Chapter 21 Xu Miaogu's Unexpected Guest
Because Lu Qiong was so shocked, the abbot also found it interesting. It happened to be lunchtime, so he took Lu Qiong and Lu Xuan to the kitchen.
The kitchen at Xiangguo Temple was several times larger than Lu Ji's, and could accommodate nearly a hundred people. There were five or six stoves along the walls, as well as extra stoves for frying beans, making flatbreads, and cooking porridge. It was more like a food stall than Lu Ji's.
The renowned monk Huiming directed the monks to prepare lunch. The monks on the left picked vegetables, the monks in the middle shredded them, and the monks on the right were responsible for putting them into the pot to cook. In an instant, the aroma filled the air.
Even vegetarian dishes can be made into elaborate dishes, which Lu Qiong greatly admires.
However, she came here to see how to make roasted pork, but unfortunately Sister Yang had already gone back, otherwise they could have "learned the craft" together.
Abbot Lingtong was only responsible for making the introductions; the rest was up to Lu Qiong herself. She took advantage of a moment when Monk Huiming had a free moment to greet him, and only after he returned the greeting did she dare to reveal the purpose of her trip.
The monk Huiming was forty years old and had been in the temple for more than twenty years. He had met all sorts of people, but he rarely encountered anyone asking him how to make roasted pork, let alone such a young female benefactor.
It's a novel thing, Monk Huiming said with a smile: "You've come at a good time, benefactor. I just happened to be preparing this dish for another benefactor. If you don't mind the tedium, you can wait here."
Lu Qiong wasn't good at listening to flowery language, but she understood that this meant permission, so she smiled and agreed.
Perhaps due to the rules, the monks prepared lunch very quietly. Apart from the sounds of chopping vegetables, burning firewood, and boiling water, there were no other noises, which also quieted down Lu Qiong and the other person.
When the monk Huiming began processing the pork, he called them over to watch. It was just the initial cleaning and hair removal work, during which he talked about his past experiences.
In his early years, he also set up a stall at Xiangguo Temple, which he named "Roasted Pig Courtyard." He would hawk his wares in the courtyard with a bald head, and he would sell them starting from five catties, earning quite a bit of money.
Lu Qiong almost couldn't shut up while listening to his story, and Lu Xuan was also captivated. It was one thing for a monk to know how to cook meat, but to be able to make money from it, and it sounded like he made more than the entire Lu family business... The world is full of wonders, and today has truly been an eye-opener.
The monk Huiming washed the pork and put the whole piece of pork into a pot of cold water. He sprinkled wine, a knot of scallions, and star anise on it, and then cooked it with firewood until the pork turned from red to slightly white. This was to remove the fishy smell from the meat.
The monk used a long wooden dagger to scoop out the pork, then held the knife and sliced the meat into pieces the size of a finger: "The meat needs to be cut into evenly thin pieces. They shouldn't be too thin, otherwise they'll be overcooked and tough. They also shouldn't be too thick, otherwise the outside will be cooked through while the inside is still raw."
Place the pork chunks in a bowl, sprinkle with ginger powder, pepper, soy sauce, oil, and powdered sugar, mix well, and marinate for a while.
Lu Qiong's mouth watered just from the smell; this was just like the roasted meat of later generations!
Next comes the crucial step of grilling the meat: skewering it with bamboo sticks. According to Huiming, you cut a few sections of bamboo, then whittle them into small skewers, which can also be used to make bamboo skewer incense. After skewering, the meat is placed over a fire to grill, and the two of them help skewer the meat, brushing a layer of oil on the surface to make the aroma even stronger.
The grill for roasting meat is long and narrow, with charcoal at the bottom and meat skewers on top, just separated from the charcoal fire.
Monk Huiming first demonstrated, holding four or five skewers of meat in his hand and grilling them over charcoal fire. The oil dripped onto the charcoal and sizzled, sparking a layer of sparks.
