Chapter 32 Brown Sugar Tofu Pudding
First, she had a good personal impression of Zuo Tianyuan!
Although he was greedy, the child's manners were quite proper, indicating that his parents had some discipline at home. And considering his appearance after sneaking out of the house, it was still quite neat; Mrs. Zuo would probably be even more hygienic!
Secondly, during the conversation just now, she had already found out all the information about this Mr. Zuo!
Her original surname was Yan, and her given name was Mo. Her father was a Confucian scholar, but fortunately, he wasn't too pedantic. He would teach her poetry and literature in his spare time. Later, she married her current husband, and they lived a harmonious life together.
The only problem was that the family was poor.
If you had to describe Yan Mo's husband's daily life, he would be a small-time vendor in the city. He doesn't earn much money on a regular basis, so while the children stay at home to study, she goes out to help out at various restaurants and taverns to earn some extra money.
When Jiang Zhi heard this, she perked up completely.
Money wasn't a big problem for her.
*
Jiang Zhi's eyes lit up.
In her heart, she had already quietly transformed Yan Mo's original words into:
Having read some books, I can check on Xiao Mahua's homework to see if it's going well!
Family poverty: There is a reason to go out and earn money, and as long as they keep up with their wages, they won't have to run away on weekdays!
A harmonious marital relationship means that couples won't come looking for problems!
He has worked in restaurants and taverns on a regular basis: he has a work ethic and basic cooking skills!
She must have been sent by God, a chosen kitchen helper!
Jiang Zhi made a decision in her mind, and the smile on her face became even sweeter!
*
Jiang Zhi made up her mind, and then began to subtly win him over!
She first called over the little girl, who was secretly scaring Tianyuan at the street corner. After ruffling the little girl's hair, she gently patted her twice, signaling her to go inside first and stop teasing the crying little brother. She would come in later to tell a story.
Then, with a smile, she went inside to get a bowl, picked out a few bites of fried noodles for Tianyuan and Yanmo, and then squatted down.
With just a few gentle words, Zuo Tianyuan, who was crying like a storm, stopped his violent sobbing. Although he still had some uncontrollable sobs, he finally started to eat the small plate of fried noodles that Jiang Zhi had brought over while sniffling.
After finishing his meal, he blew his nose and finally decided to go home, albeit reluctantly.
This series of actions left Yan Mo, who was standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.
Taking this opportunity, Jiang Zhi coaxed the two unrelated boys away and then began to subtly guide them. This persuasion actually swayed Yan Mo somewhat, though she was still somewhat hesitant at first.
But all that hesitation was broken when she casually handed over a bite of the fried noodles, and after taking a bite...
Jiang Zhi has her own unique method for stir-frying rice noodles. The aroma is so enticing that it would make countless children drool with enticing sweetness, even from the cooking smoke.
Once it was scooped out of the pan, the incredibly enticing aroma didn't continue to waft out; instead, it seemed to be enveloped in every piece of stir-fried wide rice noodle, bean sprout, and even the eggs and meat pieces...
Now, about ten or twenty minutes have passed, and the stir-fried noodles have lost their fresh heat and wok hei (wok aroma), but Jiang Zhi has improved them herself, and they are still warm without being greasy at all...
Yan Mo couldn't help but ponder at this moment, wondering if he had misunderstood the wide rice noodle skin all these years, and that it was supposed to be this delicious!
However, she quickly thought about what she, her father, and her husband had done, then chewed the noodles in her mouth, pondered for a moment, and finally came to a conclusion:
My new employer is really good at cooking; look how delicious this stir-fry is!
*
And so, with her sweet talk and the help of a bowl of fried noodles, Jiang Zhi successfully won Yan Mo's heart...
No, it's loyalty!
With a smile on her face, Jiang Zhi seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, and quickly wrote out the temporary contract.
After negotiating the wages again, the two were both very satisfied. The terms they agreed on were: to pay by the day, 150 coins per day, which was not a low price.
If the two still choose each other after three months, then Jiang Zhi will switch to 4 strings of cash per month.
Jiang Zhi was quite satisfied, after all, she had originally prepared more money. In ancient times, men and women could not get equal pay for equal work, and male helpers were generally paid more.
But in truth, Jiang Zhi secretly prefers girls... after all, they are more attentive and safer for her.
In short, one of Jiang Zhi's biggest worries has finally been resolved.
Next, it's time to get to work!
*
Jiang Zhi first asked Yan Mo to check on Xiao Mahua's homework.
Jiang Zhi herself was well aware of her own academic abilities: in modern times, she might barely have a university degree, but in ancient times, when it came to classical Chinese, she was at best better than that ignorant and incompetent man surnamed You, and beyond that, she was really hopeless.
So, on weekdays, she could only sneak into the school to see what they were teaching, then find a couple of old books for Xiao Mahua, and occasionally feed him chicken soup or something similar.
Now, finally someone even more professional than her has arrived!
Jiang Zhi herself went elsewhere.
*
Jiang Zhi squeezed the soybeans she had soaked earlier; the beans had swelled up and the hard core was gone, so she knew they were almost ready to be harvested.
