The knife that Su Wan had sharpened was indeed sharp. She chopped the fat into small pieces and did not leave out the lard residue on the other side.
The two kinds of fillings for the buns she wanted to make were already prepared.
Although we won’t be making the dumplings until tomorrow, we have to prepare a lot of fillings, so we should prepare them early so we don’t have to panic tomorrow morning and everyone will have plenty of time to rest.
Now everyone in the west kitchen knows that although Su Wan is young, she is not at all careless in her work.
Even more skillful than many adults.
She seemed born in the kitchen.
In fact, it’s not that she was born suitable for it. It’s because in another time and space, her family ran a private kitchen.
But when I think of another time and space, I can't help but think of my aunt in this time and space.
She has been in the palace for almost a month, and she doesn't know how her aunt is doing.
Is she being bullied at home again?
But she is so soft-hearted, it would be strange if she wasn't bullied.
Su Wan shook her head and said, don’t think too much about it for now. Family members will be allowed to visit around the 10th. My aunt should come by then, right?
Just ask when the time comes.
At that time, she also gave her aunt a monthly stipend to make her life easier.
This timid and cowardly aunt looked exactly like her mother from another time and space, making it hard for her not to miss her.
Besides, even for her original body, she would take good care of her aunt.
When making the filling, the method of adding strength to the filling is still the same, just beat in one direction. The filling will not be too soft and will be juicy.
When preparing the filling, add some vegetable oil. The mixture of the two oils will make the taste more fragrant. Finally, add a little salt and the aroma will come out immediately.
If the filling is well prepared, just smelling the raw filling will make it fragrant, and this is not an exaggeration at all.
Not to mention that the filling contains cooked sweet potato flour, chopped and drained cabbage, and pork. How can it taste bad?
On the other hand, there is no need to mention the lard residue. Ancient people lacked oil and water in their stomachs. Modern people may feel greasy after eating too much lard residue, but ancient people did not mind it at all.
Besides, if the lard residue is cooked well, it will be very fragrant.
At this time, the lard residue is chopped into pieces, and even the chopping board is filled with the aroma of fat, making people want to lick the chopping board!
It is then paired with boiled carrot shreds. Undercooked carrot shreds do not taste good, but if they are soaked in oil and absorb the aroma of the oil, they will become soft and extremely fragrant.
It's not just eating carrots, but eating soft, tender and greasy carrots. The sweetness of the carrots can also relieve greasiness, making you love them.
I can eat eight in one go!
It’s a pity that we can’t eat it now. We’ll just prepare the filling and put it in a small ice cellar. The meat filling will be firmer when we make it tomorrow.
We prepared the fillings for more than a thousand buns, and by the time we were all done, everyone had started sweating.
The weather in early May is a bit hot.
But everyone in the west kitchen had excitement on their faces. Looking at the palace servants coming and going at the door, everyone was peeking through the cracks in the door and drooling.
Looking at their expressions, they are really proud!
Everyone had a good rest in the afternoon.
There is no need to prepare much for the colorful fried rice in the evening. The rice used for the fried rice is steamed twice as much as that for lunch, just to be eaten in the evening.
It’s not that they want to be lazy, but Su Wan said that fried rice made with freshly steamed rice is actually not that delicious.
The rice must be cooled down to allow it to become loose and slightly dry. This way, when you make fried rice, the grains will be distinct and the rice will be sweeter and more sticky.
Everyone also came to their senses.
I feel that working with Su Wan not only helps me cook delicious meals.
Has everyone's rest time also increased?
In the past, when people from various ministries and palaces came to eat, they would drag their feet and take more than an hour.
But it’s not like that now. Now when it’s time for dinner, everyone rushes to come.
They come quickly and eat quickly, without any delay.
In this way, the western kitchen can leave work early.
Who doesn’t like leaving get off work early?
Moreover, Su Wan would arrange everything properly. At the beginning, the left and right masters would help her deal with interpersonal relationships, but gradually she could do it on her own.
She is so capable at such a young age. Most of the palace maids in the west kitchen rely on her as their backbone.
no way!
If you can cook delicious food and have the skills, you will be admired by others.
At this moment, Su Wan just wanted to go back, wash up and take a nap.
A day isn’t complete without a nap!
As for dinner?
Is there any meal simpler than fried rice?
You don’t have to worry about anything, and everyone can eat comfortably.
Su Wan was not exaggerating, she was good at making fried rice, and as long as the heat was right, fried rice would just be more flavorful.
So get up in the afternoon and start doing it right away.
All the ingredients are ready, and she just needs to stand on the bench and cook the fried rice.
Colorful fried rice is made with the shredded green peppers, carrots, cabbage, corn kernels, and chopped green onions from lunch.
When these five ingredients are stir-fried together, you get a beautiful and oily fried rice.
