Chapter 102 Chapter 102 Winter Beginning Festival and Hot Pot Cold Night Out...
In the early winter of Chang'an, the cold was getting stronger day by day. The water in Longshou Canal was frozen into a thin layer of ice, which shone coldly in the cold wind. A naughty child stepped on it, and the ice broke with a "crack".
It was getting cold, and Duan Zhiwei was even more reluctant to get out of bed. However, on the day of the Beginning of Winter, the emperor had the ceremony of going out to the suburbs to welcome the winter. Therefore, Yuan Shenji had to get up before the fourth watch at night, change into a black official uniform, and go out to the suburbs with all the officials to welcome the winter.
Although he got up carefully, he still woke Duan Zhiwei up.
She thrashed around in the hot bed like a stranded fish, but finally gritted her teeth and heated a bowl of cheese for him in the dim light of the fire.
He took the cheese and drank it all, then pulled her back into bed: "It's still early, you should sleep a little longer, I'll be back after I go to the northern suburbs."
Duan Zhiwei yawned, her eyelids still twitching: "Okay... I'll wait for you to come back and eat mutton soup together."
Before she could finish her words, she fell asleep again.
Yuan Shenji smiled and shook his head, then tucked the quilt under her and left.
The curfew had just been lifted and there was no one around in the cold winter wind. His face was scratched so hard that it hurt. After rushing out of the town, he met General Wu Kang, the powerful general of Ming Dynasty, who was also heading to the northern suburbs, cursing all the way.
After the two men crossed their arms in greeting, Wu Kang complained that this happened every year at the beginning of winter. He had just been riding his horse at full speed on a small path and almost ran into an oil seller driving a donkey. He had barely managed to pull the reins, otherwise he would have fallen off with his horse.
"Look, it's so cold and there's no one on the road. Why is he selling oil? He must have been kicked in the head by a donkey."
He complained a lot and walked to the northern suburbs with Yuan Shenji.
Duan Zhiwei slept soundly. When he woke up, he found that the sky was gloomy and it seemed that it was going to snow.
She changed into her kapok fur coat early. Although the clothes were a little clumsy, they were warm. She went to the main hall to light the copper stove and let the charcoal slowly boil inside.
The cold restaurant suddenly became warm.
This copper stove was specially designed by her at the blacksmith shop. It is made into an iron frame with four short legs and a stove plate on top. It can be used for heating, boiling water, simmering soup, and heating breakfast. It is very convenient.
Duan Zhiwei was preparing in the hall when the butcher's waiter came over to deliver the mutton.
On the day of the Beginning of Winter, every household has to have a bowl of mutton soup, which is stewed until it is fragrant and sprinkled with coriander leaves and chopped green onions. Rich families who can afford it will also add a spoonful of pepper. It is guaranteed that the person who drinks it will sweat profusely with white hot steam rising from his forehead.
The mutton looked especially fresh today, so she picked out the mutton neck for stew and the front leg for hot pot. The butcher took the money and said with a smile, "Mrs. Duan is really good at choosing. These are all good parts, and the quantity is limited. I'll send them to you first."
Duan Zhiwei understood immediately and gave him a few more copper coins: "It's not worth much. It's really cold today. Use it to have a bowl of hot drink."
The waiter accepted it with a smile and pushed the cart of mutton to the next restaurant.
Several people in the restaurant sat by the stove, slowly preparing the mutton. As the sun rose, the sound of lively gongs and drums could be heard outside.
The two children peeked out furtively.
Aunt Duan understood and said with a smile: "I think on the beginning of winter, beggars have started to dress up as Zhong Kui and dance along the streets to drive away ghosts. You can go and have a look. Beggars are pitiful. It's so cold, so you should bring more copper coins."
The Jinhua cat was lazing under the copper stove. When it heard this, it wanted to run over to join in the fun, but Duan Zhiwei stopped it, saying, "Hey, Zhong Kui is exorcising ghosts, and you, a monster, are trying to get in too. Don't get bumped into."
