Chapter 19: Qi Mansion Food Tasting "Well, you go to the kitchen and wait first, today...
The next day, Liu Yeshu arrived at the general's mansion early in the morning, took a deep breath, and gently knocked on the vermilion door.
After a while, the door creaked open and a middle-aged man in a blue gown appeared behind the door.
"Miss Liu?" Butler Zhao said with a smile, "We meet again."
Liu Yeshu bowed respectfully and said, "I still want to thank Butler Zhao for giving me the opportunity to taste the food."
Butler Zhao raised his hand and waved nonchalantly: "I know Old Man Wang. He's reliable. His willingness to introduce you to you has solved my urgent need."
Liu Yeshu agreed and followed Butler Zhao to the kitchen in the backyard.
"Well, you go to the kitchen and wait. It just so happens that someone from your village is coming to taste the food today."
Liu Yeshu agreed and saw a young man in linen clothes in the kitchen, adding firewood with his head down and a sullen look on his face. Butler Zhao walked over, looked at the young man's face, and whispered something, but the man remained stunned and didn't respond.
After a while, the young man seemed to have made up his mind. After saying something to Butler Zhao, he left without looking back. When he passed by Liu Yeshu, he glared at her angrily.
"Miss Liu, don't be surprised. This guy has such a stubborn temper, like a donkey." Butler Zhao looked at his back and shook his head.
Liu Yeshu was curious: "Is this the previous cook?"
Butler Zhao shook his head: "Not really."
Seeing that Liu Yeshu was even more confused, he added, "This is Yang Qing, the apprentice of the previous chef. He has always been his assistant."
I see.
Butler Zhao added, "His master left, and he didn't want to stay here alone. After several attempts at persuasion, he finally said he wanted to think it over. He's quite affectionate and righteous."
Liu Yeshu nodded and calmly said, "I heard that General Qi often changes cooks. You should be mentally prepared as soon as possible."
Butler Zhao sighed, "General Qi isn't particular about other things, but he's very particular about food. The weird thing is, no one can quite predict the general's taste. What he likes today, he might not eat tomorrow."
Liu Yeshu originally wanted to find out about the general's preferences, but she didn't expect that Butler Zhao's answer would be so flawless.
She stopped asking related questions and instead took out a bag of malt sugar from her sleeve and stuffed it into Butler Zhao's hand. "I made this candy myself. Butler Zhao, would you be so kind as to try it?"
Butler Zhao was startled. He looked down at the candy in his hand, then back at Liu Yeshu. Her eyes were sincere, as if she had no other intentions. He glanced at her suspiciously, then put the candy in his mouth. The sweet taste melted on his tongue, and his brows relaxed.
Sweets make people feel good. Butler Zhao heard a knock on the door and knew it must be another food taster. Before leaving, he kindly gave Liu Yeshu a few more words of advice.
"The general was very particular about the cooking time of his ingredients. Besides that, you must remember one thing: the general hated unclean food the most. Later cooks shaved their heads because of this."
Liu Yeshu listened carefully, took it to heart, and found a piece of cloth in the kitchen to wrap her hair to prevent it from falling into the cloth while she was cooking and causing trouble.
As soon as it was done, Butler Zhao led a familiar figure into the kitchen.
It was actually... Zhao Chunfang!
"Hey, isn't this the eldest daughter of the Liu family? Have you paid the fine to the government?" Zhao Chunfang said sarcastically, his eyes full of disdain. "Butler Zhao, be careful when dealing with convicted criminals embroiled in lawsuits. They're ruining the reputation of the General's Mansion."
Liu Yeshu gave her a cold look and said, "Aren't you also a criminal slave? You can't stand seeing others doing well, so you deliberately go to the government to maliciously report them?"
Zhao Chunfang was like a wild cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Don't slander me!"
Liu Yeshu smiled and said, "Aunt Zhao, have the whip wounds on your body healed? They don't affect your stir-frying, do they?"
When Zhao Chunfang mentioned this, she became angry: "You..."
"Alright! You two are both here to taste the dishes today, so don't argue." Seeing the two men getting along, Butler Zhao quickly tried to smooth things over. After a moment's thought, he said seriously, "I was thinking that those who weren't chosen by the general today could stay and help out. But now it seems that's not a good idea. Let's just compete in culinary skills."
He pointed to the ingredients on the chopping board and said, "Today's test is 'fish'. Let's see who can cook it better to the general's taste."
Zhao Chunfang glanced at Liu Yeshu with a smug look and pulled a massive mandarin fish from the food box behind her. The fish weighed at least five or six pounds, its body silvery white, its scales gleaming like pearls. She placed the fish on the chopping board and said with a smile, "I'm late today just to get it. I brought this excellent mandarin fish with me. It's the king of all mandarin fish. I guarantee that once the general tastes it, he'll never forget it!"
She had been following Yang Qing for a long time, and when she saw him buy several grass carps at the East Market yesterday, she guessed that the topic of this food tasting would most likely be fish, and she was right!
This mandarin fish was specially selected through the connections of Sergeant Sun. Growing in mountain springs, it feeds on pure, natural aquatic plants and small fish, so its meat is naturally exceptionally tender and fresh, incomparable to ordinary fish.
Liu Yeshu looked at the grass carp in his hand, which was prepared by the General's Mansion. Although it was large and the meat looked fresh, it was obviously inferior to Zhao Chunfang's mandarin fish.
She sighed secretly, knowing that if she were to compete on ingredients, she probably wouldn't stand a chance of winning.
She began to think about what she could do.
Why not try some tricks with the cooking techniques? Maybe you can even come up with something unexpected.
