Wen went back to the room to wash up, and Xu Qinyu stayed in the kitchen to continue decocting the medicine. After decocting the medicine, she poured out the juice and saved the residue. The doctor said that the residue could be boiled three times and should be kept for boiling tomorrow.
When she returned to the room, Xu Qinyu found that Wen had barely eaten a bun and then stayed by Pei Weixuan's side, looking worried with red eyes.
Xu Qinyu didn't know how to persuade him, so she took the medicine bowl over and asked Wen to feed Pei Weixuan the medicine.
She went to buy some liquor from the innkeeper. If her cheap husband's high fever didn't go away at night, she would have to dilute the liquor and rub it on his body to cool him down physically.
After buying the liquor, Xu Qinyu told Wen how to use it, and Wen nodded.
Xu Qinyu stayed with Wen for a while and found Pei Weixuan lying there motionless, as if he wasn't even breathing. She couldn't help but feel a little worried and wanted to reach out to check his breath. But Wen was there, so Xu Qinyu didn't dare to reach out to check. She sat with Wen for a while, then, thinking that she had to go out tomorrow, said goodbye to Wen and went to bed.
It was a rare good night's sleep. When she woke up the next day, it was already noon. There was a rustling sound outside. Xu Qinyu got up and put on her winter coat. She walked to the window, opened a crack and took a look. It was snowing, and the snowflakes were hitting the window. The cold wind blew in all of a sudden. She hurriedly closed the window and looked back. Pei Jianing was guarding her adopted husband's bedside with Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er. Wen had been guarding all night and should have fallen asleep by now.
Xu Qinyu went over and whispered to Pei Jianing, "Sister Ning, you stay with Fourth Brother. I'm going to go buy some glutinous rice and fish to make fish porridge."
She planned to make some raw fish porridge to nourish everyone. Pei Weixuan was still sick, and fish porridge was easier to digest and warming, so it was suitable for him.
When Pei Jianing heard that her fourth sister-in-law was going to buy fish to make fish porridge, he opened his mouth, wanting her to buy some meat to make meat porridge, because the fishy smell and fish bones were difficult to deal with. But thinking that fish was cheap and meat was expensive, and the family had to save money, he couldn't say anything.
Fengger and Yanjieer looked at her eagerly.
Xu Qinyu smiled at the two children and patted their heads. "Be good, Brother Feng and Sister Yan. I'll bring you some candy later."
From the original body's memory, these two children used to be pretty and delicate, but now they are as thin as bean sprouts, and even their eyes are lifeless. They are filled with fear at the slightest movement, which even makes her feel distressed.
Xu Qinyu went out and bought some glutinous rice and a big black carp. In ancient times, fish were as cheap as dirt, not to mention there was a Grand Canal nearby, so it was even cheaper. Such a big black carp, weighing six or seven pounds, only cost ten cents, which is less than two cents per pound.
She bought another two kilograms of japonica rice. In ancient times, both japonica rice and meat were quite expensive. Japonica rice is almost the same as rice, but it is chewier and more nutritious than rice.
Japonica rice costs eleven cents per catty, and meat costs thirty or forty cents per catty. This is for ordinary pork. Other meats such as mutton and beef are more expensive, but beef is generally not for sale.
This is also the reason why people in ancient times could not afford to eat meat once a month, and rarely ate glutinous rice. Only wealthy people or members of large families and royal families could afford glutinous rice because it was too expensive.
In addition to the glutinous rice and black fish, Xu Qinyu also bought some tofu. Tofu was one penny a piece, and she bought a few.
She had other plans for buying such a big fish.
It was already past midnight, almost eight o'clock, when we got back to the inn.
Most people here eat two meals a day, one around nine in the morning and one around four in the afternoon.
Xu Qinyu went to find the shopkeeper and told him that she wanted to continue borrowing the small kitchen to boil medicine and cook food, so she gave the shopkeeper thirty cents a day, but she also needed to borrow some seasonings from the shopkeeper's kitchen, such as salt, ginger, garlic, green onions, soy sauce and vinegar. In ancient times, there were only these common seasonings. Other spices such as pepper, star anise, cinnamon and bay leaves were expensive because they were medicinal materials and basically no one used them as seasonings.
The shopkeeper's surname was Zhou. He was about forty years old, of medium build and ordinary appearance. When he heard what Xu Qinyu said, he smiled and said, "Young lady, you don't have to give so much. A few cents will be enough." There were often guests who borrowed the kitchen. The guests who could borrow the kitchen all lived in the dormitory and were relatively poor. They just needed to pay a few cents.
Is this young lady crazy? Or does she have too much money and don't know where to spend it? She has to pay thirty cents a day to use the kitchen. Most people spend less than thirty cents a day on food and drink.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "It's indeed thirty coins, but no matter what I do in there, the shopkeeper has no right to interfere. Of course, even if I use the shopkeeper's seasoning, I won't waste it."
Shopkeeper Zhou naturally would not refuse such a money-making opportunity and agreed to it.
Xu Qinyu took the purchased ingredients to the small kitchen, and brought the purchased malt sugar back to the house for the two children to eat. She asked Ning Jie'er to look after the children and the fourth brother, and then she went to the kitchen to boil medicine and prepare food.
It is simple to decoct the medicine. Just add water to yesterday's medicine residue and continue to cook it on a small stove.
She borrowed another stove to make sashimi.
