NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20 Oven
After the clay oven was dried, it was officially opened.
This oven is different from the square iron ovens used at home, but is like a huge upside-down bowl. The naan pit is made of stones mixed with soil. It is placed under the oven and can be used to place hot coals. The pit is square and the oven is round. The mouth of the oven can be built with a bamboo bracket. It can be hung in the oven to barbecue, or the cake base can be baked on the inner wall of the oven. Make naan bread.
In her previous life, Mao Xi often ate Xinjiang's baked naan and baked buns. She never thought that she could also make grilled naan in the south of the Huai Kingdom.
Lou Laner used the oven skillfully, pasting pieces of naan bread to the inner wall of the oven, and placed some chicken skewers skewered with bamboo and hung them in the oven.
"Lou Lan'er, why do you want to make an oven? Are you not used to southern rice?" Shui Xi asked curiously.
"I saw that you were cooking pancakes too slowly, so I thought of the oven commonly used in my hometown."
After switching from pancakes to scones, Maoshi added grilled naan and yakitori to the menu.
The meat skewers are alternately skewered with green peppers and chicken, plus her secret marinated meat honey sauce and spices, making the skewers a hot seller in Lihua Town.
The honey juice for marinating meat is made from: ginger and garlic juice, salt, vinegar, rice wine, sugar, and sesame oil.
The spices for barbecue are: ground cumin, chili pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, pepper, and perilla seeds into powder, and sprinkled during the roasting process to enhance the flavor.
Meat skewers cost 10 cents each, grilled naan 5 cents each, and naan-wrapped barbecued meats cost 13 cents each.
In order to increase sales and the reputation of the snack shop, Mao Xi provides free errands in the town, only for naan buns and barbecue. Diners at home who need it can make a reservation one day in advance.
Aniang Liu was in the store, taking her younger sister Ajiao with her, while she was responsible for marinating barbecued meats and making kebabs and naan bread dough.
Lou Lan'er is responsible for making barbecue, grilled naan and running errands for delivery. Mao Xi increased Lou Lan'er's monthly payment to one tael.
People in the town are spreading the news that if you want to eat northern delicacies that you have never tasted before, you must go to Ah Shu’s Liuxiang Snacks and try her “Naan Bao BBQ”.
On holidays, diners from surrounding counties and towns will also come to the store just to eat the unique aroma of kebabs.
Qingxianglou also sold northern scones, but because most of its customers were traveling merchants and postmen, sales were not ideal.
Shopkeeper Hu specially came to Mao Xi's shop to find out what was going on. He ordered a naan bun barbecue.
The level of roasting of this naan is similar to the one in his restaurant, except that it has more sesame seeds, but it seems to have a light milky aroma.
This is because Mao Xi purchased milk that is currently available in small quantities on the market through her own store to make her grilled naan more authentic.
"How can you put milk in a naan that only costs 5 cents each? It's impossible." Shopkeeper Hu thought as he took another bite of the kebab.
"The bell pepper chunks explode in your mouth together with the chicken. The chicken is tender and tender, and the bell pepper is crispy and fragrant, which makes the taste rich. The spices... yes, it's because of the spices. I can't tell what spices are used in this marinade. "
After eating, Shopkeeper Hu bought another portion of naan buns and barbecued meat to take home, preparing for the chefs in his restaurant to study it carefully.
Lou Lan'er recognized Shopkeeper Hu, and she leaned into Shu Xi's ear and said, "Ah Shu, that Shopkeeper Hu took the naan buns and barbecued meat away. He must be going back to study and imitate us."
"It's okay. When he develops it to 70-80%, and everyone's novelty has worn off, we will sell other delicacies then."
Mao Xi is not afraid that Boss Hu will imitate her and make a copycat version of barbecue to steal business. Her secret is the pickling sauce and spices.
She purchased the ingredients from the mall, and the tomatoes, peppers, and green peppers in the ingredients have only just been grown in Liujiazhuang and have not yet become popular. When Shopkeeper Hu makes the copycat version, the peanuts in her field will also be ripe. This will be another is the new snack.
