Chapter 129: I Didn’t See Carpenter Wang’s True Skills
Shrimp and dried shrimp, dried bamboo shoots, dried mushrooms, scallops, dried oysters and dried fish are packed in sacks, and a large bag full of them is placed on the stall.
Sang Yu was a little tempted. The dried seafood in this era is pure natural and pollution-free, and the taste must be extremely delicious.
But then I thought, there is still so much leftover fish and pork at home, so I should wait until next time to buy some.
A little further back was the spice area. As soon as Sang Yu stepped in, he could feel a strong aroma entering his nostrils.
The complex and stimulating smells of peppercorns, ginger, cinnamon, onions, garlic, etc. rushed straight to her head, instantly making her feel refreshed.
She scanned the spices on the stall one by one, and soon her eyes landed on a sign stuck on something - dogwood.
Everyone should know the poem "There is one less person among the people wearing dogwood branches", but that refers to dogwood, which is mostly used as medicine.
What Sang Yu sees is Cornus officinalis, also known as 'Ai Zi' and 'La Zi', which is a real condiment. Before the official appearance of chili peppers, it was one of the most important sources of spicy taste.
The price is lower than that of Sichuan peppercorns, and it can be used to pickle vegetables, kimchi or make spicy rice oil.
Spicy...
This taste is more stimulating and memorable than salty, sweet and sour. People who like spicy food may even feel uncomfortable all over if they can't eat it for a while.
Just look at the various malatang, rice noodle, and hot pot restaurants opening up all over the streets in later generations, and even several cities becoming world-famous for their spicy food, and you will know how popular spicy food is.
If we make some special food with spicy flavor as the main ingredient, will there be a market for it?
Before she could figure out what was going on, the stall owner, who saw her standing in front of his stall staring at the dogwood in a daze, started waving his hands and chasing her away in displeasure.
"Young lady, what do you want to buy? If not, don't block me from attracting other customers."
"How much do you sell this dogwood powder for?"
Sang Yu was not annoyed. She planned to buy some and try it herself. If the taste was good, she would think about what business to start.
Unexpectedly, she actually wanted to buy it. The stall owner softened his tone and said, "Fifteen coins for one ounce."
The price was cheaper than Sichuan pepper, so Sang Yu did not bargain.
It's not that I'm rich, I just know that the price here is basically the market price, and I can't bargain it down, so I just don't waste my breath.
After weighing an ounce of dogwood powder, Sang Yu continued walking forward. This time he did not stop and rushed home carrying the things.
When Sang Yu saw the shed from afar, he saw a short figure running towards him.
She continued to walk forward slowly and soon saw the person clearly. Who else could it be but Sang Xinghao?
Sang Xinghao trotted over to her and took the pheasant and spices from her left hand. He asked curiously, "Sister, didn't you say you wanted to buy pork? Why did you buy pheasant?"
It’s not that pheasant is not delicious. The chicken soup he drank last time made with pheasant was the best chicken soup he had ever tasted in his life. He just felt a little surprised.
"I've bought some pork, too. It's in the basket, look."
Sang Yu lowered the basket in her hand and glanced at him, then said, "It's been a while since I had chicken soup. I saw it and bought some to nourish everyone."
It can be said that every one of the Sang family members can drink chicken soup every day for ten days or half a month without any problems, and they are all so thin.
Besides, the chicken was not bought in vain. She had heard about the existence of the splints and was just waiting to secretly find a hunter to get a few of them later.
"Great! Let's have some chicken soup!" When Sang Xinghao heard that he could drink chicken soup again, he cheered happily and hugged the pheasant, wishing he could kiss it on the spot.
After returning home, he first soaked the hind leg meat that the butcher had sliced into slices in clean water to remove the blood. Sang Yu boiled a pot of water and prepared to purify the bitter salt first.
Compared with ordinary loose salt, bitter salt requires an additional step of purification and separation of impurities.
Although spending an extra penny on loose salt would save you from the hassle, a little adds up. One ounce costs one penny, one catty is ten pennies, and five catties is fifty pennies.
Wouldn’t it be nice to use the money you save to buy a pheasant and make soup?
There is plenty of wood ash in their home as they need to make fire, boil water and cook every day.
Since coming to Lingnan, Sang Yu has stipulated that water must be boiled before drinking. There is always a pot of boiled water in the pots and pans at home for everyone to use.
It's not that she is so pretentious, but she knows clearly that there are countless bacteria and viruses that are invisible to the naked eye in unpurified water sources in the wild.
Besides, places like Lingnan are plagued by mosquitoes, and there's no guarantee they'll lay eggs in the water. Boiling water isn't guaranteed to eliminate bacteria, but it's at least safer than drinking raw water.
Although they didn't know why they couldn't drink raw water, the Sang family always obeyed her request unconditionally and gradually developed a habit of either boiling water for themselves or simply not drinking it when they went out.
Purifying bitter salt and pickling fish. While Sang Xinghao and Xie Qiujin were busy applying salt on the fish, the Sang father and son, who had been busy all day, also returned.
Sang Yongjing looked at the small fish coated with salt and asked, "Wow, so many fish are pickled. When can we eat them?"
"Hang it up to dry tomorrow. It will be wax-melted in about seven to ten days. It can be stored until winter."
Sang Yu smiled and explained a few things to him, and asked about the progress of the house construction: "How is the house construction going today?"
Before Sang Yongjing could answer, Sang Xingjia came over and said, "Little sister, it's such a pity that you didn't go today. You didn't see Carpenter Wang's true skills."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Don't look at him as being over fifty, he's not slow at all when it comes to climbing up and down. He fixed the rafters and purlins on the roof of our house in no time, then laid the lookout boards and tied reeds on them, and that was it."
Sang Xingjia was very excited. He gestured and danced as he continued, "You didn't see it. After the roof was laid, if you tried to pour water on it, not a single drop would come down."
He was scared by the heavy rain and was afraid that after the new house was built, it would leak into the house if it rained continuously.
"Laying a lookout board?" Sang Yu raised his eyebrows slightly.
According to the information she learned from Xiaohu, when houses are built in the village, the roofs are usually covered with a layer of bamboo mats or straw mats, and then thatched with thatch. It is rare to use wooden boards for the roofs.
It’s not that wood is expensive, but the labor cost of hiring a carpenter to make a whole tree trunk into wooden boards is not something that ordinary people can afford.
It seems that Carpenter Wang did not intend to lightly reveal the mud material formula. He did not say it, but repaid her with practical actions. I don't know how long he had stored the boards used on the roof of their house.
She silently kept this matter in mind, determined to repay the favor and not to publicize it. This Carpenter Wang was a person worth making friends with.
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