Chapter 11, The 11th Inn: Braised Pork
Yunyin took the money out of the box and turned to hear Zhang Lin say worriedly, "Wife, do you think what Master Fu said is true? There are bandits here? What should we do if we encounter them?"
Yunyin patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."
"Even if there are bandits, with me standing in front of you, what are you afraid of?"
Zhang Lin said with a worried look, "Will there be any more caravans coming? If there aren't any caravans, the food stall business will suffer."
Speaking of this, Yunyin also had some concerns. If there was anything wrong with setting up a food stall on the main road, it would be that the customer base would be unstable.
She can only rely on passing merchants, and if bandits appear like they are now, it might affect her livelihood.
"How could there be bandits?" Yunyin was completely baffled. The Great Zhao Dynasty had been established for more than ten years. If it wasn't booming, it had entered a period of peace. Besides, this place wasn't exactly the middle of nowhere. There was a village on the other side of the mountain, and it wasn't far from the town. How could there be bandits? She regretted not asking Fu Wang for more details.
Looking at the deserted official road, Yunyin waved her hand and said, "Alright, since no one will be coming for the time being, Zhang Lin, you can continue clearing the land. Since it's early spring, let's plant some vegetables too."
The ten acres of land allocated to her couldn't be left to waste, could it? Farming is an innate talent of the Chinese people, and even though Yunyin didn't know much about it, she didn't want to waste these ten acres.
Zhang Lin said dejectedly, "I understand, Lady Yun, I'll go turn over the soil right away."
After Zhang Lin left, Yunyin looked at the official road again to make sure no one was coming, and then got up and went back to tidy up the thatched hut.
Since the thatched hut was built, she hadn't tidied it up much, and everything was just piled up haphazardly. Now that she had some free time, she decided to tidy up the hut.
When she saw the dogwood in the basket, she slapped her forehead and said, "How could I have forgotten about this?"
When she was making sauerkraut fish before, she was troubled by the lack of chili peppers. She remembered that before chili peppers existed, there was a spicy substitute called dogwood. She asked Luo Niangzi and learned that dogwood was also available here.
Speaking of dogwood, one cannot help but mention Wang Wei's famous poem, "Dogwood is planted everywhere, but one person is missing." Isn't she feeling the same way now?
Yunyin sorted through the bag of dogwood, shaking off the sudden surge of sadness, and thought about what dishes she could make with dogwood.
Yunyin loves spicy food, but it's the spiciness of chili peppers. She has never tried to replace chili peppers with dogwood, since chili peppers are easy to buy in modern times, but dogwood is not something you can just buy at the market.
However, chili peppers have not yet been discovered in Da Zhao. In any case, Yun Yin has never heard of them, and even Luo Man has not heard of them. It can only be said that chili peppers have not yet been introduced to Da Zhao.
We can't find this anytime soon, so we can only try dogwood for now.
Taking a few dogwood leaves, Yunyin found star anise and cinnamon in another corner. She didn't have much of these two spices; they were too expensive, so she only bought a small amount. Fortunately, the meat she bought didn't have a strong gamey smell, so just a little bit of spices would be enough. With these spices in hand, she planned to make braised pork for lunch. This dish was perfect with rice, especially for someone who traveled as a merchant.
She tidied up the thatched hut briefly, picked up the pork belly Zhang Lin had bought that morning, and headed to the food stall.
Just then, Yunyin heard Zhang Lin shouting loudly in the distance, "Wife, I've already cleared an acre of land, do you want to go and take a look?"
Yunyin looked at the meat in her hand and decided to go to the field to check on the situation first.
Zhang Lin chose a spot near the small river, which would make watering much easier. Yunyin glanced at the ground, which had already been turned over once; all the stones, big and small, had been picked out, and even the larger clods of soil had been broken up.
Yunyin nodded in satisfaction and said, "You're pretty fast. You finished it in just one morning."