Lu Qiong had grilled meat quite a bit in her previous life, so she picked up a few skewers and tried it herself. She first set them up, and when she heard the dripping oil, she used her index finger and thumb to pinch and flip six or seven skewers of meat neatly. The other side was already a deep red color, and oil was still oozing out. You could feel its crispness when you poked it with your hand.
Most importantly, it smells good!
Lu Xuan had never seen her roast meat before. Her eyes gleamed with admiration as she looked at the roast meat, her mouth practically watering: "Sister, you're amazing!"
Even the monk Huiming praised him repeatedly, after all, he hadn't taught him much about roasting meat, yet this benefactor was able to get the hang of it so quickly, and the presentation was no worse than his.
“With such skills, why not set up a stall in the courtyard? Who knows, it might become the next ‘Roasted Pig Courtyard’.”
Lu Qiong was overjoyed by the praise; this was the approval of a seasoned barbecue expert with twenty years of experience! But the very next second, she burned the meat...
Lu Xuan immediately laughed loudly, and even the monk Huiming showed a meaningful smile.
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the whole plate of meat was cooked. Seeing that the two women's eyes were shining with desire, the monk Huiming gave them a few skewers to try.
Lu Qiong thanked him and accepted the roasted pork. He felt sorry for him. He had been roasting pork for twenty years but had never been able to taste it himself. No wonder he had stopped setting up a stall. After all, who could resist eating such fragrant roasted pork?
The monk Huiming had other things to do, so they didn't disturb him any longer and went to another courtyard to eat roasted meat.
Upon seeing the juicy chunks of meat, Lu Qiong took a deep breath, inhaling the spicy and pungent aroma of pepper and the irresistible fragrance of meat. Taking a bite, she found the outside crispy and the inside bursting with juice. It was a little hot, but that didn't diminish its deliciousness.
Lu Xuan was impatient; she took a big bite of the roasted meat, fanned herself with her hand, and chewed it a few more times, saying, "It's so hot!"
Is she going to have to stir-fry it in her mouth again? Lu Qiong asked a nun in the other courtyard for a bowl of bean water, which should have been chilled in the well and was still slightly cool. She then carried the bowl of water back with steady little steps and handed it to Lu Xuan: "Eat slowly."
After leaving Xiangguo Temple, they rested at home, and Lu Qiong took the opportunity to clean the house thoroughly.
Seeing that the doghouse she had built for Xue'er was a bit worn out, she found some new dry straw and tied it into the shape of a bird's nest, then lined it with a piece of dark burlap. When she pressed it down with her hand, she found it was soft and not prickly.
Today was also Xue'er's bath day. They had to fetch water from outside, and it took them three trips to fill the water tank.
Since there weren't many soap pods left at home, they had to burn some dry branches into wood ash, soak it in ash water, and pour it on Xue'er's body. Her white fur was dyed black, but fortunately she cooperated, and soon she had a clean white dog.
Lu Qiong was so tired she could barely stand up straight. The water vat still needed to be filled. If there were a well in the yard, things would be easier for them, but they couldn't actually dig one, since it wasn't her yard.
A day after Xiangguo Temple, Lu Ji's reputation soared, attracting more and more diners, almost matching the scene when it first opened.
They also established contact with the people at Xiangguo Temple, especially the nuns who were very kind. This morning, they even sent over some newly made clothes. Lu Qiong also asked Lu Xuan to send back some pastries.
In addition, Lu Ji also had an unexpected guest.
The original cabinet was too short, and Lu Qiong had to hunch over every time she wrote, which would cause her back to ache after a while. So she painstakingly drew a cabinet design that was taller and narrower than a regular table, taking up less space, so that she could easily keep accounts and write on it.
The cabinet was still made by Pei Yu, using mortise and tenon joints to join several planks together. It also had three drawers, narrower on the left and right sides and wider in the middle, for storing copper coins and ledgers. The bottom was hollowed out so that a heater could be placed there in winter to keep feet warm.
