Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is a Fujian cuisine with complicated cooking procedures. It requires dozens of ingredients, the most important of which is seafood. Most of the seafood is high-quality dried goods, such as dried abalone, dried sea cucumber, shark fin, dried scallop, fish maw, dried shreds, etc. In addition, fish lips, fish maw, tortoise skirt, deer tendon, duck gizzard, pigeon eggs, pigeons, spare ribs, ham, pork belly, lamb elbow, etc., as well as some other parts of chicken, duck and fish, plus mushrooms, bamboo shoots and other ingredients.
The process is so complicated that it takes two days to complete this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
First, these ingredients need to be cooked through frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, boiling, etc., and then the soup needs to be made. It depends on what the chef chooses to make the soup. It takes almost a whole day just to prepare these ingredients.
Then, put these prepared ingredients layer by layer in a large wine jar, add the previously prepared broth and Huadiao wine. In fact, Shaoxing wine is the best, but there is no Shaoxing wine here, so Huadiao wine can be used instead. After the mouth of the wine jar is sealed, simmer it on a low fire for two to three hours, and finally open it, put some of the remaining ingredients that are easier to simmer into the wine jar, seal it, and continue to simmer it on a low fire for two hours.
Even the charcoal used for stewing soup must be the best silver frost charcoal, which is as white as frost and has no black smoke.
There are some subtle differences in the preparation of authentic Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, including slight differences in the ingredients and broth, as well as some techniques for stewing the soup.
But basically it takes about six to ten hours to simmer.
These dried seafoods are rarely sold even in Raozhou City. It was Xu Qinyu who asked Madam Lu and the Zhou family caravan, who had previously helped deliver ham to her parents in Beijing, to bring them back from the south. Naturally, seafood is only available on the coast.
Don’t even think about getting fresh seafood these days because the conditions for transportation are not there.
The only seafood that can be shipped to other states are those that have been soaked, dried or cooked. It costs a lot of money to ship these dried goods back from the south.
Mrs. Lu was curious and asked Xu Qinyu what she was making. Xu Qinyu did not hide it and said she was making Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. She also briefly explained the method to Mrs. Lu.
Mrs. Lu was a little surprised when she heard that such a dish required dozens of ingredients and almost two days and two nights to make. After being surprised, she couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Xu, are you planning to add a signature dish to Xu's?"
Xu Qinyu shook her head and smiled, "How can that be possible? The process is too complicated and the cost is too high. The price will be very expensive. I don't plan to make this. I just made it for the New Year for my family to try. If I can open a restaurant in Raozhou City in the future, maybe I will add such a sign. But you have to make a reservation in advance before you can cook it."
In later times, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall in many hotels is already a semi-finished product or cooking package. In her opinion, the taste of such semi-finished products is simply wrong and tastes strange. It is no longer the taste of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall itself.
The real Buddha Jumps Over the Wall tastes like all the ingredients are permeated with each other, but when Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is being simmered, because it is absolutely sealed, no aroma can seep out. After it is simmered, the moment it is opened, there is first a faint aroma of wine, followed by the rich aroma of the various ingredients. That aroma alone is so rich that it makes people salivate.
The stewed seafood tastes rich but not greasy at all, and is full of fragrance. The other meats are soft and tender, not only fresh and fragrant, but also have various tastes intertwined without stealing the taste of other ingredients at all.
Xu Qinyu has made Buddha Jumps Over the Wall many times in later generations. All diners wanted to eat it and made reservations with her in advance. The reservations had to be made half a month in advance, and she had to prepare the ingredients. It can be seen how difficult it is to make this dish, as all the ingredients had to be prepared well.
If some ingredients are not handled properly, the final taste will be affected.
In fact, in later generations, not only Buddha Jumps Over the Wall has cooking packs, but many other dishes also use semi-finished products made from cooking packs. Even some hotels use these cooking packs and heat them up when guests eat.
But in Xu Qinyu's eyes, this is no longer cooking, it's just doing things perfunctorily.
Her Xu Ji Restaurant does not allow the use of meal kits, and all ingredients must be the freshest.
Mrs. Lu was very excited after hearing this, but she was too embarrassed to go to Xu's house to eat Buddha Jumps Over the Wall during the New Year. She just hoped that Xu Qinyu would open a restaurant in Raozhou City as soon as possible.
