Chapter 67 Ham and Tofu "How could that be?" Uncle Chai shook his head repeatedly...
"How could that be?" Uncle Chai shook his head repeatedly. A whole ham commonly found on the market weighs about five catties and costs around three hundred coins. He had seen good ones for about one or two strings of cash, but small scallops and abalone cost three hundred coins per catty, medium-sized ones for about seven hundred coins to one string of cash, and even larger ones for three to five strings of cash or more.
"Uncle Chai, what dishes in our shop use dried scallops and abalone?" Su Zhihan asked with a smile. It wasn't that the ingredients weren't rare or precious, but rather that they were of little use to her at the moment.
While dried scallops and abalone are delicious, they are rarely used in everyday dishes. However, when ordering a banquet, the host usually provides the ingredients.
"This..." Uncle Chai followed Su Zhihan's words and continued to think. In order to control operating costs, Jiang's Braised Meat Shop currently focuses on various kinds of braised duck products, supplemented by various kinds of rice bowls and flatbreads. It is a very affordable business, so there is no need for those rare delicacies.
Compared to those ingredients, the ham is more... wait, that doesn't make sense either. Uncle Chai realized what he meant and said suspiciously, "The shop certainly doesn't need dried scallops or abalone, but it also doesn't need this ham."
Why did my wife have to choose ham?
Uncle Chai was puzzled, so he took a few steps forward and carefully examined the ham that Su Zhihan was holding in her hands.
His gaze was quickly drawn to the side of the ham that Su Zhihan had cut open. The exposed ham meat had clear textures, with the lean meat as vibrant as a rose and the fat as pure as mutton fat jade. The two intertwined to create a natural marble pattern.
"This ham... doesn't look like the ones we have here?"
"This is ham produced in Dali Kingdom, and its flavor is naturally different from ours." The last time Su Zhihan saw it was when she was making Laba porridge at the Marquis's residence. The cook, Xu, had taken it out for everyone to see, but in the end, because its flavor did not go well with Laba porridge, she chose a different variety of ham.
"Hey, you try it." Su Zhihan cut off a thin slice and handed it to Uncle Chai, gesturing for him to taste it.
"Raw food?" Uncle Chai was shocked as he took the ham slice. However, he did not hesitate and put the ham slice directly into his mouth.
The next second, Uncle Chai's pupils trembled slightly. As the thin slice of ham landed on his tongue, the aroma of the smoked ham gently spread out. With just a slight lick of the tongue, one could feel the ham melt in the mouth, tender and juicy, with a salty and sweet aftertaste.
"The Dali Kingdom actually has such fine ham!" Uncle Chai was shocked. He had heard that the Dali Kingdom was famous for its horses, musk, bezoar, and fine felt, but this was the first time he had ever heard that they had such high-quality ham. "Those people from Lüzao seem so stingy, yet they have such good stuff hidden away?"
“Don’t underestimate him. I think Lu Zao Ren is no ordinary cook.” Su Zhihan shook her head and said softly. She had also observed him when she went out. Although Lu Zao Ren didn’t have many assistants and most of the servants were from the Peng family, he managed things very well. There was order even in the chaos, and he seemed to have done similar work in the past.
Moreover, the people of Lüzao had many good products, such as this Dali-made ham, which in later generations had another name: Xuanwei ham.
Because of the existence of the Dali Kingdom, ordinary people are completely unaware of the existence of this ham, let alone being able to buy it.
Su Zhihan lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, then raised her hand to cut off a small piece, wrapped the rest in oil paper again, and put it aside.
The most important thing now is the soup for the banquet.
Su Zhihan turned her gaze to the jar of small mandarin fish. She asked Uncle Chai to clean and prepare all the small mandarin fish. Then, instead of steaming them, she chose to fry them in hot oil.
Deep-frying sets the shape, and then the fish meat is removed. This makes the fish meat loose and the texture not as delicate as steaming or boiling, but it has a unique flavor.
Su Zhihan and Uncle Chai were busy with their work, while Yao Lang helped out, occasionally glancing outside: "Speaking of which, this is the first time I've ever seen a banquet dish made with a whole fish head."
Uncle Chai wholeheartedly agreed and chimed in, "Me too, but judging from what that cook, Mr. Lü, said, that dish was specifically requested by Master Peng's household. Perhaps Master Peng likes it?"
...
Everyone in the kitchen was working busily, while Master Peng was in the room, carefully instructing his wife: "I invited you two brothers and your families over and over again before you finally got them to come over for dinner. You must have a good chat with the two ladies during the meal so that we can have better relations in the future."
Peng Yuanwai's ancestral home was not in the capital. He moved his entire family to the capital because his ancestors were officials.
With the passing of their ancestors, the Peng family, like the setting sun, gradually declined, and now relies entirely on farmland and shops for survival. If there is no turnaround, they will likely have to sell their house and return to their hometown to make a living.
Master Peng was naturally unwilling. He had been away from his hometown for many years and was not only estranged from his relatives, but he was also afraid that he would become the subject of gossip among his fellow villagers.
Taking advantage of his mother's birthday banquet, he invited several of her distant relatives to his home for a chat, hoping to take advantage of the situation, gain some connections, donate a minor official position, or perhaps get in touch with his son and daughter.
"My lord, that Master Xu is merely an eighth-rank official, and a sinecure at that." Madam Peng touched the jade bracelet on her wrist, her eyes filled with doubt: "His work doesn't even bring in any profit... what use could he possibly be?"
"If you ask me, it's still Master Wu who speaks..."
