self-improvement as a cook

Chapter 40

Modern Shandong cuisine is divided into Jinan cuisine, Jiaodong cuisine and Confucian cuisine. An Ran asked about the handlebar style, and then she knew that Dayan's Yanzhou Prefecture governed four prefectures and thirteen counties. She was really confused.

She wanted to go to Jinan, but there was no place here. Finally, thinking of the characteristics of Jinan, she asked the handlebar: "Which state has springs?"

The handlebar smiled and told her: "Qizhou."

An Ran rushed to Qizhou, and found that she really couldn't connect the ancient and modern blindly, they were not the same thing at all, and seeing the gate of Qizhou, An Ran settled the fare with the driver, and let the driver go back.

Standing outside the city of Qizhou, I looked down at my attire. Except for my small stature and pale face, it was similar to the common people who entered and exited the city gate.

After walking a few steps towards the city gate, she suddenly found that the yamen guards at the city gate were questioning each other one by one. An Ran's heart skipped a beat, and she wondered if An Jiamu had regretted it. , even if there is a contract of selling himself, he still cannot escape from his grasp.

This is an ancient patriarchal society. An Jiamu is at the top of this society. He is like an ant to him. He finally escaped his control, and he never wants to go back.

Thinking of this, she quickly took a few steps back, looked left and right, and saw a piece of wild reed on the bank of the moat not far away, and a piece of golden reed flowers in autumn, which looked very artistic from a distance, An Ran turned around and went there I went to Bian'er, not because I wanted to enjoy the scenery, but because I saw a broken mat shed next to this piece of reed.

I don't know if it was built by a fisherman. Although it is a little small and there are air leaks everywhere, it can just cover her. An Ran dug out the rouge and gouache from the bag, and found the fragrant ink that was prepared to be mashed in Jizhou Mansion, and put it in the Together, I took some river water and mixed it in the palm of my hand. I used it as a simple foundation. I smeared it on my face and neck, and took a photo of it in front of the river water. No greasy white complexion, no matter how you look at it, you look like a boy with fine eyebrows.

Feeling that she couldn't see any flaws, she packed up her things and walked back. When the common people who followed the line came up to her, she felt a little uneasy, especially the two yamen servants who looked her up and down, An Ran thought she was showing something.

Just as she was feeling anxious, she suddenly heard the clerk on the left pointing to the knife box in her hand: "What is this?"

An Ran purposely said in a rough voice: "Master, I'm a cook from a foreign country, this is my guy for dinner."

When the cook and the two clerks heard it, their eyes lit up immediately, but they looked at An Ran again, and they were a little disappointed: "You are so young, you dare to call yourself a cook, you can't fool us."

An Ran hurriedly said: "I'm really a cook, I'm from Jizhou Prefecture." Suddenly thinking that he was too young, the two government servants misunderstood that he was lying, and said: "Master, I came to Qizhou because I heard about Qizhou's cooking skills. Gao, I’m here to learn a craft.”

The faces of the two yamen's servants eased: "For you are knowledgeable, the first cook Han Yu who serves the Lord Long Live is our Qizhou cook, and now the world's number one cook, our Qizhou cooking skills are famous all over the world. A kid like you from a foreign country can learn a few tricks casually, and you won't be able to use them up enough."

An Ran: "But, but."

Seeing An Ran's humble attitude and good mood, those two people waved their hands: "Why are you standing still, let's go in." Saying that, they yelled at Yang who lined up behind him: "There is a cook who speaks by himself."

An Ran felt rather strange in her heart, she never heard that when she entered the city, she had to ask if it was the cook.

After entering Qizhou City, I didn't know where to go for a while, but I saw people coming and going. After a while, a clerk led a few men with big faces and thick necks to the east, and I couldn't help feeling even more puzzled.

Seeing a stall selling sweet foam not far away, the hot sweet foam was stirred in the pot, and the aroma in memory wafted over, An Ran suddenly felt hungry, so she walked over.

