Datang First Chef

Chapter 105

Annan is different from Datang. Many industries such as economy, handicrafts, and agriculture are very underdeveloped, and people's lives are also very difficult. Even the economic center of Annan is less than one-tenth of Chang'an.

The economic base determines the superstructure, and the low economic level has caused a problem, that is, even if there is currency circulation in Annan and other places, the common people are more accustomed to bartering things.

In the market, they can still use the coins of the Tang Dynasty. Annan merchants believe in the currency of the Tang Dynasty. In their eyes, the use of the currency of the Tang Dynasty is almost like the US dollars in the eyes of modern people. Even if they owe a lot of debts, they are still The world's common currency does not depreciate easily.

The more you go to the villages and towns under Annan, the less useful the currency is. When you leave the banana-growing village, everyone finds that the currency is completely useless. Even if they want to buy some necessary supplies, they can only exchange them with cloth or other things. .

Everyone sat cross-legged under the low eaves. It was raining in Annan. Halfway through the trip, heavy rain poured down from the sky. The people in the team quickly looked for a place to hide from the rain.

It is the habit of hunters to build huts in the wilderness and forests. There are also many people in Annan and other places who hunt for a living, and because the place is humid and rainy, and the weather is cloudy and sunny, they only build a lot of simple houses, which is cheaper. Mo Wenyuan and the others will eventually have a place to shelter from the rain.

Few people come to this house, and it seems that it has been abandoned for a while, and the damp and musty smell on the ground hits the nostrils. The master and apprentice on the west journey are used to eating and sleeping in the open, and often lie on the ground in the wilderness, so there is no problem, but the big black sheep But it didn't work, and Mo Wenyuan and Mo Wenyuan walked in front of the hall for a long time, and they had long been used to cleaning the kitchen spotlessly, smelling the smell of rainwater mixed with moss and mushrooms, his hanging wool exploded.

"Baa baa baa baa baa!"

Is this place still liveable?

While the voices of complaints were blurted out, the wind that was not gentle at all lifted up the dust on the ground, the cobwebs in the corners were smashed and cleaned up, and the small tornadoes did not spare any corners.

The broken tiles were filled with unknown leather, the sparse rain could no longer fall into the room, the damp musty smell was swept away, and the empty room only had the fragrance of the plants that belonged to the rainwater falling on the branches.The most wonderful thing is the dry atmosphere inside the house. I don't know what the big black sheep has done. It is still raining, but the inside of the house is warm and dry as if it has been baked by the scorching sun for several days.

Seeing the clean and tidy room completely different from the previous ones, everyone fell into a brief silence, and the one who finally broke the silence was the white dragon horse who seldom appeared in human form.

He is the third prince of the Dragon Palace of the East China Sea, and a handsome son.

"It turns out that spells can be used in this way." He sighed, "I'm afraid it can only be done if the wind spells are controlled to the extreme."

Zhu Bajie was stunned: "That's all you want to say? I'm afraid it's not a matter of wind manipulation. Who would do this with great fanfare? Just for a place to stay..."

The sheep bleated fiercely at Zhu Bajie, who immediately shrank his neck and stopped talking. Zhu Bajie yelled loudly and coaxed him quickly.

Sun Wukong was inspired by this, and he thought thoughtfully: "In the future, we can sleep out with Master in the same way." He knew that Tang Xuanzang was a very clean person. changed.

Tang Xuanzang listened to Sun Wukong's words, his face turned pale and he said: "No need to be like this, Wukong, you have this heart, and you will understand it as a teacher. However, if you travel to other places, it is for practice. If you have to spend a lot of time to clean up the place where you stay, there is no practice. meaning." He turned his head to Mo Wenyuan and said, "Mo Dalang's situation is different from ours, and it is really Dalang's blessing to have a clean place to settle down."

Mo Wenyuan waved his hands quickly and said, "No, no, no, this is thanks to the big black sheep."

Zhu Bajie looked at Sun Wukong even more stupidly, so he could still please his master like this?Why didn't I think of it just now?

Drifting Monk in the background said: "Second Senior Brother's expression is not quite right."

