Datang First Chef

Chapter 62

Mo Wenyuan is a cook, a cook who cooks exquisite food. From his identity, all convenience foods based on instant noodles should be regarded as cults. The noodles served on the spot are delicious, not to mention, if all the dishes in the world can be transformed into convenience food, then what is the meaning of the existence of the chef?

It is a pity that Mo Wenyuan is not strictly a rigid chef. He is a young man who is diligent, studious, and receptive. He learns a lot on the road of improving his culinary skills and acquiring relevant knowledge, and quickly accepts new ideas.With those qualities, it's hard to get him to have a problem with convenience foods.

The vermicelli can be eaten after being soaked in water. Mo Wenyuan also knows it, but it is loved by many merchants who travel all over the world. In the Tang Dynasty, it was very difficult to find dry food that was easy to carry and could be stored for a long time. Even the dried steamed cakes had a shelf life of only one or two days, and summer was even shorter.At this time, fans who can keep for more than a year become even more valuable.

After the fans became popular among the people on the road, Mo Wenyuan had to think of another kind of convenience food, that is instant noodles. To be honest, the birth of instant noodles was not long, but it became popular all over the world. From a perspective, it is definitely one of the greatest inventions of the last century.

The two and one sheep were also shocked by the miraculous instant noodles. They looked around the cooked noodles. They lived up to the previous chewing and savored the difference between the noodles brewed in hot water and the normal noodles.

"Except for hardness, there is almost no difference."

"No, no, the taste is poor because the soaking time is not long enough. After soaking for a while, the taste is no different from ordinary noodles."

"really?"

After chatting and chatting for a while, they finally couldn't bear to look up at Mo Wenyuan with searching eyes and said, "Da Lang, how do you make this thing?"

"It's just making the dough into a ball, steaming it in a steamer first, and then frying it in an oil pan." Mo Wenyuan explained, "Frying will make countless small holes appear in the noodles. Once these holes are heated by hot water When filled, the noodles will soften and swell, returning to the soft appearance of the original soup cake.”

"What's even more commendable is that once Hoto is steamed and fried, the storage time will be greatly improved. As long as this noodle cake is well preserved and free from moisture, it can be stored for several months."

It sounds very tempting, but Zhao Erniang and Mo Xiaogou's expressions changed after hearing the need to blow up, especially Mo Xiaogou, who has stayed with Li Sanniang for a long time, and has some businessman's unique sensitivity. He thought bitterly: steam , it's nothing, but fried...

"Does Da Lang know that even we can't afford so much oil?"

"Even cold utensils are beyond the reach of ordinary people, let alone fried glutinous rice."

Unexpectedly, Mo Wenyuan showed an extremely confident smile as if he had thought of what they would say, "I know, so the first job I waited for was to make high-yield, easy-to-promote, cheap-priced and easy-to-find ingredients. oil."

Mo Xiaogou & Zhao Erniang: "..."

What do you say?

Middle black sheep: baa baa baa baa baa baa!

Mo Xiaoyuan, you are so awesome!

……

The cook's path of invention and creation is not the same as that of a serious traverser.The serious traveler is: first create glass, steam engines, and newspapers, and we must rejuvenate the country through science and education.The cook is: the happiness index of the ancient working people is a bit low, let's make soy sauce, tofu, and Dongpo meat first!What, there are too many people traveling and the travel time is too long, need instant noodles?Oh, you need oil to fry instant noodles?Was there very little vegetable oil in the Tang Dynasty?Then let's engage in abundant raw materials to make vegetable oil that is not particularly difficult!Sesame oil and soybean oil are fine!

Although there were vegetable oils in the Tang Dynasty, the amount was still very small. Most of the oils on the market were animal oils, that is, meat oils.There are two reasons for this situation. One is that the technical level of oil production is not high enough, and the extraction of vegetable oil is still slightly more difficult than animal oil.The second is because there is no suitable extract.

Sesame is currently used more often and has a high oil yield. Sesame is also called flax. It was brought back by Zhang Qian after his mission to the Western Regions, and the oil yield is as high as 45%.

