Chapter 17 is very good at eating

  The sky was just bright, and the roosters in Zhaojia Village had already begun to crow loudly, each showing off their vocal cords. At the first cockcrow, Li Anran once again woke up from that state of meditation where he forgot about everything, and despite not having slept all night, he felt even more spirited.

  After getting up from the collapse, he moved around and didn't feel any soreness in his body due to sitting for a whole night. However, Li Anran did not rush to go to the riverbank to practice swordplay.

  "Last night when I was practicing, the pattern that reappeared on my body had those node-like points, like acupoints, how did three-tenths of them light up?"

  Recalling the strange place he had discovered while practicing before, Li An thought for a long time but couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation, and could only temporarily remember it in his heart. After washing up, Li An changed back into his own Taoist robe, carrying his dustpan and wearing his long sword to an open area by the river not far from Zhao Er's house, and began practicing his sword.

  After a set of pure Yang sword, Li Anran suddenly felt that his strength, speed, bounce and neural response had improved. Especially the feeling was more acute, which was discovered during the practice of the sword, there was something wrong in the grass on the opposite bank of the river, but it didn't show up.

  After swinging the pure Yang sword back and forth several times, Li Anran, who had finished his morning lesson, didn't rush to go back. Instead, he strolled along the riverbank with his "treasured" mobile phone.

  Can't help but admit, the ancient environment is really good. Although Zhaojia Village is not a famous scenic spot, it can be considered a beautiful place in later generations. After turning on the forced flash, Li Anran clicked and snapped a few shots, then nodded satisfactorily, put his phone into his treasure bag, and turned to leave.

  When they returned to Zhao Er's home, Zhao Er and his wife were already busy. Feeding the chickens, feeding the cows, and also the pigs that Li Anran had specifically asked Zhao Da to buy from the county town yesterday.

  In the Tang Dynasty at that time, ordinary people basically only ate two meals a day. But under Li Anran's request, Zhao Er's family changed to three meals a day.

  After putting away the Taoist robe and treasure sword, Li Anran changed back into his coarse linen Tang suit. Taking advantage of Zhao Er's family being busy, he kneaded some white flour on the kitchen counter. Having had experience with snow sugar and processed meat products before, he was quite skilled at eating this way, and Zhao Er and his wife were also used to it.

  But for this kneading method that I've never seen before, I'm quite curious. No choice, authentic Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles haven't appeared in this era yet.

  In order to have something to eat for the next morning, Li Anran not only asked Zhao Da to buy back flour but also went to the wild to get some cattail grass, dried it and burned it into ash. Then put it in a water basin to make a cattail ash solution, after standing overnight, it became an essential thing for making authentic Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles - cattail ash water.

  Traditional Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles emphasize "three waters, three ashes, 99 times of kneading", after improvement, the water and ash are directly mixed and dissolved, with better effect.

  As for the method of making Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles, it was learned by Li Anran when he was in university from his dormitory mate from Lanzhou. He even secretly learned some recipes for beef soup. The key to making good Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles lies not only in the texture of the noodles but also in the broth and toppings. Unfortunately, in ancient times, cows were used for farming and it was forbidden to slaughter them for food.

  Especially during the Zhen Guan period of the Tang Dynasty, due to the influence of the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the damage to agriculture was very great. All regions were recuperating and who dared to kill cattle would be guilty of a serious crime. Fortunately, although there was no beef available, the rich bone broth simmered overnight could also be used as a suitable base for noodles, especially after adding spices and simmering over low heat all night, the broth was so fragrant that it made people drool.

  Taking advantage of the summer's convenience, Li Anran quickly woke up and used Zhao Er's couple's dazzling hand method to pull out a handful of fine noodles as thin as hair.

  In normal Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles, the noodles are also very particular. Not only is the flour and alkali powder used carefully selected, but the size of the noodles is also divided into many varieties.

  Fine, as the name suggests, like hair, actually a bit like fine silk threads, that is, the kind of noodles pulled out by Li Anran under his eyes.

  This is slightly thicker than a hair, about the thickness of a joss stick.

  It's about as thick as regular stir-fried noodles now.

