The recipes Xu Qinyu wrote for her uncle were for various barbecues, including marinade and grilling recipes for a dozen kinds of meat and a dozen kinds of vegetables, as well as sour plum soup, barley tea, osmanthus honey drink, sour berry drink, rice milk drink, and of course milk tea made from cow's milk and goat's milk, as well as some recipes for sugary drinks, and also a recipe for a sweet wine, namely glutinous rice wine.
The marinades for chicken, duck, fish, pork, beef and mutton are all different, which is quite troublesome.
Xu Qinyu told her uncle in the letter.
In the summer, some of these sugary milk tea drinks can be made into ice bowls, and some can be added with ice to make cold drinks, which also sell well.
When the weather is cold, it is a hot drink. Barbecue can also be sold with alcohol, and barbecue goes well with alcohol.
In the summer, you can add some cold noodles and cold dishes, turning the tea stall into a barbecue stall all day long. The recipes of these cold noodles and cold dishes are naturally also in the letter.
Xue Liang murmured, "Barbecue, what is that?"
He looked at the recipe. The letter also explained how to make the barbecue. It required an iron rack with charcoal fire inside and an iron mesh on top. The skewered meat and vegetables were grilled on the iron mesh and then brushed with sauce.
Xu Qinyu specially changed the method of sprinkling seasonings at the end of the barbecue. After grilling, she placed the meat on a plate and brushed it with the prepared sauce. After all, spices were too expensive, and it would be a waste to sprinkle them directly on the skewers like in later generations!
If she makes the sauce this way, she can save a lot of costs. Needless to say, the recipe of the sauce she made tastes better than the ones at many barbecue stalls.
It's a bit like fried skewers, and you brush them with sauce after frying.
Xue Liang looked at the recipes, as well as the recipes for these drinks, sweet rice wine, and where did Yu Jieer get them?
Yu Jie'er said in her letter that this was her own idea. Can such a recipe really be delicious?
That thing called barbecue sauce contains two or three spices and many other seasonings.
And they actually use charcoal to grill meat and vegetables?
He did know that Jixiang Restaurant sold roasted meat, which should be the barbecue that Yujie'er mentioned, but it was a little different. It was placed on an iron plate with charcoal fire underneath. Oil was brushed on the iron plate, and when the oil temperature was right, a thin piece of marinated meat was placed on it. With a sizzling sound, the meat rolled up and was quickly turned over. Such a thin piece of roasted meat would cost at least twenty coins facing up in Jixiang Restaurant.
Everyone knows how to make this kind of roasted meat, but the difficulty lies in not knowing the recipe for marinating the meat. Some people imitate Jixianglou's method of roasting meat without marinating it, but the result is that the meat is very fishy, tough, and not very tasty.
Xue Liang naturally had never tasted the roasted meat at Jixianglou that cost twenty cents a piece. He had only heard people talk about how to eat it and also heard that it was very delicious and tender.
Xue couldn't help but ask, "Brother, how about the recipe Sister Yu gave me? Will it work?"
"I don't know."
Xue Liang shook his head. He really didn't know.
He just remembered that Yu Jie'er learned her cooking skills from him, and she cooked for him and his sister. As for the taste, it could only be said to be okay, but to say it was delicious would be a bit of an exaggeration.
But if that doesn't work, it would be too confident for Sister Yu to write so many recipes. It feels like these recipes are quite realistic.
Shi murmured, "Can it work? The roasted meat recipe at Jixianglou is so difficult, and they only have a few kinds of meat. The meat that Yujie'er gave me has different marinade recipes for different parts of the meat. There are almost twenty kinds of meat and vegetables, right? Can she compare with the chef at Jixianglou? I heard that the roasted meat at Jixianglou is the result of the chef's years of trying out various marinade recipes to achieve such tender and delicious roasted meat. Look at Yujie's recipe, it's like it's free. Did she come up with so many ideas at once? Did she try everything? She wouldn't just give it to us without trying it, would she?"
She didn't blame her niece for being unreliable, but she didn't trust her niece's cooking skills.
Xue glanced at Shi, feeling somewhat helpless. "Yujie'er should know her limits. Big brother, do you think you can give it a try?" In the end, whether or not to change the tea stall into the barbecue stall that Yujie'er mentioned depends on big brother's own thoughts.
Xue Liang was still hesitating.
Shi couldn't help but say, "We can give it a try. We're not just going to turn the tea stall into a barbecue stall like Sister Yu mentioned. Let's try the milk tea and barbecue when we get home. Don't we have a small iron net at home? We still have some coal. Dad, go chop some wooden sticks and make skewers. And buy some pork belly. It won't cost much to try it anyway, only one or two taels of silver at most. Just buy less of the spices and seasonings for the sauces to avoid waste."
