Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Duanwu and Baisuo Jiuzi Zongzi are hanging out in Qujiang...
The matter of looking at houses has been settled for the time being. After all, it will take some time to apply for a loan. At noon that day, Duan Zhiwei was making fermented tofu in the backyard. The tofu, neatly coded with salt, had been soaked in a clay jar for two days. When he took it out of the jar today, he found that it had gone bad and was covered with a layer of sticky green liquid.
Just as Aunt Duan was about to step in with a wooden basin full of emerald green bamboo leaves and water chestnut leaves, she was driven away by the smell.
Duan Zhiwei looked at the tofu carefully for a while, but still couldn't bear to throw it away, so he decided to keep it and make stinky tofu some other time.
As the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, Duan Zhiwei handed over the task of frying crispy pork in the afternoon to A Pan and began to prepare for the Dragon Boat Festival wholeheartedly.
It seems that people in Chang'an attach great importance to the Dragon Boat Festival. Aunt Duan went to the Taoist temple to burn incense and asked for a five-colored peach-printed talisman. Duan Zhiwei was not very interested in such customs at first, but when he saw that the talisman had a treasure bowl and the God of Wealth painted on it, which meant attracting wealth, he happily joined in such activities.
Most of the shops in the whole alley were burning rhubarb and white atractylodes, the aroma was rich and strong, and it did keep away a lot of mosquitoes. Two days ago, a customer asked about rice dumplings while queuing to buy hubing. Duan Zhiwei then asked around the alley about what kind of rice dumplings the people of Chang'an liked.
That day, we finally caught Su Juan who came to buy breakfast. We finally asked the right person. Su Juan knew more about food than official affairs, and he talked about it incessantly.
Yujia Zongzi Shop specially bought Wuxing rice from Huzhou and poured crystal clear honey on it, making it look as white as jade. Poets wrote poems praising it as "Colorful bamboo zongzi, fragrant white jade ball."
In addition, the saint bestowed crystal dragon and phoenix cakes and flower essence cakes for the Dragon Boat Festival. Unfortunately, my official rank was too low to enjoy them, so I could only go to the prince consort's mansion to ask for my uncle's gifts. Su Qi's eyes sparkled as he said, "The flower essence cake is made from peonies from Luoyang and lotus flowers from Hangzhou. It is made by steaming hundreds of flowers with red bean paste and glutinous rice. It has a unique flavor."
Duan Zhiwei was greatly inspired and prepared to buy some Wuxing rice to make zongzi, but he was told that because Lady Guoguo's cook had used this rice to make rice cakes and wrapped it with red bean paste to make taohuaci, the price of this rice is now very high.
Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to give up and choose the more affordable fragrant glutinous rice.
Wash the glutinous rice and soak it with mugwort to let the glutinous rice absorb the fragrance of the mugwort. Next, prepare some rice dumpling fillings. Duan Zhiwei prepared candied dates, chestnuts, dried persimmons, ginkgo, red beans, bayberries, etc.
Aunt Duan frowned as she watched: "Zhiwei, the other things are fine, but the rice dumplings with bayberry are probably weird."
Duan Zhiwei squatted beside the Hu pancake stove and skillfully wrapped the zongzi, and comforted her: "The bayberry is pickled with rock sugar, and I think it will taste good in the zongzi."
In fact, she had no idea, because she had only heard the gourmet Su Shi mention "Not only can we see Lu oranges on the plate, but sometimes we can get bayberries in the rice dumplings." But she had no idea how the rice dumplings with bayberries would taste.
As he was speaking, Yuan Shenji rode his usual red horse to a stop outside the restaurant. He was still wearing a black robe, only a realgar purse was worn to suit the occasion.
Duan Zhiwei looked up at him and found that his face was darker than usual and his facial lines were tougher. Compared with Su Xun, who was as fair and clean as a ball of powder, he looked like a rock roughly carved by wind and frost, with an overwhelming sense of ruggedness.