Because Su Wan did it so quickly, she was stunned.
The name sounds so complicated, how can it be so simple?
And it makes a big pot at a time, so easy!
But it tastes complex, and with the egg soup on the side, it's another meal that'll make your mouth water!
They enjoyed the meal here, but the nearest restaurant selling food in Anqingfang felt strange.
Recently, why haven't the palace servants in the West Outer Palace come out to buy food? Especially the Imperial Household Department. Before, they just didn't come out for breakfast, and now they don't come out to buy food for lunch or dinner either.
In the past two days, even the Shangbaojian has experienced this situation. Could it be that it is the beginning of the month again and everyone is out of money?
Anqingfang is very close to the West Outer Palace. Starting from the Armoury Bureau in the middle of the Outer Palace of the Imperial Palace, the Armoury Bureau is in the north, and to the south is the Old Warehouse, then the West Kitchen, then the Shangbao Bureau, and the Yuyong Bureau.
Further south of the Imperial Household Department is the old palace wall. Go out from the Lingtai Gate along the old palace wall and walk to the left to reach Anqingfang. Walk to the right toward the new palace wall to reach the Baochaosi.
So I have always said that whether it is the Imperial Household Department or the Imperial Treasure Department, it is very convenient to go out and buy food.
When the food in the western kitchen was not good, they always went out to eat.
The Shangbaojian, Yuyongjian, and the more remote Baochaosi, together have more than 1,400 people. To provide food for so many people, there are many restaurants in Anqingfang.
None of them are big stores, but they are controlled by two families, one is the Zhang family and the other is the Wang family.
These two companies opened more than a dozen restaurants in total, with a few scattered around opened by other households.
But they can’t open a business too big, because if they do and their business gets better, the Zhang and Wang families will join forces to drive them away.
Even the Li family's pig's trotters, which Su Wan had praised before, were inferior to these two. We had to listen to them.
Some people secretly spread the rumor that the Zhang and Wang families had a good relationship with the manager of the Baochaosi, so they could be so arrogant.
The food in Anqingfang is actually average and not cheap, but the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department used to eat out there often because the food in the West Kitchen was so bad.
But now that there is a free canteen, the palace servants in these two places will definitely not go out to eat.
In their opinion, the food in the Western Kitchen is much better than the food outside! And it’s free!
Only a fool would go out to eat! Everyone went to the western kitchen to grab food but it was too late!
If they don't go out to eat, the first ones to notice will definitely be the Zhang and Wang families.
There are almost 500 people in the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department combined. How could it not be noticed if one-third of the guests suddenly disappeared?
The Zhang and Wang families went to the house of the chief steward of the Baochao Division again.
The steward's nephew was at home and didn't take it seriously. He said directly, "Don't you see what date it is? It must be that the people in the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department have run out of money. It will be fine after the 10th."
The tenth is the day when the palace pays monthly salaries. The closer it gets to payday, the less money people have. Aren’t you used to it yet?
The Zhang and Wang families were scolded and dared not speak out what was in their hearts.
It’s okay for the Imperial Household Department, but those people in the Imperial Treasure Department must be rich.
Forget it, let’s wait and see. The food in the western kitchen is so bad, I don’t believe that people from these two places won’t come out.
Since there are few customers, then we can raise the price of meals. We still have the palace staff from the Baochaosi, so they will surely not dare not go to Anqingfang for meals.
Otherwise, wouldn't the money that the Zhang and Wang families gave to the general manager of the Baochaosi be wasted?
By then, the chief steward of the Baochao Division will be unhappy even without them having to say anything.
Su Wan must not know about the affair between the restaurant outside the palace and the palace chief steward, but she also counted them as people from various palaces.
Nowadays, needless to say, everyone in the Imperial Household Department eats in the West Kitchen.
The Shangbaojian also had this trend, especially after the Shangbaojian chief steward went to eat with the West Kitchen, it was obvious that all the palace servants from the Shangbaojian had arrived.
There is only one Yan Pei in the Guandi Temple. Now he eats three meals a day in the small kitchen, which can be considered as his arrival.
Now only the old treasury and the treasure banknote bureau remain.
The old prison warehouse is easy to deal with, there are only fifty people. Next time, I can use the same trick and hang around the door of the old prison warehouse with big buns. That'll work. Besides, there are few people in the old prison warehouse, and they usually eat with the Armory Bureau which has its own kitchen, so they don't really interact with this side.
But none of this matters.
The last place that is important is Baochaosi.
As mentioned before, the West Kitchen is responsible for meals for 1,546 people.
Among them, one thousand were from the Baochaosi.
You can see how huge the scale is.
However, Su Wan had taken over the West Kitchen for more than half a month, but she had not met a single person from the Palace Treasure Department.
