Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 25
Translated by Serena Love
Edited by unsaltedfish
Chapter 25: Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork Rice
When Xie Xun returned to the Bamboo Courtyard, Jiang Shuyao was searching for him in every corner. Seeing him come back with a refreshed expression, her brows furrowed. "Where have you been?"
Xie Xun halted his steps and vaguely said, "I went to walk around the yard for a while."
"Is that so?"
Xie Xun looked away. He lowered his thick eyelashes and nodded stiffly.
Although Jiang Shuyao often complained that he had a deadpan face, after spending some time with him, she gradually began to see emotions on his face.
For example, while his face was currently cold and calm on the outside, in reality, he was actually feeling guilty inside.
What was he feeling guilty about? Jiang Shuyao couldn't figure it out.
"I've prepared tomorrow's lunch. Come with me."
Xie Xun saw her gaze and almost confessed about where he went, when he heard her suddenly change the topic, he was relieved and quickly followed her obediently.
It was not easy to find an artisan in ancient times. Fortunately, Jiang Shuyao was rich and found someone to make a new type of lunch box in less than a day.
The lunch box was created by nesting two layers of wooden boxes of different sizes. There was space in the middle layer, where a layer of leather was inlaid with iron sheets placed to prevent water leakage. The lid of the box had several vent holes for heat to dissipate. The idea was made based on modern self-heating lunch boxes. The heating pack was made of coke powder, quicklime, and salt. The cost was not high; the idea was ingenious.
She opened the lunch box, took out the top layer, pointed to the heat pack, and said to Xie Xun, "I put this heat pack here, don't move it casually, and don't touch it with your hands, okay?" There was always a fear he would stuff his mouth with whatever he saw like a naughty child
Xie Xun nodded and asked, "What is this?"
Jiang Shuyao couldn't explain the chemical principles to him, so she just said, "This will get hot when exposed to water. So you must remember to add cold water. Have you seen this line? Add the cold water until here, don't exceed the limit. After adding the cold water, put the smaller box back in, and then close the lid without touching the holes."
After Jiang Shuyao finished speaking, she was still worried and asked Xie Xun to repeat the instructions.
For the first time in his life, Xie Xun's memory was doubted, but he repeated it word by word.
Satisfied, Jiang Shuyao continued to instruct him, "I will put your lunch in this small box. After you close the lid, wait for about six or seven min—uh, half a kè (刻; quarter of an hour). Then you can open it for eating."
It was the first time Xie Xun had ever seen such a wondrous lunch box. The thought of tomorrow’s meal made him oddly tense, yet he could hardly wait to try it.
After letting his gaze linger on the lunch box a few more times, he suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked, "Did you get money from the common fund to make this?"
Jiang Shuyao, unconcerned about money, replied, "No."
Xie Xun was caught off guard, utterly unprepared for the revelation that every meal he had taken at her place had been paid for out of her own pocket!
He had assumed that opening a small kitchen meant everything had been cleared with the main household, with all expenses and provisions covered by the common funds—never realizing that when Jiang Shuyao discussed it with Xu-shi, she had plainly stated she would bear all the costs herself.
The fact that Jiang Shuyao was exceedingly wealthy was common knowledge throughout the capital. Not long ago, with a single sweeping gesture, she had nearly emptied an entire cloth shop. Xie Xun had been deeply uneasy at the time, fearing he might end up owing her money, but when all the men’s fabrics she purchased were sent to Count Xiangyang, he finally set his mind at ease.
He said to Jiang Shuyao, "Wait a moment," and ran off in a hurry. After a while, he came over with a small wooden box.
He put the wooden box on the table, opened the lock, and took out a thick stack of silver tael banknotes, "This is my savings for many years. This is the title deed--"
Jiang Shuyao hurriedly stopped him, "Hey, hey, wait. What are you doing with this?"
Xie Xun also noticed it a bit too late, and coughed, "I just wanted to say that I have enough savings to pay the bill."
