Chapter 78: The 78th Inn collects cotton and makes Cantonese rice noodle rolls...
After finishing a bowl of taro rice, Yunyin patted her belly contentedly. "Except for pork, which is a bit expensive, the rest isn't that expensive. If we take a little of the meat we use every day, it'll be enough for the people who collect cotton."
"This taro rice is really delicious. I'll make another taro braised chicken tomorrow. You can try it too; it's just as good as the taro rice."
Cheng Yong agreed, "Yun Niangzi's cooking is never bad. I already knew that. I'm really grateful to Fu Wang for letting me stay and recover from my injuries. I really didn't want to recover from my injuries so quickly."
Yunyin looked at Cheng Yong: "Brother Cheng, are you leaving now that you're healed?"
Cheng Yong: "Yes, there are still many things to do at the escort agency. By the time Fu Wang returns, I will have almost recovered from my injuries and will have to go back." He sighed, "It seems that it will be difficult to eat Yun Niangzi's food in the future."
Yunyin was a little reluctant to part, but she also knew that all good things must come to an end, and everyone had their own things to do. Being able to spend some time together was already very good.
She smiled and said, "Then eat as much as you can while you still can. You're welcome to come and have a meal here if you happen to pass by in the future."
She looked at Ma Hao and the others and asked, "Are you going with Brother Cheng too?"
Ma Hao shook his head and said, "Brother Fu told us to come and help Lady Yun. We will stay here."
Yunyin breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Ma Hao and the others wouldn't leave. If they had left too, she would have had to hire new people, which would have been another troublesome matter.
Yunyin brought over the remaining taro rice and served each person another bowl, saying, "Eat more, there's still plenty left."
The next day, Yunyin was packing the roasted duck and salt-baked chicken. The roasted duck in the oven was also cooked. She took the roasted duck out of the oven. The roasted duck was different in color from the roasted duck. It was more brownish-yellow. She cut open the belly and poured out the sauce. A duck aroma instantly filled the air.
The sauce inside the roast duck is especially delicious when mixed with rice, and it's also good to dip the duck meat in it. However, she has an even better dipping sauce: the broth is used to cook noodles.
For breakfast, Yunyin ate noodles in roast duck soup, along with a fried egg and some greens. Feeling full of energy after eating, she quickly washed the dishes and said to the people who were still eating, "You guys take your time eating. I'll go and take the roast duck and salt-baked chicken to them first."
The people from Manxiangju hadn't arrived yet, but Zhao Qian arrived earlier. As soon as he saw Yunyin, he said, "Miss Yun, our lady said she wants you to bring her five roast ducks. She trusts your skills and believes they can't be bad. Can I take them all home today?"
Yunyin, thinking of the roast duck already hanging in the kitchen, nodded and said, "No problem, I'll go pack it up for you now."
After emptying the sauce from the roasted duck, she wrapped it in lotus leaves and handed it to Zhao Qian, saying, "If it gets cold, you can just reheat it a little. This duck will keep for a day without any problems."
Another difference between roast duck and Peking duck is that Peking duck must be eaten freshly roasted, when the skin is crispiest. Roast duck, on the other hand, can still taste good even after being reheated after a day, making it more suitable for shops with fluctuating customer traffic.
Zhao Qian took the roast duck and put it back in the car. "I'll mention it to Madam Luo. By the way, can we roast this ourselves too? Freshly roasted duck should taste even better."
"Roast duck is different from Peking duck. You only need to reheat it when you get home, you don't need to roast it yourself. The taste is about the same. You can try it when you get home if you don't believe me. Besides, you have to roast lamb and Peking duck every day, do you have that much free time to roast duck as well?"
"Tell Sister Aman that I can come and pick it up after it's done." Although her oven wasn't big, she didn't have much to roast. There were some ingredients in the roast duck, and she didn't want the people at Manxiangju to know about them so soon. After all, roast duck also had a sauce recipe, and you could figure out most of the recipe just by looking at the sauce.
She trusted Luo Man, but as she said before, since Manxiangju didn't intend for them to grill themselves, she wouldn't say anything about Luo Man for the time being, lest they end up like Manxiangju and get into trouble. She didn't want to bring trouble to Sister Aman.
Yunyin doesn't really care about spreading these recipes, but she needs to save money now, a lot of money. She just expanded her courtyard, and if she wants to expand it again, she'll need a lot of money. She also wants to save money to go out and see the world. She's come all the way to Dazhao, so she should go and see what other people are doing and improve her own cooking skills. Once she's saved enough money, selling these recipes to them won't be a problem.
Zhao Qian, of course, had no idea what Yunyin was thinking. He nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go back and tell my wife."