Sweet foam is a favorite breakfast of Jinan people, and it has become a well-known snack in modern times, like Beijing’s sour bean juice, Tianjin’s pancake fruit, and Henan’s spicy soup. These snacks are commonly eaten by ordinary people, and the method is far less Those well-known dishes are complex, but have their own taste.

In modern times, whenever An Ran went to Jinan, he had to eat a bowl of sweet foam with pancakes to experience the unique taste of Quancheng. Now seeing this familiar food, even if he is not from Jinan, he can’t help but arouse a little nostalgia.

It was late, and after breakfast, there were very few diners on the stall. An Ran sat down and ordered a bowl of sweet foam and a set of pancakes. The owner was a woman in her 50s, a native of Qizhou, probably Seeing that An Ran didn't look like a local, he asked, "My brother's accent is not from our Qizhou, right?"

An Ran nodded: "I'm from Jizhou."

The old woman said with a smile: "Outsiders don't eat much of our food, but my brother is an expert."

There was no business, so the old lady chatted with An Ran, and An Ran happened to listen to her: "Is there something going on in Qizhou today, why is it so lively?"

The old woman smiled and said: "Isn't it lively? Today, the magistrates gathered the chefs from the eight major restaurants in Qizhou, and set up a fire stove opposite the yamen to recruit chefs. No matter where they come from, as long as they have real skills, go up and show off. With the eyes of a few master chefs, they will be able to participate in the culinary competition three days later. The top three nominees will be recommended to Beijing. If there is luck, they may become imperial chefs. The cooks in the north wish they could come to Qizhou."

Recruitment list?An Ran couldn't help being stunned, this person is much more recruited than the prefect of Jizhou, so the selection of cooks, the people recommended by Yanzhou Prefecture are much better than those of other prefectures, this magistrate is afraid that he will choose the imperial chef Think of it as a shortcut to his official career, after all, the Yanzhou government has a Han Zizhang, which is equivalent to having a living signboard.

After eating a bowl of sweet foam, An Ran's stomach was full. After asking the old woman for the specific direction, she ran to the magistrate's yamen. As soon as she turned around the street where the yamen was located, An Ran was startled. There were so many people.

But it's also a little ridiculous, probably because of the excitement, it attracted small businessmen, and set up stalls along both sides of the street, selling food, gadgets, and talking about cross talk, as lively as possible , didn't I ask the old woman who sells sweet foam beforehand, maybe An Ran thought it was a temple fair.

Fortunately, An Ran was small and thin, so he squeezed to the front with all his twists and turns. He saw a high platform leaning against the wall in front of him, and there were more than a dozen people sitting in a row. In the middle was a man in his 40s with a long face and a beard, dressed in official clothes. , probably the magistrate of Yanzhou, next to him must be the restaurant owner and the chef.

In the open space below, there is a fire stove, iron pan, ingredients, and seasonings. There are four tables next to it. There are a few people dressed as masters sitting behind them, and they are registering with pens. There are four long queues of cooks in front.

The side is the primary selection, the test is knife skills, and the test is shredded radish. At this moment, the shredded radish has been filled with more than a dozen baskets. After passing this level, the chicken cage is the test.

In the first level, 90.00% of the knife skills were exposed, and in the second level, the whole chicken was deboned. Several people went to the restaurant, and there were not many left. Finally, it was time to go to the stove, and the judges in the back discussed the dishes, and asked Yamen to hold a sign. Come out, the name of the dish is written on it, and there is a special table on the high platform to burn incense, limited to one stick of incense.

Although there are many processes, it is not chaotic at all. It can be seen that this method of selecting a cook has been used by the magistrate many times, but I don't know if Han Zizhang was selected in the same way.

Although there are many cooks, there are not many with real skills. Most of them are just trying their luck to make up for it.

Don't look at the five big and three rough, but the work under his hands is not bad. The kitchen knife is in his hand with ease, and the cut silk is extremely uniform.

