107 Roasted Gluten
◎Happiness shared with others is worse than happiness alone◎
Wang Minzhi has been a loyal fan of Juxinglou ever since she tried its hot and sour noodles and stinky tofu. Recently, the city was in turmoil due to the refugees, and she was so scared that she didn't dare to go out for several days.
In the past two days, she heard from her husband that all the refugees in the city had been resettled outside the city. When she heard that the city was safe, she could not help but change her clothes immediately and took her neighbors to go to the Juxing Tower together.
As the three of them walked up the stairs, they saw another word on the colorful signboard: "Roasted Jade Gluten."
When it comes to naming dishes, we have to trace it back to the stinky tofu that was launched before. Because of the word "stinky", stinky tofu has been subjected to many groundless speculations, and people think it is unclean and unhygienic, and even other foods are suspected.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang, the shopkeeper, persuaded Song Jinyi to change the name, and finally changed the stinky tofu to "Black Jade Tofu."
Having learned from the previous lesson, Song Jinyi took a deep breath and developed a new roasted gluten, which he called "Roasted Jade Gluten".
"Braised Jade Wheat Flour." Wang Minzhi read out the name of the dish word by word. She hadn't been here for a few days. Did the restaurant have new dishes?
She originally wanted to eat hot and sour noodles, but when she saw the new dish, she became hesitant. Suddenly, her nose twitched and a strong and strange fragrance wafted from the table of the diners next to her.
She looked up and saw a diner eating a string of golden, spiral-shaped food with relish. It was covered with a thick layer of sauce, and it was golden and shiny, with a drop or two of sauce dripping from it from time to time.
The diner didn't care about the sauce on his mouth at all, and slurped down one string after another.
Looking back at Song Jinyi, she was using a thin wire grill placed on the stove and roasting it with peach wood. The sauce dripped onto the charcoal, creating an even richer aroma.
Song Jinyi was quite satisfied using the newly customized thin wire grill. A few days ago, after eating slightly burnt gluten, she felt that the effect was not as good as she expected.
She stared at the stove for a long while, thinking, "As expected, it's hard to control the temperature when grilling in this stove. I need to ask someone to make a grill. It would be best if peach wood was used as fuel, as it would have a fruity aroma."
She then asked a craftsman to make a few simple thin wire grills.
After trying it again, I found that the wire grill allowed the raw gluten to be evenly heated and was no longer as easily burnt as before. In addition, the sauce was simmered into the gluten over high heat, giving it a mellower taste. Because it was grilled with peach wood, the gluten had a hint of fruity aroma, giving it a richer taste.
Sure enough, the gluten baked with this professional tool is delicious.
She prepared thirty servings today, but sold two-thirds of them in just half an hour. She estimated that she would be able to close the stall in another half an hour.
Wang Minzhi looked at the fresh food with childlike curiosity and anticipation in her eyes, and swallowed unconsciously. This roasted jalapeno root looks pretty good!
So she ordered three skewers of grilled gluten, and the people who came with her ordered other food.
Soon, three skewers of steaming hot "grilled gluten" were delivered to the table. Wang Minzhi couldn't wait to pick up a skewer. As soon as he took a bite, he felt a unique taste, soft and chewy, lingering on his teeth.
The sauce had distinct layers of flavor, like waves, hitting her taste buds again and again.
Seeing her enjoying the food so much, her two friends couldn't help but feel a little tempted. Could it really be so delicious? However, they had already ordered food, and if they ordered more, they would probably waste it.
After Wang Minzhi finished eating a skewer, he saw the two people opposite him staring at him with sharp eyes, or more precisely, at the gluten in the plate in front of him.
Wang Minzhi hesitated for only a moment, then gave the remaining two skewers to them without hesitation, believing that it is better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone.
******
The kitchen of Juxing Building.
Cui Xiuxiu and Yang Ying tried to make grilled gluten together using the grill. When Yang Ying grilled the second skewer, she rotated it and saw that the surface of the gluten was golden brown, but there was no burnt area.
I took a bite, hmm~it’s almost the same as what Madam Song made.
"I did it, I did it." She jumped a few times excitedly. She and Cui Xiuxiu had already learned how to make hot and sour noodles and stinky tofu, and today she mastered how to roast gluten, so she could go upstairs to help tomorrow.
She turned to look at Cui Xiuxiu, only to see her staring at the gluten skewers in her hand with an unpleasant expression. There was a circle of burnt black on them. Yang Ying suppressed her smile and asked softly, "Xiuxiu, is this burnt again?"
Cui Xiuxiu pretended not to care, "It's a little burnt, but it will probably be better next time." Then she said to Yang Ying, "Aren't you going to take food to your mother outside the city? Go!"
After Yang Ying left, she grabbed a handful of hair in annoyance, feeling extremely anxious. Why couldn't she get the timing right?
The two of them were women Song Jinyi brought back from the refugee tent outside the city. Because they were relatively smart, Song Jinyi asked them to follow Zhang Yao and help her.
After a week of teaching them, and seeing that they were familiar with the process, I took out ready-made ingredient packets and let them try to make snacks. Cui Xiuxiu could almost learn the other dishes right away.
Only the grilled gluten was not as good as expected. She had tried three skewers, but it still could not reach the level Song Jinyi required. She took another skewer without giving up, put it on the iron rack, held her breath, and stared closely at the changes in the gluten skewers.
She even breathed very slowly, fearing that it would affect the results.
The charcoal crackled in the stove, the cold wind blew outside the window, and her heart seemed to turn into a piece of light paper hanging in the air.
However--
Because the gluten was coated with too thick a sauce, it stuck to the grill during baking. When it was pulled, the gluten skewers were stretched out of shape.
