Miao Chu

Chapter 362 (Next Post)
Song Miao quickly received the news and came out of the backyard to the front hall.

Among the foreigners, there were those who could speak fluent Mandarin, and officials from the Sifangguan (a government office) also helped translate between them, making communication between the two sides effortless.

After several rounds of questioning, she finally learned the reason for the incident—it turned out that the day before, an envoy had accidentally tasted Song's dried meat and candied olives and liked them very much.

Especially the dried meat, because the place where the envoy came often dried beef and mutton, but the way it was made was rough and completely different from Song Ji's pork jerky. It felt both familiar and novel, and the taste was also compatible, so I didn't find it unpalatable.

With their return journey imminent, they were eager to bring some back as local products of the Great Wei.

After asking everyone about the journey and learning that it would take several months, Song Miaoxian was not in a hurry to sell the meat. Instead, she advised, "If you are just eating it on the road, then you are not worried. But if you want to take it back, and the distance is too far, then the dried meat will hardly last for several months. Especially when the climate is humid, it will mold and spoil in just a few days."

"As for sugar, I'm not afraid of sugar, but it contains roasted almond kernels. What I'm enjoying is the combination of the crunchy nuts, caramelized sugar, and milk flavor. If it's left out for a couple of days, the nuts won't be crunchy enough, and the flavor will be reduced by eight or nine tenths."

"Taking such things back might ruin my reputation and the name of the food of our Great Wei—why not just buy a little and eat it on the way?"

The envoy could actually understand some of the official language of the Great Wei, and before anyone could relay his message, his face showed a great deal of disappointment.

Travel between the two countries is inconvenient. Since they brought tribute items, in addition to the rewards from the imperial court, they naturally had to purchase a lot of local specialties to take back with them.

The other goods were easy to carry, but food was hard to find that could be stored for a long time. So when I saw candy and dried meat, I was initially very happy, but I never expected this outcome.

But he still didn't give up, and asked in a somewhat stiff accent, "Our dried meat can last for half a year or a year without spoiling, so why does yours spoil?"

That's because the methods are different and the climate is different.

Song Miaolue offered a brief explanation.

She had initially refused to do business with the other party's best interests at heart, but the two foreigners, upon hearing her reply, instead thought the shopkeeper was honest and reliable, and became even more persistent.

After some discussion, one of the people on the other side came out and kept repeating himself, asking her if she could think of a solution, as they really wanted to buy it.

One person said, "You do it! We'll buy it!"

Another person, speaking in Mandarin, said, "If it tastes bad, we'll just eat it on the way. The shopkeepers don't need to worry about it; they can just keep selling it!"

Since the customer had said so, Song Miao had no reason to refuse a business that was offered to her.

But in order to make the food last longer, she made some saltier jerky this time, keeping the saltiness just right so that the jerky could last longer without being too salty.

Besides the dried meat, the candied almonds are also wrapped tightly in oil paper and coarse paper, then buried in wood ash, and then wrapped in paper again, layer upon layer.

After asking them some questions, she learned that the envoys had also bought many ceramic utensils, lacquerware and other items. She then suggested that they put these wrapped foods into the containers, stuff them with charcoal, and seal them tightly without leaving any gaps.

It's a long and arduous journey, and it's not always effective, but it's the only option available.

Song Miao treated this as a small business deal. It was quite laborious, and she didn't actually make much money. However, it was noticed by many customers queuing outside. On the day of loading, the shopkeepers who had been instructed to load the goods pushed carts full of empty porcelain and pottery over, and after they were filled, they pushed them out again. The back and forth made a lot of noise, so it was natural that people would see it.

That day, the customers queuing outside Suanzao Lane started spreading rumors among themselves.

"I heard that even some non-Han people have come to eat Song Ji's steamed buns!"

"Nonsense! They're not Hu people, they're barbarians!"

"Who cares if they're barbarians or foreigners? I heard the storyteller at the Crane Tower say that those people are of all sorts of hair and blood. The Sifang Pavilion's kitchen prepares food according to their local customs, and they don't even dare to cook the meat fully!"

Some people didn't believe it: "It's fake, right? What year is this? Who still eats raw meat? Don't let those foreigners hear this and say we're making things up!"

"Have some tolerance! We are people of the Great Wei! Have some tolerance, okay? But I bet what they eat every day isn't very good. I saw it with my own eyes. They came to Song's shop to buy steamed buns and ate ten at a time! And they were all mutton!"

"Wow! No wonder they all have curly hair! I bet their intestines are just like their hair, much longer and more rolled up than ours, and they have a lot of room to hold things—they can even eat so many steamed buns in one go!"

"You're exaggerating too much! It's like you're making it sound like those barbarians have never eaten in their lives! Ten Songji steamed buns in one go, they're not pigs!"