The judge next to him came over without realizing it, and nodded after he finished cutting: "It's really good knife skills." He took the shredded radish to the high platform, and came back after a while and asked: "Dare to ask this master?" , is it the southern faction or the northern faction?"

The man said: "I have studied cooking in the south for ten years." The man said regretfully: "I'm sorry, you should find another job."

The man was not happy: "Didn't your recruitment list say that it doesn't matter whether you are from the north or the south? Why did you let me go back when you heard that I was a cook from the south? Although I learned the skills from the south, I am a decent Qizhou native Let me go back like this, I don't accept it."

The person in charge looked like a kind-hearted person, and when he saw him yelling, he hurriedly said in a low voice: "You really don't understand, or you're just pretending, you cooks from the Southern School have been famous for so many years, and you can't lift your head when you are suppressed by the Northern School. Now the first imperial chef is Chef Han from the northern faction. Five years ago, he won the honor of chef Zheng Yu from the southern faction, so he is decent today. I hate the southern faction in my heart. Can you just choose one of your opponents to enter the palace? , So, no matter how good your southern cooking skills are, it’s useless. What’s the use of all this effort? What’s more, all the chefs selected now are from the northern cooking class, and you are a southern cooking chef. How can you be good? However, if you say that you are from the northern sect, you can be more flexible, what's the matter, have you thought about it?"

The man shook his head: "My master is from the southern sect. If I recognize the northern sect, I will deceive my master and destroy my ancestors. If so, I will not be able to get along in our business in the future. If I fail, let it go." Put away the words, put away the knife and strode away.

An Ran couldn't help frowning, the elder brother was right, Han Zizhang ruled out dissidents, as can be seen from the culinary competition in Qizhou, no matter how good this person's culinary skills are, only this narrowness is far from the master, Dare to be called the best chef in the world, really shameless.

And this north-south dispute, I am afraid that it will become more serious with the culinary competitions year after year, and it may not be good for the inheritance of culinary skills in the long run.

Regardless of the southern and northern schools, they all have their own special techniques and dishes. If they can learn from each other, their culinary skills will inevitably develop. Blind suppression like Han Zizhang will only have the opposite effect.

The benevolence of the master's thoughts back then made things like this. I don't know if the master will regret it if he sees the situation in front of him.

On the surface, it is for recruiting talents, but in fact it is to eliminate dissidents. Behind the culinary skills is an ugly battle for fame and fortune. There is really no need to watch such a culinary competition.

An Ran squeezed out with great difficulty. Just as she was about to take a breath, she didn't want to suddenly run over from the side with a kid running straight towards her. Then An Ran was headed by a wall. If she got out of the way, the kid would be so scared that he would hit his head and bleed. , hurriedly reached out and grabbed him: "Stand still, hit the wall carefully."

The kid didn't lift his head, and ran away from Anran's side. Anran sensed something was wrong, and quickly reached out to touch her waist. Sure enough, the money bag in her waist was gone. Thanks to her kindness, it turned out that the kid was a thief. Anran was furious. Get up, raise your foot and chase after him.

Unexpectedly, this kid was very slippery, and he just went into the crowd. An Ran chased him for two streets, but he couldn't find anyone. She was exhausted, leaning on the wall, bending over to catch her breath, looking around, she didn't know Where did you come from?

Hearing the sound of water in front of him, he searched for it. When he came out of the small street, there was a small river. I was soaking the vegetable basket in the river to wash the vegetables, and there were willow trees planted by the river, and the yellow willow leaves fell in the river, floating with the river water, which had a special artistic conception.

An Ran immediately fell in love with this place, and thought to herself, why not just rent a house here to settle down, and thinking of this, she asked the woman who was making clothes.

Among them was a daughter-in-law in her thirties who looked at An Ran with a few glances and said with a smile: "There is a suitable one, the sister-in-law of the Zhang family next door to my house, my son-in-law told me to rent out her West House to supplement the family income, orphans The life of the widowed mother is difficult, if you are interested, come and take a look with me."

