Chapter 25: The Banquet
Nian Yi thought that he was weak, and he slept with the night breeze blowing on the roof, and the next day he got up hot, Nian's father slapped his daughter's head hard, and when he saw her guilty, he didn't say anything serious, just let her reflect on it, and took her younger brother to the roof to blow the wind when she was such a big person!
"Nian Yi thought, if there is anything you want to eat, my sister will make it for you, you can do anything." Nian Yinian felt very guilty about this, "Shall I make you a sugar gourd?" ”
Without waiting for Nian Yi to agree, Nian's mother first opened her mouth and refused, "You kid, where can your brother eat those cold ones now, let's make them for him when he is better." ”
"It's okay, I can eat it now if I think about it." After Nian Yi Nian finished speaking, he went to make sugar gourds for his younger brother.
Yam can nourish the spleen and stomach, but unfortunately people with colds can't eat, Nian Yinian originally planned to make a yam sugar gourd for his younger brother, but now he can only use sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes are flat and sweet, can warm the stomach, but it is a bit troublesome to make sugar gourds.
She boiled all the sweet potatoes in the pot, peeled and cut them into pieces, skewered them with bamboo skewers and put them aside, and asked Nian Xiaohu to cut some fruits for herself when she was boiling the syrup, and then she saw a plate full of apples, "How are they all apples." ”
"Now there are few fruits, just apples and oranges, a thought, what are you going to do?"
"Make some sugar gourds for my brother, and by the way, make some for the county lord and Tianyou." Nian Yinian opened his mouth and said, seeing that the syrup was boiled, he wrapped the sweet potatoes and apples in the syrup and put them aside to wait for the sugar to solidify, peeled two more oranges, removed the top warp and threw it into the syrup to sugar.
Xia Tianyou followed her brother to the street and came back after a while, throwing a string of beads in her hand, "Xiao Nian, what are you doing delicious?" Before I even entered the kitchen, I asked, a sweet and greasy taste. ”
"I made some sugar gourds, I have to prepare the materials for tomorrow's treat today, I can't go to the county lord's mansion, Tianyou, can you help me send them over?" Nian Yinian said.
Xia Tianyou nodded in agreement, picked up a piece of apple whose sugar had not yet solidified and threw it into his mouth, the sweet and sour of the apple mixed with the pure sweetness of the white sugar, it was simply delicious to the heavens, and he couldn't help but ask: "Xiao Nian, what do you think, you actually use apples to make sugar gourds." ”
"On a whim." Nian Yinian smiled and vaguely passed the question, "I may have to wait a little longer for the Manchu and Han banquets that I promised you before." ”
"It's okay, you are busy with you first, my brother and I will not leave Jingshi in the past few months, and he doesn't seem to have finished his work yet." Xia Tianyou sat beside her and held her cheeks, "Although I have followed my brother to the north and south since I was a child, I still don't understand the affairs of the rivers and lakes, and I always feel that it is very complicated." ”
Nian Yi Nian: "By the way, I haven't asked where your home is." ”
"My brother is the young owner of Biyou Villa, I picked it up on the way when my brother went out once, I don't have a home, Biyou Villa is my home." Xia Tian smiled naturally, without the slightest sadness, "My father-in-law and mother-in-law are very good to me, and Biyou Villa also loves me very much, and my brother often says that I can walk sideways in the villa." ”
Nian Yinian smiled and didn't speak, and asked Xia Tianyou to send it to him when he made something, and gave her a sugar gourd by the way, and sent the rest to Nian Yixiang. The time for the treat is tomorrow at noon, and the ingredients will be fresh tomorrow, but some things must be handled in advance, otherwise they will only be in a hurry at noon tomorrow.
On the morning of the second day, the guests came by appointment, and there were not many adults invited by the young father, Wang Yaonian, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, Zheng Shichuan, the waiter of the household department, and Mu Zi'an of the Yushitai, these people had a good relationship with the father of the year.
"You can come, the humble house is really full of flowers!" Nian's father stepped forward and arched his hand, with a smile on his face.
Wang Yao had been to the Nian Mansion a few times before, and when he saw that the layout here had not changed, he said with a smile: "Brother Nian is still nostalgic as always, and the decoration at home is no different from before." ”
"I just don't want to change it." Father said with a smile and invited everyone to the pavilion in the small garden.
The pavilion was built on the rockery, and everyone meandered up, sat down on the stone table in the pavilion, and found that there were already dishes and chopsticks arranged, and the plates for putting vegetables were painted with bamboo, and the chopsticks were also in the shape of bamboo.
Zheng Chuanshi picked up the bowl and found that it was chrysanthemum tea, and when the lid was lifted, the fragrance of chrysanthemums overflowed, and the entrance was also fragrant, "This is-"
"The white chrysanthemum that was just picked last year was specially brought by the little girl from Hangzhou." Nian's father said, "If you can't get used to it, I'll ask people to prepare tea." ”
"No, it's fine." Zheng Chuanshi opened his mouth and said, "Brother Nian, you said that you invited us to try the dishes, and the store has been renovated?" ”
"There's still some time, to be honest, it was the little girl who asked me to invite you adults to try the dishes." Nian's father said, "When she was in Qingyang City, she suddenly became obsessed with cooking, and opened a small shop in the local area called Casual, afraid that the dishes she made would not be liked by the adults here, so let me invite a few people to try it." ”
Mu Zi'an, a shop named Casual, also heard about it, and said: "I have also heard about this shop, I heard that King An Yi often went there when he was in Qingyang City, and when he came back, he thought about the dishes in that shop day and night, and it turned out that it was the young girl who was in charge. ”
"It's not Si Jia, it's Si Meiren." Wang Yaonian laughed, and then the first dish came up.
