CH 16

After the guard finished delivering the message and left, Ah Bing and the little girl looked at each other, and couldn’t help but sigh again.

“Now, we can’t even make plain porridge!” Ah Bing sighed, “I’m afraid we can only boil noodles with dry steamed buns!”

There was nothing, and only these staple foods can be used, but there were various requirements that seemed endless, tsk tsk… Master Wen really encountered a problem this time.

In contrast to the constant shaking of the head of the two, Wen Mingtang’s reaction was calm. She just smiled and said, “It’s okay, let’s see it tomorrow. If the vegetables on the farm come earlier…”

Before he finished speaking, she was interrupted by A Bing and the little girl, only to hear their uneven voices.

“It will be too late, Master Wen!”

As for why it will be too late…

“Zhuangzi to deliver vegetables every day quite late, and they are specially prepared for lunch and evening meals.” A Bing said, “Just now what the elder brother said was that a group of prisoners will be sent to the Ministry of Criminal Justice tomorrow morning. Generally, when the prisoners are transferred, the guards will leave as soon as they arrive in the morning, which is around Chenshi1. Therefore, Master Wen will have to send the court food to the prison before Chenshi at the latest to the prisoner here. How can there be time to wait for the vegetables from the Zhuangzi?”

Therefore, for the vegetables that will be delivered tomorrow, Wen Mingtang won’t be able to use the vegetables and eggs sent from the Zhuangzi until the day after tomorrow.

For tomorrow’s meal, all Wen Mingtang could use were these staple foods.

If you can’t make porridge, then don’t think about making porridge with mixed beans such as red beans and mung beans.

After thinking about it, all she can do was noodles.

Sure enough, the next moment, the thoughtful Wen Mingtang said: “In that case, let’s make noodles!”

Ah Bing and the little girl who listened to the words sighed again in unison.

It was really a bad start for Master Wen’s first time on the job, and it was so bumpy!

Now that they were going to make noodles, let’s take some flour out. Wen Mingtang asked Ah Bing: “The number of people who eat court food every day is…”

“Miss Wen only needs to count the prisoners in the prison!” Ah Bing thought about it and said, “Generally speaking, officials in Dali Temple don’t come to eat court food, and the guards in the prison don’t come here very often.”

The breakfast counter of the public kitchen of Dali Temple was a cold seat that can’t get anymore colder.

Wen Mingtang nodded and asked, “What about you guys?”

What about the public cook and the yamen’s helpers?

Ah Bing smiled and pointed out: “Not far from the yamen is Fangshi. There are many shops for breakfast in the morning, and everyone seldom comes here.”

Wen Mingtang heard this, thought for a while, and said: ” Then I will do more besides the prisoner’s quota… er, five or six more portions will be made.”

The little girl on the side muttered when she heard the words: “Master Wen is actually preparing enough. All the food that is prepared every day is mostly poured in the trash.”

Wen Mingtang couldn’t help but touch her forehead after hearing this sentence. It seemed that the court food of the public chef of Dali Temple was really unpopular!

As a public chef, you can’t just call someone over and have them come for nothing. You have to be prepared for it.

After knowing it well, Wen Mingtang left the warehouse. Looking at the flour and seasonings that Wen Mingtang received, Ji Caimai, who came to lock the door, shook his head slightly.

How can you make bricks without straw? Even experienced chefs might not be able to make any tricks in this situation, let alone this girl who was not yet old enough.

So what if she came from the imperial dining room in the palace? There were only a few types of morning food dishes.

He casually asked what Wen Mingtang was going to do, and after hearing that she was going to make noodles, Ji Caimai nodded, turned around, and left without asking any further questions.

The position of the chef was dispensable in the public kitchen of Dali Temple. As long as the new cook stays for half a year or a year without making any trouble, no one will come to find fault with her.

So… it can be regarded as an explanation to Master Jiang.

The first day Wen Mingtang came to the public kitchen of Dali Temple ended quietly.

At night, lying in the dormitory assigned to her by the Yamen of Dali Temple, Wen Mingtang soon fell into a deep sleep.

Although the public cook of Dali Temple’s post was avoided by all the cooks in the capital, there were benefits of having fewer people. One person gets one room, which avoided disputes caused by living with another person due to different living habits.

…

…

The next day, the sky was still dark, and the entire yamen of Dali Temple was silent, except for the three figures in the public kitchen who were already busy.

The first thing Wen Mingtang did was clean and wipe the kitchen stove, and scald the dishes and chopsticks with boiling water. Then she started preparing breakfast.

With such a professional start, the little girl and Ah Bing nodded again and again: No matter how skilled Master Wen was, at least the things she makes will be clean; they won’t cause diarrhea after eating.

The first step in making noodles was kneading and stretching.

“Ah Bing, Tang Yuan, how about you two try it?” Wen Mingtang stopped at the step of proofing and said to the two with a smile.

Ah Bing’s surname was Jiang, and his first name is Xiao Bing. Just by hearing this surname, you can tell that Ah Bing and Old Man Jiang were indeed related.

As for that little girl, her surname was Yuan, and her single name was Xiao. Her father, Yuan Datou, was a driver of the yamen of Dali Temple, and she can occasionally say a few words in front of those adults. Because Yuan Xiao was quite similar to “Yuanxiao”2, people in this yamen also called this little girl Tang Yuan.

Although Old Man Jiang cheated her a lot, he was quite helpful in choosing her assistant.

Both were hardworking and clever.

The steps of kneading and stretching noodles were not difficult for Ah Bing and Tangyuan who did odd jobs in the public kitchen. The flour was mixed with water to form a dough, then kneaded into balls and put aside to proof.

After the doughs were almost double in size, it was time to start making the noodles.

Seeing Wen Mingtang flatten the dough, then pull it apart one by one, and then tear it apart from the middle before putting it into the pan.

Both of them were taken aback, and couldn’t help being surprised: “Master Wen, what kind of noodles are you making? How is it different from what Master Wang and Master Sun made?”

Master Wang and Master Sun mostly roll out the dough and then cut it with a knife. How can it be as troublesome as Master Wen?

“This is pulled noodles.” Wen Mingtang said, looking at the noodles floating in the pot, she fished it out with a strainer when she saw that it was almost done.

Ah Bing and Tangyuan were taken aback when they saw this and turned their backs quickly.

Although they were not very old, they had been in this public kitchen of the yamen for two years, so they knew the rules.

These masters pay great attention to the “secret recipe” when cooking, and they were not allowed to peek. At first, there was an ignorant helper who annoyed Master Wang and Master Sun by asking “Do you want to add oil?” and he was driven out of the kitchen of the yamen.

“Turn around for what?” Wen Mingtang couldn’t help laughing when she saw the actions of the two of them and called them to turn around, she said, “You guys have to learn to cook with me. Otherwise, how can you help me?”

The two people who spoke at the same time were immediately excited. Master Wen, did this mean that she was willing to teach them? This was a craft. If you can learn how to cook, you will starve to death. It was much better than being a helper who can only do odd jobs.

While speaking, Wen Mingtang had already added spices such as salt, sauce, vinegar, peanuts, minced garlic, minced green onion, and chili powder one by one, and finally poured a spoonful of hot oil on it.

When the hot oil collides with the pulled noodles and various spices, a large number of oil bubbles popped out immediately. With the sound of “Zi La Zi La”, the aromas of oil, spicy, noodle and various spices were aroused all at once.

Ah Bing and Tang Yuan on the side gulped immediately, staring at the bowl of ready-made noodles in front of them, and the two couldn’t help exclaiming: “This is too delicious!”