An Ran hurriedly thanked her, the daughter-in-law glanced at him, led An Ran a few steps to the side, stood in front of a courtyard, and suddenly covered her mouth and laughed twice: "Sister, you acted like you just now, almost Even I coaxed it over, but now it's revealed."

An Ran was taken aback: "How does sister-in-law know?"

The daughter-in-law pointed to her face: "Your face is now a cat."

An Ran touched it, she was chasing that boy too fast, she was sweating, the makeup on her face couldn't be worn, she hurriedly said: "I didn't deliberately hide it from my sister-in-law, it's just that it's not convenient for a woman to go out, that's why... "

Before An Ran finished speaking, she was interrupted by the daughter-in-law: "You are so courageous, you dare to go out by yourself, come on, women are better, those mothers are orphans and widows, if they really find a male tenant, I'm afraid it will be too late." Don't worry." As he spoke, he stepped forward and knocked on the door: "Sister-in-law of the Zhang family, sister-in-law of the Zhang family..."

After a while the door opened, and a rather thin woman with a sickly face came out from the inside, covered her mouth and coughed a few times: "It's Mrs. Shuanzi, please sit inside, this is..."

Mrs. Shuan pointed to An Ran: "Didn't my sister-in-law say that she wanted to rent a room to go out? It just so happened that this girl came to ask me today, so she brought her here. Tell yourself, I won't sit down, Dad Shuanzi." If you're not at home, just Shuanzi, I'm afraid this kid will go to the house, so I have to go back quickly." Then she turned and left, An Ran saw her enter the next yard.

The sister-in-law of the Zhang family was very kind, seeing An Ran was sweating profusely, she hurriedly said, "Come in and sit down first." She let An Ran into the small courtyard.

As soon as she entered the yard, An Ran was extremely satisfied. Although the yard was not big, it was kept quite clean. There was also a big pagoda tree with branches stretching far, so the yard must be cool in summer.The most wonderful thing is a well. Qizhou is known as the city of springs, and people with wells are basically springs.

It can be seen that the family had a good life before. Although the green brick house with one light and two darkness in the middle is a bit old, it is quite neatly built. There is a stove room on one side of the yard, and a firewood shed is built. There are also two houses built on the opposite side, the window paper is gone, and no one lives there presumably.

The woman couldn't stop coughing since she came in, An Ran helped her to find a sunny place to sit: "Sister-in-law, your illness is unstoppable, you have to take good care of it."

The woman said: "Since the girl knows about my illness, she is extraordinary if you think about it. If you don't want to rent my house, it's fine."

An Ran shook her head: "It's okay, I like sister-in-law's yard, how about this, I'll rent the two rooms to the west of you, and give you a hundred dollars a month, do you think it's okay? If you think it's less, you can add more .”

The woman suddenly became happy: "No, no, no, not to mention just these two houses. On our street, it's not difficult to rent a small courtyard. It's not difficult for two hundred yuan. You are only a single woman, how can you come out to rent?" house?"

An Ran knew that she was not at ease, fearing that she had sneaked out, and turned around to offend the officials, so she said, "To tell you the truth, sister-in-law, don't look at me as a serious cook at a young age. I came to Qizhou to recruit talents. I don’t want to, after I came here, I realized that I don’t want cooks from the Southern School, and I can’t go back for a while, so I want to settle down in Qizhou to find a living.”

After hearing An Ran's words, she didn't know what sad things touched her, so the woman wiped her tears twice: "So you and our dog's father are traveling together." She said with a sigh: "Now it's not the same as it was a few years ago. Yes, my dog’s father learned a craft in the south, came home, and found a job in Jufeng Building, Qizhou Prefecture. Although he is not a chef, he can count it. Living comfortably, who would have thought that five years ago in the capital city, Zheng Yuchu lost to Han Yuchu in a culinary competition, and no one would want this southern cook, especially in Qizhou, if the northern cook It's easy to find a job here, all the restaurants are scrambling to get it, if you mention the word Nan, no one dares to use it, no matter how good your skills are, my dog ​​father lost his job, so he can't get his breath out. I was ill for two years, lost my life, and didn't close my eyes when I was dying."

