Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Making wedding cakes and candies with mango balls...
In the past two days, all the cooking tasks were given to Apan and Putao, and Duan Zhiwei was fully focused on how to order a satisfactory wedding cake for Mrs. Lianqiao.
There was an ancient book from the Sui Dynasty called "Gao Jing" in a bookstore in the West Market. Because it was torn and had missing pages, it was sold very cheaply, only ten copper coins. Therefore, Duan Zhiwei bought it when he was buying vegetables in the West Market.
The book specifically talks about various cakes, such as Han Palace Chess, Jade Dew Balls, Feng Xiao, Qi Fan Gao...
The variety is so complicated and the ingredients are so outrageous, including Indian mandrake fruit, rose water from the Tang Dynasty, spices from Persia, and even snow lotus picked from the cliffs of Tianshan Mountain in Beiting to be used as fillings for snow lotus cakes supplied to the royal family.
Duan Zhiwei was dazzled and dumbfounded.
Duan Zhiwei was still studying ancient books when Aunt Duan rushed in, holding up her skirt. "Hurry, hurry, Old Chen is selling old ice cream again, hurry up."
As soon as these words were spoken, Duan Zhiwei picked up the basket and ran out with Pu Tao and A Pan.
There was no ice-making technology in ancient times, and all sources of ice depended on the ice stored on the Wei River in winter. Often, only half of the ice stored in the first winter would remain in the second year, so the price of ice was expensive.
Except for the old ice that has been left for a few years. Officials and wealthy people disliked the ice because it was not fresh, so the price of old ice was low and ordinary people could afford it.
As usual, Old Chen pushed a big cart in the alleys of the town, on which were placed red and yellow ripe honey grapes, amethyst-like grapes and a large basket of old ice wrapped in cotton cloth.
Old Chen was surrounded by countless women in red, purple and red colors. Duan Zhiwei said quickly: "Putao, you block the right side, A Pan, you go to the gap on the left." As he said that, he quickly rushed into the crowd of women.
Duan Zhiwei managed to grab a large piece of ice, and the leaf-veined hairpin on her head was even crooked. She stepped out of the large group, just as a fragrant BMW carriage with a canopy passed in front of her, followed respectfully by two maids in gorgeous clothes.
"The Chang'an Avenue is connected with narrow slopes, and there are seven fragrant carriages with green oxen, white horses and white horses." Duan Zhiwei looked at the carriage and couldn't help reciting.
"Chang'an is so prosperous, beautiful and magnificent. But I am fighting with a group of people for ice cream on the side streets. It's really..." Duan Zhiwei straightened her hairpin. "It's really not elegant at all." She thought to herself with self-mockery.
But behind him came an extremely sarcastic voice: "The poetry style of the Tang Dynasty has really degenerated. Even a dull woman can recite Lu Shengzhi's poems."
Duan Zhiwei was just getting angry because of the crowd just now. Upon hearing this, she suddenly turned around and saw a scholar in a moon-white robe riding on a horse, looking at her mockingly.
She did not get angry either, but showed a mocking look as well: "The private schools in the Tang Dynasty have really degenerated. Scholars do not study the Book of Rites, but come here to criticize women."
The scholar's face immediately turned ugly when he heard that, and the people who were riding horses behind him burst into laughter.
The scholar was immediately furious when he heard his companions mocking him. Just as he was about to speak, Duan Zhiwei interrupted him: "You are being mocked by your companions. Are you trying to take this out on me?"
After his companions finished laughing, they hurried up to hold him back and said, "Why bother with a woman?" They rode away on their horses. After the scholar had walked for some time, he turned around to look at her.
Aunt Duan quickly pulled her home, complaining as they walked: "He looks like a child of an aristocratic family. Why did you offend such a person by speaking harshly to him?"
Duan Zhiwei and Ah Pan first stored the ice tightly and then said, "Isn't this due to the heat? Is he getting angry?"
Here, Aunt Duan bought another basket of honey mangoes from Old Chen. The honey mangoes are extremely sweet, with thick flesh, rich juice and delicious taste. In fact, they are a kind of apple mangoes. When she pours a bowl of well water over them, everyone likes to eat them.
Seeing everyone sweating profusely while fighting for ice, Duan Zhiwei felt a little sorry. Looking at the honeypot that exuded a rich fruity aroma, he decided to try making some mango meatballs.
Add warm water to glutinous rice flour and stir until it becomes floc-like. Knead it into a smooth dough, shape it into small balls and throw them into boiling water to cook. When they float up, take them out and rinse them with cold water for later use.
Remove the core of the mango and grind it slowly with a stone hammer. Pour it into milk after it becomes mango puree. Then put the glutinous rice balls in. Finally, add some ice cubes. A bowl of sweet and delicious mango balls is ready.
The golden mango and white meatballs on this dessert complement each other, making it look very tempting. The flesh of the mango is plump and juicy, exuding a rich fruity aroma, and the glutinous rice balls are slightly chewy.
In the hot summer, this cold drink seemed to drive away the heat from the body. Everyone was busy eating. Little Pear even ate it all in one go, saying with great satisfaction, "It's really delicious."
Duan Zhiwei said: "When the restaurant's business scale expands, we will also build an ice cellar. When you need ice in the summer, you can go and get it anytime."
Although this was said sincerely, it did seem like empty talk. However, it seemed that everyone was very happy with this pie, and their faces lit up. Pu Tao rolled up his sleeves and said, "Let's go to work."
Even Aunt Duan did not change her lazy habit and was busy preparing food in a hurry.
After a busy morning, the summer special locust leaf cold noodles rolls were very popular, and people from other markets even lined up to buy them.
