Chapter 316: 304

Chapter 304 – Grilled Rushan or Grilled Cheese Lollipop (f)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

 

Gumi: … *covers face*

 

After Liu Eleven put up the Help Wanted signboard, people soon came in to apply for a job. At the end of the recruitment process, Shiyu retained three people.

All three were to be cooks and general workers. So long as they have some basic skills, it was fine. Shiyu did not have much expectation for them. [1]

Once the people had been recruited, she left it to Manager Ling Xiaoxiao to explain minor things like salary, work and rest hours etc with them.

When the contract was signed, Shiyu did not delay matters and immediately put them to work.

“You three, boil these green plums in water.”

The three blinked and glanced at each other. One picked up the basket of green plums to wash, wondering just how these people managed to get plums so green and fresh in the middle of winter. The second worker went to fetch clean water while the last started up the fire.

With three people working together, they soon got a fire going, a pot of water on the stove and the plums all washed and ready to be boiled. Once the water started bubbling, they placed the fruits into the pot and watched as the green spheres bobbed up and down in the water. They were not very clear about what this boss wanted them to do.

The green plums might look cute and plump but they are extremely sour. By boiling them in water like this, even plain water will become a sour as vinegar. Could it be their master has some kind of unique taste and wish to drink sour water?

All sorts of doubts rose in their hearts but they dared not voice any of them. After all, today was their first day of work. It would not do to ask too many questions and annoy their new master right off the bat.

Shiyu waited until the plums had been boiled until a certain time before telling them to take the pot off the fire, let it cool and pour the water into two large porcelain jars. Both jars ended up half full.

“Tsk, it would be better to have glass bottles,” when she thought of this, Shiyu instructed Liu Eleven and Ling Xiaoxiao to buy a crystal bottle.

There was still some plum water in the pot, Shiyu had the men keep boiling the water over a low flame before pouring a small bucket of milk into the water. [2]

The moment milk was exposed to the sour water, it began to curdle.

“Watch carefully when I do this. You will be doing this from now on,” said Shiyu as she took out a pair of chopsticks and began to stir the mixture in the pot.

At this, the three men kept their eyes on the pot, wondering what would happen next.

Shiyu kept stirring. Soon, white whispy stuff began to attach itself to the bamboo chopstick. More and more of the white bits stuck themselves to the chopstick until, finally, when she took out the chopstick, a white thing the size of a small ball had attached itself to the end of the chopstick. [1] [3]

When they look into the pot, water had regained its clarity. [4]

Shiyu took out the white stuff and began to knead and stretch it, eventually forming something like a dough. [5]

Then, she slowly spread it apart, winding it around a pair of bright green bamboo poles. [6] Once this was done, she told them, “This is called Rushan, you try and make them.”

The Rushan was very elastic, after stretching it out onto the bamboo poles, it looked like a stretched out toffee.

Shiyu took the Rushan out to dry, leaving the three people looking at the basket of green plums and three more barrels of milk next to them. They stood around for a while before deciding to just do as they were told. [7]

While they were not sure why they were being told to make this ‘Rushan’, since the master asked them to do it. Let’s just do it, ba.

After hanging up the Rushan up to dry, Shiyu looked at the empty wasteland behind their treehouse. It would be nice if they could buy that plot of land too.

After discussing the matter with Liu Eleven, he and Ling Xiaoxiao immediately headed towards the city and visited the municipal council. Having money was really great, not long after that, they returned in the afternoon with the title deed.

When they returned with the good news, they found Shiyu collecting the dried Rushan in [8].

The sun was very strong today and dried the Rushan very quickly. Even though there was still some moisture left in the Rushan, just a little grilling would turn the originally soft and sticky dough-like item into something hard and brittle.

Liu Eleven looked at this new thing and could not help asking, “What is this? Did you work all day just to make this?”

The three newcomers were at a loss when questioned by this young master. Although they had been involved with the production of ‘these things’ none of them knew what they were making. [9]

“You’ll know what it is later,” Shiyu smiled mysteriously as she took the dried Rushan to the kitchen.

There, she heated some oil, waited until the oil is fragrant before placing some of the Rushan in.

As soon as the white Rushan [10] touched the oil, it immediately made a sizzling sound. Soon, it puffed up and turned crisped and golden brown.

Once it was done frying, Shiyu removed the Rushan from the oil, drained the oil and placed it on a porcelain dish.

“You can add sugar or salt to it. Adding honey makes it even better. Go on, try some. This is fried Rushan. If you don’t want to touch oil, you can also grill it.”

After saying this, she took the pot off the fire and revealed the burning embers beneath.

She spread the Rushan apart with two pairs of chopsticks, dabbed a bit of honey on top and grilled it over the fire.

The Rushan began to swell from the heat and the honey seeped into the gaps. [11]

The interweaving colours of milky white and golden yellow made the Rushan look like a tufted tutu skirt. It looked very pretty and tasted very delicious. [11]

Liu Eleven couldn’t help reaching for one. Whether grilled or fried, the Rushan was very crispy. The crispness was so loud that people from two tables away could hear the crunch.

“This is not bad! We should sell it,” said Liu Eleven.

Ling Xiaoxiao flashed a look at him and smiled, “Why do you think they went through all this trouble? Is it just to treat you?”

