Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 325: The long-lost taste
Fried eggs with ketchup, fish cubes with ketchup, moss and peanuts, diced chicken with fried chicken, shredded potatoes with vinegar...
When Zhang Shou saw the dishes on the table, his first reaction was... Old Salted Fish must be the school cook who traveled through time! Otherwise, how could this old man make so many dishes that looked like they belonged to a school cafeteria? Of course, he was complaining in his heart, but his face was filled with just the right amount of surprise, as if seeing these dishes for the first time.
Little Peanut took a deep breath, then leaned forward and whispered to Liu, "Sixth Brother, my uncle is really generous this time. When I visited him before, he could make me fried eggs with tomato sauce, which was the best he could do. I've only eaten peanuts a few times... But this is the first time I've seen Kung Pao Chicken. What is this red thing?"
My child, that is called chili pepper… a condiment that countless people in later generations depend on for their survival…
If Zhang Shou could speak at this time, he would definitely speak earnestly and put on an attitude like a white-bearded grandfather, and explain to Xiao Huasheng the history of peppers occupying half of the foodie empire. However, at this time, after Lao Xianyu smiled and made a gesture of invitation, he immediately used the spoon without thinking and scooped a spoonful of Kung Pao Chicken.
When a peanut entered his mouth and he chewed it carefully, the familiar crispy feeling spread throughout his mouth, and the grains were distinct. Zhang Shou actually felt an incomparable emotion - he didn't know how to cherish it when he saw it so often before, and now it has been four years since he lost it. He used to love all kinds of nuts the most, but he couldn't help feeling that life relying only on walnuts and almonds was too monotonous.
What's more, almonds these days... are mainly used to make almond milk and various snacks, there are no American walnuts!
The sauce on the peanuts was not very good, and the spicy taste was not very prominent. When he ate a piece of diced chicken, he lowered his rating of Lao Xianyu's cooking skills again. The diced chicken was not fresh enough, and the tenderness was not enough... It was completely the level of an ordinary university cook's ordinary big pot meal. You know, the level of many stir-fries in the school is quite high!
Zhang Shou was picky, but Ah Liu was always content as long as he was full, and Xiao Huasheng had never eaten much delicious food since he was a child. The two of them ate a lot and quickly, but they cherished every grain of food. Therefore, while Zhang Shou, who chewed slowly, was still patiently tasting each dish, the two of them had already finished more than half of the dishes on several plates.
Lao Xianyu's original suspicion of Zhang Shou was mostly put aside after he noticed Zhang Shou's eating posture.
Such a careful and slow taste, except for the children of the rich who have been pampered and used to eating good food since childhood, how can ordinary people eat like this? Therefore, what Dr. Zhang said before about being poor should only be relative... If the person is really poor, why would the Duke of Zhao marry his daughter to him?
Sure enough, when the cups and plates were in a mess, he only saw Peanut touching his belly and shouting with satisfaction, and the one with a happy face who obviously admired his cooking skills was Ah Liu. As for Zhang Shou, who had previously claimed to be a gourmet and wanted to appreciate his cooking, he only tasted a little and ate a little of each dish, but definitely not to the point of being full, and he only took two small spoonfuls of rice.
However, just when Lao Xianyu felt that he had seen through Zhang Shou's true nature, he saw this seemingly gentle young man leisurely put down his chopsticks and then looked at him with a smile.
"By the way, do you still have those ingredients and seasonings?"
Lao Xianyu didn't expect Zhang Shou to ask this. He was stunned for a moment before hesitatingly saying, "There's more."
"Can I borrow it for a while? Of course, can I also borrow the pots and pans? Don't worry, I'll pay the price and I won't break my promise." When Zhang Shou said this, he saw that Lao Xianyu was puzzled and Xiao Huasheng was even more confused. He hooked his finger at Ah Liu, and saw the young man sigh, then obediently took off the purse from his waist, took out a silver coin from it, weighed it and handed it over.
Although he knew it was genuine when he saw the exquisite words and patterns, when he brought Zhang Shou to the greasy kitchen and Lao Xianyu hurried to clean it up, he was full of doubts. Seeing Zhang Shou roll up his sleeves and borrow a coat from him as a work uniform, he sneered in his heart.
Look at the behavior of this rich young man... he even has to change clothes before going to the kitchen!