Bai Longma sang and said: "Why is something wrong?"

Drifting said: "The expression is crazy, the eyes show the meaning of dementia, very similar to the idiot I saw the day before yesterday walking and begging."

Pig Bajie: "..."

I can hear what you are saying!

……

After a lot of tossing, everyone just sat down and discussed what should be used to earn cloth and other things.

Master Xuanzang looked serious: "If it's just alms for alms, we won't be troubled." There are also people here who believe in Buddhism. The Buddhists in the Tang Dynasty were very devout. Even if they lived in poverty, they were willing to give some vegetarian food to monks of.

Mo Wenyuan said: "However, I am not a Buddhist, and what I need is not even vegetarian food." What they need are some daily necessities, which cannot be obtained by alms.

Tang Seng asked again: "Can I make a small living?"

Many wandering monks travel around the world and do some business on the way to various temples to learn Buddhism. After the advent of tofu, they mostly sell tofu, and they also practice rituals and chant scriptures, etc., which can always earn money or travel expenses.

Mo Wenyuan said: "To make a small living, what the mage said is to make tofu?"

Sanzang nodded.

"I thought about this method yesterday, but when I passed by a few villages, I found that the people here are really poor, let alone mills, even donkeys, mules, horses and other things are not seen."

There are no conditions for making tofu at all.

As for small weaving items, such as straw sandals and bamboo baskets, people born in the tropical rainforest are very good at weaving and earning income. Even if they are not good at it, they are more willing to cut a few thorns and weave it themselves instead of exchanging it with travelers.

The one with the most travel experience here is Tang Seng. He has no ideas, let alone his apprentices. Shennong himself is a scientific and technical talent. He may have some experience in running tribes, but he doesn't know how to do business.

When Shennong was the leader of the tribe, the common system was still used, and private property did not exist.

Everyone's eyes unconsciously focused on Mo Wenyuan, expecting him to come up with some good ideas.

Mo Wenyuan did have some ideas, he said: "Since this is the case, why not cook some delicious and inexpensive food, and just exchange with the local people."

Sun Wukong said: "But this person's life is already very poor, and he can't exchange for fine food with cloth."

Mo Wenyuan smiled and said: "It doesn't have to be cloth. I saw people bartering in the village a few days ago. Although some people exchanged cloth for cloth, most of them just gave away some beans."

"As long as you have enough beans, you can exchange for cloth. Of course, if you have small items of life, beans are enough to exchange."

"When I cook food, I just need to change some beans. Although the people here are poor, they are not so poor that they can't afford beans." What's more, eating delicious food is the common pursuit of human beings, as long as the fragrance is strong enough and the taste is good enough , there is always someone willing to exchange.

Everyone remembered that he was right, and nodded their heads. Master Xuanzang said, "Since that's the case, Dalang, what do you want to eat?"

Mo Wenyuan said: "It is natural to adapt measures to local conditions and make new meals with local ingredients." As he spoke, he raised his head and smiled at Monkey King who found a banana out of nowhere.

Sun Wukong:! ! !

What are you going to do to my bananas!

……

The relatively cheap and delicious ingredients that Annan can find are naturally bananas that he just discovered!

Walking all the way from north to south, even Mo Wenyuan found a problem. Perhaps the transportation in Annan is very inconvenient, and the information between towns and villages is not circulated. Even if there are villages specializing in planting bananas in the central area, There are also people who carry the burden to other places to sell bananas, but since this fruit is not easy to preserve, it will turn black and soften after a few days, and most of the local people don't even know what a banana is.

Mo Wenyuan and others, who quickly purchased a large number of bananas, discovered a business opportunity.

They settled in a small village again. There is still no mill in this small village, but there is a simple stove in the yard where they live temporarily. As for the stove for cooking, Mo Wenyuan has all the stoves, even if they are not complete, there are Yiya Ding is here, you can conjure anything you want.

The big black sheep was busy with Mo Wenyuan, and no one was more proficient in preparing food than him. The masters and apprentices on the westbound journey and Shennong were useless. The stove is full, and there is only curiosity in my heart.

