border cook

Jiang Yanyi asked the okra to put two meals of rice into the pot, so that they could heat up a cold meal at night without having to worry about it.

She picked up a big yellow-skinned pumpkin from the corner and peeled off the skin with a kitchen knife.

Because this pumpkin is relatively old, Jiang Yanyi deliberately peeled the skin thicker.Whether the pumpkin is good or not can be judged from the feel of the knife when peeling it and the color of the pumpkin flesh inside after peeling.

When Jiang Yanyi handled the pumpkin in his hand, he smiled: "This pumpkin is definitely sweet."

Okra was squatting aside to clean the melon seeds inside the pumpkin pulp. Hearing this, she raised her head with a greedy face. She didn't know when the orange juice from the pumpkin pulp was stained on her face, like a little cat: "Sweet ?”

Sugar is outrageously expensive in this era, and it is probably rare for ordinary people to buy a little throughout the year. Only those rich families often eat sweets.

Jiang Yanyi nodded, washed the peeled pumpkin and cut it into small pieces. A quarter of the pumpkin was ready to be used to make pumpkin stewed rice, and the remaining three quarters were to be made into pumpkin cakes. She said: "You put the next stove Let’s make a fire too, and I’ll steam the remaining half of the pumpkin to make pumpkin pie.”

As soon as the okra heard that it was making pumpkin pancakes, it hurried back to the stove to light the fire.

There are three pots on the stove, and Jiang Yanyi is very satisfied. One large pot can be used to put a steamer and make steamed vegetables; the medium pot is used for stewing, and the remaining small pot is used for frying.

There is also a top pot for boiling water between the medium pot and the small pot, and the bottom is connected to the stove. If you light a fire when cooking, the water in the top pot will be heated, which can save a lot of firewood.

Jiang Yanyi steamed the cut pumpkin pieces in the steamer, and stirred the rice cooked in the medium pot with a large iron spoon. The rice soup was thick and white and sticky, and the rising water vapor was mixed with a strong rice fragrance.

Jiang Yanyi only saw rice cooked in a woodcooker at her grandmother's house when she was a child. The rice cooked in this way seems to be more fragrant than that cooked in an electric rice cooker.

Seeing that the rice had to be boiled for a while, she smoothed out half of the okra and pumpkin seeds, washed off the yellow-orange-orange pumpkin juice with water, filtered it into a Shake Kei, spread it out, and carried it to the yard to dry.

The pumpkin seeds were not dry yet, but Jiang Yanyi had already figured out how to fry them until fragrant and eat them as snacks.Well, I have to save some pumpkin seeds, and plant them in the yard next spring, and then there will be pumpkin sprouts and pumpkin flowers to eat.

Jiang Yanyi sighed and felt that the pumpkin was full of treasures.

When she returned to the kitchen again, the rice had already been cooked until it was almost ripe. Jiang Yanyi found a clean basin to put under it, put the Shau Kei on it, and scooped the rice in the pot into the Shau Kei with a wooden ladle. Leak it out, and there is thick and white rice soup in the basin.

The okra was so hungry that I couldn't wait for the meal, so I drank two big bowls of rice soup first.

Jiang Yanyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You drink too much rice soup right now, you won't be able to eat much after dinner."

Okra held the bowl and shook his head: "I think I can eat three more bowls."

Jiang Yanyi was amused by this silly girl.

I don't know if it's because he has regained his freedom, but Jiang Yanyi felt much more at ease here than in Huotou camp, because he was also cooking. He was happy and energetic in everything he did.

She cleaned the pot, drained the water and put the oil in. When the oil was hot, she patted a piece of garlic and put it in to fry until fragrant. Without any seasoning, the smell from the pot is already very fragrant.

She used a shovel to shovel the pumpkins in the pot into a pile, and the pumpkin pieces were stained with oily crystals, which looked beautiful.Jiang Yanyi carefully spread the drained rice on top of the pumpkin with chopsticks, covering the pumpkin tightly so that the sweetness of the pumpkin would be locked into the rice.

While adding water around the pot, Jiang Yanyi said to the okra, "Change to medium to low heat. If the fire is too high, the pumpkin will be mushy before it's cooked."

Okra nodded obediently.

After finishing all this, Jiang Yanyi put the lid on the pot.When the pumpkin in the pot is cooked through, the layer of rice on it will be cooked too.She doesn't need to deliberately keep track of the time, she knows when to turn off the fire just by looking at the gas coming out of the pot.

The pumpkin cubes in the steamer are also steamed at this time, Jiang Yanyi takes out the steamed pumpkin cubes, mashes them into puree, adds glutinous rice noodles, kneads them until they don't stick to the bottom of the basin, and then covers them with a clean wet handkerchief for a while .

