Chapter 129 Return to Beijing (Two in One)
The Hanlin Academy worked day and night to complete the task successfully, copying all the remaining scrolls from Baishui County and bringing them back to the capital. They also brought back Mo Zhishan, who the court had been looking for for a long time.
Emperor Jingning was very pleased and rewarded several people according to their merits.
Shen Keting and Lord Qin went to see the emperor, and Shen Zhaonian waited outside for him to come out, intending to take a carriage home with him.
The old father was pleased and rarely expressed his feelings in a sentimental way.
My son must have lost a lot of weight as he has been working hard outside for many days.
He saw Shen Ke Ting walking towards him at a glance, and thinking of the exquisite and delicious meals he and other family members ate every day, an inexplicable sense of guilt arose spontaneously.
"Thank you for your hard work these days. My son must be..."
The moment he saw his eldest son clearly, Shen Zhaonian's voice stopped abruptly, his eyes full of astonishment.
Although Chen Keting looked exhausted, he was not as haggard as imagined.
On the contrary, he looked full of energy and seemed to be living a good life.
Looking closely, he was not thinner, but seemed to have gained a little weight.
Shen Zhaonian coughed to hide his embarrassment.
"It's good to be back."
Shen Keting understood Shen Zhaonian's reaction. After all, he had lost a lot of weight when he came back from leaving Beijing last time.
He kindly explained to his father: "When I left home, Zheng'er prepared some food for me."
Of course, she prepared more than just a few.
Hearing this, Shen Zhaonian immediately thought of the instant noodles made by Shen Huazheng, and those sauces.
That’s right, no matter what delicious food Zheng’er makes, she always thinks of her family first.
When she learned that Jin Yu was leaving Beijing for business, she would immediately give him the food she had that could withstand the test of time.
It is even possible that the instant noodles were made for Jin Yu.
Thinking of this, Shen Zhaonian was no longer so satisfied with his eldest son.
He is so spoiled that he cannot stand even the slightest hardship.
You know, when he was young, every time he left Beijing for business, he lived a hard life.
Shen Zhaonian said calmly, "Go back. If you come back too late, your mother and sister will be worried."
Shen Keting: ...
Fatherly love comes and goes like the wind.
*
"Brother."
"Brother, you're back."
When Shen Keting opened the curtain and got off the carriage, he saw Zhou, Shen Kesi and Shen Keheng greeting them at the door.
"Mother, second brother, third brother."
Zhou hurried to the carriage and looked at her eldest son who had returned home, her eyes burning with tears: "Jinyu, you've lost weight."
Shen Keting: ...actually not.
Shen Zhaonian got off the carriage: "How can he be thin? He is obviously..."
A little fatter.
He couldn't utter the next few words, and when Zhou glared at him, he swallowed them back.
The two brothers Shen Kesi standing at the back looked at Shen Zhaonian sympathetically. The eldest brother did not look thinner, and was in much better condition than when he came back last time.
However, they dared not say this in front of Zhou.
If my mother thinks my eldest brother has lost weight, then he has lost weight.
The sunset glowed red at the horizon, with a golden halo at the edge. The afterglow shone down gently, making people feel happy.
Zhou looked Shen Keting up and down and said, "Let's go back and have dinner. Zheng'er will cook today."
Chen Keting suddenly smiled: "Okay."
*
After they washed their hands, they came to the side hall, where Chen Huazheng was already waiting.
The maids skillfully brought the trays and served the dishes, and soon the large table was full.
Chen Keting looked at the dazzling array of meat and vegetarian dishes, and his heart softened: "Zheng'er, thank you for your hard work."
Shen Huazheng smiled and said, “It’s not hard.”
Every time she cooked, the cook and Qingzhi Qingtang would be there to help.
Besides, only a few of the dishes today were made by her.
As per convention, the dishes made by Shen Huazheng were placed in the middle so that everyone could get some.
Shen Keheng smelled the fragrance of the food and couldn't wait any longer.
"Zheng'er, what delicious food did you make today?"
Chen Huazheng introduced: "This is white-cut chicken, this is crispy roast goose, and this is crepe fish tofu. Dad, mom, eldest brother, second brother, third brother, you can try it and see if it suits your appetite."
As she introduced them, everyone looked at the dishes.
The appearance of the boiled chicken is very beautiful, the chicken is cut straight and each piece is uniform in size.
The chicken skin is bright yellow and the meat is tender white, and you can tell at first glance that it is very delicious.
Because the heat is just right, you can faintly see traces of blood in the chicken bone marrow.
There are also several plates of dipping sauce for boiled chicken on the side, which are made of sand ginger and green onion.
There is roast duck in the north and roast goose in the south.
There are two types of roast goose, one is crispy skin roast goose and the other is soft skin roast goose.
