Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Chapter 280 Sour Fish

Wang Wan didn't care about the burn and finished the rice dumpling in two more bites. He hurriedly moved a small table out so that his master could put the food on it. "Master, doesn't this sour fish need to be grilled?"

"No need, this thing is just fermented until it's cooked." Jiang Shangxian finally ate the delicious banana leaf red bean paste rice dumplings. He squinted his eyes and felt that his life was half complete.

The taste of baked rice dumplings is different from boiled ones. Boiled rice dumplings are sticky and wet. When you peel the rice dumpling leaves, your hands will be sticky.

The baked ones will not be like this. Not only will they be more chewy, but they will not be so wet and sticky when stuck to your front teeth. They are very delicious to chew.

Seeing that she was busy eating rice dumplings while her eyes were fixed on the sour fish on the table, Cui Bianxu couldn't help but pick one up and wanted to help her peel it. Unexpectedly, when he untied the rope on it and opened the oil paper wrapping, he found green banana leaves inside.

"This is also a zongzi?" Cui Bianxu was a little confused. Could it be a fish zongzi?

Can fish dumplings be delicious? He rarely doubted Jiang Shangxian's cooking skills, but sour fish dumplings...

Sour fish is made with fresh fish. After scraping off the fish meat with a spoon, add salt, sugar, pepper, chili powder, minced garlic, and ginger paste and stir it into a meat paste. Make very elastic fish balls, wrap them with a layer of mountain hemp leaves, and then wrap them with banana leaves and oil paper. After tying them very tightly and fermenting for two or three days, they can be eaten.

"You don't need to remove the innermost layer!" Jiang Shangxian didn't have time to reply. Seeing him peeling off the outer banana leaves layer by layer, and wanting to continue peeling, he quickly stopped him: "These are wild hemp leaves, they are edible!"

As she spoke, she seemed to be afraid that Cui Bianxu would act too hastily, so she tilted her head back, opened her mouth wide and said "ah", and signaled him with her eyes to throw it into her mouth.

Mrs. Xia closed her eyes, and at this moment she couldn't help but want to pull her daughter out of her sleep to take care of her daughter. What's going on? She hasn't even married yet!

Cui Bianxu looked at the smooth, flesh-colored thing wrapped in hemp leaves in his hand and hesitated: "Is this raw?"

Raw, wrapped? Is that really okay?

"Yeah, yeah! Let me try it soon." Jiang Shangxuan was a little unhappy because her tonsils had come out to relax but she didn't get to eat the sour fish. Her cheeks were sore from waiting. What happened?

Don't you people in the Tang Dynasty love eating fish sashimi? You can't just change the way it's served and you won't accept it, right?

Wang Wan was also a little confused: "Master, it's so hot, and this thing has been left for three days. Is it really okay?"

They, the chefs, have always been very bold in food, but he was not sure about the raw fish that had been wrapped in banana leaves and hung with a rope for two or three days.

Cui Bianxu was also quite good at eating fish sashimi and sliced ​​fish sashimi, but who in Chang'an City doesn't eat the freshest raw fish? Otherwise, if the meat changes, you'll have to go to the toilet constantly...

Jiang Shangxian understood. They were afraid that after eating it, their sphincters would sing and turn them into human piping bags.

Yes, some people have poor intestinal function, and after eating this thing, it is easy for the lower part to come out before the upper part is fully chewed. In simple terms, it causes an instant bowel movement.

"This is fermented, and it's guaranteed to be better than the fish you usually eat." Jiang Shangxian expressed her understanding that not everyone can appreciate the beauty of sour fish. When she ate it for the first time, she was simply amazed and fell in love with it at once.

To verify his claim and demonstrate the safety of the sphincter in action, Jiang Shangxian simply put down the banana rice dumpling in his hand, took one and quickly peeled it, muttering to himself, "This method can only be done when the weather is hot. It can't be done when the weather is cold. When it's freezing, the fish meat will be frozen."

If the fish is frozen, it will not ferment.

Xiao Cui, who always frowned on one side, rarely had both eyebrows knitted together. His brain quickly considered whether his stomach was strong enough today. He reacted quickly within three seconds, snatched the sour fish from Jiang Shangxian's hand, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it whole. Facing the three expectant faces, he uttered two words lightly: "Delicious."

Jiang Shangxian had a reasonable suspicion that he was letting out his anger, but Wang Wan suddenly became honest. Seeing that his master had already eaten, he immediately picked up two pieces of sour fish, peeled them, and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing while giving a thumbs-up: "Awesome~"

Cui Bianxu looked at him with appreciation: That's right.

"Look at you guys..." Even Jiang Shangxian could see that these two guys were pretending, so how could Old Lady Xia not see it?

But she had eaten too many raw pickled foods, and Chuzhou people were not bragging. The old lady slowly picked up a pickled fish and peeled it, looking at it for a while in the sun: "It's very delicate."

Then he put it to his nose and sniffed: "There is no bad smell, nor is there any fishy smell."

No bad smell means it is not bad, and no fishy smell means the fish is well processed.

After carefully examining the fish, Old Lady Xia placed it in her mouth and savored it for a long time before swallowing it. She commented, "It's fresh, sweet, spicy, and naturally fermented, with no fishy taste at all. If paired with wine, it would surely be extremely delicious."

Jiang Shangxian couldn't help but applaud her: "Grandma, you really know how to eat. This thing must be eaten with wine. It's most addictive."

The praised Old Lady Xia winked at Cui Bianxu: Learn from this!

Cui Bianxu nodded seriously, feeling very educated. He reached out and took another pickled fish, peeled it, and solemnly put it into his mouth. He closed his eyes and tasted it carefully: "It's delicious indeed."

......

Cui Bianxu didn't come here today just to chat with Jiang Shangxian. The two of them had serious business to do - buying dowry servants.

First of all, there is no doubt that the slave trade was legal in the Tang Dynasty, and slaves were divided into two types: official slaves and private slaves.

The criminals whose property was confiscated were like slaves of the officials, who were supervised by the chief official of the Ministry of Justice and provided with food and clothing, while their health was taken care of by the Ministry of Rites.

The situation of private slaves was more complicated. Money, land, and titles could be inherited, and so could slaves. This type of slaves belonged to the family. Another major source of slaves for military commanders was war.

There are also arrogant nobles who take a fancy to a beautiful girl from a good family and force her to take her home, sell themselves to bury their fathers voluntarily, and use their wives and children to pay off debts...

In short, in the Tang Dynasty, there were many ways to make a person a slave.

Private slaves have no personal freedom and are not protected by law. They are not considered human beings but only objects.

After buying it home, you can use it as a slave, a thug, a guard, a bed warmer, etc.

Although Jiang Shangxian often talked nonsense in his previous life that if he got rich, he would buy a dozen or twenty male models to keep at home, there was still a huge gap between his words and his actual actions.

This was the first time Xiao Jiang did this, and he always felt like he was madly testing the edge of breaking the law.