Yipin Tang

Chapter 3 Hot Pot

After the winter, the weather has not been getting warmer, and the heavy snow like goose feathers is falling again unknowingly.

When Xiaoya and Steward Wang returned to the mansion, their heads and bodies were covered with white snowflakes. Although they were wearing thick clothes, Xiaoya was still flushed from the cold, and rubbed her little hands vigorously as soon as they entered the gate of Hou's Mansion.

The strange thing is that Dazhu, Erzhu and Laifu were not in the front yard. Xiaoya and Butler Wang had just finished their shopping when they saw Aunt Lin lowering her head and carrying a bag of things to go out.

"Aunt Lin, where are you going?"

Aunt Lin has been in shock since just now, and didn't notice the two of them. She didn't react until she heard the little girl's question. Seeing Steward Wang also looked curious, Aunt Lin carefully opened the cloth bag in her hand, revealing the inside A handful of dark things approached Butler Wang.

"Wang Steward, you are very experienced and knowledgeable, do you think this is Yun'er?"

Steward Wang carefully looked at the things in Aunt Lin's hand, took a deep breath and said in surprise: "It really is Yun'er, how can there be such a precious thing in the house?"

In Wang Xiang's eyes, this is just a pack of ordinary black fungus worth 30 yuan, but he forgot that it is the Tang Dynasty now, and the fungus is also called cloud ear. It is a tribute, something that the emperor can enjoy, not to mention ordinary Common people's homes, even the homes of dignitaries in Chang'an City are rarely seen.

Hearing that Steward Wang also said it was Yun Er, Aunt Lin became more cautious.

"The young master asked me to exchange these cloud ears for money to buy some beef and mutton. He said he would treat us to hot pot tonight. Da Zhu, Er Zhu and Lai Fu are helping to make hot pot in the hall. Steward Wang, do you know what hot pot is? ?”

Steward Wang shook his head: "I've never heard of it."

Aunt Lin smiled wryly: "I have been cooking for more than 20 years and I have never heard of hot pot."

The cloud ears are too precious, and Aunt Lin doesn't know how much they are worth, so Steward Wang had no choice but to go out with her. Perhaps the largest restaurant in Chang'an City, "Baiweilou", would be interested in these cloud ears.

Steward Wang and Aunt Lin rushed towards Baiwei Building in the wind and snow, while Wang Xiang directed Dazhu, Erzhu and Laifu to prepare hot pot in the hall.

It is not easy to eat hot pot without an induction cooker. First, they asked them to build a simple small stove with bricks, and then put a good table on the stove with a hole in the middle, and finally cooked the dishes in the house. Put the used pot on the table.

This is the strangest thing Laifu has ever seen. No one puts the pot on the table for dinner, and even puts the stove under the table.

Although it took a lot of effort, Wang Xiang was quite satisfied with the final result, and made up his mind to ask the blacksmith to build a pot with charcoal underneath for hot pot when he was free. I don't know when it will get warmer. Eating hot pot on a cold day is the most pleasant thing.

"Laifu, go and put half a pot of water in the pot to boil, and when Aunt Lin comes back, I'll make hot pot for you to eat."

"okay!"

Lai Fu responded readily, in fact, he still hasn't figured out what the young master said about the hot pot, but just looking at the meatballs and fresh vegetables on the table and the ham the young master said, he knew that the hot pot must be a good thing.

The water in the pot was almost boiled dry before Aunt Lin and Steward Wang came back with beef and mutton. Aunt Lin also brought back a whole beef leg bone, which was specially ordered by Wang Xiang, although it was illegal to kill cattle in the Tang Dynasty Yes, but the big families in Chang'an City will not kill a few cows one day, just fine some money and report to the government, and the restaurant will never be short of beef.

To Wang Xiang's surprise, the small bag of fungus was actually sold for 600 taels of silver, so Steward Wang still felt that the price was too low. After all, Aunt Lin bought so much beef and mutton for less than five taels of silver. , it seems that the price of fungus is not generally expensive.

There are dozens of packs of fungus in the warehouse, and Wang Xiang has already started to consider whether to sell all the fungus in the warehouse.

In the end, he dismissed the idea. It’s okay to say that if there are less, it will definitely be troublesome to take out all the fungus in the warehouse. He can’t explain the source of so many fungus. This thing can’t be bought with money. This is a tribute.In the Tang Dynasty, the fungus could not be cultivated artificially, and it was all picked in the mountains. Even the imperial palace could not get a few catties of fungus in a year, so it was not dry.

Forget it, there are many ways to make money, at worst, I will figure out the method of artificially cultivating fungus first, and then I will have an explanation.

"Laifu, add water, Aunt Lin, go and chop up this beef bone and cook it in a pot. The best thing to use for hot pot is beef bone soup."

Aunt Lin looked at the beef leg bone that was thicker than the forearm and said hesitantly: "Master, there is no knife for chopping bones in the house, I will take it to Butcher Zhang and ask him to help chop it."

"Is there no kitchen knife in the house?"

"A kitchen knife can't chop such a thick beef leg bone."

Can't a kitchen knife chop a beef bone?I used to chop it directly with a kitchen knife... I forgot, now it is the Tang Dynasty, and the best Mo knife now is probably not as sharp as a kitchen knife in later generations.

"Then you go..." Wang Xiang thought about it and went back to the warehouse to find a stainless steel kitchen knife to use. It was too inconvenient to ask others for help when chopping a bone.

Let Xiaoya and Laifu put the vegetables and meatballs on the table on plates, slice the ham, put sliced ​​ginger and scallions in the pot, Wang Xiang also took out a bottle of Erguotou from the warehouse, and everything is ready Just wait for Aunt Lin to come back after chopping up the beef bones.