Zhang Lin chuckled and said, "It's all familiar work, and I've been eating and drinking well these past few days, so I have plenty of energy."
"Miss Yun, what should we plant?"
Yunyin pondered for a moment and said, "We can plant some of the scallions, ginger, and garlic that we often use, and we can also plant some cabbage."
"By the way, it's also time to plant chives now. You can ask Sister Qian if they have any seeds."
Thinking of this, Yunyin remembered that there were still many vegetables, but she was not sure if they were for this season. She quickly said to Zhang Lin, "You continue clearing the land. I'll be right back. As for what to plant, we'll talk about it when I get back."
When Zhang Lin looked up, he saw that Yun Niangzi, who had just been in the field, had vanished in a flash. Completely bewildered, he could only pick up his hoe and go to a nearby plot of land to continue tilling the soil.
Yunyin, who had run far away, quickly returned to the thatched hut at the foot of the hill. She put down what she was carrying, took out the plant guide, and said as she looked it up, "I only know that Dazhao doesn't have chili peppers or potatoes, and I don't know what vegetables are available."
"But whatever it may be, I'll see what I can plant in the spring first."
Yunyin opened the thick book, and the first thing she saw was an eggplant.
Yunyin looked carefully, skipping the popular science information about eggplants and their nutritional value, and went straight to the planting method. After reading it carefully, she finally saw in a corner that it said to start seedlings from February to April in the north and transplant them from April to May.
She quickly skipped that section and carefully looked at the planting time in the south in spring. Sure enough, the sentence was followed by the statement that seedlings in the south are raised from December to February of the following year, and transplanted in March-April.
Yunyin noted this down and then looked up other vegetables that could be planted in spring, discovering that there were simply too many vegetables that could be planted in spring.
Leafy vegetables include spinach, lettuce, bok choy, amaranth, etc.; stem vegetables include carrots, radishes, beets, etc.; and stalk vegetables include celery, lettuce, onions, scallions, leeks, etc.
Yunyin couldn't keep up with the list until she saw the fruits and vegetables that could be planted, such as cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, bitter melons, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, peas, and many other vegetables that could be planted in spring.
She suddenly realized that even ten acres of land might not be enough for her to cultivate. Yunyin wiped the sweat from her brow and thought it best to go to Linjiang Village to ask Sister Qian what they were growing and buy some seeds from them.
After reading these, Yunyin searched for information on mushroom cultivation techniques and actually found some, though not for straw mushroom cultivation. She glanced through them and thought they might be applicable to straw mushroom cultivation.
Once the straw mushrooms grow in May, I'll try this method. If it works, we won't have to worry about mushrooms anymore.
After thinking it through, Yunyin hid the book and found Zhang Lin, who was still clearing the land, and said, "You continue clearing the land. I will buy seeds tomorrow, and then I will leave the farming to you."
Although Yunyin's planting guide had instructions on how to plant, she had never farmed before. If she were to go and farm, she probably wouldn't even be able to harvest the seeds. She was well aware of that.
She continued to do what she was better at, leaving the farming to Zhang Lin. At this point, Yunyin was once again convinced of how right it was to have Zhang Lin stay and help.
Yunyin returned to the food stall with the meat and seasonings, but seeing that no one was still heading in that direction, she decided to start making lunch first.
Yunyin has already eaten noodles this morning, so she doesn't plan to eat noodles for lunch. Braised pork with rice would be tastier.
Yunyin put the pork bone broth aside, took another small pot, poured in some cold water, put in the whole piece of pork belly, and after the water boiled and the pork was half-cooked, she took out the meat, rinsed it with cold water, and cut it into pieces.
Heat oil in a pot, add ginger, star anise, and cinnamon, and sauté until fragrant. Add the chopped pork belly and stir-fry until golden brown on both sides. Add sugar, soy sauce, fennel seeds, and salt. Stir-fry evenly with a spatula to ensure each piece of meat is evenly coated with color. Add water, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook slowly.