So after Xu Qinyu came back, she started to busy herself with preparing the ingredients for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
After a busy whole day, she finally processed all the ingredients, frying, deep-frying, cooking, stewing, etc. After all the ingredients were processed, she put them layer by layer into the wine tank and added appropriate amount of broth and Huadiao wine.
Similarly, adding soup and wine also requires the most appropriate amount, and you have to add enough at one time, and just the right amount, otherwise it will also affect the taste.
Xu Qinyu has natural talents for these.
After adding the broth and Huadiao wine, place it on the silver frost charcoal before going to bed at night and simmer it over the lowest heat.
Wait until tomorrow to open the package and add the remaining ingredients and simmer for two hours before eating.
It’s ready to eat by noon.
Next year will be the New Year.
Xu Qinyu planned to eat the New Year's Eve dinner at noon and skip breakfast, waiting until noon to eat the New Year's Eve dinner.
She has to prepare other dishes tomorrow morning.
But with this altar of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, it is enough to prepare a few other home-cooked dishes.
She was processing the ingredients for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and no one else could help at all. They could only do other chores, such as sweeping the house and clearing the snow, and changing the bedding inside and outside the house.
It snowed a few days ago, but the snow was not heavy and it has stopped in the past two days.
Even though Lian Wen and her family had lived in the palace for most of their lives, they had no idea that there were such complicated dishes in the world that could only be cooked over two days and two nights. Not only were they shocked, they were also curious about what the soup tasted like. They feared that this was what the gods in heaven were eating.
After everyone in the family washed up, Pei Weixuan helped move the large wine jar to the stove. Xu Qinyu looked at the size of the charcoal fire and said to Pei Weixuan, "Fourth brother, this is it. Let's go back and rest."
After two busy days, Xu Qinyu was a little tired.
In fact, during previous Chinese New Years, she didn't have to do any chores at home, not even cooking. She was the only one who prepared the New Year's Eve dinner. The rest of the time she just rested.
This year, the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was too troublesome to prepare, and she spent two days preparing the ingredients.
"Yu Niang should also rest early."
Pei Weixuan glanced at Yu Niang. The light from the kitchen was reflected on her cheek. The light flickered, but her smiling face never changed.
Go back to the house and rest.
Xu Qinyu lay on the soft bed, unable to fall asleep for a while. Now that there was no shortage of money at home, the bedding in her room was replaced with ones made of animal fur. Such a carved wooden bed with a soft mattress was the most comfortable to sleep on.
This is her third year in this time and space, and her life is getting better and better every year.
She remembered that in the first year after she came, she and the Pei family were extremely poor. After buying the yard in Guihua Lane, they did not have much money left. They relied on her to sell meat buns at the dock to make money. At that time, Sister Ning still had the temperament of a princess. She was unwilling to do any work and complained all day long.
Now Ning Jie'er has grown up. She comes back to help her with work on weekdays. Whenever she sees nice things outside, she will think of her and buy them for her.
Even the fine mattress she slept on was bought for her by Sister Ning with the money she earned herself.
She is unfortunate, but also lucky, to meet the Pei family in a strange time and space.
In fact, in the later life, although she was an orphan, she still had people who cared about her, some friends. Several friends who grew up with her in the orphanage became good friends when they grew up. In addition, her teachers in junior high and high school also took good care of her, especially her Chinese teacher in high school. The old lady was very nice, very gentle and kind. She never used beatings or scolding to educate the children. All the children in the class liked her.
After graduation, Xu Qinyu often visited the old lady.
She had been away for more than two years and didn't know how the old lady was doing. In the past, she would bring some of her homemade food to visit the old lady every year.
Xu Qinyu thought of her original self again.
She didn't know whether the original body had gone into her body like her. She hoped that the original body was still alive.
As she thought about it, Xu Qinyu felt a little sleepy. Before going to bed, she vaguely thought of her fourth brother. Her fourth brother was already 22 years old this year and was old enough to get married and have children.
In the Dasheng Dynasty, it was a bit late for a man to get married and have children at the age of 22. The earliest ones were usually 16 or 17, and the latest ones were 18 or 19. It was rare for a man to be unmarried in his twenties.