It's a pity that the planting amount of sesame is not enough, and the price is relatively high, which is several times the price of soybeans, so even if oil can be produced, the output of sesame oil is quite low.Moreover, people in the Tang Dynasty used stone-milled sesame oil to make sesame oil, and the method of pressing oil had not yet been invented. Compared with the latter, although the taste of stone-milled oil is good, few people can afford it so extravagantly.

Compared with the 45% oil yield of sesame, the oil yield of soybeans around 20% is not enough, and if the technology is not enough, 10% of the oil extracted in the end is considered too much.Because the oil yield is not high enough, soybean oil has not entered the stage of history for a long time. It was not until technology improved and soybean production further increased that it became one of the main vegetable oils.

Of course, even from the perspective of Mo Wenyuan, if peanuts have been introduced to China, it must be willing to use peanuts with an oil yield of up to 45% as raw materials instead of soybeans or sesame, but peanuts are still in the American continent. Staying there, the varieties he can choose are very single.

Mo Wenyuan: If there are fewer varieties, there will be fewer varieties!As long as the technology is good, it can still be done!

Of course, he still had to find a reason for the birth of vegetable oil before doing it, especially since the vegetable oil pressing method was not well recorded in the past classics.

The witty Mo Dalang rushed into the kitchen of Daxingshan Temple like a small whirlwind, and made a feast of vegetarian food full of color, fragrance and taste.

While suppressing his desire to sneak into the house, the monks in the temple wondered secretly: "Why do you make offerings today? Didn't Mo Dalang send offerings ten days ago?" Mo Wenyuan's time for delivering offerings is relatively fixed, once a month, It is usually delivered in the middle of the month, and the monks in the temple have summed up the rules, and stay away from the hall every middle of the month, so as not to be caught by food and do very rebellious things.

How dare you try to steal the bodhisattva's offerings, how courageous you are!

……

After making offerings for a long time, I already know the taste of Bodhisattvas.At the beginning, Mo Wenyuan respected the Bodhisattva very much, and he was trembling when he was talking in his dreams, and he was speechless. Even if he wanted to say something, he had to think twice in his mind and deal with it carefully, for fear of saying the wrong thing.But now, when he looks at the Bodhisattva, he not only regards him as a god, but also as a diner, as a friend who has helped him a lot. According to my preference, sauerkraut is not much to eat. As for other foods, strong or sweet snacks are preferred.I believe that if he is not a Bodhisattva, he is definitely a [-]% meat lover, willing to taste any kind of meat.

After mastering the Bodhisattva's taste, Mo Wenyuan also targeted when making offerings, making imitation meat even better, like today he made Dao Su sweet and sour pork tenderloin to comfort the glutton in the Bodhisattva's belly.

Vegetarian chicken is a good helper for meat-like foods. Its almost meaty, elastic texture has been widely used in cooking. In the vegetarian feasts of famous modern temples, many dishes are made of vegetarian chicken. .Mo Wenyuan first soaked the vegetarian chicken in clean water and dried it, then wrapped it with a thin layer of flour, and fried it in vegetable oil.

During the frying, the black sheep peeped through the window, salivating for the food in the pot. It was impossible for Mo Wenyuan to let him eat it, but it was no problem to chat with him before the frying was over. It was right to pass the time, he was curious He said: "I see that all the monks in the temple can't get rid of those who love to eat, and I haven't seen anyone who loves meat-like food too much. Why do Bodhisattvas love food with strong taste so much?"

Eating food imitating meat is a good thing, but in the eyes of monks who voluntarily become vegetarians, this thing is not very decent. Since they all swear to be vegetarians, why do they need to imitate meat to paralyze themselves?Therefore, in Daxingshan Temple, a small group of highly respected monks really couldn't love this thing. After Mo Wenyuan figured out the thoughts of these monks, he was deeply confused about the bodhisattva's taste. The monks set an example, and the appetite is lighter, but from Mo Wenyuan's point of view, he is close to eating meat, and he loves imitation meat, which is the next best thing.

Hearing Mo Wenyuan's question, Zhong Heiyang let out a series of laughter: "Puff puff puff puff baa baa baa baa baa baa." The meaning of ridicule is very obvious.

