Chapter 61 Dragon Beard Noodles: Waiting until the radish was soft and the meat was tender...
The shop matters can't be rushed, but the forehead ornament needs to be removed first; it's been wearing it for a while and it feels a bit stuffy. Luckily, it was applied with rice paste back then, so it's easy to remove now.
Lu Qiong took a soapberry from the wooden shelf in the kitchen, soaked it in water, rubbed it with her hands to create small bubbles, and applied it little by little to her forehead. The colored paper flower ornament was then wetted and pulled off by her hands.
Laughter could be heard from the courtyard from time to time. Lu Xuan was still playing with Xue'er, and in the end, the two little ones were all dirty.
"Woof woof..." Xue'er's tail swung rapidly as she grinned and exhaled.
Unable to resist its enthusiasm, Lu Xuan quickly pressed down on its body with both hands: "You're about to pounce on it!"
In early spring, as the ice on the Bian River melted, the well in their yard also warmed up, and she removed the straw covering the well.
Lu Qiong fetched a bucket of water, herded the man and dog into the house, and then prepared to start a fire to boil water.
"Sister, I don't want to take a bath today..."
Lu Xuan pleaded sweetly from behind, but Lu Qiong remained resolute: "It was cold a few days ago, so I only wiped my face. Now your clothes are all dirty, if you don't wash them soon you'll be..."
"A ghost!"
She had just turned around when she saw a dark figure with three red floral decorations on its face, which startled her.
Especially since Lu Xuan was grinning at her, it was even more frightening.
Lu Qiong hadn't lit the lamp to save trouble, and now she was getting the short end of the stick. She patted her chest, still shaken: "You walk without making a sound?"
Now there was no room for compromise on the bathing issue. Lu Xuan wanted to argue her point, but seeing the look in her eyes, she swallowed back the words she was about to say.
As she left, she muttered to herself, "No wonder Cheng Niang left; she must have been scared away by my sister..."
The two of them have been going to bed early these days, but today they didn't turn off the lights until midnight, though they still had to get up early.
After Lu Qiong yawned several times, Sister Yang couldn't help but ask, "Young lady, did you not sleep well last night?"
The water in the pot was boiling, with small bubbles constantly bubbling and making a gurgling sound.
Lu Qiong yawned again, her eyes becoming moist: "I had a dream all night."
Seeing that she rarely looked tired, Sister Yang was also a little worried and stopped kneading the dough: "Do you want to go back and rest? Now that Sister Xuan and I are here in the shop, there shouldn't be any major problems."
Sister Yang has recently become quite capable of handling things on her own. Before, she even had to be mindful of others' opinions when kneading dough, but now she can make decisions for herself in many things.
Not long ago, when she was away, Sister Yang resolved a case of malicious trouble-making. She intimidated the person with just a few words and was not afraid of anything at all.
Lu Qiong was also relieved, but she was much more sober now, so she smiled and declined, "There's no need to go back. These days are springtime, and there are many customers. If we earn more money, we can sleep soundly at night."
Seeing that she looked much more energetic, Sister Yang smiled and said, "Then I'll put in a lot more effort today and make more soup dumplings so that you can earn more money."
Sister Yang kneaded the dough until it was smooth, soft, and elastic before taking a breath. Then she rolled the white dough into long strips and divided them into evenly sized portions.
She rolled each dough ball into a long strip, then dipped her fingers into the earthenware jar containing lard and smeared it on the noodles. The noodles became shiny, smooth, and not sticky.
Hold both ends of the noodle with both hands, then stretch it and swing it in the air. The noodle will become thinner and thinner. Fold it in half and stretch it again. Repeat this several times until the noodle becomes thin as a thread.
This reminded Lu Qiong of how to make dragon's beard candy.
I couldn't resist the urge to stretch the noodles, so I tried to do the same. But I didn't control my strength and a few broke in the middle. They left marks on the cutting board and I almost got flour on my clothes.
Lu Xuan, who was grinding tea leaves nearby, was gloating, but just as she was about to burst into laughter, she accidentally crushed her hand, screaming in pain, "It hurts so much!"
