Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 6
Tled by Serena Love
Edited by and unsaltedfish
Chapter 6: Double Skin Milk Pudding
Mrs. Xiangyang internally scolded the old bastard. His acting ability was excellent, but what did those two short words even mean? Why not say a few more words? Where is his usual skill of coaxing concubines?
She hurriedly broke the silence and smiled, "Move your chopsticks and eat."
From the corner of her eye, she saw Count Xiangyang move his chopsticks to pick the boiled fish filet. She couldn't help but wonder: this old thing is so proud, but he sacrificed a lot for his daughter's face today.
However, noble ladies didn't need to be good at cooking; it was enough to have filial piety.
She scooped a spoonful of mutton soup. The minced meat was over-stewed so it melted in the mouth, but the bad aftertaste wouldn’t go away. She hurriedly used a pair of chopsticks to pick up pickled celery to suppress the aftertaste. After only two bites, she had lost her appetite.
Jiang Shuyao brought a bowl of chicken soup with bamboo mushroom and fresh abalone to her mother and said, "Mother, this chicken soup has been simmered on the wood fire for ages. Look, there's a thin layer of oil on the noodles. It tastes so delicious that I want to swallow my tongue. Try it."
In the face of Jiang Shuyao’s persuasion, Mrs. Xiangyang couldn't refuse even if she had no appetite. She took a sip. It was indeed a savory chicken soup that was full of flavor, but she was used to drinking chicken soup and therefore found the dish boring.
"Father." Jiang Shuyao served Count Xiangyang a bowl of chicken soup, playing the role of filial daughter skillfully.
Count Xiangyang enjoyed the soup very much. A thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, his tongue became slightly numb, and he couldn't stop eating due to the stimulating and spicy taste.
"Why drink soup? Come here, bring wine!"
Mrs. Xiangyang finally noticed that something was wrong, and took a few glances at the two brightly colored dishes. Jiang Shuyao immediately scooped a spoonful of Mapo tofu for her with a shared spoon.
The tofu was fresh and tender, covered in brown-red sauce, and when paired with the gleaming white rice, really made people wonder about the taste.
Mrs. Xiangyang picked up rice mixed with Mapo tofu and put it in her mouth.
Her initial reaction was that it was hot. The starch used for thickening retained the heat of the tofu and enhanced the numbing flavor. Perhaps it was not heat, but a tingling numbness—the fresh, aromatic spice awakened the taste buds, the plump, fragrant, and tender rice pairing perfectly with the melt-in-the-mouth silken tofu, each bite offering a layered texture, leaving behind a lingering, savory-numbing aftertaste long after it was swallowed.
She looked at Jiang Shuyao in amazement, and when she saw the smile in her eyes, she immediately understood.
She was a mother who knew her own daughter. The girl must’ve found a chef and lied about cooking it herself. Her daughter sure has become a lot smarter.
She looked up at Xie Xun. She was about to say a few words like "little girl has poor craftsmanship," but she saw that the bowl of white rice in front of Xie Xun was already halved!
Then, she looked at the chopsticks of Count Xiangyang which were continually scooping the boiled fish fillets, making his face flushed.
Her words were stuck in her throat, and she quickly scooped a few spoonfuls of mapo tofu into her bowl fearing that she'd lose control of her words.
She stirred and swallowed it in a big mouthful, making it even more delicious. She forgot that she had a bad appetite just now.
Xie Xun's rice bowl soon emptied. His posture of eating rice was elegant and refined, unlike Count Xiangyang who just gobbled rice up. When he finished eating, no one noticed that he had lost his composure from eating too quickly.
He glanced at the side dishes that were about to be swept clean, frowned slightly, retracted his gaze, and sat quietly, waiting for Count Xiangyang to finish eating.
He was born handsome, with a cold and detached temperament. At this moment, his frown heightened his aura of indifference, which caused the maids standing nearby to glance at him.
It was unclear why such an ethereal son-in-law looked troubled.
"The ethereal son-in-law" looked at the soup bowl. It was so hot and spicy; he really wanted to drink a cup of tea...
Noblemen usually ate attentively until 80% fullness, but today several people ate past that limit, and Jiang Shuyao displayed her lazy and boneless appearance again.
The two of them bid farewell to Count and Countess Xiangyang and returned home. The sun was just right in the afternoon, warming them so that they almost couldn't open their eyes.
