Chapter 14: How to send three portions of steamed pork ribs with glutinous rice to four rooms...
The blood of steamed ribs cannot be removed by boiling, so Song Jin took a large bowl to soak the ribs.
Ask the kitchen maid to help chop the ribs into small pieces and soak them all in water.
Song Jin was teaching as he cooked: "Soak the ribs in water to draw out the blood. It will look better when you steam it later."
Granny Li said, "We used to boil it in cold water to remove the blood, and then the floating residue would be skimmed off and the soup would be clear."
Song Jin smiled and said, "Once the water is boiled, the taste of the ribs will be bland. If you steam them, they won't be as fresh, so you can't boil them in water."
In fact, Song Jin didn’t quite understand the logic behind it, but that was how she learned it, so she just did it that way.
"The ribs need to be soaked for about half an hour, and when the water turns red, they are almost done."
After doing all this, Song Jin did not stay in the kitchen, but went out for a walk in the yard. Before leaving, he asked the maids to help change the glutinous rice into hot water.
Seeing that she had no intention of holding back on her cooking skills, the maids were willing to help her.
Song Jin left the kitchen and went to the garden at the back.
Mancao's father is a gardener, and he is very good at growing flowers and grass. She is going to take a walk in the garden today.
The Bai family is very large, with three halls as the central axis and a lake on each side as part of the backyard. Servants from outside rarely come in, but maids like Song Jin are allowed to run around inside.
Song Jin walked through the corridor and entered a stone path. In front of him were green banana trees and real rockeries. Following the path through the rockeries, he saw flowers blooming and willows drooping, and the spring breeze pushed the waves. A nine-curve stone bridge connected the rockeries in the lake. The lotus leaves on the lake stretched out, and the willow branches by the lake swayed. Song Jin couldn't help but sigh that in addition to the master, there were also servants living in the mansion.
Why have I been that slave in both of my lives?
Song Jin got angry when he thought of this, and kicked a piece of gravel away. The gravel fell into the water with a splash, and ripples appeared on the surface of the lake.
While she was sulking, a house in the southeast corner caught Song Jin's eye. It was the place where the Bai family cultivated flowers and plants, and it was where her father, Old Lu, often appeared.
"Cultivating flowers and plants?" Song Jin muttered to herself and started thinking. If she remembered correctly, when peppers and tomatoes were first introduced to China, they were grown as ornamental plants. Maybe the wealthy Bai family already had them.
With the intention of finding some food, Song Jin ran to the small house. Her father, Lao Lu, happened to be busy inside, so she greeted him.
"father."
Compared to Mrs. Chen's delicacy, although Old Lu felt that his daughter had changed, he could not imagine that someone else was living there. Therefore, he did not react much, but was puzzled by the fact that his wife came back crying last night, but she refused to tell him no matter how he asked. Seeing Song Jin coming, he could not help but complain.
"How come you have time to come here?"
Song Jin smiled and said, "I'm in the kitchen helping grandma prepare lunch. I'll come out for a walk when I have time."
Old Lu was happy to hear this. It was an honor for a servant to be able to do this.
"If you have time, spend more time with your mother. I don't know what happened to her yesterday. She came home and started crying. She kept crying. No matter how I tried to persuade her, she wouldn't say anything. Sigh..."
Old Lu had a sad face. After hearing this, Song Jin couldn't keep his smile off and frowned. He didn't know how to make up for the lie. After thinking for a while, he said:
"Then I will comfort my mother when I see her later."
"Oh, that's good. She always listens to you. She listens to whatever you say."
Song Jin's nose felt sore and he turned his head away, not daring to look at Lao Lu. Unexpectedly, when he turned his head, he saw a bunch of small white flowers.
That's chili.
This is really a case of searching for something without any effort. Song Jin thought he had to ask Mancao's father around to see if there were any fresh flowers, but he didn't know that the peppers were blooming right there.
"Dad, how many of these did you plant?" Song Jin asked, pointing at the peppers.
Old Lu looked in the direction his daughter pointed and answered, "This is a new thing that has been introduced in the past two years. It's called something like chili pepper. Don't be fooled by the small white flowers. When the fruits are ripe, they are bright red and very beautiful. Last year, my grandmother saw it at Mr. Chen's house and thought it was interesting, so she asked her family to plant some. This is the first time for your father to plant it, too. We only have a few pots. What's the matter? Do you like it?"
Song Jin smiled but didn't answer. She liked it, she liked it so much.
"Dad, save all for seeds this year. I think we'll need more next year."
"Huh? Grandma likes it?"
Song Jin smiled and said, "Just save the seeds. I will have to ask you for some more when the time comes."
"Why are you asking this?"
Old Lu was puzzled, but Song Jin didn't want to answer. Instead, he asked, "Dad, you have peppers here, but do you have tomatoes?"
Old Lu looked up at the sky, thinking seriously about what a tomato was.
"I've never heard of it. Do you want this?"
Song Jin nodded repeatedly: "In the future, if you meet someone who comes to your house to recommend some flowers, or if there are merchants outside, please ask for me if there is a thing called tomato."
"Okay, if you want to ask me, I'll help you ask."
Song Jin smiled. She had never expected that her father, who was a gardener, could help her so much. She walked around the courtyard and had a solid experience of the mansions of the wealthy merchants in Suzhou during the Ming Dynasty. Although they were not as good as the Suzhou gardens she had seen in her previous life, they were also deep mansions and extremely rich.
