Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Eat Hot Pot
The children did very well in the exam. All of them scored above 90 points and no one failed.
Lin Si was quite satisfied with the test results. The top three were Zhong Diyan, Yang Yidong, and Xiang Feifei.
Zhong Diyan had been educated since childhood, so Lin Si was not surprised that he got first place. However, the performance of the two young ladies, Yang Yidong and Xiang Feifei, made Lin Si look at them with admiration.
Lin Si had some impression of Yang Yidong before, but his memory of another girl named Xiang Feifei was a little vague. He only remembered that the girl had a lot of hair.
Lin Si was relieved to see such a result. She took the opportunity to take a day off to celebrate the flowers' vigorous growth.
Winter in Li County has not yet passed. It’s a beautiful day off, and Lin Si is craving for hot pot.
Dachen already has a food similar to hot pot, called warm pot, but unlike modern hot pot, the soup base is very light, while Lin Si wants to eat a spicy soup base.
Since arriving in Li County, Lin Si's taste has become increasingly strange, and Wang Ying has gradually come to accept it.
However, this spicy soup base was the first time Wang Ying had heard of it.
The emperor of Dachen liked to eat mutton, which led the whole Anjing to follow suit. Therefore, hot pot is generally made with boiled mutton, and naturally pursues light and delicious taste.
Before blanching the mutton, scholars would drink a sip of the soup first to be considered elegant. If the soup base becomes spicy, how can they drink it before blanching the meat?
Wang Ying couldn't help but think.
What's more, the county lady seemed to want more than just a little spiciness, and she even said that it had to be very spicy to be enjoyable.
Wang Ying didn't understand, but tried to do it.
If you want a spicy flavor, you need to use cornus officinalis. The leaves and fruits of cornus officinalis are dried and ground into powder and can be added to soups. However, if you add too much cornus officinalis, the spiciness will be tinged with bitterness, so you need to mix it with Sichuan peppercorns to achieve a spicy taste.
Spices like Sichuan peppercorns are very precious. Fortunately, Lin Si was a royal relative before, otherwise he would have to use only cornus officinalis in the soup today.
Wang Ying carefully prepared the broth, added cornus officinalis, Sichuan pepper and a variety of spices, and a simple hot pot base was ready.
Wang Ying originally thought that Lin Si’s spicy hot pot only had mutton, but she saw that her county lady had a resentful expression on her face.
"I really want to eat tripe."
Wang Ying didn't know what tripe was.
The fact is, Lin Si would never be able to eat it. In Dachen, cattle are important farming tools, and eating cattle is illegal. There are cattle for her to eat in Li County, but even if she goes to Shizhou, she can't buy it, and she might even be reported.
Finally, Wang Ying prepared the ingredients according to Lin Si's requirements, including mutton, lamb intestines, lamb lungs, pork belly, pork kidneys, pork liver, and some vegetables.
In winter, vegetables can be more expensive than meat.
Hotpot is always more lively when there are more people around, but Lin Si can only invite a few people. This time, in addition to Liang Nian and her daughter, Feng Ling was also invited.
Zhu Shixi was a rare guest. Lin Si invited her every time, but she never came.
Zhu Shixi is not a person who likes to eat. He always eats in a hurry on weekdays. He wishes he could devote all his time to those two books and dissecting rabbits.
She rejected all of Lin Si's invitations.
"County Lady, having dinner with you takes too much time."
In this way, Lin Si lost his dining companion and could only look for Liang Nian Zuo You every time when he was craving something.
Fortunately, Liang Nian and Zuo You always praised Lin Si's innovative dishes, and the three-person dining partnership gradually became stable and formed a tacit understanding.
Zhu Shixi was unwilling to go, but Feng Ling didn't understand her behavior at all.
Feng Ling asked quietly, as if he had discovered a secret, "Why didn't Madam Zhu go? Could it be that Madam Zhu didn't want to have dinner with the county lady?"
Zhu Shixi looked at Feng Ling with her big eyes, "Of course not, I just want to spend all my time reading."
Feng Ling then asked the question he was worried about, "Madam Zhu, aren't you afraid that the county lady will be upset because you won't accompany her for dinner?" He then added, "What if the rabbits stop growing?"
"The county lady is not such a stingy person. She will not stop eating rabbits. The county lady spoils me very much."
For some reason, the words "being spoiled and becoming arrogant" suddenly popped up in Feng Ling's mind.
In the end, Feng Ling's persuasion failed because of Zhu Shixi's strong refusal.
Before people arrived, Lin Si specially prepared a substitute dipping sauce.
When Zuo You and Liang Nian were first invited to dinner by Lin Si, they would bring some gifts. Now that they are familiar with each other, they always bring someone with them.
As soon as the two entered the dining room, they saw a copper pot standing on a platform with charcoal fire underneath for heating.
"Is this a hot pot?" Zuo You asked.
Liang Nian also raised a question, "It should be hot pot, but why does it smell a bit pungent?"
Both of them knew that Lin Si was quite innovative in eating. Although every time he ate something they had never seen before, it was always delicious.
Lin Si handed the prepared bowl to the two of them, "It is indeed a hot pot, but it is a hot pot with a spicy flavor. It is best to eat it when the weather is cold.
Feng Ling arrived last because he was trying to persuade Zhu Shixi.
Zuo You, Liang Nian and Feng Ling nodded slightly.
As soon as Zuo You saw Feng Ling, he thought of the fish that would be caught by this Madam Feng in the future, and he felt mixed emotions.
