At dinner time, Pang Gong pushed his cart to the side of the girdle table and placed the calligraphy rubbings on his knees aside.
He looked at the table, and in addition to common dishes such as steamed cakes, dough soup, and vinegar-pickled celery, there was a dish with bright color and tangy meat that really caught his attention.
Pang Gong looked at the dish and asked Yuping, "What is this?"
Yuping said: "Sheep tripe."
The appearance looks novel.
Pang Gong took a piece of sheep tripe and put it into his mouth. As he chewed it, his eyes slowly opened wide.
After swallowing the piece of sheep tripe, Pang Gong took a long breath and shouted "Miao."
Seeing Yuping looking over with a smile, Pang Gong asked: "How to cook this? Stew? Roast? Fry?"
Yuping shook her head and said: "The name of this dish is stir-fried lamb tripe, but it is stir-fried vegetables."
Pang Gong smiled and said: "Our family has eaten stir-fry, but it doesn't taste like this."
Yuping: "But someone made this taste."
Pang Gong stared at Yuping for a long time, then asked: "Did you do it?"
Yuping shook her head again and said, "It's Erlang."
Pang Gong was startled: "Erlang? Which Erlang?"
Yuping: "Who else could it be? Of course it's the Erlang of the Zhou family."
Pang Gong was shocked and did not come back to his senses for a long time.
After a while, Pang Gong asked: "How can he do this?"
Yuping: "Maybe he is a real person and doesn't show his face."
Pang Gong was silent for a long time, then looked at the plate of fried lamb tripe, and said with a helpless smile: "This Zhou Erlang is really making our family more and more confused."
After saying that, Pang Gong raised his chopsticks and wanted to taste more.
Yuping picked up a steamed cake, broke it into two pieces, and said to Mr. Pang: "Erlang said, put the tripe silk in the cake and eat it together, it will taste more delicious."
Pang Gong tried it, and it turned out to be true.
He ate a lot of cakes and vegetables. It didn't take long for Pang Gong to eat the whole plate of stir-fried tripe.
Using crumbs again, Pang Gong wiped all the vegetable stains on the plate and ate it carefully.
Looking at the empty dishes, Pang Gong said to Yuping: "Look at the dining room, there is still some belly silk left."
Yuping responded and walked out the door.
After a while, Yuping came back empty-handed, shook her head at Mr. Pang and said, "Not only the belly silk, but also the steamed cakes were robbed."
"Everyone said they didn't eat enough. Erlang was so pushed that he had no choice but to turn the stove back on and plan to stir-fry again."
When Pang Gong heard this, he couldn't help but laugh.
In the dining room, with the help of Chun Niang, Zhou Jun finally cooked the second pot of stir-fried tripe.
After leaving the dining room, Zhou Jun shook his sore right shoulder, holding a steamed cake in his mouth and a bowl of glutinous rice porridge in his left hand. He planned to go to the outer garden to find a quiet place to finish dinner.
Hua Yue, with a bulging belly, followed him and said, "I'm sure if you open a restaurant in Fuda City, people will line up like crazy people to order your dishes."
Zhou Jun found a clean place and sat down at one end of the outer garden near the lake view.
He first glanced at Huayue, then took a bite of the pancake and said, "Cooking is not as complicated as you think."
Huayue sat down next to him and said angrily: "No matter what happens, it becomes simple when it comes to your mouth."
Zhou Jun wanted to say something more, but he saw Qu Sanweng and Chun Niang walking over quickly at the other end of the outer garden.
Seeing the two people walking in a hurry, Zhou Jun thought something happened in the dining room and stood up quickly.
Qu Sanweng walked up to Zhou Jun, bowed first, and then asked in a low voice: "Little old man, I heard that Erlang made the method of cooking with beetroot oil?"
Zhou Jun saw Qu Sanweng's serious face and didn't know what he meant, so he just nodded in agreement.
Qu Sanweng lowered his voice again and said: "Erlang is confused, how can such a secret method be seen by everyone like it is sold on the street?"
Zhou Jun didn't quite understand what he meant. Stir-frying and bean oil were both existing in the Tang Dynasty. What kind of "secret method" was combining the two things?
Seeing Zhou Jun's unconcerned look, Qu Sanweng said anxiously: "With that method of stir-frying with beetroot oil, if we open a restaurant in the market, it will only take a few months. I'm afraid the restaurants in Chang'an City will be destroyed."
Businesses will all go under, and owners will have to change careers."
"Erlang, this matter is very serious and we must not ignore it!"
