On July 21, from sunrise to sunset, for most of the day, more than 30 people inside and outside the Hanging Spring were busy, going in and out, and everyone had the work arranged by Ren Hong at hand.Ren Hongcai came out after inspecting the house, and the east kitchen courtyard was already about to peel the sheep.Hanging Springs has always been done by Luo Xiaopu, but I saw him use a knife to cut a hole in the sheep's hind leg, and then insert a wooden stick into it, poke out an airway, pull the cut sheepskin with one hand, and hold the leg of the lamb with the other, and blow into it with his mouth.It sounds simple, but it is difficult to do well, ordinary people are busy for a long time, but the sheepskin has no movement at all, which requires not only a strong physique, but also appropriate skills.This Luo puppy has a great lung capacity, I saw his cheeks bulging high, blowing a few breaths and beating the sheepskin a few times, and after a while, the sheep was blown up all over the body, like a skin, with four legs facing the sky, kicking straight!
Then you can start peeling, making slits in the belly and leg of the lamb, picking the cortex along the chest and abdomen, pulling the edge of the skin that was picked open, and starting to pull, because Luo Puppy has great strength, and after a while, the sheepskin will be torn off.The whole process is only half a moment, and it can be said to be completed in one go.Next, it's time for Xia Dingmao's performance.The sheep was hung on the poplar tree in the yard, and the stripped sheep's head was hung upside down, Xia Dingmao first cut open the abdominal cavity with a knife, pulled out the sheep's belly and sheep's intestines, and then removed the sheep's head, and the sheep's head was connected with the sheep's liver and sheep's lungs through the throat.As for the body of the sheep, it was placed on the large wooden case, and Xia Ding used the knife very quickly and strongly, and he was familiar with all parts and bones of the sheep, or cut along the bone seam to separate the bones, or swing a small axe to chop it violently, so that three times five divided by two, a sheep was dissected.Xia Dingmao beckoned everyone to clean up the water, although the lamb belly and sheep intestines were filthy, they were the most common meat eaten by the common people, and they could not be wasted.Ren Hong applauded and said: "In the past, there was a cook to solve the cow, and now there is Xia Weng to solve the sheep." ”Xia Dingmao's hands were covered with blood, and he asked the people next to him to help him wipe his sweat, and said with a smile: "According to the recipe given by the gentleman, it is enough to kill three sheep, this is the last one!"
”The number of Fu Jiezi's envoys is as many as twenty or thirty people, and there may also be envoys from the Western Regions who are traveling with them.It doesn't matter if the envoys from the Western Regions are there, what Ren Hong thinks is that he can be well entertained by the envoys who have been traveling for more than a few years.Being in a desperate region, facing all kinds of hardships and obstacles, and being hungry and cold, is not an easy task, and it is worth treating them well.Ren Hong passed by the pawn who was cleaning leek leaves and sunflower vegetables in the courtyard, and said to Xia Dingmao: "Fu Ma Jian and the officials naturally want good wine and meat, and the ordinary soldiers in the mission must also let them eat well. ”"Make them feel that returning to Hanging Springs is like coming home, and that's what makes them feel at home."
Saying so, Ren Hong walked into the kitchen, the perennial smoke and fire, the walls here are always black, the beams of the roof, there are also meat and poultry hanging, a few air-dried chickens that are blackened by the stove The most important position in the kitchen is the rectangular high platform earthen stove, which is no different from the stove in the northern countryside in later generations.It is not always necessary to use flint or copper to draw a fire before cooking, and the two fire pits in the kitchen must be kept on at all times.The firewatcher keeps adding tiny branches and dead grass to keep it burning, and before cooking, the cook only needs to use tongs to put a charcoal on the stove to rekindle the fire.The heat of the fire pit can not be wasted, often placed in the leg length and crotch deep three-legged clay pot, four-legged clay pot, the clay pot is boiling hot water, boiling a pot and then filling a pot, the clay pot is boiling pork.After all, it is a big foodie country, since the Xia Dynasty, the guys who eat are ritual utensils, Ding is boiled meat, and to put it bluntly, it is a rice bucket with a unique shape.As for the nine tripods and eight tripods of the princes of the Son of Heaven, the seven tripods and six tripods of the princes, it is nothing more than the difference between being qualified to eat a few buckets of rice as the king of rituals, the tripod is in the court, there is still a place, and occasionally an ancient tripod is dug out from the river, which is a great auspicious rui, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even changed the yuan "Yuan Ding" for this purpose, Ren Hong pondered, this will be put aside to future generations, and the year name will have to be "Yuan pot".But among the people, Ding is gradually declining, and he is reduced to the point that he can only stay by the fire pond and can't even get on the stove!
