Chang’an Small Restaurant

Chapter 8 Food Vending at Qujiang District

Now that it was summertime, the weather was getting increasingly hotter. Shen Shaoguang began to tinker with various beverages.

In this dynasty, ‘flavored beverages’ were mainly consumed for medical purposes. It wouldn’t be until the Song Dynasty when ‘flavored beverages’ would change from a tonic to something people drank on the daily for recreational purposes. The popular drinks in the current dynasty were fermented dairy (buttermilk), sugarcane juice, and of course, tea– which was slowly gaining recognition.

Buttermilk was too dense and had a pungent odor, sugarcane juice was overly sweet, and tea, which often was made with salt, ginger and various other things, was even more difficult to describe. Shen Shaoguang decided to brew her own drinks to quench her thirst. Her first choice was naturally sour plum drink, followed by jasmine tea, mung bean soup, and honey mint tea.

Among them, Shen Shaoguang loved sour plum drink the most.

After buying dried smoked plums, hawthorn, dried orange peels, and licorice roots from a medicinal beverage shop, Shen Shaoguang placed them into a single pot to boil. After simmering, she then added sugar-soaked-osmanthus. In her previous life, Shen Shaoguang once read a book written by a certain master[1] saying that white sugar should be used to pickle osmanthus instead of honey. She tested both methods and sure enough, the sugar-soaked version tasted more refreshing. A master was a master for a reason.

There were privately stored ice for sale in the market, but the price was too steep, so Shen Shaoguang was really reluctant to make the purchase. Fortunately, there was a well in the nunnery, just submerging it into the well water would also cool the temperature a bit.

To be enjoying a cool, concentrated sweet-tart sour plum drink amidst the hot weather, the abbot, Senior Buddhist Nun Yuanjue, praised without ceasing, "During the previous dynasty, there was a Buddhist monk who came up with five different colored beverages. Wintercreeper leaf for green, willow tree root for red, buttermilk for white, smoked plum for black, and osmanthus flowers for yellow[2]. Most are acquainted with buttermilk, but the others also have been recreated. I have tried smoked plum beverages from various makers, but none were as good as yours. "

Shen Shaoguang smiled. Of course, my recipe is an improved version from thousands of years later.

Shen Shaoguang brewed jasmine tea, mung bean soup, and honey mint tea for the abbot to taste. While the elderly nun enjoyed her drinks, Shen Shaoguang expressed her new idea– to sell these drinks at Qujiang District during the Dragon Boat Festival[3].

Senior Buddhist Nun Yuanjue was a devout buddhist and liberal samaritan. Initially, she couldn’t fathom why Shen Shaoguang, a noble lady, would wholeheartedly set up a small stall to make money, but now she was accustomed to it. The abbot generously gave her suggestions, "This mung bean beverage is somewhat common and not a novel drink to most; there may be others catering this beverage. It’s not as eye-opening as this smoked plum. In my opinion, just the smoked plum beverage and jasmine tea."

Compared to the jasmine tea she has had in the future generation, Shen Shaoguang believed that the jasmine tea she brewed was subpar. If her smoked plum beverage was said to be half-way similar to the sour plum drink in the future, then this jasmine tea was only one-tenth similar to its future predecessor. The faint jasmine fragrance was better than nothing, but it unexpectedly suited the abbot’s taste— probably due to the faint bitter aftertaste in the midst of the delicate sweetness, which suited the sentiments of the literati.

To Shen Shaoguang, Senior Buddhist Nun Yuanjue was a senior foodie, which meant her suggestions were worth adopting. Hence, she took her advice and brewed several large jars of sour plum juice and bought some ice to chill for the drinks. She then set up a mini tea stall, where she could boil water for the jasmine tea. With this, she now had a hot and cold beverage option.

Yuanjue clapped her hands, amazed at Shen Shaoguang’s thoughtfulness. There were people who enjoyed hot tea even during summer, and because the tea was made on order, the just-brewed tea would have jasmine flowers floating on top, adding to its beauty—— The Senior Buddhist Nun Yuanjue, who used to only largely comment about food, was now able to make customer psychology and product analysis.

Liquid refreshments were still secondary, the crux still remained in the entrée. Since it was the Dragon Boat Festival the natural option was zongzi. Red dates, candied jujube, red beans, mung beans, were common sweet zongzi options; chicken zongzi, lean meat with mushroom zongzi, salted yolk zongzi were all the ultimate standard– it’s time to broaden the Tang Dynasty people’s horizons and show them what the pinnacle of enjoying the Dragon Boat Festival truly was.

When Shen Shaoguang first arrived in the Lateral Courts of the imperial palace, Dragon Boat Festival happened soon after. At that time, she was given two half-cooked zongzi, with only two red dates stuffed into the bland rice. The taste was hard to describe, but was completely different from what they served in her previous life; Shen Shaoguang just attributed it to her low status as a maidservant— at least it was better than wowotou; beggars can’t be choosers. 

When her situation later improved, and was assigned to help the imperial kitchen for a while, only then did she realize that she wasn’t previously being neglected. In fact, the zongzi served to the Emperor was also only filled with a couple of stuffing, just cooked better. The point was, they still liked to pour cane syrup on top... just recalling this made Shen Shaoguang’s throat thicken.

In addition, because the aiwowo rice cakes received good feedback from the nunnery, Shen Shaoguang decided to make its stuffing in advance to make aiwowo rice cakes when vending.