Zhu Bajie leaned forward and asked, "What do you want to eat?" He was the only one who was foolish and bold enough to break through the defense line established by Taotie, and asked Mo Wenyuan directly.

"I want to use bananas to make two kinds of food. The first one consumes more ingredients, but the fragrance is far away, which can attract many children and local people to come to inquire." He paused, "The second one can be stored for a long time, the taste is very sweet, and the nature is thin and crisp. , the local people have not eaten Ganwei for a long time, they should be very happy."

Monkey King finally interjected, his voice not calm: "Do you use bananas?"

"It's all made of bananas."

……

What Mo Wenyuan is going to make are dried bananas and banana pies. The latter is naturally a simple version that does not use fine flour. The local wheat noodles in Annan are much rougher than those in Datang, but it is not unusable. taste.For the vast majority of Annan people who have never eaten bananas, the deliciousness of the banana itself can capture everything, and the wheat noodles mixed in it are just the icing on the cake.

Dried bananas are very easy to make. In modern times, Vietnam is almost the largest producer of dried bananas. Buy a bag of cheap and well-packaged dried fruits in the supermarket, often made in Vietnam or the Philippines.

A whole banana is cut into countless thin and thin slices, and dried on the wire mesh. The charcoal fire below is glowing with a warm orange-yellow light, which is extremely bright.

The water in the fruit seems to have been evaporated. If there is any deficiency, it is probably that the barbed wire left burnt marks on the banana slices during the baking process.

These charred blacks do not affect the delicious taste of banana chips in any way.

Sun Dasheng, who lacked self-control when encountering bananas, quietly sneaked into the room, twisted the cooled banana slices from the table, and put them in his mouth, only to hear "creak creak", the taste sweeter than raw bananas spread in his mouth, then How to say the taste, the first mouthful of chewing gives him the feeling of sweetness, the more he chews, the green and astringent aroma of raw banana will emerge in his mouth.

He squinted his monkey eyes blissfully. From Mo Wenyuan's perspective, he could only see Monkey King's eyes bent into happy crescents.

Once again, I firmly believe that no monkey can resist the temptation of bananas.

The Monkey King is Mo Wenyuan's idol. Even though he may be more fascinated by Master Xuanzang now, he was an idol in the past. Fans have always favored idols. The shovel is all in two, and the big black sheep Sun Wukong is one and half.

The big black sheep protested: "How did you cut it off?" He turned into a human form, because the sheep's hooves couldn't lift the banana pie directly.

Although what he made was a banana pie, it was not a big round cake like an American apple pie, but a bar-shaped banana pie from the Golden Arches.

Mo Wenyuan kindly persuaded, "Give one to the Great Sage." He said, "The Great Sage likes to eat bananas, did you see him stealing dried bananas just now? The pie is easy to make anyway, so you can give him half of it. "

The whole body of the big black sheep was full of resistance, and his eyes were full of disbelief when he looked at Mo Wenyuan, and his eyes were even more aggrieved. There were even tears in his soft and round almond eyes.

Mo Wenyuan looked a little hypocritical to him, but he is a person who sticks to principles, how can he be tempted by beauty, so he sticks to the bottom line and said: "Eating alone is not good, I will cook it for you next time."

When the two were talking, Sun Wukong listened with his ears open. Monkey King's hearing was better than that of a human being, so he walked in casually after speaking, and took half a crispy banana pie from Mo Wenyuan's hand.Seen from the cut, the golden bananas have become muddy under the high temperature, and only the outline of a few banana pieces can be seen.

The mashed banana was sticky and juicy. Sun Wukong's eyes flashed eagerly, and then he bit the edge of the pie. The rough wheat flour was fermented after several processes. Mo Wenyuan rolled it into a thin and crispy dough, and then cutting.He used the technique of making roti to ensure that the dough can be expanded and crispy during the baking process.

"Kacha——" the cake broke suddenly under the action of the bite force, and a long thread was pulled out between the mashed banana and the mashed banana, undulating and unbroken.

