Early the next morning, Liu Mang rushed back to Fengcheng, and the more he saw Li Ruonan, the more he felt that he was pressed for time.

"Little Liu, be careful that it bites you. In the basin on the kitchen floor, there is a large soft-shelled turtle weighing three catties, which Liu Mang received from the vegetable market early this morning.

The soft-shelled turtle is a wild soft-shelled turtle caught by an old farmer from the stream of Fengcheng, with a gray back and a snow-white belly. It was curled up on all fours and its head, motionless.

Since Liu Mang collected and completed the set of "Jinling Recipes", he has made many dishes on it, such as 'Wine Condensation Golden Leg', 'Phoenix Terrace', 'Salted Water Duck', etc., but this 'Old Mussel Huaizhu', he has been shelving for a long time, until today when he sees the old farmer selling soft-shelled turtle, he remembers it.

"Hiss~" The soft-shelled turtle finally couldn't stand Xiao Liu's teasing, and stretched out his head and bit it fiercely.

Xiao Liu jumped away flexibly, and the hair all over his body exploded, obviously very angry.

"Alright, stop playing. Liu Mang gently pinched Xiao Liu's neck and lifted it away from the basin: "I'm going to start cooking." ”

'Lao Beng Huaizhu' is a Hui dish, which can be eaten in many restaurants at present. But for some reason, it was included in the "Jinling Recipe" from the Southern Tang Dynasty.

When Liu Mang got the "Jinling Recipe" at that time, he also doubted the authenticity of this dish, and the origin of 'Lao Beng Huaizhu' was clearly recorded.

Legend has it that Cao Xueqin, a great talent in the Qing Dynasty, was not only a literary giant, but also a master of cooking.

Cao Xueqin had a friend named Guo Min before her death, according to Guo Min's "Bottle Lake Maozhai Ji Sheng". In the twenty-third year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, Cao Xueqin had a gathering with his friend Yu Shudu and others in Guo Min's Huaiyuan. In order to help Yaxing, Yu Shudu bought fresh fish, wine, dishes, Galaxy wine, etc., and said to Guo Min, "You have been friends with Xueqin for many years, do you know that he is good at Jiangnan cooking? ”

So, some of the friends put cups, plates, saucers and chopsticks, and some washed their hands and cut the fish for Cao Xueqin to cook.

After a while, Yu Shudu brought the soup bowl, Cao Xueqin opened the lid of the bowl, and poured a little ring of southern wine, and suddenly the umami was overflowing, which was wonderful. But seeing that the soft-shelled turtle in the pot is like a mussel shell, and the left is preserved bamboo shoots, and it is no longer recognized as a fish.

Yu Shudu even lightly opened his abdomen with a chopstick, saying: "Please Mr. enter this strange taste!" I saw that the soft-shelled turtle contained pearls in its abdomen, which were bright in the eyes, smooth and clean, as big as a paulownia, and suspected to be a bird's egg.

Yu Shudu couldn't help but say to Guo Min: "Xueqin makes fish, it's different, I wonder if there is such a way to make fish in Kyoto?"

Guo Min said: "I have never seen it before, I have never heard of it, this is the first time!"

Because Guo Min recorded in detail the origin and practice of this 'old clam Huaizhu' in the book, later generations thought that this dish was invented by Cao Xueqin.

At first, Liu Mang was also very confused, the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty were three dynasties apart, and there were hundreds of years in between, could this dish be added by the descendants themselves?

In the end, Liu Mang's question was solved without saying a word. It is precisely because the "Jinling Recipe" was left by the Southern Tang Dynasty that it will be handed down, and it is not a particularly strange thing that Cao Xueqin saw it made by Cao Xueqin.

Liu Mang picked the back shell of the soft-shelled turtle, put it under the faucet in the back kitchen, and began to scrub it with a brush.

