Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Jiang Shangxian was bored and thought of making some roast duck to eat. She actually didn't like duck meat very much. If the duck meat was not cooked well, it would have a fishy smell and she couldn't get used to it. But she could eat roast duck, braised duck, and sauced duck all the time.

If we can make roast duck, wouldn’t it be so exciting to make it look like roast duck?

Having been here for so long, the thing she is most uncomfortable with is that many modern snacks and treats cannot be eaten unless she makes them herself. It is not like before when she could just open her phone and order takeout when she was too lazy.

Handsome guys in yellow or blue clothes will come to your door.

When she got here, sometimes when she wanted to eat something, she often had to get the cooking utensils herself. However, she was not very confident about making roast duck, so the earthen cellar was not big enough to only hold two ducks.

Pork tripe and chicken soup was bubbling on the stove. The master and his apprentices were surrounding two naked ducks that had taken off their clothes... Oh no, they were naked ducks with their feathers cleaned off and no broken skin on their bodies except for a bleeding wound on the neck. Their body fat percentage was about 32.5%.

"Master, wheat straw." Zhou Ying excitedly took out a handful of wheat straw and handed it to her.

This thing is not worth much, it is just the stalks left after the wheat is harvested. It is just a little difficult to get at this time, and it takes a bit of effort. "I did it as you said. I cut off the two ends, soaked them in water, and boiled them. After soaking them in salt water, I put them by the stove to dry. I promise it will be fine."

Jiang Shangxian took one and examined it carefully, looking up and down, and making sure that the hygiene problem could not be seen from the surface, then he took a glass of water, inserted the straw into it and took a sip, and his eyes suddenly lit up: You know what, this thing is okay!

"Master, you just use it to drink water? Why is it so difficult to drink water?" Zhou Ying was dumbfounded. He thought it was of great use. It was just wheat straw. When they were kids, they would hold a piece of it in their mouths to breathe while swimming in the canal.

Wang Wan nodded vigorously. Although he was a fat man, fat people had an innate advantage in swimming. He could easily float on the water without sinking. "Why are you talking so much? Master likes to drink water like this. Let's do it. It's not a big deal."

Second Junior Brother is just too talkative. As disciples, they can only accompany the Master in whatever way he wants. How could they complain? It's really getting more and more outrageous.

Li Meng touched his nose and glanced at the three people's faces without saying a word. He felt that this was not the case. Although his master usually ate whatever he wanted, he would not eat so much. If he wanted to drink water, he could just drink it directly. He was thirsty and still used the straw to drink. The tube was so thin that it would make him anxious to drink water, wouldn't it?

“It’s not for drinking water.”

Jiang Shangxian rolled her eyes at them. What the hell? She wasn't sick, why was she making such a fuss over drinking water? "I'll need it when I cook the duck later."

She reached out and pinched the duck. She heard that authentic Beijing roast duck must be made with authentic Beijing local duck, but there was none available at the moment, so she could only make do with this Chang'an local duck.

Jiang Shangxian pinched the duck's neck and began to teach his apprentices how to cook the duck: "Chop the duck's feet and tips, and put them in the pig's stomach and chicken to eat later. Start from here and peel the duck's esophagus."

It was her first time, and she was a theoretical warrior. Plus, she had to let her three apprentices see her clearly, so her movements were not fast. If it were someone in Beijing who had been doing this for years, their movements would have to be two or three times more agile than her.

Jiang Shangxian pinched the duck's neck with his left hand and spread out his right hand: "Wheat straw."

"Here it is!" Zhou Ying quickly placed a piece of straw in her palm.

He carefully and accurately inserted the straw in his hand under the duck skin: "Come on, Li Meng, blow on it."

Li Meng's eyes widened for two seconds, a rare moment. He was a little confused, but he still leaned over with his butt sticking out, leaning over to the other end of the straw: "Master, how do you blow it?"

"Oh, just blow in, blow hard, and puff up the duck!"

The man was sturdy and had incredible lung capacity. Li Meng easily broke a straw with his wind. He fumbled with the broken straw between his thick black index finger and thumb. He felt so helpless. "Master, I, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay, change one. It's easy to blow up bullshit, but it's not easy to blow up duck skin." Jiang Shangxian had already taken this situation into consideration, so she asked Zhou Ying to prepare so much wheat straw. She didn't believe that after making so much wheat straw, how could two ducks not be blown up?

Even if they were really unlucky, the worst that could happen was to make braised duck. They would eat it themselves anyway, and in their culinary world, there was no reason to waste good ingredients.

Fortunately, Li Meng was a talented person. After breaking six straws in a row, he finally felt some pulse points. Jiang Shangxian pinched the opening of the duck's neck and pressed one hand lightly on the duck's back. He could clearly see with his palm and vision that the duck skin was bulging little by little.

She felt the touch of her hands and stopped when it was about 80% full: "Okay, almost there."

"Come on, Zhou Ying, come here. First, dig out the duck's butt. Then poke your finger in here and tear the anus and intestines apart." She pointed her finger at the pointed part of the duck's butt, signaling Zhou Ying to poke there.

"Hey! Master, I'm here!"

If it were just the three of them, this kid would still look for opportunities to slack off, but whenever Jiang Shangxian was around, he would always attack wherever he pointed, very actively: "Is this the place? I'm going to make the move, right?"

"Okay, let's do this." Jiang Shangxian was not unwilling to do it himself, but her hands were chubby, which could easily stretch the hole. Zhou Ying was thin, and her hands stretched out looked like Mei Chaofeng without nails. He was the most suitable person to do this job.

Zhou Ying deftly stretched out his index finger and poked it into the duck's butt. He then circled his index finger inside and used his thumb outside to pinch off the anus and intestine. Then, as his finger withdrew, a piece of duck intestine came out from the small hole.

Jiang Shangxian pinched the duck's neck and one of its wings: "Here, knife."

"Here it is!"

"Look, make a crescent-shaped incision from the duck's right armpit and remove the internal organs from there..."

Today I will make Peking duck first. When her grandmother took her to Beijing for two months when she was a child, it was probably just the beginning of the 21st century. I only remember that Beijing was so hot and prosperous, and the most common foods we ate were lamb skewers and Peking duck. The freshly made Peking duck tasted completely different from the one they brought back to their relatives when they went home.

The authentic Beijing roast duck was freshly made, with loose skin that didn't feel greasy at all. Whether eaten directly or wrapped, it was so tempting that people couldn't help but keep eating it. Finally, the duck rack was made into a salt and pepper duck rack, which she would chew with her fingers curled up every time.

In order to make a non-greasy and crispy roast duck, it has to go through many processes such as making the embryo, draining the acid, cooling the embryo, refrigerating, and coloring. There can't be any mistakes. That is because Lexianlou has its own ice cellar. If it were at the Jiang family, even though it is still cool this month, it would not be possible to make it.