Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 70
Tled by Serena Love
Unedited
Chapter 70 (1): Street Food Market
After selecting the location of the street food market, Jiang Shuyao specially visited it. It is not a prosperous area, but there are many residents nearby. Most of them are people who are not too tight financially.
The restaurant opening gave Lin-shi a taste of the wonderful sense of accomplishment, so she didn't save any money on the street food market, taking the strategy of small profits but quick turnover.
But for the sales and whether it will be successful as a market, both Lin-shi and Jiang Shuyao are a little worried.
At night, Jiang Shuyao tossed on the bed and couldn't fall asleep. Her clothes made a slight rubbing noise against the sheets.
Xie Xun is a light sleeper and was awakened by the sound.
Jiang Shuyao was thinking about opening the street food market tomorrow, but she suddenly felt a soft and cool breeze blowing from her shoulder.
She turned around and found Xie Xun had woken up at some point and was fanning her.
She was a little dizzy and looked at Xie Xun.
Xie Xun felt her gaze and said, "It's really hot today, but it will be fine after a while. Tomorrow I will ask someone to put some ice basins in the corner of the room at night."
Jiang Shuyao laughed and suddenly felt less anxious, "I'm not sleeping, not because it's too hot. I'm just worried about the street food market."
Xie Xun stopped fanning, "What's the worry? Your craft is so good. The deep alley will not hide the fragrance of wine."
"It's the first time we are trying a food market, and the cost was not cheap."
Xie Xun started fanning her again with a gentle force, "Don't think about it now. Hurry up and go to bed. Tomorrow you will go over there and have a look. I will go over to accompany you when I'm done."
The wind is refreshing and gentle on her body, and it is easily touches her heart. Jiang Shuyao feels soft. She wants to say something to Xie Xun, but she doesn't know where to start.
"No need to fan anymore. I don't feel hot," she said.
Xie Xun paused, fearing that she would be too cold, he had to put the fan back on the bedside.
Jiang Shuyao looked at his vague figure in the dark night, somehow unable to look away, and said with emotion, "Xie Boyuan, you are really nice."
Xie Xun lay back and chuckled when he heard this.
He likes to have a cold face and doesn't laugh often, but the sound of his laughter is very nice, like spring water hitting goose eggs, making Jiang Shuyao's ears itchy.
He said, "Then I have to work harder."
His sentence was vague, like a joke, and also sounds like a confession. It made Jiang Shuyao's heart beating hard, and she couldn't help but think about what he meant and whether he could feel her inexplicable throbbing heart.
Although she still had the same thoughts as before, this time, she fell asleep quickly.
In the afternoon of the next day, Jiang Shuyao went out to the street food market.
Lin-shi's stomach had already begun to show, but her spirit was several times better than before. After Jiang Shuyao got off the carriage, she took her to walk inside without waiting for her to catch her breath.
She has a loud voice and is obviously very excited, "Come and see, I have everything ready, do you want to taste it? I worry that the taste is too far from what you cooked."
Jiang Shuyao comforted her, "Why? If it is made strictly according to the recipe, it won't be bad." The Chinese usually cook with a measure of feeling, the words "a little," "appropriate," and "a large spoonful" are often used to describe the amount of seasoning. But Jiang Shuyao deliberately made measuring spoons and measuring cups, just like modern franchise stores. So all dishes are cooked according to the standard amount to ensure the consistency of taste.
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Lin-shi thought of this and smiled heartily, "That's also true."
Jiang Shuyao is not worried about the taste, but whether people can adapt to the street food market model in ancient times. She analyzed her worries one by one to Lin-shi, and she comforts her again, "What are you afraid of? It's not a big deal to lose some money. The Lin family can still afford this little cost."
By the time she arrived, the summer sky was still bright, but Lin-shi had ordered the steward to let the shops hang up the lanterns in advance, fearing that it would be too late.
Seeing her so confident, Jiang Shuyao felt even more pressured.
The staff hired by the Lin family were all swift and quick to work. The steward's instructions were passed on, and people immediately began to cook. After a while, the aroma drifted out.
Because the road closure and refurbishment of this street were very serious before, many people watched the excitement. So this afternoon, when the roadblock was removed, and the large-print signboards were displayed, everyone knew that there was a series of shops here.
When they opened the restaurant at the wharf, it also relied on word of mouth and the smell of fragrance, so this time Lin-shi did not deliberately promote anything and was confident that the market could attract diners just by the taste.
But the street food market was so loud, people felt that the price was high at first glance, and they didn't dare to enter.
The aroma gradually drifted outwards, some spicy and fresh, which attracted people passing by on the street to probe their heads.
Everyone was hawking, but no one came in. The street food market seemed even more deserted under the envelope of various aromas.
Lin-shi was sitting on the second floor, holding a teacup and sipping tea at ease, looking not worried at all.
