Chang’an Small Restaurant

Chapter 19 Tasty Cornelian Meat

In her past life, Shen Shaoguang actually preferred red braised pork over Dongpo Pork. There was only one reason– because it was easier to make.

Though now Shen Shaoguang was much more patient. Why rush? Back then, she had followed the norm dictated by society. Everyone all rushed forward, just like a mindless pack migratory salmon swimming upstream– rushing to go to school, rushing to graduate, rushing to make money, rushing to fall in love, rushing to get married, and rushing to have children. After that, it was a rush to grow old and rush to die? Or in her particular case, before she finished her race, she was sent to a different world… Well since all her hard work in the past had gone to naught, then there was nothing else to do but to start from the beginning once again!

While lamenting the volatility of fate, Shen Shaoguang placed a bamboo steamer in the large earthenware pot to prevent the scorching of the pot. She then added the white ends of the scallions and ginger slices into the steamer, and evenly spread the large cubes of pork belly, which she had slightly scorched to remove the residue blood, on top. Then with a brush, she spread a generous layer of pure marinated soy paste mixed with sugar and wine. The wine was freshly brewed, with some greenish foam floating on top— yes this was ‘green-foamed new-fermented wine’ mentioned by Poet Bai[1]. In this sense, this pot of pork contained some poetic quality to it.

Using a small charcoal fire, this ‘anapestic’ pot of pork was to slowly simmer.

Once Shen Shaoguang made sure the fire on the small stove was maintained, she walked to the nearby counter and started to make the savory crepe batter for her morning customers.

A’Yuan had just come back, bearing fresh soy milk from the tofu shop. As soon as she walked in, she exclaimed in excitement, ‘It smells good!’

Nethertheless, she didn’t forget her duties and first poured the soy milk into a big pot over a stove. Only after adding firewood and starting the fire under the pot did A’Yuan walk to the small stove. She circled around the earthenware pot and kept sniffling. How can it be so fragrant?

Shen Shaoguang laughed. If she had added chili to a hot pot to stir-fry twice-cooked pork, the aroma would be even more tantalizing. Then wouldn’t this silly girl pounce into the pot?

Speaking of which, chili was really a magical ingredient. When combined with meat, it would multiple and enhance the flavors by tenfold, especially the smell. Therefore, the propagation of Szechuan cuisine in later generations was very reasonable. Unfortunately, pepper had not been introduced in this dynasty, Shen Shaoguang could only swallow this great regret.

It wasn’t just A’Yuan, most of the diners also followed the smell and looked at the earthenware pot. The ones who were more acquainted with her would ask, "What are you cooking there, Miss? It smells so good."

Since Mr. Dongpo had yet to exist, his name couldn’t be at this moment, so Shen Shaoguang could only use the imperial palace banquet naming method and renamed it: Cornelian Meat.

Such a magnificent name and such a tantalizing aroma caused the diners to crave it even more.

Shen Shaoguang smiled and said, "This is a laborious dish, and still needs to cook for a while longer. It's better to come back during lunch or dinner time. This dish has a rich and delicate taste, and pairs excellently with wine or rice."

The diners had no choice but to be patient, and in the midst of the mouthwatering smell, they all worked hard to finish their crepes at hand. On this day, her whole breakfast menu sold more than usual. Shen Shaoguang realized in hindsight– did I just start a ‘vicious’ rumor?

When breakfast was sold out, Shen Shaoguang and A’Yuan cleaned up the tables and kitchen. By the time they finished, the meat was just about completely stewed. However, the dish was not finished yet, it still needed to be steamed.

Though it was not the common steaming method, the pork was to be sealed in an air-tight jar and submerged in boiling water. This was the usual practice of steaming meat in the imperial kitchens. They emphasized the idea of ‘no contact with water’ because it was believed that the excess water vapor would dilute the original flavor.

After ‘steaming’ for approximately thirty minutes, the dish was finally ready.

It was not yet noon, and there were no guests currently in their establishment. Taking advantage of this moment, Shen Shaoguang and A’Yuan decided to try the first bite.

With a pair of long chopsticks, Shen Shaoguang clipped out four pieces of pork out of the jar, and placed it on a snow-white plate, skin side up. Shen Shaoguang then poured over the residue sauce from the original stew. Needless to say, with this ruddy and brilliant appearance, the name ‘Cornelian Meat’ was well-deserved.

Shen Shaoguang quickly stirred up some mallows as a vegetable dish to pair with their sticky rice porridge as a simple early lunch.

