Chapter 3 Mushroom and Meat Sauce These mushroom and meat buns are amazing! ...
With nothing else to do on the ship, Shen Miaoyuan was worried that the journey would only involve spending money and not earning any. When they arrived in Bianjing, they would have to take care of the original owner's brother and sister, and they were afraid that they would be starving.
Now that the opportunity to open source was available, Shen Miao was naturally tempted, so he asked the young page a few more questions. Although the page appeared bold and clever, he was actually quite naive and soon revealed all the details about his master, "Ninth Brother".
"We're going to Chenzhou to visit relatives, and we'll disembark tomorrow."
"What a coincidence! My ninth son is also from Bianjing. Do you know Kaibao Temple, madam? The Imperial Academy is right next to Kaibao Temple. My ninth son not only passed the Imperial Academy's preliminary examination when he was young, but last year he was also selected for the 'Biyong Academy' within the Imperial Academy. He was the top student and was listed as a senior student!"
Yan Shu proudly puffed out his chest as he spoke, as if he were the one who had read the book, his nose practically pointing to the sky.
"Is he a scholar?" Shen Miao's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.
In the Song Dynasty, both the royal family and ordinary people liked to call their sons "Ge'er" to distinguish them by their birth order. The "Ninth Brother" mentioned by Yan Shu must be his young master.
He's still calling me "brother," he's probably not old enough to be considered an adult yet.
The Imperial Academy held a status in the Song Dynasty comparable to that of Peking University and Tsinghua University. Moreover, in the original owner's memories, the Imperial Academy only admitted the sons of officials in the capital, and the selection criteria were extremely strict. It seems that her neighbor next door is not only young, but also has a bright future.
It's good that they're from a respectable family. Besides, they'll be disembarking tomorrow. They'll only be earning enough for a meal, and there's no real connection between them and the family. That's fine. Shen Miao felt slightly relieved. Moreover, the fact that "Ninth Brother" could raise his personal page to be so chubby and innocent suggests that his family is honest and well-off, and he's likely a kind and good person.
After a moment's thought, Shen Miao agreed. She opened the door, settled the bill with Yan Shu, and asked how much rice they had brought and what dishes they wanted. Hearing that they had brought a lot of hulled and finely ground wheat flour, she smiled and asked, "I also have some dried mushrooms and cured pork. How about I make a bowl of mushroom and pork sauce soup with your Ninth Brother? If there's time, I can also make a basket of mushroom buns."
Yan Shu originally wanted the woman to make that fragrant "Luo Su Fan" again, but then he thought about how depressed Ninth Brother was, and realized that it would be more appropriate for him to eat a bowl of hot soup noodles with steamed buns. So he readily agreed and quickly went back into the house to fill a cloth bag with wheat flour for Chen Miao.
"Then I'll trouble you, my lady." Yan Shu bowed solemnly with his hands clasped before taking his leave.
Shen Miao closed the door, weighed the ten copper coins in her hand as a prepayment, and looked at the small bag of fine white wheat flour at her feet. She thought to herself with satisfaction: Great! Not only did I make money, but I also saved some food!
She had agreed with Yanshu to reduce the labor cost by 5 wen, and to make three bowls at once, so that she could also have one.
It wasn't that she was greedy for small gains, but rather that flour, which was very common in later generations, had to be sifted dozens of times in the Song Dynasty to obtain, and it cost thirty coins to buy a bushel. It was something that only officials and noble families could afford. Ever since Shen Miao transmigrated, she had been tormented by Aunt Rong in the woodshed, only having one dry cake to eat each day that could choke someone. After escaping that misery, in order to save money, she only used millet and brown rice for cooking, and she missed eating a bowl of chewy and smooth noodles so much.
So, for this meal, Yan Shu paid for the relatively expensive flour, and Shen Miao also brought out the mushrooms, vegetables and pork she brought herself. The only other expenses were the firewood, water and the cost of cooking. The three bowls cost a total of 50 coins, and Yan Shu paid a deposit of 10 coins in advance.
Since the young page was so generous and straightforward, Shen Miao decided to use her best skills to make this bowl of noodles.
It's still early, so we can take our time to prepare.
She stopped sleeping, took out two coarse cloth straps from her trunk, tied up her sleeves, and started kneading dough and making sauce.
