29 Yellow Bone Fish Paste Porridge
◎Xie Linchuan shuddered when he heard this. How disgusting!◎
The restaurant opened yesterday and we probably gave away thirty or forty bowls of iced glutinous rice balls.
As for the braised pork, it was almost sold out, with a total turnover of about twenty taels, which was half of the profit.
Braised pork and iced rice dumplings are both made in the afternoon, but porridge can only be made in the morning.
According to the previous plan, pork and carrot porridge and fish paste and vegetable porridge will be sold in the morning.
The former is easy. Just cut the meat into strips and marinate it slightly, dice the carrots, and throw them all into the rice porridge.
The fish paste and vegetable porridge was a little more troublesome because Jiang Qinglan chose yellow croaker instead of ordinary fish fillets.
In her previous life, in her grandmother’s hometown of Chengdu, yellow croaker was called yellow croaker, and was specially used to make spicy dry stew or hot pot with red soup.
But Jiang Qinglan discovered that this kind of fish has delicate meat, delicious taste, and few bones, making it perfect for making fish paste porridge.
However, it also has a disadvantage - it is relatively small. To make fish paste porridge, you have to remove the meat yourself.
Fortunately, she had ordered live fish from the fish market a few days ago. The fishmonger was very attentive and killed, cleaned and delivered each fish to her door.
The sky outside the window was just beginning to turn a crab-shell green, the morning star still twinkling; it was still early. In the hot wok, the lard had melted, and the scallions, ginger, and garlic, slowly sautéed over low heat, were emitting a fragrant aroma.
Then, with a "sizzle", a basket of yellow croaker slid into the pot.
Oil splashed, and the downward side of the fish quickly turned brown, and the aroma of the fried fish quickly filled the room.
At this time, Tuantuan was sitting on the threshold of the kitchen, flipping through the flower rope.
Because she got up too early, her head was still a little dull. She quickly wrapped the rope around her fingers and tied a knot.
At this moment, she suddenly woke up when she smelled the fragrance of fish. She stood on tiptoe and stretched her neck to look at the fried food in the pan.
Jiang Qinglan scooped out a piece of fish tail, sprinkled a little salt on it, and handed it to her:
"Eat a little first, it's delicious. We'll have breakfast properly after the fish porridge is ready."
Yellow croaker is small in size, so its tail is thin and its bones are soft. After being fried in hot oil, the whole piece becomes fragrant and crispy.
In addition, there is some meat where the tail meets the body - this meat is the most delicious and delicate. Coated with the fragrance of hot oil and the saltiness of salt, it melts in your mouth, but the aftertaste is endless.
Tuan Tuan crunched the fish tail until it was completely chopped up, but she still felt unsatisfied. However, Jiang Qinglan had already said so, so she didn't want to argue. She ignored the heat and stayed in the kitchen to watch her sister make porridge.
The wok where the fish had been fried was now filled with a snow-white fish broth. Three small green onions, white on top and green on the outside, were tied into a knot and bubbling in the broth.
The so-called "original soup turns into original juice" means that the meat of the yellow croaker being cooked is removed, and it is the fish in the fish paste porridge.
The white soup should not be wasted. It can be added to the porridge to add a fresh flavor.
The hole in the middle of the earthen stove held a cauldron. The rice porridge inside had already been cooked to a sticky consistency. Because of the addition of ingredients like mushroom slices and dried scallops, the rice porridge had a rich seafood flavor.
Once the fish soup and fish meat are added, and some hot oil is poured in, the porridge base turns slightly yellow.
Take a bite, oh my, my eyebrows are about to fall off!
Shredded green vegetables are added last to prevent the heat from turning them yellow and losing their freshness and tenderness.
Seeing that Tuantuan had been looking at her pitifully for a long time, Jiang Qinglan didn't wait any longer. She scooped two bowls of fish paste porridge that was missing vegetables and took her sister to the house for breakfast.
