Chapter 189 Chapter 189 Update.
"While I'm away, the restaurant's kitchen will be handed over to you four. Tiandou, Candou and I have been cooking for the longest time, and Candou is the best. From now on, Little Candou will be the head chef."
Although Candou is a bit dull, he is very good at learning how to make fire and cook.
She used to make the signature dishes in her restaurant with broad beans. She also cooks when there are many people. Take today's opening as an example, many dishes are made with broad beans.
When Candou heard that it was handed over to her, he nodded seriously with a firm look in his eyes.
"Jindou's braised food stall will be closed after this month. From now on, braised food will only be the signature dish of Ping'an Restaurant."
The restaurant business is better now than before. Without her, Jin and Yindou can handle the business.
The restaurant was finally opened, and she wanted to keep it going for a long time. It was also the family's source of income. Her current salary alone was not enough to support the whole family, so she had to keep it open so that she could also work as a cook during her days off.
"You have the calmest temperament, so you should consult Jindou about all matters concerning the restaurant.
Yindou's grocery stall was looked after by his family, who hired Xiao Gu to go to Huai City and take Xiao Zhu to and from elementary school every day.
Yindou will also go to the restaurant to help. You have a calm temperament. If the Madam gets confused while I'm away, you must help to calm her down. If she threatens to sell you out, don't be afraid. I'll come back and take care of things for you."
Finally, it was Tiandou's turn. Tiandou had been looking forward to it for a long time and looked at her with eyes as sharp as torches.
"The beans in the field are the most intense, so we must harvest them and not encourage the lady's evil tendencies."
"Why didn't you praise me?"
Sidou blew out the lights and went to sleep, but Tiandou was the only one still thinking about those words.
"Can you still praise me? If you do, I'll fly to the sky."
Jindou smiled, and Tiandou sighed, but she was happy the next day because Ji Xu said before leaving that she could be relied upon and that if anything happened at home, she would have to hold on. Tiandou was feeling elated all day.
At daybreak, Ji Xu went there and sent his family to the bank of the Wei River. As he watched the horse-drawn cart go away, Tian was still waving at him.
Ji Xu also shook his hand and told them to go back and not to see him off.
Because the government office did not provide a place for small officials like them to raise horses, Wu Fu drove her there. At this time, there were already crowds of people on the Wei Bridge, and the noise was even more deafening as they went deeper into Chang'an City.
Because the palace is square in shape and occupies most of the city, the streets here are very straight.
They entered the city from Qingming Gate and walked deeper into the city along Xiangshi Street. This street was located on the alley between Minguang Palace and Changle Palace, with tall palace walls on both sides. No ordinary people lived there, so it was much more solemn.
We walked straight for five or six miles before we got out of the two palace walls.
The sun has come out now, shining on the north-south Zhangtai Street, which is the alley between Beigong and Changle Palace.
After walking three or four miles south along Zhangtai Street, turning right into Xi Street, and heading west, passing by the Barbarian Residence, I finally arrived at the gate of the Shaofu's office.
When they got here, Wu Fu could no longer enter. Ji Xu took off the heavy bag and took the bamboo plate given by the eunuch.
It wrote on it the date and year when the Shaofu Catering Bureau invited her to be the official chef, which was a bit like a letter of employment.
The guarding clerk looked at the bamboo plate and checked her bag, and saw that it contained only ordinary clothes, bedding, food, etc., and there was no prohibited items, so he let her in.
This was not the first time Ji Xu came here. He had been detained in the Ye Ting as a palace slave and was seconded to the Shaofu to help. He had been here before and it was not much different from what he remembered, except that some of the floor tiles and the lime on the walls had been refurbished.
The various departments and offices inside were divided according to their functions. Relying on her memory and the approximate directions given by the clerk at the door, she found the door with a plaque that read "Catering Bureau".
There was also a gatekeeper here. Seeing that she was not wearing the uniform of official rank, but ordinary clothes, he questioned her background and found out that she was a new cook. He looked at the destination written on her bamboo plate and said:
"The Bakery Room... You are the official chef under the Hua Shan Ren."
She was taken to the Food Bureau, which had three officials and three secretaries, namely the Imperial Official, the Soup Official, and the Guide Official, as well as various room supervisors and garden supervisors, such as the Ling Room Supervisor and the Imperial Official Garden Supervisor.
The Lingshi is where ice is stored. It is said that there is always ice there all year round.
The Taiguan Garden collected rare birds and animals from all over the world, as well as various fruit trees and vegetables. It was said that there were grapes and pomegranates transplanted from the Western Regions. Even longan, lychee, and loquat from Lingnan were attempted to be transplanted there, but Ji Xu was not sure whether they could survive.
What is certain is that charcoal fire will be burned inside day and night to generate warmth, so leeks can be grown in winter. These are the ingredients for the entire catering bureau, and many of them are not available on the market. Thinking of this, Ji Xu couldn't help but look forward to it.
She followed the clerk to the kitchen, only to find that it was bigger than her two homes. The entire area was under the jurisdiction of Officer Tang.
Perhaps because Ji Xu was good at making soup when she was in the shelter and had made marrow cakes for the imperial physician, she was recommended to the soup official.
Inside, there are four rooms divided according to their functions, with signs on the doors reading:
Cakes, fruits and vegetables, wine, and soups.
Ji Xu was assigned to the cake and rice room. When he passed by the soup room, he heard the cook there shout:
"Where's Wang Huzi? Where's Wang Huzi?"
Wang Huzi was not with her. He was a cook in the soup room. After the plague was over, he came back to work here.
"Hua Shanren, your people are here."
The clerk arrived at the bakery room and shouted inside.
