Chapter 494: Entertaining Guests
The prince went to Su's house in a carriage, and Prince Lu and Du He followed.
Not long after entering Guangdefang, the city closing drum stopped.
A distinguished guest came, but the house was not prepared. Su Ying scratched her head and cut the bacon and sausages she brought back from Lingnan to entertain the guest.
The hawthorns were given to Afa and Ahua, brother and sister, to remove the cores.
"What is this?" Su Ying went to the stove, and several people also went to the kitchen to see what was going on.
Su Ying took out a black, greasy piece of meat, and some other pieces of meat.
"Bacon and sausage!" Su Ying washed them and threw them into the pot to cook.
I also took some fern root powder, crushed the particles into powder, poured it into cold water and stirred it into muddy water.
Pour into the pot and stir constantly with a spatula.
As the temperature rises, the turbid soup gradually becomes thicker and more transparent until it turns into a gray transparent paste.
It forms a sticky mass in the pot. Use a spatula to scoop it out and place it on the chopping board to cool.
"What is this? Lotus root powder?" Li Tai asked. This thing looks like lotus root powder, but not like it.
"?" Su Ying looked up in surprise, "Your Highness, have you ever eaten lotus root starch?"
"Yes, it's the tribute from Yangzhou in Jiangnan Province a few days ago," Li Tai replied. "But the color and the method of making it look wrong are wrong."
"This is fern cake made from fern root powder. This is what I use to make fern root vermicelli! It's not lotus root powder!" Su Ying explained.
Lotus root starch originated in the south and has been recorded since the Tang Dynasty. It was most famous in Yangzhou, Jiangnan during the Song Dynasty.
Shili Lotus Pond is famous for its lotus roots. The leftover lotus roots will naturally be processed into lotus root powder which can be preserved for a long time.
After the bacon and sausage in the pot are cooked, take them out of the pot, let them cool slightly, and slice them while they are hot.
"So fat?" Li Tai looked at the translucent fat bacon in surprise.
The fat is translucent, the lean meat becomes bright red, there are two or three layers of fat and lean meat, the smoked meat skin is brown-red and is cut into thin slices.
The air is filled with the unique aroma of smoked meat, a mixture of cypress branches, walnut shells, tea oil shells, chestnut shells, etc.
"Gudong!" Someone was swallowing.
"Come, try it and see how it tastes!" Su Ying grabbed a piece and handed it to the prince.
Li Chengqian hesitated for a moment and took it with his hand.
"Mine, mine!" Li Tai shouted.
"We have both, we have both!" Su Ying distributed them one by one, one piece for each person.
"Sister!" Two little heads popped out from the kitchen door. The two younger sisters had been waiting outside for a long time.
"Come in!" Su Ying called her sisters in.
The stove is surrounded by greedy cats.
Put the translucent fatty bacon into your mouth and chew it gently, your mouth will be filled with the greasy fragrance.
The smoked pork skin is chewy and bouncy, the lean meat is salty and fragrant, and the mixture of different flavors is particularly delicious.
Then cut the sausage.
"How is this made?" Du He saw that the sausage had a strange shape.
"Well, it's better for Mr. Du Erlang not to ask. Just eat." Su Ying said with a smile.
"Why? Lord Su, are you afraid that we will steal your skills?" Du He said with a smile.
"No, I'm afraid that after hearing it, you won't be able to eat!" Su Ying said with a malicious smile.
The nobles were very particular and would not eat the offal of animals, only the meat.
"Why?" Du He was puzzled.
"Because it's made of meat stuffed with pig intestines." Su Ying laughed, "Do you still dare to eat it?"
Du He's expression changed and he looked conflicted.
"What about you? Do you want to eat?" Su Ying asked the Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince, and Prince Lu.
"Eat! What is there to be afraid of? How can we not eat the delicious food made by Lord Su?" Li Chengqian said firmly.
After saying that, he picked up a piece of salty and sweet Cantonese sausage from the chopping board and put it in his mouth.
It doesn’t have the expected smell of pig manure, but rather a salty and fragrant taste with a hint of sweetness.
