Craftsmen do heavy labor, so their meals must first and foremost be large and filling, preferably with meat and fat.
Although they receive wages for their work, they are not shortchanged when it comes to food.
When they are well-fed, they feel content, and as a result, they put more care into their work.
With this in mind, when Shen Miao went grocery shopping yesterday, she carefully planned her purchases.
She specifically asked Zheng, the butcher, for a set of pig offal.
She couldn’t afford proper cuts of meat, but she could still manage to make a fresh soup with lean pork and offal, coarse rice, and a big stir-fry of minced meat with Chinese cabbage.
Shen Miao bought three pounds of pork and one pound of fatty meat for rendering oil.
In return, Zheng, the butcher, practically gave her a full set of pig offal at a bargain price.
In the Song Dynasty, pigs were not castrated, so their offal had a much stronger odor than in later times.
It was often hard to sell and spoiled even faster than pork, making it cheap.
However, Shen Miao had effective methods to remove the odor.
In her past life as a chef, Shen Miao was a proponent of scientific cooking.
To perfect a dish of Dongpo Pork, she had even researched the origins of pork’s gamey smell and developed a scientifically effective method to eliminate it.
The unpleasant smell of pork comes from two main sources:
Pigs have weak kidney function, causing their blood to retain a strong ammonia smell that they cannot fully metabolize.
This odor is easy to remove by draining the blood during slaughter or thoroughly washing and blanching the meat to remove residual blood.
Uncastrated pigs secrete large amounts of male hormones, which remain in the meat.
During her two-year study of Western cuisine and baking abroad, Shen Miao had suffered greatly from Western pork, which was never castrated.
The first time she ate it, she almost threw up.
Only then did she realize how pungent uncastrated pork could be.
If she had to describe it, it was like soaking pork in pig urine overnight and cooking it without rinsing.
Fortunately, her past experience made her well-prepared to handle this in the Song Dynasty.
The odor from uncastrated pork was particularly stubborn and required meticulous treatment.
Shen Miao summarized her process as the “Three Techniques”:
Rinse the pork in cold water after cutting it open to fully release and wash away the blood.
Soak the pork in a mixture of ginger, scallions, and rice wine for at least fifteen minutes before blanching.
Blanching should always start in cold water, with added white vinegar and yellow rice wine.
Since the strongest odor is concentrated in the fat, heating the meat slowly allows the impurities to escape rather than being trapped inside.
Vinegar helps break down and dissolve the fat, allowing the odor to evaporate with the steam.
A crucial step: Never cover the pot while blanching!
The smell must have a way to escape.
After blanching, rinse the meat with boiling water.
Using cold water at this stage could cause the meat to toughen due to the sudden temperature change.
Marinate the meat by rubbing it with a mixture of minced ginger and scallion juice.
Ginger and scallions are natural enemies of pork odor.
After soaking in the juice, the meat not only loses its gamey smell but also reabsorbs moisture, making it tender again.
At that moment, Yang Laohan was busy sawing the lower threshold of the door frame while his apprentices helped carve out the frame slots.
As they worked, they glanced over to see Shen Miao swiftly handling the pork.
Her hands moved so fast they almost left afterimages.
She chopped and sliced without even looking at her hands, her knife striking the cutting board with rhythmic thuds.
In no time, the meat was soaking in water and then placed in the pot.
Soon, a meaty aroma mixed with a faint musky scent began to fill the air.
Yang Laohan’s eldest apprentice sniffed the air and murmured to another apprentice, “This Lady Shen is quite generous.
She’s even making us a hot meal for lunch. Unlike that Shopkeeper Wei from across the street—when we fixed his door, all he gave us were a few pieces of dry biscuits and cold water.”
The younger apprentice nodded but looked hesitant.
“It’s a pity… I really can’t stomach pork offal. Last time, my wife bought some because it was cheap, and just smelling it nearly made me throw up my dinner from the night before…”
“You should be grateful you have food at all!”
Yang Laohan knocked him on the head with his chisel.
“You’ve been lucky, never knowing real hunger. If you’d ever had to eat dirt or chew on tree bark, let’s see if you’d still be so picky!”
The young apprentice fell silent, though he secretly touched his stomach and thought he’d rather just eat some leftover biscuits from the morning—after all, Shen Miao’s scallion pancakes were delicious, crispy and flaky, and the millet porridge she made was rich and fragrant.
He shook off his thoughts and continued his work, holding the ladder steady for his master.
Yang Laohan climbed up and installed the upper door beam just as a sudden wave of irresistible meat fragrance hit him.