He took out the silver banknotes, placed them in front of Jiang Shuyao, and said, "Although my salary is not high, the monthly silver can cover the daily purchase of ingredients." As he said, he untied his wallet and placed it on the table. “Take this extra banknote as my collateral in advance. Besides, cooking consumes your energy, and it cannot be measured by money alone."
Jiang Shuyao glanced at the value of the banknote and was somewhat helpless. "This is too much, no? Or have you decided to keep this up for the rest of your life?”
Jiang Shuyao meant, of course, to ‘pay for a lifetime’s worth of meals’, but Xie Xun misunderstood and was suddenly stunned, even speaking with a stutter, "No, that's not what I meant."
Jiang Shuyao didn't catch his thoughts at all. She just took his purse and weighed it a few times. "Just this is good enough. I don't use any delicacies for daily cooking."
Xie Xie was still in a daze because of Jiang Shuyao's remark just now. He didn't say much. He nodded when he heard her words. "After that, I will give you money regularly."
"Good." Jiang Shuyao did not refuse.
＊
Early the next morning, Xie Xun got up early to have breakfast, and he had already cleaned up before the sky was bright.
When Jiang Shuyao got up to have a meal, packed up a lunch for him, and sent someone to the study room, he pretended that he had just finished cleaning and was just about to go.
Not far from the house, he ran into Lin Cheng, who was riding a horse and eating bread.
When Lin Cheng saw him, he led the horse over and pointed to the lunch box he was carrying immediately. "Look, Boyuan, I also brought my meal today."
Xie Xun nodded.
"When I went back, I told the chef at the house about the kind of food you brought. After a little thought, they made something similar." Lin Cheng triumphantly said. "But they have never heard of the hot and sour food you brought yesterday. The soup used to serve vegetables was really delicious."
Xie Xun raised his eyelids to look at him indifferently. He told Lin Cheng that he could share his jelly yesterday, but he could only take one chopstick. Lin Cheng agreed, but his one chopstick took half a bowl of his jelly.
Lin Cheng was still chattering there. "Yesterday they said the fried food you brought was delicious, which reminded me. I also brought a few fried crispy fish today. When I'm hungry, I can have snacks to relieve my gluttony." He finished and saw Xie Xun's lunch box, "What about you, what did you bring?"
Xie Xun just said, "It's just a few normal meals."
Lin Cheng naively believed him.
When it was time for lunch, everyone got up from the table one after another and walked towards the dining hall in groups of two or three while chatting about affairs.
Lin Cheng took the meat soup and side dishes and complained, "Why is it room temperature every day? When can I eat a bite of hot rice at noon?"
Xie Xun didn't say anything, but said to him, "You don't have to help me get my share."
"This won't work. You have to eat something, or you will be hungry in the afternoon."
Xie Xun was a little embarrassed, "I brought rice."
Lin Cheng was still persuading him, "A room-temperature meal is better than a cold meal."
Although Xie Xun believed the method Jiang Shuyao told him to make the food hot, he never tried it. So Xie Xun was still a little nervous. "It should be hot."
"Huh?" Lin Cheng was still holding the fried crispy fish in his mouth. His eyes were staring wide. He looked at him, "The food you brought in the morning, no matter how hot it was, it will be cold by now."
Xie Xun took out the lunch box Jiang Shuyao had made for him, followed her instructions, poured in cold water, and closed the lid.
He was dazzled by the movement, and he was amazed. "Boyuan, what are you doing? Are you doing tricks?"
He intended to tease Xie Xun, but he didn't expect that the quiet wooden box would make a creaking noise. The small hole above continuously released heat, and the whole room looked towards this side.
As the rice heats up, the aroma gradually overflows. When the colleagues, who were used to room-temperature rice for so long, smelled the aroma of hot rice, they put down their chopsticks and surrounded Xie Xun.
Xie Xun's face didn't show anything, but he felt "arrogant" in his heart.
When it was almost time, Xie Xun opened the lid.
The thick steam mingled with the scent of rice rose, and when the mist cleared, everyone could see the food in his lunch box.
