Chapter 198 Chapter 198 Update.
As Laba Festival approaches and the New Year is just around the corner, every household in Sangshu Lane starts to hang peach branches and reed ropes in front of their doors, and paints the two gods Shentu and Yulei on the gates.
Hengmen Street, Xiyin Street and Gao Street in Chang'an City are also particularly lively because they are close to the two major east and west markets.
Of the five chambers of the Tang officialdom, four were busier than ever due to the Laba Festival rewards for their officials. Little Gourd, after seeing the other four chambers bustling with activity, returned, dancing with joy, and said:
"The wine room was stocked with 100 dan of Zhongshan winter wine, 100 dan of Jinjiang lao, 500 dan of Jiaobai wine, 500 dan of Lanying wine... The wine room was so packed with stuff that I felt dizzy the moment I walked in, as if I were already drunk."
"And there's a pulp room with cheese pulp and sesame drink. They're so fragrant and sweet! I really want to get into that big jar and drink my fill!"
Tong'er said this while wiping his saliva.
Zhou Ping's face was also full of energy, as he was instructing the kitchen maid to carry back the batter, which was to be used by the bakery room to make gold-coin cakes as rewards. A stream of people passed by the door of their bakery room one after another, making it very lively.
Zhou Ping said:
"Oh, cover it! Cover it with a cloth! Don't let any dust get in there. The gold coin cakes we make represent the quality of the imperial kitchen when they're served to high-ranking officials. If you dare to be clumsy again, I'll report it to my aunt and send you next door."
Those people didn't want to go to the cake and bait room. It was the only place in the soup room that didn't serve the imperial dishes. It was so deserted these days that even mosquitoes didn't come in.
They were frightened by Zhou Ping's words and worked more carefully.
Little Gourd understood the ridicule and lost interest in watching the fun. He felt as if the room itself had become deserted. He thought:
Oh, if only we could make the imperial gift of cakes and bait here, then my little gourd would be able to walk out with his chest puffed out and his belly bulging.
"I just don't understand. The cakes and bait made by Ji Shan are so delicious, why didn't they choose ours as a reward?"
Tong'er said, "If there's one thing we lack, it's the meaning."
Various steamed cakes made with the cake fermentation method are easy to digest and do not cause bloating. Unlike unleavened dough, it becomes hard when it comes into contact with water in the stomach, and becomes stuffy inside, which can easily cause indigestion.
Therefore, they received bamboo plaques every day, which showed that they were novel, but they could not be used as royal gifts for the Laba Festival. Ji Xu thought that perhaps it was still lacking in meaning.
"What does it mean?"
Little Gourd didn't understand, and Tong'er didn't understand either.
"Well, there are still three days until Laba, let's try again."
Ji Xu didn't want them to be alone here, so he thought about it carefully these days and said,
"It means Pisces."
"Pisces?"
Xiao Hulu and the others said in unison.
"Yes, it's Pisces."
The meaning of fish is many children, good fortune and abundance every year, which is needless to say.
At this time, there were also some beautiful symbols of divinity, such as fish meeting water and enjoying long-lasting joy. Many utensils and appliances also had fish patterns, such as the red pottery plate with two fish and cranes used in her home, the copper lamp with waterfowl holding a fish, and the door knockers with two fish holding a ring that can be seen on the doors of the streets outside, all of which have the shadow of "fish".
"But how do you make fish bait? You usually see square, round, long, and flat ones. It's amazing if the chefs can make ones shaped like the moon or a flower. But how can you make one that looks like fish?"
Little Gourd couldn't figure it out.
In the second half of the day, Ji Xu went to the guide to get something. Xiao Hulu looked at it and found two rare things, yellow gardenia and red blue grass. She didn't understand, so she looked at it from the side.
"What is this for?"
Ji Xu swung his knife horizontally, smashed the yellow gardenia, and made a bowl of yellow paste. He added turmeric powder to it, making the color even richer. He said:
"Use these two to dye the skin with yellow and red."
This is the yellow color. Little Hulu had seen the chefs in the old bakery use this to dye the cakes yellow.
"I remember now, this red-blue grass can produce red-purple juice!"
"That's right."
Sure enough, Ji Xu crushed it and scooped out a bowl of reddish-purple juice with a silk cloth. The five-color rice used in the last sacrifice should have been soaked in this juice, so that the steamed rice would be purple rice, but it was still purple in color and not bright red enough.
Ji Xu added some sour pomegranate juice and it turned bright red.
"How strange! How come it turned red in the blink of an eye?" Little Gourd asked curiously.
Ji Xu said, "This is because the anthocyanin inside meets the Physalis, and there is a reaction. There is also some rouge outside, so it is dyed with red and blue grass like this."
When he was a child in his hometown of Wu, Ji Xu would go to the mountains to pick red indigo grass and yellow indigo flowers, and then go home to make rouge and dye his nails. He also taught Feng Fuzhen and other children how to do it.
Little Gourd nodded when he heard it.
"Ji Shanren, you have really skillful hands."
Ji Xu's hands are slender, and because she has been cooking for many years, she has calluses from holding knives and spatulas. Although she looks weak, her hands are very dexterous and strong, otherwise how could she knead dough.
The dough was kneaded smooth and wrapped with stuffing. In her hands, it took the rough shape of a fish. Then she used a dagger to carve out the fish's head, fins, and tail, and pinched rows of scales like comb teeth. After it was left to stand and expand, it was only the size of a palm.
