After dressing as a widow

Chapter 267

Because Lizhou is not hot for most of the year, it is even more freezing in winter, and it is frozen for thousands of miles. However, the summer of just over a month is really unbearable, and the price of ice on the market is not cheap.

Moreover, most of the ice that is cut out and placed in the present is sold to Kyoto and further afield, but a small number are sold in the state capital.

Lin Zhen wanted a lot of ice, so it was more cost-effective to buy saltpeter to make ice himself.

The three boys carrying saltpeter followed Lin Zhen into the backyard. Lin Zhen pointed to the corner and said, "Just put the saltpeter there."

The three mistresses immediately followed his instructions, put the saltpetre in a corner where the sun could not be exposed to the sun, and went out without daring to look at it. Lin Zhen went to the place where he distilled floral dew and took several wooden basins and barrels.

The saltpeter and water Bilielin has been pondering for several months when selling milk tea, and he is very skilled in using it. Fill water in a smaller bucket or basin, and then put it into a larger wooden barrel with water added. In the wooden basin, add saltpeter to the larger wooden barrel and wooden basin.

The water that was scorched by the sun immediately reacted with saltpeter, releasing a large amount of cold air. The water in the smaller wooden barrels and tubs slowly floated a thin layer of ice. It gets thicker and thicker, and finally forms ice cubes that look like wooden barrels.

Lin Zhen estimated the time of distillation, and when the ice was almost ready, he quickly went to add some firewood, and went back to the backyard to carry the ice to the kitchen.

"Is there pea flour or flour?"

Fu Lang in the kitchen saw Lin Zhen coming in with a bucket of ice, thought he was going to buy it outside, stood up from the stool, and said somewhat stiffly: "Back to Boss Lin, there are all of them."

"As long as you have it," Lin Zhen put the bucket of ice on the ground, "You clean the pot, boil two buckets of water, and then stir the pea flour. I'll chop up the ice. It's hot and I can make some cold fish. .”

"How can I ask Boss Lin to do it yourself? I have never seen the cold fish you mentioned before. You said, I will make the cold fish and then make ice." Fu Lang, who specializes in cooking, also met in the yamen before. Over the ice, Xu Zhizhou's husband can't stand the heat, and when the hottest summer comes, he buys some ice and asks them to make some iced sugar water to drink.

But the ice stored in the summer is expensive, and I don't buy much each time. The bucket of ice like the one in Boss Lin's hand may cost several taels of silver.

Lin Zhen, who was extremely hot, squatted beside the cold wooden barrel: "It's okay, it's as fast as one person can do it, and the sooner you get to your stomach, the sooner you feel comfortable."

With that said, Lin Zhen got up to find an ax and a kitchen knife, touched a handful of firewood ashes in the stove hole, cleaned the ax and the kitchen knife first, and put them on the ice in the bucket.

Fu Lang saw that he was so careless, so he hurriedly fetched water from the well and poured it into the pot to find out the pea flour.

Cold fish is Lin Zhen's favorite dish. It's simple to make and delicious to eat. You can add chili oil and chives, or you can add honey and nuts. Salty and sweet have their own flavors.

His body is not very strong, and the effect of the ax on the ice is not obvious. He just bought a few bags of saltpeter. Lu Lu and Lu Xuan heard that he came to the kitchen, and his head was about to smoke. , come to the kitchen.

As soon as I came, I saw him chopping ice with an axe, and it took several axes to cut off a small corner.

Lu Xuan hurriedly took over the job: "Boss Lin, come here, little one."

Lu Xuan is not a stupid person, Lin Zhen told them to buy saltpeter, and now there is ice in the kitchen, it is hard not to make people associate ice with saltpeter.

The movements in Lu Xuan's hands paused, and her thoughts drifted a little.

Lin Zhen was squatting next to the bucket of ice, as if he was looking at her and the ice.

Lu Xuan's heart skipped a beat and she woke up. Don't say that the saltpeter has something to do with ice. She is just a buyer in the state government office, and Lin Zhen is the uncle of Lord Zhizhou.

Some money is worth taking but not worth spending.

Moreover, Lin Zhen was very kind to the people below. If she really did something that betrayed the Lord, Lu Xuan would not be able to get over the hurdle in her heart.

After thinking it over, Lu Xuan raised her hand and chopped with the ax. Her strength was much stronger than Lin Zhen's, and the ice that had condensed into one piece was broken into pieces.

In fact, Lin Zhen, who had been looking at her all the time, saw the change of thoughts in her eyes. He saw that she chopped up the ice, twisted up a small piece, and handed it to Lu Lu who was standing beside him: "Han a piece and try it in your mouth." Try it, it's very cool."

"Take another piece and pass it to Mrs. Lu and Fu Lang who is stirring the pea flour."

Lulu was so hot that her face was flushed, and she snarled into her mouth as soon as she got the ice. The cold feeling made her squint her eyes.

Following Lin Zhen's instructions, she washed her hands, found a suitable size ice cube in the bucket, and handed it to Lu Xuan, who was inconvenient to hand, then twisted a piece and handed it to her husband who was already stirring pea flour.

The four masters and servants ate ice in the kitchen and ate happily.

The pea powder was stirred first, Lin Zhen asked Fu Lang to clean the colander, and slowly poured it into the colander. The cooked peas leaked from the hole of the colander, and fell into the cold water and turned into drops. It's like a tail of small fish.

Slightly transparent white fish, very nice in cold water.

