The last time they came to Zhu's house, Jiang Miao entered through the back door. This time they entered through the back door again.
After walking along the long gravel road and bypassing the large back garden, they arrived outside the big kitchen of Zhu's house. There were several people working in the big kitchen, preparing the ingredients for tomorrow's use, washing and soaking them according to the chef's previous arrangements.
Jiang Miao casually looked inside and found that the table near the door was full of ingredients, such as ordinary radish and cabbage, chicken, duck, fish, and expensive abalone, sea cucumber, shark's fin, and fish maw. For a person who loves food, this is such a tempting scene. Jiang Miao couldn't help but start to imagine what kind of dishes he could make with these ingredients if it were him.
A few steps away from the big kitchen is a small kitchen, which is used to make cakes. On the long table are tools such as a chopping board and a rolling pin, as well as a few burlap bags. White powder can be seen in the open bags. Jiang Miao thinks it should be flour and glutinous rice powder.
"Brother Jiang, come and take a look." Zhao Xing stood in front of a large steamer against the wall and waved. Jiang Miao went over to take a look and saw a touch of bright red on the white buns inside. It looked like the birthday peaches made in their house. Jiang Miao was relieved. If the birthday peaches in their house were all of this quality, then he could guarantee that the birthday peaches he made would be better than theirs.
"Brother Zhao, can I have a taste?" Jiang Miao wanted to see how the chef in their house seasoned the food.
"Eat it." Zhao Xing picked one up for him, and also picked one up for Little Shitou behind him, asking him to grab it and eat it. Little Shitou took it with confidence when he saw his brother nod.
Jiang Miao held up the birthday peach. To be honest, apart from the pointy top, it didn't look like a peach at all. It even had wrinkles on it. He took a bite and savored it carefully.
The chef of Zhu Mansion fermented the dough very well. The outer skin was chewy, and the inside was fluffy and soft without being stiff. The filling was meat, but the meat was chopped too finely and lost its chewiness. The taste was quite delicious. Jiang Miao tasted the flavor of broth, but the broth should have been added after the meat was seasoned and was not absorbed by the meat, resulting in too much juice in the steamed buns. The soup was thin and the meat was dry, like soup dumplings, but it did not learn the essence of soup dumplings.
Jiang Miao frowned. What was this smell like... ground ginger? Ginger can remove the fishy smell and enhance the flavor, but if you chop it up and put it into the stuffing, it will steal the flavor of the ingredients, and your mouth will be filled with the taste of ginger.
Zhao Xing watched Jiang Miao's brows sometimes relaxed and sometimes frowned, and his heart was pounding as if a small hand was pressing on it.
"Brother Zhao, can you find the chef who is responsible for kneading the dough?" Jiang Miao suddenly asked.
Zhao Xing came back to his senses and said immediately, "I'll go right away. By the way, where's the one who makes the filling? Should I call him over?"
"No need." Jiang Miao shook his head and prepared the stuffing himself.
Not long after Zhao Xing left, he brought someone in. The man looked a little uneasy, wondering why the manager had called him in alone.
"This is the man who kneads the dough. His name is Yang Cong."
"Master Yang, please knead some dough later." Jiang Miao said, "Just make it the same hardness as yesterday."
Yang Cong was not a talkative person. He would do whatever he was told to do. He scooped the dough, poured water, and kneaded it with great skill. After a short while, he had kneaded the dough, covered it with a cloth, and set it aside to rise.
"Okay, Master Yang, go and do whatever you need." Seeing that he was standing there with his hands and feet tied up and looking uncomfortable, Jiang Miao let him leave.
When Yang Cong heard this, he hurried out. When he returned to the kitchen, people surrounded him and asked him what the manager wanted him to do. After Yang Cong told them the truth, some people were indignant: "They actually asked us to help a young boy? What was Manager Zhao thinking?"
Yang Cong looked at him and said nothing, thinking that even if you don't want to help, they still want to mix the stuffing. The man was still talking, but Yang Cong just pretended not to hear and continued to do his own thing.
"Brother Zhao, please go to the big kitchen to get some things. I want pork belly, if not available, tenderloin and foreleg will also do. Also some broth, use chicken stock, not the one with bones, some ginger, green onions, spinach, and seasoning..." Jiang Miao said as he thought in the small kitchen.