Xie Xun walked beside her and saw her appearance. He couldn't help but feel disdainful, but he still slowed down and they walked slowly outside the house under the warm sunlight.
"You really made those two dishes just now?" Xie Xun asked while walking.
Jiang Shuyao casually replied, "Yeah."
Xie Xun swallowed the rest of his words again, regretting that he just talked to Jiang Shuyao. He really must have let the sun bake his wits away.
He quickened his pace and soon left Jiang Shuyao behind.
Jiang Shuyao looked at his back and mumbled, "What a strange man."
…
Count Xiangyang's Mansion and Duke Xie's Mansion weren’t far apart. As the carriage swayed back and forth, Jiang Shuyao lifted a curtain corner and poked out her head to look. Xie Xun, never one to expect anything from her, simply let her be.
Along the way, there wasn’t anything to see other than the mansions. Just as Jiang Shuyao was about to lower the curtain, she saw a wooden cart approaching and turning the corner to the back door of a mansion.
Seeing that it was a novel thing, she asked, "What is this?"
Bai Zhi wasn’t quite sure, but the young man sitting in front of the carriage replied, "Responding to Madam, that’s someone from a Hu[1] shop in Xishi delivering goat milk."
"Goat milk?"Jiang Shuyao’s eyes lit up, "There’s milk?"
"In the Hu shop, there is milk but the price is expensive. The fourth young master of the house usually drinks some milk on weekdays."
The founding emperor of this dynasty reformed commerce and industry, promoting exchange between the Central Plains (of China) and the Hu lands (non-Han people), thereby hastening the introduction of dairy products into the Central Plains.
During the Tang Dynasty, cheese and other dairy products were tributes to the royal family from the ethnic minorities on the border. Some pharmacists also regarded cow milk as a nourishing food.
According to an old record: "From the cow comes milk, from milk comes curdled milk, from curdled milk comes fresh butter, from fresh butter comes clarified butter, and from clarified butter comes ghee—ghee being supreme[2]." The ingenuity of the Chinese ancients was boundless; even then, they had already mastered the making of refined dairy products such as butter and ghee, to say nothing of milk powder, cream cheese, hard cheese, milk solids, and fermented cheese. In fact, China’s sterilized milk powder technology predates that of foreign lands by more than twelve centuries.
Besides dairy products, milk can be used to make many simple and delicious desserts.
For example, milk tea, a favorite of modern young people, can be made with many types of tea such as black tea, green tea, oolong tea, and so on. If combined with ice cream in summer and taro balls with milk in winter, a single sip is enough to make one burst from happiness.
Jiang Shuyao immediately instructed Bai Zhi, "I want milk too!" Then, she thought of the essential cream for dessert, described it in detail, and asked Bai Zhi to go to the Hu shop to make inquiries.
Bai Zhi naturally nodded.
When the carriage arrived at Duke Xie's mansion, Jiang Shuyao, who was excited, didn't even need a footstool and directly jumped down with her large skirt.
Xie Xun saw how different she was from when she was in Count Xiangyang's Mansion and couldn't help but do a double take. Then, he saw his eldest nephew, Xie Ye, and his second nephew, Xie Hao, who also happened to be returning to the mansion.
His face became stiff. Jiang Shuyao acted shamefully in front of his two nephews, making him feel a little embarrassed.
Xie Ye and Xie Hao, also feeling a little embarrassed, stepped forward to greet them, "Third Uncle, Third Aunt."
After exchanging greetings, they noticed Jiang Shuyou’s odd attire and couldn’t help but look her over a few more times—only to freeze in place. All at once, they were reminded of that spring two years ago, when during a lake outing Jiang Shuyou had dressed in just such a manner, joining her circle of young ladies to spy on the youths of the poetry and literature society, causing a great scandal. As it happened, the two of them had been among those being "molested".
The two looked at each other and hurriedly ran away, feeling even more sympathetic for their third uncle.
Xie Xun’s expression grew colder when he understood the expression on their faces.
Jiang Shuyao was oblivious to this and hurried back to the house, "The powder on my face is too uncomfortable. I need to wash my face quickly."
Xie Ye and Xie Hao parted and went to the main room to see Xu-shi first. As soon as they stepped into the yard, they heard Xu-shi shout, "Where are they? Didn't I tell you to look after them?"
Xie Ye was a little surprised. His mother was a talented young lady from a scholarly family who had always paid attention to rules and etiquette. He hadn't heard her raise her voice since he was a child.