Jiang Shuyao is under a lot of pressure. She thought a little bit more than Lin-shi. In Lin-shi 's eyes, this is just a street selling novelty foods, but Jiang Shuyao knows that this is a collision between modern business models and the ancient food industry.
At this time, if people want to eat some exciting meals, they usually go to restaurants to consume them. Although the price is not low, the atmosphere is high-grade, and there is a pleasant feeling. If they want to change their taste and eat home-cooked meals, they will choose cheap food stalls. The meals are not exquisite, but it could make them full. This street food market is neither. It is purely using deliciousness as a selling point, so it would be challenging.
As time passed by, curious passers-by came in and looked around. They saw higher prices than ordinary shops and the novel names of food on the signboard. Although the aroma was strong and it attracted greedy people, no one wanted to buy. People are afraid that those who try first will waste money.
Jiang Shuyao couldn't sit still anymore, and she went down from the second floor while holding her skirt. She walked around the street food market. From people's conversations, she can tell that they are really curious about food, but they are unwilling to pay to try it. So she plans to go back to the second floor, hoping that Lin-shi will let everyone try for free and have some sort of opening day sale.
It's all because of her eagerness to devote herself to food and forget about marketing. Just opening the market dryly, relying on the taste, how could they able to sustain it?
Before she stepped out, a noisy sound suddenly came from behind her. Jiang Shuyao looked back and saw a series of carriages coming in and stopping on the street.
The maid stepped down from the carriage, put down the horse stool, and opened the curtain. Then some ladies walked off the carriage.
When such a large group of people came, the street food market suddenly became lively.
"What's the matter? Where is this?" someone asked.
"Yes, aren't we going to the restaurant? When did people open a restaurant here?"
"It doesn't look like it, but it looks like a market."
"Hey, do you smell it? It smells good."
From the front carriage, a beautiful goddess floated down. People could feel her cold and dust-free beauty through the veiled hat. The ladies who were chatting just now quieted down and asked her, "Qingshu, this place is?"
Ge Qingshu lifted a corner of her veiled hat slightly, took a sip of the aroma of food, and her tone was cheerful, "Of course, I'm here to eat."
They were taken aback, and when they were hesitating, Ge Qingshu stepped into the street food market first, "The food here is better than a restaurant." She took a few steps, remembering something, and turned around, "By the way, you can just go to the restaurant yourself, leave me here." She forgot to say goodbye to the rest of the people after she ordered the coachman, causing the group of people to follow her carriage to this street food market.
Noble ladies often feel bored at home so they form a poetry club. They come out to gather every three days, but sometimes they don't want to recite poems against each other. They still use the excuse of going to poetry club when they go shopping or buy jewelry. After having fun, they will go to to have a meal. Subconsciously, they thought that this time, they would go to a restaurant.
Now that Ge Qingshu entered the street food market, some hesitated and didn't want to eat in this small street food market, but some couldn't help but curiously followed her.
When Jiang Shuyao saw Ge Qingshu walking towards her, and standing not far away, she wanted to say hello to her, but Ge Qingshu suddenly turned around.
She lifted her obstructive drapery hat and looked at the sign of the market behind her. Then she turned to look at the sign of the other side of the market and muttered, "Which one is better?"
After speaking, she paused for a few seconds and suddenly strode towards Jiang Shuyao.
It turns out that she didn't see her just now. Jiang Shuyao scratched her head and smiled warmly at Ge Qingshu, "You--"
As soon as she uttered a syllable, Ge Qingshu floated away from her.
She walked hurriedly, like a breeze, and muttered in a flat, high-cold tone, "It smells so good."
Jiang Shuyao: ...
After she floated away, a large wave of nice scented ladies passed by and chatted with her, "It smells even better once we went deeper."
"Why no one buys anything?"
"Look at that, what is Malatang? What are these grilled skewers?"
Jiang Shuyao tried hard to pass between them and caught up with Ge Qingshu, who is standing in front of the rice noodle shop.
Chapter 70 (2): Rice Noodles
"Why are you here?" she said.
Ge Qingshu returned to her senses, turned to look at Jiang Shuyao, and said in surprise, "Huh, are you here?" She saw that Jiang Shuyao was not wearing any veiled hat, so she lifted hers. "Last time you wrote that the street food market is open today."
Jiang Shuyao just wrote to her to gossip, but she never thought she would come over to join the fun.
Before she managed to thank her, her words were held back by Ge Qingshu's words, "The food sold in these stores smells delicious. You can introduce it to me quickly. I can't pick which one I want."
Jiang Shuyao started introducing the rice noodle shop in front of them, saying, "This shop sells rice noodles. The rice noodles are made from rice flour and similar to egg noodles. The texture is flexible, thin, smooth, and soft. It is served with soup. It's delicious, and some are mixed with simmered seeds, which are silky and tasty."