Little did he know that Zhang Shou was complaining in his mind - it was so inconvenient without an apron, it was so inconvenient without a washing machine, and what was even more annoying was that clothes these days were indeed naturally dyed, but they really couldn't stand washing, they would fade and shrink once they got in water. No wonder they needed eight sets of clothes per season and had to make new ones every year, because they simply couldn't stand being worn once they got in water!
When the lower class people had nothing to wear, the upper class consumer market was simply wasting money! If he didn't wear an outer shirt to protect himself from the fumes, and if he turned around and got splashed with a little bit of oil, he couldn't wash it off, and the clothes would be unwearable. This was different from the dust on the road, which could be brushed off and made do...
After everything was ready and Lao Xianyu started to light the fire again, Zhang Shou carefully observed the difference between this stove and the one he had in Rongshui Village, as well as the size of the fire, and then he started to prepare everything without saying anything. As he prepared, Lao Xianyu, who was following him, was gradually dumbfounded.
It was a rare occasion that he bought a chicken from his neighbor, and Zhang Shou was picky about it not being chicken thigh meat; that would have been fine, but he then went on to complain about the small variety of seasonings, and then he asked while smelling them, and then marinated them on the spot. He was really extravagant and had no idea of saving at all.
After peeling the potatoes, they turned into thin strips under the light of the knife. At first glance, they were only a quarter of the size of the strips he had cut before.
After all the other side dishes were prepared and the stove was turned on, he saw Zhang Shou skillfully putting food into the pot, stir-frying, and adding ingredients. His movements were as skillful as those of the chefs in the restaurants, and the fragrant aroma kept reminding him that the scene in front of him was definitely not an illusion. Thinking of how he had previously regarded him as a young man who did not work, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.
He, an old fellow who claims to have the sharpest vision, could actually make a mistake!
After frying a plate of shredded potatoes in vinegar, Zhang Shou tasted two bites with chopsticks, then smiled with satisfaction, handed it to Lao Xianyu and said, "My hands are a little unfamiliar, but at least your vinegar is not bad, the taste is just a little inferior. Would you like to try it?"
Seeing Zhang Shou starting to cook a dish of Kung Pao Chicken, Lao Xianyu hesitated for a moment, but finally took the chopsticks to take a bite. After taking a bite, he couldn't help but widen his eyes, and then he could not help but stare at Zhang Shou.
Compared to this, the vinegar and shredded potatoes he made before... that was such a waste!
If Zhang Shou had not seen the seasoning and ingredients of Old Salted Fish and was sure that there would be potatoes, peanuts, and peppers, he would not have handed the dish to Old Salted Fish at this time. He would have produced and sold it by himself long ago, and offered sacrifices to his stomach right after frying it. Of course, he had another purpose. Seeing that Old Salted Fish was carrying a dish and walking out with a heavy heart, he immediately sped up his actions.
When a plate of fried chicken came out of the oven, Lao Xianyu had not come back yet. Taking this opportunity, Zhang Shou quickly scooped up two large spoonfuls to eat first. Although it was a pity that the seasoning was not well controlled, it was still much better than what Lao Xianyu had just cooked. Just as he was swallowing hard, he heard voices coming from outside.
"It's fake, right? Dr. Zhang is an official, but his food is so much better than yours!"
"You little bastard, are you done yet? You're still so talkative even after I gave you food to eat!" Old Salted Fish stared at Little Peanut in exasperation until he hid behind Ah Liu skillfully. He glanced at the kitchen with an extremely complicated expression and mood. After a long while, he muttered to himself without turning his head, "Maybe it's just a coincidence..."
Ah Liu coughed sympathetically, then said calmly, "Young Master is a genius who can learn by himself just by reading books. Aunt Liu, who was in charge of the kitchen at home, could only cook many dishes under the guidance of Young Master."
Isn't this too fake? Old Salty Fish turned around suddenly and saw Ah Liu's serious face. He turned back doubtfully, and saw the greasy door curtain of the kitchen was lifted, followed by Zhang Shou coming out with a plate. As soon as he saw the plate of delicious Kung Pao Chicken, he couldn't help swallowing his saliva, not noticing that the amount of ingredients prepared before was obviously much more than this.
Of course, he would never have thought that Zhang Shou would steal a lot of food right after cooking...
Old Salted Fish suddenly raised the plate high to avoid Peanut's stealing claws, then smiled and said to Zhang Shou: "Dr. Zhang, your cooking skills are really amazing...Teach me a few tricks later, so that this little bastard won't be so picky when he has something to eat!"
