Yang Fan wore an apron around his waist and stood next to a large pot, pulling noodles on the noodle table.
That’s right, I’m making Lanzhou Ramen.
Today is Xiao Niangpi’s birthday, and Yang Fan decided to make her a bowl of noodles.
The little girl who had just received a birthday gift was smiling like a flower, happily waiting for her husband to give her birthday noodles. Lin Yueru and Mei Xiang looked envious.
They are concubines, so even if they celebrate their birthdays, it would be inappropriate for the master to cook for them according to Ming Dynasty rules.
Lin Yueru, Mei Xiang and the maids gathered around and were learning Yang Fan's ramen techniques.
Lanzhou Ramen is a specialty delicacy of Lanzhou. It began in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty (1799). It was brought to Lanzhou by Ma Liuqi of the Dongxiang ethnic group who learned it from Chen Weijing in Qinghua, Huaiqing Prefecture, Henan Province.
At this time in the Ming Dynasty, there was only rough ramen technology. According to legend, ramen was invented in the Tang Dynasty, but both the ingredients and toppings were very crude. Far from comparable to Lanzhou Ramen.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shunshui crossed Fusang eastward. Introduced ramen technology to Japan. This is the Japanese ramen we saw today.
"Look, the secret to this kind of ramen lies in kneading the noodles. You need to add fluffy ash inside the noodles so that they can be pulled out continuously. There are many things to pay attention to in a good bowl of ramen. Gannan's Yak Yongdeng noodles, Gaolan's fluffy ramen noodles from Gangu Thread (pepper). Unfortunately, I don’t have any of these, so I’ll just make do.”
Yang Fan sighed and called Daming. He had never eaten delicious authentic Lanzhou ramen again.
There used to be a restaurant next to the construction site. Because it is cheap, many workers are tired of eating pig food at the construction site, so they will meet up to improve the food.
A bowl of authentic Lanzhou Ramen, dozens of meat skewers, and ice-cold Yanjing beer. After the sun went down, a dozen workers ate edamame and boiled peanuts. That is really a rare enjoyment in life.
Yang Fan would only show his skill at this kind of work under special circumstances. Normally he doesn't know how to cook.
So the maids watched eagerly, for fear of missing any step.
The master is very good at cooking, but there are too few opportunities to observe.
Only when the ladies celebrate their birthdays, or if the master is in a particularly good mood, or if the master is greedy, will he roll up his sleeves and cook himself some super delicious delicacies that no one has ever seen before.
People of this era place great value on craftsmanship.
If you have a craft, you can support your family. Therefore, I have great respect for masters who are willing to teach their craftsmanship.
When the master passes on his skills to you, he is able to support your family.
In this era, every industry has strict barriers. Even the words spoken are in jargon, and people outside the circle cannot even understand them.
If the master doesn't want to teach you, it won't work even if you knock your head until it bleeds. The master just said, it's not that I don't accept it, it's that the ancestor doesn't reward you with this meal.
At the age of thirteen or fourteen, you first need to be an apprentice to get started.
Chopping firewood, lighting fires, diving, and doing odd jobs. Work for ten or eight years first. Get up early and stay late, wait until the master thinks your temper has calmed down and you can calm down. I will teach you the skills bit by bit.
And being an apprentice is almost like signing a contract of betrayal.
Filling the chamber pot for the mistress and washing the feet of the master, they are no different from servants.
I was beaten and scolded all day long. The contract with the master is clearly written. If you can't stand the abuse, beating and scolding, drowning in a river or hanging in a well, it has nothing to do with the master.
Therefore, if someone is not good at learning, they will be ridiculed. At first, instead of studying hard with the master, I was busy serving the master's wife.
Now, at Master's place, not only do you have good food and clothing, but you also get monthly money.
The ladies are also kind to the servants and can learn some skills. This is simply a good thing that cannot be found even with a lantern. Can you still cherish it?
When she gets older, she stops being a maid and gets married.
Or the lady may propose marriages to other servants in the family.
In addition to working as errands in the government, these skills can also give children who are unable to work in the government a way to make a living.