"Foolish!" Master Peng roared in anger. "What does your brother, a mere merchant, know? Doesn't Master Xu's surname belong to Xu?"
"Surname Xu? Then... could he be a relative of some high-ranking official?" Madam Peng's heart skipped a beat, and she sat up straight to ask.
Master Peng stroked his beard and glanced at her sideways: "Do you know the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence?"
"Who in the capital doesn't know the Loyal and Brave Marquis?!"
"The mother of the Marquis of Zhongyong was surnamed Xu, and the younger siblings of the Marquis of Zhongyong were also surnamed Xu."
Could it be—
"That's right, it's the Xu family."
"My lord! You know such a person, why didn't you invite him back sooner?" Madam Peng's eyes lit up as she quickly scolded him.
Before Master Peng could speak, she quickly called in the people around her and instructed them to teach the servants not to make any mistakes. Then she had the maid beside her to redo her makeup and dress her up.
Master Peng did not answer, but regret arose in his heart. His family and the Xu family were distant relatives, and they both knew about each other in the past.
But his family was declining, and so was the Xu family. In addition, Lu Sanlang from the former Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion was there. Lu Erlang held a sinecure and idled his time, with no future. He was unwilling to give away his family's paper money.
Who knows, people have their luck.
Lu Sanlang is gone, and Lu Erlang, so fresh and beautiful, has gone on to live a long life.
Master Peng tried to visit the young master several times but failed. This time, he tried to win the young master's favor by approaching a collateral branch of the family, and only then did he manage to invite a few people to visit.
Master Peng sighed inwardly, then called the steward over to speak, instructing him to oversee the banquet and ensure nothing went wrong: "...especially that fish head dish, make sure nothing goes wrong."
The steward readily agreed and went to the kitchen to give a long explanation. Yao Lang heard the noise, went outside to inquire, and then turned back to Su Zhihan and Uncle Chai and said, "It really is like that. I heard that fish head dish is the guests' favorite today, which is why Master Peng ordered it."
"Hmm... could it be fish head stew with tofu?"
"Such a big silver carp head, the dish must taste absolutely amazing!"
Uncle Chai and Yao Lang chatted intermittently while their hands kept moving, dissecting the deep-fried mandarin fish. The resulting fish meat was more like fish paste than fish shreds, snow-white, delicate, fluffy, and soft.
After he finished dissecting the fish, he prepared the shredded wood ear mushrooms, ham, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms. Su Zhihan had also finished cooking the fish soup and was about to do the final step.
Su Zhihan originally wanted to make Song Sao Fish Soup, which uses clear chicken broth as the base and adds various shredded vegetables and mandarin fish meat. However, because the mandarin fish was too lean and the fish meat was too delicate, it was easy to break during steaming and cooking. So she changed to using fish broth as the base, fish paste as the supplement, and adding various vegetables to make fish soup.
However, vegetables alone were a bit bland, and Su Zhihan, wanting to show off her skills, naturally added one more ingredient.
Just then, a maidservant came to fetch the appetizers. Uncle Chai placed the categorized dishes one by one on the tray, told the women to be careful, and then told them to go back.
Just then, a series of rapid clattering sounds of a cleaver hitting a cutting board rang out behind him. The servants in front of Uncle Chai stared wide-eyed in disbelief, which piqued his curiosity, and he turned around to look.
At this glance, Uncle Chai was also stunned. He saw Su Zhihan gently place one hand on the tofu, while the other hand held a kitchen knife and quickly placed it on the tofu.
With rapid tapping sounds, the tofu... hadn't changed? Uncle Chai was truly baffled and tentatively called out, "Mother, wife?"
Su Zhihan remained silent and continued with her actions.
The servants, seeing this, hurriedly picked up the trays and went outside, exchanging glances and thinking that Su Zhihan's behavior was strange and that she was probably mentally ill.
After the group brought the appetizers into the flower hall, they couldn't help but mutter as they came out: "How could Steward Zheng choose such a young girl as the cook? Isn't he afraid of disgracing the manor?"
"That's right, that's right."
"And that Lu Zao man... I've never even heard of him!"
"No way? I heard from Mama Hu that the official inside is someone of great importance. How could Steward Zheng choose an unknown person?"
"Manager Zheng is not such a careless person. If you ask me, this cook, Lü, might be a chef for the emperor, which is why we have never heard of him."
"That's true. So... what about that young lady?"
"This... I don't know either." The maid who had just spoken up for Steward Zheng also hesitated and couldn't answer.
“Such a young cook…”
"Instead of renting her out, why not teach our own cook, Chen, to do it?"
"that is……"
"What are you saying!" A mother lifted the curtain and came out of the house, glaring at the gossipy old woman: "Have you all forgotten what I just told you? Our distinguished guests are having dinner inside, and you're still whispering among yourselves. Get up and get to work!"
For a moment, the maids fell silent, trembling with fear. They responded and scattered, but the last maid was about to leave when her mother called her back: "You just said that Steward Zheng hired a young cook, who is it?"
"Replying to Mama Pang, that's a little girl... Steward Zheng brought her in earlier." The maid led Mama Pang to the kitchen, chatting along the way about what she had overheard: "I heard she specializes in making appetizers and soups. I wonder whose cook she is. She's very difficult to serve."
"I just sent someone out to buy more fish."
"When we went to get the snacks, we saw the cook smashing the chopping board like she had gone mad."
"Look, that's it." The maid stopped talking as she walked to the kitchen and pointed ahead.
Sure enough, Pang's mother heard a series of thumping sounds. She looked up into the kitchen and saw two men surrounding a young cook in the middle, occasionally letting out a gasp of surprise.
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