Yuan Shenji saw through Duan Zhiwei's thoughts and explained with a light cough: "I participated in the dragon boat race and have been practicing recently. I think the sun was too strong and I got a little sunburned."
Duan Zhiwei was very surprised: "Dragon boat racing?"
Yuan Shenji nodded and described in detail that during the Dragon Boat Festival, there would be countless colorful pavilions and tents stretching for miles along the Qujiang River, with dignified children performing stage stories at the head pavilion. The small dragon boats were rowed by the common people, while the large dragon boats were escorted by the government, circling around Qujiang River. Yuan Shenji was highly regarded by the sage and was appointed as the leading rower.
"It's so lively." Duan Zhiwei was happy to hear this, with a look of yearning on his face. He really wanted to go and see the magnificent atmosphere of Chang'an.
Seeing that she was interested, Yuan Shenji said, "The scenery of Qujiang River is beautiful during the Dragon Boat Festival... Madam Duan..." He wanted to invite her to watch the dragon boat race, but hesitated for a moment and changed the subject, "Madam Duan can go to Qujiang River to set up a stall..."
"Thank you for your reminder, Captain." Duan Zhiwei thought this suggestion was very correct: "I will go to watch the dragon boat race when I have free time."
She seemed to think that this was not appropriate, so she bowed to him and said, "I wish the commander will win the first prize on Dragon Boat Festival. Come back to the restaurant to eat rice dumplings. I will treat you."
Yuan Shenji successfully invited Duan Zhiwei to Qujiang to watch his competition without much effort, and then he rode away on his horse in the sunset with a relaxed look.
Aunt Duan ran out while biting a candied date: "Why did you leave?"
Duan Zhiwei looked at her in bewilderment. Aunt Duan stamped her feet and asked, "Captain Yuan left without buying anything?"
Yuan Shenji, who could buy four Hu bings at a time, left empty-handed, and the cooked duck flew away.
Duan Zhiwei then realized, yes, he came all the way here just to suggest that he set up a stall in Qujiang?
On the Dragon Boat Festival, Duan Zhiwei got up early and wrapped the prepared candied dates, chestnuts, dried persimmons, ginkgo, red beans, and bayberries into bamboo leaves in order. He then used five-colored silk threads to tie them into small and cute "Hundred-String Nine-Seed Rice Dumplings" and put them into a steamer to steam over high heat.
Seeing that there were some red beans left, Duan Zhiwei added sugar to the red beans and cooked them into a ball. He then coated them with raw glutinous rice flour and put them into a steamer to steam them until they became like a sand ball.
The final dish was translucent, with the color of dense red bean paste faintly visible. Aunt Duan liked sweets, so she took one and put it in her mouth. She found the outer skin of the dish was soft and glutinous, and it bounced back slightly in her mouth. The red bean paste was mixed with a lot of honey, and it had a rich bean fragrance, and was dense and delicate.
After loading the sand balls and the Baisuojiuzizong onto the donkey cart, Duan Zhiwei put the small wood stove on it and turned to get the earthenware jar, which contained fermented stinky tofu.
Aunt Duan was about to speak, but finally couldn't help asking: "Why are you taking this can of rotten tofu with you?" She added worriedly: "Throw it far away, don't offend the noble man."
In addition to ordinary people, there are also dignitaries living by the Qujiang River. They wander around the willow-filled and flower-filled Qujiang River with a can of strong-smelling stinky tofu in their hands. Don't be driven away by those unreasonable servants sent by the dignitaries.
"No," Duan Zhiwei waved to them, then drove away in the donkey cart facing the rising sun.
The banks of Qujiang River are very beautiful, with all kinds of flowers blooming like brocade. The princes, grandchildren of the emperor, men and women, and children of Chang'an are driving all kinds of BMWs and luxury cars, and are dressed in pearls, jade, and cosmetics, and are walking slowly along Qujiang Avenue.
Thousands of dragon boats of all kinds were competing in Qujiang. The tallest boat was quietly docked in the distance. A golden dragon head was carved on the bow and five-colored flags were flying on the side of the boat. It was the emperor's pleasure boat. Several small dragon boats guarding it also had colorful flags flying on them. Yuan Shenji should be on those boats.