Yang Fan took out the noodles and cooked them more. A bowl of noodles isn't worth his time. Dozens of bowls were served, and everyone was given a bowl to celebrate Madam’s birthday.
"Look, a good bowl of beef ramen should pay attention to the five colors of "one clear (soup), two white (radish), three green (cilantro and garlic sprouts), four red (spicy seeds), and five yellow (bright yellow noodles)."
As he spoke, Yang Fan took out the noodles, divided them into bowls, and poured the toppings on them, which was beef soup that had been simmered all night. Sprinkle with chopped green onions and beef cubes.
Immediately, a strong fragrance overflowed, making everyone salivate.
"Do you want chili oil?" Yang Fan asked the girl.
"Yes, yes, add more spicy food," the little girl said quickly with a smile on her face.
Chili peppers are a good thing. Currently, they are only grown here in Yangfan in the Ming Dynasty.
There is a barbed wire fence surrounding the pepper field, and it is strictly forbidden to spread the seeds outside. Only dried and seeded chili oil is sold to the outside world. These chili oils are already on the market and have become a trend.
It has been too cold in Ming Dynasty these years. Adding a few drops of chili oil to the soup will warm your whole body. As soon as chili oil was born, it quickly conquered the taste buds of the people of Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, in this era, oil extraction technology is not good, the oil yield rate is too low, and oil is too expensive, and ordinary people cannot afford oil.
Although Yang Fan's chili oil is made from imported palm oil, this very cheap oil is affordable for ordinary people and is very popular among the people.
At this time, the grilled sizzling black pepper beef sausage was also served. This is also a unique delicacy of Yang Mansion.
The maids cut the noodles into pieces with knives, inserted short bamboo skewers, and handed them to the ladies as ramen companions to eat together.
"Master, I want to hear a story." Xiao Niangpi said coquettishly while sucking the ramen.
Lin Yueru and others who were eating noodles also looked at Yang Fan eagerly, hoping that the master would have a happy day and tell everyone a story.
"Well, there was a person once upon a time. Well" Yang Fan cleared his throat.
"He had sex with a girl outside behind his wife's back, and it turned out that the girl was pregnant. He is a rake."
"Bah, the master is not serious and just tells a story about stealing people." Xiao Niangpi spat.
"Master, what is ear-raking?" Xiao Niangpi asked curiously.
"Oh, this is the dialect in Shuzhong, which means henpecked."
"Oh, this man is really worthless, and he is so weak." Xiao Niangpi said with disdain.
Women are so weird, she feels wronged if you are too strong.
If you are afraid of your wife, she will despise you.
"He didn't dare to tell his wife about it. So he gave the girl a sum of money and asked her to rent a house to give birth. The two agreed that if they gave birth, they would write to him and tell him in a letter. The secret code was ramen."
Lin Yueru and others all pursed their lips and snickered. The master was always like this, making up stories based on local materials to fool them.
"Seven or eight months passed in the blink of an eye. One day, my wife handed him a letter. She said that someone had just sent it. She asked him who the letter was from and what was written in the letter." Yang Fan took a sip of the soup and said.
Most women in this era were illiterate, so they could not understand the content of the letter.
"Hmph, I'm going to be a gangster now." Xiao Niangpi curled her lips.
"He opened it and was stunned. It said, four bowls of ramen. Two bowls had sausages, two bowls didn't." Yang Fan said in a weird voice.
Everyone in the room was stunned for a moment and did not react.
It was the little girl who reacted first, stopped eating the sausage and threw the sausage into the bowl.
His little hands accurately found the piece of soft flesh around Yang Fan's waist that had the best feel in the past, and twisted it hard.
"The master is a big bad guy and a scumbag." Xiao Niangpi spat with her face flushed.
Yang Fan laughed.
Only then did the women in the room react, and their faces were all red with embarrassment. They all spat, saying that the master is a bad person and actually tells such embarrassing jokes.
Yang Fan put his arms around the little girl's slender waist, kissed her on the cheek, and said softly: "I'll give you another gift to make it up to you."
The little girl's face was red, she lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes were trembling slightly. Although she was shy, she was also very happy in her heart. He whispered: "Humph! I will forgive you this time."
