Datang First Chef

The peach jam received unanimous praise from both mother and son. Li Sanniang tasted it after stirring it with chopsticks: "Sweet and sour." good.

After making steamed cakes and cage cakes, there was still dough left. Li Sanniang grabbed a small piece and put it in the palm of her hand, wrapped the jam in it. She stretched out her fingers to fiddle with the dough, and soon a pointed steamed bun was freshly baked.

Tang Dynasty steamed buns are different from modern steamed buns in shape. For the convenience of dipping in sauce, half of them are white and fat, and the other half has a sharp corner, which is dipped in sugar or sauce when eating.

The steamed buns she is wrapping now are flatter than usual. Mo Wenyuan saw that they were wrapped in the shape of peaches. He said: "Mother, peaches have red pointed ends. How about we make the pointed corners as well?" dyed red?"

Li Sanniang calculated: "It's easy to dye red. No matter what kind of perilla and amaranth is stewed, it will produce red juice. At that time, add more water and let it pass on the noodles before steaming."

Mo Wenyuan took the initiative: "Ma'am, let me help you."

Li Sanniang saw that he was small, and said amusedly, "Would you help me dip the red juice?"

Mo Wenyuan nodded.

Both mother and son were active, and when a bowl of peach sauce was boiled, Li Sanniang used the leftover wheat bread and steamed buns, while Mo Wenyuan went to the street to buy amaranth with a few copper coins.

Amaranth is a common vegetable in the Tang Dynasty, and children like brightly colored meals, so Li Sanniang often buys a stuffed pot, but Mo Wenyuan doesn't care, Mo Xiaogou is very happy to eat.

He boiled the amaranth he bought in a pottery urn, and Sanniang quickly made steamed buns. The amount was calculated just right. A can of trial-made peach jam wrapped 20 steamed buns, and steamed them in the steamer after an hour. .

It was meal time when she came out of the cage. Sanniang lifted the lid of the steamer. She mixed the leftover peach juice with the noodles. The jam mixed with the aroma of wheat came head-on, refreshing. The children playing on the street had the sharpest noses. They Immediately clustered in front of the bakery.

"smell good!"

"What is the taste?"

"Mo Da, what did your mother do again?"

Mo Wenyuan poked his head out from behind the stove and said with a smile: "Peach steamed buns are delicious, let your mother and grandpa buy them!" Then he picked up the peach steamed buns that Li Sanniang gave him, and presented them in front of the children When they broke apart, the strong sweet and sour smell invaded their mouths and noses, and the former all pouted their noses and sucked hard, and their tongues were salivating.

Mo Wenyuan's advertisement was played well, and after a while, the crying of children could be heard from every house.

"Mother, I want to eat steamed buns!"

"Moda's steamed buns are delicious!"

"They say it's made of peaches."

"Eat, eat, eat, eat, you will know how to eat."

"What should I do!"

Some parents didn't pretend to talk to their children, and slapped their children on the head with their backhands when they saw a row, while some parents pulled their children's ears to the door of the store after the row broke out.

Zhang Siniang laughed and said: "Sanniang, get one for this kid." She said, "If I don't buy it for him, I'm probably going to kill me."

Li Sanniang smiled and said, "Two cents a piece."

The steamer was opened, and the steamed buns were white and fat. The tip dyed with red amaranth was far from the red color of the peach itself, but it was a little red after all.

Zhang Siniang said in surprise, "Oh, this steamed bun is so cute."

Li Sanniang stepped up her promotion and said, "Peach steamed buns, I want to sell them on the Obon Festival, so I will try to make them today."

The child broke open the steamed bun immediately after getting it, and ate it heartily. The peach sauce splashed on his face, and he stuck out his tongue to lick off the sweet and sour sauce.

Seeing that he was enjoying the food, Zhang Siniang stretched out her hand to snatch the other half. Seeing that the child had been robbed of the food, the child didn't dare to fart, but his face wrinkled into a ball, feeling wronged.

Fortunately, his mother just tasted it and returned it to her son. She was stunned: "This is a peach? Why doesn't it taste like this when I usually steam peaches?" Not raw.

Li Sanniang joked: "If it tastes the same as steamed peaches, how can I do business?"

Mo Wenyuan interjected, "Aunt Zhang, do you want two more? My peach steamed buns are sweet and appetizing, and they are even cheaper than caramel. Buy a few and go back to eat and have fun."

Zhang Siniang was moved by what he told him, and took two more steamed buns.

After a while, under the appeal of the children, all the [-] steamed buns that were tried were sold out.

……

The weather in July was so hot that even if I had made steamed buns earlier, I couldn’t let them go, so on July [-]th, Li Sanniang got up early in the morning to make steamed buns.

She finally did not refuse Mo Wenyuan's help, the little child jumped up and down in the kitchen, watching the fire boil peach jam for a while, and dividing the dough for a while.

