Chapter 61 Pork Patties
The topic of educating children finally came to an end after a fierce glare from someone, and Wang Can was finally able to join in. Meanwhile, the two on the other side had already started chatting.
The topic is about Old Man Wang working for Jiang Zhi.
After the interruption about educating children, even though Old Wang knew that Jiang Zhi was intentionally using this to bring the conversation closer, he couldn't help but find the young boss, who looked quite young, much more agreeable.
His tone wasn't as aggressive as before.
Jiang Zhi could certainly sense this, and her smile became even sweeter.
Wang Can was still coordinating things from the sidelines.
After both parties had coordinated their efforts and felt that it was about time, Wang Lan picked up his pen and quickly wrote out the contract.
Jiang Zhi glanced at it; her obligations, as stated in the contract, consisted of roughly two points:
"We will provide full guidance to Party B on the food preparation process to ensure that the taste of Party B's products is consistent with that of Party A; we will continue to provide customer support to Party B and will not interrupt or withhold customers that should be referred to Party B without due cause."
Then there are about three things on Old Wang's side:
"Strictly keep the recipe secret, do not disclose it to any third party, do not teach it to others without authorization, and do not modify the recipe process; operate with integrity, do not use inferior raw materials, do not shortchange customers, and do not do anything that damages the reputation that Jiang Zhi has built; pay all fees on time and in full, and do not delay or overstate profits."
As for the money, thanks to Wang Can's efforts, a deposit of five taels of silver was agreed upon to prevent the food from being sold. Then, Old Man Wang would give Jiang Zhi 7% of her monthly earnings.
*
After negotiating this business deal, Jiang Zhi felt completely exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Across from her stood a weathered old man, skilled at bargaining. And then there was a sharp-tongued college student, even more eloquent. For Jiang Zhi, it felt like sitting at a referee's table, constantly wrestling with the other side.
However, thinking that she would no longer have to go through the trouble of making hundreds of servings and selling them, Jiang Zhi suddenly felt that today's hardship would relieve her future worries.
Jiang Zhi became happier and happier as she thought about it, and the five taels of silver in her hand became slightly sweaty.
She simply picked up the Xuan paper next to the contract, wrote down tomorrow's recipe, and told Old Man Wang the recipe for tomorrow's meal. She asked him to make about fifty servings first, and then Jiang Zhi would make about fifty more servings at home. Tomorrow night, she would take Old Man Wang out to sell the food so that her customers could get to know him in advance.
When Old Man Wang saw the recipe, he quietly read it in his mind. After understanding it, his eyes lit up, and he kept praising it.
Although Wang Can was somewhat interested in food, she was far from being as adept at imagining what food would taste like just by looking at a recipe as her father. She mainly focused on the flowing, elegant calligraphy, silently giving Jiang Zhi a thumbs-up in her mind.
After finishing this matter, Jiang Zhi leisurely took a shortcut home.
When I got home, I first rinsed everything I had brought with me under running water, then changed my clothes and tidied myself up.
Then you can drift off to sleep.
*
When Jiang Zhi woke up the next morning, she did the same thing as before, setting up her breakfast stall outside with the same old methods.
For the breakfast stall, Jiang Zhi doesn't plan to update the menu much yet. For Jiang's Eatery at present, stability is more important than innovation.
These items were determined after several days of market research, and it's clear that they are quite popular in this place and in this era.
Jiang Zhi pondered for a moment and estimated that she would wait until all the new products had been copied, or until her productivity improved; otherwise, she was afraid that she would not be able to release any new products for a while.
Her customers, perhaps because they missed out on food yesterday due to the rain, are now engaging in a bit of revenge spending. They stood one by one in front of Jiang Zhi's stall, buying more than usual and wolfing down their food.
Startled, Jiang Zhi kept shouting loudly towards the back of the breakfast stall line.
"Please buy in moderation and don't overeat!"
But perhaps it's human nature to rebel; the number of people queuing up increased, and each person bought more and more.
*
When all the breakfast items were sold out, leaving not even a bite for the children, the queue outside dispersed in disappointment.
Jiang Zhi did a few relaxing calisthenics on the spot to loosen up her muscles and bones, which had been standing and squatting for a long time. After thinking for a moment, she decided to make some pancakes for breakfast.
The pancakes still have to be salty, at least for Jiang Zhi.
So while kneading the dough with warm water that had been boiled earlier, Jiang Zhi took out some pork that she had bought yesterday, along with diced radish that she had gotten from Yan Mo. She quickly chopped the pork into minced meat, put it in a bowl, sprinkled in a few spoonfuls of salt, sugar, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and a few swirls of soy sauce and wine, and then kneaded it in one direction.
The meat wrapped in the pancake is now marinated.
After cutting it, the dough had rested enough. Jiang Zhi dusted her hands with flour, then started rolling it into a long cylinder before cutting it in half.
The dough was divided into even portions, and then pressed and kneaded by hand, turning each portion into a flatbread that was thicker in the middle and thinner on the outside. A chopstickful of minced meat was then placed on the side and wrapped around the center, just like when making steamed buns.
Jiang Zhi roughly calculated that there were three permanent residents in total: herself, Yan Mo, and Zuo Tianyuan. She would send one to Xiao Mahua later, and then give one to You, Pei, and Gu to taste. So she made seven pancakes.
Once the dough is ready, it's time for the pan and fire to work.
Jiang Zhi first replaced the large iron pot on top with a flat-bottomed pan.