Hua Yue looked at Zhou Jun with an expression of deep approval.
Qu Sanweng said again: "The young man has given up the courtesy, and Chaoyi has sealed the dining room, and no one is allowed to peek inside. He also ordered Chun Niang to hide the beetroot oil to prevent anyone from stealing it."
Zhou Jun couldn't laugh or cry about Qu Sanweng's cautious move. It was just a stir-fry, how could it be so serious.
Qu Sanweng hadn't finished his words yet: "The little old man also heard from Chun Niang that when Erlang cooks, there are hot pots, boiling oil, cooking, frying, turning food, burning fire, moving firewood, seasonings, etc.
Secret techniques, these are secrets that are not taught and must not be seen by others."
"From now on, when cooking in the dining room, someone needs to be watching and no outsiders are allowed to come near."
Seeing Zhou Jun's face looking deep in thought, Hua Yue also said: "I was also present when you were cooking today. I did a rough count and found that there were almost sixteen steps from starting the stove to serving the dishes. It's not you at all."
It’s like ‘it’s not that complicated’.”
Are there so many processes?
In his previous life at the police academy, Zhou Jun would turn on a small stove to make extra meals for himself every weekend when he had nothing to do. At that time, he thought cooking was quite simple, and he never thought about the technical content involved.
However, seeing Huayue and Qu Sanweng so nervous, Zhou Jun himself was a little unsure.
Qu Sanweng said: "Everyone in the Qu family has received great kindness from Erlang. Erlang may not have noticed some of the subtleties, but I always have to help and think about it."
"Just like this method of stir-frying with beetroot oil, no matter the beetroot oil or the process, it is an incredible cooking skill."
"When the second pot was being cooked just now, among the onlookers, fortunately, there were only servants of the master's family and no outside craftsmen were seen."
"If an outside craftsman sneaks into the dining room, sees the cooking method, and then inadvertently says he is about to leave, and someone is overheard, wouldn't that be a bad thing?"
Hua Yue thought for a while and said to Qu Sanweng: "From now on, no outsiders are allowed to enter the dining room when cooking. This is natural. But there is another point. The amount of oil used is huge, and the small amount of stock in the dining room may not be enough."
It will bottom out in a few days.”
"When the bean oil is exhausted, you must go to the oil shop to place an order."
"That bean oil is medicinal oil, and only pharmacies buy it on weekdays. If we place large orders again and again, it will definitely attract the attention of others, and over time, it is very likely that someone with a heart will discover it."
After listening to Hua Yue's words, Qu Sanweng frowned into the Chinese character "Chuan".
Putting his hands behind his back, Qu Sanweng walked back and forth a few times. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he said to everyone: "Just now, Madam Yuping came to the dining room and cooked her belly several times. It can be seen that the host also likes this stir-fried dish."
"
"Since the master also likes this stir-fry, why not discuss with the master and use a corner of this garden to build an oil-pressing mill?"
Zhou Jun was stunned when he heard this: "Build an oil pressing mill here?"
Qu Sanweng nodded and said: "Yes, in this way, everyone in Pang's house will have cooking to eat every day, and Erlang doesn't have to worry about his skills being leaked. He kills two birds with one stone, and everyone is happy."
Zhou Jun was a little confused, but just to stir-fry vegetables, he had to build an oil-pressing mill near Bieyuan?
Zhou Jun thought for a while and then asked: "Where is the oil pressing mill? Who knows how to press oil?"
Qu Sanweng stretched out his hand and pointed to the east: "To the east of Bieyuan is the Bahe River. The water flow is fast and the terrain is flat. It is most suitable for building a hydraulic oil press."
"As for the mill workers, when the little old man was living together in Duckweed House, he met a family of refugees from Jingyang. His family originally ran an oil mill."
Zhou Jun shook his head and said: "It's just a stir-fry. It requires a lot of construction work and recruiting workers. It's such a big deal, and Pang Gong will definitely not agree."
Half a quarter of an hour later, Zhou Jun and Qu Sanweng came to Pang Gong together.
While listening to Qu Sanweng's request, Pang Gong was eating the second plate of tripe with steamed cakes.
Zhou Jun waited on the side and listened to Qu Sanweng, who had spent a lot of effort and stammered, and finally finished his words, only to find that Pang Gong's face was calm.
Just when Zhou Jun was sure that the matter was hopeless, Pang Gong suddenly put down his chopsticks, burped, and said only eight words: "It's very much what I want, go and do it quickly."