Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 339: Taotie
"My brother-in-law is just worrying about nothing. How can I be so useless?"
When Zhu Ying told Zhu Er what Zhang Shou had said , Zhu Er suddenly became angry. However, under Zhu Ying's teasing gaze, he unconsciously remembered that he had been manipulated by the old man when he escaped, and entered the palace in a daze. If he hadn't thought of a good way to persuade the eldest prince, he might not have been able to hold on until the moment when his eldest brother descended from the sky.
So, he sniffed in embarrassment and whispered, "I've long seen that the old guy has a lot of secrets. Although he looks skinny, he's actually very strong and very powerful. If we really fight, he may not be able to beat Ah Liu, but I think he can beat several ordinary people... How could I underestimate him? If he wants to instigate me to do something, I will definitely discuss it with you."
"It's good that you know, second brother." Zhu Ying nodded with a smile, and then joked, "I asked you to think about who would be my sister-in-law. As for you, second brother, you don't have to worry. With the good thing you did in Cangzhou this time, when you return to Beijing, the marriage that the emperor arranged will definitely be successful."
"Wait... wait!" Zhu Er gasped and desperately grabbed Zhu Ying's arm, his face full of nervousness. "Yingying, last time you said that my marriage was in sight, but you only said half of it. This time you have to tell me clearly! Which girl did the emperor tell me about? My requirements are not as high as Zhang Chen's... but at least I can't lose to that fat guy Lu San!"
"I know Zhang Chen. He doesn't want a good wife and mother. He wants to be unique... But I'm different. I want a good wife and mother. The more virtuous the better!" He's had enough of his own powerful grandmother, stepmother, and sister!
Zhu Ying looked Zhu Er up and down, then quietly broke free from his claws, and then said word by word: "Don't worry, she is virtuous and capable, she can handle both the living room and the kitchen, she is good at cooking, and she is good at managing the household accounts. She has a first-class reputation among the elders and peers... Anyway, she is countless times better than a spoiled, domineering and rude young lady like me!"
After hearing Zhu Ying's last two words to describe himself, Zhu Er, who had just felt relieved, couldn't help but wonder in his heart, and hurriedly smiled and said, "How can this be possible? There is no one better than my sister in this world..."
"Well, you don't need to please me, you are not Ah Shou!" Zhu Ying laughed, and when she saw that Old Salty Fish had come out of the kitchen, she rolled her eyes and said, "Anyway, I'll give you a difficult task. Since you and Old Salty Fish have been through thick and thin together before, he will definitely not be too wary of you. You can hang out with him more these few days, and tell me if you have any news."
Although Zhu Er vowed that he would not be deceived, he actually did not want to deal with the cunning old man any more. Just as he was about to refuse, he heard Zhu Ying yawn and say, "I have more experience in dealing with children than you do. I'll go and tease Peanut."
Seeing Zhu Ying walking straight towards the little peanut who was standing alone in a daze in the corner of the yard, and making him blush with just a few words, and then burst into tears, he could only resign himself to walking towards Lao Xianyu, but he felt more confident in his heart.
Now he has the support of his elder brother, younger sister and brother-in-law. Don't even think about deceiving me again, you old fool!
In the kitchen, the chef had been dismissed and all the side dishes had been prepared. When Zhang Shou was about to put them into the pot, he accidentally glanced at the door and saw Ah Liu standing quietly beside the gap in the door curtain, observing the outside with his eyes motionless. At this moment, he felt that the boy was like a snake in the shadows, spying on its prey, ready to hunt... no, a leopard!
Because Ah Liu can't really be called that, but the cheetah's quietness as a woman and swiftness as a rabbit are the greatest qualities of the young man.
Although he really wanted to make a joke, he gave up the idea after thinking about it. He turned back to look at the side dishes prepared on the plates in front of him and sighed in his heart.
Probably because he mentioned potatoes before, Lao Xianyu really brought two potatoes today. However, he just washed and steamed one, and when he cut it open and saw the color and fiber, he was very disappointed. He thought that no wonder his parents who had experienced the difficult times in their previous life hated eating things like potatoes and corn.
Because the variety is the most common one, and eating it all day long, no matter how delicious it is, you will get tired of it, not to mention that it is really not delicious! , dregs... In short, it doesn't taste right! In this case, there is only one way to go back, that is to ask Lao Xianyu if cassava is brought from overseas for planting. Without cassava flour, it is difficult to even make taro balls... Because only taro balls made with cassava flour have a chewy texture.
