Chang’an Small Restaurant Chapter 33 (Part 1)
Translated by Pure (ko-fi)
Chapter 33.1 The Evil of Hot Pot
The city’s Board Chronicler[1] was an old resident of the capital. He was a talkative man and knew many of the past local events. When Lin Yan made a casual mention, he immediately spilt the beans.
"Deputy Minister Shen was about the same age as this junior official. He's the younger generation of the Shen Clan in Luoyang, and was born to become a jinshi. Not only was his literary grace outstanding, he was also a handsome fella..."
While Lin Yan was investigating the former affair of the Shen Residence, Shen Shaoguang was fiddling with a hot pot cooker.
She had heard so many things about her current family’s past that day. When compared to what she knew from the residue memories, perhaps the past was objectively tragic or because of their blood-related connection, Shen Shaoguang fell into a state of misery. She even dreamt about the original body's childhood for several nights in a row.
That young child seemed to be herself, yet at the same time, not. The handsome and loving father, an elegant and sometimes arrogant mother, her calm elder brother, the green bamboo in the front yard, the asiatic crabapple in the backyard, the parrot by the veranda, and the swing under the tree...
When she would wake up, the pillow cover was always wet.
In order to fight against this melancholy, Shen Shaoguang increasingly tormented herself to march forward.
Since she wasn’t dead, then she must live on vigorously.
So what should she torment about? Torment for a hot pot cooker!
The great foodie, Yuan Mei, once said ‘abstinence from hot pot’; he believed no matter what base ingredients used, with all the material added into the same pot at the same time, was really lacking in standards. He would stump many with a direct question, asking ‘is there even a specific taste of hotpot?’ Although Shen Shaoguang used Yuan Mei’s food list as a basis for her own research, she disagreed with this belief. Afterall, winter would be really tasteless without the existence of hot pot.
Slices of raw beef, mutton, chicken, pork, fish, etc, along with prawn balls, fish balls, meat balls, and various other rounds; mushrooms, dried shiitake, winter bamboo shoots, bok choy, field mustard, and crown daisy, and various other vegetables; even some beef or sheep inwards, or bean related-products. According to personal preferences, anything could be added into the hot pot one by one. It's then fished out and dipped in oil, sesame paste, sesame sauce, garlic paste, fermented bean curd, hoisin sauce, or miscellaneous mixed sauces, and enjoyed...
Once started, it was impossible to stop eating!
Perhaps the beauty of hot pot laid in the hustle, bustle, and sumptuous atmosphere, and Yuan Mei, who stressed the importance of exquisite delicacy, found it hard to accept.
Hot pot had already been introduced prior to this dynasty. In winter, a small ding[2] would be set up in the palace, the various sauces would be right beside the vessel, and the foods were to be eaten right away.
The difference was that only one kind of meat was cooked at a time; it was either beef, mutton, fish filet, venison, and sometimes other game, nothing like the mish-mash pot in the future. The soup base was generally just bone broth, with none of the magical soup bases in the future era with the existence of chili pepper. The dipping sauces were also different from those of later generations, most of the time, it was just soy essence with sesame oil, and sometimes vinegar would also be added.
Shen Shaoguang felt that it was necessary for the people of the Tang Dynasty, who loved the bustle and liveliness, to try the excitement of real hot pot.
The first step was to customize a few pots.
Shen Shaoguang sketched out a model of a copper hot pot often seen in the modern age, and commissioned craftsmen to recreate it. It was done quickly and the craftsmanship was superb. In some places, traces of handwork can be faintly discerned. Each pot was quite heavy, so thick and heavy that it could be used until the end of time— which was why it was very expensive! In this period where metal was currency, the cost of ten copper pots painfully wrung at Shen Shaoguang’s heart.
The second step was to give it publicity. How about hosting a hot pot festival? Draw a picture of a hot pot, write ‘Upon the red a copper stove, small cauldron of countless flavors unfold’ above? Or take advantage of the Xiaoxue solar term[3], come up with something similar to artisticness of the verse ‘the snow is aflutter tonight, how about a cup before flight[4]’?
Shen Shaoguang thought about it, and finally chose the former. Artistic literacy was actually a technical job, and with her (lack of) poetic talent, it was best not to make an exhibition of herself.
Of course, the most important thing about food festivals was the addition of discounts. Those who come from the economic society all knew that festivals and holidays meant discounts and spending money.
Yu San was no stranger to the way of cooking while eating— it could be seen that his former owner was a real foodie. Even for the shape of the hot pot cooker, Yu San quickly accepted. Especially after Shen Shaoguang demonstrated to him the miraculous functions of turning the stove knob, he nodded in laud.
It was rare to see this little tsuntsun princess acting so positively, so Shen Shaoguang proudly explained to him the relationship between the shape of the passage, the velocity of the air flow, and the intensity of the fire.
It's a pity that ‘little princess’ disagreed with Shen Shaoguang's way of eating everything in a ‘small cauldron of countless flavors’. "Wouldn’t that mix a series of flavors all together?"
"We want a mix of flavors!"
Yu San was rendered speechless by Shen Shaoguang.
A’Yuan was a bystander watching the whole amusing scene. Although she hadn't sampled it yet, A’Yuan had already decided that she liked this type of hot pot.
After clearing out some free time, Shen Shaoguang took A’Yuan and Yu San to try her style of hot pot in advance.