The first dish is Wensi tofu, Li Weiyang's favorite, and when it is served, it is placed in a small cup, one small cup per person, just right as an appetizer.
Wang Yaonian looked at the tofu in the lotus-shaped cup, and couldn't help but pick up one with chopsticks, "This tofu is as thin as hair, Miss Nian is only twenty-eight years old, and it is rare to have such good knife work." ”
"Soft and mellow, melt-in-your-mouth, good." Mu Zi'an also opened his mouth to praise, originally thought that the taste of the young lady in charge of the spoon would not be much better, but now it seems that he is underestimating people, savoring this Wensi tofu.
The Wensi tofu as an appetizer was eaten after a while, and it was very rude to let the guests wait for the dish, and when they finished eating, someone came up to remove the small cup in front of them and replaced it with Longjing shrimp.
The white and crystal shrimp with a little pink is dotted with green tea leaves in the middle, such a dish has never been seen by adults in Beijing, only Mu Zi'an, who has been to Suzhou and Hangzhou, couldn't help but say: "Is this Longjing shrimp?" ”
"Not bad." Father Nian stood up and scooped some of them with a delicate small spoon, "Lord Mu has eaten it?" ”
"I've been to Suzhou and Hangzhou, and I tasted this dish in a restaurant on the edge of the West Lake, and I thought I wouldn't have the opportunity to eat it, but I didn't expect to taste it again today." Mu Zi'an couldn't wait to clip a shrimp into his mouth, the fresh fragrance of the shrimp and the tea aroma of Longjing were perfectly combined, and people couldn't help but sigh.
Seeing that he was so satisfied, Wang Yaonian also put it in his mouth, the taste of this dish was light, but it was just right, chanted a poem, and sighed, "It's really delicious, Brother Nian, what other dishes should be put here." ”
"Hahaha...... How can there be no good food without good wine? Small dishes, go and bring the osmanthus wine brewed by the young lady. The old father laughed and laughed.
After the little guy answered, he went to bring the osmanthus wine, and there was also a three-silk lettuce roll together, the crystal clear lettuce slices rolled with bean sprouts, shredded eggs and green peppers to the head and tail, the entrance is refreshing with a hint of spicy, and it looks very delicate and cute.
If the Wensi tofu at the beginning just made them sigh at the knife work, the next few dishes are showing Nian Yinian's knife work and exquisite cooking skills, which makes people sigh.
After being full of wine and food, the old father asked people to serve hawthorn tea for consumption, and said, "What do you adults think?" ”
"Miss Nian's cooking skills are really good, if she opened a restaurant, I would have been there for her at that time." Wang Yaonian said.
Mu Zi'an nodded and said, "Indeed, although there are only a few dishes today, it is enough to see how much Miss Nian's cooking skills are, Brother Nian, the shop opened in time?" ”
"Speaking of this shop—" Father Nian showed a somewhat embarrassed expression.
Zheng Chuanshi and the others glanced at each other and said, "Brother Nian, there is no difficulty, but it doesn't hurt to say it. ”
"It's not a difficulty, it's just that the little girl is willful, saying that our restaurant only accepts reservations, and cooks two tables of dishes a day, what does she do and what the guests eat, of course, under my persuasion, I still added a rule that guests can designate a dish." Nian's father said, "I'm afraid that her shop will go out of business like this." ”
"What's so difficult about this, it's common for North Korean and Chinese officials to invite guests to dinner, as long as we help publicize it." Wang Yaonian said: "In this way, I will book the next table of meals first, and the designated dish will be barbecued pork." ”
"I'll set a table too." Mu Zi'an said, "The designated dish is Longjing shrimp. ”
"I'll just roast sea cucumber with green onions."
Nian's father got up and saluted a few adults with emotion, "Then I will thank you for the little girl, the little girl's peach blossom wine will be brewed another day, and I will invite a few adults to come over and drink." ”
"Peach blossom wine?" Mu Zi'an and the others were slightly puzzled, they had never heard of peach blossom wine, but since it was made by Miss Nian, the taste should not be much worse, so they nodded and agreed, and after talking for a while, they said goodbye and left.
Nian's father knocked on his shoulder, he hadn't dealt with officials for a long time, he was a little tired from dealing with him today, he got up and went to Nian Yinian's small courtyard, and found that Xia Tianyou, Xia Tianqing and Nian Yixiang were all over there, with a bowl in one person's hand, and noodles in the bowl.
With his eyelids twitching, he couldn't help but ask, "Why are you eating noodles here?" ”
"Nian Yi wanted to say that he wanted to eat noodles, so Xiao Nian directly made a noodle for him with chicken soup." Xia Tianyou opened his mouth and said, "This noodle is chicken soup flavored, and it is different from the noodles sold outside, Uncle Nian, can you try it too?" ”
Father: ......
Where can he still eat?