Feng Ling grew up in the mountains and has been eating strange dishes since she was a child. It was not because of anything else, but because her master liked to be innovative in cooking.
How innovative is this innovation? For example, the salted red bean and lotus seed soup, and the top innovative dish, fried pheasant with grapes.
Therefore, Feng Ling's expression was very calm when he smelled and saw the spicy hot pot.
Anyway, no matter how strange the dish is, it will never be as strange as the one made by the chef.
The hot pot is boiling and everyone is eating hot pot.
Feng Ling stopped teaching two days ago and was packing up her things at the County Lord's Mansion. Lin Si pulled her aside and talked to her about many things about Mo Jinglian.
Mo Jinglian is now an important target for Lin Si to win over, so of course the more he knows, the better.
Zuo You smiled at Feng Ling in a friendly manner, "The children in the manor all hope that Madam Feng will come back soon to continue teaching them how to use guns."
Feng Ling was quite embarrassed: "When I come back from Jinbei Road, I will definitely teach them well, not only guns, but also knives and swords."
Feng Ling liked the children in the manor very much. The children were humble and studious, and they all spoke nicely. They kept calling Teacher Feng "really great", which made her want to teach them everything she knew.
The meat was ready, Feng Ling dipped it in the sauce and put it into his mouth as usual.
Feng Ling originally thought that the food must taste as strange as the one cooked by the chef.
Who would have thought that the moment you put it in your mouth, the meat slices would be tender and smooth, the spicy taste would flow over the tip of your tongue, and a numb feeling would spread in your mouth. It could be described as spicy, fresh and fragrant.
It’s so delicious!
Zuo You and Liang Nian were born in Liangzhe Road, and their diet has always been light and sweet. The spicy food made their faces turn red.
Zuo You quickly drank some water and ate some fresh fruits and vegetables prepared nearby. "It's delicious, but a little too spicy."
Liang Nian also thought, "This is how much dogwood and peppercorns are added."
Lin Si ate with great delight, "It has to be spicy enough to satisfy you."
Although there are many seasonings, spices and ingredients missing, the advantage is that ancient ingredients do not contain additives and the taste is not worse than modern hot pot.
Liang Nian added some vinegar to his bowl to reduce the spiciness, and felt that he had accidentally discovered a new way of eating.
"Add some vinegar to the bowl and it tastes surprisingly good."
Feng Ling didn't stop eating after taking the first bite. It was such a strange combination, so why did it taste so delicious?
Why do the dishes cooked by the chef also have strange combinations and taste so weird?
The four of them ate enthusiastically and warmed up their bodies.
Zuo You couldn't stand the spiciness, but the spicier it was, the more he wanted to eat. While eating the meat, he also praised it, saying, "This way of eating is really unique. Even the pork kidneys that I usually don't like seem delicious."
A few people finished all the meat dishes and started to blanch the vegetarian dishes.
Lin Si looked at the limited variety of vegetarian dishes and sighed inwardly.
I want to eat hot pot noodles and potatoes.
Zuo You didn't know that the vegetables would become even spicier after absorbing the soup. He took a bite of the soup with chopsticks and was so spicy that he turned red all over.
Liang Nian quickly handed her some water, implicitly blaming her for not trying the way he recommended.
Feng Ling was very satisfied with the meal, although his mouth was a little swollen from the spiciness.
At the final stage, several people started to chat, and the topic they talked about the most was the incident on Jinbei Road.
Although Liang Nian was only a small county magistrate, writing a travel permit was not a problem for him. He just had to go to Jinbei Road to buy the white floribunda.
Lin Si and Liang Nian had already designed the script, so Feng Ling led the way and made up an excuse, saying that the young lady in the mansion where Feng Ling was currently working loved flowers and plants, and that this white floribunda was rare, so she came to buy it.
Dachen adheres to the principle of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. As the lowest level merchants, they generally do not make enemies easily.
The pleasant hot pot party ended. Zuo You ate while saying it was too spicy. Liang Nian had to support him on the way back because he ate too much.
Feng Ling touched his full stomach and returned to his room. He was happy thinking that he would be able to set off to see Miaomiao in two days.
Lin Si had been chatting with Feng Ling these past two days, and had given Feng Ling many hints in her words, such as Li County was suitable for recuperation, and if Mo Jinglian moved to Li County, it would be great if you sisters could see each other every two days.
Feng Ling seemed to be a little moved by what he said, but he still expressed his point of view objectively, "If we come to Li County, what should we do with all those papermaking workshops? Should we just give them up?" Then he continued to ramble on and on about how another local papermaking workshop was often in competition with the Mo family paper shop, and business was very difficult to do.
Lin Si really wanted to say directly, if business is not good, then don’t do it.
"That's fine. Just try to persuade her. Compared to her health, what are those properties? Health is the most important thing."
Feng Ling's point was also reasonable. After all, Zhu Shixi was an excellent doctor. Ever since she took the medicine prescribed by Madam Zhu every day, she felt full of energy and even ate more.
I guess it will take a long time to cure hypoglycemia.
But the truth was that Zhu Shixi had only prescribed some appetite-stimulating and tonifying medicine for Feng Ling. She had been addicted to fishing in the past and often didn't eat on time, so she just wanted to nourish her stomach.
Feng Ling nodded heavily at Lin Si, his heart deeply moved, his eyes filled with tears. He stretched out his big hand and held Lin Si's small, soft hand. "County Lady, you are such a good person. Not only did you save me, but you also care so much about Miaomiao. Don't worry, I will definitely persuade Miaomiao to come here to recuperate."
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