Yao Dan called out from outside, “Eldest Niece, your Big Aunt has already finished making dinner. Aren’t you going to cook?”
Ding Baozhu answered through the window, “Third Aunt, you go ahead and cook first. I’ll be there in a bit!”
As she spoke, Ding Baozhu was already pre-marinating the cleaned carp. She rubbed the entire fish with ginger slivers, scallion shreds, and coarse salt.
Ding Baoqin watched from the side but said nothing. Their family had cooked carp before; after all, this type of fish was very abundant when the season was right. However, no matter how it was prepared, there always seemed to be a lingering earthy smell, especially when made into a soup. Unfortunately, they almost always made soup because the liquid helped stretch the meal enough to feed the whole family. But seeing her sister’s movements now, it didn’t look like soup was on the menu. She was looking forward to it!
Yao Dan’s family currently consisted of only three people, so she finished cooking very quickly. In truth, the meals of the villagers were quite simple. It was only now that Ding Baozhu realized she had been eating rather well; since her soul had arrived here, her meals seemed consistently better than those of everyone else.
Snapping back to the present, she saw that the kitchen was empty. She gathered all her ingredients and headed over with Ding Baoqin. While Ding Baoqin started the fire, Ding Baozhu coated the marinated carp from head to tail in starch and then began to fry it in oil. She continuously splashed hot oil over the fish until the skin turned a light golden brown and held its shape before lifting it out.
At this point, the seasonings she had replenished in town came in handy. She mixed a bowl of sweet and sour sauce using coarse salt, soy sauce, white sugar, and vinegar. However, mixing it didn’t mean it was finished. Ding Baozhu used it to make a gravy, thickening it with a starch slurry as it simmered. Then, she slowly poured it over the fish. Today, the kitchen was filled with a tangy and sweet aroma.
Ding Baoqin loved sweets. Seeing the sauce poured over the carp was that specific flavor, and seeing its beautiful bright red color, she couldn’t restrain herself and stepped forward to help carry the dish. Ding Baozhu still had one more dish to make, so she gave a quick instruction and let her go. After cleaning the large wok, she added a few more pieces of firewood to boil water.
This time, she intended to prepare the wood ear mushrooms that Baoqin had picked. She boiled them until they were cooked through, then took them out and rinsed them clean. With swift strokes of her knife, she sliced the wood ears into fine shreds. She also chopped a good amount of wild onions and minced ginger. Finally, she added soy sauce, vinegar, and fermented black bean sauce. With a simple toss, a cold salad was ready—a perfect accompaniment to the sweet and sour carp.
Carrying the plate of shredded wood ears back to the room, she found that Ding Hong and Ding Baozhen had already returned. They looked hungry and, upon hearing her call, stared intently at the plate of carp in the center of the table, waiting for everyone to gather so they could start eating.
Ding Baozhu set the dish down and smiled. “Dad and Second Sister must be starving. Let’s eat!”
This was the sentence everyone present wanted to hear most. They all picked up their chopsticks. Taking a bite of the fish, they found the meat sweet, sour, and succulent. The fat was rich and mellow, practically melting in the mouth, making it incredibly easy to eat with rice.
Liu Ping sighed in wonder, “Strange. Whenever we made carp before, we could never get rid of that fishy smell. Zhu’er, how did you do it? Not only is it not fishy, but it’s also somewhat sweet. Is it because the fish is so fresh?”
Ding Baozhen swallowed a mouthful of rice and suddenly spoke up, “What’s so special about it? Big Sister used so many seasonings; even the fishiest thing could probably be covered up.” Despite her words, she still shoveled several more mouthfuls of rice.
Ding Baozhu didn’t take offense. After fully digesting the original owner’s memories, she realized that Ding Baozhen had been this way to everyone since they were children. She wasn’t particularly rebellious; her personality was just a bit biting.
Ding Hong took a heap of the cold shredded wood ears. They were sour, salty, and slightly spicy—crispy and refreshing. It was a good way to cut through the richness of the fish. He seemed to prefer this kind of food, especially as something to go with wine. He praised her repeatedly, “Not bad, not bad. With this skill, you certainly won’t be criticized when you move to your in-laws’ house.”
Hearing this, the hand Ding Baozhen used to hold her chopsticks paused, and she lowered her head even further.
Ding Baoqin wiped her mouth and asked, “Big Sister, with your skills, you could even work in a restaurant in town. Do you still want to set up your own stall?”
“What manager would hire a female chef? Even if there are some, they are far too few,” Liu Ping said, shaking her head. “Besides, your sister is about to get married. How can a bride or a daughter-in-law go to a place like that to find work? Setting up a small stall is already quite good.”
Hearing this, it seemed Liu Ping’s thoughts were no different from those of other women. She felt that going out to set up a stall was merely a way to supplement the household income, but the most important thing was still staying home to do what a daughter-in-law should do. Ding Baozhu didn’t offer a reply. After all, if the opportunity arose, she didn’t want to remain at the level of a street stall forever.
Over the next few days, Ding Baozhu continued with her preparations. For instance, with the dried tea leaves, she found opportunities to slowly roast them. Once the leaves were dry, fragrant, and crisp, she placed them in a stone mortar to grind them into powder. However, to make proper powdered tea, the powder had to be extremely fine. Ding Baozhu felt her “muscular arms” grow a size larger before she was finally satisfied with the final product. Had she not been making so little this time, she wouldn’t have wasted the effort and would have gone straight to a stone mill!
