Chapter 437: Surprises
After working for an afternoon, I finally finished sowing all the sprouted potatoes.
Even those that did not sprout were processed one by one according to what Shen Huazheng said, and then they would continue to be observed.
Chen Huazheng and others rejected County Magistrate Wu's proposal to have dinner together and returned to the inn.
We don’t have to rush now, but we still have to get up early tomorrow morning to work, so we can’t slack off at all.
After thinking about it, everyone decided to go back to the inn to have lunch and then have a good rest.
After everyone returned to the inn, they went back to their rooms.
Although they lived in the same inn, Shen Huazheng and the other two lived in different courtyards with other officials.
Chen Huazheng went back to eat with Zhou Ying, Princess Lejia, and the rest of the officials.
A group of Beijing officials wanted to continue to eat at Chen Huazheng's table, but Princess Lejia and Zhou Ying were there.
If they ate with Shen Huazheng, it could be said to be a gathering of colleagues.
But with the addition of Princess Lejia and Zhou Ying, the nature of the situation changed.
There are differences between men and women, which is not very convenient.
Therefore, even though everyone was very greedy, they still wisely returned to their own yard to eat.
As soon as Shen Huazheng returned to the inn, someone came to report to Zhou Ying and Princess Lejia.
When she arrived at the side hall, Zhou Ying and Princess Lejia were already sitting at the dining table waiting for her. There was a steaming pot on the table.
Princess Lejia looked at Chen Huazheng, as if to take credit: "Zhengzheng, you came at the right time. We are having mutton hotpot today. Aying and I have also made other dishes. I'm sure you will like them."
Shen Huazheng smiled and asked, "What did you cook?"
When she came back just now, she was thinking that it would be very comfortable to eat hotpot tonight.
Unexpectedly, Cousin Ying and Aning had the same idea as her and actually arranged a hotpot.
What was even more unexpected was that in addition to hot pot, they also cooked other dishes.
What a surprise.
As soon as she finished speaking, the maids came in with trays and placed the dishes on the table.
In addition to the ingredients for hot pot, there are several other dishes.
Shen Huazheng was slightly stunned: "Is this pig blood and sheep blood?"
Princess Lejia was surprised: "Zhengzheng, you actually figured it out!"
Chen Huazheng usually calls the pig blood used to make dishes "pig red", and Zhou Ying and Princess Lejia followed her and called it that.
Unexpectedly, this time they made this dish of stir-fried lamb blood, and Shen Huazheng recognized it at a glance.
Zhou Ying: "Prefect Lin sent a lot of mutton, which looks quite fresh. I discussed it with Aning and decided to have a mutton hotpot tonight and cook two dishes myself."
She paused and continued, "Originally I only wanted to make a stir-fried lamb blood dish, but then I saw there was pig blood, so I made a braised pig blood dish."
Considering that they would be cooking on the road, Shen Huazheng and the others brought necessary utensils in addition to ingredients and sauces.
The kitchen in their yard is quite large and has all the necessary utensils, making it convenient to cook anything.
Of course, you can also go to restaurants outside to try the local food occasionally.
They originally planned to come here to see what kind of food is available and the eating habits of the local people.
This way, we can better infer what ingredients are more suitable to sell in the Northwest.
Princess Lejia asked again: "Zheng Zheng, how do you distinguish between pig blood and sheep blood?"
To her, the two things really look alike.
Anyway, if they were put together, she couldn't tell the difference.
Shen Huazheng smiled: “The colors are different.”
Although both pig blood and sheep blood are dark red after cooking, sheep blood is darker in color than pig blood.
Chen Huazheng usually likes to eat various foods made from pig blood, such as leek pig blood, pig blood porridge, pig blood soup, etc.
So when she saw braised pork blood, she could recognize it immediately.
As for the sheep's blood, Shen Huazheng couldn't be 100% sure of her judgment just by the color and appearance.
But the most common thing here is mutton, so she guessed it was sheep's blood.
Princess Lejia leaned over to take a look and found that it was indeed the case.
"It's true. Zheng Zheng is so amazing."
Zhou Ying also smiled and said, "Zheng'er, try it and see how it tastes."
Shen Huazheng picked up the chopsticks: "Okay, I'll taste it now."
As she spoke, she picked up a piece of pig blood with chopsticks and brought it to her mouth.
The pig blood has a mellow taste and is full of juice.
When you take a bite, the juice inside will splash out on the tip of your tongue, and you can also see the air holes inside.
When you chew it, the elastic texture of the pig blood, wrapped in the spicy taste, explodes between your lips and teeth, with a slight spicy taste.
After swallowing, only the mellow fragrance is left in your mouth.
Shen Huazheng gave a fair evaluation: "The pig blood is fragrant, tender, smooth and delicious."