"Mother?" He quickly walked toward Xu-shi.
Xu-shi looked at him as if he were her savior and anxiously said, “Go and bring your brothers back!"
"Ah Zhao and Ah Yao?" Xie Ye was puzzled.
Xu-shi was so anxious she was about to stamp her feet, "Yes, go quickly! Don't let them go to your third aunt's yard." Everyone in the whole house was avoiding Jiang Shuyao, and only Xie Zhao and Xie Yao wanted to visit her yard. After they came back that day, Xu-shi specifically watched them so they wouldn't run around. When Jiang Shuyao returned home today, she sighed in relief and got busy with her affairs. But when she turned around, the two little guys had slipped away.
Xie Ye still wanted to ask more, but seeing Xu-shi’s poor complexion, he shut up and went to chase his brothers.
On the other side, Jiang Shuyao stared at two small carrot heads[3], one fat and one thin, wondering, "Why are you here?"
Ah Zhao spoke like a little adult, "Does the third aunt not welcome us?"
Ah Yao held a bamboo tube in his hand and nodded.
Jiang Shuyao was able to get along well with the children, and smiled after hearing this, "You are not here for a meal, right?"
Ah Zhao chuckled.
She shifted her gaze to the bamboo tube in Ah Yao's hand, "What is this?"
Ah Zhao replied, "Milk. The doctor said that drinking it regularly can strengthen the body."
"Yeah," Ah Yao nodded and lifted the bamboo cover. After taking a sip, his little face wrinkled and he closed the lid again.
"Why don't you drink it?" Jiang Shuyao asked when she saw this.
This time, Ah Yao spoke by himself, his voice was as soft as a mosquito, "It's hard to drink."
The short boy looked up at Jiang Shuyao. His black and white eyes were wet, and Jiang Shuyao felt pity and asked "Well, how about Third Aunt make you a dessert with milk?"
She took the bamboo tube, uncovered the lid, and smelled it. The smell of milk was indeed strong.
Leading two small buns into the kitchen, Jiang Shuyao first heated the milk with almonds and jasmine tea to remove the fishy smell of the milk. Then, she let the milk cool while processing the egg whites.
While she was busy making double skin milk pudding, Xie Ye rushed to his uncle's study. He was about the same age as Jiang Shuyao and wanted to avoid misunderstandings, so he asked the servants to lead him to Xie Xun's study.
Xie Xun listened to him and suddenly thought of the rice noodles he’d eaten the other night. He looked upward awkwardly, trying to determine whether it was time for dinner.
"Third uncle?" Xie Ye called out to make him regain his senses.
Xie Xun's expression remained unchanged, "I'll see if they’re in her yard."
Xie Ye blushed a little. The children wanted to play with Jiang Shuyao, but they insisted on telling them to come back. This put Jiang Shuyao in an awkward situation.
He glanced at Xie Xun's face and saw that his expression didn’t change, which made him feel relieved. Although Jiang Shuyao was his wife, Third Uncle may hate her more than they do.
Xie Ye followed Xie Xun out and stopped outside the courtyard. He didn't want to see this Third Aunt...
Xie Xun didn't say anything. He stepped into the courtyard and walked directly to the small kitchen.
Sure enough, he met the three people in the small kitchen.
Double skin milk pudding[4] had just come out of the pot. Jiang Shuyao brought the porcelain bowl out of the pot and touched her earlobe because of the heat. From the corner of her eye, she could see a figure at the kitchen door. When she turned around, she saw Xie Xun and was shocked.
Footnotes:
1. The Hu are an ethnic minority group in ancient China.
2. The quote is referring to the book ‘佛學大辭典 (A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms)’, written by Ding Fubao, was a medical doctor and noted scholar. Apologies if it's kinda hard to understand, the dairy products of China are a little different from the West, so I substituted the best I could. Also, the Chinese term for ghee (醍醐) can also mean nirvana or Buddha nature/truth.
3. “Small carrot heads” is an affectionate term to refer to little children.
4. Double skin milk pudding is a Cantonese dessert made of milk, egg whites, and sugar. It was invented in Shunde, Guangdong, and is a velvety smooth milk custard somewhat resembling panna cotta with double skin. The first skin is formed during the cooling of the boiled milk and the second is formed during the cooling of the cooked custard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2im10KGOTY