The fragrance of the powdered tea was deep and rich. Once she finished the batch, she wrapped it up for later use. Next, she brought out a stone mill and began making glutinous rice flour. Ding Baoqin naturally came to help. Seeing that Ding Baozhu was adding water while grinding this time, and that what flowed out was a milky white rice slurry, she couldn’t help but ask, “Big Sister, is there a difference between this and last time?”
The glutinous rice Ding Baozhu was using this time had been thoroughly soaked in advance. She explained while adding more, “The rice flour we ground directly last time was relatively coarse. This time, we’re making water-milled glutinous rice flour, which is much finer and softer. See? It’s also whiter. If we had other ingredients, this would be even better for making fried cakes, sesame balls, or sticky rice balls…”
As Ding Baozhu listed the names, Ding Baoqin immediately felt a surge of energy and buried her head back into pushing the mill.
Once all the rice slurry was collected, she found a cloth bag to hold it. She tied the mouth tightly and then found a way to hang it from a beam in a corner of their room. With a basin underneath to catch the water, she waited until all the moisture had dripped out of the cloth bag. What remained inside was a clump of glutinous rice dough. Once crumbled and dried, it would be freshly made water-milled glutinous rice flour.
Now, no matter what Ding Baozhu made, she kept everything in her own room. After all, her immediate family members wouldn’t do something like stealing food.
A few more days passed like this, and the materials for the Cold Cakes were all ready. Ding Baozhu rolled up her sleeves and began to show off her skills.
The broomcorn millet cakes were filled with chestnut and peanut filling, mixed with chopped brown sugar and lard. There were also the brown sugar jujube paste cakes, and a new variety Ding Baozhu had come up with—Matcha Red Bean!
Red beans didn’t pair well with brown sugar, and her supply of white sugar was limited. So, she thought she might as well not focus on making the filling too sweet, but rather use another method to bring out its flavor. That was how she came up with this idea. Besides, who wouldn’t call matcha and red bean a perfect match? She just didn’t know if the people here would accept it.
Having had previous experience, she quickly produced samples of the first two fillings. However, making the matcha red bean filling required a bit more effort. She had managed to replicate the matcha powder, but it first had to be turned into a tea paste before it could be combined with the dough.
To make the tea paste, she needed a new tool—a tea whisk. However, this tool was similar to a small brush, and the family already used something similar to wash pots and bowls. So, she simply made a small, delicate one herself, as the materials were readily available everywhere.
Thus, she added hot water to the matcha powder and stirred it with the tea whisk until the tea paste was semi-thick and smooth, radiating a rich tea aroma. When added to the dough, it turned into a lotus-leaf-green dough.
She made a few samples for her family to taste. The jujube paste and the chestnut-peanut varieties weren’t surprising, but the matcha red bean was the most eye-catching. Everyone who ate it praised it. They didn’t know where Ding Baozhu had gotten the idea to actually mix tea leaves with pastries.
Ding Baozhen even gave a slight smile and said, “I didn’t expect Big Sister to actually listen to me and come up with this method. I’m impressed.”
“Of course,” Ding Baozhu laughed. “I’m very serious about this. Since you gave a suggestion and it was correct, I naturally had to listen and make adjustments.”
Now that everything was prepared, the next step was—selling!
Two more days of fine, misty spring rain passed. Ding Baozhu found a shoulder pole and several round baskets in the house, which were perfect for carrying the cakes. This was why Ding Baozhu had chosen Cold Cakes as her first food item. As a soon-to-be-married woman in the eyes of the public, being allowed to set up a stall was already an act of tolerance; it was impossible for them to give her a sum of money to do this and that.
She had wanted to sell hot food, but frying, boiling, or sautéing required at least a food cart. Even if she made the hot food at home and brought it out, this was just her first attempt. If sales were poor and the food cooled down, it would be even less delicious. Furthermore, the people here loved rice-based foods. Cold Cakes could serve as a snack, breakfast, or an accompaniment to tea; there would always be a suitable audience. Hand-made Cold Cakes wouldn’t harden even if left out for an entire day.
Although it had been raining these past two days, the mist-like rain on one’s body felt hazy and ethereal.
The Third Branch sent over half a basket of chicken and duck eggs. After chatting with Ding Hong and Liu Ping for half the day, they finally left. Although the adults of the two families didn’t talk about this with the children, Ding Baozhu understood that the two branches were discussing business.
Besides selling by-products like eggs, Ding Shao also sold meat once the animals were grown. Occasionally, villagers would come to place orders, but sometimes he had to sell them himself. But since he had an older brother who was a butcher, there was no better person to sell the animals to. Moreover, since they were biological brothers and both had trustworthy characters, the two families got along harmoniously.
“When the spring river water warms, the ducks are the first to know.” Eating duck in the spring is very nourishing.
Ding Shao had raised a batch of ducks to maturity. Keeping a portion to continue laying eggs, he came to Ding Hong to do business. Once the latter took the job, he would slaughter the ducks and sell the meat, using a shoulder pole to carry them through the villages to hawk his wares. Fortunately, there was more than one shoulder pole in the house, so Ding Baozhu could still use one to take her Cold Cakes out.