  Three thin is slightly coarser than two thin, eating it feels like eating coarse rice noodles. However, if the noodles are pulled with more force, this one has the most texture when chewed.

  Leek leaves, as the name suggests, this noodle is as wide as leek leaves.

  Dà kuān, this type of noodle is like the wide flat noodles you eat with malatang, very wide.

  The benefits of thin noodles are not just a smoother taste, but also almost no need to chew after entering the mouth. For business owners, the biggest benefit is that this noodle is very easy to cook. It only needs to be rinsed in boiling water for a few times, and it can be cooked, which can save a lot of fuel. However, if the noodles are not pulled well, they will dissolve as soon as they enter the pot.

  If it were in the past, Li Anran still wouldn't be able to pull off a face as good as he does now. But after his strength and physical coordination increased significantly, everything fell into place.

  Knowing that Zhao Er couple would be busy today, Li Anran first served a bowl of thin noodles for each of them. Then he used the big bone broth as the soup base and added some smoked meat with scallions, coriander, and diced vegetables as toppings. Whether this noodle dish is delicious or not, Zhao Er couple didn't say too much before tasting it, but just by looking at its appearance, this noodle dish can absolutely stimulate people's appetite.

  "Slow down, there's still more. Tell me, how does this dish taste?" Li Anran smiled as he watched Zhao Er devouring the huge bowl of food in front of him.

  Feeling the smooth noodles melting in his mouth with the rich broth, plus the chewy smoked meat and the refreshing small dishes, Zhao Er was at a loss for words and only managed to utter one word.

  "Good!"

  Although this simple word of praise may not be as pleasant to the ear as elegant language, for Li Anran, this heartfelt compliment is what she likes best.

  After seeing the big shining eyes of Dog Egg, Li Anran didn't waste any more time and burst out laughing, then started to busy herself again.

  "I'm going! This noodle is really delicious!!"

  Li Anran himself was also squatting outside the kitchen, holding a bowl and taking a big mouthful of it. He too was stunned by the fresh, fragrant, smooth and refreshing taste.

  He ate so satisfyingly that he couldn't stop, and by the time Li Anran wanted to get another bowl of noodles for himself, he discovered that the big ball of noodles he had kneaded earlier had already been eaten clean.

  "I don't know if it's because I've become more discerning or if the ingredients and spices used in ancient times were all natural, but this dish tastes better than any I've made before."

  "The flavor of the smoked meat is still a bit off, but if I could pair it with my signature grilled skewers and make some spicy oil to go with it, the flavor would definitely be taken to the next level."

  "If this is taken out, it may not be possible to make a lot of money in a short period of time, but as a long-term business, it's absolutely no problem."

  "Unfortunately, there are still too few people available at the moment. I have to make rock sugar, roast meat, and now this Lanzhou pulled noodles, it's just too much work."

  Moreover, at this time of the year, chili peppers have not been introduced from abroad yet. If you want to eat spicy food, you can only use Sichuan pepper and prickly ash to substitute, but the flavor will be quite different.

  Thinking of this, Li Anran could only temporarily put the idea of bringing Lanzhou noodles to the world earlier in his mind. At this time, Zhao's couple also rushed over.

  As everyone arrived, Li Anran didn't stand on ceremony. First, he asked Zhao Da to open up the earth pit that had been covered overnight and take out the charcoal that had been burned well.

  There are two types of charcoal, one is pine wood charcoal and the other is bamboo charcoal. It's said that fruit wood charcoal is best for roasting meat, but unfortunately, it's hard to find fruit wood these days, so we have to make do with what we have. After the charcoal fire was lit and put into the oven, Li Anran took out the meat that had been marinated overnight and threaded it onto the iron hooks they bought yesterday.

  The square oven was quickly hung with a circle of meat, and during the demonstration, Li Anran also mentioned some precautions. Zhao Er and others learned very seriously. Using charcoal to roast fork burns, this is still a technique that Li Anran unintentionally learned from a chef. Unlike ordinary fork burns, this roasted fork burn not only lasts longer when stored, but also has an extremely good taste.

  It's best to eat it while it's hot, but even if it has cooled down, just grill it over charcoal for a bit and the texture and flavor will be completely "revived".