She handed him a jar of plum sauce, saying, "This is a sauce for roast duck; you can take it home with you."
She then handed Zhao Qian a wrapped ham, saying, "This is a Nanzhao ham that I bought. I think it tastes good. Take it back and let Sister Aman try it."
Zhao Qian: "Thank you so much. I thank you on behalf of my wife, and she will thank you in person another day."
Yunyin shook her head. "I just thought the ham was pretty good, so I was sharing it with Sister Aman. Okay, I won't say any more. You should go back now so as not to waste too much time."
Zhao Qian drove the carriage away. Yunyin looked at the people passing by on the official road, but still couldn't see Gao Liang's figure. She couldn't help but worry and said, "I hope nothing has happened. Yesterday, Ma Hao said that Gao Pengxing was very grateful to him and even wanted to stay for a meal."
After waiting for a long time without anyone coming, Yunyin returned to the inn, took out the taro she had collected yesterday, and prepared to make taro rice and braised chicken with taro for today.
After killing, plucking, and cleaning the chicken, cut it into pieces. Yunyin cut two chickens in total. The focus was on the taro. A lot of taro was prepared. The taro was washed, peeled, cut into pieces, and soaked in water to prevent oxidation.
Blanch the chopped chicken in boiling water, then rinse it clean. Add oil to the pot, then add the blanched chicken and stir-fry briefly. Add scallions, ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns, then add the fermented bean paste made by Zheng Guilan. Stir-fry briefly again, then add soy sauce for color and pour in hot water to simmer.
Yunyin put the lid on the pot and said to Feng Hai, "Can you check the pot for me? I'll go out and see why Gao Liang hasn't come yet."
She wiped her hands, took off her apron, and returned to the courtyard. Just as she was about to go out, several women walked in from outside. They were from Linjiang Village, and the leader was Sister Qian.
"Sister Qian, what brings you here too?" Yunyin stepped forward to greet her. Looking at the people behind her, all of them were efficient and capable. She looked at Sister Qian and asked, "Did you bring them here?"
Sister Qian shook her head and said, "I'm here to help too. I heard Grandpa mention that cotton is even warmer than kapok, so I wanted to come and see for myself. I plan to plant some next year." She remembered something and asked, "By the way, you said you'd exchange cotton for straw, how do you plan to do that?"
"How about exchanging an ounce of cotton for a pound of straw?"
Yunyin led the people to the cotton field and pointed to the cotton in front of them, saying, "Look at this cotton. Just looking at it makes you feel warm. If you stuff it into your clothes or quilts, it will be even warmer."
She picked a flower and handed it to Sister Qian, saying, "Feel it, isn't it warm?"
Aunt Qian touched it; it was indeed soft and warm. Her eyes lit up as she asked, "Is this cotton easy to grow? How much can you harvest from one acre?"
Yunyin: "Planting isn't difficult, but we'll only know how much we can harvest per acre after we've finished. Would you like to wait here for a while while I get you baskets and start picking?"
Sister Qian kept her eyes fixed on the cotton field in front of her, saying without blinking, "Go ahead, sister, I'll take another look."
Yunyin asked Zheng Guilan to lead the group to look around the fields. She went back and found the baskets she had prepared earlier in the storeroom. They were tied with straw ropes so that they could be tied around the waist for easy picking.
When Yunyin returned to the field with her basket, the group of people had already circled the cotton field many times. Many of them said that they would also plant cotton in the future, so that winters wouldn't be so hard to endure.
She handed them the basket and said, "Only pick the ones whose cotton bolls have already burst open. Pick the others after they burst open. You can start picking now. I'm going back to cook. We'll eat lunch in the field." Yunyin was about to leave when she suddenly remembered that they had arrived very early. She turned back and asked them, "Have you had breakfast?"
Sister Qian tied up the baskets and called everyone to go to the field. She replied, "We've already eaten breakfast. Yun Niangzi, go ahead and do your work. We should get to work too. We've taken your money, so we can't be careless."
Seeing that they had already started picking, Yunyin called Zheng Guilan to go back together. Zheng Guilan said, "Miss Yun, don't you need me to go down and watch over them?"
"It's alright, Sister Qian is here. Besides, I've met these people; they're all honest and law-abiding citizens who won't cause any trouble."
Yunyin returned to the inn and saw Ma Hao, who was on his way to help at the noodle stall, and asked, "Hasn't Gao Liang arrived yet?"
Ma Hao: "I can't see it. Should I ride my horse to take a look?"
Yunyin shook her head and said, "Forget it, let's wait a little longer. If they still don't come, you can deliver today's goods to them for me."