What Shen Huazheng made today was crispy roast goose.
The skin of the roast goose is a natural reddish-brown color, which looks golden and shiny, making people's mouths water.
Its fragrance is not strong, but light, but it makes people feel relaxed and happy.
Roast goose also has a special dipping sauce, which is sour plum sauce that can relieve the greasiness.
Crepe fish tofu is made by chopping the grass carp meat into minced meat and adding egg liquid to make meatballs. It looks like big tofu puffs and gets the name "crepe" because the skin is thin and wrinkled, and looks like gauze.
As the head of the family, Shen Zhaonian was the first to pick up the chopsticks.
He picked up a piece of roast goose, dipped it in the amber sour plum sauce, and put it into his mouth.
The roast goose is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with juicy meat.
When you take a bite, you will first feel the crispy skin, followed by a thin layer of fat, and then the tender and delicious goose meat.
The fat under the skin of the roast goose has already melted under the high temperature and blended seamlessly into the meat, making the goose meat juicy and full of sweet fragrance.
Chewing it carefully, you can smell the fragrance in your mouth.
Paired with the sauce, it doesn’t taste greasy at all.
Delicious, really delicious!!
When Shen Keheng saw Shen Zhaonian's expression, he knew that the roast goose must be delicious.
He also picked up a piece, dipped it in sour plum sauce, and put it in his mouth.
The roast goose skin makes a "crunching" sound while you chew it, and the crispy fragrance of the skin, the fresh fragrance of the goose meat, the sour fragrance of the sauce, mixed with a faint fruity fragrance, spreads in your mouth. It is really delicious.
Zhou picked up a piece of boiled chicken and took a bite.
The boiled chicken has smooth skin, tender meat and full of chicken flavor.
The galangal dipping sauce is slightly spicy but has a hint of sweetness, which is just right to remove the fishy smell and enhance the flavor.
Chew it carefully, and the sweetness of the chicken from the inside out fills your lips and teeth, with the aroma of sand ginger.
The tip of your tongue is filled with rich and fresh fragrance, which makes you intoxicated and leaves you with an endless aftertaste.
*
Shen Kesi chewed the roast goose meat in his mouth. With a "crunch", the crispy texture bloomed in his mouth, and the oil spread in his mouth along with the rich meaty aroma, wantonly invading his taste buds.
Sweet, but not greasy.
As the crisp taste in the mouth gradually fades away, the springy and juicy goose meat begins to become the protagonist.
The spices have penetrated into every inch of the goose meat, and it becomes more fragrant the more you chew it.
After swallowing the goose meat, there is still a lingering aftertaste in the mouth.
Shen Kesi had also tasted the drunken goose made by Shen Huazheng before. Although they were both goose meat, the tastes were very different.
The drunken goose has a mellow and fresh taste, with a refreshing fragrance and not greasy.
But the roast goose has crispy skin, smooth meat, fragrant bones, and various flavors that are layered and have a long aftertaste.
*
Crepe tofu retains the deliciousness of grass carp without any fish bones, which is similar to fish balls.
He is very friendly to people like Shen Keheng who are afraid of fish bones.
He picked up a crepe fish tofu and put it into his mouth.
After taking a bite, Shen Keheng suddenly understood why Crepe Fish Tofu had this name.
The skin of the golden little ball is as thin as a cicada's wing and as transparent as gauze.
The taste is tender, smooth and refreshing, sweet and tempting.
After tasting the crispy roast goose and the tender and fragrant white-cut chicken, Shen Keting also looked at the crepe fish tofu.
Among this large table of delicious food, the creped fish tofu is not very eye-catching, but it has an inexplicable attraction that attracts people to taste it.
He picked up a round, golden piece of crepe fish tofu and put it into his mouth.
As you chew it, the unique flavor of grass carp will come out.
If you look closely, you can find that the delicious taste is also accompanied by the fragrance of eggs.
The smoothness of the egg liquid and the deliciousness of the grass carp meat blend together, with a strong sweet and fragrant aroma, and an indescribable deliciousness.
Chen Huazheng ate the boiled chicken happily. The chicken was really good.
The chicken is thick and tender, and the minced ginger is crispy with a slight spiciness, making the chicken taste even more fragrant.
The chickens used are not ordinary chickens, but free-range chickens.
My grandmother once said that the tenderness of a chicken depends on what kind of feed it eats, but the overall taste of the chicken is related to the amount of exercise it gets.
As the saying goes, the best virtue of food is freshness. What a chef should do most is to awaken the freshness of the food itself.
White-cut chicken is different from other chickens in that it is not boiled. Instead, it is cooked by using the "three-immersion and three-lift" method, in which the chicken is immersed in water that is about to boil but has not yet reached boiling point.
