After he recovered, Jiang Miao was ready to start making money. He had been walking around these days, and the copper coins in the jar had visibly decreased. If he didn't make money, he might not be able to pay the rent for next month. After all, it was only the second day of November, the beginning of the month.
He had already inquired about it, and found out that the rent for a room here was two hundred coins a month, and this was the lowest rent among the houses in the surrounding alleys.
Compared with the modern rent of several thousand yuan, it seems very cheap, but the economy was not developed in ancient times and people did not earn much. In comparison, it is not much worse.
I never thought that in ancient times people would still worry about renting a house. It was really stressful.
As Jiang Miao was thinking, he walked to the rice jar and took a look. He had been drinking brown rice porridge for the past two days. After three meals a day, the brown rice, which was originally limited, was quickly gone.
There was still half a bag of flour in the flour bag next to it, but it was for making buns. After traveling through time, I actually went back to my old job. If I had known, I would have changed my job in the first place? Jiang Miao complained while cooking another bowl of porridge for himself. Then he opened the flour bag and scooped a few scoops of flour into the basin.
Before adding water, Jiang Miao picked up a bowl on the stove, which contained a dough with some dry flour sprinkled on it. This was a dough he had kneaded two days ago. He put it in a warm place to ferment naturally, and then he could get the old dough starter. Then he dissolved the old dough with warm water and poured it into the flour. The dough was fluffy and soft. When there was no yeast powder, this method of dough fermentation was much faster than natural dough fermentation. Some experienced chefs also liked to use old dough when making pastries.
After adding water to the flour and kneading the dough, Jiang Miao covered it with something and let it ferment quietly. He went out with his purse, preparing to buy some vegetables to chop the stuffing.
He had just closed the door with the basket when Aunt Liu, who had become familiar with him in the past few days, came over.
"Brother Jiang, are you going out?"
Jiang Miao smiled and nodded: "Well, I went to the market to buy some vegetables. I haven't set up a stall these days, and the business is almost gone." Coincidentally, in the landlord's tenant book, Jiang Miao found that he had the same name and surname as the original owner, and even the characters were not changed. Maybe he was able to travel through time because of this special fate
"That's great. Please bring me a piece of tofu. My grandson has been clamoring for some these days, but I don't have the time to buy it." As she said that, Aunt Liu took out two cents, just enough to buy a large piece.
"Okay," Jiang Miao took the money, "Then I'll give you some green onions later. They're delicious when mixed with tofu."
Aunt Liu smiled happily: "Young man, you are quite good at living. Thank you for your help."
"Hey, why bother talking about whether it's a hassle or not? We all live in the same yard and are neighbors. It's just a piece of cake." Jiang Miao didn't care. He also grew up in the yard when he was a child. He followed his grandmother who was the director of the women's department every day and dealt with those old ladies and young wives. He was doing well on his own.
Sure enough, these soothing words made Aunt Liu very happy. After Jiang Miao brought her some tofu, she immediately gave him two cabbages to cook soup with. Jiang Miao took them with a smile, and then handed her a piece of sesame-covered maltose, saying that it was for her grandson to sweeten his mouth.
Aunt Liu was still a little embarrassed, thinking that this Jiang was really good and a good person. He seemed difficult to get along with before, probably because they were not familiar with each other.
Jiang Miao took the cabbage into the house, then took out his radish and went to the well to wash it. An old lady was already standing by the well, hunched over, drawing water. Jiang Miao put down the basin, walked over in two or three steps to help the old lady fetch the water and pour it into the bucket, and then helped her carry it into the kitchen.
"Brother Jiang, thank you very much. Did you buy some vegetables?"
"Well, Aunt Bai, why are you fetching water by yourself today? Where's Sister Bai?" Jiang Miao picked up another bucket of water and poured it into his basin. He hadn't used well water for a long time after leaving his hometown. He said that this well water, which is warm in winter and cool in summer, is much better than tap water for both drinking and use.
"She went back to see her sister-in-law early in the morning after her sister-in-law gave birth to a baby." Aunt Bai felt a little envious. Her sister-in-law had given birth to four children, but her family only had two grandchildren in all these years, and they both went to school.
"That's good. No wonder. If you need anything later, just let me know. I'm free anyway." Jiang Miao said with a smile. His body looked almost the same as his modern body, only smaller, with a round face. He looked like a teenager, which was exactly the look these old ladies liked.
"Oh, OK." Seeing his enthusiasm, Mrs. Bai also moved a small stool over to help him wash the radishes. Jiang Miao wanted to push it away, but she was still unhappy.
After washing the radish, Jiang Miao placed it in the yard in a basket to dry, and then he brought out a small bowl, put things into it one by one, and then slowly ground it with a small pestle. The warm sun shone on his body, which was really comfortable. As Jiang Miao ground it, sweat even came out on his forehead.
"Brother Jiang, what are you grinding? It smells strange." Aunt Liu also took out clothes to mend. She was sitting opposite and suddenly smelled a strange fragrance. After sniffing it carefully, she found that it came from Jiang Miao.
"Auntie Liu, you have a very good nose. This thing I grind is called Thirteen Spices. There are many things in it. I will mix it with the stuffing of the buns later. It is guaranteed to be fragrant." Jiang Miao said, grinding harder. There are purple cardamom, amomum, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and other things in it. It is definitely Thirteen Spices, not a few spices. Some things were bought from the grain store, some from the pharmacy, and two from the spice shop. Although the amount is not much, it cost him a full hundred coins. Fortunately, one bowl can be used many times, otherwise it would be really painful.