Xue Liang asked, "When are we going to try it?"
"Let's do it now." Shi was also impatient. "The tea stall is being looked after by the boss and his wife. Let's go back and try it. Sister-in-law, don't go back to the mansion so early. Come with us and try some."
"Okay." Xue nodded.
She also wanted to know if her daughter's recipe would work.
Shi returned to the kitchen and spoke to her eldest son Xue Huai and daughter-in-law Zhang, then she and Xue Liang divided the work and went shopping.
Xue Liang went to cut bamboo, and Shi went to buy milk.
There are some dairy products for sale in Beijing, so there are always cow's milk and goat's milk for sale, and the price is quite cheap.
After buying the milk, she went to buy pork belly and the seasonings and spices for making pork skewers. When she and Xue returned to Shangpo Lane, Xue Liang had already finished cutting bamboo and came back. He also found the small iron net at home, cleaned it, and found the charcoal basin and coal. He had bought some coal for heating when it was too cold in winter before the New Year.
Xue Qing was helping nearby.
She had heard from her father that her cousin had sent him many food recipes.
She is still looking forward to it.
Shi began to busy herself with washing, cutting and skewering the pork.
As for making the sauce, she didn't dare to try and decided to ask Xue Liang to do it.
The meat skewers recipe Xu Qinyu gave all required large skewers, which would make them more enjoyable to eat, so only about twelve skewers were made from one pound of pork belly.
When making the sauce, Xue Liang was a little worried that it might not be done well. Finally, Xue Qing raised his hand and said, "Dad, how about I do it!"
She is usually responsible for preparing breakfast and dinner, and her cooking skills are better than her father's.
Xue Liang agreed.
Xue Qing took the spices and seasonings into the kitchen and started to make the sauce according to the recipe given by her cousin.
While it's cooking, the aroma fills the whole house.
Shi murmured, "It smells strangely fragrant."
Xue Liang had already lit the charcoal fire and was just waiting to grill the skewers.
After Xue Qing finished cooking the sauce, he put it on a plate and took it to the table outside. "Dad, you grill the skewers, and I'll make the milk tea that my cousin mentioned."
Xue Liang nodded. He had already marinated these large meat skewers in advance using the recipe given by Yu Jie'er. He put the marinated meat skewers on the small iron net and grilled them. He was also half a chef, and his hands were shaking when grilling the skewers.
Xue Qing stayed in the kitchen and followed her cousin's instructions. She first added sugar and stir-fried it until it melted, then added black tea, stir-fried it, added an appropriate amount of water and brought it to a boil, then poured in milk and continued to cook. Soon, the house was filled with the sweet aroma of milk. After the milk boiled over low heat, she took the casserole off the stove and finally filtered out the tea leaves. Looking at the brown milk tea in the ceramic basin, she was a little hesitant.
She strictly followed her cousin's instructions on the proportions of water, sugar, black tea, and milk.
But the color after cooking is brown. It’s not that the color is bad. My cousin also said that it is this color after cooking. But compared with pure white milk, brown is indeed not good-looking.
Shi also smelled the fragrance and came in. Seeing the brown milk tea in the ceramic basin, she couldn't help but say, "Is this really drinkable?"
Xue Qing said, "You'll know if it's drinkable after you try it!"
She went over to get a few bowls, poured out four bowls of milk tea, and first took two bowls out to her aunt and father.
When I came into the kitchen, I saw my mother holding a bowl. She looked very surprised, her eyes wide open, and she looked at the brown milk tea in the bowl in disbelief.
Xu Qing's heart skipped a beat. "Mom, is it not very tasty?"
Shi took another sip from the bowl, it was a little hot.
She murmured, "No, it's delicious. Mother has never tasted such a delicious drink." She didn't know how to describe it. It was just delicious, sweet, and had a tea aroma, without any fishy smell of milk. She liked it very much.
Xue Qing hurriedly took the bowl and tasted it, and was also stunned.
It tastes sweet, smooth and mellow.
Xue Qing murmured, "It tastes delicious."
What they didn't know was that if Xu Qinyu was here, the taste of this milk tea would be even better. The taste would be mellower, the sweetness would be more moderate, and it would have a hint of caramel.
Xue Liang was still barbecuing outside and had no time to drink milk tea. Xue took the bowl and took a sip. Her expression was the same as Shi and Xue Qing's.
It turned out that Yu Jie'er didn't lie to her. Yu Jie'er really knew how to cook. This was the first time she heard that milk tea tasted so good.
