Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 64: Trying Grilled Pork Liver and Intestines on Skewers
Chapter 58
Trying Grilled Pork Liver and Intestines on Skewers
After finishing up at their shop, Xiaolin ran to ask her father for permission to explore the town. Seeing that Liu Hao was going to Master Zheng’s shop anyway, Tianrong gave his permission.
“Don’t run off alone, understand?” He reminded his chubby, mischievous daughter.
“Yes, Father,”
Holding her uncle’s hand, Xiaolin walked with him and Liu Hao toward Master Zheng’s blacksmith shop. The workers, recognizing the little girl, invited them to sit inside and went to fetch the shop owner.
“Little Xiaolin, it hasn’t even been a month since your last visit. Why are you here so soon?” Zheng Luan asked, approaching the fair-skinned child sitting between the two young men.
“Greetings, Uncle. I’ve brought my uncle to buy some stuff,”
“Oh, I see. What do you need?” Zheng Luan asked the two men.
“I would like a grill and cooking grate like Xiaolin’s, but a bit larger,” Liu Hao immediately stated his request.
“Alright, I’ll have the workers make it as quickly as possible. You can pick it up in about a week, is that alright?”
“That will be fine.”
“Then please discuss the size of the stove and deposit with the worker over there,” Zheng Luan said, leading Liu Hao away. He didn’t forget to order some snacks for the chubby-cheeked girl.
After completing their business, the three of them left the blacksmith shop. Xiaolin wanted to visit a butcher shop that slaughtered and sold its own pork. Since Liu Hao used to frequent the town, he led the uncle and niece to the right place.
Liu Hao guided them to a lane specializing in meat sales. Xiaolin looked around, searching for the shop she wanted. Spotting a large butcher’s stall in a corner, she quickly led her uncle there.
“Uncle, how much is the pork?” The chubby girl asked, looking up at the burly man with a thick beard who was chopping pork with a large knife.
“Oh, little girl, I sell pork for eighty brass coins per jin. If you want meat with skin, it’s cheaper—fifty brass coins per jin.”
Xiaolin tilted her head, thinking. The pork wasn’t cheap, though it was less than what her uncle had mentioned. However, buying expensive pork to sell for just a few brass coins per skewer wouldn’t be feasible.
Then a light bulb lit up in her head with a ding! sound.
What if she sold grilled pork innards?
“Uncle, do you have pork innards?” she asked, her question causing the butcher to frown.
“Yes, but usually poor villagers buy them. You’re well-dressed. Why would you want those?” The butcher eyed her clothes, which, though not silk, were new cotton, unlike the patched-up clothes of the poor villagers.
“To eat, of course. I’d like six jin of pork liver and six jin of pork intestines. Can you have them ready for me by dawn tomorrow?”
The butcher looked at the chubby little girl with a cheerful voice in confusion. Her family could not have been that poor. Why would she want to buy these to eat? The butcher wondered as he shook his head, still, it was none of his business after all.
“Alright, I’ll have them ready. Six jin of liver and six jin of intestines. That’ll be a hundred and twenty brass coins.”
“Alright, I’ll prepare it for you. Six jin of pork liver and six jin of pork intestines, correct? I’ll charge you one hundred and twenty brass coins,”
Xiaolin grinned widely upon hearing this because it was much cheaper than pork meat. Selling these could still yield a decent profit. She didn’t want to keep catching chickens, fearing they might run out and she wouldn’t have any left to eat.
Before leaving, she ordered an additional jin each of pork liver and intestines to take home. After paying in full, they left the market and headed back to the city’s main gate.
“Xiaolin, you said you were going to buy pork. Why did you buy liver and intestines instead?” Liu Hao asked curiously. The chubby girl had earlier mentioned wanting him to hunt boars. Tianchen, however, trusted his niece completely, believing that whatever she decided to sell would surely be successful.
“Pork is expensive, uncle. Selling it wouldn’t yield much profit. As for hunting boars, I realized we couldn’t sell a whole pig quickly enough. With the weather getting warmer, the meat might spoil before we could sell it. Buying fresh pork daily from the butcher is a better option,”
“So what will you do with the pork liver? Grill it?”