Now it was Lu Qiong's turn to laugh at her. In the end, she softened and rubbed her skin, saying, "I told you not to be careless. Be more careful next time."
Sister Yang was used to them doing this. She smiled and then grabbed a handful of flour, sprinkled it on the noodles, shook off the excess flour, and put it into the boiling water.
Steam rose from the pot, swirling around the stove. Sister Yang held a wooden dagger and stirred gently. The thin noodles swirled in the pot, gradually changing color and floating to the surface, releasing their aroma.
Rinsing the noodles in cold water after rinsing them will make them more chewy.
Lu Qiong is also quite skilled at making sauces. She first pours in soy sauce, vinegar, Sichuan peppercorns, and chopped green onions, and finally drizzles a layer of hot oil over the noodles. Then she adds the hot noodles to the soup and a steaming bowl of dragon beard noodles is ready.
Those who prefer meat can add a few slices of meat to the soup noodles, while those who prefer vegetables can add shredded cucumber or shredded radish.
However, making dragon beard noodles was also troublesome. It took Lu Qiong quite a while to learn how to pull out slightly thinner noodles, not to mention the number of times she broke in the middle.
She wouldn't stop until her wrists started to ache slightly.
Seeing that Sister Yang was so hot that she rolled up her sleeves, and her exposed forearms were shaking as she tossed the noodles, he was full of admiration.
When will she reach that level...?
With the scientific expedition postponed, the students who were confined to the school had some free time to go out and about. After leaving Yingtian Academy and crossing the Zhou Bridge, they said they wanted to try dragon beard noodles.
Coincidentally, someone suggested going to Lu Ji's, and everyone kept swallowing their saliva when they thought of the lotus flower pastry from half a year ago.
On the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon raises its head, but Lu Qiong believes that one can still eat dragon beard noodles after that, since it's just for good luck anyway.
But Sister Yang's cooking skills are really good. She slurped up a mouthful of smooth noodles, each strand thin and long, from one end to the other, and then drank a big mouthful of soup. Finally, she was satisfied!
As I finished the last sip of soup, still savoring its savory flavor, a group of bookish students entered the shop. They were probably fresh out of academy; some of them looked quite familiar, having visited many times before the New Year. They complained about the rigid teachers at the academy while simultaneously being captivated by the food, sighing repeatedly.
Especially that young man with the indigo pouch hanging from his waist, he must have come by just a few days ago.
Lu Qiong cleared away the dishes and chopsticks, then went to greet them with a smile and led them to an empty seat.
The young man with the indigo purse placed his folding fan on the table, ordered several of his usual dishes, plus a bowl of dragon beard noodles.
"A bowl of dragon beard noodles and a drink."
The drink… no one had tried the newly improved citron drink yet. She had just tried it and thought it was good. On one hand, she wondered if she was being too lenient with herself, but after what happened yesterday, Lu Xuan refused to try it again.
Thinking of this, Lu Qiong smiled even more enthusiastically: "Would you like to try the newly launched citron drink?"
The young man, unaware of any danger, laughed and said, "Then we'll have citron drinks. We trust Manager Lu's cooking skills."
Lu Qiong nodded in satisfaction. Seeing that Sister Yang had gone to make dragon beard noodles, she also began to tinker with citron drink.
The citrons I chose yesterday were bad; the shells were too hard. This time I chose ones that I could squeeze with my bare hands, but they were still harder than lemons.
She used a bamboo knife to cut it, which took a lot of effort. Her hands were red from pressing the knife before she could cut it into two pieces. She put them in a small earthenware pot to cook, added sugar, and let it ferment slightly before turning the heat down to a simmer.
The citron drink was earlier than the dragon beard noodles, and the young man was also looking forward to it, but it was too hot. However, it had only just warmed up, and the drink was still better hot.
He blew on the rim of the bowl, and a wisp of hot air quickly rose up and covered the young man's face. Only after it cooled down a bit did he carefully take a sip.
He licked his lips and, under the expectant gazes of Lu Qiong and the others, took another sip.