At this time, the white gas from the pumpkin stewed rice in the pot from the pot lid has been reduced, and there is still a faint "cracking" sound inside, which means that the rice grains attached to the pot have begun to turn into crackers.Jiang Yanyi hurriedly asked Okra to extinguish the fire in the pot, and transferred the firewood to the stove under the small pot.

She kneaded the glutinous noodles into long strips, and quickly pulled them into small pieces, kneaded them into a small ball, pressed it on the chopping board, and it became a flat pumpkin pie.

Seeing that the pan is hot, add oil, put the pumpkin pie in and fry until both sides are browned. Under the action of the heat, the browned shell of the pumpkin pie will still bulge, which is really beautiful.

After the pumpkin pie was cooked, Jiang Yanyi asked the okra to taste it. The okra was picked up directly, and when it was hot, she changed to chopsticks to pick it up, but it was still hot in her mouth.

"Eat slowly, there are so many." Jiang Yanyi was afraid that she would burn her tongue.

"It's a good time (to eat), and Wo (I) is not afraid of still (hot)." When Okra spoke again, her tongue was really big. She took a pair of chopsticks and handed it to Jiang Yanyi: "Guagua (Huahua) this time (to eat)."

Jiang Yanyi picked up a piece and tasted it. The skin of the pumpkin pie was fried until it was burnt and crispy, but the inside was soft and glutinous. It tasted sweet, not the greasy sweetness, but the sweetness of the pumpkin itself.

When Jiang Yanyi mixed glutinous rice noodles, she didn't add sugar because there was no sugar at home. She thought the taste might be a bit bland, but the finished product was very popular with her.

She nodded in satisfaction, then turned to lift the lid of the pot: "Let's serve the meal."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Okra went to open the door with a piece of pumpkin pie in its mouth.

Just as Jiang Yanyi filled up the pumpkin stewed rice, Okra came back with a pumpkin pie in its mouth, like a little mouse that has only seen a cat.

Jiang Yanyi asked her, "What's wrong?"

Okra tremblingly said: "There is someone outside."

Jiang Yan thought that he was just a person, how could he scare the child like this.

She wiped her hands on the apron around her waist and walked across the yard to the front shop. When she saw the man standing at the door, she was not surprised why Okra was so frightened.

It's just... what is the general doing with a pot of chili in his hand?

Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but glanced at the pepper in his hand a few more times before raising his eyes to look at him: "General, this is..."

Feng Shuo handed the potted plant to her, "I heard you opened a shop here."

The four eyes met, and he looked away uncomfortably, but his voice was always clear.

Jiang Yanyi was stunned for a moment, and then thought that the Duhu Mansion was next to him, and they were considered neighbors now. The general came here with a plate of chili peppers, to congratulate him for opening the shop?

Apart from other things, it is really good that this general is friendly with his neighbors, and he has no official airs at all.

Because of his actions, Jiang Yanyi's favorability for him has increased a lot.

But it's good to send flower baskets for the opening, but her store hasn't opened yet, Jiang Yanyi is a little embarrassed, and it's not easy to take away the kindness of others, not to mention that what he sent was not something else, but peppers!

Jiang Yanyi took the potted chili plant from him, thinking that given the general's indifferent temperament, he just came here to give a gift.

But after a few words of politeness, he obviously didn't intend to leave. It's not good to stand at the door like this. The two of them have outstanding looks, and there are many people coming and going on the street. Anyone passing by can't help but look at them Eye.

Jiang Yanyi was a little embarrassed to be seen, but it was not very nice to chase away guests after being given a gift, so she could only tactfully say: "I just moved here today, and I haven't had time to clean up the inside and outside of the house. If you don't mind the general, you can come in Sit down in the store."

"Come into the store and sit down" is just a polite way of saying, she said that the inside has not been cleaned up, ordinary people must know that it is inconvenient to treat guests when they hear this.

But Jiang Yanyi didn't know if the general was ignorant of the world or what. After she finished speaking, he replied with one word: "Yeah."

If it wasn't for his cold face, Jiang Yanyi would have suspected that he stood at the door for a long time just to wait for her words.

She bit the bullet and welcomed people in. The shop hadn't set up a table yet, it was empty, only there was a counter at the cashier's office, and Jiang Yanyi conveniently put the pot of peppers on the counter.

I went to the back yard to find a foldable wooden table and brought it over, and put a chair on it for him to sit on.

The shop door was closed before, but now he was invited in. In order to avoid suspicion, Jiang Yanyi simply opened the shop door.