Pei Yu dragged the wooden cabinet from Tongjifang by herself. When Lu Qiong saw this, she wanted to help carry it into the shop, but a burly-browed customer waiting for soup noodles stopped her. He rolled up his sleeves and said with a smile, "Manager Lu, you should rest. If you hurt your hand, who will make food for us?"
The burly-browed diner had broad shoulders and looked like someone who did manual labor. Lu Qiong smiled and agreed, then stood beside him to help him over the threshold, reminding them, "Watch your step."
The newly made wooden cabinet is next to the stove, which is a last resort. The shop is small, and the stove cannot be moved. The only option is to find someone to build a wall in a few days to separate the cabinet from the stove.
"You two must be very busy. Here, have a bowl of water first. The freshly made soup dumplings aren't ready yet." Lu Qiong handed them two bowls of bayberry water.
Pei Yu initially declined, saying that she had already paid and it was not appropriate to take anything for free. However, the burly-browed diner was generous and easygoing, insisting that she accept the food. In the end, he ate the three-delicacy noodles that were served.
After seeing the diners off, Lu Qiong returned to the newly made wooden cabinet. Lu Xuan pulled off the coarse cloth from her waist and gave the cabinet a good scrubbing: "The things he makes are really good, durable and beautiful."
"It's durable, so there's no need to scrub it so hard. It's new paint!" Lu Qiong exclaimed, feeling sorry for the paint.
Yang Jie'er's voice was also quite loud, as she slammed the dough in her hands onto the wooden board with a "clang, clang," and she also chimed in with Lu Xuan: "The new paint smells strong, it'll be better if you wipe it a few more times. I think Xuan Jie'er's strength isn't enough."
Enough, enough. Lu Qiong couldn't win an argument with two people, so she went to arrange the benches outside neatly.
A shadow fell, and she looked up, her words abruptly cut short: "This sir..."
It turns out she's the young woman who caused trouble at Zhouqiao Bridge. Her brother is in trouble, so she's come here alone to "fake" someone? Lu Qiong even felt sorry for her before.
To everyone's surprise, Xu Miaogu simply carried a worn-out bamboo food box and said softly, "I'd like a cold noodle dish."
Since she was a guest, Lu Qiong couldn't turn her away in front of everyone. Besides, she seemed no different from any other customer, so she casually agreed and went to get some cold noodles.
Lu Xuan also recognized the person and whispered in Lu Qiong's ear, "Isn't this the guest who had a stomachache the other day? What brings you here?"
Yang Jie'er also joined in the gossip, asking what had happened. Lu Xuan then embellished the story of that day and told her about it.
Sister Yang's face darkened, her eyes widening: "How can there be such an unreasonable person? Are you here to cause trouble today too? That won't do, we have to go to the government to find someone."
As she spoke, she made a move to go out and find someone, which startled Lu Qiong, who quickly pulled her back and whispered, "There's no need to panic like this. I didn't see any hostility from her today. Maybe she just wants to eat the soup dumplings made by Sister Yang. After all, Sister Yang has become quite famous lately."
Sister Yang wasn't one to overthink things, and hearing her say that put her at ease. She blushed at the praise and could only channel her excitement into slapping the dough, resulting in another series of clanging sounds.
Lu Qiong finished making the cold noodles, drizzled the last spoonful of hot oil over them, turning the dough a tempting reddish-brown color, and added some extra toppings. After all, she had heard Jin Niang talk about her background that day, and she was indeed a pitiful person, so she also ordered two leftover pastries.
Thinking of her infuriating older brother, she couldn't help but sigh. She packed the cold noodles back into the bamboo food box, handed it to Xu Miaogu, and said politely, as if to other diners, "Please take care, sir!"
Xu Miaogu glanced at her, also feeling the weight of the food box, and said in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible, "Thank you."
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