Shen Shaoguang took a piece of pork and put it in her small bowl, savoring it slowly.

Perhaps the wine in this era was made from pure fermented rice, or it may be because pigs were yet industrialized and slowly grown on natural feed, so the meat quality was perhaps better. Of course, it may also be due to the long gap of time since she had tasted such a familiar flavor, nethertheless, Shen Shaoguang really believed this meat tasted delicious. Even better than some of the pork dishes she had sampled in those famous restaurants in her last life. It was a long missed taste; the belly fat was soft but not greasy, and the lean meat also melted as soon as it hit her tongue.

Even so, Shen Shaoguang only managed to finish one piece; each cut was relatively large, around the same size as a child's fist.

The remaining three pieces were given to A’Yuan. What she hadn’t expected was that A’Yuan would burst into tears while gorging on the meat. 

Shen Shaoguang took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears and the stains from the corners of the silly girl's mouth. "What's wrong?"

A’Yuan sniffled, she tried to hold back her tears as she looked at her Miss embarrassedly, "It’s–it's so delicious."

"..." So ‘crying over delicious food’ wasn't an exaggerated description.

As a cook, Shen Shaoguang was a little flattered by A’Yuan’s genuine compliment, "If you love it that much, then we’ll have this more often in the future."

A’Yuan started wailing, "In the past, I was only given a bowl of water-downed millet porridge and a dried millet cake mixed with vegetables for each meal. I never imagined that I would be living like this today, sob..."

It turned out she was being sentimental. Shen Shaoguang patted the girl's head and sighed, "Eat. As long as the world is at peace, we will not suffer anymore."

During lunchtime, when mini soup buns were being sold, Shen Shaoguang put the pork out on display. Its appearance and aroma immediately attracted the attention of diners.

It’s a fact that the Sharpened Mutton Jade provided at her eatery was also delicious. With a single bite, the soup would burst into the mouth, packed with flavors. However, with its outer dough wrapping, the buns were not as flamboyant as this cornelian meat. The latter dish was illuminated without any buffer; it was vivid and fragrant, stimulating everyone’s five senses.

If Shen Shaoguang were to use an analogy, the Sharpened Mutton Jade was a beautiful woman in fashionable clothes, while the cornelian meat was a… naked woman! In front of a nude woman, no one would bother to care about style and elegance.

There was no need for Shen Shaoguang to market this dish. Furthermore, there were still people who had been waiting all morning to try her new recipe; the cornelian meat sold out in an instant.

Another potful was made in the afternoon, which subsequently was bought out before dinner time ended.

Although she was just testing the waters, her new dish did much better than expected. Shen Shaoguang originally believed since this Lane was mainly occupied by the wealthy that they would be very particular when it came to food. Moreover, since they had enough disposable income, they would be more inclined to mutton dishes. The reason why the mini soup buns were so widely accepted was because of the soup filling, and the fact that pork was indeed more suitable as a filling than mutton. All in all, Shen Shaoguang hadn’t put much hope on her new creation, as dishes that used pork as a main ingredient may not be as easily accepted.

During this time, the most common method of eating pork was to steam it, then dipped in garlic or various sauces depending on the consumer’s preferences. This was rather similar to the modern ‘white sliced pork’, which is subtle in flavor. The thick and heavy in flavor pork dish that she made may not necessarily suit the majorities' palette.

Now seeing the results, it seemed the people of the Tang Dynasty were actually the ‘as good as it tastes good’ type.

Shen Shaoguang went to buy the biggest earthenware pot she could find, planning to develop and promote her new Cornelian Meat.

She took out the wooden bulletin board that she had used to advertise her Double Seventh Cakes and put it up by the door. On the board, she wrote ‘Try Our New Cornelian Meat’ in large and simple font. She planned to continue to keep this board here in the future, it would be used to announce her new specials.

Shen Shaoguang looked back at her small shop, feeling a little regretful. Unfortunately her eatery was limited to mostly takeout, if it was bigger, enough to allow guests to sit in groups of three to five, the eatery could then become a restaurant that offered alcohol. She would then pair her various dishes each with a specialty wine, that way, the profit would be much higher.

An impatient person will not be able to enjoy cornelian meat, best to take one step at a time.

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Footnote:

[1] Poet Bai - Bai Juyi, courtesy name Letian, was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician during the Tang dynasty. This green foam wine was quoted from one of his famous verses. You can read the whole poem here - https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bai-juyi-inviting-green-foamed-new-fermented-wine/