Ma Hao nodded and said, "Alright, then, Madam Yun, I'll go and get busy now."
Yunyin: "Go."
She went back to the kitchen. The chicken was almost cooked, and Feng Hai was pouring the half-cooked taro into the pot. Yun Yin went to the stove, took a look, and seeing that there was nothing wrong, washed her hands and started cutting the vegetables for today with Feng Hai.
After helping her mother finish her chores, Fang He entered the kitchen. Seeing that the adults were all busy, she washed her hands and went to her designated seat to practice her knife skills.
Yunyin recently bought a lot of radishes, and Fanghe was in charge of chopping them. This way, she could practice her knife skills and avoid wasting ingredients. The diced radishes could be used to make kimchi.
Fang He took the knife that Yun Yin had specially made for her and carefully chopped the radish. For a while, the only sound in the kitchen was the clanging and clattering of the knife.
Yunyin chopped the ingredients for today's lunch. Seeing that Gao Liang hadn't arrived yet, she wiped her hands and prepared to have Ma Hao go there himself. Just as she stepped out of the courtyard, she saw Gao Liang walking towards her.
"You've finally arrived." Yunyin stepped forward to greet him, carefully examining him. Seeing no worry in his eyes, she assumed nothing had happened. "I've been waiting for you all day, and I was even thinking of having Ma Hao make the trip. How is your boss? Is nothing serious?"
Gao Liang wiped his sweat and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "It's nothing. I should thank you for reminding me, Madam Yun. My master asked me to bring you a gift, please accept it."
He took out five bolts of silk from the carriage behind him, and then took out several food boxes. “I’m sure you won’t need any other gifts, but this silk is perfect for making clothes. I heard from the owner that you really like his Eight Treasure Chicken, so our manager specially made a few for you.”
Yunyin frowned as she looked at the several baskets on the ground and said, "What is Manager Gao doing? I was just reminding him that it's inappropriate to accept such a gift."
The Eight Treasure Chicken was alright, not particularly valuable, but she could tell that the silk fabric in Gao Liang's hand was not cheap. Although it couldn't compare to the satin Xia Yan had given her, it was still very good material. A bolt of it would cost at least half a string of cash, and these five bolts would cost more than two strings of cash.
Gao Liang stuffed the silk cloth into Yun Yin's hand, "Yun Niangzi, please take this. This is our thank-you gift. If you hadn't discovered it in advance, our family's signboard would have been stolen."
Yunyin raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's going on?"
She told someone to put the things in the kitchen, and placed the cloth in her hand on the counter. Gao Liang said, "It was also because of Yun Niangzi's reminder that we started investigating the Yuelai Restaurant. We didn't expect that he would arrange for someone to come to our shop to work in advance, intending to learn little by little. If we hadn't found out that the person's background was wrong, we probably wouldn't have realized something was wrong until the Yuelai Restaurant put our signature dish on the menu."
Yunyin was surprised by such a thing and felt fortunate for Manager Gao. Luckily, it was discovered in time, otherwise he would have suffered heavy losses. No wonder he gave her so many gifts; compared to the losses that could be recovered, this was nothing.
After understanding the whole story, Yunyin accepted the gift with relief. "It's good that Manager Gao is alright. Here's today's roast duck and salt-baked chicken." Yunyin handed the roast duck and chicken to Gao Liang, and then took another roast duck, asking, "Do you still want roast duck at your shop?"
After packing the items, Gao Liang nodded and said, "The shopkeeper told me before I came that I could order directly from Lady Yun, and I would sign the contract."
Yunyin signed a new contract with Gaoliang, giving him five roasted ducks every day. She handed him today's portion of roasted ducks and said, "You can heat them up when you get home and eat them. The taste is almost the same as freshly roasted ones. I thought you had so many things to roast every day, so I roasted these ducks for you."
“Heating won’t take long, and your oven will be freed up to make other things.”
She then handed him a jar of plum sauce. "This is for roast duck. Besides plum sauce, you can also use a dipping sauce made with scallions, ginger, and garlic. It tastes just as good."
Gao Liang: "I know, thank you, Madam Yun. It's getting late, I have to go now. I was delayed by things at the shop, and it's already quite late today. I need to hurry back. There are quite a lot of people waiting for the roast duck and salt-baked chicken every day, and if I don't go back soon, it will be too late."
"Alright, you can go now. Be careful on your way." Yunyin waved to Gao Liang. After he left, she walked towards the inn. Cheng Yong, who had been standing at the door, then said, "Yun Niangzi, aren't you worried about the recipe being leaked if you give them semi-finished products to bake themselves?"
