BSI Chapter 29 Making Beggar's Chicken!
Chapter 29 Making Beggar's Chicken!
Chapter 29 Making Beggar's Chicken!
As the sun began to set, it cast a long shadow on the mottled red wall in the backyard of the imperial kitchen.
Su Mu squatted in the corner, with three freshly slaughtered and plucked Sanhuang chickens in front of him, and a pile of yellow mud that he had just dug up from the lotus pond.
This mud is very sticky and has no sand or stones, making it an excellent ingredient for that dish.
On the small wooden table next to it, there was a row of bottles and jars.
Soy sauce, rice wine, and a small handful of crushed scallions, ginger, and garlic are emitting a spicy aroma.
The courtyard gate was pushed open a crack, and two heads peeked in.
Upon seeing that there was no smoke or any aroma coming from the yard, Xiao Sizi's expectant face immediately fell.
She sniffed, and all she could smell was earthy and raw onion.
"Brother, aren't we having breakfast today?"
Little Sizi shuffled in, glanced at the mud in Su Mu's hands, and shrank back in disgust. "Why are you playing with mud? It's filthy!"
Li Lizhi followed behind, carrying the large food box she was going to take back Li Shimin's share. She glanced at the muddy puddle on the ground and frowned.
"Is this... fixing the stove?"
Su Mu didn't look up; he was holding a brush and brushing sauce onto the smooth chicken. The brown sauce instantly gave the chicken skin a glossy sheen.
"Why bother fixing the stove? This is dinner tonight."
Su Mu stuffed the cleaned chicken cavity with diced shiitake mushrooms and meat, then grabbed two large lotus leaves and quickly wrapped the chicken up tightly, even tying it with two thin hemp ropes.
"dinner?"
Li Lizhi looked at the lush green lotus leaf wrapping and thought, "This is... a chicken wrapped in leaves?"
"This is called beggar's chicken."
Su Mu threw the three wrapped lotus leaf packages on the ground, pointed to the pile of yellow mud, and said, "If you want to eat this stuff, you have to put this layer of mud on first. And you have to make sure it's even and airtight."
He patted the sauce off his hands, leaned back on the recliner next to him, and casually picked up a palm-leaf fan.
"I used up a lot of energy killing the chicken, and my arms are sore. I'll leave this delicate work of applying the mud to you two."
Li Lizhi's eyes widened as she pointed at her priceless silk gauze dress, then at the pile of mud on the ground: "You want me—you want me, and Sizi, to play in the mud?"
"No work, no food."
Su Mu closed his eyes. "This mud is crucial. If it doesn't seal in the flavor, the chicken will be tough. You guys decide what to do."
Little Sizi stared at the pile of yellow mud for a long time.
This mud looks wet and soft, it seems—quite fun?
In the palace, even if the maids saw a speck of dust on the sole of her shoe, they would scream for ages, let alone let her play in the mud.
This kind of "forbidden" game has a fatal attraction for children.
"Come here!"
Little Sizi haphazardly rolled up his sleeves, revealing a section of his plump, white arm resembling a lotus root, squatted down, and tentatively stuck both hands into the mud.
"Pfft."
The soft, damp yellow mud squeezed out from between my fingers; it was cool and slippery.
"So comfortable!" Little Sizi's eyes lit up. He grabbed a handful of mud and smeared it all over the lotus leaf wrap.
The yellow mud wasn't properly applied, and half of it fell off, splashing mud droplets that flew high into the air.
"Oh dear!" Li Lizhi exclaimed and took a step back, but it was too late.
A few yellowish-brown mud spots landed precisely on her cloud-patterned shoes embroidered with gold thread, appearing particularly glaring.
"Li! Ming! Da!" Li Lizhi's eyebrows shot up.
The little ox shrank its neck, its two little hands covered in yellow mud raised in the air, looking completely innocent: "It's not my fault! The mud just jumped up by itself!"
As she spoke, she tried to help her sister wipe her shoes, but as she squatted down and stretched out, even more mud ended up in her hands, leaving an even wider and longer yellow stain on the shoe.
Li Lizhi: "————"
These shoes are ruined.
Since the shoes are ruined, why bother putting on airs?
Looking at her younger sister's clumsy attempt to wipe the lotus leaf package, and then at Su Mu's indifferent attitude, Li Lizhi felt a surge of anger and simply tied her wide sleeves around her waist.
"Get out of here, you clumsy thing."
Li Lizhi squatted down, no longer caring about the dirt, and grabbed a handful of yellow mud. It felt cool and smooth to the touch, and surprisingly, this sensation was incredibly relaxing.
She patted the mud onto the lotus leaf and smoothed it out forcefully.
"Do it like this, following the grain, to seal all the gaps."
While scolding her younger sister, Li Lizhi also tried to operate the equipment herself, and her movements were even more delicate.
The little ox was not convinced and grabbed a lump of mud to pile on top of it.
"Sister, don't grab it! This butt is tied to my nest!"
The two were vying for the same lotus leaf bag, their four hands huddled together.
"Clatter!"
Xiao Sizi's hand slipped, and a lump of mud slipped out and smeared directly onto the back of Li Lizhi's hand, flowing down her wrist and into her sleeve.
Li Lizhi froze.
She slowly turned her head and looked at the little dumpling with a mischievous grin on its face.
"Well, you dare to ambush your older sister?"
Li Lizhi didn't stand on ceremony. She dipped her finger in a little mud and, taking advantage of Xiao Sizi's inattention, gently touched the tip of her fair nose.
Little Sizi turned into a cat with a dirty face.
"Hehehe! Big sister can't hit me!" Little Si grabbed a handful of mud and ran, his two short legs moving quickly as he circled the stone mill in the yard.
Li Lizhi disregarded all pretense of being a princess and chased after him, grabbing the mud with her hands.
"Don't run! Stop!"
"Ouch!"
The little ox was running too fast, its foot slipped, and it fell forward.
As luck would have it, two muddy little hands landed directly on the pile of dry firewood that Su Mu had piled up in front of them, kicking up a cloud of dust.
She got up, didn't cry, and threw a clump of mud at Li Lizhi who was chasing after her.
Li Lizhi dodged to the side, and the lump of mud slapped against the wall with a "smack," leaving a round mark.
The backyard of the imperial kitchen was in complete chaos.
What was supposed to be a chicken covered in mud ended up being a big fight between two mud monkeys.
Li Lizhi's originally ethereal dress was now covered in yellow and brown handprints.
She had mud all over her face, a smear on her left cheek and a patch on her forehead, making her look like a village girl who had just come back from working in the fields.
Little Sizi was in an even worse state. The once delicate and beautiful little dumpling was now completely yellowish-brown, except for its big, bright black eyes. Even its hair was covered in mud.
"Alright, alright, if you keep playing like this, the chickens will go bad."
Su Mu had watched the show long enough, so he threw down his palm-leaf fan and got up to clean up the mess.
He picked up the three mud balls that had been smeared into a mess and were all different shapes, and straightened them out in his hand.
"It's alright, although it's a bit ugly, at least it's sealed off."
Su Mu started a fire in the middle of the yard.
It wasn't ordinary firewood that was used, but hard fruitwood, which produced very little smoke and a strong flame.
Once the fire is burning brightly, clear away the layer of glowing red embers, dig a pit in the middle, throw in three mud balls, and then cover them completely with embers and hot ash.