The lunch box was square-shaped, with a wooden board on the right side to divide the box into two. The left side was filled with crystal clear rice, topped with a spoonful of thick, brown-red fish-flavored shredded pork. The shredded pork, carrot, and wood ear mushrooms were mixed together, their colors deep, and their sauce thick.
On the right, there were a few small pieces of meat with a bright burgundy color. Everyone could not tell what it was, but Xie Xun knew. It should be the braised pork trotters that Jiang Shuyao had chopped. The size was just right for a bite. If he put them in his mouth and slowly spat out the bones, it would not look too ugly.
The fish-flavored shredded pork rice bowl smelled domineering after heating. It is savory but also sour and sweet. Just smelling it made your appetite rise.
Look at the gravy soaking into the white rice, and the plump rice coated in the bright brown-red soup. It looked great.
Xie Xun picked up his chopsticks, and everyone's gaze fell on the tip of his chopsticks.
He mixed the rice coated in the sauce a little, stirred up the hot rice and the fish-flavored shredded pork, and put it in his mouth. The scorching heat made him unable to hold back his mouth and breathe out. The mixed rice was stained with a sweet and sour fish aroma, while the salty taste of fish-flavored shredded pork had also been neutralized.
The sweet and sour revealed a slight spiciness, but the spiciness was only supplementing the flavor. It would not be as stimulating as ordinary spiciness, but would complement the savory aroma of the sweet and sour sauce. After chewing and swallowing, his mouth was full of rich flavor.
Lin Cheng was greedy but too embarrassed to ask for other people's things, so he could only look at him eagerly.
Xie Xun was very uncomfortable being stared at by them. He was entangled and ended up giving a chopstick for each of them to eat, and giving each of them a piece of trotter.
They couldn't wait to eat the fish-flavored shredded pork rice, but regretted it as soon as they had it. The savory taste only made the vegetarian soup they were holding look even duller. They seemed to swallow the rice before chewing, leaving only the sweet and sour aftertaste in their mouth.
Everyone planned to discuss with the eunuchs how to improve their lunch. Before, it was okay, but now looking at Xie Xun's steaming, savory, and delicious box lunch, who could bear it anymore?
As they were thinking, they threw the braised trotters into their mouths.
Trotters were an ingredient they had never eaten before. The sections attached to the bone were lean; the thick layer above was the prized essence—yielding but not mushy, rich but not oily, with a delightful resistance to the bite. From it rose a mellow, potent fragrance of meat that grew ever more aromatic and complex the longer one chewed.
The stewed pork trotters were marinated so deliciously, and even the bones were soaked in stew. After eating the meat wrapped on the bones, everyone put the bones on the tip of their tongues and rolled them around before spitting them out with their sleeves covering their mouth.
Just now, the sweet and sour fish scent in their mouth had been replaced by the stew flavor, which was spicy and fresh, with a slight sweetness and refreshing taste of Chinese herbs, which had rich layers and long-lasting fragrance.
They turned their gaze to Xie Xun. Some of them already planned to find out where the top chefs in Xie's house were dug, so they had such skills. As for what Xie Xun mentioned about being something his wife had prepared, no one in the room believed it. Jiang Shuyao's reputation for being an empty brain was firmly imposed.
Some were still reminiscing about the trotters, and asked, "Boyuan, what ingredients were these made of?"
Xie Xun swallowed the rice in his mouth and uttered two words very flatly, "Pork trotters."
They were ready to hear the name of some rare mountain treasure, and suddenly they heard about trotters. Everyone was dumbfounded.
Some of their complexions changed and it was unclear what sort of scene they were picturing. They were busy drinking and rinsing their mouths. Some smacked their mouths, disappointed to think that such delicious food was made with such sordid ingredients. Some thought about going home and asked the chef of the house to make it too. It's just that they don't know if their parents would scold them...
No matter what they were thinking, Xie Xun ate his rice bowls—humming in his heart that some people were not worthy to enjoy Jiang Shuyao's delicacies.
He finished the rice bowl, and even the sauce was wiped clean.
This could be considered to live up to the quality of the food and Jiang Shuyao's wishes.
If you enjoyed Serena’s work, buy her a ko-fi! 