Chapter 294 Braised Pork Rice Sister
Su Ruojin smiled and said, "Brother, I just came back from the Princess's Mansion. Let's have something simple tonight."
No matter what his sister cooked, Su Dalang liked it and said with a smile, "Okay."
"Brother, why don't you ask me what I do?"
Su Dalang followed his sister's meaning and asked, "What is delicious?"
Su Ruojin deliberately acted badly again, "I won't tell you." She reached out and pulled him, and went to the small room to eat together.
Ever since his father went to Weizhou to serve as a county magistrate, Su Dalang has been separated from his family less and less frequently. He has not eaten the delicious food cooked by his sister many times this year and is quite greedy. Although his sister says the food is simple, he believes it must be delicious.
Sure enough, as soon as she reached the door of the small hall, she smelled the aroma of food. The younger sister stopped and asked with a smile, "Brother, guess what it is?"
Su Dalang took a deep breath and smelled the rich flavor: "It tastes like braised food." His sister had braised chicken feet and pig's trotters before, and he remembered the taste.
"What else?"
Su Dalang took a few more sips and said, "There is rice..."
Just as Su Ruojin was waiting for him to say something, Zhao Lan came over with a big smile on his face: "What did you cook? It smells so good?"
Su Dalang came over to pay his respects, but Zhao Lan stopped him, "We are at home, please feel free to do as you please."
Su Dalang smiled and stopped being polite, inviting him into the side hall for dinner.
Seeing the food on the table, he smiled and said, "Ajin, this is called braised pork rice?"
My sister has never cooked this meal before.
Su Ruojin nodded, "I didn't have time to buy any vegetables when I came back today, and when I saw there was pork belly, I made some braised pork rice."
Braised pork rice is a traditional southern snack. The main ingredients are pork belly, quail eggs, rice, etc. It is fat but not greasy, sweet and salty, and full of fragrance.
In later generations, the braised pork rice that everyone often eats is also called Lu Rou Rice. It is common on a certain island. With the reform and opening up of the Celestial Empire, there are bento shops selling Lu Rou Rice in places where island merchants gather. It is cheap and good quality and is very popular among the public.
The characteristic of braised pork rice lies in the meat sauce and gravy, which are the key parts of its preparation.
Wash the pork belly, cut it into sections horizontally, and then cut it vertically into small cubes with skin. Pour oil into the pot, put the diced pork belly in, and slowly stir-fry until all the oil is squeezed out. When the diced pork turns brown, it means that all the oil has been fried out. Just by stir-frying the meat, the whole kitchen will be filled with the aroma of meat.
In the cold winter, just smelling the steaming aroma makes you feel warm.
After the mushrooms are soaked, cut them into dices together with the garlic cloves, put them into the pan and stir-fry until fragrant. Add a small amount of rice wine and rock sugar and continue to stir-fry. When it is time to serve, add fresh soy sauce and the sauce that Su Ruojin made herself.
The rich aroma of the marinated meat is so delicious that it makes your mouth water. But it’s not ready yet. Finally, add appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil and then simmer over low heat. At this time, you can add the boiled eggs and marinate together.
When the braised meat and eggs are ready, you can cover them on the rice, pour some marinade, and add some homemade pickled radish cubes. This will remove the greasiness brought by the braised pork belly. Don’t eat it too much!
Just look at Su Dalang eating rice with big mouthfuls and you will know!
Where is the greatest sense of accomplishment for a cook? Seeing the eaters eat with relish is the best reward for the cook.
In order to prevent the rice from being dry, Su Ruojin also made squid, radish and black fungus soup, which she cooked in a casserole. The soup was clear, delicious and warming to the stomach, and one bowl was more than enough.
Zhao Lan had to serve two small bowls before he was satisfied with the meal.
"The New Year is coming soon. Other officials need to seal their seats and take a rest. This is the busiest time for you, the Imperial City Division."
Zhao Lan smiled slightly, "Not bad."
“No matter how busy you are, you must eat well.”
"Then Ah Jin has to supervise me."
Su Ruojin glared at him.
Su Dalang: ...I feel like you two are flirting, but I have no evidence.
He said consciously, "I still have homework to do, little prince..."
"Brother, you can call me A-Lan or Zi-Jin."
Su Dalang: ...
Regardless of age or status, she is either older or taller than him, and neither her name nor her courtesy name is suitable.
"Well, I'll go to Dad's study to find a book first." He laughed and left the couple who were showing off their love.
Su Ruojin realized later: ...Did it affect my brother?
The two of them sat in the side room in Su Ruojin's courtyard, leaning against the couch together, warming themselves by the fire, and chatting about what they had seen and heard since they separated, as well as the people and things that happened.
"Auntie still lets you go?"
Su Ruojin nodded, "Yeah."
The Chinese New Year is almost here, and Su Ruojin has a lot of things to do at the end of the year. In addition to preparing for the New Year as her parents are not around, she also has to check and verify the accounts of the shop. She can't say she is busy, but she is also very busy.