Xue felt even more uncomfortable. Look at what Yu Jie'er has become. She has come up with so many food recipes.
After drinking milk tea, the three women knew that this business was viable.
Xue Liang finally finished grilling the meat. There were two skewers that were not cooked well and were a little burnt. He followed Yu Jie'er's instructions and used scissors to cut off the burnt part. Finally, he put them on a plate and brushed them with sauce.
In fact, before the sauce was even applied, the aroma filled the yard. The neighbors couldn't help but murmur, "What are the Xue family eating today? It smells so good, or is it meat?"
It also has a different aroma from ordinary stewed meat.
Looking at the twelve skewers of barbecue on the plate, no one spoke for a moment.
It was Shi who spoke first: "Then let me try it first." She had already finished the bowl of milk tea and left the rest untouched, wanting to leave it for her two sons and daughter-in-law. Now that she saw that no one was eating the skewers, she thought of trying it first.
She took a skewer of barbecued meat, bit into the skewer covered with sauce, and pulled it with her hand. The skewer fell into her mouth. She hissed, "It's hot, hot, but it smells so good and tastes so good."
Seeing this, several people also took a skewer of barbecue and started eating.
Some of the fat in the meat has been roasted out, and the surface is slightly crispy. When you take a bite, it has a crispy aroma, but the meat inside is still tender. It is wrapped in the aroma of meat, fat, and sauce, and every bite is delicious.
Xue Liang said, "It's delicious." His mouth was full of oil, and there was some sauce on the corners of his mouth.
In fact, if Xu Qinyu were to try it, she would find that the skewers grilled by her uncle were a little overcooked.
But if you practice for a few days, it will taste better.
She also suggested to her uncle to bake the dumplings at home for a few more days before selling them.
Mrs. Xue squatted in the yard and ate the skewers without caring about her image. They were so delicious. She had never eaten the roasted meat in Jixianglou, but she felt that the barbecued meat made with the recipe given by her daughter would definitely be more delicious than roasted meat.
Yu Jie'er not only gave the recipe, but also provided the price of each skewer of meat.
For such a large skewer of meat with four large pieces of meat on it, Yu Jie'er suggested that it cost six cents per skewer.
Pork belly in the capital is cheaper than in the border areas because the supply is large, there are more pig farmers, and there are special farms, so pork belly is thirty coins per catty. Sometimes there is too much pork, and when it is cheaper, it is only more than twenty coins per catty.
One pound of pork belly can be strung into twelve large skewers, and if each skewer costs six cents, one pound of pork belly can be sold for about seventy cents.
Excluding the cost of charcoal, spices and seasonings, as for the skewers, family members can cut bamboo and firewood to make them. These skewers can be used repeatedly, but they will definitely be damaged and will not work after a few uses.
The stall is also owned by the owner. If business is good and more meat is purchased, the price can be cheaper. This means that one can earn around twenty-seven or twenty-eight cents from making barbecued meat from one pound of pork belly.
Each person ate one skewer, and they were still a little greedy looking at the remaining skewers.
Xue Liang said, "Everyone has eaten these skewers, right? Let's buy some more meat tonight and continue grilling for the boss and Jian'er and the others. Yujie also said that we might not be very good at grilling at the beginning, so we need more practice. So let's buy some meat in the next few days and make more barbecue to satisfy everyone's cravings."
However, if he wanted to make a living by barbecuing, he certainly couldn't use such a small iron net. He had to go to the iron shop and make an iron rack like the one Yu Jie'er mentioned. He estimated that such an iron rack would cost seven or eight taels of silver. He also had to buy meat, seasonings, spices, and charcoal. The family had only earned a few taels of silver in the past few months, which was not enough.
In addition, Xue Liang had no intention of getting all the barbecue and drinks that Yu Jie'er mentioned.
He planned to sell these big pork skewers first, then milk tea, and at most add some glutinous rice wine, and he would continue to sell his tea.
One cannot bite off more than one bites off. If the pork skewers sell well, he will make some large lamb skewers to sell. The marinating method and sauce recipe of lamb skewers are also different. He will take it slow first. His tea stall is small and he cannot make what Sister Yu said. What Sister Yu told him is enough for him to open a two or three-story shop.
He knew the value of these recipes and planned to burn them after he and his sister memorized them to prevent them from being stolen in the future.
Xue knew that her eldest brother didn't have enough money. She had earned a few taels of silver from embroidery work in the past two months, so she said, "I have a few taels of silver here too. Give it all to your eldest brother."