The Jinhua cat didn't listen and ran away with the two children.
"Really..." Duan Zhiwei shook her head. She stood up and prepared to go to the blacksmith shop to get the newly made hot pot.
Unlike last year, this time she imitated the copper pot used for shabu-shabu in the north, which was not available in this dynasty, so the fire tube, pot body, fire base and everything else needed to be custom-made.
This copper stove is just for the diners to try something new, after all, other restaurants don’t have this either.
Aunt Duan stopped her and said, "I'll go get it and buy some facial cream. It's too dry today and I can't bear it without applying some."
Today the restaurant is having a whole lamb feast. In a large pot is stewing thick, snow-white lamb offal soup, while in another pot are braised lamb offal with various marinade ingredients and simmered on low heat, with the foam skimmed off from time to time.
The braised five-spice lamb liver is delicate and smooth. It is sliced and eaten with pepper and salt. It is very suitable for drinking. The diners simply can't put it down and basically keep eating it as long as it is out of the pot.
By the afternoon, it started to snow lightly. Yuan Shenji finally rushed back to the restaurant before the snow got heavier, holding a small box in his hand.
Duan Zhiwei was busy making sesame paste in the kitchen. The whole restaurant was filled with the aroma of sesame. She came out to take a look and said, "Not bad. What has the saint rewarded me this time?"
"They are just ordinary things." His hands were numb from the cold, so he sat down by the stove to warm himself.
When she opened it, she saw some common things like facial cream, purple snow, red snow, etc. She put them there and served Yuan Shenji a bowl of mutton soup. After all, he was her husband, so she sprinkled a spoonful of pepper on it.
Yuan Shenji took it and drank it, and felt warm from feet to body: "Yes, this soup is really delicious."
Duan Zhi smiled and said, "We'll have mutton hotpot tonight, and I promise it'll keep you warm."
As the two were talking, Aunt Duan came back in her donkey cart and asked everyone to go to the door to move the hot pot. Duan Zhiwei took it and looked at it. He thought the coppersmith had good craftsmanship and the pot really tasted like old Beijing hot pot.
It happened to be snowing outside, and she was already looking forward to the Beginning of Winter dinner.
Aunt Duan took out a lotus leaf bag made of grass stems from her bag and asked, "Where are the two monkeys? I bought some fried cakes."
The price of fried food is high. Duan Zhiwei said with a sigh: "The sun is rising from the west, and you are willing to buy fried cakes."
Aunt Duan excitedly put the cold cakes on the copper stove to heat them for a while:
"The price of fried cakes is extra cheap today. I talked to the stall owner for a while. Recently, there is often an oil seller riding a donkey cart back and forth in the market. The oil he sells is cheap, so the price of fried cakes has also dropped a bit."
The fried cakes sizzled on the fire, greasy and looked very appetizing.
Duan Zhiwei looked at the cake with suspicion. The price of oil has never been low. She really didn't trust an old man who suddenly appeared to sell cheap oil.
The two little guys, Pu Tao and Little Wolf, played in the snow outside. They came in with white hair and their eyes lit up when they saw the fried cakes.
The little guy was quite polite, holding the cake and showing it around. Duan Zhiwei thought the oil was suspicious and didn't eat it. Yuan Shenji had no interest in fried food and would not snatch food from a child, so he waved his hand to refuse.
By dusk, the snow had stopped falling. Some diners from nearby came in the snow. They thought the hotpot was interesting and ordered some.
The soup base is made of clear water, with some scallions, ginger, and only a pinch of salt. The thin, bright red meat rolls are then directly boiled in the soup to preserve the original flavor of the food.
Seeing that there were few people and it was not busy in the evening, everyone in the restaurant sat down to eat hotpot.
The sauce is sesame paste and fermented bean curd. Duan Zhiwei also poured a spoonful of homemade shrimp roe soy sauce, and then poured some water in and stirred it slowly, resulting in a bowl of fragrant and smooth seasoning, which he then dipped on mutton, cabbage, and tofu. It tasted extremely delicious.
