While drinking porridge, the two of them talked to each other about the new things in Shangshutai and Zhen Delicacies these days, and before they knew it, a pot of porridge had been eaten, and Xiao Mo felt that there was still something unfinished. No one has ever eaten porridge so pleasantly, just simply drank a meal of porridge, in Xiao Mo's opinion, but it was happier than attending any luxurious banquet. Advocating frugality and not seeking pleasure, it turns out that you can be very happy.

This season, it gets dark early. It was not too early, Xiao Mo got up to say goodbye, and suddenly remembered the purpose of coming, so he asked Shu Yan: "Brother Shu, what do you say I should do at the imperial banquet?" ”

"Of course, what kind of food to cook at the imperial banquet is up to your Taiguan Department and the Treasure Administration. I'm a layman, how do you know. ”

"Uh," said Little Mer, after a pause, "you said what you would like to eat on the day of the feast?" ”

Shu Yan chuckled: "Me? What do I want to eat? ”

"What are you laughing at? In the past, the dishes for the imperial banquet were all set by the palace, but this year, when I make a special food order, I have to make an innovation, because you are guests, of course, I have to listen to your opinions. ”

"What are you kidding, what am I, at my level, I don't know if there can be a royal banquet or not, how dare I dare to expect to have a meal according to my preferences?"

"How could I not invite you? If the old man of the emperor dares not to invite you, I will stop cooking on the day of the royal banquet - pretend to be sick - and pick a son for him. ”

"You-" Seeing Xiao Mo's brute strength coming up again, Shu Yan had no choice but to say, "Even if there is me at the imperial banquet, even if I say what I like to eat, will the imperial chef pay attention to it?" Isn't that too ignorant and funny? ”

"Who dares to ignore it! The chef has to listen to me, and I'll listen to you! You say, what to eat, I guarantee that there will be it at the royal banquet. ”

For Xiao Mo's naïve and serious attitude, Shu Yan was helpless, "I really can do anything." As you know, I've never been picky about eating. ”

"Even if you're not a picky eater, you should always come up with an idea for me, I'm really worried about this! You know, people out there have a lot of opinions about my unusual delicacies? I was trying to take this opportunity to gag them. ”

Shu Yan thought for a while and said: "It stands to reason that such a high-level imperial banquet is full of dignitaries and nobles, and the most popular dishes like roasted beef heart are indispensable. But now the imperial court is encouraging the reclamation of wasteland and the expansion of production, since the expansion of production, it is inseparable from cattle, and the imperial court does not allow the common people to kill cattle casually, so I think this year's imperial banquet is not good for the hearts of the ox, so as to set an example for the common people. ”

"Makes sense." Xiao Mo nodded, "Since you don't use cows, what should you use?" ”

"Let's use pigs and sheep, because in the Book of Rites, we eat wheat and sheep in the spring, mushrooms and chickens in the summer, hemp and dogs in the autumn, and millet and rice in the winter. Now is the turn of winter and spring, and it is the time to eat pigs and sheep. ”

"Well, good idea. Pigs and sheep are generally easy to obtain, and they do not plough the land, and have no other use, and the autumn fat that has increased for a few months is the time for fat. Besides, as a Qiang person, I can't say anything if I don't make a dish of mutton. ”

After the main ingredients were decided, Xiao Mo went back to study the matching and cooking plan of the auxiliary ingredients. Various methods such as steaming, boiling, roasting, roasting, and stewing have been carefully studied. She also listed various auxiliary ingredients around the two main ingredients of pig and sheep, and then finally decided on several dishes according to the principle of the combination of each ingredient and the perspective of nutritional matching, including: steamed pork and mutton stewed radish.

The suckling pig used for steamed pork is slaughtered the night before the royal feast. These suckling pigs are carefully selected, and the weight is within fifteen to eighteen catties. Steamed pork is not as strict as other cooking methods, and it has relatively strict requirements for the pre-event link. Bloodletting must be done cleanly, pigs. The hair must be scalded with boiling water. Cooking methods such as roasting and stewing are all about cutting pork into small pieces, and of course people can't see a large piece of pork skin. And the steamed pork is a whole pig, just imagine, if the mane is not clean, a fluffy thing is served, even if the taste is good, it will make the guests stay away.

Of course, none of this work had to be done by Xiao Mo herself, but by her assistant, an imperial chef named Ah Bing, who led his subordinates to do it. Ah Bing led everyone to hollow out the internal organs of the suckling pig that had been dehaired and remove the four hooves. After it was done, Ah Bing asked Xiao Mo again if he wanted to cut the mutton, radish and other ingredients in advance, after all, he would make hundreds of dishes tomorrow, and the imperial chefs of the Treasures and Cuisine Department were not as many as the Taiguan Bureau, so I was afraid that he would be busy at that time. Xiao Mo did not agree. She told Ah Bing that all ingredients should be freshly cut to ensure freshness. In fact, the imperial chefs all know this, but they don't want to get up too early tomorrow, so they don't have a strong sense of responsibility as Xiao Mo. Xiao Mo's superb cooking skills are not only due to her extensive knowledge, flexible mind, and innovation, but also related to her meticulous cooking attitude. Sometimes, the devil is in the details.

Xiao Mo supervised until late, and she didn't go to sleep until the preparations were almost done.

The imperial banquet is a critical moment to test the professionalism and coordination ability of the imperial chefs, and of course they dare not be careless. The next day, Xiao Mo got up before the first moment, and she called the other chefs to get ready to start.

Ah Bing led everyone to pick off the hanging suckling pigs, cut off the backbone, and then flattened them so that they could be heated more evenly in the steamer.

