Eat in Song Dynasty

10 Octopus Soup
It was already half an hour after this class ended, and the smell from the kitchen in the left courtyard made Qin Shan feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.

When the class was over and went to the garden to stretch her hands and feet, she excitedly pulled Wen Shu and pointed to the kitchen in the left yard, "My sister just smelled the smell of fish, it really doesn't smell fishy at all."

"Of course I can smell it. I can't say enough about Cook Madam Ji's craftsmanship."

"Yeah, I'll have to ask for advice later." Qin Shan nodded eagerly.

Unlike Wen Shu, who learned cooking because of the current fashion and Wen Tai's expectations, Qin Shan really likes this cooking, and always likes to hold Wen Shu's lively discussions.

The two were talking, when the door to the left courtyard, which had been closed all the time, opened, and a group of gorgeously dressed young ladies, accompanied by the maids, came out of the courtyard laughing and talking, and then turned into the Class A class on the left along the Chaoshou corridor. Abandon.

During the period, a young lady wearing a scarlet cotton gauze jacket seemed to disdain the maid beside her and said, "Although the fish soup cooked by Mrs. Ji's fish soup is good, it's still better than Mrs. Song's fish soup outside the Donghua Gate." It's worse."

Mrs. Song's fish soup, even a commoner like Wen Shu has heard of it, because there is a legendary story in it, which is said to be related to today's officials.

It is said that the owner of Mrs. Song’s fish soup is Song Wusao. She was originally a hawker selling fish soup at a stall outside Donghua Gate. It was only by a coincidence that she presented the fish soup to the officials. After tasting it, the officials praised it very much. , surpassed crab soup, and rewarded her with hundreds of taels of silver.

As soon as this story spread, "Sister Song's Fish Soup" became famous in Tokyo, and many people came to taste it every day.

This Fifth Sister Song is clever, she saw the opportunity and immediately set up a shop selling fish soup not far from Donghua Gate, which is called "Sister Song Yuzhuang". After more than ten years of operation, it has now become a wealthy place in Tokyo.

This little lady picked this one up, but she was showing off to everyone that she had eaten Mrs. Song's fish soup, but all the ladies with her were rich and noble families, and most of them had tasted this Mrs. Song's fish soup. No one answered at all.

Wen Shu and Qin Shan listened from a distance, but they were a little curious about the taste of Mrs. Song's fish soup.

After spending about half a cup of tea in the garden, two female envoys invited them to the kitchen in the left courtyard. Qin Shan had been talking about the fish soup all morning, and now she listened to it, and pulled Wenshu to walk in front.

In the kitchen, the nearly thirty-year-old Ji cook was wearing an apron, with her back facing them, picking up fresh fish on the stove, and there were a few fresh mandarin fish swimming in a wooden basin not far from her.

Hearing the movement behind her, she turned around and said indifferently: "Today I will teach you ladies to make fish soup. This fish soup is mainly fresh and smooth, so I have paid great attention to the selection of ingredients and cooking time, ladies and gentlemen. You have to watch and listen carefully later." After speaking, he turned around and continued to clean up the fresh fish.

She is an experienced cook, so needless to say her knives skills, she has already removed the scales and gills of the fish, cut open the abdomen to remove the internal organs, washed it, chopped off the head and tail, and cut it into two pieces from head to tail along the back bone with a flat knife.

"For this fish soup, mandarin fish is the first choice. Its meat is tender, with few spines and more meat. Secondly, the fishy smell must be removed."

While Chef Ji was explaining, she took a large bowl and put shredded green onion and ginger into it, then put the sliced ​​fish on top with the fish skin facing down, and then spread a layer of shredded green onion and ginger on top.

Wen Shu and Qin Shan stood aside and watched carefully, for fear of missing the step of removing the smell.

"To get rid of the fishy smell, besides the onion and garlic, the Shaoxing wine is also very good." After setting up the shredded shallots and ginger, Chef Ji sprinkled some Shaoxing wine and fine salt on the sashimi, and then put the big bowl into the pot Start steaming.

The kitchen has its own maid who is dedicated to lighting the fire. Cook Ji put the fish fillets into the steamer, and then got busy preparing other ingredients.

Seeing her take out bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, eggs and other ingredients, Wen Shu secretly calculated how much it would cost to make this fish soup.

It's not that she hasn't cooked fish at home in the past, but most of them are stewed or fried. She has never made fish soup like this, let alone adding these ingredients.

In her stunned effort, Cook Ji has already set up the oil pan, put in lard, add shredded shallots and stir-fry until fragrant, then add broth and bring to a boil.

This broth should have been baked before they came in. Wen Shu smelled it and thought it should be chicken soup.

Sure enough, the next moment, the cook said: "This broth is simmered with chicken legs at noon." Then, she poured some rice wine into it, and then added the shredded shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots to it and boiled it.