Stretching his neck, he saw Shen Miao slicing the pig intestines, liver, kidneys, and lean pork into paper-thin slices.
She coated them lightly in salt and starch before quickly blanching them in boiling water with shredded ginger.
Then, she added a bit of salt, a splash of rice wine, sprinkled in wolfberry leaves, and finished with chopped scallions.
A huge pot of steaming hot soup instantly filled the room with an incredibly rich and mouthwatering aroma.
Yang Laohan’s eyes widened as he sniffed the air eagerly like a hungry dog.
Strangely, the unpleasant smell that was present earlier had completely vanished!
The thick, delicious scent overwhelmed him, making his throat tighten as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
***
The pork offal soup must be cooked over high heat in boiling water, quickly in and out, to ensure the starch coating stays intact, the meat remains tender and nearly melts in the mouth, and the small intestines retain their crisp texture.
Shen Miao ladled out the pork offal soup just as the five-colored coarse rice, which had been steaming in a wooden bucket, was ready.
She then swiftly chopped the minced meat to prepare a stir-fry with Chinese cabbage.
Finally, she called out to Yang Laohan and the others, “Take a break and eat!”
A large pot of meat soup, a bucket of rice, and a big pan of stir-fried cabbage—because the portions were so generous, she had to serve them in large basins.
The small square table she had bought from Yang Laohan barely had space for these three large bowls of food.
In the end, everyone had to gather around, holding their bowls while standing or squatting to eat.
Before coming out of the kitchen, Shen Miao had already set aside portions for herself, Ji Ge, and Xiang Jie.
The three of them sat on round stools by the stove, eating their meal.
Since the kitchen door had yet to be installed, Shen Miao ate her soup at a leisurely pace while watching the craftsmen and their apprentices devour the food.
It didn’t take long before the entire table of food was completely wiped clean.
One of Yang Laohan’s younger apprentices, who was only in his teens, drank a bowl of soup, then scooped another bowl of rice soaked in broth.
He ate so much that sweat beaded on his face, all the while mumbling, “Senior brother… leave some for me…”
Luckily, Shen Miao had cooked enough.
Even with ten strong laborers, they managed to finish an entire bucket of rice.
At the end of the meal, the young apprentice sat on the ground, holding his full stomach, still savoring the bouncy, tender, and smooth texture of the food.
Even Yang Laohan smacked his lips in satisfaction.
He stepped forward in amazement and said to Shen Miao, “Lady Shen, with your skill in cooking pork, you could work at Liu’s Restaurant under Jinliang Bridge, Fan’s Tavern outside Jinming Pool, Barbarian King’s House near Cao Gate, or even Baxian Tower in the north of the city!
Why have you chosen the path of selling street food instead?”
Shen Miao had thought about it before.
Although she was a woman, the Song Dynasty was not averse to women working outside the home.
Female chefs, embroiderers, and even women selling wine on the streets were common.
If she were to showcase her skills at any prestigious restaurant or tavern, she would never have to worry about finding a job.
However, she already had a small noodle shop of her own—why should she go work for someone else?
Pointing at the small courtyard that was slowly being restored, she smiled and said, “You flatter me, sir! My cooking skills were passed down in my family.
Although we have fallen on hard times, I, as a woman, must still think about restoring my household. Look, isn’t life already getting better, little by little?”
Hearing this, Yang Laohan’s expression became serious, and even He Daizho glanced at her with newfound respect.
Shen Miao meant every word.
She had never dreamed of building a great business empire or reaching the top.
Having a small courtyard, a modest shop to make a living, and a peaceful and stable life in this world—this already seemed like a good enough life.
That afternoon, perhaps because they had been well-fed, Yang Laohan and his team worked with exceptional diligence.
He Daizho and his five apprentices worked tirelessly from morning until evening, barely taking any breaks.
By the end of the day, they had managed to finish constructing the courtyard wall in just one day.
Now, all that was left was to wait for the rammed earth on top to dry.
Yang Laohan finished his work even earlier.
By nightfall, the doors, windows, and the kitchen roof had all been renovated and looked brand new.
Shen Miao also arranged for He Daizho to return the next morning to build an earth oven and repair the stove.
After that, she collapsed in exhaustion in the kitchen, barely moving.
Seeing this, Xiang Jie sensibly followed her and massaged her back.
Ji Ge, on the other hand, took it upon himself to sweep up the wood shavings and dried mud scattered across the courtyard, then washed the large pile of dishes.
Although construction had been going on in the courtyard all afternoon, Shen Miao hadn’t been idle.
Now, in the deep silence of the night, the kitchen was filled with strings of cured and dried sausages—she was preparing to set up a small stall selling shou zhua bing (hand-grab pancakes) and grilled sausages.