Li Chengqian's eyes flashed with surprise. This salty and sweet taste was very much to his liking.
"I want to eat too!" Li Tai also picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, eating it without saying a word.
Prince Lu looked at Li Chengqian's expression and grabbed a piece to taste without hesitation.
Atang and Xiaotao were not polite and each grabbed a piece.
"How is it?" Du He looked at Li Chengqian, then at Prince Lu, and then at Li Tai.
Everyone glanced at him, said nothing, and ate the meat in silence.
Du He hesitated for a long time, picked up a small piece of meat scraps, put it in his mouth and chewed it gently.
He immediately reached out and grabbed a piece of sausage, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it.
"It's so delicious. How did Master Su make it?" Du He smacked his lips as he finished eating.
"Mix pork, rock sugar, salt and starch in proportion, stuff them into pig intestines and dry them in the sun." Su Ying did not hide anything.
Without chili peppers, spicy sausages made with Polygonum aviculare and Cornus officinalis are not as good as salty and sweet ones.
"Strange, the pork you brought back from Lingnan has no smell at all! What kind is it?" Du He felt that it was very different from the pork he usually ate.
"It's the same breed, but we castrate the piglets within a few days of birth, so they don't have any mutton smell." Su Ying explained.
Several young men looked a little unnatural.
Su Ying didn't care and continued, "If this method is promoted, live pigs can replace the demand for mutton."
"Well, this is a good suggestion! Raising sheep consumes a lot of arable land!" Li Chengqian heard that this was directed at him.
He often accompanied his father in participating in politics and discussing state affairs, and read many memorials.
In many places, especially in the megacity of Chang'an, a huge amount of mutton is slaughtered every day.
In order to raise sheep, a large amount of arable land outside the city is used to grow grass. The grass on the hillside is not enough for the sheep to eat, and it needs to be stored for the winter.
If we continue to raise them, they will become like the Turks, moving around like nomads to feed their sheep.
The imperial court is having a headache about this issue, and Su Ying's suggestion on raising pigs comes just in time!
"What's the difference between raising pigs and raising sheep?" Li Tai asked. Aren't they both livestock?
"Raising sheep requires grassland, and the Central Plains does not have as much grassland as the Turks. The scale of sheep farming in the Central Plains is too large, which squeezes out a lot of arable land, and farmers will starve to death.
Pigs are different. They are omnivores and can eat all kinds of weeds and leaves, so they don't need to occupy arable land," Su Ying explained.
"Oh, I didn't expect that the little pigs and sheep would be involved in people's livelihood." Li Taichang saw something that he could not learn in Hongwenguan.
Dinner was ready soon, including fried bacon fern cake with garlic sprouts, Cantonese sausage, sour radish and old duck soup, and scrambled eggs with leeks.
At the request of the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince, three insulated food boxes were packed with one portion each and sent to Liangyi Hall, Lizheng Hall, and Fengyang Pavilion.
After Li Chengqian started eating, everyone else followed suit.
Stir-fry bacon and fern cake with garlic sprouts. The aroma and fat of the bacon are absorbed into the fern cake, which tastes soft, sticky, fresh and delicious.
Scrambled eggs with leeks is a perfect match, a rare delicacy in winter, and also a classic filling for dumplings.
"Well, this sour radish soup is appetizing and relieves greasiness!" Li Tai ate heartily.
I finished a bowl of hot sour radish soup with rice in a few gulps and ordered a second bowl.
Li Chengqian was as restrained as ever and only ate one bowl.
When Su Ying was serving the rice, she pressed the button deliberately. Li Chengqian took the bowl and was stunned for a moment, but didn't say anything and just started eating.
I ate very satisfyingly and there was no leftovers.
Lu Wang and Du He are not that particular, they eat whatever makes them happy.
"Gao Ming, eat some more! It's so delicious!" Du He saw Li Chengqian put down his bowl and chopsticks.
"Enough! I'm full!" Li Chengqian said, looking at the Cantonese sausage reluctantly.
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