Shi also said, "I've also sold my gold jewelry to raise the silver. Besides, this recipe was given to me by Sister Yu, and it's the most valuable. When we make money in the future, my family will split it with my sister-in-law. You should also stop embroidering. Sister Yu definitely didn't want you to do embroidery before she gave us the recipe because she was afraid it would hurt your eyes."
Mrs. Xue shook her head. "That's impossible. You're all the ones worrying about it. I can't help you at all, and you're even giving me half. You really don't need it. Just keep it for yourself. And if you treat Sister Yu well, she'll think of returning the favor and giving you the recipe."
Shi said: "This formula is the most valuable."
She knew very well the value of these recipes. Even the one hundred taels given to Yu Jie'er would not be enough to buy these recipes. Moreover, they were foods that had never been available in the capital, so she would definitely make money.
After much deliberation, it was finally decided to give Xue a share of one or two taels of silver every month.
Because everyone thought that even if they only sold barbecue and milk tea, they might make better money in a month than before, and could double it, earning four, five or six taels of silver.
After Xue Liang had been grilling meat for half a month, the iron rack and iron net he had ordered were made, the charcoal was bought early, and a lot of skewers for the meat were also prepared. He and his eldest son went outside the city to chop bamboo and wood, and then slowly split and polished them into skewers. It was very time-consuming, but he could actually hire someone to do this job when he made money in the future.
After half a month, Xue Liang's grilled meat has become pretty good. At least it is not overcooked. It tastes crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with the aroma of meat wrapped in the fragrance of fat and sauce.
Finally, the day to sell the barbecue arrived. Early in the morning, the family pulled the goods to the tea stall on a donkey cart and started busying themselves in the small backyard, washing, chopping and marinating the meat.
Today is my first day selling barbecue skewers, so I prepared ten pounds of pork belly and skewered about a hundred of them.
Shi began to worry again, "What if we can't sell it? My family can't finish eating ten kilograms of meat."
Xue Qing also put on a gray cloth dress and went to the kitchen to help. She said softly, "Don't worry, Mom. We should still be able to sell some." She didn't expect to sell all of them.
Her barbecue skewers taste good. Compared with the roasted meat at Jixianglou that costs twenty cents a piece, the taste of their barbecue should be comparable, but the portion is much larger. I heard that the roasted meat at Jixianglou is gone before you can even taste it in your mouth. One skewer of her barbecue can satisfy your craving.
Six coins a string is indeed a bit expensive, but compared with the roasted meat, it is nothing.
Of course, her small stall can't compare with Jixianglou.
After breakfast, their tea stall opened and Xue Liang moved the barbecue rack to the door and started grilling meat.
The charcoal fire was lit, and the barbecue on the iron rack was sizzling with oil. The vendors nearby also knew Xue Liang. Seeing this, they smiled and said, "Old Xue, what are you doing with this weird thing? It smells delicious, though."
There was no shop next to Xue Liang's tea stall, only a few small vendors setting up stalls. The shops were separated by a distance, so the smoke from the barbecue did not affect other people's shops much.
Xue Liang said, "I've been thinking of some new food and I'm going to try selling it. This is called barbecue skewers."
The vendors asked about the price and found out it was six cents, which they still felt was a bit expensive. Anyway, they were reluctant to eat it.
After a while, a regular customer came by. He couldn't help but ask the price when he smelled the aroma. Xue Liang said it was six coins a skewer. The customer thought it was a bit expensive, but then he thought about the roasted meat at Jixianglou, which was twenty coins a piece. This roasted meat seemed to be prepared in a similar way. But there were four large pieces of meat, and it was so fragrant, so he ordered two skewers to try.
When you buy meat skewers, you get a bowl of tea for free. Milk tea costs eight cents a bowl, so of course I can't afford it.
He also told the customer that the shop had a new drink called milk tea, which cost eight cents a bowl. Most men don't like sweets, so the customer didn't really want to drink this milk tea.
Wait till the kebabs are served.
The guest took a bite, nodded and said, "Delicious! Really delicious!" His mouth was full of oil.
The two skewers of barbecue were quite satisfying, but of course, I definitely wasn’t full.
What the Xue family didn’t expect was that all the prepared meat was sold out on the first day.
The main reason was that a customer wanted to try the meat skewers during dinner. He happened to have some money, so he ordered ten skewers and ate to his heart's content.
However, not much milk tea was sold. Only two customers who like sweets bought some and they both thought it was delicious.
The next day, Xue Liang prepared twenty kilograms of meat, but it was sold out.
A month later, they calculated the money they had earned that month and could hardly believe their eyes.
