Dinner was left to Chef Zhang, while Chief Chen took Jiang Hu to sell the deer bones and heads.
Chief Chen almost every year escorts the scholars to the prefectural state, passing through this county town each ti. Sotis, he would take strolls on his own, and with the introductions from Chef Zhang, he is quite familiar with the city.
Just as Chief Chen said, although there was no deer at, the deer innards were still in demand. They quickly sold everything to a suitable tavern.
As for the deer skin, head, and antlers, they were sent to the pharmacy, where the doctors could use them for dicinal purposes.
anwhile, Second Madam took the children to handle the deer at.
On the way to the post station, they had already bought spices. Now, they washed the deer at clean, cut it into thick slices as wide as three fingers, and cooked it directly with spices, salt, and wine.
Second Madam had made dried at many tis before, but it was the first ti she was using deer at, as previously it was always chicken or rabbit.
Of course, no matter the type of at, as long as it’s cooked, the sa thod could be used to prepare it.
The deer at was cut thinly; after cooking, it needed to be left for about a quarter of an hour to absorb the flavors.
Borrowing the post station’s kitchen, when Jiang Hu and Chief Chen returned and dinner was over, everyone was eager to go to bed, so Second Madam and Jiang Hu continued their work.
Although the post station mostly had common rooms, there were also private rooms, with each room conveniently equipped with two beds.
Jiang Hu rented two rooms: one room for the four children, each having their own bed; the other room was for the two daughters and Second Madam, while he planned to manage a night either on the horse or ox cart.
The ox cart contained their provisions and clothing for the journey, so Jiang Hu was not at ease leaving it unwatched.
While cooking the deer at, Second Madam had already taken the children to wash the clothes they had worn in the past few days. It took just an hour or two, and they were almost dry.
It shows how hot the sumr is.
The oil lamp lit, and the two of them made their way to the kitchen. After dinner, the deer at had already been simred and was marinated with salt, sugar, Sichuan pepper, black pepper, and soy sauce, absorbing the flavors completely.
Second Madam cut the marinated deer at into smaller pieces, while Jiang Hu removed the large iron pot from the stove and placed a sieve with gaps on top.
In the afternoon, when selling the deer bones, he bought twenty eggs and a bag of charcoal.
The eggs were for the next few days’ journey, and the charcoal was for roasting the deer at.
The cooked, sliced deer at was laid on the sieve, with charcoal fire beneath. The temperature was not too high, so there was no worry about the sieve catching fire.
The at strips were placed on the sieve, and as the temperature beneath rose, the moisture gradually evaporated and the strips shrank.
So twenty to thirty pounds of at filled all three stove spaces, laid out piece by piece. However, once the moisture was roasted out, they’d appear to be much less.
As long as all the moisture is thoroughly roasted out of the deer at, and if stored in a well-ventilated area, it can last a whole month without an issue, even in sumr.
Once the at was set to roast, Jiang Hu sent Second Madam to bed, while he stayed behind to watch, perfectly positioned to keep on eye on the carriages in the courtyard.
The ox cart had a straw canopy covered with tarpaulin. Jiang Hu laid a quilt inside, opened the curtains front and back. It was cool and breezy as he slept, and if there was any noise, he would be able to hear it.
Sleeping for half an hour, he would wake to replace the charcoal in the stove and turn over the dried at to continue roasting. By the end of the night, it would be completely dry.
July wasn’t sunny every day. In the middle of the night, a sudden clap of thunder woke Jiang Hu, who quickly rose to collect the clothes. As soon as he got them under the eaves, the heavy rain began to pour, and Second Madam also ca out.
He handed the clothes to Second Madam to bring back to the room and continued watching over the dried at and food.
The heavy rain lasted until the next morning, cooling the sultry air considerably. There was little ti for pleasantries; finishing breakfast, everyone was urged to set off.
As they were leaving, the scholars ca to thank Jiang Hu and his family again. After having the at soup and a good night’s sleep, they all felt much more refreshed today.
The Jiang family had a half pound more of deer at than usual. Though each person only had a small piece, it was a delicacy, and combined with their normally good health, that small amount of deer at made everyone’s complexion radiant.
Leaving the post station, they headed straight for the carriage gate. In less than a quarter of an hour, the others staying separately had all arrived. Chief Chen did a headcount, ensured no one was missing, and then they departed.
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