It's still early morning. A crescent moon climbs up from the east, reflecting the starlight and illuminating the way for those who get up early.
Yang Shen got dressed and hurried out the door. He called the soldiers who followed him out to get up and prepare in a hurry. Accompanied by a crescent moon, more than 20 people carried burdens and staggered along the road beside the Luo River.
After walking to the Huitong Bridge, Yang Shen looked up and saw that the crescent moon had just reached the top of his head.
After taking a breath, Yang Shen directed everyone to unload their burdens. Just on the side of the road, I laid out the things I brought. Some soldiers began to be busy on the chopping board, some were lighting fires, and some went to the street to attract customers.
In the past, during peaceful times, there were countless morning and night markets in Luoyang City, and food was indispensable all day long. Compared with Kaifeng, Luoyang may not be as lively, but it is no less exquisite. However, after Jin Bing came, this lively scene was no longer seen. When the people on the road saw that there was a stall suddenly today, they couldn't help but feel strange and gathered around it.
I stood in front of the stall and looked at it for a while. A common man pointed to a large vat of white things and said, "Master, what is this?"
Yang Shen said: "The informant knows that this is tofu nao. It's like tofu and made of soybeans."
Several people listened and stood there discussing each other for a while. Then someone said, "I've never seen this kind of food before. Let's have a bowl and try it."
Yang Shen was overjoyed. He quickly ordered his soldiers to fill a bowl for the guest. The marinade prepared earlier was poured on top, and a few salted soybeans were added, then sprinkled with coriander segments and chopped green onion, and served.
The guest picked up the spoon and took a bite carefully. After savoring it for a while, he said to the people around him: "This thing is so weird. It's as smooth and smooth as a human brain, and has a slight fragrance. In this weather, it's good to eat. You can also have a bowl."
A man next to him listened and looked up at the moon in the sky. Suddenly a gust of cool wind blew, and he shrank. Said: "Liu Lang, this master said it was a brain, but he only said it was made of soybeans. Do you think, with the weather like this, could it really be a human brain?"
After hearing this, the person who was eating tofu nao was startled and almost dropped the bowl on the ground. At this time of year, there are many markets in Luoyang. If it is outside the city, it is generally called a grass market. Selling food and various goods is not unusual. The market at this time has another name, ghost market. Because it is still dark, people think that not only people come to this market, but also ghosts. In later generations, people already knew that there were no ghosts and gods in the world, and they didn't care about them at all. No one mentioned the name of the ghost market, it was just called the morning market.
This era is different. People really believe in ghosts and gods. Just get used to it and don't be afraid. The reason why tofu brain is called brain is because it looks like an animal brain. Not to mention paying it back, once someone contacts me, how can it be done in the ghost market?
The man eating the tofu brain was so frightened that his head was shaking and he was trembling. He stepped forward and asked Yang Shen: "Master, where are you from? Why haven't you seen it before? Such a big business suddenly started. ?”
Yang Shen said: "We are the subordinates of General Wang who entered the city the day before yesterday. We can't make a living in the city, so we can do some business to make some money."
The man let out a sigh of relief. He patted his chest continuously and said: "Just now, my companion must be said to be eating like this. It's a bit like people with brains. I'm afraid it's some unclean thing, doing business as a guise, but actually harming people. Since he is in the army of General Wang, naturally there is no It’s over.”
Yang Shen laughed after hearing this: "What are you thinking! This is made from soybeans, we have spent a lot of effort! Eat with confidence, our business will last until dawn. If there is a ghost coming to do business, just leave before dawn. ”
After listening to Yang Shen's words, the people around them talked for a while and felt much relieved.
The freshly fried fried dough sticks over there are delicious and delicious. Yang Shen said: "It is a perfect match to use fried dough sticks with tofu brain. If you have money, you can buy some fried dough sticks and a bowl of tofu brain. It will be the most delicious."
Someone asked: "What are youtiao?"
Zhang Jun, who was instructing the fried dough sticks, said: "The fried dough sticks are made of white flour and fried in a pot. Look, they are golden, but they are a rare thing! If you eat a few, you won't be hungry all day long!"
