In the previous dynasties of the Great Tang, roast suckling pig had actually existed. However, due to the lack of many seasonings, the taste of this dish had been greatly reduced. With the discovery of America and Australia, many new seasonings had appeared, and Li An had used these new seasonings to make roast suckling pig. As a result, the taste of this dish had undergone an earth-shattering change. At the very least, it was much more delicious than before.
This dish was also a famous specialty of the later generations. Many places treated this dish as a top-notch dish, and it was even used as one of the offerings to worship the ancestors. It was a festive item that every family could not do without. First, they would use the roast suckling pig to worship the ancestors, and then the relatives would gather to eat it.
There were several versions of the origin of the dish, Roast Suckling Pig. One of them said that a long, long time ago, a fire suddenly broke out in the courtyard of a family. The fire was fierce, and it was bound to flake everything. Soon, the raging flames soared into the sky and burned everything in the courtyard to ashes. At this time, the owner of the house hurried home and saw the ruins. He was stunned. Suddenly, a fragrance assailed his nose. The owner followed the smell and found that it was coming from a little pig that had been burnt. The owner looked at the other side of the pig. Its skin was roasted red and plain. He tasted it again and again. It tasted very good. He was sad that the courtyard was burned down, but he was gratified that he had invented a new way to eat pork.
The second theory was very mythical. It was said that in ancient times, there was an expert pig hunter who usually hunted wild boars for a living. His wife gave birth to a son for him, named Fire Emperor. After the son grew up, his parents went up the mountain every day to hunt pigs, and the son raised piglets at home. One day, Fire Emperor picked up a few flint stones by chance and played around near the pig pen's hut. Suddenly, sparks flew everywhere, and the hut caught fire, causing a big fire. Fire Emperor was an ignorant child. He had never seen anything fun. When he saw the hut catch fire, he was not afraid at all. Instead, he was very happy. He was surprised to hear the crackling of firewood and the cries of the piglets before they were burned to death. When the cries of the piglets stopped, the fire caused by Fire Emperor also went out by itself. In the burned ruins, an unheard of fragrance drifted over. What was it that smelled so good? Fire Emperor picked up the trash and followed the smell. He looked around and was surprised to find that the tantalizing aroma came from the roasted piglets. That alluring color and tempting fragrance had long since made Fire Emperor drool. He couldn't help but use his hand to pick up the pig leg, but he was scalded by the squeaking oil on the surface of the pig skin. He hurriedly used his lips to lick the scalded finger, but unexpectedly tasted a delicious taste.
When Fire Emperor's parents came back from hunting, they saw that the pigsty had turned into ashes and all the piglets had been burned to death. Just as they were about to call Fire Emperor over to ask him what had happened, they saw Fire Emperor presenting a delicious dish to his father — a roasted suckling pig that had been roasted until it was bright red and shiny. Not only did the father not reprimand his son, he even jumped up in joy. His son had invented a new way to eat pork! It was said that humans first learned that animals tasted better when they were cooked.
The legend was definitely fake, but this dish was indeed delicious. Moreover, with the gradual completion of various condiments, the taste of this dish would become more and more delicious, with each generation becoming more and more delicious.
After listening to the two stories told by Ang Lee, Li Yu and the others didn't show any disbelief, although they knew that these two were just stories. Perhaps it was because Ang Lee told them so truthfully that they believed him so much.
"Is Assistant Minister Li going to cook again today?"
Li Yu asked.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Of course. Today, the imperial grandchildren want to eat roasted suckling pig, so I naturally have to cook it myself. Although the servants at home can also cook roasted suckling pig, they are not good enough."
"Among all the officials of the Tang dynasty, only Assistant Minister Li can cook. Can you find a second one?"
"Officials have cooks at home, so they don't have to cook by themselves. Occasionally, when they go out to play, they will roast meat. However, there is really no one who is as good as Assistant Minister Li in cooking."
"Although a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, cooking with his own hands is also a kind of pleasure! Especially cooking a delicacy like barbecue, it is definitely a great enjoyment! "
"Assistant Minister Li, why don't you teach us? In the future, when we have nothing to do, we can cook by ourselves. "
Several of the Imperial Grandsons requested.
