Chapter 294 Special Tutoring
At the end of the third month of the lunar calendar, the weather in the prefectural city began to warm up, but the temperature difference between day and night was large. Lin Yuesha had just taken off her coat, but put it back on in the evening.
With a few days left before her departure for the girls' school, Lin Yuesha, having nothing to do, decided to take over the main kitchen with her maid and prepare a large pot of cold-cooked rabbit, intending to give it to the pockmarked man as a snack with his drinks.
"Qingxing, Qi'er, you've traveled all the way from the capital to the north. Do you know how far the seaside is from the prefectural city?"
The snacks for the family shop were all prepared and piled up in the shop's storeroom. To prevent rats from gnawing on them, Lin Yuesha spent a lot of money to make several storage cabinets and ensure ventilation.
Peanuts, in particular, are most susceptible to absorbing moisture, which can affect their taste.
There are various kinds of dried fruits and meats. As for the remaining cakes and pastries, she wrote down several recipes. Before the shop opens, her mother, Chen, and the servants can make them on the spot.
"Miss, you mean the beach?"
The northern region is not by the sea, and the nearest city to the capital is Yingcheng, which is about a five or six-day journey by carriage. It is separated from the prefectural city by a city.
"Yes, Miss, we passed through Yingcheng on our way here and even stopped for two days."
Originally, the group was in a hurry to get on their way, but when Granny Lin heard that there were small farms and delicious seafood by the sea in Yingcheng, she took the group to camp there for two days.
The fish are all caught by fishermen at the seaside. Some are still alive when they come ashore, so they are killed and used to make soup. The fish soup is milky white, and the seafood is indeed more delicious than river fish.
"Miss, would you like some seafood?"
Qi'er recounted her experiences in Yingcheng, mentioning that the sea fish there were extremely cheap, and the locals were already tired of eating them.
Unsold fish are dried into salted fish jerky, but the taste is quite different and not very tasty. Granny Lin bought a few packs of seaweed, saying she would keep them to make egg drop soup, as they are easier to store.
"I want to eat it, but I can't."
Lin Yuesha nodded. Since transmigrating to the Great Qi Dynasty, she hadn't eaten any seafood. She missed the big fish, crabs, shrimp, and squid from the sea, all of which were incredibly delicious.
A couple of days ago, she was having a barbecue with her stepbrother when she saw a small jar of pickled kimchi at home, which reminded her of squid.
Putting aside other things, there are many ways to cook squid, such as grilled squid, deep-fried squid, or chopped squid to make seafood pancakes or spicy kimchi squid fried rice.
Unfortunately, due to the inconvenience of transportation, it would be too costly to transport seafood from Yingcheng, and it would be difficult to keep it fresh at this time of year, requiring the addition of crushed ice along the way, making the journey even more challenging.
What would you like to eat?
Qi'er rolled her eyes and asked.
"Of course it's squid, I read it in a travelogue."
Fearing she would be exposed, Lin Yuesha made up an excuse: she didn't know what squid was called in this era.
"This is what it looks like. The travelogue says that this fish has no bones and tastes very good."
On a whim, Lin Yuesha sketched out the shape of a squid with a few strokes, swallowing hard as she did so. She reminded herself not to think about it anymore.
"Miss, what shall we do tonight?"
Dinner had already been eaten, and Liu Quan's wife insisted that Lin Yuesha not cook, saying that if her skills were not good, she should practice more, and that she couldn't always have the young lady come to the kitchen, otherwise she would have nothing to do.
Seeing this, Lin Yuesha stopped insisting. However, she wanted to make something spicy and flavorful, so she deliberately didn't eat much for dinner.
Inspired by the squid, Lin Yuesha took the big fish that she and the pockmarked man had fished out of the pond last time, deboned it, and chopped it all into a paste. She was going to make a dish of seven-star fish balls.
Fish paste and minced fatty meat are mixed together to make stuffed dumplings. Adding a few to soups or rice noodles will give you the deliciousness of fish and the aroma of fatty meat. One bite will be fresh, fragrant and bouncy.
"Oh, right, Miss, I was just talking about Granny Lin. Look what this is."
Qi'er took out a cloth bag from the cabinet in the main kitchen, which contained a bag of dried green beans.
Where did this come from?
There were no dried vegetables left at home, so even though there was wild boar meat, there were no dried green beans. Lin Yuesha searched several general stores, but couldn't find any.
"This was sent to you by Young Master Yun."
Qi'er almost blurted out "Pockmarked Face" along with Bai Cha, but that would be too disrespectful to her master. She was afraid that someone might overhear and that if it got out, her master would kill her.
"Did Brother Yun send this over?"
Lin Yuesha soaked the dried green beans in water, and her eyes lit up.
With the ingredients in place, she's ready to start cooking something delicious: braised pork with dried green beans, which she'll make tonight.
Although wild boar meat is delicious, most people can't cook it properly, as it will have a strong fishy smell. Some people don't know how to eat it and might even think the meat has gone bad.
Lin Yuesha had the most seasonings. She used fire to burn off the black hair on the wild boar skin again, chopped it into large pieces, and stewed it in water.
"Miss, your technique is so skillful. Did you start cooking when you were just a few years old?"
Qi'er's eyes lit up with excitement; her skill surpassed even that of the head chef at the Lin family mansion in the capital.
"No, I've only been cooking for a few months. I just like to experiment."
Lin Yuesha smiled modestly. The recipe for Seven Star Fish Balls was found in a cookbook that Zhang Qing'er had collected for her on the way. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to remember it in a short time on her own.
Although it is a common way of eating in the south, this kind of food is not limited by taste.
Lin Yuesha was busy chopping the filling, while Bai Cha helped cut the rabbit meat. She specially set the rabbit head aside, as the young lady had said she would also make spicy rabbit head.
Qingxing and Qi'er couldn't help and ended up as kitchen maids, while the master and servants worked enthusiastically in the main kitchen.
About an hour later, the fish balls, cold rabbit, braised pork and dried green beans were ready.
Cold-cooked rabbit needs to be cooled down, so Lin Yuesha had a few maids taste it. She cooked a pot of rice and made a vermicelli and pickled vegetable soup with seven-star fish balls. The group cooked together in a small kitchen.
"It's better to live in the city. If this were in the village, the aroma would attract everyone from the village."
Bai Cha picked up a piece of braised pork, which was covered in broth and had been stewed until it was extremely tender and melted in her mouth. She had never eaten such delicious meat before, and she couldn't describe it in words.
Lin Yuesha nodded, agreeing with Bai Cha's words. The villagers didn't eat meat often, so the aroma of stewed meat from any house could travel far and wide, and by the next day, everyone in the village would know. There were no secrets at all.
In the capital, having a large kitchen at home makes things much more comfortable; you can cook whatever you want to eat.
Lin Yuesha left some of the pork in the braised pork with dried green beans. She will reheat it tomorrow and add the green beans; it will still be very flavorful.
There were also cold-cooked rabbit and seven-star fish balls. Because she made too many, and they wouldn't keep for long in this weather, she planned to give some away.
"If you wish to send a message to Young Master Yun, this servant can help you deliver the message."
Qi'er buried herself in her food, while Qingxing, being somewhat conscientious, mentioned the master.
"Okay, is tomorrow okay?"
Lin Yuesha put down her chopsticks and asked casually.
The thought of seeing Pockmarked Face tomorrow filled her with joy.
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