The next morning, apart from the tofu sold at noon, the family stopped selling fried chicken strips and other snacks.
No time! Fatty Wang doesn't have time to buy chicken breast. Even if he did, he wouldn't have enough time to cook that much. There's a whole feast waiting for him.
I managed to snag a few pieces of chicken breast from Aunt Lu, who sells steamed buns next door; I'll only fry one serving today.
Just fry up a portion of chicken strips and give it to that old woman to take away.
Soon, the dishes were ready. Wang Yan cooked almost all the dishes today, while Fatty Wang did the chopping and washing of the vegetables.
Wang Pangzi was incredibly proud of his daughter; she was so capable.
Of course, Fatty Wang does cook more than just any dishes; he makes ham and mushroom rice and boiled sliced pork.
It's springtime, time of year for mushrooms. The best part is, yesterday I saw an older woman selling mushrooms with a basket on her back.
Since they had ham at home, Fatty Wang came up with this idea.
It contains Jinhua ham, making this dish both high-class and seasonal.
This morning, the old lady was a very honest person; she brought over a basket of mushrooms early in the morning.
The ham is prepared using the same method: blanch it briefly, then steam it in a pot with Shaoxing wine and scallions for 15 minutes.
Dice the steamed ham and slice the mushrooms after washing them. Heat oil in a pan—use lard for this; it'll be fragrant!
Heat the oil, then add the ham and mushrooms and stir-fry until fragrant.
Pour the rice into a clay pot and simmer until it is half-cooked. Then, add the stir-fried ham and mushrooms to the clay pot, stir well, and simmer for another 15 minutes.
The ham and mushroom rice is ready. Fatty Wang made extra because Wang Yan only ate porridge yesterday and didn't eat much of this rice.
But she doesn't want to drink porridge today. She drank too much yesterday and it upset her stomach.
I've been craving this braised rice again. I tried a bite last night and thought it tasted alright.
After packing the food into the food box brought by the old woman and seeing her off, Wang Yan turned around and ran back to eat her braised rice.
Picking up her rice bowl, Wang Yan took a bite and couldn't help but praise her father, "Dad, this food is absolutely delicious! It's definitely the best dish of the day!"
Fatty Wang laughed heartily, "Stop trying to fool me!" He then looked at the remaining glutinous rice and said, "I'll make you some popcorn!"
"Sure, but you should try this: first boil the sugar in the pot, then pop the pine nuts. That way it will taste even better and sweeter!"
It can't compare to the taste of modern popcorn. And the grains aren't as big as those from the ghee-flavored popcorn.
At this time, the popcorn is made with glutinous rice. Find a small pot, put some sand and glutinous rice in it and stir-fry together for about 15 minutes.
Find a large sieve and filter out the fine sand; what you'll find inside is pure rice puffs.
The popped white rice was sweet and crunchy, and Wang Yan ate handfuls of it.
Since he didn't have the tools himself, Fatty Wang borrowed pots, sand, and large sieves from his neighbors to make them.
After it's done, we'll share some with our neighbors on both sides. This isn't something we make often; he just had this idea on a whim today.
With the ten taels of silver spent on the banquet, it was Wang Yan who became anxious.
"Hey Dad, I wonder if they'll like the food we send over?"
Unlike her, Fatty Wang was quite anxious. He was very confident now. "Absolutely! Our banquet is famous throughout the Bianhe area."
Now when I go out to sell fried noodles, people stop me every day and ask me how many dishes are in our banquet and what their specifications are.
Look at how often we're hosting banquets these days. Doesn't that clearly prove our food is delicious and everyone enjoys it?
Wang Yan was still worried. "The old lady is used to eating delicacies. Won't she find our food like chaff and wild vegetables?"
Fatty Wang was displeased. "Even if she's a rich person, she still grew up eating, right?"
Why are you saying such awful things? The food we make with care is so delicious, what's with all the talk about it being coarse or mushy?
Your father used to be the head chef of the Marquis's mansion, uh, the head of the Marquis's mansion. I've eaten just as many delicacies as she has!
I think our food is quite good; it's even worthy of being served at the old lady's birthday banquet or the New Year's feast.
That's right. The key issue is that Wang Yan is a bit crazy. The net profit from this meal was eight taels of silver, and the old nanny even gave her another ten taels as a reward for tasting the food.
This reminded Wang Yan of the days when she spent the New Year at the Marquis's mansion, receiving dozens of taels of silver as a reward every day.
I'm so excited! So excited! I forgot that I used to serve in the Lady of the Marquis's courtyard.
The Lady Hou praised the snacks she made, let alone our delicious and affordable meals.
"So, which of the dishes we delivered today do you think will come out on top?"
"Didn't you just say that the ham and rice I made would definitely be the most popular dish?"
Hahahaha!
Wasn't Wang Yan just trying to coax him? Thinking about it carefully, it should be—what?
What is it? Caramel pudding!
The old lady and her grandson absolutely love this caramel pudding!
Wang Yan's guess that older people don't like sweets didn't work on the old lady.
Three bowls of caramel pudding were delivered, and the old lady ate two by herself.