Unfortunately, apart from the cornbread served on a hot iron pot in Northeast China, where the vegetables are cooked first and then the dough is stuck to the inside of the pot to bake, I can't think of any other type of flatbread that can be made in a round iron pot. Most of them are pan-fried.
When the pan is steaming hot and the oil is scorching Jiang Zhi's face, pour in some cold oil, add two spoonfuls of sesame oil, and the dough is ready to be placed in the pan.
Jiang Zhi skillfully and deftly placed the dough pieces into the pan one by one with the spatula. She would occasionally press them down with the spatula, and then, when the aroma filled the air, she would flip them over. Once both sides were golden brown, the pancakes were almost ready.
Although Jiang Zhi felt that was the case, in order to make it more cooked and tastier, she still poured a ring of water around the edge of the pot, then covered it and let it simmer for two minutes. When she opened the lid, the aroma was simply irresistible.
*
The pancakes Jiang Zhi made this time weren't small; to be precise, they were made thinner to showcase her culinary skills, making them appear larger. Therefore, she had to cook them in two batches to finish.
Therefore, by the time the pancakes were ready, in the blink of an eye, a sticky little thing was hanging on Jiang Zhi's thigh. The little rascal probably smelled the aroma as soon as he got up, quickly got dressed and got out of bed, just waiting to eat.
However, Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow, bent down and picked him up, adjusting her holding position as she told him:
"You can't eat it yet!"
When Jiang Zhi finally saw the child's pouting lips and disappointed expression, she was overjoyed.
In a flash, he picked up the last piece of pancake that had been fried and placed it on a plate. He told Zuo Tianyuan that after he delivered this piece of pancake to Xiao Mahua, breakfast would be served.
Instantly, Zuo Tianyuan cheered with joy!
*
While the child hurriedly ran out, Jiang Zhi prepared to go to another course.
The reason Jiang Zhi sent the child out to deliver the food wasn't to test his physical strength; it was simply because Jiang Zhi needed to buy some time to prepare the next dish.
As for what the side dishes are?
Jiang Zhi had already made up her mind.
She quickly pulled her clothes tighter to make sure she wasn't shivering from the howling wind outside before jogging out of the house and finding the bean sprouts in the shade.
The bean sprouts had almost fully sprouted, each one upright and tender. Jiang Zhi first picked the bean sprouts and brought them back into the house before removing the heads and tails from each one and rinsing them with warm water to remove the dust and grit from their surfaces.
Now, they switched back to the big iron pot, poured half a pot of water into it, and after it boiled, they put the bean sprouts in to blanch for about 20 seconds, so they were just cooked but not too tough.
After blanching the bean sprouts once, Jiang Zhi put them in a bowl and started preparing the seasonings.
Mix one spoonful of salt, one ring of balsamic vinegar, one spoonful of sesame oil, and three spoonfuls of soy sauce until the salt grains dissolve to a point where they are no longer visible to the naked eye. Then pour the mixture over the bean sprouts so that each bean sprout is coated with the seasoning.
The cold bean sprout salad is now ready.
*
Just then, Zuo Tianyuan came running back, his lips still smeared with grease, making it clear to everyone that the kid had secretly gotten a bite from Xiao Mahua again.
Jiang Zhi didn't care. Anyway, given Xiao Mahua's personality, she would probably only be willing to share a bite after getting to know Zuo Tianyuan. If she wasn't willing, Zuo Tianyuan probably wouldn't even be able to snatch it.
Yan Mo wanted to pretend she didn't care, but as someone who was somewhat of a germaphobe, she couldn't stand her son's dirty appearance. Before she even took a bite, she silently walked towards her own home. A short while later, she took a towel and walked up to Zuo Tianyuan, telling the boy to wipe the grease from the corners of his mouth.
Jiang Zhi was also getting ready for breakfast. She first put a meat patty in everyone's bowl, then placed bean sprouts in the middle. Then she poured almond milk that Yan Mo had just cooked into everyone's bowl, and that's how breakfast began.
Jiang Zhi took the first bite of the meat pie. The first thing to enter her mouth was the golden-brown, crispy, and slightly dry crust. Before she could even bite down, it went straight into her mouth with a "crunch," instantly whetting her appetite.
Then, the meat fat popped and dripped into my mouth. This meat was bought by Jiang Zhi; it was three parts fat and seven parts lean, possessing both the firmness and freshness of lean meat and the oily, juicy flavor of fatty meat. It was neither dry nor overly greasy.
As you chew, the diced radish mixed in becomes more noticeable. Perhaps because it was slightly overcooked, the radish is a bit soft and chewy, but this adds a unique, refreshing radish flavor. It instantly washes away the slight greasiness from the fried minced meat, leaving a lingering fragrance in your mouth after swallowing.
This taste was so wonderful that even after a busy morning, Jiang Zhi found every bite exceptionally delicious, and the fatigue from working all morning quietly dissipated into her mouth.
*
As she ate, Jiang Zhi had a moment where she wondered if she was wolfing down her food too quickly.
But when she looked at the others at the table, she realized that only Yan Mo ate in a relatively refined manner. Zuo Tianyuan, Pei Ye, and Gu Yuan, on the other hand, seemed to be stuffing themselves full, one bite after another.
Jiang Zhi suddenly felt that her eating manners were quite good.
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Author's note: The next update will be on Wednesday, and it'll be a bit longer!
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