An Ran couldn't help feeling sad, knowing in her heart that with Han Zizhang's despicableness, such tragedies are definitely not rare.

The woman coughed a few times: "Girl, if you listen to my sister-in-law, don't rent this house from me. It's important to leave the Qizhou mansion as soon as possible and go out to find a living. In this Qizhou mansion, you, a cook from the southern sect, are really hungry." Die."

An Ran: "Sister-in-law, don't worry, even if I'm not a cook, I still have other skills. Even if I sell pastries or snacks, I can make some money."

The woman was relieved after hearing this: "If you are not afraid, you can stay. My dog ​​doesn't come home every day. With you, there is someone to talk to me."

An Ran was overjoyed, took out another purse from her bosom, counted [-] coins and gave it to the woman: "This is half a year's house, you keep it first."

The woman hastily declined: "One month will be enough, and you will be given half a year for whatever you do."

"Sister-in-law, don't be polite to me. You can give it to me for a month or half a year. What's the difference? I'm a girl alone, and I'll need my sister-in-law to take care of me in the future."

The woman saw that An Ran was like this, so she no longer refused, thinking that with the money in hand, the life of the family would be better, saving the dog from running outside every day, and she kept worrying about her, fearing that he would go astray. However, when her husband died, he asked himself to teach his son well.

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard a shout from outside: "Mom, I'm back." The woman hurriedly got up and went to open the door: "Where did you go so early in the morning?"

"I didn't go anywhere, I just went to get medicine for my mother."

Grab medicine?As soon as the woman heard her son say that he had gone to grab the medicine, she panicked: "Where did you get the money? Did you steal it from someone else..." As she spoke, she coughed violently, looked around, and pulled a firewood stick from the side , pointing at his son: "You mean, how did you get the money? You're going to piss your mother off..."

An Ran also saw the woman's son clearly at this moment, and couldn't help being stunned, it was the thief who he had not caught up to, the boy's face changed drastically when he saw An Ran, he thought that An Ran had come to his house to ask for money, and returned the money to her I'm not afraid, I'm just afraid that my mother will be angry, because my mother's illness can't help being angry.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help looking at An Ran pleadingly, An Ran understood at this moment, this kid is not a bad boy, but because of the difficult life at home, he wanted to get medicine for his mother and he couldn't get any money, so he had to steal it. , Although it is wrong, it is also excusable, after all, this kind of filial piety is rare.

What's more, this kid looks to be in his teens, knowing what is good and bad, he said: "Sister-in-law, why is she so angry, his family is so filial, and he bought medicine for sister-in-law, so the money is not stolen, I mean it?"

The kid nodded hurriedly: "It wasn't stolen, it wasn't stolen, I caught two fish in the moat outside the city and sold them for money."

The kid said a word, not wanting to offend his mother even more, he raised his stick and whipped: "Who told you to go catch fish in the river? How deep is the water in the moat? How many years do you not drown a few? You are tired of living." No, let me see if you dare to do it next time..."

"Don't dare, don't dare, mother, the dog won't dare anymore, you can hit him as soon as you hit him, the dog has rough skin and thick flesh, don't be afraid of beating, don't be angry, the doctor said that mother's illness is the most afraid of getting angry..." the dog After the son said a few words, her mother couldn't let go, she threw away the firewood stick, hugged her son and began to cry.

The two mothers hugged each other and cried, An Ran felt sore and sad when she was crying, maybe she could help them, and earn some money for herself, thinking of this, she said: "If the dog is not afraid of being tired, why don't you be a helper to me in the future , I will pay the dog according to the first month, how about it?"

Gouzi's eyes lit up when he heard it, but he was a little afraid of An Ran's debt, he stuttered and said, "You, what kind of helper do you want from me?"

An Ran smiled and said, "Since you can't be a cook, let's sell some food."

