Street Food of the Blessed Isle
The wide boulevards of the Imperial City are not empty expanses of marble. Leave the false-divinity of the Dynastic districts, and you will quickly encounter a variety of streetside vendors hawking various foods. Their kitchens, usually simply carts covered by canvas within which sit charcoal braziers and cooking utensils, are pushed or pulled by their owners into position before dawn, and hauled back into the alleys after dusk.
Customers stop by one of these stands, and for a few yien order food which is them made in front of them. They then either take their food away or sit on stools under the canvas awning.
Yakisoba: Fried noodles, mixed with a scarce sprinkle of vegetables and coated in a thick, sweet and tangy brown sauce.
Takoyaki: 'Octopus Balls'. Chunks of boiled octopus and cabbage, wrapped in a batter of egg and wheat flour, before being fried in a pitted iron griddle and served on wooden kebabs.
Okonomiyaki: A thick 'omelette' or 'pancake' of wheat flour and egg, into which can be mixed the buyer's choice of onions, root vegetables, seaweed, and beans, before it is fried. Afterwards, it is topped with a sweet-tangy brown sauce, or with a thick sauce of pulverized, pickled eggs.
Mochi: A thick, gooey sphere of cooked, sweetened rice paste, wrapped in seaweed or leaves (oak is preferred) depending on the season and the seller.
Roasted Chestnuts: In the colder seasons, roasted nuts are a common sight being sold by vendors, with chestnuts being the most popular.
Quail Eggs: In many cities of the Blessed Isle, where Quails are kept in tiny rooftop plots for their eggs, such eggs are seen in the form of street food: typically they are simply boiled and eaten, a favoured accompaniment to an evening of drinking at a neighbourhood tavern. A variant, Kwek-Kwek, originating from the cuisine of Wu Jian, takes the eggs and dips them in a batter before deep-frying, after which they are eaten with a spicy vinegar dip.
Kettle Nanny Tea: 'Kettle nanny' is a Low Realm slang term for the many women (and men) who hobble about the streets hunched over under the weight of wood back harnesses supporting large iron kettles and attached charcoal burners. These 'nannies' stop at street corners and sell watery green tea to passersby.
Bubur Sumsum: A few 'kettle nannies' do not carry tea in their kettles. Instead, they carry a rice 'porridge' made of milk (from cattle, goats, sheep, or coconuts), sweetener (in the form of honey or sugar cane), and rice flour This unusual dish is said to have its origins in the jungles of the Southern Threshold, and is popular amongst children of all classes... several Dynastic parents have suffered the scandal of a child slipping away to join a crowd of urchins in line for a bowl of sumsum.
Grog Nannies: Common in many port towns, and spreading inland over the past century, ‘grog nannies’ are kettle nannies who carry heavily watered Rum or Wine, sweetened with beet sugar and spiced with cloves, citrus rinds, and cinnamon in small quantities. Warm alcoholic beverages are popular amongst citydwellers as they head to work through cold morning air, or soldiers and sailors heading to barracks after evening duties.
Fan Tea: A common variation on street vendors selling tea are those who serve stronger fermented teas alongside small fan-shaped cookies.
Street Noodles: Noodles are a staple of diets on the Blessed Isle, though many refined palates of the Dynasty consider white rice to be a far superior base. There exist a vast array of noodles and styles, the most common of which is the laoman, a pulled wheat noodle served in a soup broth. The key to a noodle dish is the soup stock used, of which there are several common types. Laoman dishes also vary by region, though there are stalls serving most regional and stock variations in cosmopolitan cities such as Arjuf and the capital.
- Salt Broth: Probably the oldest of the Laoman broths, with mentions found even in texts dated prior to the Shogunate. It is a pale, clear, yellowish broth made with plenty of salt and any combination of chicken, vegetables, fish, and seaweed. Pickled plums and processed fish cake are popular toppings, and the noodles favoured are usually straight rather than curly.
- Pork Broth: A thick, cloudy white colored broth, made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, which suffuses the broth with a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency ranging from that of milk (the poorest broth) to gravy (the finest broth). The noodles are thin and straight, and it is often served with pickled ginger, roasted garlic, and/or sesame seeds.
- Soy Broth: A clear brown broth, based on a chicken and vegetable (or sometimes fish or pork) stock with plenty of soy sauce added resulting in a soup that’s tangy, salty, and savory yet still fairly light on the palate. Soy laoman usually has curly noodles rather than straight ones, but this is not always the case. It is often adorned with marinated bamboo shoots, green onions, processed fish cakes, nori, boiled eggs, and/or bean sprouts
- Miso Broth: Copious amounts of miso paste combined with oil or lard to create a thick, nutty, slightly sweet and very hearty soup. Miso laoman broth tends to have a robust, tangy flavor, so it stands up to a variety of flavorful toppings: corn, leeks, onions, bean sprouts, ground pork, cabbage, sesame seeds, white pepper, and chopped garlic are common. The noodles are typically thick, curly, and slightly chewy.
Several regions of the Blessed Isle are home to their own unique variations on street noodles
--- Dragonsmouth: Laoman in the Scarlet Prefecture is served in a soy broth made with Dashi stock, created from dried bonito flakes. Standard toppings are chopped scallion, bamboo shoots, processed fish cake, egg, nori, and spinach
--- Eagle’s Launch: Eagle Prefecture Laoman consists of thick, straight-ish noodles served in a soy broth based on pork stock. The standard toppings are roasted pork, boiled spinach, sheets of nori, garlic, and shredded negi.
--- Arjuf: Laoman in Arjuf Dominion is served in a distinctive red variant of salt broth, its stock made from spicy chili and sesame, usually containing minced pork or seafood, garnished with chopped scallion, chilis, spinach, and bok choi. Combining Southern ingredients with Air-aspected noodles is sometimes said to make Arjuf-style laoman the ‘true dish of Ledaal’, though peasant tales of Prince Ledaal stopping for his favourite meal at THEIR noodle stand are entirely apocryphal.
--- Lord’s Crossing: Laoman in Lord's Crossing Dominion uses a salt broth made from chicken-vegetable stock, topped with pickled ginger, sliced pork, bamboo shoots, and a soft or hard boiled egg.
--- Chanos: Laoman in Chanos Prefecture and the Pahua Basin is served in a pork broth with sardines added both in making the broth and as a topping. It uses thick, flat, curly noodles, and is topped with pork or processed fish cake, but rarely contains vegetables.
--- Pangu: Laoman in Pangu prefecture is served in miso broth, topped with sweetcorn, bean sprouts, and garlic, and often seafood such as scallops, squid, or crab, or alternatively finely chopped pork.
--- Juche: Laoman in Juche Prefecture is served in a pork broth with thin, straight and resilient noodles. Toppings include crushed garlic, pickled ginger, sesame seeds, and spicy pickled mustard greens. Another variant forgoes broth entirely, instead using a sauce of soy and oil in which the noodles are tossed.
--- Sion: Laoman in Incas prefecture is a simple, meat-free dish, served in a light soy broth from vegetable stock, with bok choi, bean sprouts, and mushrooms.