"Xiao Mo." At this moment, the seventeenth princess suddenly pushed the door and entered.

Xiao Mo looked at the dark sky outside, and the little face of the seventeenth princess that was red from cold, and said, "What are you doing here on such a cold day?" ”

"I knew you were going to be busy today, and I couldn't sleep, so I'm going to see how you make the royal feast, and by the way, see if there's anything you can help with." As the seventeenth princess spoke, she suddenly smelled a strange smell, so she looked around and saw hanging suckling pigs. She had never seen such a scene, and she was terrified. She screamed, and a feeling of nausea welled up at the same time.

"No matter how advanced the imperial kitchen is, it is also a kitchen. It's all dirty here, you princess, this place is not for you, go back quickly. ”

What I saw and heard just now did make the seventeenth princess a little uncomfortable. But after listening to Xiao Mo's words, she came willful and didn't go back. Xiao Mo doesn't care about her anymore, let her go.

Steamed pork is not cooked in a way that is boiled or stewed, and the pork can be repeatedly touched in the pot with the soup, and the flavor can be absorbed quickly. The steamed pork does not go into the pot, directly into the steamer, and does not even touch the water, so the suckling pig must be soaked in seasonings before going to the steamer.

This is a key link, of course, Xiao Mo has to do it himself. Xiao Mo first used a kitchen knife to evenly cut the skin of the pork one by one to facilitate the penetration of the seasoning. Then the pre-prepared seasoning is carefully soaked into all parts of the pig's body, inside and out. The seasoning of steamed pork generally includes salt, minced ginger, minced onion and garlic, etc., Xiao Mo's seasoning is different from others, she also added wine and pepper, which was an innovation at the time, related to her grandfather who traded in the Western Regions.

Due to the large number of steamed porks that need to be made, by the time she soaked the last suckling pig in seasoning, the first suckling pig was almost soaked. During this time, she ordered Ah Bing to cut the mutton into small cubes, soak them in water to remove the blood, and then cut the radish into cubes about the size of the mutton.

After these works are done, the first batch of soaked suckling pigs has been tasted and can be steamed in the steamer. During the steaming of suckling pigs, the heat is also the key, and it is not static. Instead, it must be burned for a while with a fierce fire, and then slowly steamed with a simmer, so as to ensure that the suckling pig is steamed thoroughly at the same time, and the seasoning flavor is also slowly immersed into the innermost layer of the meat, which is tender and not erosive. As for how long the fire needs to burn and how long it needs to be burned, it depends on the size of the pig, and it cannot be generalized. Flexibility is one of the principles of Xiao Mo's cooking. For steamed porpoise, although Xiao Mo has eaten it, he has never made it. It was a bold attempt by her brilliant mind.

Compared with steamed porpoise, mutton stewed radish can be said to be handy for Xiao Mo. In the gap between the steaming of the first batch of suckling pigs, Ah Bing and others have blanched the mutton with boiling water. Xiao Mo instructed them to stir-fry the blanched mutton pieces in an oil pot, add ingredients, and then add water to boil until seven or eight medium rare, and then put the radish pieces into the pot and simmer over low heat. At this time, the first batch of suckling pigs has been steamed, and the second batch has also been put into the steamer.

The seventeenth princess couldn't help anything, so she just watched silently from the side. When she saw the chefs putting radishes in the mutton pot, she asked Xiao Mo in confusion: "Good mutton, just put some white radish pieces, why is this?" ”

Xiao Mo was almost busy, relieved, and explained to her: "Mutton is warm, and it is easy to get hot if you eat too much, and radish is cold, which just complements each other." Also, mutton meat, you must find a vegetable to solve it, and the mutton has a strong smell, if you want to remove the smell, white radish is the most suitable, the spicy smell of radish is immersed in the mutton, just to neutralize the smell of mutton. ”

"Sure enough." The aroma of mutton and turnips had already wafted into the nostrils of the seventeenth princess. Now, she has admired Xiao Mo so much.

She saw that the ingredients that had been piled up a few hours ago had now become delicacies in neat food boxes; And the kitchen, which was filled with all kinds of miscellaneous smells just a moment ago, has now wafted out mouth-watering aromas.

"You're so capable. Lead your men to make so many delicacies, and you're so knowledgeable. ”

After listening to the words of the seventeenth princess, Xiao Mo really felt tired at this time. She looked at her body, which was full of stains; On such a cold day, I was so frightened in the morning that I was now sweating on my head and body; Lack of sleep for days and worries made her look haggard; Exposed to cold water, his originally white hands were also a little chapped. Originally, such a large amount of work should be done by men, and she was a girl, a girl who was relaxed, free, and unfettered...... And all this suffering is not for Shu Yan......

"Why do you admire me?" Xiao Mo looked at the seventeenth princess with an adoring face, and suddenly a question arose in his heart, so he asked her, "Princess, are you also like others, do you think that everything I do is for the sake of this official position?" ”

The seventeenth princess nodded, "Isn't it?" ”

Xiao Mo didn't answer, but smiled and said, "I'm going to the banquet." ”

"You can make your own dishes with a special order, why are you going to the banquet?"

That's right, a cook, why are you going to the banquet, you can't say that you are going to see Shu Yan, right? "Of course, I'm going to see how people react to my cooking skills, so it will help me improve in the future!"

"I'll go too."

"Nonsense, there are all civil and military ministers there, how can you get there?"

"I can sneak in from the outside, and make sure no one can see it."

"Whatever you want, when the emperor finds out, don't say I'll take you there."