Gouziniang: "What kind of food does the girl want to sell?"

An Ran: "I came here from the city gate today, and I saw a lot of cheaters buying cooking cakes to satisfy their hunger. No matter how good the cooking cakes are, they don't have the smell of meat. I have a way to clean up the pig's head, and I think I can sell them." Mother The two looked at each other.

An Ran did what she said, and the next day, she asked Gouzi to buy window paper for her. Not only did she rent the two rooms on the west side, but even her wife's room was re-pasted. Winter is coming soon, Qizhou But it's cold, it won't freeze to death if it blows air and leaks air.

Although Gouzi is still a little wary of An Ran, he is obedient, knowing that after An Ran rented his house, he will do whatever An Ran calls him.

A few days later, An Ran gave him money again and asked him to buy some spices and seasonings, and asked him to buy a pig's head when everything was ready.

The stewed pig's head can be stewed crispy only by mastering the heat, clean it up, and put the spices, sauces and seasonings together with the pig's head into a large pot, and simmer slowly over a low heat. It takes half a day to complete.

An Ran covered the fire and simmered slowly, and went out by herself, just when she said she was thirsty, a bowl of hot water was brought to her, Gouzi said with some awkwardness: "Well, drink water."

An Ran laughed, this kid was really awkward, turned his head to look at the main room, and heard Gou Zi say: "Mother just took medicine and fell asleep."

An Ran nodded, moved a bench and sat on the edge of the well platform, looked at the well water inside, and listened carefully to the sound of spring water bubbling. Alright, making wine is the best. Looking back, I think about Grandpa’s recipe for making wine. Try brewing a few jars. If you don’t drink it yourself, you can distribute it to the neighbors. The people on this street are all good people, and the neighbors help each other. Mutual assistance has a strong human touch.

An Ran was thinking about it, when suddenly she saw Gouzi approaching, and said in a low voice, "Why didn't you tell mother?"

An Ran glanced at him, saw that his little face was flushed, he was quite guilty, a typical child who made a mistake, and thought for a while: "My grandpa told me that people must learn to survive in adversity, no matter how hard it is. You have to stick to your own principles. You steal money to get medicine for your mother. This is your filial piety, which is right, but it is wrong for you to steal money. You should make such a mistake. You are filial at first, but have you ever thought about what would happen if you were caught stealing money and sent to the yamen? Your mother knew that if you didn't need you to grab the medicine, you would probably die of anger. Yes, even if you get it by luck once, can you guarantee it again and again?"

"I, I know that I shouldn't steal other people's money. When my father was alive, he often told me that one must live an upright life to be a human being."

An Ran nodded: "What your father said is true."

Gouzi glanced at her: "Well, can the money I stole from you be deducted from my salary?"

An Ran looked at him sideways, suddenly laughed, reached out and patted his head: "Okay."

Gouzi breathed a sigh of relief, and after a while he said again: "You, are you really a cook?"

An Ran raised her eyebrows and looked at him: "Why? Not like it?"

Gouzi nodded very embarrassingly: "Well, it's not like, my father has strength, and he said that only strength can move the pot, otherwise, how can he cook as a chef."

An Ran shook her head: "What your father said is right or wrong, that skill is a coincidence, but, to be a cook, you really need to practice basic skills, so what your father said makes sense."

Gouzi: "My father said that the first thing to be a cook is to practice knife skills. When my father was learning the craft in the south, he only practiced knife skills for several years." He said, looking at the knife box in An Ran's hand: "This is your kitchen knife Well, the box looks a bit broken." He said with a bit of disdain.

"This is passed down to me by my master, and I am counting on me to inherit his old man's mantle."

Gouzi snorted in disbelief: "Bragging, how can you inherit your master's mantle as a woman." But he couldn't help but leaned over and touched An Ran's knife box: "That, can I have a look."

An Ran: "Do you want to learn to cook?"

Gouzi's face darkened: "My mother said it's not good to be a cook. After learning the craft all my life, I might have nothing to eat anytime soon. Don't ask me to be a cook."