The preparation of this dish can be said to have taken the pursuit of original flavor to the extreme.
Shen Huazheng swallowed the boiled chicken in her mouth. The skin was crisp and the meat was smooth. It tasted very fragrant and the taste was extremely mellow.
The thin layer of chicken fat between the skin and the flesh is indescribably delicious.
Some gourmets believe that the criterion for judging the quality of a boiled chicken is whether there is semi-coagulated chicken blood on the chicken's spine.
But Shen Huazheng felt that the layer of oil between the skin and meat of the boiled chicken was the finishing touch.
The layer of oil between the skin and flesh is as translucent as jelly. When you chew it, a light taste mixed with rich sweetness lingers on the tip of your tongue and stays in your mouth for a long time.
While tasting the delicacies, the Shen family members listened to Shen Keting talk about what he had seen and heard along the way, as well as everything in Baishui County.
There is a warm and harmonious atmosphere in the house, which makes people want to indulge in this leisurely and comfortable environment.
Shen Huazheng listened carefully and suddenly came back to his senses.
She looked at her family members around her, and suddenly thought of what Mr. Wang Zengqi said: "The family sits together, the lights are friendly."
The family gathered together, eating happily, talking and laughing.
It should be the warmest and most beautiful moment of the day.
…
After the meal, the maids cleared the dishes from the table and brought up the prepared desserts.
"Zheng'er, what is this?"
Zhou looked in surprise at the porcelain bowl that the maid brought to her, which contained something that looked like milk.
But when the maid walked just now, the "milk" in the bowl did not move at all, as if it had solidified.
What’s even more interesting is that there is a red koi on the milky white surface, as if swimming in the water.
There are a few bright red beans dotted on the left and right sides of the koi, which looks very pleasing to the eye.
Thinking of milk, Zhou suddenly remembered the ginger milk that Shen Huazheng had made.
But this doesn’t look like ginger milk.
The three brothers Shen Zhaonian, Shen Keting and others also looked at Shen Huazheng, waiting for her answer.
Chen Huazheng: "This is double skin milk, made with milk and egg white. The koi on top is made of tapioca flour made from red sweet potatoes."
No matter how many desserts she has eaten, double skin milk is always the white moonlight in Shen Huazheng's heart.
The double-skin milk has a rich aroma and melts in your mouth.
Its texture is not as chewy as jelly, but as soft and tender as custard, with the smoothness of cream.
Double skin milk really has double skin. When the milk is stewed and then cooled, the first layer of milk skin will form on the surface.
Poke the skin and pour out the milk. Then mix the egg white and sugar and pour it back into the bowl for the second stew.
After cooling, another layer of milk skin will form on top and merge with the first layer of milk skin to form a double skin.
Only at this time can it be called double skin milk.
*
Double skin milk?
This name sounds pretty nice.
When Shen Keheng saw the shape of this bowl of double skin milk, he already had the urge to taste it.
Now, after hearing Shen Huazheng's introduction, he couldn't help himself and scooped up the lifelike koi with a spoon and took a bite of the head.
Shen Zhaonian turned his head away with some disdain, not looking at Shen Keheng chewing his food.
Rude.
He also picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful of soft double skin milk and put it into his mouth.
Shuangpi milk has a rich milk aroma. Just take a sip with your lips and tongue, and it will turn into a soft, fragrant and sweet taste in your mouth.
It tastes delicious.
Zhou also scooped up a spoonful of double skin milk, along with red beans.
The milky white double skin milk is dotted with a touch of bright red, like red plum blossoms in the snow, which is very beautiful.
Red beans are soft, fragrant and sticky, and have a crunchy texture.
If you taste it carefully, the rich milk aroma and the fresh fragrance of red beans are intertwined and fill your entire mouth.
Taste the chewy koi again, all kinds of wonderful flavors and textures are intertwined together, little by little turning into a sweetness that makes people feel happy and satisfied.
Ahhh, it's so delicious!!
Shen Kesi admired the double skin milk for a long time, and always felt that it was not a dessert but a work of art.
It seems that no matter where you start, it will destroy this beauty.
Chen Keting doesn't pursue perfection like Chen Kesi, so naturally he won't feel he has no idea where to start.
He first scooped up a few red beans and put them into his mouth.
The red beans are soft and have a faint fragrance.
After swallowing the red beans, he scooped up another spoonful of double skin milk.
The milk skin on the top layer is slightly wrinkled, thick, soft and sticky, even a little sticky.
The double skin milk is so soft and tender that there is no need to chew it. Just a light touch of the lips and tongue will allow it to slide smoothly down the throat into the stomach.
Chen Keting savored the sweet taste between his lips and teeth, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into an arc.
After all, home is the best.
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