[Comprehensive] The days when I pretended to be a meow in the Forbidden City

Spices were extremely precious in ancient times. Strictly speaking, this bag of spices may be more expensive than that half fan of pork. However, Xia Anran from the future has no idea. He just looked at the bag of spices and sniffed the inside. Drooling over some familiar flavors.

He's going to make braised vegetables.

Firstly, it was because braised cabbage was easier for him, who was only in his teens, and secondly, it was not eye-catching.

Stewed vegetables have existed since ancient times, and there are no shortage of stewed vegetables shops on Gusu Street, especially stewed beef, cut a pound or two, take it home in winter, and drink some wine to warm up, in this season when there is no busy farming, Simply enjoyed.

Of course Xia Anran didn't plan to braise the beef.

In fact, almost every dynasty banned the private slaughter of farm cattle, but eating beef was repeatedly prohibited.

why?Because it’s okay if you don’t kill yourself.

Especially in a rich and affluent place like Gusu, there is a lot of farmland, and it is the peace season when the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and there is no shortage of cattle.

Animals like cattle are also easy to breed.After the folk cattle are old, injured, or sick, most of them will be sent to a special responsible place. As long as it is determined that the cattle has indeed lost the ability to work, it will not be counted as a cattle, and the farmers will use a good sum of money. The price is sold to the government, and then the government sells it to some specialized stores. This is the source of the beef on Gusu Street.

As for your cow, whether it was really injured or was injured, as long as no one investigates carefully, no one will know.

Although the world view of the Red Chamber is empty, the timeline is still in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At this time, the number of cattle in the country has risen to a certain level, and it no longer needs the strict protection of the country. Chao... In fact, I didn't eat less beef.

The Liangshan heroes in "Water Margin" cut up a few catties of beef at every turn.One is because the power of the government was weakened at that time, and they couldn’t control it so much, and the other main reason was-beef is delicious!It is fragrant and chewy, one bite of beef can be chewed for a long time, and the taste of marinade permeates inside, every bite is delicious, it is more cost-effective than other meats for ordinary people who are not able to eat meat.

What's more, although pork is easy to get, pork is considered a pickled thing in many dynasties, and dignitaries generally don't eat it. Why, because pigs eat everything.

Until modern times, many pigpens in rural areas were built next to the toilets, uh...forget it, let’s not talk about it.

While sorting the spices, Xia Anran was happily thinking about what to marinate.

He doesn't plan to open a store, one is that he has no money, and the other is that in this era when intellectual property rights are not protected, if he is famous today, he will be able to open a row of stores tomorrow, and selling food is too dangerous. I have watched a lot of costume dramas Xia Anran is really afraid that one day he will become a big fan, and someone will not hesitate to use a few lives to trick him.

In this era, human life is valuable even if it is said to be valuable, and it is worthless if it is said...it can really be bought with money.

The little hands that fumbled around caught a long, bright red fruit, which was a pepper!

Xia Anran remembers that the dried chili was introduced into China in the late Ming Dynasty, but it was added to food as a seasoning very late, in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.

Before that, most of them appeared as ornamental plants.

He carefully picked out a few dried peppers inside, and then picked out the small seeds inside, and put them on the cotton cloth to see if they could grow seedlings when it warmed up.

If the chili is sun-dried instead of roasted, then the seeds should still have some activity, and it is unlikely to be dried because of the high cost.

Pepper is a relatively easy plant to grow. As long as the base fertilizer is added well, the sun is sufficient, it can be seen dry and wet, it has few diseases, and it has both stamens and stamens.

The Xia family's yard is neither big nor small, and there are more than enough peppers to grow.

Just have chili!Hiss... just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Xia Anran was so grateful that she thought, this world actually brought peppers into it!What a world of conscience!

Putting the peeled peppers aside, Xia Anran picked out several kinds of spices, put them on a small plate, and went to look for Xia Shi with her short legs.

Mrs. Xia was in a good mood, and she didn't stop her youngest son when he saw that he wanted to cook.Instead, he smiled and helped his son move a small stool so that he could step on it to light the stove. He was so small that he had to seriously study how to start the fire. Seeing that he was looking up and down, but he couldn't figure it out, Xia couldn't stand it, and said : "Okay, okay, Mom will help you watch the fire, An Ran, just keep an eye on it."