An Ran sighed unknowingly, she couldn't blame Gou Ziniang, she thought Gou Zi's father's death made her discouraged, she felt that there was no way out for a cook, but she heard Gou Zi say, "Can you teach me that, don't let me If mother knows, it will be done."

An Ran shook her head: "No, I have an apprentice, so I can't teach you, and your mother is sick, if you let her know, I'm afraid it will be sad again."

Gouzi's small face suddenly darkened, and curled his lips: "Liar, you are only so old, you have apprentices, my father even confiscated apprentices, if you don't teach me, I don't want to be your apprentice, I want to worship the world The most powerful chef will also be the first chef in the future, and go into the palace to cook for the emperor." Put down the words and ran away.

An Ran shook her head and laughed, children always think very simple, but the simpler they are, the easier it is to be happy, just like the current self, sitting here, she actually feels that it is not bad to live like this for the rest of her life.

Of course, this kind of thinking is only for a moment, she still has a lot of things to do, An Ke's food list, and the mantle of the master, what she saw and heard in Qizhou gave An Ran a new understanding of the mantle of the master.

Although the master used the wrong method at the beginning, what the master always wants to do is to eliminate the difference between the north and the south, so that the cooking skills can be communicated between the north and the south. Only in this way can all cooks in the world be able to eat. It won't happen again, fighting with each other will only lead to the decline of this industry, and it will also make people look down on them even more. The humble status of cooks now has reasons for fighting. The peers don't respect enough, so do you expect respect from outsiders?

Therefore, I have to be like my master, do my best to eliminate the difference between the north and the south. If I want to do this, I have to defeat Han Zizhang, and I still lack too much now, so I have nothing to do with Han Zizhang rashly. Odds of winning, this is probably the reason why the master let himself out.

The old man hopes that he can increase his knowledge, learn cooking skills, and the most important thing is to be familiar with the ingredients, dishes, and cooking techniques of the world. Knowing yourself and the enemy can win all battles.

The pig's head meat was stewed and the excess oil was removed, left overnight, cut into large slices, and then started to make pancakes. An Ran first wanted to make pancakes, but after thinking about it, pancakes are not as fast as pancakes, and they are not as cheap as pancakes.

After the pancake was baked, it was cut open, half of the pancake was wrapped with a piece of pork head meat, wrapped in lotus leaves picked by Gouzi, and put into a basket, which was full.

Gouzi asked An Ran: "How much is it selling for?"

An Ran calculated the cost and asked him to sell it for five cents.

Gouziniang said: "It's cheap to sell. It's easy to sell so much meat for ten yuan." So she agreed.

Gouzi went out with a basket, and came back just after noon, grinning happily behind his ears, and when he saw An Ran, he began to yell: "I just arrived at the gate of the city, and an uncle driving a car bought a set, and called again. A dozen or so drivers came, and they were sold out in a short while, and they asked me if I would go tomorrow and told me to take more to sell, there are too many of them.”

Saying that, he took out the money bag from his bosom and handed it to An Ran.

Twenty sets of pancakes and meat rolls were sold for 100 renminbi, and after deducting the cost, there was a profit of more than [-] renminbi. An Ran was stunned. Although she thought that those people must like meat, she didn't expect the sales to be so good. She couldn't help saying : "I didn't expect this big pie roll to have such a big profit?"

The Gouziniang shook her head: "It's because you cook this meat well. When Gouzi Daddy was alive, he cooked it a few times, and it's far worse than yours. Not to mention the ones outside, some of them still have pork meat. Where is the taste, I don’t know what kind of method you are doing?”

An Ran also had no intention of concealing it, and handed the spice bag wrapped in gauze to the dog girl: "It's easy to explain, it's the spices here, and there are some that must be cleaned up, rinsed with blood, and then stewed. , wine is essential, rice wine is the best, if you don’t have it, you can use the wine that Gouzi made yesterday.”