"If there aren't ten, there are at least eight—most of them are like us, coming here to absorb the literary atmosphere of the Imperial Academy!"

"Who cares about 'us'! I just want that steamed bun because it tastes good!"

The crowd chattered and murmured, but they were actually just taking things out of context and spreading rumors. However, when it was their turn, they all acted like foreigners, buying several extra mutton buns, which forced Song's kitchen to send another person to make that flavor.

In addition, many people inquired about what other things the natives had bought and wanted to rush to buy the dried meat and candied almonds.

Even though neither of these items was cheap, people didn't dare to order too much, and Song's orders were booked for many days to come—the pork jerky was always in short supply.

As a result, Song's Restaurant got another nickname, "Foreigners' Restaurant," and the name of the candied olives was changed by the customers to "Foreign Candy."

Some "clever" merchants from other places came here, bought "foreign sugar" and took it back. They changed its appearance, put it in a fancy box or case, and claimed that it was transported from a foreign land thousands of miles away. They said they had gone through all kinds of hardships to obtain it and then sold it to local wealthy people at a high price.

Among the wealthy households, there were those who came to the capital, those with relatives in the capital, and those who were not knowledgeable enough to be fooled. They received the candy and thought that there were many wealthy households in the capital, so they specially sent it to the capital in the hope of getting a higher price.

Several groups of people brought goods to the capital, each believing them to be genuine foreign candies. They either gave them as gifts or tried to sell them. But when the people of the capital saw them, they exclaimed, "Hey? Isn't this Song's Olive Seed Candy?! What foreign candy! Hey! This is clearly candy made in our own Great Wei! What does it have to do with those foreign countries!"
As for the two items, they were brought back by the foreign envoy. Thanks to careful preservation and isolation from the outside world, and because it was already autumn and the climate was getting drier along the way, they actually did not spoil. This even led to a little interesting incident, but that is another story.

As autumn winds blow, besides the crabs getting itchy, the weather gradually becomes dry.

Taking advantage of this time, Song Miao led the restaurant staff to make sausages, phoenix cups and other items, and also tried making autumn snacks. This was partly to prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival business, and partly to give as gifts to customers when the restaurant opened.

Nowadays, people often make Guanghan cake, chestnut cake, moon cake, etc. in autumn. In addition, there are also cakes with the characters "Fu", "Cai", "Sheng", and mung bean cake. Although these are seasonal items, most of them cannot be kept for more than two days.

As the opening date approaches, the restaurant naturally becomes busier. Song Miao thought she would make more snacks suitable for all ages in advance to see how long they could be stored.

She compared the snacks her family used to eat every autumn and winter with those commonly available on the market today, and finally selected a few: orchid strips, pine flower candy, rice candy, and sesame candy.

The first three are commonly made in the market, but Song Miao has never seen the last one, Ma Tong, since she came to this place.

Matong, also known as Liaohuazao, got its name from its resemblance to tongcao (a type of glutinous rice paper plant) and its sesame seed coating, according to my father when I was a child. However, according to my mother, it was named after the pockmarked man who first made this snack. Also, this snack is very crumbly and melts in your mouth.

The parents even had a debate about it, each presenting facts and reasoning, but neither could convince the other. Towards the end, one accused the other of being imprecise, while the other attacked the other for not knowing how to teach children to be fun, and in the end, they couldn't reach a conclusion.

However, Song Miao has always loved this dish, but it's really troublesome to make, and one of the main ingredients is taro, which is only available during certain seasons.

At this time, the taro has only recently come out, and most of them are red-bud taro. Although they are not as good in taste and aroma as those grown after the first frost, they are still ready to be used.

She had made preparations early on, soaking and draining the glutinous rice, grinding it into glutinous rice flour, mixing it with peeled and steamed taro to form a dough, rolling it out, cutting it into pieces, and air-drying it for several days. At this time, she heated the oil in a wok, stir-fried the white sesame seeds, melted the maltose and mixed it with the oil to make syrup, just waiting to start frying the vegetarian dough.

This dish has very simple ingredients, but it is not easy to make. The difficulty lies not only in the ratio of taro to glutinous rice flour, the concentration of the syrup, and the control of the degree of air drying, but also in the frying technique and the heat.

First, deep-fry the strips in warm oil until they puff up and expand. Then, deep-fry them in hot oil over high heat to set their shape.

Once fried, dip the vegetarian sesame seeds into the sugar syrup, coat them with white sesame seeds, and let them roll around until they are completely covered in sesame seeds. That's when they are done.

Song Miao led Zhang Si Niang and Da Bing and the others, demonstrating the techniques herself twice, carefully explaining the key points, and teaching and guiding them step by step.