Pieces of wheat noodles were pulled off by him from the long noodles and placed neatly on the cutting board. They were similar in shape and weight, and they were better than Mrs. Lin.

Aunt Lin and Xiaogou Mo were assigned to do physical work, wielding a kitchen knife to chop up peaches.

Mo Wenyuan pinched the dough and said, "I'm afraid that other melons and fruits can be made into jam like peaches. At that time, mother can make other kinds of steamed buns. Someone will come to buy them."

But Li Sanniang shook her head and said, "It's not advisable to make more melon and fruit buns, just a small amount."

"Steamed pancakes are used to fill the stomach. If you eat less sweet steamed buns, you can still eat them. If you eat too much, you will get tired. They are not as good as mutton steamed buns."

"Occasionally, it's okay to try something new, but if you do too much, you won't be able to sell it."

After hearing this, Mo Wenyuan slapped his head, thinking that Auntie really has a business mind, and she thinks a lot more than him.

He used to patronize the study of craftsmanship, and the management and decoration of restaurants selling vegetables at the head of the table are all managed by special personnel, so Mo Wenyuan is very ignorant of this, but Li Sanniang is different. She is the one who supports the steamed cake house. She can handle the interpersonal communication of the store in a tight and orderly manner.

Mo Wenyuan thought in his heart: We should learn more from A Niang.

……

The door-opening drum thump-thump-thump-thump-thump sounded, and the gate of the square opened wide.

Mo Wenyuan was led by Li Sanniang and buried in the crowd, he could only see Xi Wei in the sky when he looked up, bright stars twinkling on the boundary line between black and white.

There are all kinds of people around, men, women, common people, officials, and occasionally the neighing of livestock can be heard.

On the day of the Obon Festival, the flow of people on the street was several times higher than before.

Buddhism was prevalent in the Tang Dynasty, and there were no less than a hundred temples in Chang’an alone. Although there were many temples, they were divided into three, six, and nine grades. Like today, the most festive atmosphere and the largest gathering of people are nothing more than the government spending huge sums of money to hold the Yulan Basin Royal Temple of the Council.

The royal family will present Obon offerings to several famous temples, even if it is to see the mighty royal guard of honor, the common people prefer to go to the big temples.

Li Sanniang wanted to go to the Daxingshan Temple located in Jingshanfang. It was the ninth year of Zhenguan, and Daci'en Temple and other famous temples of later generations had not yet been established.

Daxingshan Temple is the most extensive temple in the capital, and its system is the same as that of Taimiao. It is a royal temple.

Mo Wenyuan followed the flow of people and found that more than half of the people were going to Daxingshan Temple.

Sanniang took Mo Wenyuan with one hand, turned her head to Xiaogou Mo and said: "When you arrive at the temple in a while, you first send the offerings in the basin. Dalang and I will wait near the high seat of the mountain gate."

Mo Wenyuan wondered: "What kind of offerings do we give?" He clearly remembered that Auntie was not a devout Buddhist!

On the day of the Yulan Basin Festival, apart from receiving offerings from the royal family, Daxingshan Temple will also send offerings from the rich and common people in the city. Le puppet shows and acrobatics are performed in turns at the gate of the mountain, which is very lively.

Mo Wenyuan's family just went to Xiaokang, and at most they would send some steamed cakes and steamed buns, but he was surprised that he hadn't seen San Niang send offerings to the temple in the past two years, why today...

There are many Buddhists in the city, but his mother is not religious.

Li Sanniang expressed her intention openly: "Although the offering is for the Buddha, it is not for the masters to eat after the Dharma conference. If some masters feel good about our offerings, maybe they can make a good fortune." edge."

Mo Wenyuan's eyelids twitched, and he thought to himself, what kind of good fate is this, should it be called wealth fate?

Advertisement with the oblation of the Yulan basin, his mother is absolutely dead.

Mo Xiaogou didn't think there was a problem, he said: "The high seat? Has it been set up?"

The high seat is a place for lay monks to sit, and it is guaranteed that monks sitting cross-legged on it will be a line above the audience.

Generally, one day after the Obon Festival, that is, the [-]th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, the temple will hold a lecture on Buddhism, the content of which is "Buddha Said Mulian's Rescue Mother Sutra".

Although common lectures are also lectures, they are not lacking in interest. After all, the purpose is to serve the public and add fun to everyone's boring life. Therefore, not only music is interspersed during the lectures, but also narrated in vernacular. I am afraid that the monks have practiced the scriptures. The ventriloquist, imitating middle-aged women, children, and the elderly, are all lifelike, and they can also sing with the dubbing of wooden fish.

It is not far from the Baixi artists. Mo Wenyuan watched it once before and lamented that the monks in the Tang Dynasty had too many skills.

Hey, it's not easy to mess around in any line of work these days.

After the three made an agreement, they split into two groups and headed towards the designated location. Mo Wenyuan, who was small and carried a basket in his hand, walked quickly with Li Sanniang.

People outside the mountain gate are like a tide, be careful not to get lost!