Wang Xiaolie first won in Yong'an and later defended Gong County, both within Henan Prefecture. He had a good impression on the people here. Hearing that Yang Shen said it was Wang Xiao hunting in the army, he felt relaxed and came over to take care of business.
Soon, a lot of fried dough sticks and tofu puffs were sold. People who got up early were holding bowls in one hand and holding fried dough sticks in the other, squatting on the roadside to enjoy this unprecedented delicacy. This scene has some shadows of the prosperity of Luoyang in the past.
After nearly an hour, the sky gradually became brighter. The crescent moon in the sky gradually slid to the west.
Yang Shen straightened up and said to the soldiers beside him: "I didn't expect the business to be so good! We have already sold most of them before dawn."
Zhang Jun on the side said: "The diners I heard said that they heard that we are all subordinates of Xiao Sheren and are here to take care of business. But our food is really delicious, and everyone who comes is very satisfied."
Yang Shen said: "That's natural! Although these foods are simple, have they ever eaten them before? And they are not expensive."
These foods are simple yet complex to prepare. Yang Shen led these people. Although he often made food for the army when he was in Kaifeng, his craftsmanship was still average. But fortunately, it was so strange that no one had ever eaten it, so they still regarded it as a delicacy.
All the soldiers nodded. I didn't expect that the current Luoyang City is so depressed and there is such a good business.
In fact, although the Jin army burned the city and the population was greatly reduced, Luoyang City at this time was still more prosperous than other state cities. As soon as I entered the city, it looked like it was full of ruins. But when I really took a closer look, I found that there were still a lot of people. This is not surprising. Luoyang used to be too prosperous, and many people escaped after the Jin soldiers broke through. When they come back, they can still support a city.
Yang Shen said: "There is only one jar of tofu puffs left, and some are not enough to sell. Are the Hu biscuits baked over there? We will sell soup at dawn!"
Until now, mutton soup has not been sold there. According to Yang Shen's plan yesterday, he would sell fried dough sticks and tofu bread first, and then start selling mutton soup, sesame seed cakes, fried dough sticks, etc. at dawn. Because according to Yang Shen's taste test, he felt that the taste of these was slightly inferior to that of fried dough sticks and tofu puffs.
People in this era are still short of oil in their stomachs. When you eat fried dough sticks at once, you will feel delicious.
It was getting dark at this time, people who had worked early had dispersed, ordinary people had not gotten up yet, and business was quite light. Yang Shen arranged for all the soldiers to take turns eating, waiting for the arrival of a new wave of guests.
Zhang Jun made a large bowl of soup and squatted on a small wooden stool while holding it with his hands. With the other hand, I grabbed two big meat buns, took a big bite, and drank a sip of the soup. It was delicious. Among Wang Xiao's hunting army, among other things, the food is exceptionally good.
In later generations, the most famous food in Luoyang City was soup. Among them, beef soup and tofu soup are the most popular. It is the habit of later generations to like to find or make up various histories for food. Jiangnan and Hebei areas like to cling to the emperors of the Qing Dynasty. Unlike Xi'an, Luoyang likes to date back to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Most people later knew it was false, but when introducing it, they still had to add this legend.
Beef soup can’t possibly have a long history. Not to mention the troubled times of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the slaughter of farm cattle was also banned from the beginning in New China. It was not until the 1980s that beef truly became a vegetable and beef entered people's normal diet. Whether it’s beef soup or braised beef, if you say it’s been passed down for hundreds of years, there’s almost definitely something wrong with it. In particular, the craft of braised beef is most likely passed down from the history of braised sick and dead cattle. Some people say that pigs are cheap meat and that beef and mutton were the high-end meats in ancient times. This is basically unfounded. There is such a thing as cheap meat. In ancient times, it should have been beef, donkey meat, etc. Most of the time, it was forbidden to kill large livestock.
So when making soup at this time, the only choice is mutton soup. The mutton bones are too small and don't have the flavor of boiled beef bones, which is actually a bit inferior. However, in this era, before it became popular, it is really a delicacy for breakfast when paired with freshly baked sesame seed cakes.