Shiyu bit into a Grilled Rushan as the two of them quarrelled good-naturedly. Her eyes curved into half-moons. Ah, having young people in the place certainly makes the place more lively.

The scent of milk mixed with the sweet scent of honey slowly filled the air with warmth.

Right now, it was almost evening. There were fewer travellers on the main road and even the teahouse opposite them was nearly deserted.

The waiter could smell the sweet scent of milk again. Standing where he was, he could hear the sound of chatting and laughing from the other side.

To still be able to laugh when business is so bad, young people sure are big-hearted. However, the scent of milk is really sweet. Perhaps they could get the kitchen chefs to see if they can make something with milk too.

As the final ray of sun disappeared behind the mountain, the waiter was still wiping tables and entertaining the few customers they have left when he noticed that the door to the treehouse had closed.

“… …”

You open so late, yet close so early.

Looks like the manager is right. These people were here to have fun. They don’t care about making money.

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Just as the thought occurred to him, he found that something seemed to be happening on the other side.

He could not help but rush to the second floor and went out to the balcony to look across the road. However, the dense canopy blocked his view.

Even more curious now, he used the excuse of ‘clarifying matter’ and stepped out of the teahouse and crossed the main road. This time, he could clearly see what the other side was doing.

They seemed to be… planting trees? He had no idea what kind of saplings they were planting but they were busily digging holes and sticking trees along the main road and around the house.

Just… why? Was it for firewood?

The waiter found that he could not understand the thoughts of rich people.

In the end, he returned to the teahouse. Just like that, another night passed.

The next morning, when he opened the door to the teahouse, he leapt back. Startled.

Right in front of him, a row of peach blossom… pink peach blossom trees were bursting with flowers…?

In winter?

It’s still winter, right?

 

[Gumhou: … siiiiiigh… Shiyu is missing an important flavour profile from this technique. Her Rushan, if it ever properly formed into one, would be very, very sour. Yum.]

 

We now have Glossaries for Character, Cultivation Terms, Clan Names, Restaurants & Places

 

[1] …Gumi doesn’t have much expectation for you either but you still manage to fall below the low level of expectation

 

[2] Wrong: If you’re trying to make cheese, or even natural plastic, it’s generally warm milk first before adding the vinegar. In the documentary (provided by Gumi), they put the sour whey first but they were using a wok and working with small amounts of milk and whey over a large surface. Shiyu poured ‘a small bucket of milk’ over boiling vinegar (quantity unknown).

 

[3] Stirring warm milk and vinegar solution with chopstick would only result in broken up curds in whey. At the end of the day, you’ll get something that looks like baby’s vomit for your trouble.

 

[4] Wrong: Even if you successfully extract all the solids out of the milk and vinegar solution, the water will be yellow, because of the leftover whey.

 

[5] … you cannot ‘stir the white flocks into a ball’. The curds are too delicate, you have to remove the whey first by pouring the curds into a basket or colander.

 

[6] You missed a step. You have to roll the ‘dough’ between a pair of chopsticks first to stretch it out before winding it around the bamboo sticks.

 

[7] The excessive amount of green plums is unnecessary. You could have just reused the whey in warm milk to make the actual thing. Of course, since your cursed technique required half a pot of vinegar for 1 small bucket of milk, your ratios are already out of whack.

 

The true ratio is closer to 1 gallon milk to 285ml of vinegar, of course, this is subjected to milk temperature, ph of vinegar and fat content of milk. This ratio is for making cheese by the way.

[8] How long did you dry those, ma’am? Half a day? 3 hours? Rushan should take 1 whole day to air dry under the eaves. It should not be exposed to too much sun or it will crack. If you dry it too quickly it will crack.

 

[9] China has been making cheese for at least 1200 years. It’s very popular during the Tang Dynasty (618AD – 907AD). Their history is nearly as long as dumplings. So, it’s kind of insulting for the author to imagine a world that has milk but no cheese product. Where’s your sense of nationalism?

 

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3143737/cheese-china-has-long-history-made-buffalo-yak-goats-cows-and

This is a world-building error where they have ‘grassy land’ as well as ‘snow’ but lack cheese-making technique. Cheese, fermented milk products etc would have been a very valuable source of calories.

Then again, Gumi is still reeling from the idiocy of Shiyu making skimmed milk and adding honey into thin, tasteless milk.

[10] Dried Rushan will no longer white, it will be pale yellow. Every left a piece of cheese out and it turned into something hard and dark yellow? A similar thing happens to the Rushan.

 

[11] As per Note 10, the Rushan is no longer ‘milky white’. The overall effect, if done right using the correct ingredients, the Rushan should be closer to something like a giant crisp and the honey browned and hardened on the surface. If the fire is strong enough, air pockets and bubbles would form. ‘Gaps’ should not appear, unless she’s talking about air bubbles. However, fire is not as good as oil when heating, and the ‘tutu skirt’ effect would have been impossible with regular fire.

 

 

What happens when Milk + Vinegar + stir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAPQ-qQfZYU

The thing Shiyu was trying to make:

Documentary of the real Rushan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBzBCaJJVJY

By Amanda Tastes, this lady actually studied the entire process and showed her failures too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc4SozX7WpE

More Trustworthy Information on Rushan

http://www.wonderlust.me/2011/06/crispy-rushan-in-dali-yunnan/

Shiyu’s cursed technique would only result in weird, coarse lumps floating in a vat full of hot sour juice.

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