Looking at the small change and copper coins in the box, they finally counted them and found that after deducting the cost, they had earned almost thirty taels of silver this month.
This was in the beginning when she didn't sell much every day. Later, as more and more people came to eat, the reputation of the barbecue skewers spread. There were even wealthy families who sent their servants to buy dozens of skewers. Knowing that she had a new drink, they also bought a lot to try. Later, she could sell at least 60 to 70 kilograms of barbecued meat on skewers every day, from noon to the end of the night market, and she even didn't have enough meat skewers to sell.
Milk tea also sells well in the back, but most of the customers are female.
Some female customers would also come to the tea stall to eat barbecue and drink milk tea. They would sit inside the stall, while male customers would sit outside under the oil shed.
Sometimes the table is full, and some people don’t mind and just wait by the side until the skewers are ready, and then they wrap them in oil paper and eat them while walking.
Shi murmured, "We've earned more than thirty taels of silver?" She almost thought she was dreaming.
I used to make only two or three taels of silver a month from selling tea and fruit. I used to think it would be good if I could double my earnings in a month, but now it's only over thirty taels.
Shi's eyes were red, she wanted to cry and felt a little guilty. She had been making a fuss for nearly a month about the one or two hundred silver coins her husband gave to Yu Jie'er.
But Yu Jie'er gave them such a profitable business.
Xue Liang's voice trembled a little, "Our business has only picked up in the second half of the month, which means that next month we will definitely make more than thirty taels of silver, maybe even double it." He never thought in his life that he could earn dozens of taels of silver in a month.
Moreover, Xue Liang planned to add some lamb skewers, roasted leeks and roasted lotus root slices, and sell some drinks at the same time.
Xue Liang discussed with Shi that it would be impossible to give Xue Shi one or two taels of silver every month since he could earn so much every month. He planned to give 20% of his monthly earnings to Xue Shi.
If it weren't for Yu Jie'er's recipe, how could they have earned so much? Naturally, they also had to take good care of Xue and let her stop doing embroidery work.
Xue hadn't been to her brother's tea stall for a month. When Shi came to find her and brought her seven taels of silver, she was surprised. Finally, when she heard her sister-in-law say that she had earned more than thirty taels of silver this month, Xue was stunned.
Shi also said, "I'll make even more next month, maybe even double it!"
Sixty or seventy taels of silver a month, they never dared to dream of that before.
Xue stammered, "She made so much money from the kebabs and milk tea, and still has so many recipes left over. This means Sister Yu really didn't lie to us. She really knows how to cook and is even planning to open a restaurant."
Shi smiled and said, "That's right, so Sister Yu really didn't lie to you. Her food is definitely more delicious, and the restaurant she opened will definitely make more money than ours. You don't have to worry about Sister Yu having no money to spend. So you have to listen to Sister Yu, and you must not continue to do embroidery. Otherwise, when you meet again, if you go blind, just imagine how sad Sister Yu will be."
Xue wiped her eyes and smiled again, "Yes, I won't do embroidery anymore."
She also looks forward to the day when she can see her daughter again.
Xue also accepted the silver and planned to save it. She asked Ma Liu to help send the silver to her daughter every six months.
…
Far away in the border town, Xu Qinyu had actually basically figured out how much her uncle's tea stall could earn in a month if it sold barbecue. A few dozen taels of silver was easy to make, but due to the lack of manpower and venue, it would only be a few dozen taels of silver per month at most. Unless the scale was expanded, more staff was added, and it became a specialized barbecue restaurant, it would be more profitable.
Barbecue is really profitable. In her era, early barbecuers made a lot of money.
Later on, more people followed the trend and barbecue restaurants appeared everywhere, which led to the saturation of the market.
Xu Qinyu even knew that it was impossible for her uncle to make all the recipes she gave him in one go.
I think they started out by selling one or two kinds of barbecue and one or two kinds of drinks. You can’t get fat by eating them all in one go.
Originally, all these recipes were prepared for him according to those of large barbecue restaurants. When his uncle earns enough money to open a larger restaurant in the future, he can use them all.
My uncle has a good relationship with my mother. Although my aunt has a quick temper, she is a very nice person and will never treat my mother unfairly. She estimates that she will give 20% of her monthly earnings to Xue.
The more money is earned in the future, the more Xue will get, the second wife's life in the Marquis' Mansion will be better, and she can rest assured.
Otherwise, she would always feel that she had taken over the original body and felt very sorry for the original body and her family.
Although this time travel was not what she wanted.
Xu Qinyu waited for Ma Liu to leave for less than two days. She counted the money she had and decided to look for a shop.
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