The bananas boiled in the pot are sweeter, the starch is further decomposed, and the high-temperature heating makes the taste very soft, and the taste is close to the sweetness before decay.

Anyone who has eaten bananas knows that the bananas are the sweetest when they are placed for a period of time and the color of the flesh becomes dull.

"Da da da--"

"Da da da--"

The Monkey King and the big black sheep ate so much that they couldn’t even raise their heads, and the children in the village were also attracted by the scent, just as Mo Wenyuan thought. They stared at the banana pie with longing eyes, and some children looked at it timidly. Dried to bananas.

The vague local language poured out of their mouths, and Mo Wenyuan also responded in a relatively fluent Annan language: "If you want to eat, let your grandparents exchange things."

When Mo Wenyuan and the others set off on the road again, the sides of the horses and sheep were covered with beans and rough cloth. These have almost become a common currency in the south of Annan. After selling banana snacks in several villages along the way, they That's enough for the "wrapping up" on the road.

Sun Wukong was also in a good mood. He directly took a small cloth pocket, filled it with a handful of banana slices, and chewed it while walking. It's slow and lets him pass the time.

Zhu Bajie looked at it, rolled his eyes, and ran to Mo Wenyuan's side and said, "Hey hey, if you cook banana chips next time, Dalang, can I watch from the sidelines? I also want to learn how to do it."

Mo Wenyuan: "Yes, yes."

He glanced at Zhu Bajie with a strange look, and thought of the appearance of the other party following Shennong on the saddle to learn planting techniques. He thought to himself: Could it be that Bajie has some unreasonable thoughts about the Great Sage, otherwise why is it so... …

If Zhu Bajie knew what Mo Wenyuan was thinking, he would definitely defend his dignity as a straight man heartbreakingly: No!I'm not!I don't!

……

Different from the poverty and barrenness of Annan, Central South and other places, the junction of Annan and Champa is full of traffic and a vibrant scene.

They met several Tang merchants along the way, all of them came to Champa to import aloe vera. They were flattered to see Mo Wenyuan and others, and they gave a good introduction to Champa's developments this year on the way.

The merchants called the country Linyi, while the Cham and Zhenyan people called it Champa or Champa.

The merchant explained: "In the past ten years, Linyi has a tendency to expand outward, and their people's lives are more prosperous than those in Annan."

"How could this be?" Knowing that Annan is closer to Datang, how can Linyi, which is more remote, have a better economy?

"Linyi has two items for export, one is aloe vera." The man cleared his throat and said, "Aloe vera is a small item, and it won't be very valuable, but this country's iron forging is very good. The ironware is all bought from Linyi."

The best forging technology is naturally Datang. However, the Li and Tang Dynasty had strict restrictions and did not allow the sale of ironware, so those small countries in Southeast Asia would buy from Linyi, and the economy of this place developed after coming and going.

Everyone nodded.

In Linyi, Mo Wenyuan and others had a better life than Annan, especially the master-student combination of Westward Journey, who got rid of the predicament of being semi-literate.

It's amazing to say that even though Linyi borders on them, their lingua franca is actually Sanskrit!

If Mo Wenyuan is familiar with the history of Buddhism, he will know that Linyi is a Buddhist country. In the 18th year of Tang Kaiyuan, the monks of Linyi Kingdom even went to Japan with Bodhishenna, and introduced Bodhisattva dance, head-pulling dance, Linyi music, etc. , Played a role in promoting the eastward spread of Buddhism.

But he didn't know, so he could only stare blankly at Master Xuanzang performing Buddhist rituals with the monks on the road, and then communicating with each other through Buddhism.

Mo Wenyuan:? ? ?

While eating dried bananas, Monkey King comforted him and said: "This place has a strong Buddhist atmosphere, and it can be regarded as a small Buddhist country in the east, so you can leave everything to the master."

In Linyi, there are many monks from Dongtu and Tianzhu who detoured to practice. When they came here, they not only brought Buddhist scriptures, but also brought many legends about eminent monks. Master Xuanzang is an eminent monk among eminent monks. He is proficient, and he can also subdue demons and save all living beings. He can be called a role model for my generation. Not only the monks in Linyi have heard of him, but even the local people have heard of him.

