

Xie Zhuo cared about everything concerning her and even offered her premium Taibai liquor to support her. She couldn't take it for granted, so to thank Xie Zhuo for his help, Fu Zhi Qiao thought about preparing a gift for him.

In a few days, Xie Zhuo will lead his troops and supplies to support Liangzhou.

Liangzhou is geographically close to the northern frontier, which is several times colder than the capital. Xie Zhuo had to deliver the grain before the heavy snow made the roads impassable, otherwise the soldiers in Liangzhou would have to eat the grain they had stored up in the autumn.

There's no such thing as a military campaign without hardship. To make Xie Zhuo more comfortable on the road, Fu Zhi Qiao thought of making some food for him to take with him.

Early in the morning, Granny Cui went to the market and bought about ten pounds of fresh river shrimp.

Now that the weather is getting colder and the sunshine time is greatly reduced, Fu Zhi Qiao doesn't have enough time to dry the river shrimp, so she can only choose to bake them.

Remove the shrimp whiskers and tails, devein the shrimp, and grill them over low heat over charcoal.

Fu Zhi Qiao was responsible for giving verbal instructions, while the cook was responsible for handling all the food preparation. To ensure the cook understood the process, Fu Zhi Qiao personally supervised every step.

After a whole day of work, only two or three pounds of the ten pounds of fresh shrimp were left after grilling.

Besides making the dried shrimp yourself, you can buy dried shiitake mushrooms and dried scallops ready-made. Roast the dried shrimp, dried scallops and dried shiitake mushrooms over charcoal until fragrant, then grind them all into powder. Grind the dried peppercorns and salt into powder of the same coarseness, and then mix them together according to the ratio.

This step is the most crucial; if the proportions are not right, all the previous steps will be wasted.

Fu Zhiqiao carefully mixed the ingredients with a spoon: a spoonful of shrimp powder, a spoonful of dried scallop powder, half a spoonful of mushroom powder... She would taste it after each mixing to make sure the flavor was right.

After adding small amounts multiple times, the flavor of the five-spice powder stabilized.

Fu Zhiqiao asked Yinxing to instruct the kitchen to cook a bowl of plain noodles, as she wanted to test the effect of this five-flavor powder in soup.

Boil water in a pot, add noodles after the water boils, cook until done, then remove from the pot. Soon, a simple bowl of plain noodles is ready.

No seasonings were added, and the noodles looked very bland and tasteless.

Fu Zhiqiao scooped a large spoonful of five-flavor powder and sprinkled it on the surface of the water, then poured in a spoonful of boiling water. The powder dissolved in the water and slowly released its aroma. She used chopsticks to stir the water evenly and tasted the soup base.

Ginkgo, standing nearby, was stunned. She had thought this powder, like salt, was added to water and boiled before eating, but it turned out it was just sprinkled on dry and edible? Smelling the aroma, she couldn't help but swallow hard and asked Fu Zhi Qiao, "Miss, is it ready already? Is this how you sprinkle this powder?"

"Hmm, you can eat it sprinkled or boiled!" Dried shrimp and scallops are roasted, so eating them dry is also possible.

Five-flavor powder is equivalent to a concentrated broth powder.

The umami of dried shrimp and scallops, the spiciness of Sichuan peppercorns, the aroma of shiitake mushrooms, the saltiness of salt... these ingredients blend together to create a layered fragrance that reaches the nose. The broth slides down the throat and into the stomach, leaving an indescribable deliciousness.

Plain boiled noodles with a spoonful of five-spice powder are already so delicious. If you use chicken broth or bone broth, it would be so flavorful it would make your eyebrows fall off.

"You two should try it too." Ginkgo and Granny Cui took turns tasting the soup, and they were both amazed when they tasted it.

Especially Ginkgo, whose cheeks bulged out like a little squirrel eating. The soup was a bit hot, but it was irresistible. In the end, the whole bowl of soup noodles was gone. She even licked her lips with lingering satisfaction, which made Fu Zhi Qiao laugh.

After working for four or five days, she only made four and a half pounds of five-flavor powder. She kept one pound for herself and packed the remaining three and a half pounds for Xie Zhuo.

Make a drawstring bag from a piece of fine silk to hold the five-flavor powder. Take a large earthenware jar, put a layer of finely crushed charcoal at the bottom, then put several layers of cloth to separate them, and finally put the drawstring bag in and close the lid.

Charcoal can absorb water and prevent moisture, so the five-flavor powder can stay dry and you don't have to worry about it getting damp or infested with insects.

Fu Zhiqiao also asked the cook to make a jar of mushroom and meat sauce.

I had some dried shiitake mushrooms left over from making the five-flavor powder, which I could use to make meat sauce.

Choose a piece of pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat, remove the skin, cut it into chunks, and mince it. Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water, squeeze out the excess water, and dice them. Pour half a pot of oil into the pot and simmer the pork and shiitake mushrooms until fragrant, then season to taste.

Having prior experience making Sichuan peppercorn oil, the process of making mushroom and meat sauce went very smoothly. The mushroom and meat sauce filled a large earthenware jar, with a thick layer of red oil on top, ensuring that the sauce would not spoil for a month.

Besides the five-spice powder and meat sauce, she also brought beef jerky from Qingzhou, which she packed together with the powder and sauce for Xie Zhuo. The beef jerky was leftover from when she made braised beef; she had roasted it all into jerky for easier preservation, and now it came in handy.

*

“You must have been traveling day and night to Liangzhou, and you must not have been eating or sleeping well. I’ve prepared some food for you.” Fu Zhiqiao placed two large bags on the table and introduced them to Xie Zhuo one by one.

"This is five-flavor powder. You can add a spoonful when cooking soup or porridge. It will make the flavor extremely delicious. No matter what you are cooking, you can add a spoonful of five-flavor powder. The umami flavor will be perfectly released into the soup. The weather in Liangzhou is cold. It will be more comfortable to cook soup and eat a hot meal with it in the freezing cold."

“If there’s no time to cook and we only have dry rations, we eat beef jerky.” Then she pointed to another jar: “This jar is mushroom meat sauce. When we’re on the move and meals are irregular, we can eat this meat sauce with white flour flatbread when we’re hungry. It’s spicy, flavorful, and very appetizing…”

Xie Zhuo's gaze was both passionate and tender. Before Fu Zhi could finish speaking, he wrapped his long arm around him and pulled him into his embrace, his heart filled with indescribable emotion.

His mother only prepared warm clothes and medicine for him. Only she would be so thoughtful, preparing all the food for him along the way.

When Xie Zhuo arrived at the Fu residence, he was empty-handed, but when he left, his hands were full of things. Upon seeing this, Wang Qianxin quickly came forward and took the food box from Xie Zhuo's hands.

Wang Qianxin leaned closer to the food box and took a sniff. Needless to say, the fragrant aroma must have come from Miss Fu.

He weighed the food box in his hand; it was quite heavy, so it must be filled with lots of delicious food. Thinking that he could also get some from the young master, Wang Qianxin's eyes lit up as he held the food box, repeatedly exclaiming in his heart: "Miss Fu is truly a beautiful and kind-hearted person!"

Wang Qianxin held the jar in one hand and carried the bundle in the other. The two packages of food instantly rose to second place in his mind, second only to Xie Zhuo's safety.

He swore to the jar in his heart: I will protect you with my life until you reach Liangzhou!