“I’m not worried. Although I haven’t known Gao Pengxing for long, I don’t think he’s that kind of person. As for Sister Aman, I’m even less worried. I was able to stay here thanks to her. If she wants the formula, I can give it to her. Unfortunately, Sister Aman doesn’t want my formula for free.”
"Besides, who said that the semi-finished product I gave them, the roast duck, would be difficult for them to taste the recipe? And although they roasted the duck themselves, I didn't give them the dipping sauce."
The quality of the dipping sauce for roast duck determines whether the whole duck tastes good. Even if they know how to make delicious crispy skin, they can't make the same dipping sauce as her. You know, the dipping sauce she uses has been tested by the market. She put in a lot of effort back then. After making this dipping sauce, she sold it to a roast duck maker, and it was quite popular.
Cheng Yong patted Yunyin on the shoulder, "I thought you didn't know anything and had no sense of self-preservation at all."
Yunyin shrugged and said, "Fu Wang did say that I have no suspicion of others, and to be honest, I don't really care whether anyone can make these recipes or not." If it weren't for saving more money, she would love for all these foods to be made so that she could buy them whenever she wanted and then go and research new dishes.
Having been in Dazhao for so long, she has only researched a handful of new dishes. There are still many dishes waiting for her to study, learn, and recreate. You must know that Chinese cuisine is rich and diverse, and there are countless dishes that she has eaten and has not eaten. She could never finish making them all in her entire life.
"Besides, you don't know, even if you know the recipe, every chef's dish will taste different." She pointed to Feng Hai, who was entering the kitchen. "Do you think my dishes taste the same as his?"
Cheng Yong looked at Feng Hai, then at Yun Yin, and shook his head, saying, "They're still different. Yun Niangzi's dishes are more refined."
Yunyin: "But Feng Hai and I use the same recipes. I even taught him how to make some of the dishes myself. You can tell they're different. Not to mention they can only try it themselves, so it's even less likely they'll be the same."
Cheng Yong: "I understand now. It seems I was being overly cautious."
Yunyin shook her head and said, "That's because you don't understand cooking. If it's something you're familiar with, you're probably much better than me."
While the two chatted outside, Feng Hai, who was in the kitchen, ladled out the cooked taro and chicken stew, washed the pot, and called out, "Yun Niangzi, should I make the taro rice or will you?"
Yunyin stopped talking to Cheng Yong and went into the kitchen, saying, "You do it. I need to plan how to sell the roast duck."
While washing the pots by the sea, Feng Hai asked, "Do you want to sell roast duck rice and kimchi?"
“Roast duck requires skillful knife work. Only the two of us in the shop can slice it thinly, so we can’t sell too much,” she said with a laugh. “Roast duck is different. It can be cut into pieces and sold. Served with pickled vegetables, fried eggs, and greens, along with some dried radish, it’s quick and convenient. Even passersby can have it anytime.”
"How about 30 coins per serving?" Yunyin asked Feng Hai for his opinion. "The temperature is getting lower and lower now, so we can roast the ducks in advance. It won't be a problem to prepare more."
Feng Hai thought about the previous prices of the dishes in the store, "This price is quite reasonable, so let's settle on this. I'll start making more roast duck tomorrow."
Yunyin: "Okay, let's leave it at that for now." She looked at Fang He, who had already cut quite a few radishes, and said, "Ahe, if you feel tired, you can take a break. There's no need to rush. There will be plenty of dried radishes to make in the future, enough for you to practice."
Fang He wiped the sweat from her forehead and continued cutting without blinking, saying, "I know, I'm not tired yet. I'll rest when I get tired, Master, don't worry about me."
Seeing that Fang He was serious, Yunyin didn't interrupt her anymore. Watching Feng Hai start making taro rice, she went back to her room, found some paper, drew a picture, pasted it on the wooden board, and took the board out to Cheng Yong, saying, "Brother Cheng, your handwriting is better than mine, so could you please help me write it?"
Cheng Yong looked at her simple drawing, took the wooden sign from her, pulled out a piece of paper from under the counter, and said while writing, "You should practice your handwriting. The drawing is not bad. You can recognize what kind of dish it is at a glance."
Yunyin scratched her cheek. "I practice for a while every night, but my handwriting is still far from yours. I can draw simple pictures, but I really need to practice my handwriting more."
Cheng Yong pasted the written paper onto the wooden board and handed it to her, saying, "Okay, you can put it outside."
After thanking her, Yunyin took the wooden board and walked towards the noodle stall. It was almost noon, and there weren't many people eating noodles, but a few people still looked at her curiously as she carried the sign over. "Miss Yun, what's this for?"
