Tang Guiniang and Ye Shen were doing needlework in the room.
Qi Jiao went to the kitchen, planning to make some desserts and snacks for them.
Suddenly remembering the copper teapot, Qi Jiao got an idea.
Pei Xia was classifying the shrimps and crabs in the yard.
Qi Jiao walked up to him hesitantly, then took a deep breath and said, "Pei Xia, do we have any tea leaves and milk at home?"
Pei Xia raised his eyes. "We only have tea leaves at home. They are wild tea leaves dried by mother last year. Do you need them?"
Qi Jiao nodded. "Wild tea is okay. I don't mind the variety."
Pei Xia went into the room and found a small bundle for her. There were about half a jin of old tea leaves in it.
Qi Jiao thought that if she couldn't make milk tea, she could make pounded tea instead.
But Pei Xia said, "Grandma Cao has a buffalo. I'll go and exchange some milk for it."
With that, he picked out five or six less-bony pomfrets and a basket of big prawns, and set off for Grandma Cao's house.
Pei Xia came back with a full clay pot of fresh milk.
Qi Jiao washed her hands and started to get busy.
She saw Pei Xia lingering outside the kitchen frequently, looking like he had something to do but also nothing to do.
Qi Jiao simply ordered him to help light the fire.
Pei Xia looked calm on the surface, but there was a smile in his eyes.
Qi Jiao knew that Tang Guiniang liked sweet food, but she didn't know Ye Shen's taste. When she asked Pei Xia, he didn't know either.
Qi Jiao simply made two kinds.
The steps of making milk tea were simple and didn't take much effort.
The key was to make pounded tea. Besides the basic ingredients such as tea leaves, fried rice, sesame seeds, soybeans, peanuts, salt and dried tangerine peels, it was best to add fresh seasonal herbs.
For example, the leaves of wild pears and snow yams before Tomb-Sweeping Festival. In summer, wormwood leaves, mint, fine-leaf moneywort, bamboo shoot vegetables, etc.
In autumn when the weather is dry, marigolds or white chrysanthemums are often chosen; in winter when it is cold, prickly ash leaves or cinnamon are the best.
Qi Jiao searched around and picked five or six small white chrysanthemums and two tender green leaves behind the house.
She put the prepared ingredients into a stone mortar. Qi Jiao clamped the mortar with her legs and tightly held the pestle with both hands, pounding it in circles continuously until it became a paste-like tea mud.
Then she poured boiling water into it, and the pounded tea was ready.
Qi Jiao smiled contentedly at the finished product. She didn't know that Pei Xia was looking at her, his eyes as bright as stars.
Besides the tea drinks, Qi Jiao also made chicken cakes and small glutinous rice cakes with brown sugar.
These ingredients were easy to get and quick to make.
Tang Guiniang picked up the milk tea that Qi Jiao had made. Usually, she didn't drink milk because she always thought it smelled a bit fishy.
But once she took a sip, she was amazed.
This milk tea was so smooth and delicious!
The milk fragrance wrapped the tea fragrance, and with the sweetness of maltose, Tang Guiniang drank a bowl of it without realizing it.
Ye Shen drank the pounded tea first. It tasted fragrant and salty in the mouth, leaving a lingering fragrance at the corners of her mouth.
Then she ate a piece of chicken cake and took a sip of the milk tea.
She looked surprised. "Jiao Niang's cooking skills are even better than those of the cooks in wealthy families!"
Tang Guiniang felt proud. "Jiao Niang's cooking skills are really good. These days, the children's taste buds have been spoiled by her. They all say that the food I cook is not delicious and keep pestering Jiao Niang to make them something nice."
Ye Shen's face broke into a big smile. She looked at Qi Jiao with tenderness and love in her eyes, thinking that it was really a wise decision to recognize Jiao Niang as her goddaughter.
"Speaking of cooking skills, my cousin just had a grandson. She's going to hold a full - moon banquet at the end of this month and is looking for a cook."
Qi Jiao thought that it was really worth recognizing Ye Shen as her godmother.
Sure enough, here came the opportunity to make money.
So she said excitedly, "Is what godmother said true?"
Ye Shen laughed. "Would I lie to you?"