“Yes, we’ll have to come to the market a bit earlier to prepare everything,”
“And the liver and intestines you bought today, are we going to cook and eat them?” Tianchen asked his niece in excitement.
“Yes, uncle. Xiaolin will try grilling the liver for everyone. The intestines will be grilled too, and we’ll eat them with spicy dipping sauce and sticky rice,”
“Then let’s head home,” Tianchen said eagerly, his stomach growling with hunger. He wanted to hurry back home already!
Driven by hunger, the two young men quickly loaded the cart. Tianrong, the cart owner, stood bewildered. The cart was already hitched, the goods packed, and everyone seated, waiting for him. He had no choice but to climb up and drive them home.
The little cook only had to give instructions while others did the work. The liver and intestines were washed thoroughly.
The intestines were scrubbed multiple times with salt to reduce any odor before being boiled with lemongrass and dried kaffir lime leaves. Xiaolin hadn’t had a chance to pick fresh leaves yet and didn’t know if they had grown enough to be harvested.
The pork liver was washed once, sliced thinly for easier cooking, and then washed multiple times to remove the blood. She even soaked it in starch water for a while to make it tender.
“Marinate them for about fifteen minutes, uncle. Xiaolin has pounded pepper, coriander seeds, and garlic. Here are the seasonings,” she said, sliding a small bowl of marinade toward them. She had already prepared the marinade with soy sauce, syrup, a bit of salt, and oyster sauce while the makeshift workers were washing the pork.
The two young men followed her instructions without complaint. One boiled the intestines while the other prepared the liver. As usual, Tianrong was tasked with carving bamboo skewers.
“Uncle, are the intestines ready?” The chubby girl asked, returning to the kitchen. She had estimated they should be boiled for about fourty five minutes which should be enough.
“I’ve soaked it in cold water as you said,”
“Then cut it into bite-sized pieces and marinate it for fifteen,” Xiaolin instructed, sliding a small bowl of marinade and seasonings toward him, the same recipe used for marinating the pork liver.
“Understood,”
After giving her instructions, Xiaolin focused on making the spicy dipping sauce. She tasted it and found the flavor good but the appearance lacked some color. The chubby girl ran to the garden beside the house, picked a few cilantro leaves that had grown to about half an inch, and returned to the kitchen to place them on the dipping sauce. She crossed her arms and nodded in satisfaction as she looked at the bowl.
As time passed, the intestines and liver were skewered. The liver was cut into long slices, two pieces per skewer, while the intestines were cut into bite-sized pieces, with about seven pieces per skewer.
“Is ten brass coins per skewer too expensive?” Xiaolin asked, looking up at the three tall men helping to skewer the liver and intestines.
“If we sell to wealthy customers, it’s not too expensive, but for villagers, it might be,” Tianrong replied.
The chubby girl thought for a moment. Most villagers wouldn’t buy it anyway. They would prefer cheap, filling food like steamed buns or dumplings.
“Ten brass coins is fair. Xiaolin’s skewers use a lot of ingredients and are very delicious,” Tianchen, who always spoiled his niece, said. Xiaolin hugged her young uncle tightly, rubbing her chubby cheeks against his back.
“Uncle, you’re the best!”
Xiaolin sat by the fire, watching the liver and intestines grill. The aroma wafted far, even drawing Hui Song, who had been resting under a tree with the chubby cows, back to the house, including a newcomer who had just arrived at the Tang’s residence.
“Tianrong! Are you home?” It was Guo Lu calling from outside. Tianrong hurried to open the gate.
“Brother Lu, what’s going? What brings you here?”
“What’s that wonderful smell?” Guo Lu asked, almost forgetting his purpose for coming.
“Xiaolin is grilling liver and intestines. Come in, but there isn’t much,”
“A bite would be like a blessing for me. Xiaolin’s cooking is always delicious,” Guo Lu said, greeting the chubby girl by the fire.
“Little Xiaolin, making something delicious again?”
“Uncle! Come in. I will give you a stick of liver and intestines each,” Xiaolin said, waving at him to come over.
“Haha, my niece is so sweet,” Guo Lu said, sitting next to the chubby girl and helping grill the meat.
“By the way, Rong, some villagers saw us setting up at the beach and came to ask for work,” Guo Lu said, recalling his purpose for the visit.
“Who?”
