Yang Fan wore an apron around his waist and was standing next to a large pot, making noodles.
That's right, I'm making Lanzhou Ramen.
Today is Xiao Niangpi’s birthday, and Yang Fan decided to make her a bowl of noodles.
The little girl who had just received a birthday gift was smiling like a flower, happily waiting for her husband to give her birthday noodles. Lin Yueru and Mei Xiang looked envious at the side.
They are concubines, so even if they celebrate their birthdays, it would be inappropriate for the master to cook for them according to Ming Dynasty rules.
Lin Yueru, Mei Xiang and the maids gathered around and were learning Yang Fan's ramen techniques.
Lanzhou Ramen is a specialty delicacy of Lanzhou. It began in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty (1799) and was brought to Lanzhou by Ma Liuqi of the Dongxiang ethnic group who learned it from Chen Weijing in Qinghua, Huaiqing Prefecture, Henan Province.
At this time in the Ming Dynasty, there was only rough ramen technology. According to legend, ramen was invented in the Tang Dynasty, but both the ingredients and toppings were very rough. It was far from comparable to Lanzhou Ramen.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shunshui traveled eastward to Fusang and passed the ramen technology to Japan. It is the Japanese ramen we see today.
"Look, the secret to this kind of ramen lies in kneading the noodles. You need to add fluffy ash inside the noodles so that they can be pulled out continuously. There are many things to pay attention to in a good bowl of ramen. Yak Yongdeng noodles from Gannan, Gaolan's fluffy ramen noodles from Gangu
Thread (pepper). Unfortunately, I don’t have any of these, so I’ll just make do.”
Yang Fan sighed and called Daming. He had never eaten delicious authentic Lanzhou ramen again.
There used to be a restaurant next to the construction site. Because it was cheap, many workers got tired of eating the pig food at the construction site, so they would meet up to improve the food.
A bowl of authentic Lanzhou noodles, dozens of meat skewers, and ice-cold Yanjing beer. After the sun goes down, a dozen workers eat edamame and boiled peanuts. It is really a rare enjoyment in life.
Yang Fan would only show his skill at this kind of work under special circumstances. Normally, he wouldn't be able to cook.
So the maids watched eagerly, fearing that they might miss a step.
The master's cooking is excellent, but there are too few opportunities to observe it.
Only when the ladies celebrate their birthdays, or if the master is in a particularly good mood, or if the master is greedy, will he roll up his sleeves and cook himself some super delicious delicacies that no one has ever seen before.
People of this era attach great importance to craftsmanship.
If you have a craft, you can support your family. Therefore, we have great respect for masters who are willing to teach their craft.
When the master passes on his skills to you, he is able to support your whole family.
In this era, every industry has strict barriers. Even the words spoken are in jargon, and people outside the circle cannot even understand them.
If the master doesn't want to teach you, you can knock your head on your head and bleed, but it won't work. The master just said, it's not that I don't accept it, it's that the ancestor doesn't reward you with this meal.
At the age of thirteen or fourteen, you first need to be an apprentice to get started.
Crack firewood, light fires, dive, and do chores. Work for ten or eight years at first. Get up early and stay late. When the master thinks that your temper has calmed down and you can calm down, he will teach you the skills bit by bit.
And being an apprentice is almost like signing a contract of sale.
Filling the chamber pot for the mistress and washing the feet of the master are no different from servants.
He was beaten and scolded all day long. The master's contract was clearly written. If he couldn't bear the abuse and scolding, and he drowned himself in a river or a well, it had nothing to do with his master.
Therefore, if someone is not good at studying, he will be ridiculed. Instead of studying hard with the master, he was busy serving his wife.
Now, at Master's place, not only do you have good food and clothing, but you also get monthly money.
The ladies are also kind to the servants and can learn some skills. This is simply a good thing that you can't find even with a lantern. How can you not cherish it?
When she gets older, she will no longer be a maid and get married.
Or the lady may propose marriages to other servants in the family.
In addition to working as errands in the government, these skills can also enable children who are unable to work in the government to make a living.