"Let the people below do it."
Zhao Lan has unknowingly brought in a lot of maids and old women in the past two years. If it weren't for him, Su Ruojin probably wouldn't be so good at employing people.
"Then we have to go over to see His Highness."
"Just go there every two or three days." Zhao Lan couldn't bear to see the young lady suffer so he hugged her, looked down at her, gently stroked her shoulders with his fingers, his eyes unconsciously deep.
Su Ruojin was unconscious and felt that the snuggling was not comfortable enough, so she simply lay down and rested her head on Zhao Lan's legs. After a tiring day, she suddenly felt very comfortable and squinted her eyes. "Brother Jin, what do you want to eat tomorrow? I'll go buy some ingredients and cook for you."
"I like whatever you do."
"Oh..." As she spoke, she fell asleep.
Zhao Lan: …
Just leaving him here like this?
Did she want to wash up? Zhao Lan wanted to wake her up, but seeing that she was sleeping more and more sweetly, he couldn't bear to wake her up. After thinking about it, he also lay down, put his arms around the young lady, faced her, kissed her forehead gently, closed his eyes contentedly, and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.
As long as he is with the young lady, he can fall asleep quickly.
But when he was not at the Su's house or in other places without the young lady, he found it difficult to fall asleep. It was already good if he could sleep for three hours a night.
Su Ruojin slept until midnight, when she turned over and woke up with a start, only to find that she had slept in Zhao Lan's arms without washing or brushing her teeth.
this……
He stepped quietly onto the bed, went back to his room, washed up, got into bed and fell asleep again.
After Su Ruojin left, Zhao Lan woke up, shook his head, laughed, left Su Ruojin's yard, returned to the guest room, lay down again, and didn't know how much time had passed before he fell asleep again.
On the second day, Su Ruojin was going to ask someone to buy ingredients, but it turned out that Shuangrui had already asked someone to buy them back. The amount purchased was not only enough for today, but the amount purchased was probably enough to last until the New Year.
Su Ruojin also saw the beef, "Brother Jin..." she looked at him in surprise.
Zhao Lan said, "I raise them on my farm and kill them specially for the New Year and other festivals." In addition to eating them himself, he also uses beef as a gift to others.
So that's how it is.
When Su Ruojin saw beef, the first thing that came to her mind was braised beef in soy sauce, as she hadn't eaten it for a long time. There were also boiled beef slices, green pepper beef fillet, roast beef, beef balls, and beef hot pot. In short, she thought of all the homely ways of eating it that she could think of.
She wants to eat all of these, and looking at the weight of beef, she thinks it will be enough, but she has to wait for her parents to come back before eating together.
"Brother Jin, I'm going to make braised beef today." It just so happened that I had made braised pork rice yesterday, and I still had the ingredients for the braised pork, so it was just right at midnight.
Zhao Lan nodded. "I'll go on duty first. Don't wait for me at noon. I'll be back in the evening."
It seems that the Su family is his home.
Su Ruojin smiled and said, "Okay."
After leaving the Su family, Santai led the horse over and said, "Master, Ning Qilang wants to drive Yang Siniang out of his villa?"
Zhao Lan glanced at the Su family's gate behind him and said, "Don't let Ah Jin know that she is in Beijing."
"Yes, master, now..." Should they arrange this person, or should they just let her do whatever she wants?
"Give Ning Qilang the rent and tell him that I'm renting his yard for two months."
"What if Ning Qilang disagrees?"
Zhao Lan turned to look at Santai, "Then find something for him to do."
Santai: ...What's the matter?
Zhao Lan said leisurely, "The young general of the Ningguo Mansion is still unmarried, and the young ladies in the capital are eyeing this big piece of fat meat. If he is dissatisfied with the quietness, then he will be busy."
Santai: ...
If she hadn't gone out and lived in the deserted little courtyard, Yang Si Niang wouldn't have felt it was New Year's Day. But it was strange that the young man who saved her had someone take her out for a walk, bought her a set of clothes and some jewelry, saying that they were for New Year's wear.
If he only gave her food and shelter, Yang Si Niang would still feel that she had met a kind-hearted man, but taking her to buy clothes and money seemed to be wrong, "He won't take me..."
She really shook her head and thought, forget it, no matter what others think, she will go back to Yulin after the New Year anyway.
While she still has time, she wants to go see her elder sister, Ajin, and...her cousin...
There are four brothers and sisters in Yang Si Niang's family. The eldest sister has already married and lives in the capital. Because of her father, Aunt Yang had already moved back to the real Yang family's old house with her family, and Yang Sanlang also went with them. In other words, except for the eldest sister who stayed in the capital, the rest followed Madam Yang and moved out of the Yang family's old house, hiding their identities and living the lives of ordinary people.