“Meng Ta.”
Tianrong thought for a moment. This Meng Ta was about his age but they rarely spoke, as Tianrong lived outside the village. But that Meng Ta would often follow his father to work in the city so they barely ever met.
“I leave it to you, brother. If the work becomes too much and you need more people, just let me know first thing.”
“Alright. I think we’ll need more people. The sea is full of squid, and we want to catch more, but there aren’t enough hands.”
“You can hire two or three more people. The merchant from Jiu Zhou ordered an additional five hundred jin of squid and will collect it next month.”
Cough! “Five hundred jin?” Guo Lu exclaimed. How many buckets would he have to dry the squid in to meet that order of five hundred jin?
“Yes, I’m not worried about the squid because you work quickly, but the mussels are a different story. Only the Fu family processes them. Brother Heng is busy taking care of his wife, and when our shop opens, he’ll be helping there more,” Tianrong explained, realizing he had forgotten to mention this to his older friend due to being preoccupied with construction work.
“Ask Great-Grandfather to help, Father. After he’s finished planting the vegetables and sweet potatoes, he should have some free time. Grandpa Luo will probably go back to the city for work as usual. If they dry mussels to sell, we can make more money,” said the chubby girl, who had been listening quietly. She picked up a skewer of grilled intestines, blew on it, and took a bite.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll go to your great-grandfather’s house now,” Tianrong said, hurrying out. They had caught enough squid, but the mussels were still in short supply, mainly because the bulk of the work fell to the Fu couple. Their two children were still too young to help much.
“You are really smart, Xiaolin, always thinking of ways to help your father make a living,” Guo Lu said, patting the chubby girl’s round cheeks. He sighed, thinking of his own children.
It was hard enough to get them out of bed in the morning, though they did help with the vegetable garden at home rather than running off to play.
“I want to be a millionaire!” Xiaolin said, her cheeks puffed out as she chewed the grilled intestines.
“Hahaha!” Guo Lu laughed heartily at the little girl’s typical proclamation.
Liu Hao and Tianchen, who had gone fishing, returned to the Tang household. The grilled liver and intestines were ready to eat, though there wasn’t much, so each person only got two skewers. But they were satisfied, as they ate it with sticky rice.
“It’s delicious.”
“I think the flavor is a bit mild. It would be better if it was marinated longer,” Xiaolin said, pouting. Despite her words, her belly was round and full.
“If we marinate it for longer, it will definitely taste even better,” Tianchen, who always indulged his niece, added.
“Alrighty.”
“Alright, enough about selling things for now. It’s time for your nap,” Zhang Ruo said, taking her granddaughter’s hand to wash up. She prepared a place for her to sleep in the hall.
“Take a nap, little piggy. You’re so young and already thinking about business,”
“Hehe, I want money, I can’t help it,” Xiaolin said, laughing as her grandmother untangled her hair.
“But don’t forget you’re still a child. Just focus on eating well and getting enough sleep. Leave the money-making to the adults, you understand?”
“I understand. YAWNNN~,” Xiaolin said, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
“Sleep well,” Zhang Ruo said, stroking her granddaughter’s head until she fell asleep, then quietly left to continue her work.
“Where did you buy the charcoal, Brother Rong? I’d like to buy some too. The charcoal I’m using now is too expensive. Can you sell me some?” Liu Hao asked as they lounged on the platform behind the house.
“I bought it from a friend. How many sacks do you need? I’ll sell it to you at the same price I bought it, one tael of silver per sack.”
“Can you sell me ten sacks?”
“Sure, you can come and pick them up from the old house.”
Liu Hao handed over ten taels of silver from the morning’s sale of grilled fish. After finishing their conversation, they continued to lounge around.
“Aren’t you thinking of starting your own business?” Tianrong asked Liu Hao amid the loud snores of Tianchen.
“I’ve thought about it, but I’m not good at business. If the grilled fish sells well, I’ll build a small shack near your shop.”
“Then hurry and buy the land. Many people have been looking at it today. I guess it’s because the governor opened his shop there,”
“I’ll go buy it tomorrow after I’m done selling the food,”
“Good idea. It’s always useful to have land for the future.”
The two continued to chat about various topics until they too fell asleep, joining Tianchen.
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