According to the requirements of Beijing's Old Three Sets, a plate of vermicelli should actually be served, but unfortunately there are no sweet potatoes in this dynasty, let alone vermicelli and other foods.
Finally, Duan Zhiwei took out a few Hu cakes from the kitchen, cut them in half, spread some sesame paste on them, and threw them into the stove to bake, just as sesame paste baked cakes.
The hot Hu Bing was spread with sesame paste and it tasted surprisingly good. Everyone enjoyed it. Duan Zhiwei sighed. She still missed the authentic old Beijing sesame paste biscuits.
The method is quite complicated. Pepper powder and fennel are added to the sesame paste, which gives it a fragrant smell. Then it is finely spread on the dough. The sesame cake is extremely crispy and has distinct layers. Each layer is dipped in rich sesame paste filling, and then topped with the outermost layer of white sesame seeds. After eating it, your hands will be filled with the fragrant sesame aroma.
Everyone swallowed their saliva after hearing her description. Duan Zhiwei shrugged helplessly: "The dough needs to be opened in several layers. I haven't succeeded yet."
Everyone sighed.
The hot pot was bubbling, and the heat from the copper stove was constantly coming out. Everyone in the restaurant had a very comfortable meal, and their hands and feet were warm.
There were not many guests tonight, so after curfew, they simply cleaned the main hall and everyone went back to their rooms.
Yuan Shenji had already returned to the room and lit the brazier. The small room was as warm as spring. Duan Zhiwei rolled over on the bed, shouting that he had eaten too much in the evening.
The hotpot was delicious, but it made him thirsty. Yuan Shenji drank a pot of water but still felt it was not enough, so he went outside to fetch another pot of well water and put it on the stove.
Duan Zhiwei called him over and asked him to help rub her stomach.
Yuan Shenji pulled her into his arms, kneaded her, and took the opportunity to pinch the soft flesh on her belly: "Not bad, it's a little fuller than in the summer."
Duan Zhiwei put his hands on his waist and said confidently: "This shows that I have good skills and that your copper money was not wasted."
Whenever Yuan Shenji was on duty, he would bring back some delicious snacks. After the two of them had a deep emotional exchange in the evening, they would light the candles and sit there to eat to fill their stomachs.
She used to be a skinny girl who would fall over if the wind blew, but now she has become rounder, with a healthy blush on her fair face, just like peach blossoms on branches in spring, very touching.
Yuan Shenji's eyes darkened. His hand was originally on her belly, massaging her bloated stomach, but now it slid upwards dishonestly:
"I can't just have a fat belly. I'll check other parts..."
Before he could finish his words, there was a hesitant knock on the door.
Duan Zhiwei pushed him away and stood up to open the door. Aunt Duan stood at the door anxiously and awkwardly: "Oh no, the two children keep complaining of stomachaches for some reason."
The two of them quickly put on their coats and went to see. It was snowing tonight. Pu Tao couldn't go home, so he slept in the restaurant with A Pan, and groaned a few times while lying on the bed.
The little wolf managed to hold on a bit and didn't cry out, but some cold sweat broke out on his head.
"I'm afraid I ate something unclean."
Duan Zhiwei looked at it anxiously. There was no ready-made gastrointestinal medicine at that time, so he needed the doctor to write a prescription and boil it now.
Yuan Shenji straightened his robe and said, "I remember there is a medicine shop in the south, not far away, I don't need to leave the workshop, I will go buy some medicine now."
Duan Zhiwei was a little worried, so he opened the sealed door of the restaurant and wanted to go with him.
When I opened it, I was shocked. It was as noisy and lively outside as during the day.
A group of people were chattering and walking south with lanterns in their hands.
Most of them were neighbors she knew. She walked over and asked the familiar Wu lady across the street, "What happened?"
Madam Wu looked anxious: "I don't know why, but the children at home are all complaining of stomachaches. Let's go to the pharmacy and buy some medicine."
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