Yang Fan fished out the noodles and cooked more. One bowl of noodles was not worth his time. He downed dozens of bowls and gave everyone a bowl to celebrate his wife's birthday.
"Look, a good bowl of beef ramen should pay attention to the five colors of "one clear (soup), two white (radish), three green (cilantro and garlic sprouts), four red (spicy seeds), and five yellow (bright yellow noodles)."
As he spoke, Yang Fan took out the noodles, divided them into bowls, and poured the toppings on them, which was beef soup that had been simmered overnight. Sprinkle with chopped green onion and beef cubes.
Immediately, the strong fragrance overflowed, and everyone watching was drooling.
"Do you want chili oil?" Yang Fan asked the girl.
"Yes, yes, add more spicy food," the little girl said quickly with a smile on her face.
Chili peppers are a good thing. Currently, they are only grown here in Yangfan in the Ming Dynasty.
There is a barbed wire fence surrounding the pepper fields, and it is strictly forbidden to spread the seeds outside. Only dried and seeded chili oil is sold to the outside world. These chili oils have been put on the market, and now they have become a trend.
It has been too cold in Ming Dynasty these years. A few drops of chili oil are added to the soup to warm the whole body. As soon as chili oil was born, it quickly conquered the taste buds of the people of Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, in this era, oil extraction technology is not good enough, the oil yield rate is too low, and oil is too expensive, and ordinary people cannot afford oil.
Although Yang Fan's chili oil is made from imported palm oil, this very cheap oil is affordable for ordinary people and is very popular among the people.
At this time, the grilled and sizzling black pepper beef sausage was also served. This is also a unique delicacy of Yang Mansion.
The maids cut the noodles into sections with knives, inserted short bamboo skewers, and handed them to the ladies as ramen companions to eat together.
"Master, I want to hear a story." Xiao Niangpi said coquettishly while sucking ramen noodles.
Lin Yueru and others who were eating noodles also looked at Yang Fan eagerly, hoping that the master would have a happy day and tell everyone a story.
"Well, once upon a time there was a person. Well." Yang Fan cleared his throat.
"He had sex with a girl outside behind his wife's back, and it turned out that the girl was pregnant. He is a rake."
"Bah, the master is not serious and just tells a story about stealing people." Xiao Niangpi spat.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Master, what is ear-raking?" Xiao Niangpi asked curiously.
"Oh, this is the dialect in Sichuan, and it means henpecked."
"Oh, this man is really worthless, and he is so weak." Xiao Niangpi said with disdain.
Women are just so weird. If you are too strong, she will feel aggrieved.
If you are afraid of your wife, she will despise you.
"He didn't dare to tell his wife about it. So he gave the girl a sum of money and asked her to rent a house to give birth. The two agreed that if they gave birth, they would write to him and tell him in a letter. The secret code was ramen."
Lin Yueru and others all pursed their lips and snickered. The master was always like this, making up stories based on local materials to amuse them.
"Seven or eight months passed in the blink of an eye. One day, my wife handed him a letter. She said that someone had just sent it. She asked him who the letter was from and what was written in the letter." Yang Fan took a sip of the soup and said.
Most women in this era were illiterate, so they could not understand the content of the letter.
"Hmph, I'm going to wear a gang now." Xiao Niangpi curled her lips.
"When he opened it and took a look, he was stunned." Yang Fan said in a weird voice.
Everyone in the room was stunned for a moment and did not react.
It was the little girl who reacted first.
His little hands accurately found the piece of soft flesh on Yang Fan's waist that had the best feel in the past, and twisted it hard.
"The master is a big bad guy and a scumbag." Xiao Niangpi spat, her face turned red.
Yang Fan laughed heartily.
Only then did the women in the room react, and their faces turned red with embarrassment. They all spat out that the master was so imitated that he actually told such a shameful joke.
Yang Fan put his arms around the little girl's slender waist, kissed her on the cheek, and said softly: "I'll give you another gift to make it up to you."
The little girl's face turned red, she lowered her eyes, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly. Although she was shy, she was very happy in her heart. She whispered: "Humph! I will forgive you this time."