Zhao Chunfang dug Liu Yeshu away with a plop, rolled up his sleeves and started working. Seeing Liu Yeshu standing there, as if lost in thought, without making any movement for a long time, his confidence increased greatly.
"Young ladies from wealthy families usually don't have to do much housework, and they can impress people with their little tricks, but when it comes to cooking, how can they compare to us who run a restaurant?"
Liu Yeshu turned around and left, as if she didn't hear anything.
Zhao Chunfang sneered, and deftly cut open the mandarin fish. After removing the internal organs, he carefully stuffed it with sauerkraut, garlic, ginger and other ingredients.
After a while, Liu Yeshu came back again. Zhao Chunfang took a peek and saw that she had brought a bunch of bottles and jars of seasonings from somewhere, including chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and some things that looked like syrup.
"Mystifying!" Zhao Chunfang curled her lips, but her eyes couldn't help but look at Liu Yeshu.
Liu Yeshu didn't even glance at Zhao Chunfang. She first scaled and gutted the fish, then marinated it with honey, soy sauce, and cooking wine. When it was almost done, she scored the fish a few times, stuffed it with chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and other spices, and then grilled it on the wire rack.
Soon, a spicy and tempting aroma filled the air. Accompanied by a sizzling sound, the fish was gradually roasted to a golden and shiny color, emitting an attractive luster.
Seeing that Zhao Chunfang's pickled fish was ready, Butler Zhao stepped forward and said, "Please cut off the fish tails, both of you. I will test the dish for the general first."
Butler Zhao first tasted Zhao Chunfang's pickled fish. The fish was delicious, and the pickled vegetables were refreshing, it was indeed a delicacy.
He then tried Liu Yeshu's spicy grilled fish. The moment he took a bite, a tangy blend of spiciness and freshness exploded across his tongue. The fish, enhanced by the Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers, was even more tender and juicy, its aroma seeming to penetrate his taste buds and reach deep into his heart.
Although he had already made up his mind, Butler Zhao remained calm on the outside. He simply said, "Both of you have excellent skills. I will give you a test and then make my final judgment."
Zhao Chunfang put his hands on his waist and muttered to himself before the figure of Butler Zhao carrying the dishes disappeared: "What can I taste from a pile of old bones?"
After saying this, you still expect others to pick up the conversation.
Liu Yeshu was too lazy to pay attention to her and turned to clean the stove.
As luck would have it, Yang Qing entered the kitchen. Zhao Chunfang nodded at him, "Hey, you, I'm talking about you. Who else could it be? Quickly clean up my stove."
*
Qi Yuben was reading the Art of War in his study. When Butler Zhao came to invite him, he closed the bamboo slips and said, "Just bring it up. I have to go to the military camp this afternoon."
Butler Zhao understood that this meant to deal with the couple casually.
"The previous chef is leaving, and two people are coming to taste the dishes today. General, please give your opinion on which one is better."
He also said that among the two people who came this time, one was the one who made the kimchi and sesame eggs that the general liked to eat.
Hearing this, Qi Yu raised his eyebrows slightly, and seemed to be interested.
After tasting both dishes, he slowly put down his chopsticks and said to Butler Zhao, "Bring up the person who made this spicy grilled fish. I want to see him."
Butler Zhao took the order and quickly walked to the kitchen. He said to Liu Yeshu, "The general wants to see you. Come with me."
Liu Yeshu was delighted and, ignoring Zhao Chunfang's shock, quickly followed Butler Zhao to the front hall. She saluted respectfully and waited for the general to speak.
Qi Yu raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "You don't seem surprised to see me?"
Liu Yeshu thought to herself that something was wrong. She had only heard the sound of the copper coin waving at her and had forgotten to install it.
With a forced smile, she said, "Please forgive me for laughing, General. I am truly surprised, but I cannot show it."
"You remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses. So, you're a natural general. Wouldn't it be unfair for you to be my cook?"
"I dare not. As the ancients said, if you can't even sweep your own house, how can you sweep the world?"
Qi Yu tasted it, and although he couldn't tell which ancient cook it was, he nodded and asked, "You grew up in the capital. Where did you learn to cook?"
Liu Yeshu thought to herself that most of her cooking techniques originated from modern times and were naturally different from the tastes of this era, so she made up an excuse.
"General, when I was young, I learned some cooking techniques from a master. That master's whereabouts were elusive, and his origins were a mystery. The cooking methods he taught seemed very different from ordinary cooking techniques."
Liu Ye Shuxin said, a master can be said to be the ancient "I have a friend".
Qi Yu nodded, not knowing whether to believe it or not.
Butler Zhao brought water and Qi Yu began to wash his hands.
Seeing Butler Zhao give her a look, Liu Yeshu struck while the iron was hot and said, "General, I have another unwelcome request."
Qi Yu seemed to know what she was going to say, so he turned to Housekeeper Zhao and said, "You have to pay the fine to the government this afternoon."
"Thank you for your kindness, General. I'm only short of five taels of silver. Please deduct it from my monthly salary."
Qi Yu stopped wiping his hands and looked at Liu Yeshu carefully: "Anything else you want?"
"It would be best if you could leave me half of your salary when it's deducted every month."
Qi Yu smiled and said, "I agree."
After hearing this, Butler Zhao responded and turned around to take Liu Yeshu to get the silver.
Back in the kitchen, Zhao Chunfang hadn't left yet. She asked Housekeeper Zhao with a smile, "I was told I needed an assistant. I can do it. Do you think I can do it?"
Butler Zhao asked Yang Qing, who was cleaning the stove, "Xiao Yang, are you still leaving?"
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