xymnovel Chapter 45: Gold Bar Explosion?
Chapter 45: Gold Bar Explosion?
Chapter 45 Gold Bar Explosion? (Read at night, please read on!!)
Some more days passed.
Just as dawn was breaking, before the roosters in the backyard of the imperial kitchen had even had a chance to crow, a snoring sound made the leaves of the trees tremble.
Su Mu held a ball of dough in his hand, staring expressionlessly at his own mortise and tenon recliner.
Li Yuan lay sprawled on the bed, covered by Su Mu's faded old cotton-padded jacket, with one leg dangling out, fast asleep.
Yesterday, we played mahjong until midnight, and this old man just wouldn't leave, saying that the house was too quiet and not as lively as this place, and he insisted on spending the night here.
"He really thinks he's some kind of gatekeeper."
Su Mu muttered something to himself, but didn't wake him. He turned around and wiped the cutting board until it shone.
This dough was prepared last night with an egg and a pinch of salt. It stayed up all night and is now as soft as an earlobe, with a honeycomb-like texture.
Su Mu sprinkled some dry flour on the cutting board and slammed the dough onto it.
Snapped!
The dough collapsed.
No need for a rolling pin, just press it by hand.
This gluten is so good, it won't break no matter how you stretch it.
Cut into strips about two fingers wide, stack two strips together, and press them down in the middle with a chopstick.
Heat oil in a wok.
This oil is the leftover oil from frying mutton fat last night, mixed with some vegetable oil. It smells delicious.
The oil was heated to about 70% of its maximum temperature, and blue smoke began to rise from it.
Su Mu pinched both ends of the noodles, gently pulled them, and slid them into the pot along the edge.
Stab it--!
The originally thin noodle expanded instantly from the hot oil as soon as it entered the fryer.
The dough ball rolled and expanded in the oil, growing several sizes larger in the blink of an eye, turning into a large, golden-yellow creature with pointed ends and a bulging middle.
The aroma exploded instantly!
It's not the aroma of meat, but the most simple and rich wheat aroma, mixed with the dryness of hot oil, which goes straight into your nostrils.
"Slurp—"
The snoring on the recliner stopped abruptly.
Li Yuan opened his eyes groggily, and before he could even see who it was, his nose twitched twice.
He sat up abruptly from the recliner, ignoring the cotton-padded coat that had slipped off his body and fell to the ground, his eyes fixed on the long, golden strips of oil bobbing up and down in the pan.
"What's this? A gold bar?"
Li Yuan rubbed his eyes, and his stomach let out a long growl in perfect harmony.
Su Mu used long chopsticks to flip the fried dough stick over so it would heat evenly: "Dream on, gold bars, huh? This is a fried dough stick, the king of breakfast stalls."
"Youtiao (fried dough stick) — what a good name, it sounds like a name for wealth and prosperity."
Li Yuan, unconcerned about the dirt, hastily wiped his face and leaned closer to the pot. "Is it cooked yet? I can smell it burning. Hurry up and take it out! It'll get overcooked if you fry it any longer!"
"What's the rush? It needs to be fried again to make it crispy."
Su Mu flicked his wrist, picked up a fried dough stick, drained the oil, and tossed it into the bamboo basket.
Click!
Just by listening to the sound of it falling into the basket, you can tell how crispy the skin is.
"Brother--!"
The courtyard gate was smashed open with brute force.
Little Sizi burst in with messy hair and one shoe on the wrong feet, clearly having just crawled out of bed.
"It smells so good! I can smell it even while I'm snuggled up in bed!"
Little Sizi waddled to the stove, stood on tiptoe, gripped the edge of the stove with both little hands, and stared wide-eyed: "Is this fried dough stick? It's such a big dough stick!"
"This is called a fried dough stick," Su Mu corrected.
"Oil—bridge?"
Little Sizi tilted his head, struggling to pronounce the word "条" (tiao), which he couldn't straighten out no matter how hard he tried, making a lot of punctuation. "What kind of bridge is '油桥'? Can people cross it?"
