Goldfield
Chapter 87: Pickled Fish

Madam Liu feels a little worried, “We need to fry it with oil? Do we have enough oil at home? Should I ... borrow from Auntie Zhou's house? ”

Xiaocao thought about it and said, “Yesterday, we didn't use a lot of soybean oil one catty, so that's enough! But, we need white sugar to make pickled fish. Maybe it's too late to buy it now .. I wonder if Aunt Zhou has ... ”

The Zhou family was known as one of the wealthier families in the village. Her husband is a capable breadwinner on the outside, while the wife also earns a decent amount of money by raising chickens. Madam Fang was never rude and harsh towards her children. If they wanted to borrow sugar from someone in the village, it was likely that his family would have it.

Madam Liu took off her apron and smiled, “I'll ask. About how much you need? ”

Xiaocao replied, “This is just a spice, so a small handful is enough ..”

“Small handful? Cao’er, you don't know about the price of white sugar, do you? One catty costs two hundred and sixty copper coins! The small handful you want is probably dozens of copper coins! Even though Auntie Zhou was spoiling her children, she would not buy too much. ” Yu Hai couldn't help but remind him.

Xiaocao looked at him in shock, “What? Sugar is that expensive! Geez, an ordinary household would absolutely not be able to afford it .. ”

Madam Liu rolled her eyes and laughed, “White sugar is not something an ordinary person eats. What kind of fish dishes do you make? It requires expensive spices. Can you even make a profit? ”

Xiaocao looked at the roughly one hundred fish preserved in the pot and made a calculation in his mind. If he sold each fish for one copper coin, he would be able to earn sixty or seventy copper coins without any problems. However, seasoning pickled fish without sugar, it will not taste good. If he reduced a little... Should it be okay?

“Mother, I'll go to Auntie Zhou's house with you.” Xiaocao took a few bites of yam in his hand, then put them into Little Shitou's hand. He stood up and followed Madam Liu out of the front door.

After walking about three hundred meters from their house, they knocked on the front door of the Zhou Family. A handsome young man, who was twelve or thirteen years old, opened the door. He had a healthy tan and a pair of crescent-like eyes. The corners of her lips slightly curved up, which gave the impression that she was smiling even when she was not smiling. He looked very pleasant and attractive at first glance.

“Wenhua! Why don't you follow your father to sell things today? ” Lady Liu was a little surprised to see the teenager and couldn't help but ask.

Zhou Wenhua coughed a few times and a heavy breathing sound came out from his chest. He suppressed the itching sensation in his throat, gulped his saliva, and said, “When I came back yesterday, I took off my clothes because I was feeling hot. As a result, I catch a cold and feel unwell. So, dad told me to rest at home for a few days. Cough, cough..Aunt Yu, Sister Xiaolian, are you looking for my mother? ”

Madam Liu asked with concern, “Have you seen a doctor? Do not drag a small illness into a big illness just because you have a good constitution. ”

“Doctor You checked my condition and opened the prescription. I have taken two doses of the drug and feel much better now. Cough, cough..Mom! Aunt Yu and Sister Xiaolian are looking for you. ”It seems Zhou Wenhua is very sure that she is Yu Xiaolian, so Xiaocao just smiled and did not correct her.

Madam Fang walked out of the house and saw the mother-daughter couple. He smiled and said, “Xiaocao, you're back from the dock! How's business today? Your boiled food tastes good, so there must be a lot of customers. Wenhua, this is Little Sister Xiaocao, not Xiaolian. Xiaocao had a slightly paler and smoother complexion than Xiaolian. He is also a little shorter. If you don't look closely, it may be difficult to tell the difference. It also makes sense for you to make mistakes. ”

Zhou Wenhua touched the back of his head feeling embarrassed for recognizing the wrong person. Her smiling mouth often curled up and she said, “So this is Little Sister Xiaocao ah! In the past, Little Sister Xiaolian had always come with Aunt Yu, so I thought it was her. I heard from Shanhu that your health is getting better now. Congratulations!”

Twelve or thirteen year olds are already good speakers. As expected, he had the qualities of a good salesman. Xiaocao smiled at him and said, “The last few times I came, Brother Wenhua is not home. It is undeniable for you to be wrong because this is the first time we met. Sometimes, my mother also mixes us up when she is not paying attention! Well, there's nothing I can do because we have the same face. ”

Zhou Wenhua comforted with his seemingly helpless expression. Her chest felt tight because of her illness, but now she felt much more comfortable.

“Aunt Zhou, do you have any sugar at home? I wanted to make a new dish, but I lacked some seasoning.. ”Xiaocao looked at Madam Fang expectantly, afraid she would say no. If they really didn't have it, then he probably wouldn't be able to make pickled fish today…

Madam Fang smiled and said, “What a coincidence! If you come a day early, then we really don't have any. Yesterday, when Uncle Zhou came back from selling things, he got a copper candy worth forty or fifty coins for the children. Since he had the money, he might as well buy more meat, or white rice and wheat flour. But, he instead bought that expensive item .. Linglong, bring the leftover sweets yesterday to try by Little Sister Xiaocao! ”

Although Madam Fang was complaining, there was a hint of a smile in her eyes. For Madam Fang and her husband, it didn't matter if they had to suffer a little, but they couldn't allow their children to become like their younger, inexperienced and indifferent selves. They did not want them to be treated like village people when they went to the city.