Shen Shaoguang’s grand plan required her to buy materials, hire a carriage, and make proper food preparation. Thankfully, the nunnery was equipped with large pots and stoves, Shen Shaoguang borrowed it to cook the zongzi. The nuns in charge of the kitchen and odd jobs also helped, it wasn’t until Dragon Boat Festival eve did they finish everything. The next day, as soon as the Lane Gates opened, Shen Shaoguang rode in her rented donkey carriage packed with various foods and utensils, and rushed to Qujiang district.

Chongxian Lane was in the northwest of the city while Qujiang District was in the southeast of the city. Although they were quite a distance away, Shen Shaoguang was able to arrive early and found a good location to set up her stall. Her spot was not too far from the river, facing the main road, and had a pavilion for visitors to rest at not far away. There were several tall trees closeby, and even two large rocks under the trees, where she could set and rest her feet.

Shen Shaoguang was in awe of her good luck, but quickly recovered herself to set up her booth. It wasn’t until her pot of zongzi was reheated in the steamer, her kettle of boiling water began to rattle, and twenty or so aiwowo rice cakes were finished, did the people start to slowly flow into the streets by the Qujiang River. Once the sun almost hit its peak in the sky did the nobles in their fancy carriages arrive in an endless stream.

There were other food vendors along the Qujiang River, but they usually carried their items in a basket and sold them on the streets. It was an uncommon sight for people to go through such lengths like Shen Shaoguang, and display their products without prepackaging them. It was inevitable for passersby to take a second look, and with more people looking, there were also naturally more buyers.

The zongzi were selling well. When they heard there were meat fillings, the adventurous people of the Tang Dynasty were more than willing to try them. However, it could not outcompete the attractiveness index of the aiwowo rice cake, nor the cold and refreshing sour plum juice. The elegant and scholarly jasmine tea, because of its highbrow or perhaps of its hot temperature unsuited for such a hot day, was the least popular.

While making her latest batch of aiwowo rice cakes, Shen Shaoguang worried about the ice that she spent a fortune on at the ice store this morning. Although it was placed in a small box and wrapped in multiple layers of cotton quilts in and out, it was melting at a growing speed. Based on the melting rate, there may not be any more ice for the two remaining large jars of sour plum juice. As she contemplated, Shen Shaoguang also perked her ears and listened to the chatter of the passersby.

The two scholars-like men were chatting close by. It seemed that the Emperor had graced them with his presence at the riverbank to watch the dragon boat race. They regretted the missed opportunity at a clear view of his majesty’s face. Shen Shaoguang also sighed with regret– the Emperor could have watched the race at the imperial owned building in Qujiang District, and there was no reason for him to stroll along the streets. If only those few opportunities where she had encountered the Emperor in the palace were moved to here... That way she could use her fortune to advertise— tinkering the names of her menu to ‘Reigning Sour Plum’, ‘Imperial Aiwowo’, ‘Era Fish Head’, ‘Dynasty Roasted Chicken’, ‘Long Lived Sesame Flat Cake’, et cetera, et cetera. 

The names would also be accompanied by a readily available story: "His Majesty was watching the dragon boat when he suddenly felt a bit parched. He turned to see a small booth on the side of the road selling sour plum juice... After drinking it, his heat dissipated, and his whole body felt refreshed... The members of the Hanlin Imperial Academy versed——" Shen Shaoguang’s imagination came to a halt. Although she studied in Lateral Courts for two years and learned to compose poetry, she had no talent and couldn’t come up with anything outstanding.

Although she wasn’t able to ‘chance’ upon the Emperor, the nobles were also quite ‘interesting’. For a ten-wén-a-cup of iced sour plum juice, Shen Shaoguang was actually given two taels of silver (2000 wén) after filling a kettle full.

What an exorbitant sour plum juice! Begging for more of these rich customers please.

"What kind of beverage is this?" An officer, in leather boots and dark metal armor, came over and asked.

"It's a smoked plum beverage. There’s also hawthorn, dried licorice, and ice inside; it has heat-relieving properties." Shen Shaoguang, who was feeling lucky, was suddenly struck with epiphany. "Sir, would you like to try a cup for free?"

The officer glanced at Shen Shaoguang and nodded. "Okay."

After Shen Shaoguang filled a cup and handed it to him, the officer finished it and then decided to purchase the rest!

The officer commanded a few soldiers to move the remaining juice, and Shen Shaoguang very generously used up the remaining ice and sold the large jars to them.

It was not yet noon and the dragon boat race hadn't even started, but one drink had already been sold out. After making a quick mental calculation, her sour plum drink actually earned close to six thousand wen coins. That was close to the amount she’d make selling crepes for two months!

In a cheerful mood, Shen Shaoguang continued to form more aiwowo rice cakes, but soon noticed a group of noble ladies in the pavilion. One of which was a rather familiar face– Second Young Lady Pang.

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Footnotes:

[1] book written by a certain master - The book is called <Fermented Mung Bean Juice>, it’s a novella collection of the contemporary writer Ye Guangcen. https://plano.overdrive.com/media/3586601 

[2] Wintercreeper leaf for green, willow tree root for red, buttermilk for white, smoked plum for black, and osmanthus flowers for yellow '以扶芳叶为青饮，楥禊根为赤饮，酪浆为白饮，乌梅浆为玄饮，江桂为黄饮。' - Quoted from the book 《大業拾遺記》. The flavorings were so hard to figure out since it was written by the ancients. Thankfully, there's this nice chinese blog- https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_18675942 

[3] Dragon Boat Festival - a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or June in the Gregorian calendar. A commemoration of the ancient poet Qu Yuan, the holiday is celebrated by holding dragon boat races and eating zongzi.