On the contrary, the kettle was popular, and on the four stoves on the high stove, except for one retort that was steaming rice, the other two were round-bottomed and footless kettles, boiling mutton, which was already rotten.The appearance of the kettle, and the pot of cooking soup in later generations has been very similar, compared to the three-legged tripod, it can use firepower more effectively, save time and fuel, which is quite popular with civilians and the army, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu used the nirvana technique "to break the cauldron and sink the boat", and won the battle of the giant deer.The human body has not changed much, but the tools have been improving, from the ding to the kettle, but this is not the end of the evolution of cooking utensils.The kettle can only be used for boiling and stewing, although it is fully cooked, the taste is less stimulating, so Ren Hong came to the hanging spring, and added a cooking utensil in this small kitchen.That's the wok.A huge iron pot, with an open, spherical bottom, and a wooden handle, occupies the largest stove eye, and the bottom has been blackened by the fire.Don't look at the pot, there is only one pot, but a few months ago, Ren Hong spent a lot of money to hire a blacksmith in Xiaogu County to cast it.Biansai Tiegui, he spent a lot of effort to convince Xu Fengde of the small instrument.Although the quality can't be compared with that of later generations, it can be used improvised.After inspecting the kitchen, Ren Hong was relieved and said to Xia Dingmao: "Su, millet, sauce, vinegar, and soy chǐ are all complete, but these ordinary foods are also available in other places, only all kinds of pasta, as well as the dishes fried in this pot, can show the uniqueness of Hanging Spring, by the way, Xia Weng, how many chickens have been killed?"
”Hanging Springs has its own chickens, raising dozens of chickens, and usually only eats eggs, but when a distinguished guest arrives, Ren Hong has to add a few strokes to the special chicken entry and exit book.Xia Dingmao said: "The old servant remembers that when Fu Jiezi stayed in Hanging Springs last time, he liked to eat chicken the most, so he asked people to kill six in one go, all of which were cleaned up, and he dared to ask the gentleman, how should these chickens be cooked?"
”Ren Hong only ordered one dish: "Xia Weng comes according to what he is good at, but there is one thing, but it must not be missing, that is" Before he could finish speaking, he heard someone shouting loudly on the corner tower of the hanging spring: "A team of carriages and horses is coming from the west!"
”Hanging Springs is not only a post station for the former officials and merchants, but also a post on the Gobi Desert.There are always a few crossbow-wielding officers, day and night, who cautiously stand on the two corner towers in the northeast and southwest of the dock courtyard, concentrating on vigilance.Dunhuang County Qiang Hu Miscellaneous, in addition to the Qiang people, there are also the Xiaoyue tribe in Nanshan, and the Huns' horse team, also often cruising abroad, Hanging Spring has to arrange people to sentry, monitor the passers-by, observe the beacon warning.Whenever a convoy passes by, they will also report it to the office.When Ren Hong hurriedly climbed the corner tower, he followed the hand of the material official pointing to the distance, and just saw that on the Silk Road straight to the west, there was a puff of smoke and dust, it seemed that the team was not small and waited until the convoy approached, Ren Hong saw clearly, there were more than 30 people, there were not only oxen and carriages in the team, but also a few camels, full of goods, every step of the way, there were a long camel bell.At the front of the procession is a horse cart, in the middle of the car, there is a high-crowned scholar sitting in a precarious position, holding an eight-foot long pole, the end of the pole is decorated with a yak tail dyed red, for its 毦��r, a total of three yak tails against the dry northwest wind, gently fluttering.Seeing this thing, whether it was the material official on the corner tower, or Xu Fengde who walked outside the hanging spring to greet him, they all became solemn!
The pawns who were still busy everywhere quickly put down the messy things in their hands, and those who stood in the way silently stepped aside and stood solemnly.It's not because the person who came was an official of 600 stones.It's not because they are honored guests who demand high-standard hospitality.It's because, everyone knows what the things on the cart represent, and Lian Renhong also stood up straight on the dock wall, his eyes lingering on the bright yak tail for a long time."
That's the envoy who returned from the Western Regions.""
It's the festival of the Great Han!"
PS: The Han Dynasty people liked to draw "kitchen pictures" in the tombs, and the pictures in the book circle could not be sent out, so they were posted in the chapter later.