The first dish Ye Feng made was Sichuan-style "maocai," which is actually part of the same category as hot pot. There's an interesting saying: "Maocai is hot pot for one person, and hot pot is maocai for one person." In some places, maocai is grouped with mala tang, with maocai being a hot pot mala tang with broth, while cold pot skewers are a cold pot mala tang with broth, and dry pot mala tang is stir-fried mala tang without broth.

Regardless of the explanation, this dish has always had a pretty good reputation.

There are several theories about the origin of this name.

The first theory is that Maocai originated from Sichuan province's braised dishes. Sichuan province's braised dishes and cold dishes are famous throughout the world, and many lazy people, for convenience but also wanting to save money, simply buy pre-cooked food directly from the market.

Because braised dishes require braising liquid, but shop owners were worried about wasting the oil in the braising liquid, they added some spices and Chinese herbs to it, then blanched some vegetables in it, and found that it tasted great. They started selling it together with cold dishes, which proved very successful, and thus, "maocai" (a type of Sichuan hot pot) came into being.

Another theory suggests that Maocai originated in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. During the Western Han Dynasty, due to the large-scale mining and use of well salt, the Sichuan people's dietary habits of "valuing flavor and liking spiciness" had already begun to take shape. The "Ode to the Capital of Shu" records, "The five flavors are balanced, with sweetness and harmony, five kinds of meat and seven kinds of vegetables, avoiding fishy and pungent smells, which can nourish the spirit and blood, and all are included." The five flavors refer to the Chinese medicine seasoning method.

During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, various diseases emerged in the army due to years of war, and soldiers lost their appetite. To prevent the spread of diseases in the army and to achieve good results, the army doctors ordered the cooks to often add some Chinese medicine to the food. This would not only prevent and treat diseases, but also produce aroma and achieve the purpose of seasoning. Since most of these medicines were used for seasoning, they were later used as braising sauce.

Later, the cook improved the method by blanching various vegetables, discovering that the taste was even better and more popular with the soldiers. This method was then widely spread throughout the army. Because the army used large quantities of it, often using spices to make a broth for blanching, it was named "Maocai" (冒菜). Later, the cook, now old and retired from the army, brought this method to the civilian population, making a living by running "Maocai restaurants," which became incredibly successful. Thus, Maocai entered an unprecedented period of prosperity.

Although Maocai is a type of dish, there are no fixed ingredients for it; in fact, almost anything can be used.

Ye Feng mainly selected shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, bamboo shoots, lettuce, meatballs, beef slices, and tripe.

The first step in making Maocai is to prepare the spicy oil, which is the soul of Maocai.

A large pot of rapeseed oil and butter was heated, and once the oil was hot, Ye Feng added a large amount of scallions, onions, ginger, and cilantro.

Simmer over low heat until the aromatics gradually turn golden yellow, and then dry yellow.

As the oil temperature dropped slightly, Ye Feng picked up a large bowl of chili paste and poured it into the oil pan. Because the oil temperature had decreased, there was no more oil splattering or popping.

Once the chili seeds in the chili paste start to float to the surface, Ye Feng pours in the spice powder, Pixian chili bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns, and other seasonings all at once, stirs them together, and that's it for making the chili paste.

Once the spicy oil is cooked, a rich, spicy aroma that makes your mouth water fills the kitchen.

Even those disciples who couldn't handle spicy food were already drooling from the aroma.

"It smells so good! Snakes have a seven-inch mark, and so do I. My seven-inch mark is the aroma of this chili oil."

"Slurp... With just this bowl of spicy oil, I feel like I could eat three pairs of shoe soles."

"You have a really small appetite. I think I could eat the whole old pear tree on the back hill."

"Don't go too far. That old pear tree is already sentient. If you dare to gnaw on it, be careful that your junior uncle will plant you there to keep it company."

The disciples' chatter did not affect Ye Feng.

He was preparing the broth for the hot pot.

The difference between Maocai and Chuan Chuan Xiang and Sichuan hot pot is that its soup is drinkable.

The reason it's drinkable is because the spicy oil, once made, isn't the final form of the hot pot soup.

Ye Feng lifted the lid of a large pot, inside which a milky white broth was bubbling continuously.

Pour the prepared spicy oil directly in; this is the true broth for Maocai (a type of Sichuan hot pot).

Control your spiritual energy to form a super large strainer, and put all the washed vegetables into the spiritual energy strainer.

Then, by controlling the spiritual energy strainer to dip it into the huge pot of broth, and then by shaking it up and down, left and right, the spiritual energy strainer was lifted out.

The broth kept flowing under the strainer, and Ye Feng aimed it directly at each of the large bowls. Soon, the bowls were filled with some glistening broth.

Simply sort the ingredients from the strainer into bowls, then sprinkle each with minced garlic, sesame seeds, and chopped scallions. Your personal hot pot is ready.

[Perfect Sichuan-style Maocai, rating 4.5 stars. The taste is impeccable, but the ingredients used are mostly ordinary spirit-enhancing vegetables, which affects the final score.]

[Effects: After consumption, spiritual energy release speed is increased by 15% within half an hour; physical defense is increased by 10%; constitution is increased by 1 point; there is a small chance that consuming it will cause impaired drainage, the probability of triggering the disadvantage will increase or decrease depending on individual constitution, but every cloud has a silver lining, if impaired drainage is triggered and drainage is eventually successful, 30% of the elixir poison in the body will be expelled and resistance to poison will be increased by 20%]

This attribute left Ye Feng somewhat bewildered, unsure whether to be happy or sad for those who had triggered the "damaged flood discharge" attribute.

Seeing the eager looks on the eyes of the kitchen helpers, Ye Feng generously waved his hand and distributed a portion to each of them.

The disciples of the Shushan Sword Sect do not consume elixirs, so they are not susceptible to elixir poisoning. There are basically no conditions that would trigger the disruption of the flow of elixirs, so Ye Feng is not worried about anyone getting sick from eating them.

This bowl of maocai looks intimidating because it's full of chili peppers, but because Ye Feng mainly uses Erjingtiao peppers, it's not very spicy and is within the acceptable range for the disciples of the Shushan Sword Sect.

"My goodness, no wonder all my fellow apprentices are scrambling to get into the kitchen. It feels so good to eat before everyone else."

"Most importantly, this meal was made by my junior uncle himself, it's so wonderful... *glug glug*"

"After taking a sip of this rich chili soup, I felt like my whole body was on fire."

"You don't need to feel it, you're definitely on fire. You were steaming so much that you set your clothes on fire."

...

Yuanfeng Immortal looked cautiously at Fengwu Xuan Nu, who was like a white lotus flower. He still felt that his dessert might have fallen victim to her evil clutches.

Feng Wu Xuan Nu looked at Yuan Feng Xian Jun like a little fangirl, with an innocent expression on her face.

The two simultaneously lifted the plates in front of them, revealing a bowl of bright red food with a rich aroma of chili peppers.