These people were frequent travelers between Beijiang County and Long'an County. She often saw them come here for breakfast. She placed the wooden board by the roadside, looked it over, and seeing that there was nothing wrong with it and that people on both sides could see it, she replied, "This isn't a new dish. I'm just posting it so people can see it."
The man stepped forward and examined the picture carefully. He pointed to the hanging duck, then looked at the bowl of rice and chopped duck next to it and asked, "Is this the roast duck that your shop sells so well?"
Yunyin shook her head and said, "They say it's a new dish, not roast duck, but braised duck. It will be available in a couple of days. Would you like to try it?"
"What's the difference between roast duck and braised duck? Aren't they both ducks?" He finished the soup in his bowl in one gulp, let out a long sigh, and said, "I've heard of roast duck, but it's too expensive. I can't afford it. These wontons are more suitable for me."
He glanced at Zhang Lin and Ma Hao, who were still busy at work, and asked, "Miss Yun, will your noodle stall ever have any new dishes? I've tried all the noodles you sell, and I'd like to try something different. Don't forget that you own this noodle stall too."
"Don't just focus on your inn and forget about this noodle stall. We're regular customers of your noodle shop, aren't we?"
The others agreed, hoping that Yunyin would have new food, as they had heard that the guesthouse often had new dishes.
Yunyin glanced at him and said, "Didn't they introduce a new flavor of wontons? Are you already tired of them?"
He shook his head: "I come here to eat every day, don't you think?"
After thinking about it carefully, Yunyin said, "I do have a new breakfast option. Why don't you come over and eat it tomorrow?"
"Tell me about any new and interesting food you're eating."
Yunyin: "You'll see when you come tomorrow. It's absolutely delicious; you've never had anything like it before."
No matter how he asked, he couldn't get any information out of Yunyin. He could only pack up his things, pick up the basket, and walk forward, muttering to himself, "Then I'll come back tomorrow. I want to see what kind of delicious food it is that's so mysterious."
After the guest left, Zhang Lin came over to clear the table and whispered to Yunyin, "Miss Yun, what kind of breakfast do you want? Is it difficult?"
Yunyin: "Linzi, I remember you can weave bamboo baskets, right?"
"Yes, but my bamboo basket weaving skills are just so-so. Would you like me to weave some bamboo baskets, my wife?"
Yunyin shook her head. "No need. You can weave some bamboo winnowing baskets this afternoon. After you finish weaving them, I'll teach you how to make new food. It's not difficult to make; you'll learn it in a little while."
Although Zhang Lin was somewhat worried, he still listened to Yun Yin's advice and planned to weave a few bamboo winnowing baskets after dinner.
Yunyin returned to the kitchen, glanced at the sky, and realized it was getting late. If she didn't eat soon, she wouldn't have time to eat once she got busy. She saw that the taro rice that Feng Hai had made was also ready, so she took a bucket from the shelf, filled it with taro rice, and together with Zheng Guilan, took the food to the field.
Before she left, she said to Feng Haidao, "You guys eat lunch yourselves. Zheng Guilan and I will eat with Sister Qian. You can share the eight-treasure chicken that Manxiangju gave us. It won't taste as good if we save it for dinner."
Feng Hai: "I understand." He looked at Fang He, who was about to leave with them, and asked, "Aren't you going to eat with us?"
Fang He shook her head and said, "I'm with my master and mother."
Yunyin and her companion brought their lunch to a tree next to the cotton field and called out to Sister Qian and the others who were still bending over picking cotton, "Come and eat!"
Hearing the call, Qian Xing got up and looked around. She saw Yun Yin standing under a tree by the field, wiped the sweat from her brow, and said to the people in the field, "Let's go, Yun Niangzi has brought the food. Let's go eat."
Hearing this, the others also stood up straight, stumbled out of the cotton field, put down the bamboo baskets hanging from their waists, and sat down next to Yunyin. Qian Xing smelled the fragrance wafting in the air and said, "What dishes did Lady Yun make? They smell so good."
Yunyin opened the lid of the wooden bucket, scooped out a bowl of rice, and handed it to Qian Xing. "Sister-in-law, try this. It's taro rice I made." She pointed to the taro and braised chicken in the bucket next to her. "This is taro and braised chicken. You should all try it."
The other women followed Qian Xing's example and sat down, picking up their earthenware bowls to eat. As soon as the food entered their mouths, they all stopped in their tracks, then quickly shoveled the rice down their throats without saying a word. Qian Xing, however, was more knowledgeable. After a few bites, she said, "No wonder Lady Yun's shop is so popular. Even simple taro rice is made so delicious. No wonder everyone else wants to eat at Lady Yun's shop."
