Miao Chu

Chapter 295 Something's Got It
Ham stew is most famously served with pickled bamboo shoots and pork.

But it's not spring or winter right now, and there are no bamboo shoots, so the most important and freshest ingredient is missing. Besides, when eating pickled bamboo shoots, the soup and the ingredients are equally important; it's both soup and dish, so it's not really suitable for this situation.

Dr. Lin is Xiao Lian's master. This time, he is not charging a consultation fee and has specially taken a detour to come. He is a person of high moral character and integrity. Song Miao felt that no amount of effort was too much.

She looked around and found nothing suitable among the seasonal fresh produce on the kitchen counter. She then went to each of the dried goods jars and looked through them one by one. There were quite a few items, including white fungus, dried scallops, dried abalone, dried clams, bamboo shoots, dried yellow croaker, etc. Unfortunately, none of them went well with the pickled ham.

After thinking for a moment, Song Miao decided to walk out of the kitchen.

At this time, everyone else was busy with their own things, such as wrapping pork and dried squid, or preparing ingredients. There weren't many people in the courtyard.

She went to the well and pulled out a bucket filled with half-soaked shark fins.

The wings are top-grade golden hook wings, a gift that Han Li sent before his last trip to Huazhou, but they have never been used.

It was a coincidence that a teacher was going to celebrate his birthday in a few days. She had been thinking of making a soup with shark fin to serve as a small meal for everyone at noon. The shark fin had been soaking for two days. Since she needed it urgently today, she decided to move it here first and prepare another soup for the teachers later.

Song Miao had been here for half a year and had seen many menus of large taverns and restaurants, but she rarely saw shark fin.

This is because, although shark fin was a rare delicacy at the time, people did not think it had much flavor. Among seafood, they preferred scallops, dried oysters, and dried abalone.

But precisely because this ingredient itself is tasteless, it absorbs the broth better when used in soup, giving it a unique texture.

Wuzhou pickled ham, golden hook shark fin, add an old chicken and a piece of pork shank, and you can make a Kung Fu soup.

She called Zhang Si Niang and Da Bing over, and together they went into the main kitchen. First, she took out the pickled leg and told the two of them about Doctor Lin's visit the next day. She then said, "I need to stew a soup called 'Fire Heel Shark Fin.' Pickled leg is rarely used in the past, so I've called you here to see the ingredients since we have this rare opportunity."

Zhang Si Niang hurriedly asked, "Madam, is 'fire heel' the same as pickled leg?"

Song Miao simply laid the pickled leg flat in her hand and carefully explained to the two how to use each part of it.

At this time, the ham is divided into Yunnan ham and Wuzhou ham. Compared with Yunnan ham, which is often used for cooking, Wuzhou ham is more fragrant and better suited for stewing soup and enhancing freshness. It can also be steamed or boiled.

The two legs that Shen Xingniang sent were both five-year-old winter legs. In other seasons, when curing the legs, more salt is usually added to prevent the meat from spoiling. However, in the cold winter, even if less salt is added, it won't spoil. Naturally, the saltiness is slightly less, and the taste is even better.

Song Miao pointed to the section above the knee and below the elbow of the pickled leg and said, "This is called 'Fire Heel'. I heard that there are mountains in places like Ryukyu overseas that can burst out with flaming lava, eventually forming this mountain heel shape, which looks very similar to this place, hence the name."

As she spoke, she took a bamboo skewer and inserted it deeply into the knee, hip joint, and hip bone, one after the other, and then let the two of them smell the bamboo skewer.

“When selecting Wuzhou cured ham, the common method is the three-skewer method. The ham is deeply pierced in three places, and then taken out to smell the aroma. If it is to be used for stewing soup, it is best if all three skewers are fragrant. If that is not possible, at least two skewers should be fragrant. Otherwise, it will only have a salty taste and no sweetness or fragrance at all. With such a ham, it is also easy to taste an off-flavor. It is better to just add salt.”

