Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Jiang Shangxian thought he was here to be Cui Bianxu's personal chef, but when he arrived he found out that he was the cafeteria auntie.

The dishes in the cafeteria and the private kitchen are definitely not the same, and the dishes brought by the mother and daughter are not enough for so many people. Fortunately, there are rice, flour, grain, oil, and half a basket of eggs in the kitchen of the Dali Temple, but there are no vegetables and meat.

Jiang Shangxian calculated the number of people and it was almost as many as a complete medium-sized tour group of elderly people!

"Nian Nu, there are so many people, what are we going to do?" Jiang's mother was a little hesitant. She had never cooked for so many people before. Setting up a stall was different, as there were only two of them.

"It's okay, mother, there's a way to cook big pot rice." Jiang Shangxian had never actually cooked for so many people. She went for a high-end boutique style at Lexianlou, and basically all the food was served in a single pot.

However, now that I'm here, I can't be scared. Just do it. If I can't handle it, I'll see what happens next.

Jiang Shangxian wasn't going to go for it headfirst. Even if she hadn't made communal meals before, she'd definitely eaten them before, right? She'd eaten communal meals in the school cafeteria and at fast food restaurants. In short, she had a bit of experience with communal meals.

She counted the number of people and determined that they would probably have to eat here, so she asked the guards to buy food for lunch. As for her, she and Jiang's mother made breakfast with the ingredients on hand to get by.

"Mother, go get some rice and millet and make some corn porridge." Jiang Shangxian assigned tasks to Jiang's mother while his own hands did not stop. He took out a sealed ceramic jar from the things they brought.

This is the cabbage kimchi she pickled earlier. It grows big in one go. It’s cheap and goes well with rice.

Although it is called cabbage kimchi, she actually put green peppercorns, chili peppers, garlic cloves, white radish, and cowpeas in it. The main purpose is to use whatever is available, so as to have more variety and save trouble. She added salt, vinegar, and sugar to marinate it together. It is more sour than sweet, with a slightly spicy taste, and is so refreshing, crispy and tender that you can't stop eating it.

It's just right to eat with corn porridge.

Porridge alone is not enough. Compared to porridge, people in Chang'an prefer noodles, various kinds of pancakes, noodles and the like. She had just seen that there are many ingredients for making noodles here. She picked and chose among the dishes she brought from home. Jiang's mother was a good shopper, and most of the things she brought were vegetables. The only meat was another kind of New Year's meat made by their own family - salty and sweet braised pork.

It was only the size of a piece of meat, neither too much nor too little. Jiang Shangxian was not discouraged and continued to search. She remembered that there were garlic leaves. In order to eat fresh vegetables in winter, the people of Chang'an would also grow some things that were easier to survive in their houses. Garlic leaves, for example, were grown by putting garlic in shallow water. The quality was not very good and they were rather thin.

There are many people like her who grow leeks at home. After all, leeks are said to have aphrodisiac properties and are considered the most affordable kidney-tonifying product.

Well, there are also green onions. There are a lot of them. Almost every household has some in the house.

"Mom, please help me cut the green onions into small pieces." Jiang Shangxian saw that his mother had already cooked the porridge, so he quickly assigned her a new task. He quickly scooped up half a basin of flour, then dissolved the sugar dough in warm water and poured it into the basin and stirred it.

This is a lazy way to make bun skins. When the mixture is almost done, sprinkle some flour on it, cover it with a rag and place it next to the stove where the porridge is cooking. The temperature there is high, so the dough will rise faster.

Jiang's mother, who had just finished washing the green onions and was about to chop them, saw her steaming the bacon and asked, "Just these two? Isn't that a little missing?"

It would be great for them to eat this meal at home, but would the officials in the Dali Temple dislike it?

"How could there be so many superiors who could call us over? I guess the most senior official in the Dali Temple these days is Cui Shaoqing."

Jiang Shangxian was extremely sure of this. What a joke! Leaders from ancient times to the present were all the same. Expecting them to work overtime when the boss was not around was a pipe dream!

Who are you showing it to?

Look, they are both Shaoqing, but the other one is probably sleeping at home with his wife, while Cui Bianxu is the unlucky guy who was called to work overtime.

Jiang's mother breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. That's good. It's good that Cui Shaoqing is the most powerful. She won't have to worry about meeting other superiors.

While the bacon was being steamed, Jiang Shangxian was not idle either. He dragged the basket of eggs to the stove, took a large bowl and squatted on the ground to crack the eggs, one, two, three, four... nineteen. That's it. He shook his slightly numb legs, stood up, and beat the eggs with chopsticks.

Jiang's mother was a person who loved to slack off from work and chat with people. When she saw her beating eggs, she asked, "These are expensive. Why do you have so many?"

"Stir-frying is easier. This is just two dishes and two staple foods, which is enough."

The ingredients were limited, so she had to do this. After beating the eggs, she started to make the sauce and set it aside. Since she had leeks, she could make leek scrambled eggs, but compared to leek scrambled eggs, she felt that scrambled eggs with sauce were more appetizing!

It’s cold, so you have to make the braised pork buns first, otherwise they will all get cold.

The braised pork and scallion buns were her own invention. Braised pork is simple to make. In Wenzhou, when the weather is cold, the braised pork is hung in the yard to dry for three days. It is also very delicious when steamed. However, Jiang Shangxian feels that the braised pork is not as fragrant as the braised spareribs. There are more bones than meat in that stuff. It is especially satisfying to chew on the bones while drinking cold beer.

So in the morning when Jiang's mother was hesitating whether to bring braised pork ribs or braised pork strips, Jiang Shangxian decisively chose the braised pork strips.

After taking out the steamed braised pork to dry, Jiang Shangxian squatted beside the basin and lifted the rag to take a look. It had only doubled in size. He had to wait a little longer. The dough had to rise two or three times in size before it could be used.

This piece of braised pork is three parts fat and seven parts lean. Jiang Shangxian cut off the fat part with a knife and put it aside. He first cut the lean parts into small pieces, and then chopped the fat as finely as possible. When they are wrapped together and eaten, it is oily and greasy without the greasy taste of fat.

Jiang's mother brought her the chopped green onions, stirred the corn porridge, and came over to wait for the buns to be made together. Jiang Shangxian had made buns at home before, and the fillings she made were better than those sold outside, but she had never made this kind of braised meat.

Ever since Jiang Shangxian went to work as a worker at Lexianlou, she basically stopped cooking at home. No one would want to continue cooking after cooking outside all day.

"Your stuffing smells really nice." Mother Jiang sniffed it and thought that she probably didn't have enough for breakfast.

Jiang Shangxian stirred the stuffing and winked at her: "You eat first. Eat as much as you can. You can't let us starve."

"What nonsense! How many can I eat?"

Mother Jiang patted her, but her face was full of joy: "I never thought that there would be such a day for me."