Chapter 57
At this time, Cao Mi in the palace was working hard for the “only family”.
She dialed the shrimp skin in the basket, grabbed some more and put it on the tip of her nose to sniff it, and then nodded to the cook next to her: “Well, it’s almost there.”
The cook nodded happily when she heard the words, and asked, “Princess, what should we do next?”
Cao Mi instructed: “Crush these shrimp skins, and then put them directly.”
“Crush?” The cook was a little puzzled: “Princess, what does it look like to be crushed?”
“Crush into fine powder.” Cao Mi explained.
The cook responded with a salutation.
She had some doubts in her heart, but she immediately arranged for someone to work according to Cao Mi’s instructions.
In the past few days, as long as Cao Mi was busy with food, the third child would definitely follow him.
This time was no exception. Qi Ran stood on tiptoe, trying to see what was in the basket. After several unsuccessful attempts, he pulled Cao Mi’s sleeve: “Mother, what’s in the basket?”
Cao Mi smiled, and simply twisted a little dried shrimp skin and brought it to his mouth: “Try it.”
Qi Ran’s eyes lit up, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, he almost put Cao Mi’s whole finger in it.”
He chewed happily, but slowly, his face became tangled.
Cao Mi asked knowingly, “Huh? How does it taste?”
Qi Ran swallowed the contents of his mouth with difficulty, and said honestly, “Pie your mouth…”
Cao Mi succeeded in pranking him, but he held back his smile and asked again, “Ah, are you piercing your mouth? Hmm… what about other than that? Did you taste anything?”
“Salty…” Qi Ran smacked her lips, then wrinkled her nose and shook her head: “It tastes so strange…not delicious.”
“That’s because you’re too greedy!” Cao Mi nodded his little nose, “I can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry, you have to be patient and wait for the cook to use them to make something delicious.”
The third son of the palace nodded, seemingly understanding but not understanding.
But immediately, he asked again: “This is not delicious, mother, we eat chili, is the dish made with chili any good?”
Cao Mi smiled and asked, “Aren’t you afraid of being hot?”
Qi Ran shook his head like a rattle: “I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid! I want to eat red food!”
During this period of time, Qi Ran, who has tasted several spicy dishes with Cao Mi, has gradually been able to accept the taste of chili peppers.
Compared with the only Sichuan pepper in this era, the pepper without the taste of hemp can undoubtedly make more delicious.
The cook in the house quickly realized this after the initial trial. Those who can enter the palace as errands are not considered leaders in the industry, at least they are the best. During this time, under the guidance of Cao Mi, they have learned from passive learning and began to try to draw inferences from others.
Inspired by classic Sichuan dishes such as Mapo Tofu and Fish Head with Chopped Peppers, they have developed several new spicy dishes.
Of course, the things these chefs have come up with cannot be compared with the classic Sichuan cuisine that has been passed down for thousands of years, but the advantage lies in the skillful combination of spicy taste and the dietary preferences of this era. After innovation and improvement, these dishes are more in line with the dishes of Sheng Chao people, which greatly enriches the spicy dishes on the menu of the restaurant.
Although Qi Ran was still young, he couldn’t eat too spicy food, but on weekdays, he could follow Cao Mi with a little chili and enjoy it.
At this moment, he had changed his fear to love, and he had to go to Cao Mi to think about him if he couldn’t eat chili in one meal.
Cao Mi told him regretfully: “No more. The spicy dishes have been tested, and there are no red dishes today.”
“Ah?” The third prince of the palace, clutching his stomach, asked a weak and helpless question: “No, no?”
Cao Mi nodded affirmatively, shattering his last illusion.
Qi Ran was stunned in place for a while, before coming back to his senses.
He finally held a little expectation and asked again: “Then… what shall we eat today?”
Cao Mi was stared at by his pitiful big eyes, and he couldn’t hold back his laughter.
She often couldn’t control the mood of teasing the third child, and deliberately said: “Today, I will eat stubborn food!”
Qi Ran’s complexion changed slightly, and he hesitated: “Pricked, pricked mouth…not delicious.”