Xiaocao looked into Zhou Linglong's hands and realized the so-called white sugar was a piece of sugar similar to rock sugar. No wonder it costs one copper coin per piece.

He chose an egg-sized piece of sugar from his pack. That's about an ounce of sugar, which costs about fifteen or sixteen copper coins. He smiled and said, “Aunt Zhou, I want to use sugar to make food, and then sell it at the dock. How many pieces of sugar is this? I can't let you suffer losses when I make money. ”.

Xiaocao thought about it and nodded, “Alright! Even if you don't say it, I won't forget to let you guys taste it. Thank you very much. It's late, so I have to go back to frying the fish. ”.

On the way home, Lady Liu did not say anything, but inwardly muttered: ‘Although the fish did not need money, herbs and oils cost at least thirty or forty copper coins … Can we really make a profit? ? ‘

Upon returning home, Xiaocao first prepared all the necessary herbs and ingredients. When the fish was about to finish salting, he poured half a catties of soybean oil into the cauldron on the stove and heated it. He sprinkled water into the pot as smoke began to emerge from the pot. This will eliminate the fishy smell in soybean oil.

Then, turn off the fire under the stove and wait until the oil heat is reduced to seventy percent heat. At that time, put the salted and fried fish one by one.

Stoves in the countryside usually have two cauldrons, one on each side. Usually, one is used for cooking, while the other for steaming rice. Xiaocao put chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic in another pan and spread them evenly into one layer. The fried fish is neatly laid out at the bottom of the pan, with the larger one below and the smaller one above.

After half the oil used for frying the fish is removed, put the remaining oil into the fried chili paste and stir fry to get a fragrant aroma. Then add vinegar, sugar, yellow wine, chives, ginger, garlic, pepper, fennel, chinese cinnamon, and other seasonings. After that, he sprinkled soy sauce in it. Seeing that there was not enough water in the soup, he added the corresponding amount of mystical stone water and cooked it with a huge fire.

When the soup was ready, he poured it into the fish in another pot and covered it with a wooden lid. He even specifically instructed Little Shitou to pick up some stones to put on top of the lid. After boiling with a small flame for about thirty minutes, he extinguished the fire under the cauldron and opened the lid to cool it.

Pickled fish tastes best when refrigerated. Xiaocao picked out a few smaller ones and let his parents, Xiaolian, and Little Shitou taste him. The salted fish has a savory and sweet taste which also has a slight spicy taste. It was full of oil. After frying and boiling, the fish bones are tender to melt in the mouth. Even its fish head could be chewed and swallowed without any problem. No fish parts are wasted.

“It was pretty good! It's delicious!! Go and give some to Aunt Zhou ... ”Madia Liu can't bear to eat fish anymore after she tries it. All these fish need to be sold to earn money!

Xiaocao filled the plate with over twenty pieces of fish and had Little Shitou send them. He took out a ceramic jar and put all the remaining fish into it. He had to rush to the dock and sell all his fish before the port workers came home for dinner.

Xiaolian saw that she was busy selling and cooking food all day and did not even have time to rest. Therefore, he said, “ Little Sister, why don't I go to the dock with Little Shitou?”

Xiaocao got up early in the morning and rushed to the dock. When he finished selling the boiled food, he went to the market to buy pork heads and other ingredients and seasonings. He didn't even have time to catch a fish when he came home. After that he preserved the fish to be used as pickled fish. So, he must be very tired today.

Considering the fact that he had to walk for almost two hours, he really did not know if he could succeed. These past few days, Little Shitou had already gotten used to the sales process, so there might not be any problems. However, he was still worried and reminded them,

“For larger fish, sell two for one copper coin. Try to sell bigger first. Later, if the smaller one does not sell, then sell three for one copper coin. By the way.try to sell as much as possible. ”

Little Shitou confidently said, “Don't worry! I will definitely complete my mission! ”

After watching Xiaolian and Little Shitou leave, Xiaocao also did not rest. He had to boil all the parts of the pig's head, the pig's tripe, and the pig's intestines that had been cleaned up for sale tomorrow morning.

Seeing that the pig head and marinade were already in the pot and only needed to be boiled with a small fire, Madam Liu urged her daughter to go for a rest immediately.

“I can take care of the rest.. In the future, you just need to take responsibility for the preparation of the bulbs. We can take care of the rest. You don't have to do everything yourself! Your health is getting better, so don't make yourself tired! ”

Xiaocao nodded and said, “OK, okay! I know you're better at controlling fire than I am! Then I will just be a supervisor! ”

When he came out of the kitchen, he saw his father making a new net bag. So, he approached and said, “Dad, it's still morning, so why don't we go catch some more fish in the pond?”

Yu Hai was a little interested, but he looked at her with attention and said, “Are you not tired? You should go back to your room and rest for a while! For fishing, I will try it tomorrow morning. ”.

Based on his observations these past few days, Xiaocao has noticed that his family has a combination of a resolute ‘mother and a loving father’. Generally, Mrs Liu takes on the role of ‘malicious police’ and is responsible for disciplining and reprimanding children. On the other hand, it was Yu Hai who spoiled and spoiled the children, especially Xiaocao. He rarely refused his request.