The dark tea sent by Aunt Lan this time had tiny golden flowers dotted all over, and it exuded a unique fragrance.
Li Ying boiled some boiling water and brewed a cup. Taking a sip, she found the taste extremely mellow, with a rich aftertaste. No wonder it was the masterpiece of Aunt Lan, made with all her lifelong knowledge.
The rarest thing about this tea was the golden flowers. When cooking it, it was best to preserve its original flavor as much as possible. Therefore, she specially fetched a small tea steamer.
The tea leaves were spread out on the steamer, and the water was placed below. Only the steaming heat was used to fully moisten the tea leaves. Only in this way could the original flavor of the golden flower dark tea be completely preserved.
She steamed the dark tea repeatedly for two quarters of an hour, then poured out the tea soup and filtered out the tea dregs with an extremely fine sieve.
She melted brown sugar and honey in a teapot over low heat, then poured in the tea soup. She added sliced young tangerines and squeezed out their fresh and sour juice. This cup of golden flower hot lemon tea was sweet and sour, rich in tea fragrance, and good for digestion, spleen strengthening and stomach nourishment. It was very suitable.
Thinking that Lu Xunguang had been traveling all the way and might be hungry by now, Li Ying steamed another pot of dark tea for cooking.
She chose spareribs, which were his favorite. She cut them into one - inch sections, each with a piece of cartilage, adding a crispy texture to the soft and glutinous meat.
She carefully washed away the blood and tiny bone residues again and again, then marinated them with ginger slices, oyster sauce, cooking wine, sugar and soy sauce. While waiting, she soaked some golden - colored small yellow millet.
She coated the spareribs with the millet and neatly arranged them in a clay pot lined with potato slices. She sprinkled a layer of golden flower dark tea on top and steamed them until the rice was crispy and the meat was tender. Then it was ready to be served, fragrant and steaming hot.
In this dish of golden flower dark tea and millet steamed spareribs, the meat was soaked in the tea soup and became very tender, melting in the mouth. The millet was rich in rice oil and now gave off a strong fragrance, neutralizing the slight greasiness of the spareribs just right.
The unique fermented flavor of the golden flower dark tea gave the spareribs a unique tea fragrance. The combination of the meat fragrance, rice fragrance and tea fragrance was surprisingly balanced and harmonious.
The only rib could be easily removed without any effort. Putting these oily steamed spareribs into the steamed bun made by Li Ying herself was simply a delicious treat that was priceless.
The way she made the bun dough was different. Instead of simply making a round cake, she first rolled the dough fermented with old dough into a long date - pit shape, evenly rolled it into small pieces, and then shaped it like a shallow saucer.
Only when this kind of bun dough was baked on a charcoal - fired stove could it produce golden bun patterns. The raised part of the "saucer" could also be baked into a thin golden line, which was very delicate and exquisite.
Only this kind of bun with the characteristics of "copper ring, tiger's back and chrysanthemum heart" paired with the soft and glutinous millet steamed spareribs, the crispy crust, the slightly chewy and wheat - scented bun, and the tender and juicy meat pieces could make people let out a satisfied sigh.
Coincidentally, there were still two tea - eggs made a few days ago. She cut them in half and put them into the bun together. The creamy yolk added a more substantial texture. Paired with the mellow marinating juice, it was not at all choking, but rather full of aftertaste.
Lu Xunguang ate until his mouth was shiny with oil, but his eyes still involuntarily glanced at the cold Taiji tea soup in the pot.
Li Ying couldn't help laughing and scolded him playfully, "I was just joking with you! When have I ever asked you to clean up the leftovers! Moreover, you've been so worried and exhausted these days. You should really have a good tonic!"
Just as Li Ying had expected, the whole family ate this pot of tea soup for two meals before finally finishing it all.
A Man usually liked tea very much, but now, she couldn't help being afraid of it and complaining non - stop.
Li Ying also carefully discussed with Aunt Lan all the details of making the golden flower dark tea, such as how to steam, press, bake and make the golden flowers grow.
This tea, like the coastal tea, was first created by Li Ying. Therefore, how to control the quality depended entirely on her.
Li Ying had no intention of hoarding the tea just because it was rare. Instead, she pulled the two tea masters into long - lasting and in - depth discussions all night.
She intended to make all this golden flower dark tea into tea bricks for easy transportation, but Aunt Lan frowned, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Tea bricks are not really rare. Most tea merchants usually press the high - quality, tender - tipped and leafy surface tea on the outer layer, while using the inferior core tea on the inner layer."
She looked at Li Ying tentatively. Li Ying guessed what she meant and just smiled slightly before speaking bluntly.
"Tea bricks made in this way have different qualities inside and outside. It's not really a conscientious way. Moreover, this will make the pressing process much more complicated, which is not what I want."
"In my opinion, we'd better carefully select the quality of the surface tea and the core tea, mix them and press them together without distinguishing between the surface tea and the inner tea. This can not only ensure the consistent quality of the tea bricks but also simplify the process and improve work efficiency. It's killing two birds with one stone."
She spoke frankly, and her words really hit Aunt Lan's heart.
Looking at Li Ying's confident appearance, Aunt Lan became even more certain.
This time, she had really followed the right person.
The two then discussed how to screen the content of tea stalks, how to ensure that the four corners of the tea bricks were flat, the patterns were clear, the tea soup was red but not turbid, the aroma was clear but not rough, and the taste was thick but not astringent. They talked until Li Ying was parched.
Finally, after seeing off Aunt Lan and Master Ge, Li Ying took two big gulps of water. Just then, she heard the fluttering of wings outside the window. She looked up happily and saw that it was indeed the female eagle.
There was a reply from Yan Lianzhi tied to one of its claws. The old man inquired about her and everyone's health and asked about Master Ge's return date before finally slowly getting to the point.
"There is indeed a person in the capital who is good at imitating others' handwriting. There was even a joke in the Censorate back then. The Salt - Tax Censor once gave an ancient painting to the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. That mediocre official of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was so proud that he boasted about it to everyone. One day, he even showed it off in front of me."
Who was Yan Lianzhi? He had seen countless famous paintings and classics in the world and had a sharp eye. He could tell at a glance that it was a fake. However, he couldn't help sighing that the person who forged it had imitated the calligraphy and handwriting so vividly that an ordinary person might really not be able to tell the difference.
Although the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was angry about being fooled, he still had to work with the Salt - Tax Censor in the same court and would inevitably meet each other. Moreover, they had searched for the forger but found nothing. In the end, he had no choice but to let it go.
Li Ying put down the letter in her hand and immediately understood.
Searching fruitlessly?
I'm afraid this expert good at forging handwriting was actually hidden by the Salt - Tax Censor!
Or perhaps, he was one of the Salt - Tax Censor's subordinates. It was not impossible!