The weather is very good today. The clear blue sky is reflected by the green waves of Qujiang River. In the distance, you can vaguely see the mountains of Zhongnan Mountain. The grass and flowers on both sides of Qujiang were covered with colorful brocade curtains early on. Men of letters and scholars recited poems and composed essays, while ladies walked in groups, holding round fans.
Not to mention the tourists, at least half of the vendors in Chang'an also came to the Qujiang River. Duan Zhiwei walked along and found that the most stalls were selling yogurt, and they had a full range of Wumei drink, Erchen drink, white drink and the rare five-color drink.
Fortunately, he had no intention of coming here to sell drinks. Duan Zhiwei put out the sand balls and rice dumplings from the donkey cart, but as expected, no one was interested.
Yes, today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and the stalls selling rice dumplings can probably be arranged from Chang to Liangzhou.
Duan Zhiwei put out the small charcoal stove. A round-faced young lady with two buns who was selling white drinks nearby saw that Duan Zhiwei was having difficulty carrying the stove and came over to help enthusiastically.
"Thank you," Duan Zhiwei wiped his sweat.
The round-faced girl smiled and went back to her stall.
Duan Zhiwei opened the can of fermented stinky tofu again, and the fermented smell spread all at once. The lady holding the round fan covered her nose, glared at her, and ran away quickly.
The lady selling Xianghe and Rensheng on the right was not happy with this. She threw her bucket over to Duan Zhiwei and said, "You are trying to pick a fight with this smelly tofu, right? How can we do business if you drive away all the tourists?"
Fortunately, Duan Zhiwei was well prepared. She quickly explained, "Auntie, in a little while, this tofu will change from smelly to delicious. This delicious taste will attract tourists. After buying my tofu, they may come to you to buy some more Xianghe." She pointed to the round-faced young lady next to her and said, "Then go to that young lady to get some white wine."
Seeing that the old lady didn't believe him at all, Duan Zhiwei struck while the iron was hot: "Please wait a moment. If I can't turn this tofu into something delicious, it won't be too late for you to drive me away."
The old lady was somewhat persuaded, and left muttering to herself, half believing and half doubting.
Duan Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief, took out the iron plate and placed it on the small charcoal stove, and first made the fragrant red oil. When the oil temperature rises, add celery, ginger and garlic slices and stir-fry until fragrant, allowing the aroma of the oil to slowly release, which really attracted the attention of tourists.
Then put the tofu in and continue frying until both sides are golden brown. Then the rich and unique aroma will waft out. More and more tourists gathered around.
A lady came over to take a look out of curiosity, and saw Duan Zhiwei serve a piece of tofu and pour a sauce made of sesame and oyster sauce on it. A piece of crispy fried tofu with attractive color and fragrant aroma was ready.
Duan Zhiwei said to the first lady who came over courageously, "Madam, you are the first guest today, you can try a piece for free."
The lady thanked him and took it. She picked up a piece with a bamboo stick and put it in her mouth. She found it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. She took another bite and it was juicy and had a rich salty and fragrant flavor with a slight spicy taste.
"Very good, very good." The lady ate happily and took out her purse: "I will buy another portion to share with my sisters."
All things are difficult at the beginning. As long as the first person buys, the customers who are eagerly waiting behind will gather around. Duan Zhiwei shouts and recommends his own "Hundred-Suo Nine-Seed Zongzi". The nine zongzi are tied together with nine-colored ropes, which are cute and exquisite.
Duan Zhiwei said to the customers who bought the zongzi: "These nine zongzi have different flavors. They are filled with candied dates, ginkgo nuts and bayberries. They are very delicious and very enjoyable to eat."
Thanks to her enthusiastic promotion, rice dumplings and fried tofu sold very well. Fried tofu was a bit dry and needed to be washed down with some drinks, so the round-faced girl next to her also benefited from it, and her bucket of white drink was sold out in the morning.
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