The three skewers are divided into upper, middle, and lower positions. The last skewer is the lower one, located near the trigeminal bone, between the lumbar and coccygeal vertebrae. This area has the thickest meat, making it the most difficult for salt to penetrate and for the meat to develop flavor.

As soon as the bamboo skewer was pulled out, Zhang Si Niang took a sniff and couldn't help but exclaim, "It smells good here too!"

Shen Xingniang's skewers were truly excellent; all three were fragrant and clean, without a trace of any unpleasant odor.

Their legs were covered in salt mud, and it took Dabing and Cheng Erniang half a day to wash them clean.

When Song Miao took the knife and cut it open, the cut surface of the cured ham was still oozing oil. The lean meat was bright red, like a very deep salted duck egg yolk, like the sunset glow on the beach in summer. The fat was ivory white. When pressed, it would quickly spring back. With a gentle fan, even without getting close, you could smell the rich aroma of ham, as well as a very special fruity fragrance.

"So red! And smells amazing!"

"This color! And this taste!"

Hearing Zhang Si Niang and Da Bing sigh with admiration, Song Miao replied with a smile, "That's why this cured ham also has another name, called 'fire ham,' which refers to its fiery red interior."

After washing the ham, I lit a pot of charcoal and slowly burned the outer skin over a low flame to remove all the off-flavors and rancid smells. By the time I washed it again, it was already dark.

Seeing that it was getting late, Song Miao told the two of them to go home first, and that they could talk about the rest tomorrow.

Zhang Si Niang said, "Madam, why don't you ask San Lang to take them back first? If we still need to treat this leg tonight, I can lend a hand—after all, I'm a woman, so even if it's late, I can sleep on the floor here!"

She then said very enthusiastically, "This is the first time I've made such a laborious soup. Just the first step of marinating the ham takes a lot of effort. I want to learn more from you, my wife. If this soup is ever added to the menu of a restaurant, I can make it without you having to keep an eye on it all the time. Wouldn't that be great?"

Upon hearing this, Dabing immediately said, "Wife, I'm not in a hurry to go back—it's still so early! Why don't Brother Wang send the rest of you back first? I'll stay and help prepare this pickled leg before we leave!"

"There's no rush. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

After Song Miao dismissed the two men and sent them to follow the carriage, they saw that Wang Sanlang's carriage had not gone far. In the dim light, a person carrying a lantern walked over from outside, with heavy footsteps, as if he were running.

As the person approached, upon seeing Song Miao inside the door, he rushed forward, calling out, "Young Lady Song!"

"Young Master Xu?"

However, it was Xu Erlang from the Xu Family Martial Arts School.

Upon seeing the man arrive, Song Miao first ushered him inside and asked, "Did Madam Xu invite you, young master, to pick up some dried meat?"

Xu Erlang nodded vigorously and said, "I passed by on my way back to the city and asked my aunt for this job."

Song Miao responded and asked Cheng Erniang to fetch the various items that Xu had ordered.

As soon as Xu Erlang sat down, he didn't bother with anything else. Instead, he put down the lantern in his hand, picked up the thing in his other hand, and presented it to Song Miao. He said awkwardly, "On my way here, I heard someone hawking flowers. I thought, well... since I'm coming to your door, I might as well buy a few as a gift!"

He kept saying "following the flow" and "just right," but after only two or three sentences, Xu Erlang stumbled several times. While speaking, he was too embarrassed to look at Song Miao, and instead kept glancing at the corner of the wall and the legs of the table on the ground. When he was babbling, even looking at the table legs didn't work, and his face unconsciously turned red.

Song Miao looked closely and saw that the other person was holding several lotus flowers in their hand. They were all still buds. She didn't know if the flowers were picked too young or if the journey had been delayed for too long. At this moment, the flowers were already drooping.

She quickly accepted it, thanked her with a smile, took a long bamboo tube, filled it with water, first arranged the lotus flowers, then placed it on the table in front of her, and said, "Thank you for your trouble, young master. Next time, you really don't need to bring these gifts. You're too kind, and it makes me feel quite uncomfortable."