Yunyin: "They're the ones who've been supporting my business. As long as the sisters-in-law are used to the food, that's fine. If there's anything they'd like to eat, they can tell me and I'll cook it tonight."
Qian Xing: "The dishes are already very good, with both meat and vegetables, much better than what we usually eat. No wonder when you came looking for someone before, the men looked disappointed when they heard you wanted a woman. It turns out you were looking for a good meal."
A thin, long-faced woman across from Qian Xing quickly finished her bowl and replied, "I've heard my husband mention that Yun Niangzi's cooking is exceptionally delicious. Seeing it today, I can confirm it's truly amazing. Otherwise, how could you have made your business so successful?"
She ladled another bowl of rice from the bucket, took a bite of the taro and chicken stew, and exclaimed in amazement, "I wonder how you made the chicken, my wife. It's so delicate and tender, and the taro inside is even tastier than the chicken. It's really amazing!"
Yunyin: "The main thing is to render the chicken fat, then stir-fry the chicken, add the sauce and stew it. The taro should also be sprinkled with salt and steamed first, so that it will be more flavorful when cooked in the soup."
"I see." The woman nodded repeatedly. "But I heard that Madam Yun uses an iron wok to stir-fry, right? It's a pity we don't have one at home. I don't know if a small pot would work."
"Of course you can. You'll need to use a larger heat in a small pot. Ceramic doesn't conduct heat as quickly as an iron pot, but if you're careful, you can still stir-fry delicious meat. It's just not as convenient as using an iron pot."
After finishing her meal, Yunyin noticed that her sisters-in-law were still eating, so she didn't disturb them. Instead, she went to check on where they had put the cotton. There were already quite a few cotton balls piled up, and they were picking them quite quickly. She then looked at the cotton in the field that was tied with ropes. They had put it in another basket tied with ropes. Yunyin nodded in satisfaction. These were the ones she had specially selected to keep for seed. It seemed that they were very attentive to their work.
After they finished eating, Yunyin said to Sister Qian, "Sister-in-law, you can rest for a while. In the afternoon, sort out the cotton in the basket. I will teach you then."
She took Zheng Guilan back. By then, Zhang Lin had already woven several winnowing baskets. Looking at the winnowing baskets he had woven, they were perfectly sealed without a single hole. Yunyin nodded in satisfaction and said, "Not bad. Later, grind the rice I soaked into a paste, and I'll go wash the winnowing baskets. I'll make rice noodle rolls later."
"What kind of food is rice noodle roll?" Zhang Lin asked curiously.
Yunyin took the winnowing basket to the well, drew water and washed the baskets clean, then put them aside to dry. She also washed the soaked mushrooms and replied, "It's a kind of food from Lingnan. You've never seen it before. You'll know once I make it."
She went back and chopped up the mushrooms, then soaked some dried shrimp, planning to cook a pot of soup first.
The quality of the broth for rice noodle rolls is crucial. Every rice noodle roll shop has a different recipe for its broth, but the main ingredients are similar, all using soy sauce to create the flavor.
Yunyin Kitchen offers several types of soy sauce, including dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and even more flavorful soy sauce. Of course, they are all collectively called soy sauce, and these differences are due to different brewing methods.
She had searched for a long time to find these soy sauces. She usually used regular soy sauce when cooking, and only used these soy sauces when making sauces.
She scooped out a portion of dark soy sauce and a portion of light soy sauce, added sugar and mixed them. She poured oil into the pot and added garlic, mushrooms, dried shrimp and cilantro in that order. Cilantro is actually coriander, which is added to enhance the aroma of the soup. Of course, if you don't like the taste, you can omit it. After the aroma of the ingredients was released, she added water, brought it to a boil, sprinkled in a small spoonful of salt, and finally poured in the prepared soy sauce.
Simmer the broth over low heat for a while, and once it boils completely, set it aside, cover it, and let it soak for half a day.
After Yunyin finished cooking the soup, she went to prepare the dishes for lunch with Feng Hai. Although Feng Hai's cooking skills had improved rapidly recently and he could make many dishes, it was probably because it was almost the end of the year and businessmen wanted to make a fortune before the end of the year. They were coming and going more and more frequently, and there were more and more people passing by and coming to the restaurant to eat.
The two of them had to work together to keep up with the workload. Fortunately, the side dishes were prepared in advance, and since the customers were in a hurry, they wouldn't order dishes that required time to prepare. The two of them were able to manage.
After Yunyin finished cooking and tidied up the stove, she said to Feng Hai, "I'm going to Aunt Qian's place. You can take care of things here."
Feng Hai nodded and said, "Miss Yun, go ahead."