After Yunyin finished making the braised pork, she put rice on another stove to steam. Smelling the aroma of the meat, she picked up a bunch of cabbage.
She's been eating lots of meat and fish these past few days, it's time to cook some vegetables. Speaking of which, she has a few taels of silver, it's time to go to the county to buy an iron pot.
Nowadays, she uses a pot to cook, which is very inconvenient for stir-frying. She can't cook some stir-fried dishes at all, and can only make some stews.
Although there are many stewed dishes, such as the stewed mutton at Luo Niangzi's house, she still misses stir-fried dishes. Dishes stir-fried in an iron wok have a wok hei (wok aroma) and are very fragrant. She is used to stir-fried dishes and really misses them.
As Yunyin washed the vegetables, she thought that if no one came by this afternoon, she would go to the county tomorrow to check.
There are no blacksmith shops in town, only in the county. Since Yunyin has never been to the county, she will borrow a carriage from Madam Luo tomorrow and go to the county town for a stroll.
Yunyin washed the vegetables and waited for another half hour until the braised pork was tender before she reduced the sauce and served it.
She quickly stir-fried a plate of vegetables and went to the edge of the field to call Zhang Lin over for dinner.
The sun was already high in the sky. Yunyin fanned herself and saw Zhang Lin running over, covered in sweat. She quickly stopped him, saying, "Slow down, no one is rushing you."
Zhang Lin, panting heavily, said, "Miss Yun, how can you not be enthusiastic about eating?"
Yunyin: "It's too hot, you can take a break. You don't need to open them all, otherwise you can't plant them all by yourself."
Zhang Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I know, Madam Yun, don't worry about me. I'm tough, this little bit of work is nothing."
"What shall we eat today?" he asked expectantly.
Yunyin didn't say anything more, and handed him a bowl of rice, saying, "We're having braised pork today."
Zhang Linguang's mouth watered at the mention of meat. He swallowed hard and said, "Following my wife, we really do get to eat meat. I've eaten more meat in the last few days than I used to eat in a whole month."
Yunyin also knew about Zhang Lin's family's past situation. Before they fled the famine, they had land and could occasionally eat some meat, but not much. Since fleeing the famine, he had never eaten meat again.
She picked up her rice bowl and said, "Alright, hurry up and eat. How's the braised pork today? I added dogwood. Do you guys eat dogwood before?"
Yunyin knew that people in Long'an County ate dogwood; she had even seen it at Luo Niangzi's shop. She just didn't know if Zhang Lin and his group ate it. If not many people ate it, she might have to make less spicy food in the future.
Zhang Lin swallowed a piece of meat in one gulp. It was soft, fragrant, sweet, and spicy, and tasted great with rice. He quickly ate a bite of rice and then replied to Yunyin, "We also eat Zhuyu where we're from. Everyone around Jiannan Road eats this flavor."
Seeing that he was eating happily, Yunyin also picked up a piece of braised pork with a bright red color. The fat was crystal clear and jiggled when she picked it up. It was stewed until tender and melted in her mouth with just a gentle touch.
With its salty-sweet and sweet-spicy flavors, and rich sauce, it's undeniably a delicious dish that goes perfectly with rice.
Yunyin ate large chunks of meat, forgetting even the small green vegetables beside her. She ate several pieces before slowing down to eat the vegetables.
The green vegetables were nothing special, but their sweet taste perfectly countered the cloying sweetness in the mouth. Yunyin ate a bite of green vegetables and a bite of meat. Seeing that Zhang Lin wasn't eating any green vegetables, she quickly said, "You should eat some green vegetables too."
Zhang Lin curled his lip and said, "If there's meat to eat, who would eat vegetables?"
Yunyin glared at him, and only then did he reluctantly start eating the vegetables.
Although Yunyin also loves meat, she can't just eat meat and not vegetables. Besides, these vegetables are stir-fried with pork, which is also very delicious.
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