The taste of pig blood is a bit like slightly chewy tender tofu, fragrant but not greasy, spicy but not dry.
Princess Lejia and Zhou Ying were very happy to receive recognition from Shen Huazheng.
Zhou Ying: "Then try the stir-fried lamb blood."
The method used for this dish of stir-fried lamb blood is the same as that for stir-fried duck blood, which was taught to them by Shen Huazheng when she was in the capital.
First soak the sheep's blood in water and cut it into very thin slices. Then put it into the pot with clean water. After boiling over high heat, take it out immediately and set it aside to drain the water.
Then heat up another pot, add cold oil, add ginger, onion, garlic, peppercorns and other seasonings and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the bean paste and pour a bowl of hot water in.
When the sauce in the pot is sizzling, pour in the water used to blanch the lamb's blood, stir-fry over high heat for a few times, quickly sprinkle with coriander and serve.
Princess Lejia also looked at Chen Huazheng expectantly: "Zhengzheng, try it quickly."
When the stir-fried lamb blood came out of the pot, Princess Lejia and Zhou Ying were the first to taste it.
The mutton blood prepared in this way is smooth, tender and refreshing, and tastes much more tender than duck blood and pig blood.
The original fishy smell was perfectly covered up by the tempting spicy taste.
It’s incredibly delicious.
Shen Huazheng nodded, stretched out her chopsticks to the stir-fried lamb blood, and picked up a piece.
The sheep's blood trembled between the chopsticks, and it seemed that it would be broken into pieces with the slightest force.
Shen Huazheng carefully controlled the strength and sent the sheep's blood into her mouth.
The taste of sheep blood is much more delicate than that of pig blood, and it does not feel rough at all when eaten.
It is smooth and tender, and breaks into pieces when the teeth lightly touch it, sliding down the throat into the stomach.
Since the stir-fried lamb blood is stir-fried with chili peppers and other seasonings, it tastes spicy and rich.
Coupled with the delicate taste of sheep's blood, the taste is really wonderful.
Shen Huazheng swallowed the delicious food in her mouth: "The lamb blood is very tender and the cooking time is just right."
Princess Lejia felt very happy as she had been praised by Zheng Zheng twice today.
Maybe she still has a talent for cooking.
Although this dish of mutton blood was cooked by Zhou Ying, Princess Lejia was also helping out at that time.
In her opinion, she also contributed to the deliciousness of this stir-fried lamb blood dish.
Princess Lejia: "In addition to stir-frying sheep blood, some sheep blood is also used for hot pot."
When eating hotpot in the capital, Princess Lejia likes to eat some duck blood, duck intestines and the like.
After traveling thousands of miles to the northwest, you must try the mutton blood hotpot.
Stir-fried lamb blood is so delicious, so hot pot must be delicious too.
Zhou Ying: "Zheng'er, you've worked hard today. You should eat more later."
As she spoke, she scooped a bowl of soup for each of Shen Huazheng and Princess Lejia, and also scooped a bowl for herself.
The hot pot soup base is made from mutton bone soup. When stewing the soup, Zhou Ying also added medicinal herbs such as astragalus, codonopsis and wolfberry.
It not only has a strong fragrance, but also has the effect of replenishing qi and nourishing blood.
Shen Huazheng scooped up a spoonful of soup with a spoon, blew it gently, and took a sip.
As soon as the sweet and rich soup enters your mouth, the complex aroma suddenly jumps onto the tip of your tongue.
The soup is sweet and rich, with the freshness of the lamb bones and the complex aroma of the medicinal materials perfectly blended together, coupled with the subtle sweetness of wolfberries, it seems to slowly dance on the taste buds, leaving people with an endless aftertaste.
Chen Huazheng curved her eyebrows in joy, scooped up another spoonful of mutton bone soup and put it into her mouth.
As I drank, I felt my whole body slowly warming up.
Le Jiajun and Zhou Ying also took spoons and drank the soup one spoonful after another.
The nights in early spring are still quite cold, and it is really comfortable to drink a bowl of soup that warms the body and heart.
The ingredients for the hot pot were served one after another, and Zhou Ying and Princess Lejia also picked up their chopsticks and prepared to eat.
Without further ado, the three of them took their colanders and chopsticks and started eating hot pot.
Shen Huazheng stared at the bubbling pot with a slight warmth in her eyes.
After a busy afternoon, she just came back and someone was waiting for her to have dinner together.
It feels so good.
"Zheng Zheng, is today's potato planting going well?"
In fact, Princess Lejia just asked casually. She knew that with Shen Huazheng here, today's planting task would definitely go smoothly.
Chen Huazheng nodded: "It's OK, it went smoothly. At least it's a good start, and the next things have been arranged."