Xu Qinyu was thinking vaguely, should she mention this to her fourth brother and Mrs. Wen after the New Year? The two of them have already written a divorce letter, and she couldn't delay her fourth brother.
She told Wen that she did not plan to get married before she was twenty, but in fact, she had no idea until she was twenty-five.
In the prosperous dynasty, if a 25-year-old girl still didn't get married, she would be drowned in spit. But she didn't care. If she didn't meet the person she liked in this life, she could stay single for the rest of her life.
At the age of 20, she is still a little girl in her heart. How could she endure the pain of childbirth?
As she was thinking, Xu Qinyu fell asleep.
…
The next morning, Xu Qinyu got up. The Buddha Jumps Over the Wall on the stove in the kitchen had been simmering for exactly three hours. She went over and uncovered the wine jar.
As soon as the sealed jar is opened, the aroma hits your nose. The aroma of wine mixed with the rich aroma of the ingredients instantly arouses the greed in your stomach.
Xu Qinyu was not hungry at first, but when she smelled the delicious food, she couldn't help swallowing her saliva, and her stomach started to growl.
Pei Weixuan, who woke up at about the same time as her, also entered the kitchen. He could not help but move his Adam's apple when he smelled the fragrance. He was a person who did not usually care about food, but he was a little greedy. You can imagine how tempting the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall made by Yu Niang was.
He began to understand why this dish was called Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
Xu Qinyu poured the ingredients into the wine jar and quickly sealed the mouth of the jar, and the fragrance was also sealed inside.
But the fragrance spread out in just a moment.
At about this time, the neighbors had all gotten up and were getting ready for New Year's Day, and they could all smell this rich aroma.
"What's that smell? It smells so good."
"It smells really good. Isn't the owner of Xu's next door? Is the cook from Xu's next door making breakfast?"
"It should be, but what kind of breakfast is this? The aroma is so tempting. I have never smelled such a fragrance before."
"Hey, the fragrance seems to have faded again, that's strange."
Soon, Wen and Ning Jie'er also got up and started to help.
Pei Weixuan was busy writing couplets and the word "Fu" and pasting up the couplets.
Ning Jie'er and Wen Shi were helping Xu Qinyu in the kitchen.
In addition to Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Xu Qinyu also plans to cook a few home-cooked dishes.
Stir-fried bamboo shoots with ham, steamed osmanthus fish, pan-fried duck, steamed spareribs with rice flour, a sweet soup, a rice pudding, two small stir-fried dishes, the stir-fried dishes were spicy and sour potato shreds, stir-fried lotus root slices, and a fried sweet potato meatball.
These potatoes and sweet potatoes were brought back by my fourth brother before the New Year. In addition to potatoes and sweet potatoes, my fourth brother also brought back some dried peppers, either dogwood or chili peppers.
These are the crops that Fourth Brother brought back from the caravan last year. They have already been planted. The potatoes and sweet potatoes can be stored, so they are all fresh to eat. However, the peppers need to be picked and dried in the sun after they are ripe in autumn, so Fourth Brother only brought back the dried peppers.
This type of pepper is long and thin, and its spiciness is medium.
Xu Qinyu didn't know what kind of pepper this was.
After all, no one knows how many varieties of chili peppers there are in later generations.
The potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peppers that fourth brother brought back were not many, just enough for one meal, because not many seeds were brought back from the sea, and they have just started planting now, the first wave is grown, and the output will increase next year. It is usually not until the third year that there is enough quantity for large-scale planting, so fourth brother did not bring back much, just three potatoes, three sweet potatoes, and a handful of peppers.
These are even allowed to be tasted secretly by family members only, and no one else can know about it.
It is even more impossible to add it to the menu of restaurants unless it is grown on a large scale and every household eats it.
Potatoes are naturally made into spicy and sour potato shreds, and sweet potatoes are added to glutinous rice flour and fried into sweet, sticky and soft sweet potato balls.
The spiciness in the hot and sour potato shreds comes from the added shredded dried chilies.
There is also a fried duck with chili added.
Fried duck is also a common dish. Choose a tender duck, kill it and cut it into dices. Then soak it in Huadiao wine and warm salt water to remove the fishy smell. After soaking for half an hour, take it out and squeeze out the water. Add salt and pepper powder to marinate and then stir-fry it.
Heat oil in a wok, add marinated duck and fry until crispy and fragrant.