Since they wanted to learn cooking, how could Ang Lee not teach them? He nodded and said, "Okay! Then let's make roasted suckling pig together. Let the servants prepare the ingredients! "
As they talked, they walked down the suspended passage and came to a secluded building. This building was a small two-story building. It was not easy to see from the outside because it was very well camouflaged. Looking from afar, it was a very big banyan tree. The windows were not very big, but there were a lot of them. It was very much like the houses in the cartoons of later generations, very much like the fairy tales.
The scenery on the second floor was better, but the first floor was more convenient. In the end, they chose to make the food on the first floor.
Making this food was not very difficult, and the real processing was not very tiring. The main thing was that the preparation work was more cumbersome and troublesome.
It was the same for any food. It needed a long time to prepare. When everything was ready, the food could be easily made.
There was definitely more than one way to make roasted suckling pig. But no matter which way it was, some basic seasonings must be prepared. These were all left to the servants to prepare.
Not long after, the servant brought in a cleaned wild boar cub and told Ang Lee that it weighed six kilograms. Then, he handed in a lot of seasonings. No matter whether Ang Lee could use it or not, they had already prepared it first. If there was anything missing, they could prepare it later.
The small wild boar was not very big, but the solar barbecue stove could not hold it, so they could only use the method of barbecue it with open fire.
Ordinary firewood could be used for barbecue, but the smoke from ordinary firewood was too strong. It would be very choking when roasting, especially in the case of indoor barbecue, the smoke was even more unbearable. Therefore, it was better to use professional charcoal fire.
In the era of the Tang dynasty, professional charcoal fire for barbecue had long been available. For example, many of the charcoal fires used by the nobles for heating in winter were smokeless charcoal fires. After all, the charcoal fires for heating had to be placed indoors. If the smoke was too strong, no one could stand it. Smokeless charcoal fires could meet the needs very well.
Ang Lee had long thought that he would barbecue game here, so he had already asked the servants to prepare a lot of smokeless charcoal fires in the valley. The number was enough.
After the smokeless charcoal fires were brought, the metal barbecue grills were also brought. After lighting the fire, Ang Lee put the cleaned small wild boar on the grills.
"Assistant Minister Li, how long will it take to barbecue this?"
"Barbecue must be thoroughly roasted to taste good. It will take at least an hour!"
"At least an hour. That's too long!"
"What's the hurry? Are you hungry now?"
"Not really, but it will take at least an hour to cook. It's too hard. It's better not to learn. Just let the servants do it."
The few imperial grandsons who were originally in high spirits immediately lost interest when they heard that the roast pig would take a lot of time to cook. They felt that with their noble status, how could they spend a lot of time doing such a low-level thing? If the food could be cooked in a short time, then it would be acceptable. For example, if the meat was cut into thin slices and placed in a solar barbecue oven, then the meat would be cooked very quickly. This way, they would find it interesting, and they couldn't tolerate waiting for a long time.
Ang Lee shook his head lightly and said, "If you want to learn, just watch. If you don't want to learn, I won't force you. Anyway, you can only eat after an hour."
For these imperial grandsons, Ang Lee naturally could not force them to learn cooking. This was not a skill that they should learn. If they were interested, they could learn. If they were not, then forget it. It was not necessarily a good thing for the imperial grandsons to be too interested in cooking. Or it could be said that once they became emperors in the future, it would be very troublesome if they were interested in cooking.
For example, the carpenter emperor of a certain dynasty did not know how to deal with national affairs. He only knew how to be a carpenter. This would definitely delay the governance of the country. It was not a blessing for the country and the people. However, if he was just an idle prince in the future, it would be good to like cooking. At least, if he was obsessed with cooking all day long, he would not have the heart to fight for the throne. Wouldn't this be a blessing for the country?
No matter what they thought, Ang Lee was going to start cooking himself anyway. He kept turning the wild boar so that the whole wild boar could be evenly heated.
After a little heat, Ang Lee picked up a brush and smeared fresh vegetable oil on the body of the small wild boar. The outer and inner surfaces had to be smeared evenly. This could better prevent the wild boar meat from being burned. At the same time, the wild boar meat roasted in this way would be more delicious.