"Thirteen spices?" Aunt Liu was interested, but she didn't ask in detail. They said they would put it in the buns, and it would be bad if it leaked out. "Then when your buns are steamed, I will buy two to try."
"What's two buns worth? When they're ready, I'll send you a few to try. Please help me test the taste and see if there's anything I need to change."
His words were very pleasing to the ear, and it gave the other party an advantage without losing face. Aunt Liu immediately said, "When you make buns later, call me. All the buns I make are the same. When I was in the village, everyone loved to call me for help."
"That's great. With your help, I won't have to worry anymore." Jiang Miao smiled even more happily. These aunties are all like this. Although they have some minor flaws, they are really kind-hearted and will not just think about taking advantage of others. If you can establish a good relationship with them, they can help a lot.
At noon, Jiang Miao cooked soup with cabbage and poured the leftover porridge from the morning into it to make soup with rice, which he had a very casual meal.
After eating, he lifted up the risen dough and took a look. He found that the dough had become two or three times larger than before. When he pressed it, a hole was formed inside, which had become a honeycomb. It was obvious that the dough had risen very successfully this time.
Jiang Miao pinched off a small piece of dough and put it into the bowl and covered it. This was the dough for making buns tomorrow.
After the dough has risen, it is time to mince the stuffing. He collects the radishes outside and finds that the moisture on them has dried up. He then starts to cut the radishes into slices and then cuts them into thin strips.
There was no sunlight in this room, and Jiang Miao felt a little cold after a while. He brought two stools out, placed the chopping board on them, and put a large bowl underneath to hold the shredded vegetables.
The knife made a continuous "dong dong" sound when cutting the radish. Jiang Miao noticed that a child couldn't help but stick his head out to look, but was pushed back after a while. He couldn't help but smile knowingly. It had been a long time since he had seen such a scene, as if it was still when he was a child.
Jiang Miao's knife skills were good, and he cut all the big radishes in a short while. The shreds looked very thin, and each root was almost the same. He added some salt and kneaded them, and soon the radishes wilted, and a pool of water gathered at the bottom of the basin.
He washed the radish with water to remove the salt, and then piled it loosely in the basin. If you want the buns to taste good, seasoning the stuffing is the key, because there is still residual salt in the radish, so don't add too much salt to prevent the stuffing from becoming salty. After adding the salt, pour some sesame oil, thirteen spices, chopped green onion and ginger to enhance the flavor. Originally, he should have added some white sugar, but Jiang Miao looked around and couldn't find it, so he had to give up.
But he also prepared something else. Once this thing was put in, the salty and fresh taste of the buns would be raised to a higher level. Jiang Miao took out a small cloth bag, grabbed a handful of dried shrimps from it, washed them, chopped them up on the chopping board, and then sprinkled them in and mixed them well.
Although the stuffing is not cooked yet, the aroma has already come out. After the stuffing is mixed, you can knead the dough. He sprinkles some flour on the chopping board and then takes out the fermented dough.
Aunt Liu washed her hands and came over to take a look. Her eyes immediately lit up: "Brother Jiang, your noodles are well-made. I have made noodles before, but I have never seen anything like this."
Jiang Miao smiled, then told her about making the dough, and told her that it was best to ferment it in a warmer place so that it would become fluffy.
Aunt Liu was overjoyed. It was not easy for ordinary people to get food. They just needed to make a living. If they couldn't even fill their stomachs, why would they care about whether it tasted good or not? But that didn't mean they couldn't taste it. Now that Jiang Miao told her the secret of making dough, she was happy but also a little embarrassed, afraid of revealing someone else's ancestral secret recipe.
"It's okay. It's nothing. Many people in the pastry business know about it. Just tell anyone who asks about it." Jiang Miao didn't care. He might hesitate for a moment about the recipes of big dishes, but he didn't take this little trick seriously at all.
Aunt Liu's favorability towards him increased to another level. She pulled a stool over and started making dumplings with the dough that Jiang Miao had chopped.
Just as Aunt Liu said, her skill in making dumplings is really good. The dumplings she made are large and thin, all of them are about the same size, and the folds of the dumplings are neat and orderly, just like the little flowers blooming on the dumplings, which are very attractive.
After wrapping almost one basket, Jiang Miao covered it with cloth to let it rise again. This is also a little trick that can make the steamed buns taste better. After a while, he went in to light the fire, add water to the pot, and then put the steamer on. It was about two or three o'clock in the afternoon. Jiang Miao had eaten a thin lunch and was already very hungry.
He put some firewood at the bottom of the pot and let it burn, then washed his hands and came out to knead the dough.
"Auntie Liu, where do you usually buy firewood?" If it were in the countryside, he could still get some firewood, but now he was in the city, and seeing that there was not much firewood left, he was really worried.
Aunt Liu said, "Early in the morning, walk along the road to the west city gate. You will meet many people selling firewood. You can negotiate the price and ask them to deliver it to you."
"That's convenient."
"That's right. It's expensive. When we were in the village, we didn't have to spend that much money. Even if I went up the mountain by myself, I could bring back a bundle of firewood each time." Aunt Liu muttered as she made dumplings. "In the city, firewood costs five cents for a bundle, and wood costs ten cents for half a load. If you want to save trouble, wood is better. You don't have to watch the fire. You can just put it under the stove and let it burn..."
(End of this chapter)