What is even more frightening is that not only Master Xuanzang is famous here, but Mo Wenyuan is also quite famous.

Everyone sat by the side of the road, watching Master Xuanzang take up the important task of a diplomatic monk and communicate with foreign countries, but suddenly they didn't know what to say. Beckon and let him pass.

Mo Wenyuan, the second monk, couldn't figure it out, walked up to Master Xuanzang, and heard him say, "This is Chang'an Mo Dalang."

But the monk opened his eyes wide and said: "As expected of being a disciple of the Buddha, I wish to live young." Then he sighed, "Amitabha, I actually saw the face of the Buddha's food. It's really a blessing."

Mo Wenyuan:? ? ?

Buddha food?What Buddha food?Why can't I understand what you are talking about?

……

Linyi is a Buddhist country in the east, and there are many people who believe in Buddhism, but the gods they mainly believe in are Bodhisattvas, that is, the Buddha body of the Taoist Cihang after crossing to the west.

Mo about [-] years ago, when tofu came out, Guanyin Bodhisattva used the technique of dreaming to pass on its appearance to believers, and praised its taste, saying that its simplicity and good taste are the origin of rough soybeans. Do it, get out of the silt without staining, in short, praise the tofu cubes in various languages.

The monks in Linyi didn't know what tofu was at that time. They thought it was immortal food and worshiped it. Later, when the monks from the east who mastered tofu making tofu traveled to Linyi, they also began to eat tofu.

The conventional way of eating is clean, simple and clear, the color is full of vitality, and the taste is mellow, and monks can even learn Buddhist principles from it.

Today, tofu has become a must-have food in Linyi before worshiping Buddha, and there are one after another legends about how it was created.

Before Mo Wenyuan knew it, he was really fashionable in Linyi.

"I heard that divine food also has the effect of avoiding disasters and diseases. If you eat it often, you will rarely suffer from diseases."

Mo Wenyuan: =mouth=

No, no, no, no, tofu does not have this kind of effect. At most, it is rich in nutrients and contains various trace elements necessary for the human body such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. It also contains sugar, vegetable oil, and rich high-quality protein. Eat Finally, it can supplement people's birthday needs, so they will be healthy.

Why do immortals eat food that won't get sick after eating it? It's really not!

……

The monks in Champa Kingdom are really enthusiastic. Ever since Mo Wenyuan and others came to this country, they have never worried about having no place to live. The rooms in the monk's dormitory are prepared for them to live in.

The same is true today. The monk who praised the use of tofu put them in. The temple in Linyi is not much better than that in Chang'an, but it occupies a smaller area. Guanyin Bodhisattva is even gilded.

The big black sheep entered the monk's dormitory, and as soon as the bed was cleaned, it turned into a human form, rolled on the bed, looked at Mo Wenyuan with enthusiastic eyes, and patted the quilt on the bed. What he wanted to do, he could do it just by looking at his eyes. Guess.

Mo Wenyuan: "..."

He justly rejected the big black sheep's request: "No."

"How can we sleep together in the same couch?"

The performance of the big black sheep suddenly touched Mo Wenyuan's nerves. In addition, since the Bodhisattva fell off his horse, he had never seen the Bodhisattva, nor had he seen his career mentor. Looking at the increasingly dirty big black sheep, he Then the thought of talking came into being, and under the eager eyes of the local monks, I made a table of tofu dishes with full color, fragrance, put them under the golden statue of Bodhisattva, and lit the incense.

The golden light suddenly appeared, and a Bodhisattva with a beautiful face and a clean bottle appeared on the stage.

However, as soon as he appeared, he had to face the soul from half of the apprentice and asked repeatedly.

"The sheep's cognition of men and women was taught by Bodhisattvas?"

"He went out at night before, but he was looking for Bodhisattva you?"

"Since the sheep opened its eyes, it has become more and more enthusiastic about something, Bodhisattva, you..."

Guanyin:? ? ?

I just want to eat vegetables Mo Dalang why are you doing this to me?

Are you still my good apprentice?