He took pleasure in his misfortune and said: Let alone imitating meat, the Bodhisattva is probably regretting that he has entered the Western Paradise and cannot taste delicious food.

"Entered the Western Paradise, what do you say?"

Middle black sheep: baa baa baa baa baa baa baa.

Even though the Bodhisattva is a Buddhist figure now, he was transformed into the Western Paradise after the Battle of the Conferred Gods. He used to be a Taoist deity, not to mention that monks have been vegetarian for hundreds of years. They used to eat meat. He thought It's normal to eat meat.

Mo Wenyuan suddenly realized: "That's how I understand." He even felt a little bit of sympathy for the Bodhisattva in his heart, hey, it's good that he has been a vegetarian since he entered Buddhism. Poor.

Bodhisattva: Hehehehehehehe!

The vegetarian chicken is fried until it is crispy and then stir-fried with salt, sugar, vinegar, etc. The vegetarian sweet and sour pork tenderloin covered with oily soup is freshly baked, and he immediately put this dish together with other dishes on the altar in front of the Bodhisattva superior.

The bodhisattva was kind-hearted and kind-eyed as always, sitting on the dais with a compassionate expression. Mo Wenyuan held a fragrant heart and said in his heart: Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, I am going to make soybean oil and linseed oil. Can I use your name?

In a corner he couldn't see, Bodhisattva's nose sucked lightly, his facial features wrinkled together, again?

Mo Wenyuan: Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, if you agree, please give me instructions to take all these dishes away. If you don’t agree, just stop eating?

The Bodhisattva is not calm anymore, he is about to yell, Mo Dalang, you are buying and selling by force!

However, even though he knew that Mo Wenyuan was buying and selling by force, the Bodhisattva still took away the food, but the plain sweet and sour pork tenderloin was so delicious that he couldn't stop smelling it.

Mo Wenyuan looked at the disappearing Chi Shi, reluctantly heaved a sigh of relief, and said anxiously in his heart: Did the Bodhisattva agree?

……

That night, the Bodhisattva fell into a dream after a long absence. He looked at Mo Wenyuan with a cold eyebrow and pointed fingers: "Mr. Mo Xiaolang, I know about sesame oil, but what is soybean oil?"

Knowing that he had received his idea, Mo Wenyuan heaved a sigh of relief, bowed his head and stood up, "Soybean oil, as the name suggests, is the oil that the bean suppresses and eats." Shu is the name of the ancient bean.

"Oh?" Even Guanyin Bodhisattva, who is as experienced and knowledgeable as Guanyin Bodhisattva, was amazed: "Can the bean be used as oil?"

"Of course it is possible." He paused, "But the oil yield is not higher than that of flax, probably only a half of flax."

"Of course, I said that the oil production method used is not the common stone grinding method, but the pressing method after steaming and frying. This method can extract twice as much flax oil as compared with the stone grinding method."

The Bodhisattva is not incapable of giving birth. He walks the land of China in his human incarnation, and has a little experience no matter what he grows, so he was surprised: "It can be doubled?"

Mo Wenyuan said: "As long as the squeezing method is appropriate, there will definitely be."

The Bodhisattva looked at him meaningfully, and didn't ask where Mo Wenyuan's method of squeezing oil came from. There are many fairy gods in the Tang Dynasty, and there are also many capable people and strangers. Many magical powers have no trace to be found. In the hearts of the gods, Mo Xiaolang-jun's food knowledge is also the same.

The Bodhisattva said: "If you can do it, it's okay to pretend to be my name, but in the eyes of the world, I'm afraid I'm not going to compete with Shennong for the position."

Mo Wenyuan thought to himself: The Shennong clan really exists, and the Mysterious Tang Dynasty really deserves to be called the Mysterious Tang Dynasty.

He was very happy after getting the Bodhisattva's promise, so he sharpened his knife and prepared to squeeze out the oil.

……

In the late Ming work "Tiangong Kaiwu", the author introduced the oil yield and oil quality of more than ten kinds of oil crops in detail, among which the top three were flax, reed seed and soybean.

The yield of soybeans was already high, and after the popularity of soybean products in the Tang Dynasty, the yield doubled. Even ordinary farmers wanted to grow it.Flax was also widely planted in the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, where did the Hubing that ordinary people love to eat come from?Hubing must be sprinkled with a lot of sesame seeds.