Xia Anran breathed a sigh of relief, rolled up his sleeves, and said confidently, "Mom, just watch it!"

Xia Shi is really a mother who dotes on her children very much. She knows that her little son can't cook, but she doesn't mind letting him try.

She was born well, and lived well after she got married. Although she was struggling with money a few days ago, she has never lived in poverty, so she is not sensitive to this kind of situation where things are spoiled. If it is an ordinary citizen Hujia will definitely not let the children mess around like this.

As a mother, I don't think that these things are actually obtained because of my son's wit. Where did the children get their own things?

It wasn't until she saw her youngest son dumping the messy spices into the water that she was surprised. "An Ran, this, can these be eaten?"

"Mom, it's edible." After boiling the spices in the water for a while, he took them out. The purpose of rinsing the spices was to reduce the smell and clean up the impurities, and the spices were less likely to smear after being soaked in water.

Seeing that he was going to pour the water out, Mother Xia quickly poured the water into a small basin. Under Xia Anran's surprised gaze, Mother Xia said without changing expression, "This jelly mother is going to wash her hair."

Looking at Xia Mu's long black and beautiful hair, Xia Anran looked at the spices - star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, pepper, white koji, licorice, etc. He, his heart was complicated. By the way, these spices... can also It is used for incense, but what kind of smell is it to wash hair with this water!

But he didn't say anything, as long as his mother likes it, he turned his head, poured water into the pot again, put in the pork bones and hen that had been blanched to remove the blood, then put in onion, ginger, pepper, and pepper, and poured some rice wine go in.

In fact, rice wine is better, but the Xia family only has rice wine.It doesn't matter if it's to remove the fishy smell.

Turning the fire to a low boil, he carefully skimmed off the scum, which was actually blood that hadn't been removed. Soon, the smell of meat came out.

Xia's face showed a distressed look, what she was distressed about was the firewood, especially when Xia Anran said that it would take 3 or 4 hours to cook.

It is winter now, when firewood is the most expensive. There are not many tall trees in Gusu City, and most of the firewood and coal are shipped from the north, so the price is not cheap.

But she didn't say anything after all.

Standing in front of the stove, Xia Anran looked calm, not like a child cooking for the first time in a hurry, but with a confident attitude.

For the next time, he watched the firewood, simmering it on a low fire, and opened the lid every once in a while to skim off the foam. Gradually, the smell of meat became thicker and thicker.

The hen here was sent by a farmer. In order to thank Xia Anran, they caught the old hen that was laying eggs. The hen at this age has no meat, and it has saved a whole body of fat for the winter. Seeing Xia Anran and Xia's mother and the two seemed to be incapable of taking care of it. The farmer killed the chicken on the spot, and Xia Anran left the chicken blood to make chicken blood clots. It was very simple. Put some salt in the water, pour the chicken blood, and wait It's fine if it solidifies, but he doesn't have a mold, so the shape of the chicken blood is a bowl.

The farmer's eyes almost turned into copper bells when he saw him making chicken blood like this. "I'm so good..." The honest man murmured, "We all cook soup directly... how can we do it like this?"

"After making blood clots, cut them into slices, put them in boiling water and cook them for a while, they can be eaten after a slight discoloration, and if they are solid, they are easier to store." Xia Anran didn't take them seriously, for him, chicken blood was just an auxiliary ingredient That's all, but this man became a little uncomfortable when he heard the words. He looked at Xia Anran one after another, and finally swallowed the words, but his expression changed in various ways, which was very funny. Xia Anran saw his expression when he turned around. , thinking about what happened just now, and said thoughtfully, "It's okay, this practice is very popular in the south, and it's not my secret."

He smiled and said, "It's okay for you to take it back and spread it, and it's okay to sell it for money. You don't need to hide it."

He was big-hearted, but the farmer didn't dare to answer directly. The next day he sent two young hens as a thank-you gift, saying that the chickens would be able to lay eggs after raising them for another month. The chicken was raised by Xia's mother in the backyard and settled down, and fed some frozen cabbage clams. The first animal to settle in the house.

Seeing this, Xia Anran simply told the people how to deal with chicken and duck blood in detail, and they all brought the thank you gifts, and even asked them to go back and try it themselves, which is a bit deceiving.

A recipe for making chicken blood clots was exchanged for two hens... Xia Anran felt that he had earned a bit.