Hand-grab pancakes were an evolution of scallion pancakes.
It was said to have originated from a certain southern island in later generations, making it a regional specialty.
Since there were no such pancakes in the Song Dynasty’s capital, Bianjing, Shen Miao had been intrigued.
After wandering through the night market, she found that no vendor sold anything similar, which piqued her interest.
The people of Bianjing, much like later generations of Henan natives, had a deep love for carbohydrates and wheat-based foods.
They rarely ate rice, and their daily meals often consisted of steamed flatbreads with pickled vegetables and millet porridge, or a bowl of steaming hot soup noodles.
If they wanted to indulge, they might have a meal of mutton-stuffed mantou (steamed buns).
Aside from that, the people of Song particularly enjoyed drinking jiancha (brewed tea) and alcohol.
This explained why the liquor shop run by the Gu family next door always had a steady stream of customers.
Shen Miao figured that introducing a new kind of pancake might just captivate the stomachs of the people of Bianjing.
As for grilled sausages, they were even rarer in this era, where pork was somewhat frowned upon.
They would be seen as a novelty.
Moreover, she planned to make affordable starchy sausages, ensuring they were both cheap and delicious—hopefully leading to high-volume sales.
In the past, Shen Miao had loved eating starchy sausages—the kind of “junk food” parents frowned upon.
It was a cherished childhood memory.
However, in later years, the starchy sausages sold outside had questionable meat sources, and after suffering stomach troubles a few times, she decided to make them herself.
Over time, she became quite skilled at it.
After treating the pork with her “Three Techniques” and mincing it before marinating, the gamey odor was nearly undetectable.
Adding more starch not only helped control costs but also enhanced the texture and flavor.
Shen Miao tested her method and found that just one pound of pork could produce dozens of sausages.
Granted, calling these “meat sausages” was a bit of an exaggeration, given their high starch content.
But compared to the heavily processed meat products of later generations, these homemade sausages were much cleaner and more wholesome!
It wasn’t until she was deep into production that she realized the most expensive ingredient in these sausages wasn’t the meat itself—it was the seasoning and salt for curing the meat.
Salt in this era was astonishingly expensive!
The coarse salt she bought had to be processed and sifted nearly ten times before it was usable.
In the end, the cost was higher than she had anticipated.
But since she had already started, she had no choice but to see it through and wait to see how well they would sell the next day.
She spent half the day preparing the sausage casings and mixing the meat filling—of which at least 80% was flour.
After dinner, she carefully stuffed each sausage and then kneaded the dough for her shou zhua bing (hand-grab pancakes).
After portioning the dough, she brushed it with oil and left it to rest.
The dough for shou zhua bing was similar to that of scallion pancakes.
However, Shen Miao added a small amount of sugar, salt, and sesame seeds while kneading to give the pancake more inherent flavor.
Once the sausages were filled and set aside, the dough was fully rested.
Now came the most crucial step in achieving a crisp, multi-layered texture.
She rolled each portion of dough flat, folded it into a fan shape, then stretched it into a long strip before coiling it into a spiral.
After another short resting period, she rolled them into thin pancakes—ready to be cooked.
The process wasn’t difficult, but it required skillful technique.
Once she had prepared all the pancake dough pieces, she dusted them with dry flour, stacked them with oil paper in between, and placed them neatly in a basket.
Then, she moved on to prepping the fillings: slicing cucumbers into small sections, tearing fresh spring greens into bite-sized pieces, frying chicken cutlets and pork chops, dicing pickled radish, and making crispy fried dough sticks (you tiao).
She planned to offer different variations of shou zhua bing at multiple price points—plain, with meat, or with meat and egg—to cater to customers of different financial means.
Most importantly, she made a small jar of homemade mayonnaise!
Shen Miao had made mayonnaise countless times in her past life.
The process was incredibly simple, requiring only egg yolks, oil, salt, sugar, and vinegar.
As long as the proportions were right, it was easy to recreate.
What made it valuable was that its ingredients weren’t obvious just from appearance.
This unique sauce would give her shou zhua bing an irreplaceable signature flavor, making it harder for competitors to copy her recipe.
With this secret weapon, she wouldn’t have to worry about losing business.
It was a pity that tomatoes didn’t exist in this era.
A bit of ketchup would have paired wonderfully with the pancakes.
And black pepper sauce… Well, that was out of the question—pepper was as expensive as gold, far beyond her means!
With everything prepared, Shen Miao went to bed early.
She couldn’t afford to miss the bustling morning market tomorrow!