An inexplicable anger almost rushed to her head, and she could no longer stay in this place.
She rushed out, and the moment the door was pushed open, the biting cold wind pierced her skin like countless icy needles. She stared blankly at the scene in front of her - it was snowing!
Fine snowflakes fell silently from the foggy sky. She reached out to catch the falling snowflakes, feeling the coldness, and tears fell silently.
It was obvious that she had learned to make gluten noodles and other snacks very smoothly before, so why couldn't she do this well? She was anxious and confused, squatting on the steps and worrying about it.
Just as she was daydreaming, she heard a noise beside her. She raised her head suddenly and saw the person coming with a limp. It was Wang Zhi, Song Jinyi's father-in-law who had been kindly taken in a few days ago. He now worked as an accountant.
Wang Zhi cherishes this job that he has finally got. In addition to keeping accounts every day, he also has to write down the food orders made by customers in advance. In order to avoid mistakes, he revised the orders several times, so he leaves late every day.
Hearing some noise in the kitchen, he came over to check. "Hey, is that Miss Cui? Why are you sitting here in such a cold weather?"
Cui Xiuxiu quickly wiped her tears with her sleeve, a little embarrassed, "It's just that I saw the snow and thought of the past, and I felt a little emotional."
Wang Zhi was quite old, and he could tell at a glance that she was worried, so he said casually, "I have a little granddaughter, the one you've seen, but she's not even as tall as your knees.
"Ever since her parents passed away... she's been quiet. The old man was worried she'd keep quiet. What if she became mute? What would happen then? When she first arrived at Juxing Tower, she had clean clothes, a warm place to live, delicious meals, and lived like a fairy.
"Shopkeeper Song is a very good man. Although he provided work-for-relief, he also gave us some extra money. I knew Cuicui wanted to eat candied haws, so I bought her four at once. She started crying while eating them. After she finished crying that day, she let go of her worries and started talking.
"If you have something to say, it's better to speak it out, don't keep it in your heart."
Cui Xiuxiu was silent for a while, biting her lower lip, not knowing whether to say, "I...Mrs. Song taught us how to make grilled gluten, but I've never been able to do it well."
"I thought it was something else. I heard Madam Song praise your intelligence before. Maybe you can do it tomorrow."
Cui Xiuxiu finally opened up and was willing to confess her worries, but she couldn't help but feel annoyed when she heard such a bland answer. "What do you know? You can write and do the math. Manager Song won't fire you easily! But we... are different."
"just in case--
"If I can't be Song Jinyi, she will definitely not want me.
“I don’t want to go back to where I was before.”
There were no beds there, so we could only sleep on thin straw. Our hands and feet were covered with nasty chilblains, which would crack again as soon as the weather got cold, and this happened over and over again.
She had witnessed the covetous gazes of those around her. She had seen fainted women being bullied like lambs to the slaughter, and people too hungry to bear the brunt of the attacks, becoming food for others.
Every minute and every second she was there was torture.
She would rather die than go back!
After hearing this, Wang Zhi seemed to recall the purgatory-like scene back then and shuddered. He sighed and said, "Let's just treat what happened back then as a nightmare and forget it.
"Do you still remember how I followed Madam Song back? Madam Song is a good person. She didn't despise me, an old and lame woman, and my granddaughter couldn't help me at all. How could she just kick you out?"
Cui Xiuxiu sighed, "But precisely because Madam Song is such a nice person, I don't want to disappoint her."
As we were talking, the snow gradually subsided.
Wang Zhi brushed off the snow marks on his shoulders and said, "You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. The work on the stove is a slow process. If you really can't handle it, go ask the shopkeeper Song. She will definitely be happy to teach you." After that, he stood up and left.
Cui Xiuxiu silently looked at his receding back, and sat for a while, circling her fingers in the snow. After a moment, she stood up suddenly and returned to the kitchen.
******
Since that day, under Wang Zhi's guidance, Cui Xiuxiu put aside her pride and consulted Yang Ying, who had already successfully done it, when she had any doubts.
Finally - her hard work paid off, she finally made successful grilled gluten.
In this way, Song Jinyi completely handed over the front kitchen work to Zhang Yao. Zhang Yao and Li He led her to make snacks, while she herself developed new dishes.
Things like crispy pork, braised pork with preserved vegetables, and brown sugar cakes... She tried all of her favorite foods first.
Cui Xiuxiu and Yang Ying were obviously overwhelmed by the new dishes that were added almost every now and then. Fortunately, they had the professional Zhang Yao to guide and help them.
There is a lively atmosphere inside and behind the building.
The pea milk kept swirling into yellow-green vortices in the pottery pot. Song Jinyi's hand holding the wooden pestle gradually became stiff and slow. The medium fire kept heating up the pottery pot, and the pea milk was emitting bubbles as big as pearls.
While stirring, she thought about the proportions of the seasonings. As she thought, her mind drifted away... Li He went to Huo Changqing's place, and no one knew what Zhang Yao was doing recently. She was never seen.
She had been stirring for a long time and her waist was inevitably sore, so she put down the wooden pestle, crossed her hands, stretched, and caught sight of a pale yellow figure. She immediately called out to stop the person and handed the work in her hands to Zhang Yao.
Somehow, Zhang Yao stirred for a long time but couldn't solidify it. Song Jinyi noticed that Zhang Yao was absent-minded, took the wooden pestle and said to her, "Forget it, go and rest if you are tired."
"I'm not tired, it's just..." Zhang Yao couldn't explain it clearly. She stared at Song Jinyi's busy back, biting her lips. In the end, she said nothing and walked out alone.
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