The hen sent by this farmer is really fat, and a layer of yellow fat has risen in the soup, which is the chicken fat on the hen. Let alone the taste of the soup that comes out, the fragrance is really fragrant. Xia's mother has already looked at it several times.

Although she is the mother of the body, in Xia Anran's eyes, Xia's mother is just a girl of the same age. In modern society, Xia's mother is generally a late bloomer. In modern times, Xia's mother is just a newcomer who has just entered the workplace for a few years.Here, I will be called auntie.

Seeing that the sky was getting dark, and looking at Mother Xia's shining eyes, Xia Anran suddenly had the illusion that she was the head of the family who was the breadwinner.With a cautious expression, he scooped up a small spoonful of soup with a spoon, took a sip, and smashed it into his mouth.

...Uh, it's really so-so.

There is no salt, only pepper and pepper to enhance the taste, the taste is too weak.

After all, it's just the base soup of the stew.

Pull out the pork-bone hen, and filter the bottom soup with a thin gauze—the gauze was dug out by Xia Shi during the day, and it is said that Xiao Xiaoxia used it to wipe her saliva when she was a child, and it has been sterilized in the sun for a day up.

All the meat dregs and seasonings were filtered out, leaving a clear soup base, which was poured back into the pot, and the spices that had been blanched and dried before were put into a clean gauze and tied into a knot, and then Putting a piece of pork belly cut by Xia's mother, Xia Anran also threw in half a crushed Luo Han Guo under Xia's mother's disapproving gaze. Luo Han Guo is a traditional Chinese medicine that can relieve cough when making tea, but the key Yes, it's sweet, even when dried!

Putting sweetness in the dishes can enhance the umami taste, and Luo Han Guo itself has a special fragrance. This taste is not eye-catching in the marinade, but it is faintly lingering on the tip of the tongue. Xia Anran usually likes it when she makes marinade at home. Putting a little Luo Han Guo can save the effort of adding rock sugar.

Before the pork belly is put in, a few small holes have been poked with a bamboo stick, which is more convenient to taste.

Braised ingredients are not disposable, as long as they are well preserved, the taste of the ingredients will become more and more mellow as the items put in change. Generally speaking, the taste will be stable for at least six months.

But he doesn’t plan to spend so much time, the investment is not directly proportional to the recovery, it is easy to open the stew, but it is difficult to take care of it. To make a pot of stew, it is necessary to put the ingredients in the stew every two or three days for half a month, especially when the spring comes. After rising, it has to be cooked almost once a day to prevent the growth of bacteria in the soup.In modern times, there are still refrigerators to be lazy, but there is no such effort here, and he doesn't have so many ingredients to cook.

He mentally checked the things that were suitable for making marinade at home, and reckoned... If he cooks it once a day, it can last for a month... It's just that the firewood is too hurt, why don't we sell it and sell it back to the book?

Benchao is quite tolerant of selling things. Once or twice, he will basically not be caught paying taxes, especially since he just recognized a local snake as his brother... Ah, yes, I have to give some to this big brother.

Xia Anran unconsciously stuffed her hand into the sleeve of the other hand, making a movement like a peasant.

He felt that the meat at home was not enough...

The author has something to say: In fact, it is really easy to open the marinade. The author has also opened it... The marinade made by oneself can be added according to your own taste. The marinade is also relatively natural, but the author only persisted for a week. With the help of a refrigerator.

Throughout the whole process, my mother and queen mother and adults used: I just look at me with the same eyes you made.

I marinated beef, pork, eggs, chicken thighs and wings, and then I had nothing to marinate.

He covered his face in pain.

PS, when it is stewed, it is really fragrant, and the fragrance is very attractive!But if the food is made by oneself, it still needs to be dipped in sauce, because it is a bit bland... The marinade and meat of the merchant are specially made, and the family is absolutely not happy to wait so much.

But the bibimbap was delicious.

It is also great to put some marinade when braised.

Marinade is omnipotent!It's just too much trouble to take care of.

Author, my mouth is watering...

Yesterday it was said that this article is a food article, and the author fell into deep thought. I thought that what I wrote was an article that integrated cuteness, history, novels, love, friendship, family affection, technology, farming, etc. Then I suddenly realized , let’s not talk about anything else, but technology, the purpose of farming is to eat...

I think I need to re-examine the positioning of this article.