The old lady felt sorry for her grandson, who pouted and cried. She just let him cry, thinking, "What an unfilial grandson!"
After finishing her meal, she looked at the empty cups and bowls. She could taste the milk flavor, and it was sweet, so it must have contained white sugar. But how was it made?
Crack two eggs into a bowl, remove the yolks, and keep only the egg whites.
Fatty Wang looked puzzled: "If you only want the egg white, why didn't you say so earlier? You could have just cracked the yolk out when you cracked the egg."
Add plenty of sugar to the egg yolks and stir well. Then boil a pot of milk and add an appropriate amount of agar.
Add the cooked milk to the egg yolks in two batches, then stir the egg yolks again until smooth.
Pour the beaten egg yolks into a stewing pot, place it in the pot, cover it, and steam for 15 minutes.
After taking it out, it will be a solidified "pudding". Then, find a small pot with a small amount of water and a lot of sugar to make caramel.
Once the sugar syrup in the pot turns amber, turn off the heat and then quickly and evenly pour it over the "pudding" in the stewing pot.
The syrup solidifies in less than 15 minutes. When you eat it, tap it with a spoon to break the top layer of sugar into several pieces.
Therefore, this dessert is the most popular of all the dishes, as it is novel, fun, and delicious.
The old lady and her grandson had never met before, and they started arguing over the last bowl of caramel pudding.
Fortunately, the old lady was older and knew how to respect elders, so she finally won the last cup with absolute authority.
It's so delicious! The crunchy sweetness of the crushed sugar and the rich aroma of the milk create a wonderfully comforting flavor.
The old lady felt a little regretful as she ate, because it seemed that the shop only made some desserts when preparing large banquets, and did not sell them separately.
Sigh, it would be so agonizing if I couldn't eat this, but I can't just go out and order food every day.
Her grandson leaned over and said, "Then Grandma should just ask more people to go out and buy their banquet food. Every time someone buys it, we can also grab a couple of servings of crème brûlée."
Hey? That's a great idea!
As a result, the banquet at Wang Yan's house, costing ten taels of silver, became very popular for a period of time afterward.
A month passed, and she had only earned 130 taels of silver for the banquet. Aunt Wang was pleasantly surprised and exclaimed, "That's great!"
Wang Yan is arrogant, isn't she!
In addition to earning money for the banquet, other good news also came.
The house the family needed to buy has been settled; the family across the street from Wang Yan's house is from Lin'an.
Having lived in the capital for over ten years, they've learned most of the local cuisine and made some money. Some families are now planning to return to their hometowns to develop their careers.
He'll bring back the city's cuisine, and with people who love novelty and merchants coming and going, his business is sure to be booming!
After listening to the man's business acumen, Wang Yan couldn't help but praise him, "Uncle Wei, what a great idea!"
Aweiber was pleased to hear her praise, but he couldn't accept a single tael less of the money for selling the house.
Not a single tael of silver can be less than three hundred and fifty taels, oh no, not a single penny less.
Alright! Let's pay up quickly and efficiently. Everything was settled in less than a day.
When asked whose name the house was registered under, Aunt Wang pointed at Wang Yan and said, "Give it to her!"
Wang Yan was pleasantly surprised, "For me?"
"Of course! Your sister Ying has one, so of course we'll buy you one too!"
"What about your brother?"
Aunt Wang: "...Stop talking nonsense. Do you think houses are like cabbages? You can't just buy one whenever you want. We just happened to be lucky this time."
Otherwise, it would be amazing if a suitable apartment could be vacated in our market area within a year or two.
However, I am considering looking around in other markets as well, and if I find something suitable, I will buy it.
Then each of you three siblings will have a house. Wouldn't that be wonderful!
Wang Yan happily circled around her new house, thinking that she should decorate it properly after building it.
During the Spring Festival, they stayed at someone's Baifanlou. The room was covered with brocade carpets, and the dressing table, table, and bed were made of huanghuali wood.
Wang Yan planned to decorate based on that room, and she had also learned a lot about modular furniture in modern times.
How to utilize the space? I have a perfect idea in my mind.
Aunt Wang didn't interfere and let her do whatever she wanted, watching as she discussed with the carpenter what kind of cabinets and tables to make.
The carpenter looked shocked when he heard her request.
"How can you do that? Lay wooden flooring on the floor? And the cabinets have to be able to slide back and forth, half a door at a time? The table has to be able to be pulled out and then folded away?"
This table really gave the carpenter a run for his money. "What folding table? I don't understand! And don't we use this table every day? Why put it away?"
"Fine!" Wang Yan rattled off a long explanation, almost entirely rejecting the claims.
However, they did make her the kind of modern study room-like desk she mentioned.
Well, at least there's one thing I can do! Just half a month later, all the interior decoration was completed, and Wang Yan and her sister were going to live in the new house!
The two sisters ran hand in hand into the new house. Aunt Wang and Fatty Wang followed behind, carrying their bedding rolls, ready to help them pack.
There's no need to buy new bedding rolls; ours are all brand new, warm, and comfortable.
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