Chapter 45: She will slaughter this fat sheep Li Menggao today
Song Jin figured out a way and finally had time to focus on her snacks.
After washing the lemon, Song Jin carefully used a knife to peel off the yellow skin bit by bit, avoiding the white part.
Song Jin didn't boil the milk in a big pot, but directly boiled it in a copper kettle on the stove.
Add the milk and lemon slices and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat, cover with a lid and set aside to cool.
The pig skin gelatin made yesterday had already dried up. Song Jin took a piece and soaked it in cold water, then beat the eggs.
The egg yolks are all that's needed, and adding sugar will become the difficult egg-beating process.
In the days when there were no egg beaters, Song Jin could only use a pair of chopsticks to beat the eggs until the sugar was almost melted.
After preparing these things, Song Jin opened the lid of the copper kettle and smelled the milk. The full lemon aroma was really tempting.
The fire in the stove was not yet extinguished. Song Jin put the half-cold milk on the stove again and heated it until bubbles formed on the edges. Then he poured the milk into the bowl containing the egg yolks.
The temperature of the milk cannot be too high and the speed of pouring it in cannot be too fast, otherwise the eggs will become egg custard.
Song Jin couldn't do it alone, so he asked Chunyun to help. One of them held the copper pot, and the other used chopsticks to stir, and they barely finished pouring.
At this point the milk and egg yolk contain too much water, so they have to be poured back into the copper kettle and the water boiled until it evaporates a little to make it thick.
Chunyun watched Song Jin pour the milk out first and then pour it back in, and couldn't help but sigh: "Why didn't you pour the eggs in at the beginning?"
"The milk is too hot. If you pour the eggs in, they will be cooked right away."
Chunyun smiled and said, "Okay."
Song Jin held the copper kettle with one hand and stirred the milk with chopsticks with the other. The rich lemon aroma emanated, causing Chunyun to take a long breath.
"It smells so good. It will be delicious later."
Song Jin laughed and scolded: "You are the only one who is greedy. When it is ready, you will have to take your share. Go and get me a piece of clean gauze."
"good."
Chunyun jumped and ran to get the gauze. Song Jin saw that the milk and eggs had begun to hang on the chopsticks, and knew that it was thick enough. He then took the copper kettle away from the fire and continued to stir it slowly.
Chunyun brought gauze over, and Song Jin asked her to hold it together. She filtered the still hot milk and eggs with the gauze, then wrung out the softened gelatin, threw it in and stirred it slowly. The residual heat quickly melted the gelatin.
The next thing was the cream. Song Jin cunningly asked two old women and maids to make snails soaked in ghee. That stuff was very similar to modern butter, so she used it as a substitute.
Put milk and ghee together in proportion, add some sugar and several people take turns beating them until they finally have the rough shape of cream. Then pour the thick milk and eggs that have just been cooked in to mix together.
When it comes to this point, everyone is complaining.
"Oh, making butter-stuffed snails was tiring enough in the past, but I didn't expect that now it requires cream. If you make it a few more times, I will lose my arms." A woman complained.
Song Jin stirred it slowly while smiling and replied, "Don't worry, I don't have the time to do this even if you ask me to do it every day."
"Then why did you think of doing this today?"
Song Jin said, "I have agreed with Master Ji that he will come to the restaurant for dinner on the Mid-Autumn Festival. He likes sweet food, so I will prepare some for him."
"Oh, you are really good. You even invited Lord Ji. But you shouldn't make this. It's too troublesome. You should make something like bitter melon stuffing. It's novel and simple. Since Lord Luo and Lord Lu said they like it, many people have come to eat it. What's the point of making this and having people like it? If you make it every day, your arms will break."
Song Jin ignored him and just said, "Let's not tell anyone else."
"It was all in vain."
Song Jin thought, it was all in vain, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
After stirring, Song Jin took a bowl, put gauze on the bottom of the bowl, and poured the thick milk and eggs into it, pouring out two full bowls.
Song Jin decided to try refrigerating the eggs with well water first, so he floated two bowls filled with lemon-flavored milk and eggs on the water, cooling them down and waiting for them to solidify. By this time, it was time for dinner and everyone was busy again.
After everyone finished their work and fished the bowl out of the water, Song Jin tried it with chopsticks.
"No, it's not strong enough, I have to buy some ice next time.
"Oh my little ancestor, you still use ice cubes, how much silver would that cost?"
Song Jin supported her chin and thought: Yes, this dessert took so much effort to make, she can't let Ji Shubai go, she has to make a big profit from him.
Although the two bowls of lemon baba rua were not frozen solid enough, when Song Jin asked everyone to try the flavors, everyone thought they were delicious.
"It smells really good. This is the first time I've tasted a snack with this kind of fragrance."
"It's very smooth, but a little bland. Let's add more sugar next time."
"It's a little short. Not enough for so many of us."
"No, that ghee almost broke my arm."
"Hahaha, next time we'll help you fight."
......
Song Jin collected some opinions and prepared to make corrections on the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, he did not know that on the Mid-Autumn Festival, not only Ji Shubai came, but also the Imperial Censor Luo from the capital. However, he did not see the figure of Lord Lu, and did not know whether he was with his family.
Led by Song Jin, the two of them sat upstairs. Ji Shubai was a regular customer, but Lord Luo was here for the first time.
"Your shop is nice, clean, but it smells pretty bad."
Song Jin smiled innocently, knowing that he was talking about that name, and did not argue, but just asked what he wanted to eat.
"The bitter melon stuffed with wine you made that day needs to be left overnight. Give me one portion. As for the other dishes, you are familiar with them, Master Ji. You can have some."