Mao Xi's inner abacus was rattling, and she was waiting to save enough money to invest in a larger shop.
However, people's calculations are not as good as God's calculations, and everything never goes as expected.
Years later, a chicken plague broke out in the northern part of the Huai Kingdom. No one dared to eat chickens, and no one sold chickens in the market.
Farmers who specialize in raising chickens sprinkle lime on the chicken pens, feed the chickens chopped mung beans, and treat chickens with bloodletting under their wings if they find chicken plague.
The Cooked Medicine Benefiting Bureau of Lihua Town distributes free anti-epidemic medicinal soup to the people to prevent chicken plague.
Fortunately, the plague was only prevalent in a small area in the north and not in the south.
But the sales of the grilled chicken skewers in Maoxi's shop were out of business, so she simply sold grilled naan and scones exclusively to some salesmen and people at the inn.
The grilled chicken skewers were replaced with grilled pork, cut into minced meat, and sold as roujiamo with pancakes, which sold well.
"Shopkeeper, bring me some hot and sour noodles!" A salesman took off his load and came to Liuxiang Snacks to rest and eat.
After delivering rice noodles to the salesman, Mao Xi was very interested in the salesman's load parked outside the store. The cargo box was filled with a dazzling array of hundreds of items, including needles and thread, rouge gouache, fan pearls, snacks and toys for children, and a big tambourine for shouting.
After the seller finished eating, he bought another roasted naan as dry food. As he was about to leave, Mao Xi called him.
"Uncle Salesman, I'm going to buy a kite and a windmill."
After paying the money, she saw some eye-shaped jewelry hanging on the salesman's body and a wooden sign with the word "sickness" on his waist. Mao Xi was quite curious: "Uncle, what are those scary eyes on your body?"
"Hahaha! Girl, in addition to selling handicraft toys and daily necessities, I can also treat eye diseases." After speaking, he turned over the waistband with the word "disease" written on it. "I am a walking doctor. I can also treat other diseases." Take a look!"
The salesman was playing a tambourine and singing all the way, and the drums were beating loudly, followed by several children chasing and playing behind him.
Mao Xi secretly sighed inwardly that the salesman in ancient times also had many jobs and was actually a barefoot doctor.
After Xiaodouzi left school and returned to Liuxiang Snacks, he was very excited when he saw the kite bought by Mao Xi. His younger sister Ajiao played with the windmill with her brother.
Mao Xi took a scone as a snack for Xiaodouzi and said, "Tomorrow is the Qingming Festival, and I will take you to fly a kite."
At this time, Mu Zhiyuan happened to be holding a kite and came to Qingxiang Snacks. Xiaodouzi had not seen him for a long time, so he rushed up and hugged him.
"Brother Mu, why don't you come to our house? Little Spirit Rat, Dahuang, Yuanbao, and Preserved Egg miss you too."
Mu Zhiyuan knelt down and handed the kite to Xiaodouzi.
"I bought a kite for you. How about taking you and sister to fly a kite tomorrow?"
When Lou Lan'er saw Mu Zhiyuan's kites, she joked, "What a coincidence that the ones you bought are butterfly kites."
"Sister also said she would take me there tomorrow. Brother Mu, let's come together." Xiaodouzi took Mu Zhiyuan's hand and looked at Shui Xi.
"Tomorrow, some customers in the city will order food and deliver it to the suburbs. I have to make it in the store early in the morning, and then I will take Xiaodouzi, Aniang, and Ajiao to fly a kite." Mao Xi was a little embarrassed.
After saying that, Mao Xi took her butterfly kite and gave it back to Mu Zhiyuan.
"Ah Shu, you can go fly a kite tomorrow and leave the food delivery to me."
The next morning, Mao Xi prepared the naan cakes and pastries customized by the customers, and prepared to head to the countryside with Lou Lan'er.
Mu Zhiyuan drove two donkey carts and waited outside the door.