No one came?
Is this normal?
It seems strange no matter how you think about it.
Even though it was the Shangbaojian in the past, there were basically people with backing, and some of them would come to the Western Kitchen occasionally.
However, the Baochao Division, with a staff of one thousand people, worked in unison and never set foot into the west kitchen.
Although the Baochaosi is far away from the West Kitchen and people don't pass by the West Kitchen on weekdays, this is still a bit strange.
One thousand people is a bit too neat.
Could it be that the Baochaosi also has its own small kitchen?
But she had never heard of it.
Su Wan asked Xiaoyue, who was well-informed, and heard Xiaoyue say, "No, the Baochao Division doesn't have a small kitchen. They all eat outside the palace."
Xiaoyue added: "Before, the Baochao Division was not actually in the palace. It was considered an outer division. Only in recent years has a new palace wall been built inside."
Su Wan had also heard of these words vaguely. The Baochao Division was formerly part of the External Divisions, so she was used to eating out.
After that, the imperial palace was renovated, and the Baochaosi was also returned to the internal departments.
This point needs some explanation, what are the internal departments and external departments.
It can be roughly understood in this way. First of all, there is the inner city of the imperial palace. As mentioned before, it is basically the place where the emperor handles state affairs, rests, and where the emperor's children and concubines live.
Therefore, the security is the strictest, also known as the Da Nei, and it looks square.
Then there is the outer city of the imperial palace, which is often called the outer palace. This outer palace just surrounds the inner city. It is for protecting the safety of the emperor in the inner palace and for settling various departments.
For example, the various kitchens, the Academy of Scholars, the Sifang Pavilion, the Tea and Wine Bureau, etc. These government offices were built around the palace in a square shape. Outside the square, there was a moat, which enclosed the entire palace.
Those within the moat are the internal departments, which are also government offices within the imperial city.
The government offices outside this artificial river were called outer offices, meaning they were not inside the imperial palace.
If you imagine the image, draw a rectangle between the papers, that's Ouchi.
Draw a larger rectangle outside the rectangle to cover the inside. This is the place for the internal departments.
Finally, draw another circle to represent the inner river, and outside the moat are the outer departments.
One circle after another, just for the safety of the saint in the middle.
The Baochaosi was not within the imperial palace before, but after the palace was renovated and the moat was diverted, the Baochaosi, which was relatively important and close to the other inner offices, was moved inside the palace.
But the Baochao Division used to be one of the outer divisions, so people were used to eating out. Even after it was transferred to the inner divisions, they still kept eating out.
It's also a habit.
Therefore, up to now, out of the one thousand people in the Baochao Division, not a single one has come to the West Kitchen.
But Su Wan felt something was wrong.
Eating outside costs money, but eating in the palace is free.
For the sake of money, no one would come. There must be other reasons, but she just doesn't know them yet.
However, if the Western Kitchen is to be protected from interference by those in power, these one thousand people are extremely important.
They account for two-thirds of the palace servants in the Western Kitchen. To put it bluntly, not to mention the capabilities behind them, just in terms of the number of people, the Imperial Household Department, the Shangbao Department, the Guandi Temple, and the Old Treasury combined are not as important as the Baochao Department.
Don't be fooled by the fact that their cooking is going well now.
But if we don't win over the Baochao Division, the people in power will definitely have something to say, and they will always be able to find fault when they want to.
Although it looked urgent, Su Wan didn't feel anything.
The world is big, but eating is the most important thing.
Her food is delicious, so she is not worried that no one will come.
It's only a matter of time before you come over!
Even if someone is playing tricks, it won't last long.
Just think about it for a moment and you will understand.
The food at this place is not only average, but also costs a lot of money.
Another place where the food is not only delicious, but also free.
Is there any need to choose?
Even a fool knows how to choose.
So Su Wan is full of confidence, she is like Jiang Taigong fishing! Those who are willing will take the bait!
But there is a big meat bun hanging on her hook!
Who wouldn’t take the bait!
Early the next morning, Su Wan felt refreshed.
Today's task is to steam the pork, cabbage, vermicelli buns, and lard and carrot buns, and then send them to the Old Prison Treasury and the Treasury Department!
I don’t believe they don’t like these big, fragrant and greasy buns!
On the third day of May, Su Wan’s gourmet fishing plan started again!
The West Kitchen has been under Su Wan's supervision for more than ten days now, and she has gradually figured out what everyone is supposed to do.
Su Wan had just arrived and the necessary ingredients had been prepared.
In addition to the regular breakfast, these two kinds of buns are also extra snacks, which shows how generous the two stewards of Shangbaojian are.
While others were making their regular breakfast, Su Wan had already rolled up her sleeves and started kneading the dough!
Not to mention others, Su Wan was extremely looking forward to today's big buns!
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