Chapter 25 Braised Pork with Dried Bamboo Shoots and Roasted Lamb
After hearing Lu Zhao's positive response, Qiao Mianmian quickly followed up, "Does Lord Lu have any dietary restrictions or preferences? I remember you can't eat spicy food, are there any other foods you don't eat?"
Her expression was very eager. When Lu Zhao said no, she added, "Then I'll do as I please. See you at home tomorrow."
Lu Zhao glanced at Qiao Mianmian and saw that her eyes were curved in a smile. He always felt that Qiao Mianmian was being overly enthusiastic.
However, he had to go to his shift and had to leave first.
Madam Lin watched Lu Zhao's departing figure with a smile, then leaned closer to Qiao Mancang and said, "Don't you think Lord Lu would be a good son-in-law if he weren't married?"
"What are you thinking? Mianmian is still young." Qiao Mancang frowned in displeasure.
“She’s not young anymore. She’ll be of marriageable age next year, so it’s good to have a look at her beforehand.” From her daughter’s eyes, Madam Lin sensed that her daughter also thought Lu Zhao was a good match.
It's too early to say. She'll observe for now. Character needs time to be proven, and she's not in a hurry.
In fact, Qiao Mianmian just wanted to build good relationships. The commander in the City God Bureau was someone even the prefect had to give some face to. If she could get along well with Lu Zhao, who would dare to bully them in the future?
She wanted to win people's hearts with delicious food, unaware that her mother had already begun to consider Lu Zhao.
Neither the mother nor the daughter directly mentioned Lu Zhao. As customers arrived one after another, the food stall became busy.
Yesterday, the young master of the Luo family ate Qiao Mianmian's dishes, and today he asked Luo Da to come and order more dishes. However, Luo Da said that his young master likes new things and asked Qiao Mianmian if she had any other dishes.
"Yes, there are, but we originally planned to eat them at home, so they weren't on the signboard."
Qiao Mianmian said that they have a big silver carp today. "The head can be made into a spicy fish head soup, or you can cook it with tofu if you don't eat spicy food. It's very delicious. There's also a leg of lamb, which can be braised or roasted. We also have dried bamboo shoots at home, which can be used to braise meat. My dad sells them at the butcher shop, so they can be used for that too. These aren't the dishes on the menu. Do you see if there's anything you'd like to order?"
"One fish head tofu soup, please. And braised pork with dried bamboo shoots, make a big bowl. I'll take a portion home for my kids. I don't want lamb leg; it's too strong for my son." Luo Dadao said.
"Okay, it's the same time as yesterday. I'll have my older brother deliver it." Qiao Mianmian noted down the dishes Luo Da ordered and asked her older brother to go home and get dried bamboo shoots to soak.
The lamb leg was a gift from the Hu family. After the Qiao family started making braised dishes, Lin would occasionally have Qiao Jiawang deliver some to the Hu family. Since the new bride hadn't officially entered the family yet, Qiao Jiawang needed to make frequent trips so that his future in-laws would like him.
They gave so much braised food, and the Hu family couldn't just eat it for free. So today, when distributing the pork, the Hu family gave Qiao Mancang a leg of lamb, saying it was a lamb sent by his brother-in-law.
Qiao Mianmian didn't think the mutton had a gamey smell, so since Luo Da didn't want it, she would just eat it at home.
She marinated the lamb leg with cooking wine, scallions, ginger, and spices, and then roasted it over a charcoal fire when there were fewer customers in the afternoon.
Lin watched with heartache, "It's not like we're selling it. It's just for our family to eat, so as long as it's cooked, it's fine. You put in so many spices and smeared on a thick layer of chili powder. My good daughter, all of this costs money!"
In her opinion, the best way to make something delicious is with a simple method; if that's not possible, then she'll choose a simple and inexpensive one. Her hands would tremble if she were asked to add so many spices.
"Mom, you need to add a lot of spices when marinating mutton, otherwise it won't taste good. If you're worried about the cost, then don't watch me cook it. If you don't see it, just pretend it doesn't exist. You can wait and eat." Qiao Mianmian smiled and pushed her mother away. "There aren't many customers right now, so you can rest for a while."
Helpless, Madam Lin couldn't bear to scold her daughter, so she turned and glared at Qiao Mancang, "Look at the good daughter you've spoiled."