Xu Erlang immediately pressed, "There's no need to be so polite, it's just a few flowers—Doesn't Miss Song like flowers? What do you like then?"

He asked directly. Song Miao thought for a moment and smiled, "It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I'm currently busy looking after the shop and don't have time to take care of them. I'm afraid it would be a waste to have such beautiful flowers."

He added, "Besides, guests are guests, so we should cater to their preferences. Do you like flowers, young master? If you come to our restaurant for a meal another day, I'll have someone prepare a vase of flowers for your table in advance, how about that?"

Xu Erlang couldn't keep anything to himself and hurriedly said, "I don't usually grow flowers. My aunt said that most young ladies like flowers, and I thought you liked them too, so I bought them. Since you don't have time to take care of flowers, I won't buy any next time."

He thought to himself, "Next time I'll buy something different. I'll buy more, try them one by one, and I'll eventually find something that will please Miss Song." He then asked, "I was just about to ask you, my lady—I'm going to Luoyang in a couple of days to deliver a shipment. Is there anything you'd like me to bring back for you?"

Song Miao looked up and saw the person opposite her sitting on a chair, one hand on his knee and the other on the chair leg, fiddling with his pants and the chair, looking rather awkward.

It was already half dark. Xu Erlang had been running around in the training ground and outside for many years, so his skin was darker than that of ordinary people. Even so, by the light of the oil lamp, you could see that his ears were bright red.

I understand perfectly; it's a very kind gesture.

Song Miao unconsciously lowered her voice by a third and said, "Young master, running escort missions is hard work, how can you take care of anything else? It's very tiring. If you have spare time, just bring some for your family and old friends. I don't want anything."

He added, "Although this is just a small shop, there are quite a few miscellaneous things to do. I don't have any other leisure time on weekdays. My mind is completely focused on money—young master, you have such beautiful flowers and other good things. It would be a waste to leave them here. It's like a cow wasting a peony..."

Xu Erlang, who had been sitting upright, became somewhat listless upon hearing this, and his shoulders slumped. Just as he was about to speak, Cheng Erniang brought out two large winnowing baskets and said, "The dried meat and dried squid that Madam Xu ordered are here. They were just packed up. I was planning to deliver them first thing tomorrow morning—can Young Master Xu carry so much by himself?"

Song Miao then asked, "How will you get back, young master?"

Xu Erlang said, "My family owns a security escort agency on Fulin Street. I'll just go there and fetch a horse later."

Upon hearing that it was on Fulin Street, Song Miao said, "There are so many things here, how can we carry them on horseback? If we're not in such a hurry, why don't we deliver them to your door tomorrow?"

Xu Erlang hesitated for a moment.

As they were talking, another person came in from outside. He was dressed as a police officer. When he saw Song Miao inside, he immediately called out, "Shopkeeper Song."

The man was about to speak, but seeing Xu Erlang inside, he swallowed his words and didn't go in. Instead, he stood at the door and asked, "Is Mr. Song free?"

Song Miao then said to Xu Erlang, "Young master, would you like to think about it again?"

He then gestured to Cheng Erniang before leaving.

The policeman at the door was an acquaintance. Seeing Song Miao come out, he lowered his voice and said, "Shopkeeper Song, I want to buy that 'Song's Notes' from your shop. Can you buy it for someone else?"

"How do you call it buying for someone else?"

"I paid for it, but in the end, this 'Song Ji Stationery' was given to someone else, and someone else's name was written on it!"

He gave an explanation.

It turned out that this man had recently received a letter saying that due to excessive rainfall and flooding of the river, his old house in the countryside had collapsed, his father had broken a leg, and his mother had also been frightened.

He quickly took leave and went to Chanzhou to bring the person to the capital.

After arriving in the capital, he received a lot of help from the brothers in the patrol station because his own house was too small. He had to rent a new house, find a doctor, find medicine, etc., and a superior also helped him. Now that everything was finally settled, he thought about sending some gifts, but he couldn't afford expensive ones and he was embarrassed to give cheap ones.