Before she finished the introduction, Ge Qingshu had finalized her choice, "Just eat this then." And she went into the shop.
Jiang Shuyao was left behind and was trying to keep up, but she was squeezed away by the noble ladies who rushed behind Ge Qingshu. The waiters had not seen this scene before, and when they saw this large group of noble ladies and maids, they didn't dare to lift their heads. They quickly led them to the second floor, where each table is covered by privacy screens, which barely make a private room.
After everyone was seated, they took a look at the menu made of craft paper and fell into distress. There are so many types, which one is better?
Ge Qingshu didn't have any distressed and entangled expression on her face. She counted the number of people present and the types of noodles on the menu, then ordered, "Let's have one each."
There are many flavors of rice noodles. Jiangxi, Hunan, Yunguichuan, and other places have different styles, but the most important thing is rice noodles' softness and tenderness.
The food is served very quickly in the store. Bowls of rice noodles with different aromas and different side dishes are served on the table. Hot mist is enveloping with various diffused scent.
Ge Qingshu dragged the bowl of rice noodles in front of her closer and said to everyone, "Everyone, just eat from the bowl in front of you, save time and trouble to pick."
The ladies hurriedly whispered flattery to praise her for her intelligence, but they went quiet without saying too many words because the rice noodles were so fragrant. After smelling it, their tongue could not hold back their saliva, and their belly began to growl.
They dragged the rice noodles bowl closer and saw that the rice noodles were as tender as jade, thin as cicada wings, and beautiful as silk yarn. They were soaked in shallow or deep soup. The colors were vibrant, and the meat was thick. When they stir it, the fragrance overflows to their faces.
Although the raw materials of rice noodles are rice, they have different preparation methods and taste differences. Rice is smooth and firm, while rice noodles are mostly soft and waxy. When people used chopsticks to pick up rice noodles, which are extremely smooth and tender, they won't catch them. The noodles would slumped softly between the chopsticks.
No matter how many people worry about this kind of ordinary small market just now, as soon as the rice noodles entered their mouth, all their thoughts were washed away by the unspeakable taste.
The rice noodles are very soft and tender, and the texture is soft and waxy, full of moisture. When chewed, and the savory taste of the soup is blooming in the mouth. The taste is light and smooth, but it can absorb the soup, as if the tender and glutinous aroma of the rice noodles are all filled with the soup. Unlike usual noodles, which became soft and absorbed the soup when cooked but it would become full of mass and lose its deliciousness. However, while the rice noodles are soft and mellow, they can keep the soup from making it soggy.
The soup base is very fresh, including ribs soup, chicken soup, and big bone soup. Some flavors only focus on freshness. The clear and pure freshness is like a breeze, and the whole body reveals a soft stretch. When the umami taste reaches a certain level, it will be slightly sweet and refreshing, highlighting the rice noodles' mellow rice flavor. The fresh soup and the rice noodles with a slight sweetness, even as a noble lady, they are used to eating less since childhood, they can't help but eating bite after bite.
In the beginning, they still picky and took a small bite with a gentle rhythm. Later, they buried their head in the bowl and stretched their neck forward. As soon as their lips touched the soft rice noodles, they gurgled gently, and the full juice gradually went up and down. In their lips, rice noodles are as soft and smooth as silk and satin. After one sip and one chew, it is sliding down the throat with endless freshness and warmth.
No wonder some people call eating noodles "drinking noodles" or "slurping noodles." It is hard to imagine that rice noodles can keep smooth and soft while being glutinous and flexible, while making the taste elastic and not broken.
The topping of rice noodles is very rich. Whether it's ordinary sliced meat, shredded pork, or fatty intestines, lamb offal, chicken offal, ribs, etc., everything can be interesting. After adapting to the taste of rice noodles, they occasionally picked a small piece of the topping. The chicken is fragrant and crispy; the meat is rich; the intestines are soft and chewy. The more they chewed, the more mellow it is. It only enriches the taste but does not take the limelight from the rice noodles.
In addition to the normal fresh clear soup, there is also a stewed soup made with various herbs and spices, such as grass fruit, fennel, Chinese pepper, tangerine peel, etc. The taste is rich, and the mouth is full of mildly jumping fragrance.
It is a must to pair the noodles with pancakes to soak in the soup. After the pancakes fully absorb the soup, the outer skin is oily and crisp, but the inside is filled with a tender filling. After one bite, their mouth seems unable to hold the steady flow of soup, and even the pancake crust became extremely mellow.
Who here is not a proud lady who likes to eat vegetables and light dishes? They dare not eat heavy tastes for fear of getting addicted, but at this moment, there is a small pancake competition.
"Give me half of yours."
"Hey, didn't you eat one already? Why did you clip another one?"
"Don't you like greasy things? Even a vegetarian bean cake is too greasy for you. Why bother to grab this piece with me."
