Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 52 (Part 2)
Translated by Pure
Edited by Alkonost
Chapter 52.2 Rice or Millet?
After Mother Zhou returned to the kitchen counter, she heard Lin Jingzhe ask her, "See? There are people who are willing to spend money on pickles, right?"
Mother Zhou was taking out the twenty yuan from her apron pocket to put it into the cash register, but was taken aback when she heard his words.
She glanced at the twenty yuan bill in her hand. The two pickled bamboo shoots she picked up for the guests just now were in season a few months ago. Although these were imported from outside of Yan City, the price of a truckload from a nearby city was not expensive. The cost of two bamboo shoots plus the marinade only totaled to a few cents, but some people were willing to pay a high price of twenty yuan for it.
Lin Jingzhe continued his analysis, "Aunt Zhou, although your current store is not big, you are busy from morning to night. Although you earn a lot, you are also very tired, right? Having a self-employed business, especially in the catering industry, is exchanging your energy for money. However, have you ever thought that once these complex condiments are mass produced, you could be gathering even more customers from the comfort of your own home?"
He picked up a soy sauce bottle from the table, turned it over and showed Mother Zhou the words ‘Zhongshui Soy Sauce’ written on the label. He asked, "Aunt Zhou, you use this brand of soy sauce every day. Have you ever taken the time to think about the annual production of this factory?"
Mother Zhou took the soy sauce bottle from his hand, and shook her head blankly.
"This is currently the largest soy sauce factory in China." Lin Jingzhe said, "You can estimate its market share just by looking at the families around you. Everyone has heard of and used this brand. In the past year, Zhongshui Corporation's sales volume for just their soy sauce exceeded 200 million! A catty of soy sauce can be sold for one and a half yuan [1]. How much does it cost to make soy sauce? You can imagine how high their profits are.”
Mother Zhou was stupefied. 200 million was an astronomical number for her. For a laborer born in a small town like her, she had always regarded herself as a proletariat. For her, it was already a remarkable feat to muster up the courage to travel thousands of miles from Liyun Town to Yan City to open a restaurant. She was not avaricious, and easily fell into feeling content with her current status quo. Although the life of owning her shop was hard work, it also filled her with satisfaction. To her, opening a factory was undoubtedly a foreign idea; she didn’t know how to operate a factory, let alone the nitty-gritty pivotals inbetween.
Holding the twenty yuan, she was at a loss, and had already forgotten to start the next guest’s order.
Lin Jingzhe saw that her heart was moved, and immediately struck while the iron was hot. Like a devil on her shoulder, he continued to entice her, "Actually, opening a factory is not as troublesome as you imagined. Did you see the slightly chubby customer who ate with me just now? That person is called Wang Quan, he has a factory in Changqing. He is very familiar with the process of opening a factory and has a good relationship with me. For things like pickles and pastes, you just need to have a precise recipe ready. If it can be put into production, many things can be handed over to others to manage, and you won’t be overloaded with work.”
Mother Zhou's eyes wandered as Lin Jingzhe addressed most of her concerns. How can businessmen not have a little bit of ambition when it comes to their careers?
Lin Jingzhe watched her expression closely. He caught the struggle deep in her eyes and continued to fuel the fire. "Haitang will be a sophomore in a couple of months, and he’s not likely to graduate any time soon. He’s not one to stay in a kitchen, so it is very unlikely he’ll take over this store in the future. But if a factory was opened, he could help manage it. And if the factory continues to grow bigger, it can become Haitang's own business. Wouldn't it help him when he gets married and starts a family in the future?"
Now that her son was mentioned, Mother Zhou's originally uncertain expression became determined at once.
******
"Walk slowly, it's dark here! Watch the road under your feet, don't fall!" Mother Zhou cautioned as she led the way in front, groping for the rope by the wall and pulling it down. The dim light bulb above her head soon lit up, casting a soft, warm glow around.
This was a small underground warehouse. Since it was low in rent and not far from her store on Sun Street, Mother Zhou rented it specially for storing ingredients. The dark warehouse was full of large and small condiment jars, each securely sealed and air-tight. They seemed to have been there for quite some time as a thin layer of dust had settled on their lids. Mother Zhou took a moment to decide. After a couple seconds, she picked up a small jar, blew away the ash sitting on the surface, and untied the ropes tied to it, layer by layer.
A unique and fresh aroma of pickled peppers and perilla immediately permeated into the air with her movements. Wang Quan was standing behind Lin Jingzhe, but when he took a whiff of the new aroma, he immediately squatted down beside Mother Zhou. With the clean chopsticks that Mother Zhou carried with her, she picked out a shriveled eggplant buried inside the jar, and handed it to Wang Quan.
Wang Quan quickly stuffed it into his mouth, and the moment he chewed it, his taste buds were filled with a salty umami flavor. The soft and chewy eggplant was quite different from when it is cooked fresh. It was a good difference as Wang Quan immediately raised his eyebrows.
He gave Mother Zhou a thumbs up sincerely from the heart, "It's delicious! Aunt Zhou, how did you make this?"