“I was thinking, since they all eat at Song Ji’s, I could buy a 300-cash pack of Song Ji stationery, and Shangguan’s pack would cost 500 cash. I’d pay for it and just write their names on it. Would that be alright?”

Such a gift is neither too light nor too heavy; others won't refuse it, and you won't feel too bad about it. It's just right.

Song Miao thought for a moment and said, "I'll register their names first and ask them to prepare the 'Song Ji Paper' for the official as soon as it's made—just don't spread it around, otherwise I'm afraid everyone will follow suit and it will cause chaos."

The officer chuckled and said, "I'm not stupid! Of course I'll shut up!"

He added, "It's not just me; the others who heard the news also kept it a secret from outsiders, for fear that if too many people knew, they would all come and snatch it up, and we wouldn't get a share!"

While the two were talking here, inside the house, Xu Erlang was also talking to Cheng Erniang.

He had come twice before and already recognized some faces. After exchanging a few words, he saw Song Miao outside and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Second Madam Cheng, last time my aunt and I came here, we saw a young gentleman... who was he?"

Cheng Erniang was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "We have many guests coming and going here. May I ask which young master you are referring to?"

Xu Erlang then described Han Li in detail.

Cheng Erniang immediately laughed and said, "You mean Han Li, the young master? He's a student at the Imperial Academy..."

Xu Erlang said, "So he's a scholar..."

He muttered to himself, "Strange, why does that sound so familiar..."

"He's a talented scholar, quite famous. How could you not be familiar with him, young master?" Cheng Erniang laughed heartily. "He's written many articles. My younger brother brought them to me for calligraphy practice the other day: 'Baozhu Tankamin,' 'Huang Gou Douji,' and recently, 'Xin Feng Zhuan'—I wonder if you've heard of them, young master?"

Xu Erlang exclaimed "Ah!" and his expression changed slightly. He said, "So it's 'Han Haobi'!"

After saying that, he couldn't help but ask again, "Is this Young Master Han also a regular customer?"

"That's right!" Cheng Erniang immediately said when she got the chance. "You don't know, my brother got Han Gongzi's special attention because of our Songji steamed buns, shumai, and glutinous rice. In the end, he received a lot of guidance and help from us. Han Gongzi really likes your cooking skills and comes to patronize your business almost every day."

"Young Master Han is truly a good man! Back when the restaurant's roof was leaking and the windows were worn out, he couldn't stand it and..."

As Cheng Erniang spoke, her hand was about to point to the chair under Xu Erlang's seat. Halfway there, she seemed to remember something, and her smile suddenly froze. Her hand stopped in mid-air, unsure whether to point or withdraw. The words, "He even kindly came to help repair the tables and chairs—the chair you're sitting in was made by him!" were already on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back down.

Did Young Master Han come yesterday?

What about the day before yesterday?
She couldn't help but look to the left of the doorway.

Whether it came or not, I can't quite remember, but the goat milk was available every day, without stopping.

Even if no one comes, there's already a wooden box there, and he'll put the goat milk in it, and he'll also give you ice—he gives you so much ice that you could probably buy two more servings of goat milk!

The portion was quite large; not only did the lady receive some, but she and Xiaolian also benefited...

While she was drinking it, she was only focused on telling Xiaolian to remember to thank her. Her mind was only on the aroma of milk and how to remove the fishy smell. She couldn't think of anything else. It was only when the topic was brought up that she suddenly woke up.

He's a good person, but his behavior—it seems…why…a little…too attentive and considerate…is a bit off?

　Hello fellow foodies! Although the updates this month haven't been great, I'd still like to shamelessly ask—if any of you have extra monthly tickets and are willing, could you please save them for our Xiao Miao? There are double monthly tickets from the 29th to the 31st of this month, so you can hold onto them for a couple of days before voting. If you can't hold onto them and vote early, that's fine too. Thank you so much!
　　(End of this chapter)