Yunyin took a few more baskets from the warehouse and walked to the place where they had eaten before. She saw several women chatting and laughing, and asked, "Why aren't you resting, sister-in-law?"
Qian Xing: "We don't have the habit of taking a nap." She pointed to the group of people digging a pit in the distance and asked, "Is Lady Yun planning to expand the house?"
Yunyin glanced over there and nodded, saying, "Yes, I'd like to build two more courtyards. Is there a problem?"
Seeing that Sister Qian was carefully examining the house layout, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's nothing. I was just worried that you would violate the rules. I heard my grandfather mention that, apart from officials, ordinary people also have to follow certain rules when building houses. We usually can't build more than two courtyards. I see that you are expanding to the side, so I suppose there shouldn't be any problem."
Yunyin smiled and said, "Yes, thank you for reminding me, sister-in-law. I specifically asked Qian Si in town for help. If there are any problems, he will let me know."
"Oh, it's Craftsman Qian. He's very skilled. You've come to the right place. He built many houses in the county." Sister-in-law Qian shook her head and said, "It's a pity that fewer and fewer people are asking him to repair houses now. They're all worried about offending the county magistrate."
Yunyin paused in her actions. She actually knew about this matter, but she didn't expect it to have spread so widely. She asked Qian Xing, "Did you all know about it?"
"Everyone knows, this is a big deal in town, we all feel sorry for Qian Si." Sister Qian secretly leaned close to Yun Yin's ear and whispered, "I heard that the magistrate wanted to build a villa, and he knew that Qian Si was quite capable, so he wanted to entrust the matter to him. However, Qian Si refused. I heard that it was because the villa that the magistrate wanted to build was somewhat against the rules, and Qian Si did not want to get involved, so he refused."
After finishing her sentence, Sister Qian sat back down in her original seat. She sighed and said, "I never expected that he would be helping you with your work now. I hope the magistrate won't make things difficult for you."
Yunyin shook her head: "Who am I? The magistrate has never even heard of me, so why would he bother me? I just asked Qian Si to build a house. He also built my previous courtyard. Besides, the magistrate only approached Qian Si because he wanted to build an illegal house. Everyone knows about this. The magistrate is probably having a headache over this matter and has no say in who Qian Si builds houses for."
Sister Qian gave a thumbs up and said, "Miss Yun is the best. If I hear any rumors in the future, I will come and tell you."
Yunyin wasn't worried about these things. She moved the cotton baskets that were placed by the field to the tree. Several women saw this and got up to help. One of them said, "Is Lady Yun going to teach us how to process cotton?"
Yunyin put the basket down and took out an empty basket, saying to everyone, "Well, it's actually quite simple. It's just about taking the cotton seeds out of the cotton. It's not a troublesome thing, but it takes a lot of people to do it."
Sister Qian thought it would be a difficult task, but when she heard that it was just about picking seeds, she shook her head and said, "This is nothing. You haven't seen how hard it is to thresh wheat and rice. That's really hard work. Pounding hemp is also troublesome, but it has to be done. We have to pay taxes and hemp cloth every year."
"This cotton feels so soft and fluffy, it's not prickly or tiring at all. You can even chat while sitting and picking the seeds, it's so relaxing."
The other women agreed with Qian Xing, nodding and saying, "Yes, Madam Yun, we thought it would be such a troublesome thing, but it turns out it's so simple. Just tell us how to do it, and we'll make sure it's done perfectly for you."
Yunyin touched her nose. "It's my fault. I should have thought of that earlier." She forgot that these people were used to farm work. She thought that picking seeds from cotton was very labor-intensive, but in their eyes, labor was the least valuable thing.
She pointed to the empty bamboo basket next to her and said, "Put the cotton seeds you take out in here. These are the seeds we will use later. I will dry them and distribute them to you."
Qian Xing touched the seeds she took out of the cotton ball. "These seeds are quite big, and there's so much cotton. Once we all plant this, winters won't be so hard to endure in the future."
Yunyin: "Yes, once everyone plants it next year, there will be no shortage of warm clothes. However, the cotton yield is not high; one mu of cotton with seeds will not exceed 100 jin."
Qian Xing threw the cotton seeds into an empty basket and put the cotton into another basket. "Yun Niangzi, I didn't see you weigh it."
"I weighed the cotton when I was moving it just now, and it's less than 100 jin (50 catties)."
Sister Ma quickly separated the cotton, her movements were so skillful that she was even faster than Qian Xing. She asked Yun Yin, "This yield is already good. I want to plant more next year. Yun Niangzi, how many seeds can you give us?"