This "Fragrant Mushroom and Meat Sauce Stewed Noodles" is actually what later generations called Mushroom and Meat Sauce Stewed Noodles. It is not complicated to make, but kneading and resting the dough takes time, and soaking the mushrooms and simmering the meat sauce also takes time.
Speaking of shiitake mushrooms, the Song Dynasty was economically prosperous, and the people lived in peace and stability. Mushroom cultivation techniques were widespread, and in Jinling City, almost every household cultivated mushrooms in a small plot of land in front of or behind their houses. Therefore, before leaving, Shen Miao didn't forget to take away all the shiitake mushrooms that the original owner had carefully tended behind the Rong family's house, leaving not a single one for that wretched mother worm!
Using shiitake mushrooms to make "mushroom buns" is the most common way to prepare them at this time.
At this time, steamed buns were also called "longbing," which were actually the later-era baozi, round and filled. The real "steamed buns" of the Song Dynasty were the "chuibing" sold by Wu Dalang, and they were mostly strip-shaped.
Mushroom buns are essentially mushroom and meat buns.
Mushroom and pork buns were very popular in the Song Dynasty. The famous food critic Su Shi once invited two friends to go far away to eat buns. After eating, he was still not satisfied and posted a review on Xiaohongshu. He wrote in his poem: "The most elegant bamboo shoot cakes in the world are the mushroom buns that are a blessing in human life."
This sentence roughly translates to: "These mushroom and pork buns are absolutely amazing!"
Shen Miao decided to make the meat sauce for the braised noodles first.
Braised noodles are a Henan dish, and their essence lies in the fragrant broth. In later generations, Shen Miao would use top-quality tender mutton and mutton bones to make the broth, which would be simmered for at least five hours. The resulting mutton broth would be white and rich like milk. Then, the noodles would be stretched into wide, thin strips and added to the pot. Separately, blanched side dishes and vegetables would be placed at the bottom, drizzled with chili oil, and served with a dish of pickled garlic. The taste would be so delicious that it would make your eyebrows fall off.
Unfortunately, we don't have the conditions or time right now.
However, noodles cooked with mushroom and meat sauce also have a unique flavor.
Although pork was cheap, Shen Miao was still worried that the piece of pork she had cut would spoil if left too long. She cooked it for lunch, and then used all the leftovers without hesitation. She quickly removed the fatty parts with skin, and cut the leaner parts into small cubes the size of beans. She soaked the shiitake mushrooms in warm water from the boiler room, and then moved the earthenware pot to the small clay stove to fry the fatty parts with skin until they shrank and turned into pork cracklings.
I'll save these pork cracklings separately; I can use them to make steamed buns later.
Taking advantage of this, Shen Miao added diced lean meat to the earthenware pot and slowly stir-fried it until it changed color. Stir-frying in this earthenware pot was a bit sticky, but fortunately, Shen Miao was skilled at cooking, quickly stirring with chopsticks. This slight charring actually added to the flavor. Next, she added diced soaked shiitake mushrooms and continued stir-frying. Then she added scallions, garlic, star anise, and other seasonings, followed by a spoonful of homemade pickled ginger chili sauce, stir-frying until a spicy aroma was released. Finally, she poured on soy sauce, aged vinegar, salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and other seasonings.
Actually, some pepper should have been added, but pepper was expensive. In the Song Dynasty, a pound of pepper cost tens of strings of cash, and a bolt of silk could only be exchanged for a bag of pepper. People like Shen Miao couldn't even afford to buy it, so she used Sichuan pepper instead. Although the flavor was slightly lacking, Shen Miao had another trick: add fermented bean paste.
When she went to buy a kitchen knife, she discovered a sauce shop selling fermented soybean paste. Shen Miao was quite surprised; she hadn't realized that in the Song Dynasty, all sorts of condiments and sauces were already so readily available! After tasting a few bites and finding them delicious, she bought a small jar. Now it came in handy. She added a generous spoonful of the fermented soybean paste, and the mushroom and meat sauce gained its soul. Adding two ladles of the water used to soak the mushrooms, it was almost ready.
Shen Miao wiped his sweat, picked out a few pieces of charcoal from the furnace with the fire tongs, and took the opportunity to put some sugar and sesame seeds into the earthenware jar. He then turned the fire down to a low flame and slowly simmered the meat sauce until it turned brownish-red and thick. The aroma that was almost identical to that of later generations wafted up.