After walking around for a while, Song Jin was about to go to the kitchen from the backyard to prepare her ribs. When she arrived at the tea room, she saw a man wearing a pink Taoist robe and a Tang Dynasty scarf on his head coming out with a rosy face.
When the man saw Song Jin, who was dressed as a man, he was not reserved and bowed as if he was familiar with him, saying, "My name is Mo Hongfu, and my courtesy name is Qingsong. May I know your name, sir?"
Song Jin bowed and said, "My name is Wen Zijin."
Mo Hongfu smiled even more after hearing this: "So you are the young master of the Wen family. I am so sorry for your disrespect."
When Song Jin came to this world, the people she came into contact with on a daily basis were either slaves like her or mistresses and concubines who were not well versed in poetry and literature. Today, it seemed that a scholar appeared and spoke in a very literary manner. Song Jin did not know how to respond for a moment.
Fortunately, Mo Hongfu didn't mind it too much. He looked Song Jin up and down and asked, "Why are you here, young master?"
Song Jin was stunned by this question. He didn't want to tell the truth, but he felt that he would have to meet people sooner or later. So he answered, "Zi Jin came here from the countryside to make a living. Auntie thought that I had no place to live, so she let me stay for a few days."
When Mo Hongfu heard this, the joy on his face faded. He looked at Song Jin again. He was wearing a cotton-padded jacket and did not look wealthy enough. It seemed that he did not have a close relationship with the eldest lady of this family.
"Brother Zijin, now that you have come to Suzhou, with Grandma here with you, you won't have to worry about making a living. I think you will become very rich in the future."
After Mo Hongfu finished his judgment, he put on a smile again and patted Song Jin's shoulder affectionately, almost causing internal injuries to Song Jin.
Song Jin smiled and said, "I would like to thank Brother Hongfu for his good words."
"Hey," Mo Hongfu seemed not happy to hear this name, and corrected him, "Just call me Brother Qingsong. We will meet again when we are both in Suzhou. When the time comes, I will definitely take Brother Zijin to see the splendor of Suzhou."
Song Jin thanked him with a smile, and the two of them bowed and said goodbye.
Song Jin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the man walk out of the Bai family’s gate.
It’s so tiring to talk to educated people.
Song Jin and Mo Hongfu exchanged only a few words, from calling him Young Master Wen to Brother Zijin, from bowing to patting him on the shoulder, this man really knows how to get close to others.
He is just elegant and not very cultured, so why did he suddenly attract scholars?
An idea popped into Song Jin's mind: if he didn't establish a successor according to the clan order, he would need to see an official, and to see an official he would have to write a petition.
Isn’t being a lawyer just a way for scholars to make a living?
Seeing that Wen Ya started to delay time, Song Jin did not delay and went straight to the kitchen.
Granny Li was very attentive. The water used to soak the glutinous rice was still hot. The glutinous rice broke into pieces when she pinched it with her fingers, indicating that it had been soaked until it was soft enough.
The water used to soak the ribs had turned red. Song Jin poured out the blood, rinsed them with clean water, and then prepared the seasonings to marinate the ribs.
Everyone watched as Song Jin took out various condiments, cut up green onions and ginger slices, added them in, and then added soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
"Is there any wine in the kitchen?" Song Jin asked.
"Yes, yes, yes. What kind of wine do you want? Yellow wine or shochu?"
Song Jin said, "Let's make some wine."
An old woman handed over a small jar. Song Jin used a bamboo tube to scoop out two spoonfuls of dough, then put flour and oil in it and started to knead it with his bare hands.
"Adding this oil in can help lock in the moisture, making it more tender when steamed. Adding this flour in is to increase the stickiness, so that it can stick to the glutinous rice later."
The old women all hummed and nodded.
"After kneading it evenly, wait for two cups of tea until it has absorbed the flavor before coating it with flour."
"Okay, okay, we'll keep an eye on it for you."
Song Jin thanked him with a smile.
After doing all this, Song Jin washed his hands and did not leave the kitchen. Instead, he stayed next to Mancao's mother, Mrs. Chen.
Mrs. Chen worked quietly. Song Jin wanted to help but was stopped: "Don't bother with these. Just do your own thing."
Song Jin tried to get closer to her: "Mom, it's not a big deal to help you."
Mrs. Chen kept working, with a faint smile on her lips: "I am a mother now. If my daughter is well, I will be well too."
Song Jin's hands froze and his nose felt sore.
For an uneducated old woman in such a feudal society, it would be better to accept that her daughter had really become an immortal than to accept that she was dead.
She still treated Song Jinru as her daughter, but was a little more polite to her.
Thinking of this, Song Jin no longer paid attention to what Mrs. Chen said, but just grabbed the vegetables on the table and helped cut them.
Seeing this, Mrs. Chen glanced at Song Jin, remained silent, and then continued to work.
Seeing that it was almost past the hour of Si, Song Jin began to process the ribs.
Pour out the glutinous rice water, add some soy sauce and mix well, both for seasoning and coloring. Take out the small steamer for steaming buns, put wet gauze on the bottom, pinch the ribs again, and roll them in the glutinous rice for two circles, rolling until the ribs are covered with glutinous rice before putting them in the steamer.
After placing a circle of ribs down, there were still some ribs left when it was full. Song Jin thought about it, took out the steamer, placed two small circles of ribs in it, and stuffed the remaining glutinous rice into the gaps.
Stack two steamers together, put on lids, and steam for a full hour.
The old women then had the question of how to deliver three portions of spare ribs to four rooms.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