She searched for a long time but couldn't find the tea left by the original owner, and she hadn't had time to buy it yet, so she couldn't let him just sit there, so she went back to the kitchen and brought out a plate of pumpkin cakes: "It's really not good hospitality, I just made some. Pancakes, General, let’s just use some.”

Feng Shuo nodded coldly, picked up a piece with his hand and started to eat.

Jiang Yanyi only felt that his indifference and the movement of eating pumpkin pie were really against harmony.

He ate one piece without any intention of stopping, and ate the second piece with a noble and glamorous expression on his face.Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but looked at the sky, it was noon, could it be that he came back from the army, but the cook in the Duhu Mansion thought he would have dinner in the army at noon, so he didn't cook his meal?

She tentatively asked: "There is pumpkin stewed rice in the kitchen, would you like to try it, General?"

Feng Shuo uttered another word noblely and coldly: "En."

He had eaten at the Huotou Yingfei Stove before, and Jiang Yan knew his appetite, so he found a large bowl when serving the meal, and shoveled it down with a shovel, and the golden rice and pumpkin at the bottom of the pot were scooped up together.

When Jiang Yanyi went out with a big bowl, she found that more than half of the pumpkin cakes on the plate were missing. She was quite surprised. Although the pumpkin cakes were delicious, most of the rich and powerful didn't like them very much. A general is not picky.

Jiang Yanyi thought that he was worthy of being a member of the army.

She presented the pumpkin stewed rice respectfully, "Use it slowly, General."

Seeing that the bowl she used for serving rice was comparable to a soup bowl, Feng Shuo's expression froze slightly, and the corners of his exquisite mouth tightened instantly, but seeing her extremely sincere expression, he still reached out to take it.

Although he has a big appetite, he always eats in small bowls. Thanks to the royal family's upbringing, even if he uses a small bowl to refill the rice ten times, he still eats gracefully.

Being handed such a big bowl out of the blue, Feng Shuo felt as if he was rejected because of his big appetite.

But this bowl of rice smells really good and looks very appetizing.

The rice grains are distinct, the rice is rich in aroma, and the chewing is moderately soft and hard.The pumpkin that has been fried in oil is yellow and shiny, but it doesn't feel greasy at all when you eat it, with a hint of sweetness in the saltiness.The golden rice crust is the best part, it is crispy and fragrant.

It was the first time for Feng Shuo to know that rice and pumpkin could taste like this.

Jiang Yan suggested that he move his chopsticks. Since he was hungry in the morning, he had already sung the empty city plan several times in his stomach, so he went back to the back yard to serve his rice bowl.

Afraid of Feng Shuo's summons, she moved a pony to sit and eat under the eaves of the back door of the shop.

Feng Shuo looked up inadvertently, and saw her sitting there, holding a half-sized porcelain bowl in her hand, with food stuffed in her mouth, her cheeks puffed up like a hamster, her eyes narrowed with satisfaction.Behind her is a courtyard wall covered with green vines, and the lavender bougainvillea is in full bloom in the sun.

He suddenly felt that this little cook was very pretty.

A secret and absurd thought rose in his heart. He didn't really want to know her real identity, nor did he want to know who her fiance was, and what was the relationship between her and Lu Linyuan...

After Jiang Yanyi finished his mouthful of rice, he realized that Feng Shuo was looking at him.

She poked her head and looked, well, his big bowl is already empty.

She thought that Feng Shuo was staring at her side and was embarrassed to ask her for more food, so she walked over very understandingly and asked, "General, do you want more food?"

She made a sound suddenly, Feng Shuo came back to his senses, and nodded expressionlessly.

Jiang Yanyi held a large bowl and went to scoop rice into the pot. The okra was going to eat an extra bowl, but when Jiang Yanyi came in with only a bowl in his hand and no chopsticks, he knew that the general outside was going to add more rice.

She looked helplessly at the only bowl of rice left in the pot, and pitifully put down the shovel.

Jiang Yanyi comforted her: "I'll cook something delicious for you in the evening."

Okra's eyes lit up again: "Is it still braised rice with pumpkin?"

Jiang Yanyi said: "You can eat whatever you want."

Okra immediately said: "Pumpkin braised rice!"

Jiang Yanyi couldn't laugh or cry, this silly girl was too easy to be satisfied, a pumpkin braised rice made her so happy.

When Jiang Yanyi brought out the meal, Feng Shuo saw that the bowl was not full, he probably guessed something, he ate it without saying a word, and left two taels of silver on the table when he left.