Qiao Mancang didn't dare to reply, thinking that Lin herself doted on Mianmian, it wasn't just him who spoiled his little daughter.
Qiao Mianmian found it amusing. Taking advantage of the fact that there weren't many people around, she started preparing the dishes. "Mom, you see, our breakfast has become earlier, and dinner is sometimes late. How about we start eating three meals a day from now on?"
By midday, Lin herself gets hungry. She used to not eat breakfast so early, but recently she's been setting up her stall earlier, with the whole family heading out as soon as it's light.
However, adding another meal would be a significant expense, so she didn't immediately agree.
"Think about it, if we go hungry for too long, our bodies definitely won't be able to handle it. For the long term, our health is the most important thing. Otherwise, if we collapse from exhaustion, how will we make money?"
As she spoke, Qiao Mianmian gave an example, "Uncle Zhou, who lives diagonally across from our house, was so frugal that he was skin and bones and eventually died of exhaustion on the street. He was only in his thirties that year. After he was gone, the Zhou family's situation became even worse."
"Why did you bring up that Zhou family member out of the blue?" Madam Lin was a little scared. "Let me think. Even if we're really hungry, it's not like we have nothing to eat. We have dried sweet potatoes at home, don't we?"
She dried two large bags of sweet potato chips, which she could use to stave off hunger in the late afternoon.
Qiao Mianmian: "You only give us one or two each time, how can that be enough? Think about it, when we're hungry, we can eat something ourselves, but Second Brother carries goods at the dock, how can he do his work if he doesn't have the strength?"
She stopped talking. Long-standing habits can't be changed overnight. She needed to let Lin think about it first before continuing to persuade her.
As noon approached, Qiao Mianmian began preparing the Luo family's dishes. She first cut the pork belly into chunks, then caramelized the sugar before adding the pan-fried pork belly. The pork belly rendered its fat and turned an enticing brown color. She then added hot water and dried bamboo shoots, and placed the pot on a clay pot to simmer slowly.
Once the pork belly was tender enough to melt in your mouth, Qiao Mianmian tasted it. After being braised, the dried bamboo shoots retained their crisp and chewy texture. After absorbing the broth, the fibers were infused with a fresh aroma. The richness of the oil and the refreshing taste of the bamboo shoots achieved a perfect balance, giving people a sense of the freedom of the mountains and fields, as well as the ordinary warmth of everyday life. In short, it was delicious!
"Mother, let's make this for Lord Lu tomorrow too. It tastes really good." If Luo Da hadn't asked if there were any other dishes, Qiao Mianmian wouldn't have thought of making braised pork with dried bamboo shoots.
Mrs. Lin swallowed hard, "It smells so good. I've made braised pork with dried bamboo shoots before, but it never smelled this good."
Qiao Mancang laughed and teased, "How much meat does Mianmian put in? How much meat do you put in?"
"I put in a lot too, okay!" Lin Shi calculated carefully, making sure each person ate two slices of meat, and would never put in more than that. "Go away, focus on selling your meat properly. Don't think that just because you sell braised meat at home, you can sell meat however you want. If your meat sells well, our family can slaughter pigs every day, and we'll earn even more money!"
Qiao Mancang now sells meat every other day, which is just enough to supply the meat stall and braised meat.
Qiao Mancang nodded, "Okay, I'll keep hawking."
Qiao Mianmian continued to cook fish. Fish head tofu soup is very simple. Just fry the fish, add hot water and tofu. No complicated seasoning is needed. Some ginger, cooking wine and salt are enough. After all, there is no pepper at this time, so she can't add it even if she wants to.
The broth quickly turned milky white, and after bubbling for a while, the aroma of the fish head filled the air. Aunt Wu happened to pass by, took a deep breath, and asked, "Mianmian, what are you making? It smells so good!"
"It's fish head tofu," Qiao Mianmian said.
"My mouth is watering just smelling it! You're really something!" Aunt Wu was out buying fabric when she noticed that Lin Shi wasn't as enthusiastic as before, which made her a little unhappy, but she still stopped in front of Qiao Mianmian and said, "Mianmian, how about you cook when your brother Er Mao gets married? Don't worry, your aunt will definitely give you a big red envelope!"
When Er Mao returned home, the chef she hired was only so-so, not as good as Qiao Mianmian's cooking. She only had one son, who was married to a daughter from a wealthy family, so she wanted to make a good impression on her family.