Soft-shelled turtle is the common name of soft-shelled turtle, also called group fish, water fish, and oviparous amphibian reptiles. It is not only a delicacy on the table, a high-quality material for a fine feast, but also a Chinese medicine ingredient. It has the effects of clearing heat and nourishing yin, nourishing medicine, etc.

As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Tianzi had the position of 'turtle man', specializing in catching soft-shelled turtles for his own enjoyment. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Gongzi Song and Zheng Linggong also made a tragic incident because of a mouthful of turtle soup, and the monarchs and ministers turned against each other and started a big killing.

After cleaning the moss and crust attached to the shell of the soft-shelled turtle, Liu Mang took a tin iron kettle. The spout of the tin iron kettle is very small, and it contains Shaoxing old wine with an alcohol concentration of 50 degrees.

Grab the soft-shelled turtle with one hand, and hold the tin kettle in the other, and put the spout of the tin kettle close to the head of the soft-shelled turtle shrunk in the back shell.

"Shhhhhhh

After several teasings, the soft-shelled turtle finally couldn't bear the humiliation, poked its head out, and bit the spout.

Liu Mang hurriedly pinched its head, lifted the tin kettle, and poured the old wine inside into the abdominal cavity of the soft-shelled turtle.

When the chef makes this 'old clam Huaizhu', he directly slaughters the soft-shelled turtle and chops it into pieces, and pickles it in old wine.

However, the method recorded in the "Jinling Recipe" is slightly different, if the soft-shelled turtle is pickled according to the ordinary method, then there will always be a rusty smell that is difficult to remove. As for the practice in the "Jinling Recipe", the wine will allow the soft-shelled turtle to absorb itself and fully soak it. Finally, it is pickled, and there is no fishy smell at all, only a faint aroma of wine.

Soon, a large pot of rice wine was poured into the body of the soft-shelled turtle. Liu Mang let go of his hand and threw the soft-shelled turtle back into the basin.

The soft-shelled turtle that had drunk the wine stuck out its head and made a sound similar to the crowing of a pigeon, and crawled around in the basin as if it were crazy.

"You're here again. "Xiaoliu, the fat cat, ran over again because of curiosity.

"Smack!" Liu Mang picked up the chopping board and covered the basin: "I'm at home today, you can take Xiaoliu out to play, don't run far." ”

After the soft-shelled turtle was poured into the wine, it took an hour to wait, Liu Mang washed the handle, opened the refrigerator, and prepared other ingredients.

Peel and tendon the chicken breast, beat it into minced chicken with the back of a knife, and beat the fresh shellfish into minced shellfish, put the minced chicken and minced shellfish in a basin and stir well, add cold chicken broth, egg white, scallion oil, salt, and stir in one direction. After it becomes viscous, pour water into the pot and heat it.

The water in the pot boiled until it boiled slightly, and Liu Mang kneaded it into balls with his hands and put it in the water to boil.

Remove the scalded meatballs from the pot and set aside. In addition to meatballs, Liu Mang also prepared boiled pigeon eggs, green onions and ginger and other ingredients.

After waiting for a while, Liu Mang lifted the cutting board on the lid basin. After pouring a belly of rice wine, the soft-shelled turtle in the basin has stretched its neck and fell asleep at the bottom of the basin.

Liu Mang took a bone chopping knife, directly chopped off the head of the soft-shelled turtle, and then made a cross knife in the abdomen of the soft-shelled turtle, ready to take out the internal organs, and clean the black membrane in the abdominal cavity.

"Huh, and an unexpected gain?" When Liu Mang's fingers reached into the knife edge, in addition to the internal organs, he actually took out seven or eight soft-skinned turtle eggs that were as clear as jade.

"The original soup turns into the original food, and with this, the pigeon eggs are no longer needed. “

Turtles with eggs in their bellies are extremely rare, and it can only be said that Liu Mang's luck is too good to meet them.

Carefully putting the turtle eggs into a small bowl, Liu Mang cut off the limbs of the soft-shelled turtle and prepared to start cooking.