After getting the Bodhisattva's promise, Mo Wenyuan thought that he was a famous teacher, so he started to work hard to suppress vegetable oil.

There are two common ways to extract vegetable oil, one is to extract oil by physical pressing, and the other is to extract oil by leaching. The second method is to use a solvent that can dissolve oil to extract oil from plants. This method is the best Commonly used in soybeans.The leaching method was not applicable in the Tang Dynasty, and Mo Wenyuan did not have much research on chemical reagents, so he simply chose the physical oil extraction method with a relatively low oil yield.

The method is simple to say, but it is to mash the ingredients, steam and fry them, and then press them with a heavy object, and the oil will gradually flow out of the cake. The method is similar to that of grinding soybean milk. It's different, now Li Sanniang's restaurant has a big business, and there is also a workshop dedicated to making soy products. It is not difficult to squeeze vegetable oil.

Mo Wenyuan brought the black sheep to the workshop early in the morning, and Mo Xiaogou and Zhao Erniang were also there. They were dumbfounded after hearing Mo Wenyuan's method of squeezing vegetable oil: "Is that all right?"

"Naturally." He said, "So it is not difficult to popularize this product throughout the country, as long as you master the oil pressing method." He paused and said, "And this oil pressing method is not only suitable for flax and flax. Soybeans, other rapeseeds, such as asparagus seeds and cabbage seeds are also suitable."

After the gossip, they started to do serious things. They and the buddies had agreed in advance, and Mo Wenyuan watched from the side, and he was in charge of everything that needed to be done.

In order to compare the oil yields of flax and soybeans, they chose to boil the two ingredients at the same time.

No matter what kind of oil is pressed, the process is the same. First, put the soybeans and flax into the cauldron, fry them slowly over a slow fire. After frying, the aroma will come out. It is called a fragrance floating all over the place, and people who stir fry are inhaling.

After frying, it starts to be crushed and steamed in a pot. After steaming, rice straw and wheat straw are used to wrap the crumbs in a cake shape, and finally a layer of iron rings is placed outside the cake.

Mo Wenyuan didn't really know why it was wrapped, but since ancient times, the method of wrapping the contents tightly with straw has been used. It is said that the tighter the wrapping, the more oil will be produced.

After the pancakes were ready, only the grinding part remained. Originally, they were going to find a farm ox to grind the pancakes, but the black sheep volunteered to help grind the oil.

Looking at his not-so-large body, Mo Wenyuan said tactfully, "You are not as heavy as a farming ox, so this job is still..." Leave it to the farming ox.

What Mo Wenyuan didn't expect was that as soon as he spoke, the figure of the middle black sheep swelled and suddenly turned into a big black sheep.

Mo Wenyuan:? ? ?

"Baa baa baa baa baa!"

This body shape is temporary, and it will change back after I finish grinding the oil.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave the oil grinding to you."

The middle black sheep is very smart, and Mo Wenyuan can grind it as he says. After a while, the huge black sheep has completed its task and shrunk back to its original shape.

The rest of the people didn't have time to marvel at the transformation method of the black sheep, and they were stunned by the amount of oil produced.

Mo Xiaogou was in charge of measuring the weight of the final oil. He announced: "One stone of flax can get forty catties of oil, and one stone of beans can get ten catties of oil."

Zhongheiyang was very strong. After trampling on the cake several times, he squeezed out every drop of oil in it, and the final result was gratifying, not to mention the amount of oil produced by the flax, even the soybeans surprised them.

Compared with the price of meat oil and vegetable oil, so much can be said to be an astonishing result.

Mo Xiaogou stammered: "What does Fa Dalang want to do with this?"

Mo Wenyuan said with a smile: "I want to inform my mother of the result in a letter first, and if it is appropriate, I will dedicate this method of producing oil to the saint."

……

Don't look at Mo Wenyuan's various food innovations over the years, only woodblock printing is given to the saints.He presented this method to the saint more than ten years ago. Up to now, engraving and printing have been popularized in the mainland of China, and there are many ways to use it.