Don't ask him how he knows. In his previous life, he was spoiled by his mother's cooking skills when he was a child and couldn't afford to hurt a man who ate desserts...
Fortunately, although the tomato variety was far inferior to the improved ones in later generations, it had no other problems except being too sour. He managed to restore 70% of the taste. He made a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. He took a small plate and tasted two bites. He felt that it was about 70% to 80% of the standard and had not deteriorated too much. He was finally slightly satisfied.
He coughed, and when Ah Liu turned around to look at him, he ordered, "Go outside and tell them to set up the tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks. Stop talking and get ready for dinner!"
Ah Liu did not agree immediately, but walked forward and looked at the table next to the stove. Seeing the plate of brightly colored scrambled eggs with tomatoes placed there, he quickly glanced at Zhang Shou, and then he quickly picked up a clean porcelain spoon from the side and stuffed it in.
After he finished the spoonful of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, he saw Zhang Shou was stunned, and then he smiled shyly: "It's delicious."
"Stop right there, kid!" Seeing Ah Liu grab the huge plate and run out of the kitchen, Zhang Shou was immediately furious. If it was Zhu Ying, who was teasing people, or Zhu Er, who was not ordinary, who did such a thing, he would be mentally prepared. Even if the old salted fish and small peanuts, who he had tasted before, came to steal some, he would not find it strange, because the old and the young had never eaten good food.
But Ah Liu… when this kid was in the village, he watched countless times while Aunt Liu was training to cook, and he never skipped a thing, but he actually did this! This kid definitely did it on purpose!
Although he was both angry and amused, Zhang Shou did not chase after the agile Ah Liu in vain, but turned back to continue with the next dish. Considering the variety of peppers provided by Lao Xianyu and other people's adaptation, he did not choose to make Gongbao Chicken again, but tried Babao Chili Sauce this time.
As for the shrimps… Fortunately, Cangzhou is close to the sea, and this is the palace at the top of everyone’s list. All the good things are exclusively supplied here. Even though the eldest prince is now imprisoned and the palace is mainly stationed by the Ruiqi Battalion, it is no exception. There is an adequate supply of various meats, eggs, vegetables, and even fish and shrimps. Zhang Shou just fished out a dozen live shrimps from a bucket of sea water and peeled them.
When the plate of eight-treasure chili sauce came out of the oven, Zhang Shou heard a faint voice from behind him: "It's all finished..."
Hearing that it was Ah Liu, he immediately laughed. Without even turning his head, he prepared another small porcelain plate for himself, scooped out a quarter of the sauce with a spoon, and then evenly distributed the remaining eight-treasure chili sauce on the plate, and then passed it to the back.
"Go and eat, you hungry ghosts who are only interested in fresh food... No need to leave any for me, I will eat it right next to the stove!"
Seeing Ah Liu took the plate without saying anything, Zhang Shou scooped the eight-treasure chili sauce with a spoon and sent it in, then he breathed a sigh of relief. Compared with the Kung Pao Chicken, which has a certain requirement for the spiciness of the chili, the sweet and spicy taste of the eight-treasure chili sauce is relatively easier to make...
Of course, he was actually a little surprised. For northerners of later generations, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and sugar was considered heresy. Now Zhu Ying and Zhu Er were experiencing something as subtle as tomatoes for the first time, and they could actually eat it cleanly?
The sweet and spicy taste of the eight-treasure chili sauce that Ah Liu brought out at the moment is actually not liked by everyone...
Alas, when will the hotter varieties such as millet pepper, chaotian pepper, and wuzhao pepper be available? Without these hot peppers, it is still easy to make spicy food, but forget about the stronger spicy and numbing ones. With the few peppers that Lao Xianyu brought, he can't even think about making boiled fish or pickled fish... So he just planned to cook the fish in a different way.
Zhang Shou was thinking as he skillfully poured oil into the pan. When the oil temperature was right, he took the cut mandarin fish that had been rolled in starch and put it into the pan to fry after it was shaped. When the fish meat was golden and almost done, he quickly picked it up and fried the fish head in the pan to set it.