Even Shen Miao felt her mouth water just smelling it; it was so fragrant!
While the meat sauce was simmering on the stove, Chen Miao started kneading the dough.
Kneading dough is actually a skill.
However, Shen Miao learned to knead dough when she was five years old. When she was little, other children learned to play the piano and dance, while she learned to cut tofu and knead dough. When she was seven or eight years old, her parents started to give up their responsibilities and she had to cook all the meals at home by herself. When she entered junior high school, she was able to take on the responsibility of cooking New Year's Eve dinner all by herself.
To make braised noodles, you must use warm water to knead the dough, adding water slowly while kneading until the flour forms clumps. Then, quickly knead it into a smooth dough. This step is crucial; otherwise, the warmth of your hands will cause the dough to ferment faster, affecting the texture. Chen Miao also adds a pinch of salt to the dough, which is key to making the noodles chewy.
Once the dough is almost kneaded, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for about 15 or 16 minutes.
Next, roll the dough into a long strip and cut it into pieces about two fingers wide.
After preparing the noodles, Shen Miao drank some water and rested for a while before starting to arrange the vegetables. She brought a white cabbage, which is the cabbage of later generations. It is said that this white cabbage was selected and bred in Yangzhou during the Tang Dynasty: "The leaves are round and large, there is no residue when eaten, it is very crisp and tender, it can be planted in all seasons, and it is very delicious when pickled."
From then on, it became the favorite of the common people.
Interestingly, Shen Miao's nickname in her previous life was Songsong. Before giving birth to her, her mother ate a dish of spicy cabbage, and her water broke as soon as she swallowed it. So her father said, "Let's name the child Spicy Cabbage!" This suggestion earned her a good beating from her mother, but in the end, they chose the more elegant name of cabbage.
In addition, she also brought two radishes, spinach, cucumbers, coriander... half of her two suitcases were filled with food. Although they were all vegetables, there's a saying at this time: "When the snow in winter is like a mat, the wheat seedlings grow fat; when the spring rain is like grease, the vegetable moss is cheap." The vegetables in spring are fresh and cheap, and since the weather is still a bit cool, these vegetables can be stored at room temperature in a cool, shady place for a few days.
However, Shen Miao didn't buy much. If the cargo ship stopped at a dock along the way, she could disembark and make purchases.
So I cut half a radish. Spring radishes are incredibly crisp and delicious, so I shredded them. Then I added some shredded cabbage and cucumber, and chopped some cilantro in a dish. You can add some if you like, since the debate over whether or not to eat cilantro has never stopped throughout history.
After all that work, the "Stewed Rice Noodles with Mushroom and Minced Meat" is almost ready.
It was still early, so Shen Miao started making mushroom buns again. She had deliberately set aside some mushrooms and meat, and mixed them with chopped pork cracklings to make a fragrant meat filling, enough to make three buns. By the time the mushroom buns were finished and steamed on chopsticks placed on top of the earthenware pot, it was already late.
Wash the earthenware pot clean, boil water, blanch the vegetables and noodles, then add the mushroom and meat sauce, along with the broth from making the meat sauce. Sprinkle with chopped green onions. Shen Miao couldn't wait to take a bite. The noodles were chewy and smooth, and they were soaked in the rich broth, leaving an enticing aroma of sauce on her lips and teeth.
Good, no mishaps.
Shen Miao ladled out her own bowl, wrapped the mushroom buns in oiled paper, and carried the entire earthenware urn to the next room. When she delivered it, only Yan Shu was in the room. The rooms in the cabin were all similar, but the difference was that "Ninth Brother's" room was filled with old, tattered books.
Shen Miao didn't go in. After putting down her things and collecting the final payment from Yan Shu, she bent down slightly and said with a smile to Yan Shu, "Remember to eat it while it's hot, or the soup dumplings will get soggy."
He left after saying that.
Yan Shu had already smelled the aroma wafting from next door. He stared intently at the bubbling soup dumplings on the table, circling the earthenware pot. He couldn't help but lean over the table and sniff again and again, his mouth watering from the fragrance.
He looked anxiously towards the door: Ninth Brother went to the outhouse, why hasn't he come back yet!
Fortunately, the door creaked open a moment later, and a young man dressed in a simple blue shirt, looking like a scholar, walked in absentmindedly. He was wearing a pair of blue cloth shoes, one of which had a clear half-print on it.
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