Su Mu chuckled, picked up a piece that had just come out of the pot and cooled slightly, and handed it to her: "It can't pass through people, but it can pass through your little belly."
Little Sizi took it with both hands.
The fried dough stick was thicker than her forearm, yet it felt light and warm in her hand.
She opened her mouth wide and took a big bite at the top.
Click!
The crisp sound was particularly clear in the quiet courtyard in the early morning.
The pastry crumbled and crumbs fell all over the floor.
Next comes the fluffy and soft dough inside, full of airiness, with steam rising from the corners of your mouth!
The aroma of wheat and oil blends in your mouth, becoming more and more fragrant with each chew. The joy brought by carbohydrates is something that no delicacy can replace.
"Ugh!!!"
The little ox's eyes suddenly lit up, its cheeks puffed out, and it chewed while mumbling, "Crispy! It's crispy! Hollow inside, so good!"
Li Yuan, watching from the side, swallowed hard and reached out to grab one from the basket: "Give me one too!"
"It'll burn you to death."
Su Mu slapped his hand away, picked up a plum and placed it in a rough porcelain bowl, handing it to him, "Drink it with the leftover plum juice from last night to cut through the greasiness."
Li Yuan grabbed a fried dough stick and, disregarding his image, took a big bite.
酥！
It's so damn crispy!
The moment your teeth slice through the outer layer, that crispy sensation travels up your tooth roots to your brain. The gluten inside, however, is incredibly chewy, soaking up all the oily flavor; one bite and your mouth is filled with juicy goodness.
"This thing—it's amazing!"
Li Yuan downed half a stick in a few bites, his beard covered in crumbs. "A hundred times better than that stale flatbread! If only I had a bowl of hot soup with this—"
"It's good enough to have something to eat, why be picky?" Su Mu put the last dough ball into the pot and wiped his hands on his apron.
The Taiji Hall, the morning court session.
Today is a grand court assembly, and all officials of the fifth rank and above must attend.
Li Shimin sat upright on the dragon throne, his bright yellow dragon robe exuding majesty. However, at this moment, his face was slightly pale, and his body was ramrod straight, even somewhat stiff.
I'm hungry.
I was still seething with anger at the Rissei-den last night, and I barely ate anything for dinner.
This morning I was thinking of getting up early to handle government affairs, but before I could even serve breakfast, I was blocked in the main hall by these ministers.
Below, Fang Xuanling was holding a tablet and reporting on various matters in a very detailed manner.
"—In my opinion, we should open the granaries to distribute grain and reduce taxes to reassure the people. Furthermore, we need to send a capable general there—"
Li Shimin forced his eyelids open and nodded from time to time to show that he was listening.
Sudden.
A gust of wind blew in from outside the hall.
Taiji Hall is situated on high ground, which naturally allows for good ventilation.
There was a strange smell in the air. It wasn't sandalwood, nor was it the scent of perfume; instead, it was an extremely overpowering and arrogant aroma of fried noodles!
That's a violent reaction where oil catalyzes wheat protein at high temperatures; it could steal a person's soul even through several palace walls.
Li Shimin's nose twitched twice.
This taste—
Why does it look so much like that fried food I wanted to eat but couldn't in my dream last night?
Glug—!
An extremely untimely and unusually loud rumbling sound came from the dragon throne.
The hall fell silent instantly.
Fang Xuanling, who was giving a passionate speech, suddenly stopped and looked up blankly.
The officials looked at each other, none daring to speak, except for a few sparrows that seemed oblivious to their fate, chirping and chattering under the eaves.
Li Shimin's face flushed red instantly.
He quickly coughed twice, trying to cover up the embarrassing noise, while shifting his sitting position and pressing hard on his uncooperative belly.
"Ahem—Minister Fang, continue." Li Shimin said sternly, pretending to be nonchalant, "Disaster relief is of utmost urgency."
Fang Xuanling snapped out of his daze, quickly lowered his head, and pretended not to have heard anything: "Yes—yes. I was just saying, about allocating grain and fodder—"
But the aroma just kept getting stronger!