Everyone took turns trying, and either the expansion wasn't good, or it expanded well but the outside was burnt.

As Zhang Si Niang raged on, she gritted her teeth and said, "How can a mere rice ball be so difficult to deal with!"

Some of the hired women tried frying their own, and when they compared it with Song Miao's, they couldn't help but say, "How come the ones that come out of the same oil are so much more tender and flaky, even though they're both fried in the same pot?"

Song Miao smiled and said, "Take your time. This mahjong is perfect for you to practice your skills—whoever learns first, I'll fry a whole box of them for her to take home tonight as a reward."

The people in the room were already very enthusiastic, and now they were even more energetic than before.

After working hard for half a day, they finally managed to train two people who were somewhat decent. Just then, a hired maid came in and asked, "Madam, a customer asked what smells so good inside—do you sell it?"

Although the fried dough sticks are made in the large kitchen in the backyard, they smell delicious even in the front of the kitchen.

The aroma is a blend of the richness of roasted sesame seeds, the sweetness of roasted maltose, and the unique fragrance of fried sesame balls—it contains taro and glutinous rice. Even if you can't see it, just by smelling it, you know that something incredibly fragrant and crispy is being made inside.

There's simply not enough time to sell them all.

It was already afternoon, close to closing time. There weren't many people around. After inquiring about the situation outside, Song Miao asked the hired maid to take a small tray out and ask the people in line to taste the food and see if they had any suggestions.

Before long, even through the two doors, one could hear a lot of noise from outside.

Soon, the hired woman returned as if she were fleeing for her life.

She wiped her sweat, her voice tight: "Madam, there's chaos outside! Those customers are saying our restaurant doesn't know how to do business, and they're claiming to be old acquaintances of yours, demanding that you come out to talk to them!"

Song Miao felt a chill run down her spine.

She could already picture the scene of her setting up a stall at the entrance of the Imperial Academy, surrounded by a crowd of students.

Back then, I could just push the cart around, but now that I'm in a restaurant, I can't just run away...

She hurriedly carried a large teapot to the front hall, and as soon as she appeared, several people outside started shouting.

"Young Lady Song!"

"I thought you'd become a boss and your business had grown, so you stopped talking to me!"

"No business operates like this, does it? Steamed buns can't be sold freely, dried meat and candied almonds can't be sold freely, and you have to queue up to wait for the mung bean cakes to come out of the oven. All that is fine—but now, even though I've made fried dough sticks and let people try them, I still can't sell them!"

"Miss Song will be scolded for doing things this way!"

"Hurry up and hire someone!"

"Didn't the Empress Dowager bestow a house across the street upon you? Why hasn't it been finished yet? Hurry up and move in! Add more people if needed! Expand the house if needed!"

"Customers come in once, can't buy anything, and always have to queue. They get so angry—they'll talk bad about you later! I've explained it to them for you so many times!"

A group of people were making a lot of noise, even more concerned than Song Miao, the real boss, and they all looked familiar—it was Wang Chang leading the group, along with several students from the Imperial Academy who had helped him copy books in the past.

Her slight nervousness vanished, and she couldn't help but laugh, asking, "What brings you gentlemen here? Don't you have classes today?"

Then he ushered everyone into the hall.

A group of people were laughing and joking.

"We need to get back to the schoolhouse soon."

"Today, a few of us went to the west of the city to take the riding and archery test. We just finished the test and on the way back, we were talking about how we hadn't seen Miss Song in a long time! We all wanted to come and see her!"

"Although the kitchen now has Song's steamed buns and glutinous rice, we can't get Song Xiaoniangzi's rice noodle rolls. It's been so long since I've seen your cart, it feels so strange!"

"Yes! Although the breakfast in the kitchen is now provided by Song's family and is quite delicious, I still feel that it is far inferior to the one that Miss Song made by hand back then!"

Song Miao smiled and said, "Then I'll cook some more another day and invite you all to eat!"

When people asked about the opening date of the new store, she replied, "It hasn't been decided yet. Once it is, I will send out formal invitations to everyone."

The group of people let out various laughs, such as "hehe," "hoho," and "heh-heh."

After talking with the group for a while, Song Miao noticed that they were in a hurry to leave, so she packed the fried dough twists and various orchid-shaped snacks she had prepared into several food boxes and asked them to take them back to eat. She also asked Wang Chang to help take a box each for Master Chen and Master Cao.

She had just seen the person off and entered the backyard when Zhang Si Niang hurriedly followed her in.

"Just now, someone hurriedly delivered a letter to my wife, saying that he had something urgent to attend to, and left as soon as he put it down."

　I'll try to update normally starting tomorrow... ε=(ο｀*))) Sigh, I'm too embarrassed to show my face QAQ
　　(End of this chapter)