What she was most worried about before was the potato sprouting problem. Today, when she looked, only a small part of the potatoes had not sprouted.
The potatoes that have sprouted can be processed and then sown.
Those that have not yet sprouted need to be germinated again.
Shen Huazheng had already demonstrated the entire planting process and given all the necessary instructions.
County Magistrate Wu and the agricultural officials in the northwest all tried it out, and the clerk recorded everything.
Next, just observe for a while to see if anything unusual happens.
In addition to the observation and planting of potatoes, greenhouse and vegetable planting should also be put on the agenda.
Compared to potato planting, this is a little more complicated.
Because the situation in the northwest is somewhat different from that in the capital.
"That's good. We were talking today about how if you're too busy, we'll have to investigate the market ourselves. After we investigate the situation here, we'll discuss the next arrangements with you."
As she spoke, Princess Lejia took the colander out of the pot.
She used the serving chopsticks to pick up some of the mutton from the colander for Shen Huazheng, picked up some for Zhou Ying, and poured the rest into her own bowl.
Chen Huazheng also picked up the lamb intestines she had cooked and shared them with Princess Lejia and Zhou Ying.
"That's not so busy. Although I still have to deal with planting promotion, I still have time."
During the next period of time, Shen Huazheng should do some trivial and detailed work just like when she was in the capital.
For example, go to the fields from time to time to observe the growth of crops and then record them.
To ensure that crops can grow normally.
Zhou Ying: "Okay, while you're busy, Aning and I will go do the market research ourselves. If you're free, come with us."
Anyway, no matter whether Shen Huazheng goes with them to conduct the investigation or not, the three of them will definitely have to discuss it when the time comes.
Princess Lejia was chewing the mutton in her mouth and could only respond vaguely, indicating that Zhou Ying was right.
The sheep here are fat, have shiny fur and tender meat.
There is a lot of fat between the muscles, which is very plump.
Dip a little in the special bean paste and take a bite. The meat is tender and the sauce is fragrant. It is so delicious that you want to swallow your tongue.
Shen Huazheng hummed softly, then picked up the lamb intestines in the bowl with chopsticks, dipped them in the bean paste, and brought them in front of her.
The freshly cooked lamb intestines were a little hot, so Shen Huazheng blew on them carefully before putting them into her mouth.
While being cooked in the hot pot, the lamb intestines gradually become firmer and the fat melts into the texture of the lean meat.
When you take a bite, you first taste the crispness of the casing, and then the fresh aroma of the mutton surges out, and the abundant juice splashes between your teeth, pure and strong.
Paired with the salty and fragrant sauce, it is so delicious that it makes your heart tremble.
The delicious taste seemed to have spread to every extremity of the body, making it extremely comfortable.
Zhou Ying picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks, dipped it in the shacha sauce, and put it into her mouth.
The mutton is soft and tender, yet it still feels firm.
The layer of shacha sauce wrapped around the outside is slightly spicy with a unique sweetness, which perfectly brings out the tenderness of the lamb.
After swallowing, the fragrance remains on the teeth and cheeks.
In addition to mutton, lamb intestines are also delicious.
The three of them ate the delicious food in their bowls one bite after another, chatting from time to time, which was quite pleasant.
“It’s delicious.”
Princess Lejia enjoyed the food more and more, and felt the ultimate deliciousness between her lips and teeth.
No wonder Magistrate Lin said he must try the mutton when he came here. It really tastes a little different from that in other places.
After shabu-shabuing the meat for a while, Shen Huazheng and the other two started eating the sheep's blood.
There is a subtle difference in the taste of hot pot lamb blood and stir-fried lamb blood. The lamb blood taken out of the soup pot tastes very tender and has more juice inside.
As you eat, you can still smell the freshness of the soup pot.
Princess Lejia ate with a satisfied look on her face: "I knew that the mutton blood hot pot must be delicious."
Originally, she was still feeling regretful because she had hotpot tonight but there was no duck blood.
Now I no longer have that thought.
Princess Lejia also discovered a new way of eating it, which is to put tofu and sheep's blood into the pot together, and then scoop them out and eat them together.
During the cooking process, the fragrant soup and the aroma of other ingredients gradually seep into the tofu and lamb blood.
The lamb blood is smooth and refreshing, and the tofu is delicate and tender. They are simply perfect together.
Chew it, sometimes it is tender and smooth, sometimes it is flexible.
Dip it in a little shacha sauce and the taste suddenly becomes richer.
The rich bean aroma and the unique fragrance of lamb blood, intertwined with the salty, sweet taste of the sauce, is simply a feast for the taste buds.
Princess Lejia's eyes widened, she is simply a genius!!
This is so delicious!!!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