Now the mandarin fish in the steamer is also steamed, the cook takes it out, picks up shredded green onion, ginger, fish bone and fish skin with chopsticks, then pours it into the broth, adds a few drops of soy sauce and boils it together with the shredded bamboo shoots.

After the soup boils, pour the beaten egg liquid into the pot and stir evenly. When the soup boils again, add vinegar, pour [-]% hot lard on it, then take it out of the pot and grind it into the soup pot, sprinkle with shredded ham, Serve with minced ginger.

"Okay, this is the cooking process of fish soup." Cook Ji took off her apron, and asked the maid who was waiting at the side to serve each of the young ladies a small cup of fish soup for everyone to taste .

It is good to have a comparison when practicing at home in this way.

After receiving the small blue chrysanthemum cup from the maid, Wen Shu looked down, and saw that it was filled with shiny and pleasing fish soup. After taking a sip, she felt even more tender and smooth.

Wen Shu had never tasted Mrs. Song's fish soup, so she didn't know how it tasted, but just the bowl of fish soup that Chef Ji made today was so delicious that people could swallow it with their tongues.

It's a pity that the amount of this one is too small, it's only two mouthfuls, it's really just a taste.

The family conditions of the students in Class C after-school class are similar, and very few people can afford Mrs. Song's fish soup or eat it often, so they are all full of praise for the fish soup made by the cook.

When Chef Ji heard it, she felt much better.

When teaching the class A, some students murmured in private, saying that although her fish soup was good, it was not as good as Mrs. Fifth Song's. Although she admitted it in her heart, she felt a little uncomfortable after all.

Now being praised by the students in Class C, I just feel that my confidence has returned, and the depression in my heart has dissipated a lot.

After the cooking class, today's class is over. Wen Shu and Qin Shan said goodbye at the gate of the private school and went home.

At this time, the rain had stopped outside, but the ground was still wet. In order not to get wet on the shoes and socks, Wen Shu still carried the bamboo box and walked back slowly with the umbrella.

When she got home, she saw that her father had already returned, and he was playing with the set of iron plates picked up from the shop in the yard.

"I'm back." Hearing the movement, Wen Tai raised his head and looked over.

Wen Shu responded lightly, put down the umbrella by the door, took a small piece of bamboo from the wooden tube behind the door, supported the wall with one hand, and gently scraped off the yellow mud on the upper of the shoe with the other, and asked, "Dad, can you find out clearly?" Now, this time, how much can the government subsidize?"

Wen Tai shook his head anxiously, "There is no definite number, but according to your Uncle Qian, I am afraid it will not exceed five strokes."

"What! So little!"

Wen Shu was shocked, and stopped scraping the mud immediately, threw the bamboo slices, rushed over a few steps and said anxiously: "Last year, Wang Lizhuang was hit by a disaster, didn't you hear that he had repaired eight or nine holes? How did we get here? It's Wuguan! What exactly did Uncle Qian say, is there any basis for it?"

The Uncle Qian that Wen Shu talked about was the shopkeeper of Qianji Rice Shop in Qianjie. He had always had some friendship with her father, because his family had a nephew who worked in the yamen, so he always knew about it earlier than ordinary people because of the news from the government.

"What else could be the reason? Last year Wang Li Zhuang subsidized most of it because the former governor, Mr. Bao, was upright and caring for the people, so he gave the maximum subsidy. Now he has changed his position." Wen Tai shook his head with a sigh.

Thinking of the official voice of the new governor, Wen Shuxin also felt cold for a while.

　Tips for reading: Song Sao’s Fish Soup does have a history, but it happened during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty.

　　According to the "Old Stories of Wulin" written by Zhou Mi in the Southern Song Dynasty, on March 1179th in the sixth year of Chunxi in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 3), Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, took a leisurely tour of the West Lake on a royal boat, and it was almost noon when he arrived outside the Qiantang Gate.The attendant asked the Taishanghuang, there is a fish soup restaurant here that tastes very good, why don't you try it?The Taishanghuang was also hungry at this time, so he ordered people to get off the boat and go to the restaurant to buy fish soup.The owner of the restaurant, Mrs. Song Wu, saw people from the luxury cruise ship buying fish soup, probably relatives of the emperor, so she cooked the fish soup herself and sent it to the cruise ship.

　　Song Gaozong asked Song Wusao about his life experience while enjoying the fish soup.Song Wusao said that she was originally from Bianliang, Tokyo. She used to run a fish soup restaurant in Bianliang, Tokyo. When the Song Dynasty moved south, she came to Lin’an (now Hangzhou) and ran this small shop selling fish soup by the West Lake. to make a living.

　　Song Gaozong not only praised Yutang, but also appreciated Song Wusao's character, so he gave her a special reward.As soon as this story spread, Mrs. Song's fish soup became known as "Sister Song's Fish Soup" and became famous far and wide.

　　 PS: Ask for recommendation, ask for collection.

　　


(End of this chapter)