"Okay, okay." Zhang Shou laughed and evaded the topic. When he entered the house, as soon as he sat down, he saw Xiao Huasheng, who was rubbing his stomach and complaining that he couldn't eat anymore, immediately started to eat with chopsticks. He simply scooped enough into his bowl with a spoon, and then chewed slowly as usual.
This time, he was not trying to taste his own cooking skills, but he was trying to taste the difference between these ingredients and those of later generations, as well as the difference in taste caused by insufficient seasoning.
Obviously, the chicken legs were only marinated with wine and salt, without starch, and the marinating time was not long enough, so the flavor was not good enough; there were not enough peppercorns, so the taste was different; the potatoes were suspected not to be new potatoes of the season, and some parts were not crispy enough; the chili powder seemed to be of unknown variety, and it was not spicy enough, so it was probably only spicy enough for southern provinces; the most regrettable thing was that there was only tomato sauce.
Because compared to the heresy of scrambled eggs with tomato sauce... he prefers scrambled eggs with fresh tomatoes, and that must be added with sugar!
Compared to Xiao Huasheng, Lao Xianyu was more reserved and ate in moderation. But when he found that Ah Liu was also eating with his chopsticks non-stop, he panicked and joined the children in grabbing food. After the meal was over, he recalled the strange process of today and could not help pulling the beard on his chin. He felt very upset.
This Doctor Zhang from the Imperial College should have eaten these dishes for the first time today, but in just a short time, he was able to improve his cooking methods... Could it be that people who read a lot of books are even better than him in this kind of hands-on ability? But if that's the case, what about those local officials who passed the imperial examinations and became officials but brought disaster to their neighbors?
After the meal, Lao Xianyu chased Xiao Huasheng out to clean up the dishes. Seeing that Ah Liu followed him out, he didn't know whether he was there to help or for other reasons, but he was happy that he and Zhang Shou were left alone. This way, he finally had a place to ask the questions that had been lingering in his heart.
"These things that traveled across the ocean were not wasted thanks to the skills of Dr. Zhang."
Zhang Shou laughed and then answered the question nonchalantly, "Mobile phone, online shopping, mobile payment?"
Seeing that Lao Xianyu was confused, he muttered that he seemed to have never experienced the post-2010 era, and immediately changed the topic: "Computers, Internet, mortgage down payment?"
He noticed that Old Salty Fish's eyes had become bigger than ping-pong balls, so he could only change the words for the third time: "TV? Refrigerator? Three turns and one ring? Seventy-two legs?" Seeing that Old Salty Fish was finally petrified, he finally sighed from the bottom of his heart. It seems that he is not a canteen cook who traveled through time, but just a person who got ingredients from overseas. Otherwise, this colleague who traveled through time is also doing too badly...
Zhang Shou coughed lightly to relieve the embarrassment of saying those messy terms just now, and then he said seriously: "When I heard Zhu Erlang say that before, I was thinking that many crops nowadays are introduced from outside, and over time they have become our country's products. And if the dishes on the table just now can be planted in the fields, I think they can also benefit countless people."
Lao Xianyu didn't expect Zhang Shou to make such a straightforward request. He was stunned for a long time before he said in a difficult voice, "Doctor Zhang think that the dignitaries and nobles in the capital will like these things?"
"They always like new things. And if they like it, someone will plant it."
Zhang Shou did not shy away from the practice of promoting certain things from top to bottom, but after a pause, he smiled and said, "Besides, when I was cutting the potato shreds just now, I felt that this thing should be very suitable as a ration. Of course, the south prefers white rice, and the north prefers noodles, steamed buns and dumplings. This habit has been around for a long time. But I still think that if the potato yield is high, it should be able to be used in years of famine."
Old Salty Fish felt his heart beat violently twice, and finally managed to force a smile: "I just took some of these things on the ship back home because they are edible. Later, I thought about planting some when I had nothing to do. Some of them survived, but some did not."
Seeing Zhang Shou nod, he could not tell whether he agreed with what he said or just said it perfunctorily, so he could not help but remain silent. After a long while, he said in a low voice: "Does Dr. Zhang really want to promote these overseas crops to the world?"
"Yes." Zhang Shou responded briefly, and then said sincerely, "As long as it can fill the stomachs of ordinary people, it is the most worthy of promotion. Warm clothes and full meals. Since court officials are supported by taxes from the people, they should of course solve these two problems! Isn't there a saying that if an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes?"