Cao Mi looked at him with a sullen face: “Then…you can eat rice later, mother eats it by herself, okay?”
Hearing the words, Qi Ran kept his mouth flat, aggrieved and stopped talking.
Princess Bei’an finally found her conscience, poked his cheek and smiled: “Okay, I won’t tease you, you will find out later.”
On the other side, the cook followed Cao Mi’s instructions and ground the shrimp skins.
The first time she tried, she only grinded a small amount, and it quickly became a fine powder. She brought the things up and confirmed with Cao Mi, “Princess, do you think this is okay?”
Cao Mi dipped a little shrimp skin powder with his fingers, put it in his mouth and tasted it, and then nodded: “Well, very good, that’s it.”
She glanced at the shrimp skin next to her, and then said, “Okay, let them grind the others. You can take these back to the kitchen and try the effect of this condiment.”
The cook suddenly realized and nodded: “So… this small shrimp powder, like chili, is just a condiment?”
Cao Mi nodded.
She explained: “Chili, the corresponding taste is naturally spicy, and this shrimp skin powder, the corresponding taste is…
“fresh.”
Cao Mi instructed everyone to tinker with the shrimp skin powder, which is called shrimp skin monosodium glutamate in modern times.
Of course, its taste is a little different from ordinary MSG, but it can be used to enhance the freshness and increase the taste of food.
The modern production process of monosodium glutamate is a little complicated, at least Cao Mi cannot make monosodium glutamate under the existing circumstances.
Some time ago, because she was planning to open a restaurant, she asked people to search for all the ingredients that could be found in the city. Finally, inside an unremarkable little bag, a little shrimp skin was found.
This kind of shrimp skin cannot be sold for a price, and it is generally the “tails” that the fishermen along the coast keep for their own consumption.
But when Cao Mi saw them at that time, he felt like he had obtained a treasure.
Ordinary shrimp skin is dry-fried, dried, and the moisture in it is removed. After grinding, it is the so-called shrimp skin monosodium glutamate. If you want to taste better, you can also add some shiitake mushrooms and the like to grind together.
This kind of dried shrimp skin monosodium glutamate may not be able to compare with modern edible monosodium glutamate, but Cao Mi feels that with this distinctive umami, the dishes of her restaurant will definitely stand out in today’s relatively scarce diet system.
“In this way, you can make some dishes that you are good at on weekdays, and try a little shrimp skin powder at the end of seasoning.” Cao Mi thought for a while, and ordered: “Its main function is to improve freshness, you should be more careful than me. understand how to use it.”
The cook nodded: “Don’t worry, Princess, the villain understands.”
After she finished speaking, she took the small bottle of dried shrimp and monosodium glutamate and left excitedly.
Servants like them who seek a living in the master’s house are actually very observant. “The princess likes novelty things” has now become the consensus of the entire palace. All those who want to please the master are trying to cater to Cao Mi’s preferences.
The kitchen is often mentored by Cao Mi, most of whom have now developed a willingness to innovate.
When she left, Cao Mi lighted the little nose of the third child and promised, “Wait, there’s something delicious again today~”
Qi Ran couldn’t help but smacked his mouth and nodded happily.
After half an hour, the cook brought the lunch in person.
The smile on her face couldn’t stop, Cao Mi knew it was done when he saw it.
To drink soup before meals, Cao Mi first scooped himself a bowl of radish pork ribs soup and tasted it.
After confirming that the taste of the soup is moderately salty, with a hint of freshness and sweetness, she scooped up a bowl for Qi Ran, who was beside her.
“Be careful, blow it yourself.” She put the bowl in front of Qi Ran, “If you burn your mouth again, my mother won’t give it to you directly in the future!”
Qi Ran nodded and assured: “Okay!”
While the third child was blowing the soup with his mouth bulging, Cao Mi tried several other dishes.
Sure enough, after the chef’s skill, the freshness of shrimp skin powder and the original dishes are perfectly integrated. Even someone like Cao Mi, who is used to modern refined food, finds it very delicious.
She nodded and said with admiration, “Very good.”