No matter how they were fighting, Ge Qingshu wiped her mouth, got up gracefully, and asked a waiter to pack a portion of dry mixed rice noodles to take away. After all, eating two bowls in front of these ladies would reveal her true nature.
The ladies, who were following her, were a little hesitant when they saw her leaving, but they still not planning to follow her this time.
"Qingshu has a small appetite. We are different. It is important to eat properly. Don't starve yourself."
"It's reasonable."
The dry mixed rice noodles are packaged in a bamboo tube, with banana leaves padded inside. It was held by the maid and still exuding some fragrance. Ge Qingshu came down from the second floor and realized that she was eating and drinking and forgot about Jiang Shuyao. She panicked and hurried out of the shop to find her.
Because of the influx of a group of noble ladies just now, some diners are finally willing to taste the food. After the first one ate, the second one followed. One by one, the business is booming, and the streets are full of liveliness and crowds.
Her maid cleared the way for her. She went around and didn't see Jiang Shuyao. When she was about to leave, she saw Jiang Shuyao's back.
Ge Qingshu hurriedly walked over, lifted her hat, and shouted, "Shuyao!"
Jiang Shuyao turned her head, and the person standing beside her also turned her head. Ge Qingshu thought that they were just standing close to each other, but not acquaintances, so she walked a few steps forward and held Jiang Shuyao, "What's the matter with you? I went upstairs just now, and you disappeared when I turned around."
After she finished speaking, she suddenly felt that the atmosphere was not right. When she looked to the side, she found that the beauty which she squeezed away just now was raising her eyebrows and staring at her unkindly.
After Jiang Shuyao was squeezed away by the group of noble ladies, she met Xu-shi and Zhou-shi, who came out with their children. The children were taken away for dinner by the maids and stewards, but Jiang Shuyao entertained them. After the three of them had finished eating, they thought about going back to the carriage and waiting for the children to come back. They were about to get on the carriage, but Ge Qingshu stopped them, so this scene happened.
Ge Qingshu's expression remained unchanged, and she nodded to Xu-shi and Zhou-shi and asked, "This is?"
Jiang Shuyao quickly introduced them to each other.
Ge Qingshu asked her servants to get the carriage, and Xu-shi said politely, "Miss Ge might as well wait in our carriage."
She thought she would decline, but Ge Qingshu nodded slightly and said unhurriedly, "Thank you so much. It just so happens that Shuyao and I have something to say."
Zhou-shi glanced at Xu-shi, and Xu-shi returned it with an indifferent look.
The four people got in the car one by one. After Ge Qingshu sat down, she said a set of communicative opening remarks familiar to Xu-shi and Zhou-shi. Everyone is a noblewoman who often enters and exits the banquet. But the atmosphere is particularly stalemate and weird.
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After the three of them stopped talking, Jiang Shuyao said, "Qingshu, what do you think of the taste?" Xu-shi and Zhou-shi had a meal with her, so she didn't need to ask them.
Ge Qingshu tilted her head, "Excellent. It's a pity that there are so many kinds of food mentioned in your letter, but today I can only eat one."
As Jiang Shuyao was about to speak, Zhou-shi first answered her, "Letter? Miss Ge often has correspondence with Yaoyao?"
Ge Qingshu met her gaze and suddenly raised the corner of her mouth slightly, "Yes."
The two sets of eyes collided, and Zhou-shi felt the provocation. She raised half of her eyebrows, "So, it seems that today's opening is also mentioned in the letter?"
Ge Qingshu was calm and relaxed. Her tone was neither salty nor light, "Exactly. Today we have a small gathering in the poetry club, so we came here after we finished."
"Poetry Club?" Zhou-shi seemed a little surprised, "Miss Ge is indeed the number one talented woman in Beijing."
Ge Qingshu glanced over Jiang Shuyao, and when she saw her looking at herself, her expression became calmer, "I dare not to claim this title."
Zhou-shi's body was leaning on the wall of the carriage, with an air of arrogance, and she smiled, "It's a coincidence. I remember that the first talented woman in Beijing used to be the eldest sister-in-law, but then she became lazy and didn't want to socialize. Then the title of the first fell aside."
Xu-shi finally spoke, "What are these false titles for?"
Zhou-shi glanced at her. The two's thoughts synchronize, and they decided to join forces unanimously. Zhou-shi said, "By the way, it seems that the eldest sister-in-law organized this poetry club."
Xu-shi said, "It was just a whim."
Ge Qingshu looked at them, lowered her eyes, and suddenly raised her hand to hold Jiang Shuyao. She tugged her to her side and smiled, "It's really a coincidence, Shuyao, don't you think so?"
Xu-shi's and Zhou-shi's eyes met Ge Qingshu's in the air, and sparks seemed to burst for a while.
Jiang Shuyao: ...I should have waited outside the carriage, not inside.
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