Zhao Xing was confused. It was just a steamed bun. Why did he have to be so particular? And the parts of pork. He knew the front leg meat, but where were the pork belly and tenderloin? Why did he need chicken broth instead of bones for the soup? What kind of vegetable was spinach? Although he was the manager of the kitchen, he was not responsible for cooking. He usually bought all those things by the head.
"Brother Jiang, please speak slowly. I'll go find a notebook first." As he said that, he was about to walk out.
"Forget it, I'll go get it." Jiang Miao sighed. It was difficult to talk to a layman. Instead of explaining again and again, it would be better to go there himself.
He took a basket from the wall and turned to walk towards the kitchen. With Zhao Xing following him, the others did not dare to look at him openly, but only looked at him secretly out of the corner of their eyes.
Jiang Miao quickly gathered all the things and brought out a full basket. Zhao Xing looked inside and asked, "What kind of vegetable is that spinach you mentioned?" There seemed to be no unfamiliar vegetable here.
Jiang Miao pointed to the vegetables with green leaves and red stems and said, "This is it."
"You in Jiangjiawan call it spinach? We all call it Persian grass." Zhao Xing was a little confused.
Jiang Miao was embarrassed and tried to save the situation: "We country folk just randomly named it. I heard that some places also call it red root vegetable."
"So that's how it is." Zhao Xing suddenly realized.
Suddenly, a man dressed as a servant came running over and whispered a few words to Zhao Xing. Zhao Xing then asked Jiang Miao to go back first and he hurriedly followed the servant away.
Back in the small kitchen, Jiang Miao quickly prepared the stuffing while the dough was still rising. He washed and cut the green onion and ginger, put them in a clean bowl to soak, and then took out a piece of pork belly cut from the half pig in the big kitchen. This pork belly is the upper shoulder meat of the pig. Pigs often use this part for exercise, so there is a beautiful snowflake texture here, so it is also called snowflake meat. This meat tastes fresh and delicious, and it will not become overcooked no matter how it is cooked. It can be said to be one of the most essential parts of the pig.
Jiang Miao rarely bought it before, and would not buy it even if he saw it occasionally. Because some modern farmers would inject drugs into the pigs to make them white and fat, causing pustules and lumps to grow on the meat, which makes people feel uncomfortable. But in ancient times, no one would give pigs injections, so this plum meat looks very beautiful and tempting. Jiang Miao took it in his hand and admired it carefully before washing it.
"Little Stone, can you help your brother smash the spinach?" When washing the meat, Jiang Miao saw Little Stone standing aside, looking a little helpless, so he found him something to do. Little Stone happily responded, and his spirits immediately perked up. He sat in the corner holding a small bowl and a handful of washed spinach, and started to work seriously.
The meat filling for buns does not need to be minced into minced meat, as it will be too soft and chewy. After the meat is minced, he takes the scallion and ginger water that has been soaked on the side, pours it into the cooled broth and stirs it evenly, then pours it into the meat filling in batches and stirs it vigorously until the meat completely absorbs the broth. The filling prepared in this way will lock the broth in the meat when steamed, and it will not overflow, making it a full enjoyment in one bite.
After the filling is prepared, the dough is ready. Jiang Miao sprinkled some flour on the chopping board, then took out the dough, kneaded it and chopped it into dough. The dough for making the longevity peach needs more flour, just flatten it without rolling it, put the filling in, and make it into a round ball like a pancake.
Next, Jiang Miao turned the ball upside down and rolled it into a shape with a pointed top and a round bottom. He then used a scraper to press along the pointed tip toward the center, and a small peach was ready. He moved quickly, and soon the chopping board was filled with small peaches.
If you want to make the peach look like the real thing, you have to color it. Red yeast rice powder has been made since ancient times and can be said to be a natural dye. He scooped a little into the bowl, and as soon as the water was poured in, it immediately turned red. The coloring step is very critical. The color applied directly will not be natural. Jiang Miao found a small bamboo sieve, took a brush and dipped the red yeast rice on the bamboo sieve. The red water fell evenly on the peach through the small holes, and the top was quickly dyed.
"Brother, this is a peach!" Little Stone, who had just finished pounding the spinach, exclaimed. The peach looked pink, just like it had just been picked from the tree in the summer sun. It was so lifelike.