Yu San was reluctant to do so, but under Shen Shaoguang's abuse of authority, he had no choice but to obey.
During the meal, Yu San's unwillingness expression gradually became casual and indifferent. From the amount he ate, Shen Shaoguang believed she was probably right to think he had enjoyed it in the end; of course Princess Yu San would not admit such a thing.
A’Yuan didn't care to engage in any type of mental disputes, she relished everything in big mouthfuls— How is this stuff so appetizing?! Miss is amazing!
The people who shared the same sentiments as A’Yuan were not low in number. Of course, there are also people who belonged to the Yu San’s school of thought. At the beginning, they only ordered one type of meat to cook, with the accompanying sauce also being the most traditional soy essence. However, what could they do if their neighboring tables’ line up was so excessively dazzling? Looking at them eating in a frenzy, why not try it too?
Once they tried it, they were completely hooked.
Shen Shaoguang prepared several kinds of dipping sauces— soy essence with sesame oil, sesame paste, soy essence with pepper oil, rice vinegar, plain soy essence, plain sesame oil, and a triple blend (sesame oil, soy essence, and vinegar). There were also additives such as chives, shrimp paste, garlic paste, pepper available; the seasonings were uniformly placed in small bowls on the counter, the guests could pick and choose by themselves.
Due to the flow of clients, or because of the heat of the dinning area, the small tavern seemed to be twice as lively.
Lin Yan came in and furrowed his brows at the sight of the boisterous clamor. Aftering surveying the area, he spotted Miss Shen was helping a table of guests add a tube-shaped object to the strange stove. She was wearing a brand new rouge-colored heavy layered Hufu-style garment[5], with a pleasant expression, and a faint smile on her face. Her current appearance did not bear any semblance from that evening under the lamp.
Seeing him, Shen Shaoguang came over to greet, "Sir Lin, please follow me."
Lin Yan nodded, and followed her to a farther side seat, a little distance from the most noisy table. She was truly a keen and considerate person.
Unfortunately, her next sentence was not very considerate. "Our store is now pushing our new hot pot where one can freely cook their own preferred vegetables and meats. Sir, would you like to give it a try?" Shen Shaoguang smiled and pointed at the counter full of small dishes and bowls over there.
"... Okay."
Shen Shaoguang cheerfully handed over the special hot pot menu. "Have a look, sir. Today's freshly caught carp can be sliced, our mutton is also fresh, and we also just made a batch of soup meatballs. Just be careful when eating and not stain the clothes..."
Once Miss Shen finished energetically reporting the dishes, Lin Yan calmly stated, "This hot pot only needs carp. And then a plate of the previous sweet and tart napa cabbage, fried tofu, and meatballs in clear soup."
"..." Her previous judgment was once again validated; Deputy Magistrate Lin is truly a killjoy!
However, she maintained a smile on her face. "Do you want to order wine? Or would you like some meat buns? We currently have four different stuffings: pure pork meat, shrimp and pork, pickled shepherd's purse with pork, and napa cabbage with pork."
The shepherd's purse was pickled in the middle of spring, and the jar was only just opened a couple days ago. Shepherd's purse was everywhere in the wild in spring, and it was not worth much even in the city, but it was a rare commodity when the snow fell. Since it was so popular, Shen Shaoguang made up her mind to pickle more during the next spring.
Hearing her say ‘pickled shepherd's purse’, Lin Yan suddenly recalled the ‘A’Ji, three years old’ and ‘A’Ji, five years old’ carved on the pillar of the pavilion[6].
"Or how about chicken bótuō noodle soup?"
Lin Yan coughed uncomfortably, "Bótuō is fine."
Shen Shaoguang was unaware that her childhood pet name was made known to an outsider, and was still making fun of the other inwardly. It seems Deputy Magistrate Lin's affection for chicken bótuō noodle soup was true love.
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Footnotes:
[1] Board Chronicler - A special duty official who is in charge of the Six Boards' documents. (Five Departments and Six Boards (五省六曹 or 五省六部) system is a predecessor of Three Departments and Six Ministries system)
[2] ding - Ding are prehistoric and ancient Chinese cauldrons, standing upon legs with a lid and two facing handles. They are one of the most important shapes used in Chinese ritual bronzes.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ding_(vessel)
[3] Xiaoxue (小雪) - is the 20th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 240° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 255°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 240°.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaoxue#:~:text=Xiǎoxuě%20
[4] ‘the snow is aflutter tonight, how about a cup before flight’ (晚来天欲雪，能饮一杯无) - Is the latter half of Poet Bai 'green foam wine' poem that was used in chapter 19. Again, here's the link for the short poem.
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bai-juyi-inviting-green-foamed-new-fermented-wine/
[5] Hufu-style garment (胡服) - is a generic term which refers to any clothing which was worn in ancient China by non-Han Chinese people. The term 'Hu' was adopted to refer to the non-Han Chinese population which could include the ancient 'Hu' northern nomadic people, such as the Xiongnu, as well as the people from the Western regions such as Sogdians, the Sasanid Persian, the Turkic people, Uyghur, Tibetans, and the Khitans. There’s pictures included the link below:
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hufu
[6] The 'Ji' in our MC’s pet name A’Jì (阿荠) is the same in the ‘pickled shepherd's purse (酸荠)’, pronounced “suān jì”.
Foods:
prawn balls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2p3yD6BG8
meat balls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-NHidC6OjI