Qiao Mianmian thought to herself that if she dared to earn this money, she would really be letting her fourth sister down, and her mother would kick her out of the house.
Before she could figure out how to refuse, her mother snorted twice, "Auntie, you think too highly of my Mianmian. It's fine for her to cook at home, but she's never experienced a big event. What if she gets too nervous and ruins your feast? Wouldn't that damage the relationship between our two families?"
"It can't be that bad, I think Mianmian is cooked very well." Aunt Wu's face froze.
"That's not necessarily true. If the young lady is too nervous, her hands might shake and she might add a little too much salt," Madam Lin said deliberately. "But since you value her and are willing to give her a chance to learn, it's fine to let her try. If anything goes wrong, you can't blame her, okay?"
Aunt Wu couldn't predict whether Qiao Mianmian would be nervous. According to Lin, even if Qiao Mianmian didn't do a good job, it was Aunt Wu who insisted that Qiao Mianmian take charge of the cooking. Lin had also reminded her that Qiao Mianmian was young and inexperienced, and if something went wrong, she wouldn't be blamed.
Aunt Wu came to see Qiao Mianmian to save face, but Qiao Mianmian held a grudge and deliberately ruined the Wu family's feast. Aunt Wu will be left with no way to explain herself.
Hearing Lin say that, Aunt Wu said awkwardly, "That's true, we still have to find someone with experience."
After saying that, Aunt Wu left in a hurry. She felt very sorry for Qiao Mianmian, whose cooking skills were truly excellent. The braised dishes she sent to the Yu family were praised by everyone in the Wu family as delicious, and no one disliked them.
"How dare she?" Aunt Wu hadn't gone far when Lin clicked her tongue. "If she really dares to let our family prepare the feast, I'll definitely throw sand into the dishes!"
Qiao Mianmian smiled, "Don't worry, I definitely won't agree. If there were other opportunities, that would be great. Hosting a banquet should make a lot of money, right?"
Lin said that it depends on the host's situation. Some families pay four or five taels of silver, and if you are from a wealthy family, they will give you a reward if you do a good job. "Not only will you get money, but you can also take some good food with you. Don't worry, once our family's reputation spreads, people will come looking for us again."
Qiao Mianmian nodded and ladled out the fish head tofu soup from the pot, asking her older brother to deliver it to the Luo family.
Just as Qiao Jiawang left, the sound of firecrackers came from afar, but they couldn't see what was happening from Qiao Mianmian's stall.
Qiao Jiawang returned with the vegetables and said that a family had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar.
"Speaking of which, why hasn't Xu Tongsheng returned yet?" Madam Lin wondered if Xu Mingxuan had passed the exam.
"It should be soon." Qiao Mianmian had no feeling about it; whether she succeeded or not was none of her business.
Taking advantage of the fact that there were no customers in the afternoon, she lit a charcoal fire and began roasting a leg of lamb.
The lamb leg was skewered with bamboo strips and placed on a wooden frame. Qiao Mianmian had her older brother turn it slowly while she was responsible for sprinkling the seasoning and applying oil.
Almost half an hour later, the lamb leg began to sizzle. Qiao Mianmian used a knife to cut open the thick part, and the crispy crust crumbled. Qiao Mianmian quickly caught it with her hands, "Big brother, try it, is it delicious?"
Before Qiao Jiawang could speak, a piece of roasted mutton was suddenly stuffed into his mouth. His teeth pierced through the crispy skin, while the other side was tender and juicy. The complex and mellow seasoning first whetted his appetite, followed by the original fragrance of the mutton.
With mutton still in his mouth, he nodded repeatedly, "Delicious, so delicious!" It was so delicious that he couldn't even describe it.
Qiao Mancang's mouth watered as he looked at it. "Mianmian, give me one too."
Lin said from the side, "What's the rush? It's almost mealtime. Go and call your parents to come and eat together." Even at times like this, she never forgot her parents-in-law.
"Father, have a bite before you go back." Qiao Mianmian quickly cut off a piece of meat, fed it to her father, and then gave another piece to Lin Shi.
The aroma of roasted mutton had already wafted far and wide, attracting many passersby to stop and take a look. Some even asked if it was for sale. Qiao Mianmian, seeing that there was only a few pieces of meat left on the lamb leg, decided not to miss out on her own enjoyment and preemptively said before Lin could speak, "No, it's not for sale. This is for my family to eat."