"Yeah, do you want to eat it when it's ready?" Jiang Miao couldn't help laughing when he saw the look of surprise on his face.
Little Shitou shook his head unexpectedly: "This is for the master's family. I can't eat it. My brother will be scolded if I eat it." He looked at Jiang Miao nervously with his black eyes, as if he was worried that his brother would be scolded by others.
“…Okay, let’s not eat it yet. I’ll make it for you when I get back!”
Taking the small bowl from Xiao Shitou, Jiang Miao filtered out the residue with a piece of gauze, and then poured the juice into the flour beside him. After a while, he kneaded the green dough. Jiang Miao put it on the chopping board and kneaded it into long strips, and then cut it into small pieces. He pressed the small piece with his palm and kneaded it into a semi-oval. He took a scraper and pressed it vertically on it. Soon, a green leaf was formed. He did the same with other pieces and soon made a pile.
Jiang Miao dipped the freshly made peaches in water on both sides and placed them on the leaves. The peaches looked like they had just been picked from the tree, and people could smell a sweet and delicious aroma. Little Stone stared at the peaches and swallowed his saliva. He began to look forward to what his brother would give him when he got home.
After the longevity peaches had risen a second time on the chopping board, Jiang Miao put them into the steamer and began to steam them.
"Dahong, have you found the chef for the pastry? Has anyone made the birthday peaches?" The first thing Mr. Zhu did when he came back from outside was to ask about the birthday peaches. They would be served at noon tomorrow. The birthday banquet had been prepared for a month, and he couldn't let the birthday peaches ruin his meal.
Butler Zhu thought to himself that it was bad, as he had not asked about this matter today. But he did not panic at all and replied, "Master, the kitchen manager Zhao Xing patted his chest yesterday and promised that he would handle this matter today, and said that I don't need to interfere."
"Zhao Xing?" Master Zhu muttered to himself, "He's quite arrogant. Did he find the person?"
Butler Zhu looked a little hesitant, as if he didn't dare to say something.
Master Zhu frowned and said, "Just tell me what you think!"
"I heard that Zhao Xing visited several cases last night but couldn't settle on any one. He ran out early this morning and I don't know if he's back now." Butler Zhu seemed to want to cover up for him but failed, and he looked ashamed as he spoke.
"Go call him here, I will ask him myself!" Master Zhu was very angry. He hated people who were only good at talking the most!
"yes!"
When Zhao Xing received the notice, he hurriedly followed the servant and saw at a glance the master sitting on the upper seat looking at him with a dark face.
"I am honored to meet you, sir. I wonder what you want me to do for you?" Zhao Xing immediately bowed his head and was very respectful.
"Have you found the pastry chef I asked you to find?" Master Zhu's tone was very low, and there was a sense that a storm was about to come.
Zhao Xing's heart trembled, and he didn't care that Jiang Miao was still in the probation period, and immediately replied: "I found it, sir. I'm making birthday peaches in the small kitchen right now."
Before Master Zhu's expression could calm down, Butler Zhu blurted out the news he had just received from the servant.
"Master, I heard that Manager Zhao hired a chef who is about 17 or 18 years old."
"What? A young boy?! Zhao Xing, do you know what will happen to those who deceive this master?" Master Zhu was extremely angry. The word "master" has nothing to do with a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old!
Zhao Xing secretly cursed Butler Zhu in his heart. Didn't he just think that he had taken his nephew's position? He was really good at taking advantage of every opportunity!
"Master, don't underestimate him because he is young, but the birthday peaches he makes are different from those in the mansion. You will know when you see them later!" Zhao Xing didn't care about anything and started making up stories before he saw the finished product, thinking that he would wait until the present moment came. Anyway, he could go and remind Brother Jiang later to make a different bun, whether it would work or not is another matter.
His idea was very nice, but Housekeeper Zhu would never let him go, and he immediately told Master Zhu: "Master, why don't you send someone to wait there and serve the peaches as soon as they come out of the pot, so that we can see what's different about the birthday peaches?"
"Well, that makes sense. Call someone over. Oh, and call that young master over to take a look as well!"
Zhao Xing's legs went weak and he almost fell to his knees.
It’s over, it’s over now!
(End of this chapter)