"Zhi Niang, don't we have normal seasonings at home? What are these colorful things? This smell..." Xu Hanliang glanced at Zhi Niang, but did not say the next words.
"Seasoning? What does the husband mean? The little girl has already put vinegar on the cloth. If the husband is greedy, then after a few days of New Year's Eve, when the little girl gets her wages, she will cut up a few pieces of meat and beat her husband's teeth as a sacrifice."
"Mr. Lang has been working harder these days. After all, the doctor also said that as you are recovering from a serious illness, you should avoid eating meat and fish and be patient with it."
The young lady flexed her fingers and obviously didn't react. She just thought that the soup cake was clear and watery, which was not in line with her husband's appetite. She was greedy, so she gritted her teeth and said.
OK,
Xu Hanliang remained silent, and he knew it in his heart.
Old Xu owed a huge debt in order to buy an official position and was sent to prison with a slap on the butt. Apart from the old house where he lived, there was nothing else of value in Old Xu's family.
Even now, the master and servant's food rations are all maintained by the child alone.
Now this girl has found a job as a slave in the wealthy family next door. Because she is a slave, she cannot get her monthly salary anywhere. A dozen copper coins a month are the only living expenses for the two masters and servants.
It's not enough to support one person with this little money.
Now that Xu Hanliang has recovered from a serious illness, he needs to spend money on medicine. At least he took a look at the kitchen when he came back. I am afraid that the soup cake in his hand is the only food for the entire old Xu family.
Of course there are also high protein sources such as beans.
I took a few sips of the food without knowing the taste.
I thought I couldn't swallow the food, but my gastrointestinal tolerance was still good. I barely drank half a bowl, and my arms and legs finally felt a little warm. When I looked up again, I found that my little maid had begun to carry the rice bowl in circles and lick the edge of the bowl.
Son.
"No, Sir, I have just recovered from a serious illness and have a bad appetite. You can eat the remaining half bowl of soup cake and don't waste it."
With a tiger's face, Xu Hanliang thrust the soup bowl into his mother's hand and walked out of the main courtyard alone.
As expected,
The kitchen was so clean that even flies would burst into tears, and in the sauce vat in the corner was a black strip of cloth draped over a wooden stick across the sauce vat.
Let’s not mention the color for now, but when you get closer and smell it, it emits a strange smell.
Vinegar cloth…
Xu Hanliang covered his face and stared.
Vinegar cloth was developed by the army in the Tang Dynasty for the convenience of marching and fighting. It is easy to store and carry. But if you really eat this thing, will your stomach really not cause trouble in heaven?
Shaking his head, Xu Hanliang was about to find an opportunity to throw the vinegar cloth into the garbage, but unexpectedly found a few crystals the size of a small finger placed in a small jar next to the stove.
The color is gray-green, which is salt.
Xu Hanliang was stunned for a moment. Of course he knew very well that even in the Song Dynasty, the source of salt was very precious.
Although there was already a process for purifying edible salt in the early Tang Dynasty, it was at most a simple cooking and purification process, with no technical content. If Xu Hanliang remembers correctly, there should be people who made a living from this in this era.
service.
Usually, this craft has been in the hands of the superiors, and the salt consumed by the general public is still mainly mineral salt and sea salt. Although green and white salt from Xixia was introduced into the Song Dynasty, it was always prohibited by order.
Smuggling salt is a serious crime.
But there is no doubt that selling salt is a huge profit, especially when the government and businessmen are firmly in control of salt. Although there is no order to prohibit ordinary people from selling salt in private, once caught, they will be beheaded at every turn. The punishment in the Song Dynasty is far less
Looks so kind.
Selling salt was something Xu Hanliang was not prepared to touch.
But to put it bluntly, money cannot escape the basic necessities of food, clothing, housing and transportation. Food is the most important thing for the people. Starting from food, there will always be no mistakes. He does not want to travel through time and become the first unlucky person to starve to death due to acclimatization.
.
For the sake of your own belly, it is imperative to make money.
It would be great if we could make a small fortune through this and fish out Lao Xu who was waiting for his death in prison.
But what to do?
Xu Hanliang was sitting on the small bench, holding his chin and thinking. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the beans piled in the corner, and an idea flashed in his mind, and he immediately rolled up his sleeves and began to pour.
There were many bottles and cans in the kitchen. Xu Hanliang washed the beans and then started to work.
Monosodium glutamate is something Xu Hanliang wants to consider.
It is fermented and purified from grain, and uses beans rich in protein and sugar as raw materials. After electro-crystallization precipitation and ion exchange, glutamic acid is extracted, and then decolorized, iron removed, evaporated, and crystallized to obtain glutamic acid crystals.
Although it looks difficult, the operation is not difficult.
An ordinary high school student would not have any difficulty if he knew the tricks, let alone Xu Hanliang, a high school teacher. Even if some of the details cannot be perfected, Xu Hanliang can still do it well.
Monosodium glutamate, in layman's terms, is monosodium glutamate.
In this situation where food was somewhat scarce and selling salt was a serious crime, Xu Hanliang had no choice but to resort to this strategy and even used distillation to make a handful of snowflake salt.
After struggling for a whole afternoon, Xu Hanliang finally breathed out.
The MSG produced by the most primitive method is far from as crystal clear as those seen in later generations, but the MSG that has been chemically purified is snow-white, but it is almost the same.
"It doesn't look bad in appearance, but the taste is a bit off, but it can be considered quite successful."
After taking a long sip, Xu Hanliang nodded.
Turning his head, Xu Hanliang sighed when he saw the young girl outside the house looking towards the kitchen.
This girl has been here six times in one afternoon.
"Taste it."
Xu Hanliang waved to Zhimiang, and then put a grain of MSG into Zhimiang's mouth. The latter was still suspicious and opened her mouth, but didn't wait for her to say anything.
The young girl's face immediately tensed up, and her eyes widened.
She only felt a strong umami taste exploding on her taste buds, and she was shocked.
"Lang Jun, this thing is..."
Zhimiang grabbed Xu Hanliang's arm and asked quickly. Xu Hanliang didn't say much. He felt that it was difficult for him to explain what protein and glutamate were to the little maid in front of him who had been poisoned by feudal thoughts.
"A little gadget, little girl, what do you think if you put some of this in the soup cake?"
Xu Hanliang asked.
Soup cake…
The young lady was startled, and then her eyes narrowed.
If some of these fresh seasonings were added to the delicious soup cake, wouldn't it be much more delicious than adding vinegar cloth? Subconsciously, the little maid, who didn't feel very hungry at first, started to growl in dismay.
Xu Hanliang smiled and gathered the purified snowflake salt and MSG into two small jars. Then he walked to the yard and was thinking about what to do next.
Even if he is not a businessman, Xu Hanliang understands the value of rare goods.
But at this time,
Bang! Bang! Bang!
There was a knock on the door.
Then the courtyard door was pushed open, and he stepped into the small courtyard with one leg. When he saw Xu Hanliang standing in the middle, he immediately walked in three steps at a time.