Morning porridge is refreshing and nourishing. The yellow croaker minced fish melts into the rice porridge, making it almost invisible. But once you taste it, you'll discover the other world: fresh and fragrant, soft and tender.
The only drawback is that it becomes a bit monotonous if you eat too much.
This is the effect of vegetables.
When the dish is almost ready, add a handful of shredded green vegetables. The slightly bitter yet sweet taste of the vegetables, along with the slightly firm texture of the vegetable stems, complements the soft and tender fish paste porridge perfectly.
After breakfast, the two sisters tossed and turned their ropes for a while before dozing off again. Since they were full, she simply fell asleep on the table.
At this time, Wang Huiniang went to the East Market to buy meat for the afternoon, and Hu Zi also went to Qingping Academy, so there was no one else in the room.
Jiang Qinglan untied her apron, removed her sleeves, and prepared to take a nap. Suddenly, she heard a "pop" sound, and the embroidered bag at her waist fell to the ground, and a few scattered silver coins fell to the ground.
Jiang Qinglan bent down to pick it up. When he finally found it, he found a small golden ball shining brightly at the foot of the table - it was given to him by Mr. Yan yesterday.
Jiang Qinglan was mostly asleep. He picked up the golden ball and concentrated without saying a word.
Yesterday, Mr. Yan insisted on giving this as a grand opening gift.
He said it could be used as a prepayment for future meals. But this little golden ball was worth at least one hundred taels of silver. How long would it take her to keep track of her small business?
From the day she came here, she decided to only deal with small people and avoid getting close to big people.
Although this Mr. Yan was only a minor official in the Lin'an Prefecture Office, he spent a hundred taels of silver, so he must be no small figure.
By this time, the sky had turned from indigo to bright white, and it was daybreak. The river breeze rustled the willow trees and carried the calls of the old man selling lotus flowers on the bank.
"Flowers for sale—fresh lotus flowers—lotus leaves—lotus pods—"
Jiang Qinglan asked the people to stop and bought a large bunch of lotus flowers. She put them in the plum vase on the counter, and the fragrance spread far and wide, and the lotus flowers stood tall and pure.
She patted the golden ball in her purse and figured it out.
Why bother worrying about unnecessary things? Since you're in business, you're likely to run into all sorts of people, so just deal with them as they arise.
Besides, it seems that Mr. Yan is not a bad person. He pays for my food and there is nothing wrong with saving some in advance.
——
"Ah, tsk——" Xie Linchuan sneezed in the office of Lin'an Prefecture.
He was a little confused. Didn't he feel cold?
Because he was afraid of heat, he took cold showers even in winter. Now in the middle of summer, he came out from Liu Changfeng, took a shower and went to the Ministry of Finance, and he sneezed.
By the afternoon, he thought he knew the reason for the sneezing. At that time, he was leaning back in the armchair, his long legs draped over the table, reading the Taibai Yinjing with great interest.
"Brother Liuguang!" A voice like the chirping of a yellow oriole sounded.
Xie Linchuan shuddered when he heard this. Who is this? It's so fucking corny!
He tilted his head to look, and saw a figure in red clothes fluttering towards him, like a beautiful and light butterfly.
Seeing who it was, he frowned, hid the book behind him, and jumped off the chair: "Don't call me that again!"
Princess Baoqing twisted her handkerchief in her hands and pouted as she said, "Last time in Zhongwa, you were the first to call me sister. Now, I call you Brother Liuguang, so what's wrong with that?"
Oh my god, that actually makes sense!
Xie Linchuan suppressed the goose bumps all over his body, slapped his forehead hard, and said helplessly: "Why are you here instead of staying in the palace?"
Princess Baoqing said with a smile, "I'm staying at my aunt's house for a while. It's very close to here, and the princess said she could come and see you."
Princess Baoqing's aunt was the emperor's elder sister, Princess Anguo. Her residence was also on the edge of West Lake, not far from the Prince of Dongping's Palace.
Xie Linchuan frowned slightly.
Baoqing lived in the Princess's Mansion, so he was not surprised that he came to see him. But he could have waited for him to go back. Why did he have to do it when he was on duty?
