Seeing that Ling Zikai was silent, Old Man Tong said: "If you want to say that the cooking method of these eight treasured dishes, although it was handed down by my imperial chef ancestor back then, after more than two hundred years, it is not much of a secret until now. In the past, because the name of Ba Zhen Pavilion was too big, colleagues from other restaurants tried to get the secret method of cooking Ba Zhen cuisine, and this secret method had already been leaked out. But even if they get the secret method, they won't be able to make the same flavor as us!

Although Ling Zikai knew the reason, he still pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Why?"

"Because they lack a cooking ingredient, just like when cooking a dish, there is a missing dish of MSG, can it taste the same as ours? “

Seeing a proud smile on Old Man Tong's face, Ling Zikai deliberately asked, "Won't they find a way to find that kind of ingredient?"

"Even if they have the ability of heaven, they can't find that ingredient!"

Old Man Tong glanced at Ling Zikai, thinking that the other party would definitely ask about the origin of the ingredients, but he didn't react after seeing him snort.

It's like when you're boxing, you can hit the other party with one punch, but you suddenly find that you're empty, and you suddenly feel a little uncomfortable in your heart, and you can't help asking, "Do you want to know what that ingredient is?"

Seeing that Old Man Tong was like a child with a treasure in his arms at the moment, wanting to show off in front of him, Ling Zikai secretly felt funny in his heart, so he pretended to be disapproving, and said, "Isn't it just a few small mushrooms added to each Bazhen dish!"

When he said this, the expression on Old Man Tong's face became wonderful, as if he had seen a ghost, he looked at Ling Zikai with a muzzle for a long time before he stammered and asked, "How did you know this secret?"

"Actually, I guessed it by accident.

In the past, I have also eaten Bazhen cuisine at other restaurants. Whether it's the name of the recipe, the ingredients used, or the cooking method, it's all the same. The only difference is that I found that in each of these eight dishes you cook, there are a few small mushrooms in it.

Perhaps, this ingredient is already in your recipe, so it's no surprise to say.

It's just that after eating those eight treasures, you will find that all the dishes have the same umami, and this umami all comes from small mushrooms.

I don't know if you have noticed it before, but this delicious taste is already the main thing in a few dishes. In other words, it drowns out the flavor of the main ingredients in that dish.

For example, it was originally a chicken soup, and it was supposed to taste the umami of the chicken, but because of the addition of small mushrooms, everyone could not taste the taste of the chicken, only the umami of the mushrooms.

On the other hand, if you don't add those little mushrooms, the chicken soup wouldn't be as delicious!

Then, I'm afraid that the eight treasures dishes made by your Bazhen Pavilion are no different from those made by other restaurants!

Of course, if it weren't for the fact that you just said that someone else's Bazhen dish lacked an ingredient, maybe I wouldn't have thought of this little mushroom, but with your reminder, it will not be difficult to find out the flaws in this after comparing it again.

Old man, see if what I said is reasonable!"

After listening to Ling Zikai's explanation, Old Man Tong couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Brother Ling, the old man has completely convinced you!"

Ling Zikai waved his hand humbly and asked tentatively, "Old man, if you want to say that there are many mushrooms in my forest farm, I usually go to pick them to cook." Although it tastes good, it is much worse than what you use. What kind of mushrooms do you have? Where did you buy them, and can you buy some for me?"

After going around in circles for so long, Ling Zikai finally told the main purpose of his visit this time.

Old Man Tong smiled and said, "Brother Ling, I'm afraid this wish of yours is difficult to come true. Even if you search the entire Xing'an Mountains, I'm afraid you won't be able to find this thing, let alone buy it!"

"Could it be that this mushroom is a new variety that you have artificially cultivated yourself?" Ling Zikai asked puzzled.

"If I could cultivate such mushrooms, I would have made a fortune a long time ago, and I still need to work hard to open this restaurant!"

Old Man Tong shook his head and said, "Forget it, I won't go around in circles with you." To tell you the truth, this small mushroom was found in a small cave after my grandfather fled from the palace to his hometown.

In the ravine of my hometown, there are many small caves like this, and some villagers have converted these caves into storage rooms or for livestock breeding.

The cave discovered by the great grandfather back then was not big, it was only one meter square in size and more than five meters deep.

The difference is that in that cave grows an iron birch tree that is hundreds of years old. Half of the trunk is in the hole, and half of the trunk grows out of the hole.

You run a forest farm, so you're no stranger to iron birch!

This is a common tree species in the Xing'an Mountains. Because of its slow growth, the density of wood is very high, and the hardness can be compared to steel plates, it is known as the hardest tree in the world, and the villagers like to use it to make some agricultural tools.

Because of its high hardness and long growth years, it has some cracks in its bark. If the weather conditions are right, some fungi will grow on those cracks!"

"Old man, do you mean that these little mushrooms are obtained from the iron birch tree that grows in the cave?"

Ling Zikai interrupted Old Man Tong's words, and said with some suspicion: "To say that part of the torso of that iron birch tree grows in the cave, the environment is humid, and the cave is warm in winter and cool in summer, it is not strange to grow some fungi on the cracks of these trunks. It's just that most of the trees that can grow fungi occur on those dead trees and rotten trees, and what grows is also oyster mushrooms, fungus and the like. Can mushrooms grow on the trunk of a tree as hard as the iron birch?"

Old Man Tong said: "You are right, it is precisely because it is rare to see mushrooms growing on the iron birch tree that my grandfather felt very curious, picked those small mushrooms, took them home and made them into a dish." I don't need to tell you about the result!"

Ling Zikai nodded, and said secretly: It's really a creation to make people, this inadvertent discovery has made the century-old signboard of the Eight Treasures Pavilion.

Looking back on the past, the old man Tong was still unsatisfied, and sighed: "After this discovery, our Tong family sent people to look for this kind of mushroom that grows on the iron birch tree, first on the ground of Chaigegou, and then expanded to the forest area of the county, in the past hundred years, almost the entire Xing'an Mountains. Similar mushrooms have been found, but they are nothing like those grown in the cave. “

"So, until now, only the iron birch tree in that cave could grow this little mushroom?"

"Fortunately, a hundred years have passed, and that iron birch tree will grow a batch of mushrooms every other month, and it can pick about three catties of mushrooms at a time, barely enough to maintain the amount of ingredients needed by the Eight Treasures Pavilion. “

Ling Zikai said: "This is also the main reason why you have formulated a plan that can only supply ten seats per day. “

Old Man Tong nodded helplessly.