She picked up a colander, scooped out the beans, rinsed them two or three times, shook them a few times, and then, carrying a small basket, ran step by step to the village entrance, where there was an old stone mill. Villagers rarely went there except to occasionally make beans or rice milk.
As expected, there was no one there, so she didn't wait in line and put the beans directly on the stone mill.
He then fetched a basin of water to help grind the beans.
*
After all the preparations were completed, Jiang Zhi adjusted the spacing of the millstones and cut a basket of grass to feed the old donkey, waiting for the big project to begin.
After the old donkey slowly finished eating the basket of grass, Jiang Zhi patted it with a smile, and the old donkey, quite understanding, began to pull away at a leisurely pace.
Jiang Zhi couldn't help but laugh as she watched the donkey start moving.
Even though she was smiling, her movements were quick and efficient.
Bending down, Jiang Zhi first scooped up water to rinse the inside of the stone mill clean. When the scoop of water, carrying the residual slurry from the previous rinse, flowed out, Jiang Zhi scooped up another ladle of water and continued rinsing.
Jiang Zhi waited until the water flowing out looked about the same as the water in the ladle before she prepared to start grinding.
First, add one spoonful of soaked soybeans, then add three spoonfuls of water; this ratio is just right.
While preparing, Jiang Zhi had already placed a large earthenware basin directly below the opening of the stone mill, covered with a layer of gauze, specifically for the initial filtering of large pieces of soybean dregs.
And so, with the old donkey's methodical steps, the "first batch" of tofu was born in Jiang Zhi's eyes.
Next, we need to further screen them.
Before that, Jiang Zhi first served the great hero, Comrade Old Donkey, another bowl of grass. Only when the old donkey began to lower his head and chew slowly did she quietly turn around and leave with the bowl.
As for sifting, Jiang Zhi had already made plans. She first picked up the bamboo sieve she had borrowed from the Zhao couple earlier that morning, and then called on Yan Mo, who had finished tutoring her homework, to help. The two of them worked together to secure the gauze on top.
Then, Jiang Zhi first asked Yan Mo to go outside and buy the dishes according to the menu she had written down, while Jiang Zhi herself began to pick up a wooden spoon and press out the remaining juice in the middle of the bean dregs that had just been filtered through the gauze.
This step sounds simple, but it's actually incredibly complicated to do.
Almost on the eve of Yan Mo's arrival, Jiang Zhi finally put the soy milk she had painstakingly prepared on the stove to heat it up.
Although it was for heating, Jiang Zhi was not idle. She was still slowly stirring the soy milk in the pot with a long-handled spatula to prevent it from burning.
Jiang Zhi knew in her heart that this thing was not like boiling water, which could be done without any care.
When Jiang Zhi first made tofu, she didn't pay attention to it and naturally didn't notice the slightly charred edges of the pot.
It wasn't until they tasted the tofu that they discovered the big problem.
Why does this tofu taste burnt?
This incident left Jiang Zhi with a deep psychological scar, because she had made a huge pot of tofu, and yes, she ate that huge pot of tofu with a burnt smell for two or three days, until she was disgusted by it.
*
As her thoughts drifted, Jiang Zhi had been stirring things up for quite some time without realizing it, and her hands were starting to ache slightly.
And the soy milk did not disappoint her; it had now passed the "false boil" stage, which is when it only boils but does not release any aroma, and had reached the "full boil."
This step may seem simple, but it is actually the key to the traditional production method.
There was no way around it; although people in ancient times didn't understand what phenols were in modern bioscience, they were perfectly clear about whether eating them would cause abdominal pain.
After cooking for a while and confirming that the soy milk was fully cooked, Jiang Zhi pressed down on the fire poker under the stove with her foot, and the fire was instantly extinguished by the layers of ashes under the stove.
This is a trick that Jiang Zhi has been figuring out these past two days: just fill the fire shovel with a shovelful of ashes beforehand, and when you need to put out the fire, simply step on the handle of the shovel with your boot, and the ashes in the bucket will be thrown onto the flames, extinguishing the fire instantly.
While her mind wandered aimlessly, Jiang Zhi's hands never stopped: she found a bamboo chopstick and held it tightly in her hand, then placed one hand on the pot to feel the temperature inside. When she felt that the soy milk was not hot enough, her eyes flickered slightly, and she gently touched the surface of the soy milk with the chopstick, then touched it to her wrist. When she felt it was warm enough, Jiang Zhi knew that the temperature was finally about right.
After the soy milk is made, the next step is naturally to make the braising liquid.
*
Jiang Zhi had previously learned how to make tofu in order to recreate some traditional dishes, and even had a basic understanding of two methods for curdling tofu.
One type is brine, which is made by diluting natural brine extracted from salt fields or salt wells with boiled water.
Jiang Zhi naturally couldn't do that. Salt was a monopoly commodity in ancient times, and Jiang Zhi didn't want to go against the ancient imperial court for the time being.
The other one is what Jiang Zhi plans to use today.
She had previously gone to the market to find some plaster powder, which was a rare item in ancient times, but since not many people used it, it wasn't too expensive.
Jiang Zhi searched for a long time before finally finding the family that used to make tofu and buying a small bag of it.
At this moment, she gently poured the plaster powder out of the cloth bag, then carefully added water and slowly stirred it.
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