After smearing the oil, the wild boar meat began to emit some fragrance. However, there was still a lot of time before the food was ready. The imperial grandsons really could not wait, so they ordered people to move in the stone table outside. This was a stone table for Go. They were going to play Go in the room.
"Assistant Minister Li, take your time roasting. Let's play a game first."
Li Yu waved his hand and began to play Go with his younger brothers. He let Ang Lee work hard to make the roast pig by himself.
"Okay, but the roast pig is so fragrant. You will definitely be distracted when playing Go. Can you really play Go?"
Ang Lee said with a smile and continued to add seasonings to the roast pig.
He felt that Li Yu and the others would not be able to calm down in such an environment. After all, playing Go required a relatively quiet environment. Not only were there many people here, but there was also a roasted suckling pig overflowing with fragrance. Normal people would definitely be distracted, and once they were distracted, they would not be able to play Go well.
Sure enough, as Ang Lee expected, Li Yu and the others were playing Go on the surface, but their minds were already in a mess. Food kept appearing, and in the end, they could not play anymore. They simply walked to Ang Lee's side and watched Ang Lee roast the wild boar.
"Assistant Minister Li, this roast pig is already very fragrant. It should be ready to eat! Why do we need to continue roasting it? "
"It is indeed cooked now, but roasting it for a while is to make the roast pig taste better. A roast pig that is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside is the best."
Although it was ready to eat at the moment, Ang Lee was a person who cared a lot about his reputation. Since he had personally cooked, he naturally had to display the highest level of roast pig. He could not fool around casually. Wouldn't that ruin his reputation of superb cooking skills?
Roasting the roast pig was also a hard job because in order to make the roast pig taste the best, the roast pig had to be continuously rolled. This required a high level of arm strength, and the continuous rolling was naturally more tiring. In the future, there were electric barbecue stoves, but Ang Lee was now manually rolling the roast pig.
This low-level tumbling action could be done by the servants, but the frequency of the tumbling was also very particular. These servants' skills were too poor, and they weren't as good as Li An's. For the sake of the roast pig's appetite, Li An could only work hard himself.
In the future, there were many people who bought roast pig on the streets, but the general authentic shops were all capable. If they did not have the skills, they would not dare to take on the porcelain job. However, there were also some people who made up the numbers to make up the numbers. Their skills were not up to par, or they were probably skimping on the materials. As a result, the roast pig's color and taste were not right. If the temperature of the pork was not controlled well, it would cause the roast pig to be overcooked. If the seasoning was not complete, it would cause the roast pig's aroma to be insufficient, which would greatly reduce the taste of the food.
"Finally, brush a layer of cooking wine. That's about it. We can start eating immediately."
Ang Lee finally brushed the surface of the roast pig with the fishy cooking wine and said with a smile.
At this moment, the entire room was filled with the aroma of the roast pig, causing everyone to unconsciously swallow their saliva. Even Li Yu, who had eaten the roast pig personally made by Ang Lee several times, looked like a glutton.
The roast pig's mass had shrunk greatly. It originally weighed about six to seven catties, but now it was at most five catties. Ang Lee and the imperial grandchildren could only get about one catty each, and that was with the weight of the bones. The amount seemed to be a little less. However, there were still a lot of wild hares that were ready. If they were not full, they could eat more wild hares.
The wild boar was today's main dish, but there was not enough of it. It was impossible for everyone to be full. However, when it came to distribution, it definitely could not be divided equally. Ang Lee would rather get less for himself so that the imperial grandchildren could eat more. Especially Li Yu, he definitely had to get more. After all, he was the eldest grandson of the emperor and had the highest status.
Li An first divided the roast suckling pig into two perfectly symmetrical pieces. Then, according to the principle of three ribs being a large piece, he divided the rib meat in the middle into portions and gave them to each of the imperial grandsons. The two front legs and two hind legs were also given to the imperial grandsons. In the end, the head of the pig was also given to Li Yu. Li An himself only had three ribs, which was considered to be the one who received the least. Furthermore, it was pitifully little.
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