According to Mo Wenyuan, the importance of oil refining is similar to that of engraving and printing in a sense. It is a technology that can benefit the whole people. It is immoral to hold this technology in hand for profit.

He already has enough ways to make money, so let's spread the word about oil refining technology.

Li Sanniang's letter was sent back in a hurry. They all said that knowing a son is like a mother. From Mo Wenyuan's words, Li Sanniang knew that her son had made up his mind. She didn't dissuade her, but supported Mo Wenyuan's decision and asked him to let go To do it, Mo Wenyuan was very moved after seeing it, and then found a piece of paper, wrote down the method of oil refining on it, drew a picture, and finally attached the output of oil.

Although Mo Wenyuan was closely connected with Daxingshan Temple, this method was not developed in Xingshan Temple, so he sent a letter to the county magistrate of Chang'an County according to the rules and regulations.

Seeing that it was Mo Dalang from Li Sanniang's restaurant who delivered the letter, the magistrate of Chang'an was taken aback, and reported it layer by layer. The next day, Mo Wenyuan's letter was on the saint's desk.

The sage has carefully read the method of squeezing oil. In addition to the method of squeezing oil, Mo Wenyuan also presented the method of using the subsequent bean cakes. Sesame cakes are useless, but bean cakes are not. The protein content is very high and is the best As one of the good feeds, he said that the leftover residue after soybean oil extraction can be fed to livestock to ensure that the livestock can be fed fat and strong.

For Mo Wenyuan, the saint has always paid a lot of attention. He has behaved differently from ordinary people since he was a child, and he was treasured by the temple. Whether he wants to know or not, he can't do it.

"Mo Dalang is about fourteen years old."

"Returning to the saint, there are fourteen."

If calculated according to the imaginary age, Mo Wenyuan is no more than 14 years old, and he can be regarded as a young adult. In the Tang Dynasty, if the parents were healthy, this age was still a bit far from the pillars, but if it was in a female household At home, he is already a strong man who can take care of major affairs in place of his mother and sisters.

"Since he is 14 years old, let him enter the palace to explain what is the method of squeezing oil." The saint's light words laid the foundation for Mo Wenyuan's fate to enter the palace to face the saint.

"promise."

……

Face-to-face saints were common in the Tang Dynasty. Famous local literati, talented scholars, and hermits, as long as they were famous enough to be heard by the saints and made the saints curious, most of them would have the opportunity to face the saints.

For example, Master Xuanzang was summoned to the Jingmian Holy Queen back then, and was granted the title of Royal Brother.

Mo Wenyuan is a national celebrity and a disciple of the Buddha. He was called to face the saint, and everyone was not too surprised. They just thought that this day would always come, but he himself, seeing the local assassin, said respectfully: "Mo Dalang, The sage will call you into the palace three days later." It's still a bit novel.

He's going to have a face-to-face too?

Mo Xiaogou and Zhao Erniang were very happy and honored when they heard the governor's words, especially Mo Xiaogou immediately said: "It's a pity that my aunt is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, so I can't know about this right away. It's such an honor to enter the palace to face the saint." .” There has never been such a character in their family.

Zhao Erniang also said: "Immediately write to Jiangnan and let my aunt know about this as soon as possible."

Zhong Heiyang's caretaker family was excited, but he couldn't empathize too much. He asked "baa baa baa baa": Mo Xiaoyuan, can I go with you?

Could it be that Mo Wenyuan said: "I'm afraid it's impossible." Even from home to the gate of the palace, officials need to come to summon them, and then they will be loaded into the palace with chariots and horses, and the black sheep will be useless.

Zhong Heiyang went "baa baa baa baa baa", sad and lost, he has always been with Mo Wenyuan, but this time he entered the palace, he couldn't go with him, it really made him very sad.

Just as he was sad, the three days passed bit by bit. Just after the curfew, the gate of the square was opened, and a small official came to the door and summoned Mo Wenyuan to enter the palace to face the saint. He followed the official into the palace gate and saw Zhongzheng The majestic Tai Chi Hall also became excited.

He is about to enter the palace to face the Holy Spirit, hey, I finally have the real feeling of traveling through the Tang Dynasty!