Mrs. Lin was a little anxious and whispered, "Why aren't you selling? There's money to be made!"
"Mother, this is a token of the Hu family's goodwill. If they find out, they'll think we're greedy for money. Besides, don't you think it tastes good?" Qiao Mianmian asked.
"It's delicious..."
"As long as it tastes good, that's all that matters. We food vendors can't afford to go hungry. You can just relax and enjoy your meal; don't worry about making money." Qiao Mianmian continued grilling the meat.
Lu Zhao and Qingjiu, who were passing by at this moment, were very disappointed when they heard Qiao Mianmian say that she was not selling.
"My lord, it smells so good! It smells amazing!" Qingjiu was so hungry she almost cried.
"Can't you be a little more ambitious?" Lu Zhao said.
"If you let me have a few bites, you can call me useless." Qingjiu wanted to go over and smell it more, but her master grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away.
Qiao Mianmian had just spotted two familiar figures and was stretching out to look when Lu Zhao and the other person had already walked away. "Why are they walking so fast? I wanted them to try it too."
The next day, when Qingjiu learned that Qiao Mianmian intended to let him try it, tears welled up in his eyes, and he deeply regretted not having tasted it.
But that's for tomorrow. Once Qiao Mianmian has roasted the lamb leg, Zhang Shi and the others will arrive. Tonight's dinner will be roasted lamb leg with rice, as well as bone broth that she specially saved.
Qiao Mianmian wants to make money, but she will never mistreat herself while making money.
After the family had eaten and drunk their fill, they headed back home. As they passed the Xu family's house, they saw firecrackers being set off in front of the house.
Seeing that the Xu family's door was open, Lin knocked on the door and asked Madam Xu inside, "Sister, I saw firecrackers at your door. Did you pass the exam?"
"Yes, he passed the exam!" Madam Xu's eyes were filled with tears. "I was just about to go to your house to find you. Not only did Mingxuan pass the imperial examination, but my husband also wrote back. I was thinking that when my husband returns, I'd like to ask you to help arrange a few tables for a feast. I'd like to invite everyone to have a celebration. What do you think?"
The Xu family had only been in Lin'an for a short time, and Madam Xu was unfamiliar with the local banquet customs. Her family had more dealings with the Qiao family, and Qiao Mianmian was a good cook. After much thought, she decided to invite Qiao Mianmian to take charge of the cooking.
“Sure, of course!” Mrs. Lin readily agreed.
Qiao Mancang, who was standing next to her, tugged at her sleeve and mouthed the words "Wu family".
Lin snorted coldly, "What's there to be afraid of? I just don't want to accept her family's invitation to the banquet. If she's unhappy, then she's unhappy. Do you think I care?"
Qiao Mianmian thought her mother was quite open-minded. It made sense; after being divorced, she was still able to raise the children with strength. If Lin Shi didn't have this kind of spirit, she wouldn't have been able to make the family's life like this.
“Father, Mother is right. We can choose to open a business.” Qiao Mianmian spoke up for Lin Shi.
"See? My daughters are on my side." Madam Lin felt relieved and looked at Madam Xu again. "Sister, don't worry about me. I'll make sure this joyous occasion is a great success for you! It's too late today. Come to my house another day when you're free, and we can discuss the preparations in detail."
Madam Xu didn't quite understand the Qiao family's riddle, but she was very grateful that the Qiao family had agreed. "Thank you very much. After Mingxuan and his colleagues have finished their formalities, I will come to visit and ask for your advice."
"No need to be so polite, we'll head back now. Congratulations again, your family's life is getting better and better!" Madam Lin said with a smile.
The rest of the Qiao family congratulated him as well, and then they went home. They overheard the neighbors talking about Xu Mingxuan's success in passing the imperial examinations; he was the first scholar to emerge from their alley, a truly remarkable achievement. The short journey took the Qiao family until dark to get home.
The next day, when Qiao Mianmian got up to wash, not only were her family members still talking about Xu Mingxuan passing the imperial examination, but when she went to the door to get water, other neighbors were also talking about it.
At this moment, Lu Zhao came out dressed in a light blue casual robe, which was much more elegant than his usual official attire, but it accentuated his handsome face even more. Qiao Mianmian admired him for a while longer, and after regaining her senses, she reminded him, "Lord Lu, don't forget to come for dinner today!"
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