In the afternoon, Duan Zhiwei looked at the baskets of lotus seeds, lilies, and red beans, and finally began to try to make the wedding cakes and candies that Mrs. Lianqiao needed.
Duan Zhiwei decided to make two-color shortbread. The method was not complicated. He only needed 4 liang of shortbread, 1 liang of honey, and 1 jin of flour. Wrap it with red bean paste, lily and lotus seed paste, press it into cakes and bake it in the oven.
The freshly baked cakes are golden in color because they are brushed with egg liquid, and their round shape means "perfection".
Duan Zhiwei asked Xiao Putao to try one. It made a "crunching" sound when he bit it. The layers of crispy skin enriched the taste. The red bean paste was delicate and rich, and the lotus seed and lily paste was sweet and elegant.
The wedding candy is made into crispy candy. Sesame seeds are crushed and malt sugar is slowly boiled. When the sugar liquid becomes thick, the roasted nuts are quickly poured in and left to cool naturally.
The outer shell of the candy is relatively hard, and the sesame filling inside is rich and crispy. The sweetness of the sugar and the rich aroma of sesame are intertwined. Little Pu Tao pulled Duan Zhiwei's sleeve and said that he must leave some for her as a snack.
Duan Zhiwei was holding a mahogany wedding box with a hollowed-out "喜" character carved on it and folk paintings of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl painted all over it.
After putting these items into the wedding box, Duan Zhiwei got on the donkey cart again and prepared to go to Mrs. Lianqiao's house to ask her to see whether the sample wedding candies and wedding cakes were to her liking.
Of the East and West Markets of Chang'an, the West Market was home to prevalent foreign merchants and had a strong commercial atmosphere; the East Market, on the other hand, was closer to the wealthy area and had more rare treasures and better quality goods.
Duan Zhiwei thought that the flower cake was for weddings after all, and he had paid a considerable deposit, so he naturally went to the East Market Store to buy high-quality ingredients.
There were indeed all kinds of rare treasures in the East Market. People from An sold a large pot of pink tulips, and rich people bought them home to offer to Buddha or as incense clothes.
Duan Zhiwei's favorite flower is tulips. Thinking that he still has some money on hand, he is eager to buy one. When he hears that one flower costs one hundred coins, he immediately tactfully says that there is braised meat stewing on the stove at home, and then turns around and leaves as if escaping.
The people of Kangguo are selling golden and silver peaches, which are as big as goose eggs and golden in color. The rich fragrance of the peaches can be smelled from a long distance away.
There are also various colors of agate, Tang Sancai, and ceramic utensils. Duan Zhiwei was delighted by what he saw and bought a bottle of coconut wine from Danzhou for Aunt Duan.
It is said that this wine does not use koji. Instead, it is fermented from coconut milk. It looks crystal clear and tastes mellow and sweet.
Then he bought a whole bag of fried rice candy to bring to Pu Tao and A Pan. After buying things, he drove the donkey cart directly to the address given by Mrs. Lian Qiao.
This house is outside Shengping Gate, which is far away from the imperial city. There are many dilapidated thatched houses. Mrs. Lianqiao's house is indeed one of the courtyards with two entrances and two exits.
Duan Zhiwei followed the servant's lead into the house. Madam Lian Qiao was sitting in the corridor. She smiled and nodded at Duan Zhiwei, then ordered the maid to serve tea.
The maid quickly brought a pot of Longjing tea and a portion of cake.
Duan Zhiwei took out the plate of oily and crispy wedding cakes from the wedding box: "This cake is filled with red bean paste and lotus seed and lily fillings. The red bean paste filling means 'good luck', and the lotus seed and lily filling means 'a happy marriage for a hundred years and a son soon'."
Then he took out a plate of crispy candies from the bottom layer: "This candy has a crispy filling, so it's called crispy candies, which sounds like "comfortable and happy", which is very auspicious."
Duan Zhiwei looked at Lian Qiao and asked, "Do you think these wedding cakes and candies are to your liking?"
Mrs. Lian Qiao took a bite of the candy and looked at the wedding cake carefully. She seemed quite satisfied: "Very good."
She walked into the room and took out a purse: "Then please Madam Duan, bring fifty boxes of wedding cakes and fifty boxes of wedding candies."
"Fifty?" Duan Zhiwei was surprised for a moment, then nodded quickly.
Duan Zhiwei saw that many red dates and lotus seeds were drying in her yard, and next to the red gauze curtain was a wedding dress with a red background and gold embroidery. The maids were running back and forth. She tactfully stood up, said goodbye to Lian Qiao, and left.
She was thinking about the fifty boxes of wedding cakes and candies, and thought that she would have to stay up all night, so she hurried back on the donkey cart.
Just after returning to Shengping Gate, he saw an old man carrying a shoulder pole and preparing to deliver water to the East Market. The weather was hot and the heat was steaming, so Duan Zhiwei spent two copper coins to drink a bowl of water.
The old man spoke to her in confusion: "Madam, why are you outside Shengping Gate? There is no one here all year round, and sometimes there are bandits hiding here. It is very dangerous. Young ladies, try not to come here."
Duan Zhiwei was drinking heavily. She coughed for a while after hearing this. She pointed to the back and said, "Isn't there anyone living in that house with a bunch of cattails at the door?"
The old man shook his head and said, "Some official used to live there. He committed a crime and was exiled to Lingnan. It has been abandoned for decades."
Duan Zhiwei felt a chill in his heart. He lowered his head and opened the purse that Lian Qiao had just given him. The copper coins inside were not missing at all.
What should she do? She stood there in a daze for a while, then got on the donkey cart, turned a corner and headed straight to Nanquer in Pingkangfang.
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