Lin Zhen saw that the ice on Lu Xuan's side had been cut in half, and said to the cooking husband, "Find out the honey and rain'_Xi Tuan, and by the way, put peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. into the pan to fry and let it cool down. Rub off the skin, and I'll make some salty dogwood oil."

"Lu Lu, you washed those two handfuls of shallots."

"Okay, Boss Lin." Fu Lang has worked on the stove for many years, and it's no problem to fry some nuts. Lu Lu is also picking up yellow leaves with shallots.

Lin Zhen rolled up his sleeves, found all the dogwoods in the kitchen, chopped them up, so that the flavor could come out, and then poured oil into the pan next to the nut frying. After the oil warmed up a little, put star anise minced garlic and fragrant leaves, and waited for these After the smell of spices is fried, pour half a bowl of dogwood into it.

The pungent smell filled the whole kitchen, and Fu Lang and Lu Xuan, who had always been on a light diet, were suddenly choked by the horrible smell.

Lin Zhen, who felt the fragrance, remembered that not everyone followed him like Lulu, and also smelled a lot of cornel. He touched his nose and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to eat less cornel on weekdays."

Fu Lang, who was frying peanuts, hazelnuts, and walnuts next to him, looked at the oil that didn't have a spicy smell: "Boss Lin, can this be eaten?"

"Yes, you can try it later?"

Fu Lang shook his head again and again: "No, no, no."

Lu Xuan, who was choked up with a little tears, couldn't help laughing seeing her husband shaking his head like a top, and inhaling more spicy smell after laughing, turned around and sneezed twice.

Soon, the cornel oil was ready and served in a big bowl.

The fried nuts also exude a wonderful smell. After a little cooling and rubbing, rub off the thin layer of skin, and then smash the three kinds of nuts into pieces to keep the chewy and crunchy The taste is amplified again under the palate.

"Okay, take out all the bowls, and bring them to the adults in front first, whether it's sweet or salty, take whatever they want."

Take out the cold fish soaked in cold water, put them in half bowls and half bowls, put a layer of crushed ice on top of the sugar water, then add two spoonfuls of crushed nuts, add honey, and finally pour it over and boil it. Some sweet brown sugar water.

This brown sugar water was purely made by Lin Zhen for the sake of appearance.

The salty ones are simpler, put cornel oil, minced shallots, and if you want to eat ice, add crushed ice. Anyway, cornel oil is fried in rapeseed oil and will not solidify like lard.

Lin really liked this one, first made a bowl with dogwood oil and shallots, and after a few mouthfuls, he picked up a bowl with honey, nuts and crushed ice, walked to the room where the dew was distilled, and said three things to Lu Xuan and Lulu while walking : "I delivered it to them ahead, and you eat it quickly. If you don't have enough ice, go get it from me. There are more."

"Yes." Lu Xuan and Fu Lang, who was in charge of the kitchen, took out the trays, arranged the two kinds of cold fish one by one, and the three carried them forward.

Everyone was hot on this day, and none of Gu Lin's official friend Gao Tong Jiang Jing, who had to wear official robes, and the yamen servants below felt comfortable.

The yamen servant guarding the yamen gate in the front yard saw Lu Lu and the three of them walking towards this side carrying things, and stopped them for questioning as usual.

Lu Lu said: "Boss Lin took us to make some food to cool off the heat, and asked to send it to the adults and you to try."

The yamen servant, who was so hot that his head was steaming, looked at the unknown eater who was piled up with crushed ice and exuded the cold air, swallowed his saliva, and when he heard that even the yamen servants like them had a share, he said, "I'll go and report."

The yamen servant turned around and walked into the main hall. Gu Lin, who was discussing something, raised his head and looked at him. Under the brim of the black gauze official hat, there was a pair of eyebrows that slanted into the temples. When looking at people with dark eyes, it was hard to restrain oneself. The core of the earth is tight.

The yamen servant lowered his head and said, "Lord Zhizhou, Boss Lin ordered someone to cook some food to cool off the summer heat in the back kitchen, and ordered them to serve it for the adults to cool off the heat."

Gu Lin, who was talking to his official friend Gao Tong with his back straight a moment ago, stepped back slightly, and rested his hands on the armrests of the chair leisurely: "Call them in."

"Yes." The yamen servant was overjoyed, and knew that Boss Lin was the best passport for the lord.

He returned outside the main hall, and said to the three people who were holding cold fish: "My lord tells you to go in."

Lu Xuan, Lulu, and her husband, who was working in the kitchen, walked up the steps, lowered their heads and carried trays into the main hall.

Gu Lin sat under the plaque hanging high in the bright mirror, on both sides were officials and friends Gaotong Jiang Jing, and then there were no rank officials below, adding up to more than 20 people.

The three saluted first, and said: "Master Zhizhou, this is the cold fish that Boss Lin led us to make. There are two kinds of sweet and salty. Please taste it."

Gu Lin walked down from the first seat, glanced at the two kinds of cold fish, and picked up the sweet cold fish covered with crushed ice and crushed nuts.

When the spoon was stirred slightly, the crushed ice inside made a rustling sound, and the hand holding the bowl was also comforted by the cold.

He said to his official friend Qualcomm and others: "Take it."

Official friends Qualcomm and other talents came forward one after another, and most of them chose the sweet ones like Gu Lin when they saw the ones with crushed ice.

A small number of people heard from Lu Lu and others that it contains dogwood oil and shallots, but they want to taste a different taste.

But no matter whether it is sweet or salty, cold things are the best on this day, and many of them even came with a second bowl.

The yamen servants who ate one step later were also quite addicted, and the brows and eyes stretched out after taking a bite of the cold fish with ice.