Then, she turned to look at Dong Li beside her: “Dong Li, remember, this month, the kitchen’s salary is doubled.”
Dong Li was stunned for a while, and reminded: “Princess, because of the chili thing, the kitchen’s salary has been doubled a few days ago.”
The cook next to her also declined: “Princess, this is all part of the kitchen. It has already been rewarded before, so there is no need to reward it again.”
Cao Mi put down the chopsticks: “It’s okay to double it before, just double it again.”
She said to Dongli, “That’s even quadrupling the original salary.”
Dong Li nodded: “Yes, the maid understands.”
The cook over there laughed so hard that she couldn’t see her teeth, she knelt down and said, “Thank you, wangfei, thank you wangfei!”
Cao Mi got her up and asked, “You should have tasted it beforehand. What do you think of this ‘shrimp noodles’?”
“Miao, it’s really wonderful!” The cook gave a thumbs up, “That is, a person like you, Wang Fei, can find delicious things such as chili and shrimp skin powder!”
Cao Mi was a little warm to her praise, after all, she didn’t discover these things.
She coughed and explained vaguely, “I heard it from other people too.”
After explaining, she remembered something, and asked again: “Cook, you have been in this industry for decades, have you seen similar ingredients for freshness?”
The cook thought for a while and replied, “There are quite a lot of fresh things. I knew a colleague from Leizhou before. She told me that there is a kind of ‘fish maw’ in Leizhou. Get rid of the fishy smell.”
After citing the example, she affirmed: “But like Wang Fei, it is definitely the first time that the villain has heard about shrimp skins that are ground into powder for freshness.
“And shrimp skin powder is not only fresh, but also has a different taste after adding it to the dish… Well, the villain has a stupid mouth and can’t describe it, but anyway, it is definitely not something that ordinary fresh things can compare to.”
Cao Mi nodded.
She just asked this question, in fact, she wanted to know if anyone in this era also knows the role of shrimp skin powder.
But come to think of it, these inconspicuous shrimp skins have not been paid attention to for the time being. Maybe some people along the coast will do this, but it is still a minority, and it has not spread to the inland.
After thinking about this, Cao Mi nodded: “So, the batch of shrimp skins that I asked the caravan to buy for me before, you also have them deal with them and make them into shrimp skin powder.
“In the past few days, you have also pondered the usage of shrimp skin powder, and tried different methods.”
The cook nodded: “The villain understands.”
Cao Mi nodded with satisfaction: “In addition, I recently… I have collected a few recipes in some books. If you have time in the past two days, you can try to restore it.”
She looked at the cook: “The restaurant is about to open, and you need to pay more attention.”
“Where is the princess?” The cook quickly expressed her loyalty: “It’s all a villain should do, so how can you say that you don’t bother.”
“En.” Cao Mi waved to Dong Li, who handed the recipe to the cook.
In the previous life, Cao Mi was not very good at cooking. Most of these recipes were found in a cookbook in the corner of the iPad.
When you download a reading software and choose your own preferences according to the requirements of the software, the software will automatically add several books that meet your preferences to the bookshelf.
Cao Mi sneered at those books at first, but did not expect that one day, he would re-read the book “99 Courses of Hotel Dishes You Can Make at Home” and read it with tears in his eyes.
Now, the cook has taken over the recipes that Cao Mi specially selected, and her demeanor is even better than that of Cao Mi at the time.
“I’m not sure if these things can be made, but you can try it.” Cao Mi helped to drink the soup, and Qi Ran, who was licking his lips, wiped his mouth, “After the test, pick out a few good ones. Yes, add it to the restaurant’s recipe.”
The cook immediately knelt down and gave a big gift excitedly: “Don’t worry, Princess, the villain will bear the burden!”
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.
After all, giving out recipes, in the chef’s business, actually seems to belong to the category of master-disciple inheritance.
“Get up.” Cao Mi smiled: “Remember, these things cannot be leaked out.
“The kitchen is your territory, and you need to watch it carefully.”
“Yes!” The cook nodded firmly, “The villain must discipline the people below and let them know the importance.”