The young man with the indigo purse always paid close attention to food, and this time he swallowed hard, looking at him expectantly: "How does it taste?"
He finally put down his bowl, making a sound as it hit the table, and nodded, saying, "It's delicious, just as good as the drinks served in restaurants."
That's a really high rating!
However, Lu Qiong was also happy to hear this. Whether it was flattery or the truth, kind words always make people happy.
Before he could even respond, another young man chimed in, "Why doesn't Manager Lu come to the academy to cook? They just got a new cook, but his skills are so-so..."
The academy has changed its leadership?
Lu Qiong was somewhat surprised, thinking that the positions in the academy were all secure jobs, but she didn't want to be confined to one place, and her current life suited her better.
He smiled and said, "Maybe the new chef hasn't adapted yet; it takes time to get used to each other."
The young man with the indigo purse nodded, and after thinking for a moment, said, "The flatbread I made yesterday was quite good; it tasted much better."
As soon as he finished speaking, he started joking again: "Manager Lu's cooking skills are so good, if you opened a restaurant, it would definitely be more popular than Yunxiang Restaurant."
Young men have such sweet tongues.
Lu Qiong was so coaxed by them that she couldn't speak. She laughed until her face was stiff, and then she gently rubbed her cheeks.
Even after they left, she was still thinking about opening a restaurant, but opening a place like Yunxiang Restaurant was just wishful thinking. However, expanding the store needed to be put on the agenda.
The first spring rain in Bianjing came at the perfect time, yet also at the worst.
Thanks to the rain, Lu Qiong could sleep in without any guilt. She felt that if customers came in the rain full of expectations, only to find that the restaurant was closed, they would be very disappointed.
Perhaps influenced by her emotions, Xue'er, unusually, didn't run around and obediently lay down at her feet.
Spring drowsiness...
She also fell asleep feeling guilty.
The air after the rain was not only moist, but also carried the scent of earth, and even the withered trees in the yard sprouted new buds.
There are still some radishes left from last year's storage in the cellar. Although they're not fresh, they can still be used to make soup.
Lu Xuan also got hungry, so she pestered Lu Qiong to make beef stew with radish.
She picked out a radish that was just enough for the two of them and was about to peel it when Lu Xuan grabbed her hand and smiled ingratiatingly, "Sister... could you take another one?"
Lu Qiong withdrew her hand: "These radishes are quite big; two are a bit too many."
"Not much, I can eat it all by myself."
Something seemed off, but in order to figure out what kind of trick she was up to, Lu Qiong nodded in agreement: "Should we put in more beef?"
"want!"
Lu Qiong nodded eagerly, then realized she was too excited and calmed down, hooking her fingers together with a shy look: "I'll go with Sister's suggestion."
After washing and peeling the radish, I cut it into chunks and set it aside. The pungent smell of the raw radish lingered for a long time.
Put the chopped ground beef into a pot, add wine and ginger slices, and cook in water until it changes color. Take it out and set it aside. Then put it in a hot pan and stir-fry until cooked, add seasonings and stir-fry until fragrant and golden brown.
Seeing that it was almost ready, Lu Qiong looked up, and Lu Xuan, with great insight, brought water and poured it into the pot, covering the beef.
After it boiled, Lu Qiong reduced the amount of firewood and simmered it over low heat for half an hour.
After the stew is cooked, the radish is added. When the radish is soft and the beef is tender, it makes a soft "popping" sound, and small bubbles keep rising and bursting in the pot.
It has a sweet and savory aroma, a unique flavor that comes from the combination of radish and beef.
Lu Qiong scooped up a spoonful of soup, smacked her lips, and found it to be just the right amount of salty and savory. It would be even better if there were meatballs in it.
As for the meat, she chose beef shank, which has a lot of tendons and membranes, but after stewing it will only become softer, more tender, and more elastic, making it more refreshing.
After the food was cooked, Lu Xuan helped bring it to the table. Lu Qiong also took out the peach wine left over from before the New Year. The two sat in the main room, listening to the rain pattering under the eaves.
The aroma of peaches lingers in the air, carrying a sweet fragrance.
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