Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 430: It’s the twelfth lunar month, and the delicious cured bacon is ready to be made

This early winter snow fell intermittently for two days before it stopped.

But because the ground was warm, the snow on the roofs and streets began to melt quickly as soon as the weather cleared up on the third day. The snow lions piled on the streets disappeared, and the streets became muddy again.

Looking at the mud this time, Shen Yu's mood was not affected.

First, she is no longer in debt and will no longer worry about not being able to pay off her debts due to low revenue from the restaurant.

The second reason is that the store has newly started serving hot pot, and many customers from the county town come here to try it.

Hotpot is eaten slower than normal food, so the shop always seems to be crowded with customers. Passers-by also think that the food in this restaurant is delicious and want to come in to try it.

Although it is the twelfth lunar month and there are not many merchants coming and going, the daily income is still quite good.

The most important reason is that the yamen runners have been going to shops these past two days to inform them that the streets next to the market have been almost renovated.

In the next day or two, after the snow melts and the road becomes drier, we can start renovating the street in front of the market.

Let all shops make preparations in advance, stock up on goods if necessary, ship out goods if necessary. By the time repairs begin, it will be difficult for large mule carts to enter and exit.

It will take about seven or eight days to repair the entire street. Once it is repaired, the street will be repaved with gravel and sand, so it will not be muddy when it snows next time.

After the restaurant learned the exact date, it hurriedly stocked up on food two days before the road construction.

It was already freezing cold, and the fresh pork had frozen solid in just half a day, acting like a natural refrigerator.

Shen Yu could clearly feel that the winter at this time was much colder than modern times.

Shen Yu, who had never seen icicles on the eaves before, went from being amazed when he first saw them to getting used to them in just a few days.

The first thing Shen Yu does every morning when he wakes up is to use a bamboo pole to knock down those one or two foot long sharp icicles from the eaves.

This is to prevent the icicles from melting and falling and hurting people because there is always fire in the house during the day.

In addition to these icicles that Shen Yu had to pay attention to every day, there was also the inn that he had secretly visited and was almost completed.

Because of the snow, the construction was suspended for a few days, so the original plan to complete the construction and hand over the houses before Laba Festival will probably be delayed for a few days.

But Shen Yu went to see it with Li when there was no one around on a snowy day.

Although there were still a lot of construction materials scattered around, Shen Yu was very satisfied with the look.

The overall layout is built according to the pre-planned construction.

The small courtyard next to the restaurant and the backyard can be connected by a small door. The entire backyard alley is designed as the main passage in the middle of the courtyard, and a gate is built at the entrance of the alley.

By then, this entire area of ​​houses can be used as an inn.

There is also a stable for tying mules and horses at the entrance for the convenience of guests.

Shen Yu felt very happy. Looking at the house that had become a reality, he began to discuss with Li how to renovate it in the future.

But after all, this is something that can only be done after you take possession of the house.

Shen Yu spent an afternoon writing and drawing on paper. After discussing something with Li, he put the matter aside and turned his attention to the stockpiled food.

What could be more important than delicious food!

Shen Yu thought of the delicious bacon, the crystal clear pork jelly, and the braised pork with preserved vegetables that can only be eaten in winter, and started to take action again.

People who love bacon think it is delicious and has a unique flavor.

People who don’t like it think that it is troublesome and unhealthy to pickle and smoke it, and be exposed to the wind and sun for many days.

As for Shen Yu, he is a person who is never afraid of trouble when it comes to eating.

The weather was fine early in the morning.

Although the air is cold, it is extremely crisp. Taking a deep breath, the pure and crisp feeling gives you a chill, and you immediately become refreshed and clear-headed.

Shen Yu has already told Li about making some bacon.

When the waiter delivered pork to her door yesterday, Shen Yu not only ordered a lot of pork belly and tenderloin for use in the restaurant, but also asked the waiter if he could send her some pork belly and pig's trotters with skin.

The boy who delivers meat every day has already become familiar with the people in the restaurant.

He was no longer surprised by Shen Yu's frequent requests for strange ingredients, so he readily agreed.

He said that after the pork is harvested tomorrow morning, it will be delivered to Shen Yu first.

Sure enough, just after breakfast time, the waiter came driving a cart to deliver meat. Not only did he deliver a lot of pork belly with skin, he also brought a dozen pig's trotters for Shen Yu.

Ever since Shen Yu cooked stewed pig's trotters once, this dish often appeared on the restaurant's table.

However, because people around him were not very accepting of pig's trotters, Shen Yu did not force it and did not sell this dish in the restaurant.

But the ladies that Li often interacted with, after hearing Li's recommendation and looking at Li's skin which was much smoother and more delicate than when she first came, became very fond of this affordable beauty dish.

Every now and then, I would order a portion from Li and take it home to enjoy quietly.

Li and her friends had already learned how to cook this dish.

Often three or five ladies would order together, and the restaurant would prepare it in the evening, simmer it on low heat overnight, and the ladies would bring clay pots to share the next day.

Yutao always found the sneaky look of the ladies funny. She wanted to eat but was afraid that others would dislike her, so she told this secretly to Shen Yu.

Shen Yu thought that even though the pig's trotter had been cut into pieces and stewed, it was still possible to tell what the ingredients were.

If it were made into jelly and looked good, people might not be so resistant to it.

Shen Yu had some free time these days, so he thought of making this bacon and jelly together for everyone to try.

The method of making cured bacon is simple, but if you want it to taste good, it will take at least ten days to prepare it.

It is usually prepared in the twelfth lunar month, and becomes a delicious dish on the table at the end of the year and during the New Year.

There was no weather forecast at that time, so we had to rely on experience to predict the weather.

Shen Yu carefully observed the weather for several days and asked several elderly guests who came to eat, and concluded that the weather would not warm up again.

It will only get colder and colder, and there won’t be any snow in the near future, so I ordered the pork belly with confidence and prepared to make a batch of bacon to enjoy during the Chinese New Year.

The pork belly that the waiter brought was in large chunks and was not cut into pieces.

Shen Yu sharpened a large meat-cutting knife and cut the pork belly into thick long strips.

Dry-roast the skin of the cut meat in an iron pan, then scrape it clean with a knife dipped in wine to remove the fishy smell of the meat.

Then string the meat with cotton rope and hang it aside to dry.

Heat the iron pan, pour in two pounds of coarse salt, add a handful of peppercorns and a dozen star anise.

Use the back of a knife to smash a small piece of cinnamon into pieces, add some bay leaves and fennel, and stir-fry over low heat.

Fry until the aroma comes out and the salt turns slightly yellow, and the seasoning for marinating the bacon is ready.