Pei Xia put down the milk tea and said in a calm voice, "Why don't you let Jiao Niang go and give it a try?"
Qi Jiao quickly nodded.
Ye Shen had already tasted Qi Jiao's cooking. Although her family was not well - off, who hadn't attended a few banquets? Of course, she could tell good food from bad.
Moreover, Jiao Niang had a clean and fresh look, which made people feel comfortable at first sight.
Wasn't she a hundred times better than those unkempt cooks?
So they decided on this matter. Ye Shen would take Jiao Niang to the Zhu family the next day.
The Zhu family was the one holding the full - moon banquet.
The mistress of the Zhu family was surnamed Han. She was Ye Shen's cousin.
But the Zhu family was different from the Ye family. They ran a grain and miscellaneous goods store in the town and had some property. Their life was much more comfortable than the Ye family's.
Moreover, the eldest son of the Zhu family was a scholar, which raised the family's status a lot.
This time, it was the eldest daughter - in - law of the Zhu family who gave birth to their first child. The mistress of the Zhu family wanted to celebrate it well, so she spread the word that she was going to choose the best cook or cookess from the surrounding areas.
After all, the banquet was of utmost importance and was also a matter of the host's face.
Early the next morning, Qi Jiao and Ye Shen came to the Zhu family.
The mistress of the Zhu family looked a bit like Ye Shen, but she was not as beautiful as Ye Shen. Her eyes were full of shrewdness, and she didn't seem easy to get along with.
She lifted the corner of her eyes and glanced at Qi Jiao. Seeing that she was young and a girl, her eyes showed a hint of disdain.
Ye Shen knew her cousin's problem all too well. She always looked down on people.
So she recommended Qi Jiao. "You don't know. Jiao Niang is my goddaughter. Can I not know whether her cooking skills are good or not?"
The mistress of the Zhu family's face softened a bit. She didn't have many sisters. Although this cousin's family was in an ordinary condition, they were really sincere to her.
So she asked Qi Jiao as if giving her a face. "We're going to hold a banquet for twenty tables in three days. Can you handle it? Do you know the rules?"
Qi Jiao smiled faintly and said calmly, "I only know that a decent banquet should include special livestock, miscellaneous livestock, river fresh, seafood, scaly aquatic animals, scaleless aquatic animals, vegetarian dishes, side dishes, dim sum, rice porridge, tea and wine.
The number of dishes is usually an even number. The main cooking methods are steaming, braising, stewing, frying, mixing and quick - frying. Banquets are divided into three grades: upper, middle and lower. And each grade is further divided into upper - upper, upper - middle, upper - lower, middle - upper, middle - middle, middle - lower, lower - upper, lower - middle and lower - lower...
I wonder which grade and type of banquet you want to hold, madam?"
These words left the mistress of the Zhu family stunned, while Ye Shen smiled brightly. "She knows a lot."
The mistress of the Zhu family dabbed the corners of her nose with a handkerchief, and the powder fell off in flakes. "We're just a small family holding a full - moon banquet. What's all this talk about upper - grade and lower - grade... I just want a big - portion and delicious banquet. Can you do it?"
Qi Jiao thought for a moment. "Madam is quite right. Usually, for an ordinary banquet table, six cold dishes, eight hot dishes, plus two soups, one staple food and one small snack are enough. I've made cold dishes such as sliced pork in garlic sauce, shredded spicy fish, walnut and black fungus, cold - dressed jellyfish shreds, smoked and marinated platter, crystal beef...
Hot dishes such as shredded meat in sweet bean sauce, mandarin duck chicken, steamed grouper, crab baked with scallions and ginger, braised whole pig elbow, cold - dressed fresh conch slices, pickled bamboo shoot slices with wild pepper, eight - treasure tofu casserole, tender lamb chops with mushrooms, steamed pork with rice flour...
There are also staple foods and snacks such as eight - treasure rice with pumpkin, shrimp cakes, apricot jelly, water - boiled glutinous rice balls.
Madam can tell me your budget, what dishes you want, how many meat and vegetarian dishes, how many cold and hot dishes. I'll make a menu for you to have a look at, and you can modify it then."
As she said this, Ye Shen was already stunned, and the mistress of the Zhu family couldn't help but swallow her saliva.