Mother Zhou had a bashful temperament. Although she was usually praised a lot in the store, she was still a little embarrassed at the moment. She explained humbly, "It's nothing special. I just pick fresh long eggplants, the thinner the better. It needs to be sundried for ten days, until the moisture in the eggplant is almost all gone, but not completely dry. After it’s perfectly dried, take it back, wash it, and cut it into sections. Use fresh perilla, hot pepper, young ginger, garlic, pinch of white pepper, some bay leaves for the marinade. After everything is mixed, it needs to sit for about ten days to half a month. The main thing is that the eggplant must be selected well, don’t pick the older ones. You also can’t use any random hot pepper. I like tabasco peppers and capsicum chinense. The tabasco pepper is perfectly spicy and the capsicum chinense is more fragrant, the combination of these two tastes the best."
What Mother Zhou thought was a simple explanation left Wang Quan dumbfounded. It's often the case that proficient cooks underestimate how complex their work can seem to ordinary people. For example, some people could just pinch the right amount of salt based on feeling, but many others would be hesitant and falter on the ‘right’ amount. Mother Zhou was probably the former. There was something special in her. Her innate understanding of flavor combinations being something that the average person might find elusive.
Take her jar of pickled eggplants as an example. How was she able to tell it was sun-dried just right? She only needed to feel the eggplants with her fingers to know. However, if it was Wang Quan or Lin Jingzhe, they would most likely need to use scientific knowledge and analysis before they dared to make an assertion.
The reason could only be explained by the difference in talent.
This was a good thing. With sufficient study of Mother Zhou's recipes, one could deduce her preferred ratios and techniques. Even if the taste wasn’t exactly the same, a close similarity could still be achieved. Even if all the ingredients were leaked, it was difficult for others to imitate the exact same taste without knowing the exact ratio.
Wang Quan nodded and pointed to the several jars in the warehouse that were a little further away from him. Those jars were obviously wrapped differently from most of the pickles jars. "Those jars contain bean paste?"
"Yes," Mother Zhou nodded. "But it's not ripe yet. The beans have to sit for a few more days. If the fermentation is not complete, the fragrance will be lacking, so I can't open it for you to see. But it's also quite easy to make. Soybean with some chili, onion, ginger, garlic, etc. After the soybean is cooked, you would need to dry it. Just sprinkle some flour and spread the beans on a flat surface. After drying thoroughly, put it into a jar together with the other things, then put it in the basement shade for a few days. Afterwards, take it out to bask under the hot sun, after it is completely finished, it will taste just like what you ate in the store."
As she said, she opened another bottle of marinated fermented bean curd. She took out a piece and said, "Try this. Zhou Neng (Father Zhou) fermented the tofu himself. It's made from suānshuǐdiǎn tofu[2] and fermented until the hair is very long[3]. Although it doesn’t taste like your tofu in northern China, it’s still very good. Hairy suānshuǐdiǎn tofu is very suitable for making fermented bean curd."
Unlike the firm fermented bean curd that Wang Quan was accustomed to in Zhongshui Province, typically made with fried tofu soaked in oil, Mother Zhou's spicy version used silken tofu. The surface of the fermented bean curd was sprinkled with chili powder, and the fermented tofu was completely integrated with these powders. They emitted a strong and powerful aroma in contrast to its small, cute appearance.
Wang Quan took a small piece, and with the help of the dim light, he could see that the white jade-like texture of the fermented bean curd was completely engulfed in chili powder. He squeezed it into his mouth and chewed it twice. The faint lingering taste of eggplant was instantly overpowered by this more domineering flavor. Although slightly salty, the fermented bean curd wasn't overwhelmingly so. After it melted, an explosion of flavor ravaged his taste buds.
If there was porridge on hand at this time, Wang Quan was afraid that he would drink a rice cooker full with this bottle of fermented bean curd.
He nodded, and cheekily took the bottle that Mother Zhou had recapped and stuffed it into the pocket of his coat.
He was determined to order a big pot of porridge after he left. He desperately needed to eat his fill of this treasure-of-a-bottle, but on the surface he looked very reliable and awe-inspiring.
"Mr. Lin," he spoke seriously to Lin Jingzhe, "I think our plan to open a factory is feasible based on just their taste."
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Footnote:
[1] catty - 0.5 kg / it’s a little less than a pound
[2] suānshuǐdiǎn tofu (酸水点豆腐) - A type of tofu that is coagulated using fermented chili pepper juice. Think something like a pre-spiced spicy and salted tofu. 🤤 This is made in some villages in Yunnan, China. This is a video I found, but unfortunately it’s not subbed, it’s cool to watch nethertheless - https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV14V4y147oi/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source=fb6828f52045bea50fa1897df66f25a0
[3] Hairy tofu - yeah, I know it sounds a little off-putting, but think blue cheese. https://www.therecipe.com/hairy-tofu-what-is-it-and-how-is-it-made/
Fermented bean curd
Hairy tofu (at the end of the video, she also makes a jar of fermented hairy tofu)
Edit: Hi guys, I know many of ya’lls are just salivating over this fermented bean curd. I went on Amazon and found one that I used to have in the house. I recommend this one for anyone who wants to try. just add it on top any anything, literally intensifies the flavor - https://amzn.to/47x0R1X