This meal was originally a return gift from him for the pot of peppers. Jiang Yanyi naturally couldn't take money from him, so he hurried after him to return it: "General, this meal is so poor, how can I take money from you."

Feng Shuo asked her back: "If it's not delicious, you won't be charged?"

Jiang Yanyi was a little embarrassed by his question, thinking that this general is really a chat killer, does he really not understand the world at all?

She bit the bullet and handed the broken silver to him, and said with a smile on her face: "When I was in Huotouying before, the general took care of me more, but now the small shop is opened next to the Duhu mansion, and I still hope the big General, you will often come to take care of the business in the future, and today's meal money is really unacceptable."

Feng Shuo was much taller than her. From his point of view, the little cook nodded slightly and lowered her eyebrows, smiling like a little daughter-in-law who sent her husband out.

He stared at her for a while without speaking.

The money was given because he felt that he came over without saying a word, and he ate up all the rice in the pot so that both of them had nothing to eat, so he felt sorry.But at this moment, the little cook insisted on returning him.

Feng Shuo unconsciously frowned. In his opinion, there were only two liang of silver left and right, and there was no reason to take it back after giving it all away.

But when she said that she would come often in the future, he was moved again.

He asked, "When is your store going to open?"

Jiang Yanyi is actually not sure yet. After all, she plans to open a hot pot restaurant. If there is no pepper, she will sell clear soup pots first. As the weather gets colder and colder, there must be a market for hot pot. There are many powerful people on this street, and the big families naturally have no shortage of food. Pot of silver coins.

The trouble is that she has to find someone to decorate the store, custom-made tables, chairs and benches, special pots for cooking hot pot, and dishes.

She thought for a while and said, "Maybe I have to take a rest in the army next time."

In the army, there is only one day of rest every ten days, and it is almost ten days before the opening of the business.

Feng Shuo took a look at her still empty shop, and nodded knowingly.

Jiang Yanyi said, "Take back the money."

Feng Shuo's eyes fell on her palm. Her hands were small, with slender fingers, so white and tender. The small piece of silver was dragged by her, like a rock protruding from the snow.

When he reached out to take the silver, his fingertips inadvertently slid across her palm, and the tentacles were soft and delicate, as if he had touched a piece of warm, slightly curdled milk.

Feng Shuo felt something like tentacles spread from between his fingers to the bottom of his heart, causing a slight itchiness, and his fingertips felt numb.

He quickly withdrew his hand and put it behind his back, "I will come again next time."

He walked out of the shop, turned a corner and saw his own mansion, Xing Yao was standing there with a food box: "Master, Nanny Song heard that you are going back to the barracks soon, so I'm afraid there will be no time for dinner, so I asked the kitchen to prepare some food for you."

Feng Shuo unconsciously rubbed his fingertips with his hands behind his back, and there seemed to be a warm and delicate touch on them. Hearing the words, he said indifferently: "This king has already eaten, so I reward you."

***

Jiang Yanyi didn't know anything about someone's behavior of rubbing food, she almost laughed like a flower holding the pot of chili.

Qiu Kui was puzzled: "Hua Hua, why are you always holding this potted plant and giggling?"

Jiang Yanyi looked forward to it and said: "With it, you can make a lot of the most delicious food in the world!"

When the okra heard that it could be delicious, it immediately regarded the potted plant as a treasure, and took care of it more conscientiously than Jiang Yanyi.

In order to open the store quickly, Jiang Yanyi made a list in the afternoon, writing down all the things to buy, and planned to purchase them in batches.

For tables, chairs, stools, pots, pans, etc., she plans to go to the market to inquire first, to see where the masters have better craftsmanship, and then talk about it in detail.

Now that she was settled down, she didn't know what was going on in the capital. After thinking about it, she decided to write a letter and send it to the Chu family in the capital.

She originally planned to write to Yuanshen's younger brother, to ask how he and Madam Jiang were doing, and to report to them that they were safe. She dared not go back to the capital right now, so she had to find a chance to meet them in the future.

But Jiang Yanyi was afraid of something unexpected. If this letter didn't reach his younger brother Jiang Yangui, it would be troublesome. After all, a cheap scum dad with a brain full of water is absolutely unreliable.

In Yuanben's memory, her grandfather's family loved her very much, especially the uncle who also entered the military camp.

After the letter was written, Jiang Yanyi took the okra and went out for a walk together, intending to see if there were peppers for sale in the market, and went to the post station to send the letter. The letters in the post station were sent away early in the morning.

Neither she nor Qiu Kui noticed that since the two of them went out, someone had been following them secretly.

After Jiang Yanyi came out of the station, the man quickly entered the station again, and when he came out, he had an extra letter in his hand.