Chapter 123: Aunt Zhang’s Talent Rises

Chapter 123

Wang Xiaosong had good intentions, letting Jiang Sheng find paper to record the recipe, afraid that she wouldn't remember it after just hearing it once.

But she didn't have any paper on her, nor could she fluently write down hundreds of characters.

"Brother Wang, I really don't have any paper with me, and can't remember it all. Why don't you come back to the county town with me? I have a brother there who can write." Jiang Sheng said gingerly.

Beside them, Wen Zhiyun remembered that there was paper and writing brush in his medicine box that he used for prescriptions.

But just as he raised his hand, Jiang Sheng pressed it back down. Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

Wen Zhiyun blinked his eyes, seeming to understand something.

"You two..." Facing Jiang Sheng's suggestion, Wang Xiaosong was somewhat hesitant.

They had just lost their mother, and felt the coldness of their clan. They were prepared to have no home to return to.

Thinking this way, going back just to remember a recipe didn't seem like much.

"Alright then." He grabbed Wang Xiaozhu's hand, "I have to bring my little sister too."

Wang Xiaozhu timidly moved closer to her brother, grasping the only lifeline she had.

Dusk.

The people who had gone out at noon finally made it back home before dark.

Xu Mo and Fang Heng were anxiously waiting for their younger siblings, worried that they might have gotten into trouble.

Seeing the hem of Jiang Sheng's skirt, they finally felt relieved.

After Jiang Sheng, Wen Zhiyun, Chang Yan, Zheng Ruqian jumped down one by one, two more people emerged.

There were four when they left, but now there were six coming back.

"Big brother, third brother, these are the Wang siblings who know how to make sausage," Jiang Sheng said loudly, "Whether the workshop in the town can reopen depends on them!"

Wang Xiaosong was stunned. They were just homeless orphans, how did they become people carrying the honor and disgrace of the workshop in this little girl's mouth?

But no matter what, with an introduction like this, he unconsciously stood up straighter.

Xu Mo politely nodded his head in greeting to the Wang siblings.

Turning back, Zheng Ruqian was already holding paper and brush, taking down the recipe as Wang Xiaosong recited it. Before long, the complete recipe was presented.

Wang Xiaosong's mission was finally accomplished. He tidied his uncomfortable clothes, took his sister's hand, and prepared to leave.

Now with fresh sausage right out of the pot, the little girl couldn't wait to pop a piece in her mouth.

Then, her eyes widened.

"Not tasty?" Auntie Zhang felt nervous.

Wang Xiaosong also clenched his fists, afraid he had lost his only usefulness.

After a while, Jiang Sheng finally swallowed the sausage, pecking like a chick and nodding her head, "Delicious, so delicious! You all should try it!"

Everyone picked up their chopsticks to sample it.

Good sausage needed a mix of fat and lean, with the lean meat providing texture to make the casing taut and bouncy. The fat provided juice that burst in the mouth when biting, balancing out the blandness of the lean meat, also providing oiliness and aroma that made one insatiable.

There was just one issue - the recipe said Sichuan sausage should be spicy, but this had no spiciness at all.

Jiang Sheng voiced her doubts.

Auntie Zhang slapped her own head, "Oh dear, I forgot to add the chili powder in the first batch, but the meat was already stuffed so I couldn't waste it. I figured I'd just go ahead and finish it."

She didn't expect the taste to be so good without spiciness, it had a fresh, sweet aroma blended with light wine fragrance that made one crave more.

When the second spicy batch was done, it had another kind of feeling.

Sesame fragrance, balanced fat and lean, just a bit too spicy for children - Jiang Sheng cried out from the burning.

Auntie Zhang hurriedly brought Jiang Sheng water to soothe the spiciness, while wondering to herself, "It's just a little less pepper and sichuan pepper, how can there be such a big difference in taste?"

If she changed some other proportions, like sugar or salt, or fat ratio, what would happen?

Previously when Zhang Xianglian's life was hard and she couldn't even eat her fill, she didn't even dare to think about these kinds of questions.

Later after she earned some savings at the workshop in town, and Jiang Sheng would give her silver to buy ingredients to cook, now she didn't need to worry about food and clothing, and had some idle cash.

Auntie Zhang had a bold thought for the first time - she wanted to try making sausage with different proportions to see which tasted the best.

No sooner said than done.

She took out 100 wen of her private savings and bought over 10 jin of pork, some with a bit more sugar, some with more salt, some with more fat, and some even with just lean meat.

She discovered that a ratio of 30% fat to 70% lean was best. All lean meat was too chewy and tough to bite through, while too much fat became greasy.

She also realized that drying the sausages in the sun the first two days and then moving to the shade resulted in better looking sausages. Adding a bit of soy sauce when curing also made the final product more vivid and appealing.

These discoveries delighted Zhang Xianglian. She stopped worrying about growing snap peas and devoted her time to experimenting with sausage.

Finally, she made seven or eight varieties that she was quite satisfied with. After slicing them neatly, she presented them at dinner, "Everyone try these and tell me which tastes the best!"