Ji Shubai then looked at Song Jin and asked, "What dishes did Shopkeeper Wen prepare today?"
"We usually prepare boiled chicken and fried peanuts. Would you like some, sir?"
Ji Shubai smiled and said hello. Song Jin suspected that he was dazzled. How could this person be smiling?
"I'd like a portion of corn pancakes, too. Also, are there any new dishes recently?"
Song Jin blinked twice and said, "Yes, I have, but I haven't done it for others yet. It will take some time."
Lord Luo said, "Today we are two lonely people, we don't have much money, but we have a lot of time, shopkeeper, please take your time."
Song Jin smiled and said yes, then asked Ji Shubai: "Sir, I have to serve you the snacks. They were just prepared this morning and are waiting for you. You can drink tea and eat the snacks while waiting for the dishes to be served."
Ji Shubai still said yes, and Song Jin went down to make the arrangements.
She wanted good tea, a whole chicken, and plenty of peanuts, so that she wouldn't be afraid that he didn't have enough money. In the end, she carried the two bowls of lemon baba rua, which were turned upside down on the plates, upstairs herself.
"Master Ji, this is the snack we agreed on that day, please try it."
Ji Shubai and Lord Lu stared at the large yellow mass on the plate and turned to look at Song Jin: "Is this the snack you mentioned?"
"Yes, I started preparing for this a few days ago."
Song Jin thought, if there was a white glaze plate, plus an exquisite little silver spoon, and a flower carved on the yellow lump, wouldn't it be worth a fortune.
Ji Shubai held the white porcelain spoon in his hand and took a closer look at the dessert. He remembered the caramel pudding he had eaten before, which was yellow and black and also very delicious. Only then did he make up his mind to scoop a small bite into his mouth.
Ji Shubai's eyes were long and narrow, and he rarely showed any emotion when he looked at people. But when Song Jin took a spoonful of lemon baba rua, his eyes instantly widened and flashed with boundless brilliance.
"Is it delicious?" Song Jin was extremely proud.
Ji Shubai smiled gently, but did not answer. Instead, he said to Lord Luo: "Lord Luo, please try it."
Song Jin guessed that Ji Shubai liked it, but he just didn't like to talk about it. He just encouraged others to eat it, with an uncontrollable smile on his face.
After hearing what Ji Shubai said, Lord Luo smiled and said, "Okay, I'll try this too...what is it called?"
Song Jin heard that they hadn't named it yet, and Lemon Babaluya was definitely not suitable for use in Ming Dynasty, so he thought about it and said, "Li Menggao."
"Li Meng Cake? This smells a lot like Li Mengzi. I hope it doesn't taste like Li Mengzi, haha——"
Song Jin thought that Lord Luo was interesting. He came from the capital and was dignified but not arrogant. He could make her relax when chatting with him. Unlike Ji Shubai, she didn't dare to tell the truth when he narrowed his eyes.
Ji Shubai is several years behind Lord Luo.
While Song Jin was comparing quietly, Lord Luo tasted a bite of Li Mengzi cake and was amazed: "Well, not bad, it has the fragrance of Li Mengzi, but without the sour taste of Li Mengzi, fresh and elegant with sweetness. Shopkeeper Wen is really thoughtful."
After saying that, he took another big bite. Song Jin looked very satisfied. She was going to slaughter this fat sheep today.
"Then you two adults, please eat slowly. I will go to the kitchen to cook."
"Okay, go ahead, boss."
Lord Luo lowered his head to eat Li Meng Cake, and said without raising his head, "I really don't have any airs." Song Jin glanced at Ji Shubai who was sitting opposite him, smiled and signaled, then retreated downstairs.
Song Jin was in a good mood. She quickly went downstairs to the kitchen and picked out a large ripe pumpkin. She wanted to make an egg yolk pumpkin for the two of them.
The large pumpkin needs to be peeled and cut into long strips. It needs to be marinated with salt first to extract some of the pumpkin water before proceeding to the next step.
While pickling the pumpkin, Song Jin peeled corn, preparing to make the golden corn pancake for Ji Shubai.
When the corn was almost peeled and the pumpkin was pickled, Song Jin peeled three salted egg yolks and crushed them finely with a small spoon for later use.
Drain the pumpkin, and do not need to wash off the salt. Add the flour and mix well to make sure each pumpkin strip is evenly coated. Then put it in a half-cooked oil pan and fry it slowly over low heat. When the flour on the outside turns into a golden hard shell, you can remove it from the oil and drain it.
Just like fried meatballs, the pumpkin strips need to be cooled down before being fried again in the pan to become really hard, otherwise they will become soft again after a while.
Song Jin put the pumpkin strips aside and slowly fried the corn that the old women had already boiled in water into the pot. By the time the corn was fully shaped and fried, the pumpkin had cooled down and was just right for putting into the pot for the second time.
After finally processing the pumpkin, Song Jin changed to a cold pan, put cold oil in it, added the crushed salted egg yolks and slowly stir-fried them on low heat. He continued to stir-fry until the egg yolks began to bubble up. He then put the twice-fried pumpkin strips in, stir-fried them evenly, sprinkled with chopped green onions and served.
The egg yolk pumpkin is golden in color, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The surface has the salty taste of salted egg yolk, and the inside has the sweetness of pumpkin. It tastes salty and sweet alternately. Song Jin was amazed when he ate it for the first time, so he went back and learned how to make this dish.
Song Jin happily carried the tempting golden dish to the second floor. When he reached the stairs, he suddenly heard two people talking and couldn't help but slow down his pace.
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