Having made up her mind, the first person Yang Si Niang went to visit was her own elder sister, Yang Biyun. Her husband's father-in-law was once the Chief Censor (fourth rank), and the immediate superior of the fake Yang Jingzi. Later, due to the change of the throne and the involvement in the fake Yang Jingzi case, he was dismissed from his official position. Now he is on leave and at home. Yang Biyun's husband is a minor official in the Ministry of Works, at the bottom of the official ranks, a real minor official in the capital.
Yang Si Niang just wanted to meet her sister secretly, so she disguised herself as a man and went to her former brother-in-law's house. But when she got there, she found that the servant who came out of the door was someone she didn't recognize. She asked around calmly and found out that her brother-in-law's family had been dismissed from their posts and had moved away long ago because the new emperor held them accountable after he ascended the throne.
"Then may I ask where the Tang family has moved to now?"
I asked several people but no one knew. Later, I met a former woman from the Tang family and found out that the Tang family had moved to the north of the city.
"The Tang family fell into decline, and most of the maids and servants in the family were sold, including me." The servant asked in confusion, "Young man, who are you to the Tang family?"
"I... oh... I'm the younger brother of Mr. Tang's former classmate. I came to the capital this time and came to see Mr. Tang."
"Oh." The old woman obviously didn't believe it and looked back several times when she left.
Yang Si Niang patted her chest secretly and went to the north of the city.
The capital city is divided into five districts: east, west, south, north and center. The south of the city is home to many officials and merchants. The east of the city, facing the West City Imperial City, is inhabited by officials of the fifth rank and above and wealthy families. The north of the city is inhabited by commoners and the poor.
Logically speaking, my brother-in-law, Mr. Tang Er, is a sixth-rank official and it would be convenient for him to live in the south of the city. Why would he live in the north of the city?
Yang Si Niang went to look for them and found that the Tang family did not live in a poor alley in the north of the city as the old woman said, but was quite close to the city. The area was inhabited by minor officials, clerks, etc.
Yang Si Niang found the Tang family's house and waited for three days before she saw Yuanyang, the maid who served her sister. Only two years had passed, and the once lively and pretty maid Yuanyang had turned into a skinny and menial maid.
Yang Si Niang was so frightened that she almost dared not scream, but there were only six or seven days left. As the saying goes, "Official March and Public April are the twelve months of the lunar calendar," tomorrow was the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, when people were celebrating the Little New Year. Everyone was at home, and if she went out again she might not be able to see her elder sister.
It seemed like someone was calling. The tired and numb Yuanyang turned her head to look at the wall opposite the side door. A young man waved at her quickly and then put his hand down, looking around cautiously.
The dazed Yuanyang suddenly tensed up. Could it be a liar?
Every year around the New Year, there are always penniless swindlers who go to the alleys to cheat people out of their money. But on second thought, she is now so thin and frail and frozen like a ghost. Even if he is a swindler, he will not be happy to cheat her.
She walked up to the young man with doubts, staring at her closely to see what she would say.
Yang Si Niang looked around the alley again. She was not stupid enough to catch the man at the main entrance. Instead, she waited for him at the back door of the Tang family, where servants came in and out.
"Sister Yuanyang, it's me."
The voice sounded familiar, where had I heard it before? Yuanyang frowned and thought hard.
Yang Si Niang was so anxious that she said directly, "Arong!"
"Ah..." Yuanyang suddenly showed a look of surprise, "Fourth Lady?"
Yang Si Niang nodded. "It's me. How is my sister? How are my niece and nephew?"
When she heard Si Niang ask these questions, Yuanyang immediately dropped her shoulders, "It's okay for the young men and women, they can always have food to eat, but the eldest lady..."
When the Tang family fell into decline, they dismissed almost all of their servants, leaving only one or two servants to serve each master. She was the only one left by the mistress.
"How is my sister?"
Yuanyang sighed again, "Erlang's salary is not enough to support the family. In addition to taking care of the housework, my wife and I also have to do some embroidery and laundry work..."
Yang Si Niang interrupted Yuan Yang, "Didn't my sister have a shop as a dowry?" And when mother left Beijing, she gave my sister a shop. How did it come to this?
Yuanyang couldn't help crying, "At the end of last year, the new emperor ascended the throne. Because of the reasons between the late emperor and Lord Yang, the master not only lost his official position, but I heard that if he hadn't used money to pawn, he would have been in jail for several years."
Yang Si Niang: ...
"So the Tang family used my sister's dowry to help Mr. Tang get around?"
The mandarin duck nodded.
I thought I would just look at my sister and leave, but I didn't expect...
Yang Si Niang also cried along with Yuanyang. She made an appointment with Yuanyang to find a way to get her sister out to meet her.
"Si Niang, where are you going to meet?"
Yang Si Niang thought for a moment and said to Yuan Yang, "Let's go to the morning tea shop on the street ahead."
"good."
Yang Si Niang went to the morning tea shop and waited for an hour before she saw her sister coming hurriedly over in a coarse gray dress.
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