Did the princess ask her to come? Was she here to spy on him? He'd been leaving early and coming back late these days, and his parents might have noticed something was up.
At that moment, he spread out a pile of Zi Ya notes, bills and other things, dipped the brush in ink, and started to draw circles and crosses randomly.
As he wrote, he said seriously, "I'm busy. I have a lot of orders to fill. Later, I have to go patrol the Imperial Street with the Street Division."
He looked at the scorching sun outside and emphasized, "We all walked there, it was so hot."
"ah--"
Princess Baoqing also tilted her head to take a look. The sun was so scorching, her fair skin couldn't stand it.
She bit her lip, feeling very embarrassed, and ultimately did not say "I'll go with you".
At this moment, Yang Song ran in from outside holding a stack of documents.
Seeing his foolish look, Xie Linchuan smiled and came up with a plan.
He pulled Yang Song in front of Princess Baoqing and introduced him in a friendly and cordial manner: "This Yang Langjun is very good at playing the leaf game. Let him play with you."
Princess Baoqing's eyes lit up: "Really?"
The game of leaf play, similar to card games, had long been popular in the imperial harem. Princess Baoqing was a master and a devoted player.
On a full-moon night, she placed a night-shining pearl in a glass cup, and with the help of the pearl and moonlight, she played with the palace ladies all night long.
When the emperor learned of this, he punished the palace maid with a cane and confined her to her house for three months. However, Princess Baoqing remained unrepentant and during her confinement, she stole a deck of cards and played with them while staying up all night. [1]
"How could it be fake?" Xie Linchuan pursed his lips at Yang Song. "If you don't believe me, ask him."
Oh my god, how could Yang Song have known that after coming back, he would be blamed for nothing? He couldn't afford to offend either of these two!
"Well, well, well..." Yang Song hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "I only know a little bit. But now is the perfect time. Besides, we don't have any leaf games here."
"How come there's none?!" Xie Linchuan exclaimed, "It's in the cabinet to the left of your desk, in the third row, fourth compartment. There seems to be dice..."
Yang Song was so scared that he almost died!
These things were indeed his. Sometimes, when the others were on leave and he was the only one on duty, he would take them out and play with them. Now, Mr. Yan knew about it...
Yang Song's face turned pale, and he felt that his career was about to end.
Seeing his expression, Xie Linchuan immediately offered him a reassurance: "There are only three of us here. If you don't tell me, I don't tell you, and she doesn't tell you, who would know?"
He put away the paperwork, cleared his throat, and said seriously, "Now, I'm going to patrol the Imperial Street. Only you two know about this."
After saying that, he ran away as if there was a ghost chasing him.
Yang Song watched him leave, and when he turned around, it was Princess Baoqing's eager and passionate gaze. He shuddered and quickly ran to get the leaf play: "Your Highness, please -"
Princess Baoqing was jealous of Ye Zixi and didn't even notice that Yang Song knew her identity, so she grabbed the cards in her hand.
…
After escaping from the Lin'an Prefecture Office, Xie Linchuan felt that the sun was too scorching and needed to find a place to seek shade.
In the past, he would have invited Zhu Ming and the others to have a drink. But these days, he had learned a lot from Liu Changfeng, and gradually, he and Zhu Ming and the others could no longer get along.
With nothing to do, he strolled along the Chunbo River, thinking about random things.
Willows are swaying on both sides of the stream, the sun is not too strong, and there is a cool breeze, which makes people feel very comfortable.
Somehow, those feet seemed to have their own ideas. After a while, they arrived under the Eight-Character Bridge.
When he looked up, he saw the four big characters of "Xinghua Restaurant". Xie Linchuan smiled and strode in.
【Author’s words】
[1] According to the Biography of Princess Tongchang, after Princess Tongchang, the daughter of Emperor Yizong of Tang, married Wei, she placed a night-shining pearl in a red glass container, which filled the room with light. She then played "leaf games" with the Wei family all night long.
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