Chapter 39: Breaking Criminal Law (2)

He was wearing a tribute uniform and had to walk in a short walk. When Zhao Xing took off his cow, he had only worn a short suit and also got a variant Su Dongpo hat - the shape was changed like a chef's hat, which was called "Zizhan hat" or "Dongpo hat" at that time.

At dusk, two sedan chairs were swaying out of the east gate. The people in the sedan chair smelled the beef fragrance in the yard from afar. He sniffed deeply, and before he got off the sedan chair, he laughed: "People say that Zizhan lives in Huangzhou with a hard life, and has a house, eat meat, and drink wine. Why bother?"

"Of course the hardship!" Su Shi came out to greet Wang Gong with a laugh: "Brother Dingguo knows how I spent last Mid-Autumn Festival. I wrote a poem to describe the hardship at that time - a great dream in the world.

How many new things will life be?

The wind and leaves are already roaring at night,

Look at the eyebrows and temples.

The wine is low and the guests are often worried.

The moon is bright and the clouds are hindered.

Who shares the lonely light in Mid-Autumn Festival?

I looked north with a sad cup.”

"The world is a big dream, life is a new coolie" - Zhao Xing shook his head and savored it, and the two Japanese were also full of intoxication.

Immediately afterwards, another sedan chair landed on the ground, and a smiling woman walked out of the sedan chair. When Chaoyun saw it, he quickly walked forward with his big belly. The two of them held hands and chattered in a low voice. Mrs. Wang stood at the door and nodded to the woman from afar.

The guests came to the door, and the ground was covered with blood. Chaoyun and Mrs. Wang hesitated for a moment, but still had no courage to take over the cooking work. Zhao Xing seemed to be addicted to the profession of chefs. He danced with a kitchen knife in his hand and was excited. The students were sent by him, and the two Japanese also started diligently.

Chaoyun and Mrs. Wang looked at each other, and they turned around at the same time in a tacit understanding, and got into the room without saying a word.

The cooking method in ancient China was different from that in modern times, and its basic feature was that there was no salt in the dish.

Due to the irreplaceability of salt in food, governments throughout the ages have regarded salt as the object of heavy taxation. The income from salt tax in the Song Dynasty was ten times that of the Tang Dynasty, which made adding salt to cooking and cooking a luxury.

You can't do anything without words, but sauce is not subject to heavy taxes, so China has developed a unique sauce culture.

Generally speaking, local dishes were eaten in ancient times, and it was found that the sauce was cooked with vegetables - this is Su Dongpo. The kind of dish cooked with sauce was called "Dongpo pork", "Dongpo fish", and other "Dongpo" dishes.

Zhao Xing was not in charge of the family and did not know that wealth and rice were expensive. He cooked dishes completely according to the modern methods. The most prominent feature of this modern style dish is that it is not contaminated by the sauce, and it has all the colors and fragrances, which opened the eyes of the guests... However, it made Mrs. Su Dongpo frightened.

Wang Gong was satisfied with the food. He pointed at Su Dongpo and smiled and said, "Zizhan lived a good life and tasted such delicious food every day, even if he gave it to a god."

At this time, Su Shi's children had mixed into the yard and watched Zhao Xing's performance. Only Su Shi and his wife were left in the room. Zhao Xing's place was also coming to an end, with a few dishes and a pot of stewed beef. Su Mai stood beside Zhao Xing, waiting to serve. Two Japanese people were smiling all over the faces, standing in front of the pot and waving the spoon to serve the hot beef for the children. The students who were assigned to the meat sat on the ground with plates and tasted the hot soup that was released after relish. Their laughter filled the entire courtyard, and Zhao Xing's gentle persuasion was mixed in the middle: "Don't be anxious... be careful to burn... don't eat it all, bring this plate to the guests."

Su Dongpo looked towards the yard, his face filled with a happy smile, and he slowly said, "This meal... comes from the hands of the people in the yard... He is also my disciple... This student doesn't like poetry but is good at miscellaneous studies. It is the first time I have tasted his craft. I didn't expect that he is so proficient in cooking."

Su Mai came in with two plates of new dishes. Seeing that the guests could no longer eat, he went out and said hello: "Brother Li Ren, the guests are having fun. Have you not yet enjoyed it? You have stopped, let's have dinner."

Zhao Xing was still unsatisfied, so he looked at the stewed pot and ordered: "Please pay attention to the fire, dry all the broth, and braise all the meat so that it can be stored."

"I understand," the students agreed vaguely: "Don't worry, teacher, we have a question."

The two Japanese were already squatting aside with plates. They didn't want meat, so they took a few steamed buns dipped in vegetable soup. They ate with relish. From time to time, they looked at Zhao Xing, full of respect and fear. Zhao Xing saw them so "disciplined", and felt a little pity - what is eating some meat? As for eating poor Su Shi?

He didn't know that this was actually a dietary habit in ancient Japan. In the Asuka era in Japan, Emperor Tenmu ordered a ban on eating beefs, horses, dogs, apes, and chickens. In the mid-eighth century, Emperor Shouwu prohibited slaughtering cattle and horses. Therefore, after the ninth century, Heian people developed the habit of not eating any animal meat. This ban continued until after the Meiji Restoration.
Chapter completed!