Yunyin: "Each household has at least one acre of land to cultivate. If there is any left over, I will give you a larger share."
Although Sister Ma felt it was a bit little, she became happy again after hearing the second half of the sentence: "Thank you so much!"
Qian Xing nodded and said, "We should thank Lady Yun for being willing to share such good things with us."
“I’ve already traded things with you. Straw has so many uses, and I’m very grateful that you’re still willing to trade with me.”
Sister Qian waved her hand and said, "How can it be the same? Cotton is so precious, we've never even heard of it. Rice straw is worthless. You grow your own rice, so you already have rice straw. You only exchanged it with us because you were worried you wouldn't have enough. We all know that. Madam Yun thought of us specifically, so we should thank you."
Yunyin is really short of straw. Although she harvested a lot of straw in the fall, she has already used a lot to grow straw mushrooms this year and needs to save some for next year. She has also wrapped a lot of straw in the cowshed. In order to keep the cows warm through the winter, she has almost turned the cowshed into a straw hut.
She couldn't argue with them, but it wasn't a bad thing. It would help her get along better with the villagers, so why not? She smiled and didn't say anything. For a moment, the only sounds in the whole area were the rustling of them working.
Yunyin looked up and saw that it was almost dark. She patted the cotton lint off her clothes and said to the others, "I guess you're all hungry. I'll go make something to eat. We'll divide these out today and go pick more cotton in the fields tomorrow. I reckon a lot of cotton bolls will burst open overnight."
Looking at Yunyin's retreating figure, Sister Qian said, "There's even food. Madam Yun is really too kind."
The other women chimed in, "Yes, if the conditions were like this every day, I'd love to work for Lady Yun every day too. I wonder if her inn still accepts people."
The group looked at each other, and one of them stared at Qian Xing. "Sister Qian, you're familiar with Lady Yun, why don't you ask her?"
Qian Xing looked left and right, and after a long silence, said, "I remember you have a lot of work to do at home. You were trying to save some money for the winter, so your family let you out. You still have time to come and work for Lady Yun?"
Sister-in-law Ma: "If we can't do it, there are other sisters. Just tell me if it's possible."
Qian Xing shook her head and said, "I won't ask. If you want to find work, go ask Lady Yun yourselves. My status is not appropriate. You should ask her yourselves."
Meanwhile, Yunyin returned to the courtyard, washed her hands by the well, went back to her room to change her clothes, and wrapped her hair up again. As she walked back to the kitchen, she asked, "Where did Zhang Lin put the rice paste he ground for me?"
Zheng Guilan pointed to the kitchen and said, "Put it on the kitchen table. Madam Yun is going to make some kind of rice noodle rolls now?"
Yunyin rolled up her sleeves and replied, "Okay, go and call him over. I'll teach him how to make it so we can make this breakfast tomorrow morning."
Zheng Guilan ran to find Zhang Lin, while Yunyin filtered the broth that had been soaking the rice. The broth was now a pure color with oil floating on top. She heated the broth and, seeing Zhang Lin come in, greeted him, "Come here, I'll teach you how to make rice noodle rolls."
While the broth is crucial for rice noodle rolls, the rice itself is also very important. Rice noodle rolls made in different places have different rice noodle sheets. Yunyin uses aged rice, which makes the rice noodle rolls fragrant and smoother.
Yunyin filtered the ground rice milk in the bucket, added wheat starch and cornstarch, and finally added a spoonful of oil. The consistency of the rice milk was just right. She stirred it quickly for a while and said to Zhang Lin, "The rice milk needs to be this thick. You can control it yourself in the future. If it is too thick, the steamed rice noodle rolls will be thick and hard and will not taste good. If it is too thin, it will be difficult to steam and will easily break."
Zhang Lin stepped forward and stirred it with a spoon, feeling the consistency. "I understand. I'll try it tomorrow morning. Yun Niangzi, please take a look."
Yunyin took the marinated lean pork: "I don't need to teach you how to marinate pork, do I?"
Zhang Lin looked at the pork Yunyin had marinated and smiled, "I know how to make this."
She took the dried bamboo basket, coated it with oil, poured in half a spoonful of rice batter, shook it a couple of times to distribute the batter evenly, then added the marinated pork and eggs, stirred it, sprinkled some chopped green onions, and placed the bamboo basket in a steamer.
The two waited by the stove. Yunyin judged the time by the steam. When it was almost time, she took off the lid, took out the bamboo basket, scraped the rice noodle roll off the bamboo strips, cut it into several pieces, and put it on a plate.
Yunyin scooped another spoonful from the freshly heated sauce and poured it evenly over the rice noodle rolls, saying to Zhang Lin, "You try it."
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