Cao Mi nodded.
The matter is over, the cook quickly withdrew. Cao Mi saw Qi Ran, whose mouth was full of oil, and asked with a smile, “Is it delicious?”
Qi Ran nodded hard at her while stuffing something in her mouth.
He chewed, suddenly remembered something, put down the tableware and stopped.
“Huh?” Cao Mi put a piece of shrimp into his bowl, “What’s wrong?”
Qi Ran blinked her big eyes and suddenly said, “Mother, father, eldest brother, and second brother, why haven’t they come back?”
He pouted, stared at the spiky bowl in front of him, and said aggrievedly, “I want to eat with them.”
“Hey…” Cao Mi couldn’t help sighing.
She actually misses her two sons who have left home.
At that time, there were many affairs in the house, so she deliberately kept herself busy so that she could relieve the pain of missing a little.
But Qi Ran didn’t think so much about it.
He is still so simple. When he tastes delicious food and sees fun, he will miss his father and two brothers who are far away in Fengping.
Through the correspondence with Qi You, Cao Mi knew that the two children would not return for a month.
Coupled with the delay on the way back, that is to say, it will be almost two months before she and Qi Ran can be reunited with their two children.
Cao Mi didn’t want to deceive the third child, so he could only say: “Wait a little longer, when Qi Ran grows a little bit taller, they will come back.”
She raised her hand and gestured to the height of a finger.
Qi Ran nodded sullenly.
He stuffed another mouthful of vegetables into his mouth, chewed it, and suddenly asked, “Mother, if they don’t come back for a long time, can we go find them?”
“Looking for them?” Cao Mi was taken aback.
To be honest, she really hadn’t thought about such a thing. But when he mentioned it suddenly, Cao Mi actually felt that there was nothing wrong with it.
She lowered her head and asked, “Do you want to find your brother? But you have to do a carriage for half a month. A carriage is not as comfortable as a home.”
Qi Ran paused, then shook his head and said, “I’m not afraid.”
After thinking about it, he added: “Are you afraid of mother?”
“Mother isn’t afraid either!” Cao Mi replied with a smile.
She frowned and thought for a moment, then said: “You wait for your mother to think about it… This matter… I can’t be in a hurry for the time being.”
Qi Ran nodded obediently: “Okay!”
As he spoke, he picked up a piece of meat, and diligently brought it to Cao Mi’s mouth: “Mother eats it too, so think about it when you’re full!”
Cao Mi lowered his head, smiled and ate the sliced meat into his mouth: “It’s delicious.”
——
“Bah!” Suoda spit out the meat in his mouth to the ground: “It’s sour, you can’t eat it.”
His younger brother Suoren looked beside him with an embarrassed look: “Brother, what should we do then?”
He touched the moldy parts: “Actually, chop it up, put it in the fire and bake it, maybe it can be…”
Suoda snatched the moldy leg of lamb from his hand: “What nonsense?!”
He pointed to several pieces of marinated meat on the table, and said firmly: “These, all have to be thrown away.”
Under Suo Ren’s obvious reluctance, he said angrily: “Don’t think about it, people will get sick if you eat these.
“Let’s not say that buying medicine from the caravan is much more expensive than these meats, it’s not even sure if we can wait until the caravan!”
Hearing Suoda’s remarks, Suo Ren suddenly nodded: “I… I understand.”
“Go back and feed the sheep.” Seeing that he was awake, Suoda waved his hand and said, “I’ll take care of these things, so that you don’t get greedy when you throw them away and get sick again.”
Soren smiled bitterly and nodded.
He helped his brother to tie up all the broken things, and said while tying: “I will feed the sheep well when I go back, and I will change more salt next time.
“In this way, the mutton will not be spoiled because of less salt in the future.”
“Hey.” Suoda sighed and said, “It’s okay… The Bright Lantern Festival is every five years, why do you need to slaughter so many cattle and sheep on weekdays?
“You can still exchange the salt according to the usual amount. Our family raised less than 100 sheep this year, and there are not so many things to exchange with the caravan.”