Before Aunt Lin came back, Cheng Chuliang came first, and he heard his loud voice shouting from a long distance: "Zixin, I heard Aunt Lin said that your house is cooking hot pot, so I came to see it out of curiosity, so I didn't bother you." Come to you?"

"No, no, hot pot needs a lot of people to be lively. I'm planning to ask Laifu to invite you over. Don't be polite."

This guy is really impolite. Hearing what Wang Xiang said, he immediately put on a look of enlightenment and said: "It turns out that it is better to have more people to eat hot pot. Why don't you send someone to invite Princess Qinghe to taste Zixin's place together?" Said hot pot."

"It should, Laifu!"

"Hey! I'll go to the consort's mansion and invite the princess over." This kid is quite clever.

When Princess Qinghe came to the Hou's Mansion, Wang Xiang wondered: Why is she a little girl? Although she has beautiful features and looks like a beauty, she doesn't look as big as a little girl. This Cheng Chuliang is too beastly.

Perhaps because of her young age, Princess Qinghe didn't have the airs of a princess at all, but she was a little shy and stuck tightly to Cheng Chuliang's side. Wang Xiang was both envious and jealous, and called Cheng Chuliang a beast in his heart.

Xiaoya and Princess Qinghe don't drink alcohol, Wang Xiang found an excuse to go back to the back room and take out a large bottle of Coke from the warehouse while the beef bones were still cooking for a while.

When the cola was poured out, it was still "sizzling" and bubbling, which caused the little girl to yell and was very surprised. Wang Xiang sighed and shook his head. She really was an ignorant little girl. She looked at Princess Qinghe, although she had a pair of wonderful eyes. Full of curiosity, but still sit still.

"Brother Chu Liang, what is this?"

Although Princess Qinghe's voice was low, but Wang Xiang's ears were sharp, and when he heard her call Cheng Chuliang "Brother Chuliang", he felt a chill in his heart, it really was a beast.

"This this……"

Why don't you come out now, let you show your affection in front of me, and pretend that you didn't see Cheng Chuliang's eyes asking for help. Should there be a fiancée who is as beautiful as a flower?It's a matter of looking back.

In the end, Wang Xiang kindly let him go, and patiently explained to Princess Qinghe: "This is called cola, it's a drink, it's delicious, the princess can try it."

"Yes, yes, this is Coke. I just wanted to say, that, Zixin, let me have a bowl of Coke for Brother Wei, I haven't had it for a long time."

Wang Xiang didn't bother to pay attention to Cheng Chuliang, who had a thick skin. He lifted the lid of the pot and poured a pack of hot pot base ingredients that he had prepared earlier into the pot. The aroma immediately overflowed, and everyone couldn't help taking a deep breath.

"smell good!"

"Is this hot pot?"

Seeing that everyone didn't know how to eat it, Wang Xiang had no choice but to demonstrate first. He picked up a thinly sliced ​​mutton slice and put it in the pot for a while, then dipped it in the sauce in front of him and put it in his mouth.

Well, the mutton of the Tang Dynasty is more tender than the mutton rolls of later generations.

Cheng Chuliang saw Wang Xiang's expression of enjoyment, and couldn't wait to pick up several slices of mutton, following his example, rinsed them in the pot and threw them into his mouth without dipping in the sauce. , While chewing, he exclaimed: "It's really delicious!"

With Wang Xiang and Cheng Chuliang's demonstrations, everyone followed suit. They picked their favorite foods and put them in the pot to cook.

It was snowing heavily outside, and the people inside were eating so hot that they couldn’t feel the slightest chill. Cheng Chuliang’s forehead was shiny and sweating profusely. He felt that eating this way was too enjoyable, especially when the boiled mutton was dipped in the hot sauce that Wang Xiang said, The taste was indescribable. As for the bottle of Erguotou wine, more than half of it went into his stomach, and he had secretly decided to come here for dinner in the future.

Princess Qinghe picked up a piece of boiled potato chips and put them in her mouth. She seemed to have a soft spot for potato chips.

"It's very cold, why are there so many fresh vegetables in the Hou's mansion, even cloud ears, and why have you never seen these vegetables before?" It is no wonder that Princess Qinghe is so puzzled, even the palace has no fresh vegetables this season. Vegetables are edible, and there are many vegetables on the table that she has never seen before, such as this round sliced ​​thing that Wang Xiang calls potatoes.

When Wang Xiang took these things out of the warehouse, he had already thought about how to respond, so he was quite calm when facing Princess Qinghe's question.

"I learned how to build a greenhouse from a Western Region businessman before. The greenhouse is quite miraculous. It can grow fresh vegetables even in winter. These rare vegetables were also purchased from the Western Region businessman."

"There is such a magical greenhouse in the world, it must be quite difficult to build it?"

Wang Xiang smiled and said: "Actually, it's not too difficult. Later, I will teach Brother Chu Liang how to build a greenhouse. The princess can also eat fresh vegetables in winter."

It took almost two hours to eat a meal, most of the bottle of Erguotou was full, and Cheng Chuliang was staggering when he walked. When he went back, he still held Wang Xiang and kept yelling that he would come to eat hot pot tomorrow, which made everyone dumbfounded. .

Today is Wang Xiang's first day in Datang. He saw Cheng Chuliang boarding the carriage with the support of Princess Qinghe, Wang Steward and Aunt Lin who were busy with their work, and the happy Daddy who gathered together to chat. Zhu, Erzhu, Laifu and Xiaoya, Wang Xiang felt a sense of relief in his heart. From today onwards, he will be the new prince of the Tang Dynasty...

(End of this chapter)