I picked up a large casserole from the kitchen and added water to boil it. I then washed the japonica rice and added a few drops of oil. When the water in the casserole boiled, I poured the rice in and cooked it.
While boiling water, Xu Qinyu took the black carp to the yard, scraped off the scales, opened the belly and cleaned out the internal organs. There was a well in the yard, which made it convenient to handle the process.
She handled the big bluefish so quickly and skillfully that the chef and the waiter in the kitchen came out to watch.
I can't bear to throw away the fish offal, fish soaked fish roe, and after cleaning them, I can stew them together with the fish bones and fish belly, which tastes very good.
The guests of the inn mainly stay overnight, so the food is a bit worse. It is not as good as the restaurants in the city. Most guests like to eat out, so the kitchen is not very busy. At this time of meal, not many people want to eat, so the chef and the waiter squatted and watched Xu Qinyu prepare the black carp.
Xu Qinyu cleaned the fish offal and placed it on a plate. The slightly plump chef couldn't help but ask, "Young lady, why are you keeping these fish offal? They smell even worse than fish meat and taste worse."
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Of course I'm saving it for eating. Chef Zhou will know when it's ready."
Chef Zhou is the son of Shopkeeper Zhou.
Then chop off the fish head, cut two pieces of fish meat from the spine, and then cut off the fish belly.
The fish belly is a bit too fat and is not suitable for making raw fish fillet porridge. It is better to stew it.
After the fish meat is removed, use a slanting knife to slice the two pieces of fish into thin slices.
The fish fillets she created were crystal clear, as thin as a piece of paper, causing Chef Zhou and the waiter to gasp. After the large herring was completely prepared and the water in the casserole was boiled, the washed glutinous rice was poured in and cooked for a quarter of an hour.
While cooking rice, Xu Qinyu cleaned the cut fish fillets, added shredded ginger, a little salt and liquor to marinate to remove the fishy smell.
There was no cooking wine in that era, so we could only use a few drops of liquor to remove the fishy smell. In fact, Huadiao wine would be better, but the kitchen didn’t have it.
After cooking the glutinous rice for a quarter of an hour, turn off the heat and simmer for another quarter of an hour. Bring to a boil over high heat, then remove from heat. Add a little salt, pour the marinated fish fillets into the boiling porridge and quickly stir. The aroma of the fish fillets will be immediately stimulated. The aroma of rice mixed with the aroma of fish is fresh and fragrant. It's a pity that there is no pepper, otherwise the taste will be even better.
The fish is plump and delicious, so there is no need to add any extra cooking oil. Finally, sprinkle some chopped green onions for garnish.
Looking at this pot of delicious fish porridge, Chef Zhou was stunned. He didn't realize that fish porridge could be cooked like this?
The fish porridge they cook is made by adding chopped fish pieces after the porridge is boiled, and finally adding seasonings. However, even so, it cannot cover up the fishy smell of the fish. Because in order to cover up the fishy smell, more seasonings are added, and the taste is stronger, so not many people like to eat it.
Xu Qinyu divided the cooked fish porridge and brought it back to the house. Seeing that Pei Weixuan was still asleep, she let Pei Jianing, the two children and Wen eat first. She went back to the kitchen to leave a portion for him and also served herself a portion. There were still two bowls left, so she gave one bowl each to Chef Zhou and Shopkeeper Zhou.
When Shopkeeper Zhou was in the front living room, he smelled the fragrant, rich and fresh aroma. He couldn't help but run to the back kitchen to take a look. He saw that the young lady had served him a bowl. She thanked him with a smile and took it to the front living room. Looking at the bowl of porridge, Shopkeeper Zhou couldn't help but taste it. He was surprised when he took a bite. There was no fishy smell at all. The taste was smooth, tender and sweet. The rice porridge was fragrant, and the fish meat was very tender and fresh.
Shopkeeper Zhou had never eaten such delicious fish porridge in his life.
Xu Qinyu also brought fish porridge to the living room to eat, watching the peddlers coming and going outside, and the people busying themselves. Although it was snowing today, the snow was not heavy, just snowflakes, which did not affect the various businesses in the city.
Some people smelled the aroma and couldn't help but stop in front of the inn, sighing, "What a delicious smell."
Her dish of raw fish congee does not contain many ingredients or seasonings, so it tastes original and the highlight is the word "fresh".
She guaranteed that no matter who smelled the aroma, it would arouse their appetite.
Food is the most important thing for people, and no one can resist delicious food.
A burly man happened to pass by the inn. This man was even taller and stronger than the deputy captain Chen who had sent them to the southwest. He had a full beard and looked to be in his thirties. He couldn't help but sniff when he smelled the fragrance, looked into the inn, and then strode into the inn.
The man was accompanied by two other men, both of whom looked to be in their twenties and were wearing cloth robes.
Shopkeeper Zhou saw the burly man coming in and hurried to greet him, "Captain Liang, what brings you here? You're such a rare guest. Please come in."
As soon as she heard the title, Xu Qinyu understood that this man was a captain stationed in the military camp in Raozhou City, and a captain seemed to be a fifth-rank official.
Captain Liang came in and asked, "Manager Zhou, what's delicious to eat? Why does it smell so good? Did you hire a new chef for your inn?"
Captain Liang's voice was almost as loud as his body size, like a bell.
Shopkeeper Zhou chuckled, "Captain Liang misunderstood. It was the inn's guests who borrowed the kitchen to make some food."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