When the duck meat is fried until crispy, add the bean paste, diced garlic, ginger, and dried peppers and continue to stir-fry. Finally, add soy sauce and some seasoning powder to continue stir-frying. No water should be added to this fried duck throughout the process. It is fried all the way through, and is fresh, spicy, and goes very well with rice.
In fact, I should have added some fresh green and red peppers at the end to enhance the flavor, but I didn’t, so I had to give up.
Xu Qinyu was busy for the whole morning. By the time these dishes were ready, the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall on the stove was also cooked.
It was exactly the middle of the si hour, around ten in the morning, and almost time for breakfast.
After the food was ready, Governor Zhu and his men hurried over in their carriage.
This year, Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu still did not bring their sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and granddaughters to have the New Year's Eve dinner. Although the sons and grandchildren found it strange that they had been having the New Year's Eve dinner in Yuanbao Town for two consecutive years, they also knew that their grandmother was in poor health and that she had gotten better because of the comfortable food in Yuanbao Town, but they did not ask too many questions.
Zhu Taishou first went to Guihua Lane to pick up his sister and mother.
I'm awake now, and I'm in good spirits, but I don't have much strength.
Governor Zhu carried my mother off the carriage and entered the Pei family's house.
The dining table in the main room was already filled with food. The wine jar with Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was placed in the center of the round table. Thick bamboo strips were placed under the jar to prevent the table top from being burned.
Seeing the governor Zhu carrying old lady Zhu into the house, Pei Weixuan took his great-grandmother from his arms and placed her on a rattan chair covered with a mattress beside him.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Great-grandmother, come and try this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall that I made, specially for you. It's also called Fu Shou Quan." She then briefly explained how many ingredients were needed to make this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. When they heard this, both Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu widened their eyes.
As Xu Qinyu spoke, she opened the sealed wine jar. The aroma of the wine inside instantly mixed with the fragrance of the ingredients and came out, filling the room with the rich aroma.
"It smells so good." Zhu murmured.
She had never smelled such a strong aroma in her life, and she couldn't tell what kind of aroma it was. She only knew that she kept swallowing her saliva.
Even old lady Zhu seemed to be more alert after smelling the fragrance.
Xu Qinyu started serving soup to everyone, and she made sure that everyone had enough ingredients in their bowls.
The amount in her jar is quite large, and each person can get two bowls.
The first person to hand it over was naturally Old Lady Zhu.
Zhu was taking care of the old lady, helping to blow the soup and feeding it to her.
When Zhu was blowing the soup, her saliva was so secreted that she was almost embarrassed.
Mrs. Zhu was given a sip of the soup first. She was stunned after taking a sip. She thought it was a rare treat to taste the five flavors of life, "sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty" prepared by Yu Niang. Now she knew what was truly worthwhile.
In fact, Old Lady Zhu also felt that her time was running out, and she was already very satisfied. She had lived for more than a year, accompanied her daughter, and eaten the food made by Yu Niang for more than a year. How could she be dissatisfied? However, she did not expect that when she died, Yu Niang would prepare such a longevity and blessing meal for her.
She smiled and said, "Yuniang's craftsmanship is really amazing. My life is worth it." She really felt that it was worth it. She didn't have any regrets at all.
Tears welled up in everyone's eyes.
When everyone tasted this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, they finally understood the meaning of its name.
'When the altar was opened, the aroma of tangerines spread to the surrounding areas. Upon hearing the Buddha abandoning his meditation, he jumped over the wall and came.'①
The neighbors could indeed smell the rich aroma of the meat, which made them so greedy that even their breakfast became tasteless.
"Hey, this fragrance must be made by the owner of Xu's. What delicious food did the owner make so early in the morning? It smells so good that I can hardly handle it."
"Me too, what on earth is this? I've eaten breakfast and dinner at Xu's before, but I've never smelled anything this delicious."
"This is just breakfast. I feel like I'll remember this taste until the New Year's Eve dinner. I'm afraid I won't be able to eat the dinner. Tell me, why doesn't the owner of Xuji open a restaurant during the New Year? We can go to Xuji to order New Year's Eve dinner."
"You are trying to tire Mr. Xu to death. It's New Year's Day, and everyone needs to rest for a few days."
"Too."