When the fish was barely shaped into a passable shape, he first added sugar to boil tomato sauce, then added green beans, shrimps, etc. When he thought the taste was about right, he poured the sauce evenly over the whole fish.
He hadn't tasted this squirrel mandarin fish for four years . He carefully picked up a piece of fish meat from the tail with chopsticks so as not to spoil the appearance. Although he felt that the taste was still different from before, he couldn't help but feel emotional.
When you have something, you take it for granted, but when you lose it, you realize how precious it is... This mentality applies to people, things, and even more so to food.
I would rather live without meat than live without bamboo. I would rather live without bamboo than live without peanuts. I would rather live without peanuts than live without tomatoes. I would rather live without tomatoes than live without corn. I would rather live without corn than live without potatoes. I would rather live without potatoes than live without lobsters. I would rather live without lobsters than live without peppers…
Fortunately, Ah Liu was thoughtful and remembered the words he made up at that time, otherwise he might not be able to taste this familiar flavor until his death in this life!
Zhang Shou was thinking this and was about to ask Ah Liu to come in and get the food, when he turned around and saw the door curtain quietly raised high, and then a familiar figure quietly flashed in. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought he saw a real ghost. When Ah Liu stood firm and glared at him, he pointed at the table unhappily.
Ah Liu strode forward without saying a word, and saw that the fish on the plate was only missing a small piece of meat from the tail. He looked at Zhang Shou in surprise, and then glanced at the small knife for descaling. He suddenly grabbed the knife like lightning, and with a flash of cold light, he directly chopped off half of the fish tail and put it in another small porcelain plate.
Zhang Shou saw this scene before he could stop it. He immediately covered his eyes and groaned. Then he angrily cursed: "You kid, do you know how difficult it is to fry this fish? Your knife is simple, and it directly made all my efforts go to waste! Do you know that this is the only mandarin fish in the palace... The rest are only fish with many bones like black carp!"
"Fish are more important than people."
Ah Liu said this seriously. Seeing Zhang Shou's expression of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he walked out with the plate of half of the completely deformed squirrel mandarin fish left. When he reached the door, he said, "I won't cut it. Miss will cut half of it and send it to me later!"
This kid!
Zhang Shou sighed deeply, but looking at the small fish tail, he was still not polite - cooks who cook every day usually don't like to cook when they get home, and don't often eat their own dishes, after all, tasting is not eating. But he is different, he learned cooking skills to be picky, now he is hungry, and since Ah Liu has ruined the appearance of that dish, how can he be polite?
After cleaning the fish tail in a few strokes, Zhang Shou wiped his hands and looked at the cornmeal on the side. If this thing is to be used, it must be ground several times with a stone mill, and then sifted with the finest sieve... Finally, a large amount of flour must be added when making steamed buns. The so-called corn and sorghum steamed buns in later generations, in fact, only God knows what kind of grain ingredients are in them.
Because it tastes better and sweeter when more refined flour is added! So, let’s wait for the next time for corn cakes, otherwise it will be like remembering the bitter past and thinking about the sweet past.
Zhang Shou thought so in his mind, and then he did the same as the day before. He fried some shredded potatoes with vinegar, and then made another dish of potato mash... In the blink of an eye, seven or eight dishes were finished. He was almost full and had no interest in cleaning up the pots and pans. After washing his hands, he walked straight out.
Before he could even open the greasy door curtain, he heard Lao Xianyu's voice.
"Oh, I can eat such delicious food for two consecutive days. I will die without regrets in this life! I brought these things back from overseas with great wind and waves. I used to grow one kind myself and figure out how to eat it myself. Most of the time, I boiled it, mixed it with cold sauce, steamed it... and fried it at best. I never thought that it could be combined like this. I really wasted the food before!"
Zhang Shou was stunned for a moment, and stopped in front of the door. Then, he could tell from Lao Xianyu's tone that he was thumping his feet: "If I had known that these things could be turned into so many delicious dishes, I would have reclaimed dozens of acres of land, at least to satisfy my appetite... Hey, I've made up my mind. If I go to the capital and waste such good food, I'll be punished by God!"
Although he didn't know whether this old man was really bent because of the two meals, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least, it shouldn't be a problem to let Zhu Er go with him to see the secret garden! He spent the effort of two meals to get the ingredients that would have taken at least dozens or hundreds of years to be introduced, as well as clues about Emperor Taizu. He made a fortune!