Gouziniang was a little embarrassed: "This is the girl's secret recipe, why did you tell me, but Gouzi's father told me that the secret recipe for cooking is precious, and it is passed on to sons and not to daughters."

An Ran smiled and shook her head: "What kind of secret recipe is this? If my sister-in-law wants to hear it, I have plenty here, not only stewed pig's head, but also stewed fish."

As soon as the words were finished, I heard Pu Lenglen jump out of the dog's basket with a big herring, An Ran was taken aback, and Gouziniang's face darkened: "Are you going to catch fish in the river again?"

Gouzi hurriedly shook his head: "I didn't go to the river. Those uncles who drove the car gave it to me. One of them delivered herring to the restaurant. He told me that I will sell big pancakes and rolled meat tomorrow. Just send me another one."

Gouziniang: "So, we can't delay, we have to go buy a pig's head quickly, or we won't be able to make it."

Just as he was talking about letting the dog go, An Ran smiled and said, "Don't worry about buying a pig's head, it's not too late to go after eating the fish." As he spoke, he lifted the fish up from the ground, and the fish weighed four or five catties. , After thinking about it, I suddenly remembered Mrs. Jiao's stewed fish in sauce. It happened that Gou Ziniang was also sitting in a vat of mao sauce. The sauce was just right, and she carried the fish into the kitchen.

Gouzi was afraid that his mother would catch the wind and cough again, so he helped his mother into the house to lie down, and when he came out, he suddenly remembered that his father said that a cook's skill can be known only by killing chickens and fish, so he quietly joined her past.

As soon as he arrived at the door of the kitchen, his eyes were straightened, and he saw the fish jumping around in his hand, which was outrageously obedient in An Ran's hand. He bled, scaled, gutted the fish, and pulled out the fishy thread... Almost instantly, a fish Let her tidy up the fish properly.

An Ran put the fish into the pot, glanced sideways at Gou Zi, thinking that he was hungry, and handed him half a pancake left in the morning on the pot table, rolled and leftover minced meat: "Eat this first if you're hungry. "

But Gouzi seemed to be stupid, and said after a long time: "You, you are really a cook."

An Ran laughed and said, "It's guaranteed to be a real one." The knife in her hand was wiped clean and put into the knife box. This is An's family's ancestral kitchen knife, and it must be treasured to be worthy of An's ancestors.

As for this kid, if he really wants to be a cook, An Ran believes that stealing a teacher is better than learning a skill, so she won't accept him, but he can watch it himself, it depends on his own understanding.

An Ran doesn't know if Gouzi will be a cook or not, but the pig meat business has become more and more prosperous, from one pig head to five pig heads, and then ten... Even the patient Gou Zi Niang helped her support the past.

She exhausted herself to death every day, even if she made money, An Ran didn't want it. She originally wanted to help the bitches and make some money, but she didn't want to exhaust herself to death.

So, a month later, An Ran insisted on giving the brisk pork head meat business to the sons and daughters, and asked them to find helpers to do it themselves.

Gouziniang was very sorry, and she didn't agree with life and death. In the end, An Ran said that she paid her for the rent of the house.

An Ran finally had time to go out for a walk.

The autumn scenery of Qizhou City has a special style, and the gurgling springs have brought to this city an aura that cannot be replicated elsewhere, making Anran linger and forget to return.

It's just that the troubles that should come will still come. When An Ran came back that day, it was already dark. As soon as he entered the small courtyard, he saw a man sitting in the courtyard. He looked about forty years old.

Seeing An Ran come in, although he stood up from the bench, the disappointment on his face was obvious, and he said with some uncertainty, "You, you are Chef An?"

An Ran didn't say a word, and the dog next to him nodded hurriedly: "Uncle Master, Sister An's cooking skills are amazing, the best I've ever seen. Really, the secret recipe for the pork belly that my mother and I cook is taught by Sister An. Yes, besides, Sister An is also a cook from the Southern School, so it is right that Uncle Master asked Sister An for help."

(End of this chapter)