This neighbor's words came true. When they ate New Year's Eve dinner at night, they couldn't forget the rich aroma of meat at noon. The New Year's Eve dinner tasted bland.
Xu Qinyu's family is still having the New Year's Eve dinner.
In addition to the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, the other dishes also have their own flavors.
The spicy and sour potato shreds, although just a simple stir-fry, are also sour and spicy and appetizing. And the fried duck makes people know what real spicy and fragrant flavor is, which is completely different from the spicy taste made by dogwood.
The fried sweet potato balls are also soft, glutinous and sweet. Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er like them very much.
Ning Jie'er also liked it very much and ate several of them in a row.
He also asked Xu Qinyu, "Fourth sister-in-law, what is this food?"
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Sweet potatoes, but you can't tell anyone about it. The yield of this thing per mu can be several thousand kilograms. It's the agricultural crop that your fourth brother brought back from the previous caravan. It should be the first crop now. It will take another two years to plant a large number of them. After three or four years, basically everyone can eat sweet potatoes. In addition, this thing is easy to store. It can be stored for more than half a year. It can be stored even longer if it is ground into sweet potato flour or made into vermicelli."
Ning Jie'er was a little shocked. There really was an acre that could produce thousands of kilograms of food, right? Wouldn't that mean that even in a disaster year, no disaster victims would go hungry? And everyone would survive?
It would be great if people in the future could also eat this soft, sweet, sticky and silky thing.
Governor Zhu was not surprised either. It seemed that Pei Weixuan had told him all this a long time ago.
Of course, Pei Weixuan concealed the fact that he and his men were the ones who found these crops, just as he told his family.
Now is not the right time, he cannot tell everything to Governor Zhu.
It takes a suitable time.
This year's New Year's Eve dinner was eaten early. After dinner, Zhu and Wen went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, while Xu Qinyu stayed in the main room with Old Lady Zhu.
After a while, old lady Zhu felt a little sleepy and went to the guest room to rest. Zhu went to accompany the old lady.
Governor Zhu and Pei Weixuan went to the study to discuss something, and Xu Qinyu also went back to her room to rest for a while.
In the evening, Xu Qinyu prepared a table of simple home-cooked meals. After the family ate, they did not go out to the night market. Instead, they stayed in the main room, chatting and laughing around the charcoal brazier, and the room was filled with laughter.
…
The Pei family had a warm and happy New Year's Eve dinner.
However, the Dong family spent this year in a deserted manner.
Dong Qian already knew that his father had a mistress and had a child, so he hasn't smiled at all in the past two days.
On the night of the New Year's Eve dinner, there were only a few people including Dong, the eldest son, the second son, the youngest daughter, the eldest daughter-in-law and the granddaughter, and it was a deserted place.
The New Year’s Eve dinner was also prepared by the eldest and second sons.
Seeing that all the family members were present, Dong said, "Let's eat."
Yue Xi couldn't help but grumble, "What's wrong with Dad? He has to go to worship our grandparents every year. Wouldn't it be better for him to go back once every three years? He should also spend the New Year with us." He still had some complaints about his father not being able to be with them during the New Year every year.
When Dong heard this, the hand holding the chopsticks trembled.
Thinking of her husband now eating New Year's Eve dinner with another woman, and the close relationship between the three of them, her heart seemed to bleed. They have been together for more than 20 years, and it would be a lie to say that there is no love between them.
Dong Qian frowned and said, "Brother Xi has eaten."
Yue Xi didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but look outside the door. He remembered that when he was young, his father would accompany the family to have New Year's dinner every year. When he was about seven or eight years old, his father would go back to his hometown every year to worship his grandparents.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Xu's opened for business.
Donglaiju usually opens on the eighth day of the first lunar month, but every year when Donglaiju opens on the eighth day of the first lunar month, the other two chefs and the assistant cook are busy, and Yue Weimin usually has to wait until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to return.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Dong was able to keep his composure and Donglaiju opened as usual.
Dong Qian had returned to Xu's a few days ago to continue working as a cook. He also thanked Xu Qinyu privately, but did not tell her about the specific situation at home, only saying that his father had not returned yet.
That evening, it was almost time for dinner.
Pei Weixuan hurried to Xu's house and told Xu Qinyu, "Yu Niang, my great-grandmother has passed away."