The younger brother Suoren nodded in embarrassment when he heard the words.
He complained: “So many sheep can be exchanged for a bag of salt. Even if there is not enough to eat, the salt returned is getting worse and worse.”
He raised his head and asked Suoda, “Brother, do you know? Aunt Asu in the account on the north side seems to have… it seems to have grown bigger…”
Soda frowned.
He is very clear about what his younger brother said, and he has been worrying about it for the past few days.
But he didn’t think of any way for a while, so he kept it in his heart and didn’t say anything.
At this moment, when he heard the mention of his brother, he frowned and said harshly, “What do you care about? It’s better to think about how to take care of the cattle and sheep when you have time.”
After saying this, Suoda waved his hand to drive away: “Okay, it’s all tied up, you can go.”
Soren nodded, turned and walked out of the tent.
Soda alone carried the bacon tied with the straw rope on his shoulders and walked all the way to the outside of the tribe.
Along the way, he met many acquaintances.
As soon as they saw the mildew on the meat, Soda’s neighbors guessed what was going on.
They sighed and comforted a few words in a few words.
Soda smiled and kept walking, all the way to a place far away from the tribe.
He was going to bury all these things, lest any blind man in the tribe would take them back and eat them.
He was tall and tall, and he was the most robust group of young people in the tribe, and he quickly dealt with it.
But when he was about to go back, he faintly saw a group of people walking towards the west.
The group of people drove horses and carts, it seemed to be a caravan, and the direction they were advancing happened to be where the Soda tribe was.
Suoda thought about it, and did not go back to the tribe directly, but went straight to the direction of the caravan.
Two quarters later, the two sides met face to face.
“Whose caravan are you?” Suoda shouted from a distance three or four meters away from Zhang’s.
The men of the Ale tribe stopped and looked at each other in confusion, no one could answer his question.
Soon, Mrs Zhang, who was sitting in the car behind, came over: “We are not a caravan.”
Suoda didn’t notice her words at all. After seeing Mrs. Zhang coming out, he frowned tightly: “Sheng Chaoren, woman?”
Zhang Shi let him look at it for a while without being arrogant, and in the language of the Rong family, he loudly replied: “This warrior, we are not a caravan, we are going to the front of the Ah Suo tribe in exchange for wool.”
Ahso, the tribe that Soda belonged to.
This tribe is located on the east side of Pingjin Mountain, with a medium-to-high scale. In the area of Pingjin Mountain, its reputation is not small. At least the people living in the Aso tribe have herds of livestock in every household, so they don’t have to face the threat of being hungry or running out of food at any time like the previous Ale tribe.
Since the wool of the tribes near the Ale people has been almost harvested, the Zhang family took people to search the depths of the grassland.
The Aso tribe was the last stop in her plan.
Soda finally heard her clearly, he frowned and asked, “Wool? What do you want wool for?”
Mr. Zhang didn’t answer his question, but said directly: “For a hundred catties of wool, we will exchange a catty of salt.”
“A pound of salt?” Soda raised an eyebrow.
He was very surprised, but he didn’t show it on his face, he just thought about it silently in his heart.
After a long while, he asked, “Want to bring sheepskin and mutton?”
Mr. Zhang shook his head: “No, just pure wool. You don’t even need to kill the sheep, just shave the wool.”
She knew that in the midsummer season, many tribesmen who were good at raising sheep would shave their sheep to prevent them from getting sick from the heat.
So she asked again: “Have you shaved sheep this year? We want the shaved hair… Of course, clean and whole.”
Soda’s brows furrowed tightly.
While he was very moved, he also felt that this was tantamount to a pie-in-the-sky deal, with a trap that he had yet to discover.
After all, the wool, except for some women who will take some back to see if they can be tied into felt, others are directly thrown away.
How can there be such a good thing to exchange a hundred pounds of “garbage” for a pound of salt? !
After pursing his lips, the tall Asso man said, “I want to see the salt first.”
The author has something to say: there’s another chapter at 9 p.m. for dinner.
Thanks to the little angel who threw the mine: 3 Zhen Zhen;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!