The official rank of the cook was one level higher than that of the chef, and he was paid 200 dan (approximately 200 dan) of rice per month, with a monthly salary of 40 hu (approximately 200 hu). He was in charge of the cooks, kitchen maids, etc.
Ji Xu's cook was paid 200 dan (approximately 200 dan) of rice, with a monthly salary of 30 hu (approximately 200 dan).
Kitchen maids were official slaves of the Shaofu. They were not officials and had no rank, but they also had a monthly salary, albeit a little less.
When Ji Xu was a slave, she was transferred here and worked as a kitchen maid.
In the bakery room, the lattice windows were open and bright light was shining. The stove was already heated at this hour and was producing clouds of steam.
There were eight people busy inside, five of them were kitchen maids, a man and a woman, all wearing brown robes.
Two cooks, both men of middle age, one fat, the other thin, both wearing flat caps on their heads, white robes, and armbands, were sifting wheat crumbs. When they heard the conversation, they looked toward the door and whispered something to each other.
There is also the head chef here, whose surname is Hua. She is a middle-aged woman with sleek hair, a round face, shrewd eyes, a slightly plump figure, and is also wearing a white tunic.
However, unlike the cook, she wore a black ribbon around her waist, which was only worn by officials with a salary of 200 shi.
"Why is she just a little girl? How old is she?"
Hua Shanren looked Ji Xu up and down, and seeing that she was thin and young, he seemed dissatisfied.
"Eighteen."
"What I'm making here is cakes and bait, which is a very laborious task. What use can she be of?"
The so-called cakes and pasta are noodles. Nowadays, all noodles are called cakes. Therefore, the most common thing you see in the cake and pastry room is wheat crumbs, which is flour.
"I used to make a lot of pasta. Even though I'm skinny, I can sift and knead the dough. I'm quite skilled."
Ji Xu said, and then Hua Shanren nodded slightly, straightened his clothes and said:
"It doesn't matter if you are the Imperial Physician or someone recommended you by me, Hua Shanren, you should only speak based on your ability. Otherwise, I won't use you even if you are the general's men."
Then he asked, "Can you make chess pieces?"
"will do."
Hua Shanren then asked a kitchen maid named Zhou Ping to take away her bag and send it to her residence. She stayed to make chess noodles and went out for something. When she left, she said:
"The chess pieces should be one and a half inches long, neither too long nor too short, and the broth should be neither too salty nor too bland. If you can't do that, you'll end up doing menial labor like the kitchen maids."
After the flower chef left, the rest of them began to murmur boldly. The fatter Wu Chef said:
"The Imperial Physician is not just treating patients, but is instead taking charge of our catering department and sending a city chef to work for us."
The skinny chef Kong also glanced at Ji Xu. Seeing that she was young and had been a city cook who had been transferred to the official kitchen of the Shaofu, unlike him, who had always been in the catering department and started as a kitchen maid, but because he was quite knowledgeable about noodles, he was exempted from slavery and became an official chef, he looked down on her and said:
"It's just because of your relationship with the Imperial Physician. In my opinion, you should go back to your Gao City and be a rich girl."
They spoke without avoiding others, and it was hard for Ji Xu not to hear them. She tied up her sleeves to make it easier for her to work, and said:
"Where I go is none of your business. Just be careful of yourself and don't let a city chef like me get past you."
Upon hearing this, Wu Pang and Kong Shou, as well as the kitchen maid, all laughed and said she was frivolous.
"I'm not afraid of my teeth chattering when I boast!"
Ji Xu took out a towel from her sleeve, tied up her hair, and sifted wheat crumbs there. The wheat crumbs brought by the conductor next door were not fine enough, so she had to sift them herself, leaving the fine flour. Then she added water and kneaded the dough.
Although she was weak, the snow-white dough was turned over and over in her hands obediently until it became smooth, flawless, soft and delicate.
The so-called chess piece noodles are made by cutting the dough into pieces the size of chess pieces. People with better conditions also eat them.
Ji Xu had seen many such ways of eating when he visited other people's kitchens. Tian also learned from the neighbors and cooked for them.
Cut the dough into chess pieces, steam it, let it cool on a bamboo basket, and then store it in a bag. It can be kept for about ten days in winter. When you want to eat it, cook it in boiling water and pour broth on it. It is very convenient.
However, the flour we eat at home is not that fine, and the dough pieces come in different sizes. As for the broth, pork is generally good.
At this moment, Ji Xu was very strict and cut the dough into square pieces of uniform size and steamed them in a steamer.
As for the broth, seeing her looking up at the beam to choose meat, the two cooks, Wu and Kong, both concluded that a city cook like her could not cook beef and would definitely choose pork, or at most a piece of mutton, so they were waiting to see the joke.
"Look at her, she doesn't even know what beef is."
But they were stunned to see that what she took out was actually beef, the meat from the hamstring, which was neither lean nor fat.
I saw her remove the membrane, simmer it with three parts wine and two parts water, then add oil to thicken the soup, pour it on the chess pieces, sprinkle with green onions, and a bowl of beef soup with chess piece noodles is ready.
The fragrance penetrated their noses and their faces turned pale.
"Don't be so complacent! The chess pieces here are not as good as those outside. The pieces must be one and a half inches long, not too long or too short."
Chef Kong gritted his teeth and said, not long after, Hua Shanren came back with a wooden ruler in her hand. When they saw it, they secretly waited to see her fall.
You should know that the chess piece noodles will absorb water and become larger after being steamed. Ordinary people usually only consider that they are one and a half inches after being cut, but forget the changes after being steamed.
However, when Hua Shanren picked five pieces in succession and measured them, each one was one and a half inches. After eating the chess piece noodles and nodding with satisfaction, they no longer had the original desire to watch the show, and their back teeth were about to break.
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