Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 313: Clear Water Broth

Shen Yu thanked him with a smile, and Chef Xu walked away slowly with the dishes and chopsticks he had brought.

Qi Xi said in a somewhat strange tone: "What's wrong with Old Man Xu today? He seems like a different person."

"Normally, he doesn't talk to anyone, but now he's willing to help us."

Shen Yu also didn't understand why Chef Xu was so gentle towards him.

She looked at the burning incense sticks and the broth in the pot, which was now boiling, and said with a smile, "It would be great if everyone could get along with each other."

"Okay, we're going to start making the soup stock. Hurry up and finish eating the peeled oranges, wash your hands, put on your apron, and get ready to work."

Shen Yu had finished eating the oranges, so he washed his hands first, opened the lid of the pot, and stirred it with a spoon.

The chicken and ribs in the pot were cooked until the bones were melted. I scooped up a bone stick with a spoon and found that the marrow inside had melted into the soup.

Shen Yu first took out the large pieces of bones from the pot and placed them in a basin on the side.

Take the soup pot, cover the mouth of the pot with gauze, and let 7-Up pour the cooked broth in the pot into the soup pot with a large soup spoon.

After filtering, Shen Yu lifted the gauze and discarded the broken bones and meat residues aside.

Put the soup pot on the stove nearby and add firewood to boil it over high heat.

Shen Yu added appropriate amount of water to the chopped pork tenderloin and made it into a paste.

When the broth in the soup pot boils again, add the minced meat paste into the pot and stir with a spoon.

As the minced meat in the pot spun rapidly, the originally turbid and thick broth gradually became clear.

When the minced meat is fully cooked and floating on the soup surface, use a fine mesh strainer to scoop out all the minced meat.

After cooking in this way and adding the minced chicken twice, the soup in the pot became as clear as water and full of fresh fragrance.

At this point, the "boiling water" soup used to make boiled cabbage is ready.

Shen Yu took the soup pot off the stove and let it settle for a while.

Thinking it was about time, Shen Yu took a clean white porcelain basin and covered the large fine-mesh strainer with a piece of gauze.

Have 7-Up lift the soup pot and slowly pour the soup into the strainer covered with gauze.

When there is still some broth left at the bottom of the pot, stop pouring it to prevent the broth from becoming cloudy.

Qixi put the soup pot aside, took a look at the white porcelain basin, and was stunned.

In the white porcelain soup basin, most of the basin was filled with steaming water, which was clear to the bottom without a trace of oil.

If he hadn't seen Shen Yu making it the whole time, he would never have believed that this was a pot of fresh and delicious broth.

Shen Yu took the two selected cabbages and peeled off the large leaves on the outside, leaving only five or six layers of tender yellow cabbage core in the middle.

Take the scissors and carefully remove the tender leaves on each leaf of the cabbage core, and trim the remaining cabbage stalks into the shape of lotus petals.

Shen Yu took the small soup pot, sat on the stove, added cold water, put the cabbage core in to cook, and in order to remove the bitterness of the vegetable, added a little fine sugar to cook together.

After boiling for a cup of tea, the cabbage stalks have become somewhat transparent, which means they are cooked through.

In order not to waste the water used to boil the cabbage, Shen Yu picked out two intact young rapeseeds, boiled them until they were completely green, then took them out and put them in cooled boiled water.

Shen Yu took a deeper soup plate and put the cooked cabbage stalks in it, then pricked the leaves with long silver needles.

Then fold the cabbage core into the shape of a lotus bud and place it horizontally in the soup plate.

Pour some clear soup into the dish and place the soup plate in the steamer. Steam it for half an incense stick before serving.

Shen Yu had almost finished making the three dishes he was going to prepare for dinner. He just needed to cut some tofu and fry some meat skewers, and everything would be done.

Shen Yu stood at the door of the kitchen, looking at the sky, and asked Qi Xi, "The county magistrate said that the banquet will start at the beginning of the evening. I wonder what time it is now. Will the banquet start on time?"

“These dishes need to be prepared soon before the meal starts, and they will taste fresh if they are served right after they are done.

Qi Xi stood up and said, "I'll go to the master's yard and take a look. I'll be back soon."

With that said, he walked quickly.

Shen Yu thought about it, then set up the oil pan, poured in the oil, took out the bowl containing the marinated meat skewers, the strainer, and the small ingredients and put them away. He would be able to start frying after a while.

After finishing all this, Shen Yu took the tofu that had been kept in the water, took out the new kitchen knife, rinsed it with water, and began to carefully cut the chrysanthemum tofu on the chopping board.

Last time I did it to test out the knife, and I cut it casually on a whim, and didn’t trim it into a round chrysanthemum shape.

This time, Shen Yu was going to entertain the governor, so he didn't dare to be careless and specially brought four large pieces of tofu from the restaurant, so that there would be a spare in case something went wrong.

There was no one to disturb him, so Shen Yu cut very smoothly.

Wait until the cut tofu is gently placed into the water, use your hands to shake off the excess edges and gently spread it out.

Looking at the two round, fluffy chrysanthemum balls in the water, Shen Yu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction.

As soon as I took my hand away from the basin, I heard a cheer from the side: "Good."

The sudden loud shout in the originally quiet room frightened Shen Yu, who was concentrating on his work, so much that he trembled and almost dropped the kitchen knife in his hand.

She turned around and saw a tall and strong man wearing a dark blue thick cotton casual gown, with a short beard and a dark complexion, standing behind her with an admiring look on his face.

Shen Yu saw that he was dressed casually and could not tell his identity. He thought that anyone who could appear in the back hall of the county government office could not be an ordinary citizen, so he could only greet him vaguely and said, "How are you, sir."

The man smiled heartily, waved his hand and said, "Miss, you are too polite. It was I who was reckless. I scared you just now, didn't I?"

Shen Yu smiled and shook his head, put the kitchen knife in his hand on the chopping board, looked at the other person and waited for him to speak.

The man took two steps forward, took a closer look at the chrysanthemum tofu that was still swaying gently in the water, and exclaimed: "The girl has great knife skills and is very creative."

"I've seen quite a few chefs with good knife skills, but this is the first time I've seen tofu cut like this."

Shen Yu said modestly: "Sir, you are too kind. The chefs just haven't thought of cutting tofu this way. If they practice a few times, they should be able to cut it well."

The man shook his head and was about to say something, but he heard an angry voice yelling from the kitchen door behind him: "Yang Laoliu, I can find you here with just a guess."

"Even if you didn't have a good lunch and you're starving now, just wait in the dining hall if you want to eat. Why are you running to the kitchenette?"

Yang Chi, the prefect of Ji'an Prefecture, said slowly, "I'm here to see if there's any fresh food."

"Lu Lao Er, you also know that I'm hungry?"

"Who wants to eat the meal you ordered from the restaurant? If you want to eat, just eat it yourself."