One is golden and the other is red. The fish heads are facing each other, the eyes are wide open, the mouth is slightly open, the body is plump, the scales are distinct, and the tail seems to be swimming, which is very realistic.
"I thought it was a carp pulled out of the water!"
Little Gourd said in surprise.
After he succeeded in trying it himself, he invited a food inspector the next day to make it again from beginning to end, and he recorded it in a book.
Since there had always been no problems with the food made with the bread leavening method, there was no need to wait any longer this time. The next day, the Food Supervisor wrote on a bamboo plaque about the two fish cakes and said:
"Cakes with such auspicious meanings should be presented at the end of the year."
Because there is a famous dish in Guanzhong called "carp sashimi on a golden plate", the food inspector used a golden and jade plate to serve the two fish cakes, which matched perfectly.
"Tomorrow is Laba. When the morning hour arrives, the officials will deliver the imperially bestowed food to various parts of Xijing. The golden coin cakes from our bakery are one of them.
I, the newly appointed official chef, will lead the way tonight and will make gold coin cakes all night long. If you want to relax, go to the next door. Their cake room is the most leisurely in the whole Tangguan Office.
But if you want to be like me, to become an official and escape slavery and become a good person, I’m afraid you will never be able to do that in your lifetime.”
Zhou Ping gathered all the kitchen maids in the room and talked to them in front of the door.
Gold coin cakes were her aunt's specialty, and now that she had learned how to make them, she seemed even more impressive than the two old chefs, Kong and Wu.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the Food Supervisor coming over here, and hurriedly went up to him and asked:
"The Food Supervisor had already sent someone to deliver the bamboo plaque. Why are you here in person now? Do you need extra bread and snacks for Laba Festival tomorrow?"
"Indeed, there is one thing I want to add to the food that the emperor will give to his ministers tomorrow morning."
When the food inspector said that, Zhou Ping thought it was something from the old bakery. With a smile on his face, he pointed at the group of kitchen maids and said:
"We're going to be busy tonight. Listen to me, no one is allowed to leave!"
But I heard the food inspector say:
"It's not yours, it's in the second room."
Zhou Ping's face flushed red after hearing this. Xiao Hulu from next door had been waiting behind the door for a long time. When he heard Zhou Ping mocking them again, he gritted his teeth.
Hearing the food inspector's words, he rushed out in one step.
"Master Food Supervisor, Master Food Supervisor!"
He called out as he approached, looking delighted and respectful. He took the additional bamboo plaque, which contained a dish of double fish cakes, a new creation of Ji Shanren. Zhou Ping muttered,
"What kind of thing, a double fish cake, can be considered a gift from the emperor?"
The food supervisor said, "Before there was a golden dish of sashimied carp, and now there are two carp on a golden dish. These two fish are made with bread yeast, and they are vivid and lively, like fish in water. They are always happy and joyful. If you eat them in the palace, I will grant happiness and blessings to every family."
The cooks in each room were therefore peeking in from the door. As soon as the food supervisor left, the cake and bait room became bustling with activity. The cooks came one after another to congratulate Ji Xu, saying:
"Oh, I knew Ji Shanren was a capable man. He's so young, but the cakes he makes are already imperial dishes. Congratulations!"
"As I see it, your secondary room is no different from the bakery room."
"That's right. It's such a big room, and you have to prepare all the meals for the day, and also prepare the golden plate with two carp as a gift from the emperor. It's so busy, and you are the only cook, and these two useless girls are responsible."
A cook's sister said this, pushing the little gourd and the copper away, and squeezed in front of Ji Xu, so friendly and polite.
"I'm afraid I'm too busy. So, I'll come over to your place and be your cook. That way, I'll have someone to take over for you."
They originally thought that there was no future here and none of them were willing to come. But now that the room has opened up, not only are there bamboo plaques every day, but there are also cakes and snacks given by the emperor. They all see the good in it and want to come.
There was no cook here, so if I came alone, I would be the only one in charge. Therefore, many people came to Ji Xu to speak, and most of them passed the message privately later, saying:
"I would like to come to you."
"I do."
Even Wu Chef, the one who had damaged the ox-horn instrument and plotted against Ji Xu, became interested.
Cook Kong was already more prestigious than him, and now Cook Hua had promoted her niece to the position, so he had to stay at the back stove even more. However, the next door was bustling with activity, and he didn't want to go there and be valued.
But Ji Xu said it now, and later refused:
"I have Xiao Hulu and Tong'er here, which is enough. I don't need any other help for the time being."
She wanted to teach them both so that they could become official chefs in the future. If they recruited older chefs, it would not be so easy for the two little girls.
Even so, they still didn't stop thinking about it. They had been treating Ji Xu with unprecedented warmth over the past two days. Zhou Ping was so angry that he spat:
"A fence-sitter, leaning to both sides!"
On the Laba Festival, the two carps on the golden plate were delivered to the homes of high-ranking officials and dignitaries. As one of the Nine Ministers, Guanglu Xun also received wine, meat, soup, and noodles as a gift from the emperor.
The general manager counted them. These imperially bestowed dishes were extraordinary and could not be served directly on the dining table. They had to be sent to the ancestral temple for worship and offering to the ancestors first.
Apart from anything else, their Lord Guanglu Xun only ordered that this double fish cake be placed in his room.
The general manager looked at the two carps on the golden plate and thought they were indeed very unique. No wonder even the adult who did not have a greedy appetite liked them. Thinking so, he did as he was told.
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