Chapter 196: Still Too Little Experience
Chen Huazheng and a few others were still drinking afternoon tea when suddenly a palace servant came with an oral order from Emperor Jingning, saying that Emperor Jingning summoned Zhou Ying and Zhou Zeyan.
Zhou Ying and Zhou Zeyan were well prepared. Among the many contestants in this year's hunting competition, the two of them shot the most prey and tied for first place.
According to past practice, after the results of the competition are announced, he will be summoned personally by Emperor Jingning.
Zhou Ying and Zhou Zeyan quickly followed the palace maids and headed for Emperor Jingning's tent.
Chen Huazheng opened the box she brought and began to look at the ingredients and seasonings that could be used for dinner.
Princess Lejia came over and looked at Chen Huazheng eagerly: "Zhengzheng, take me with you when you cook. Although I'm not as good as Aying, it's no problem for me to help you."
In the past, when Shen Huazheng cooked, Zhou Ying was usually there to help.
But now Zhou Ying has been summoned by Emperor Jingning, and he might not be able to come back for a while.
Of course, there is one most important reason. Princess Lejia only wants to stay with Chen Huazheng forever.
Even if she stays with the two of them and does nothing but each of them does their own thing, it can give her a sense of peace and security.
Shen Huazheng smiled and said, "If Aning wants to go, of course there is no problem."
She knew that Princess Lejia had been frightened in the forest, and although she seemed normal on the surface, she actually couldn't live without anyone.
You need to have friends and family around you, otherwise you will feel scared.
Seeing that Chen Huazheng agreed, Princess Lejia smiled happily, her eyebrows and eyes curved.
"Zheng Zheng, don't worry. I won't cause any trouble for you."
…
Inside Emperor Jingning's tent, Zhou Zeyan and Zhou Ying bowed respectfully.
"Your humble servant Zhou Zeyan and your humble servant Zhou Ying greet your majesty."
Although Zhou Zeyan had already entered the officialdom, he only held a sinecure position in the Ministry of Works. This was the first time he showed up in front of Emperor Jingning.
He was excited in his heart, but he made no mistakes in etiquette.
"No need to be polite."
Emperor Jingning observed the brother and sister in front of him calmly, feeling satisfied.
Both of them behaved gracefully and had proper manners.
"You shot the mountain tiger to death at the critical moment and saved Princess Lejia in the forest. You prevented the evil tiger from breaking out of the enclosure and hurting people. You not only saved everyone, but also saved me. You two siblings have made great contributions this time and deserve a reward!"
Zhou Zeyan and Zhou Ying knelt down together: "Your Majesty, your words are too kind. I am ashamed to accept them."
Emperor Jingning stared at the brother and sister and said, "Tell me, what reward do you want?"
Zhou Ying: "It is because of your Majesty's great blessings that the evil tiger died in the forest."
Zhou Zeyan also said: "Your Majesty has already given rewards to me and my sister. We are very satisfied and have nothing else to ask for."
Emperor Jingning: "Are you sure?"
Zhou Ying and Zhou Zeyan said in unison: "I am sure."
Emperor Jingning smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I won't force you. Get up."
The brother and sister have clear and bright eyes, and their attitude is neither humble nor arrogant, which is quite similar to Shen Huazheng.
Moreover, these two people are brave and resourceful, and they remain calm when faced with danger.
He is not greedy and only wants what he deserves. He is indeed a good seedling.
Zhou Zeyan was fine, after all, he was a man and from the Zhou family, so it was understandable that he was an excellent rider.
But Zhou Ying, although a girl, is not inferior to a boy in any way.
It's really rare.
You are worthy of being the descendant of the Grand Tutor!
Zhou Zeyan and Zhou Ying both breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
…
"Zheng Zheng, what are you going to do with this wild mushroom?"
Princess Lejia was responsible for cutting off the stalks of the wild mushrooms at the root, and then handed them to the maids, asking them to draw a cross on the bottom of each cut mushroom with a knife.
Chen Huazheng: "Today I'm making mushrooms with oyster sauce."
As she spoke, she put the processed mushrooms into boiling water and blanched them. After removing the astringency, she took them out and set them aside for later use.
After the wild mushrooms have cooled, Chen Huazheng has people squeeze out the moisture from them. This allows them to absorb more sauce during cooking, making them more flavorful.
After all the preparations were completed, Shen Huazheng lit another pot, and when the pot was hot, she added a proper amount of oil. Then she neatly placed the wild mushrooms that had been squeezed dry at the bottom of the pot, and fry them on both sides over low heat.
After half a quarter of an hour, add appropriate amount of oyster sauce and stir-fry.
Oyster sauce has a strong salty and fresh taste. If too much oyster sauce is added, it will cover the natural flavor of the wild mushrooms and affect the taste after it is served. Therefore, it is not advisable to add too much oyster sauce.
Qingzhi followed the instructions and brought half a bowl of hot water and poured it into the pot.
After boiling over high heat, Chen Huazheng added half a bowl of thickened water starch and simmered over high heat until the sauce in the pot became viscous, evenly wrapping each mushroom. The oyster sauce mushrooms were ready.
As the oyster sauce and mountain mushrooms are taken out of the pot and served on a plate, an enticing aroma fills the air.
Princess Lejia couldn't help but take a deep breath. It smelled so good! !
Unexpectedly, the wild mushrooms fried with oyster sauce almost made her dizzy with the fragrance.
It turned out that she still had too little experience. She needed to follow Zheng Zheng to broaden her horizons in the future.
…
When Zhou Ying and Zhou Zeyan came back excitedly, Shen Huazheng had already started preparing the main dish of the day - mint venison.
Deer meat has a strong fishy smell, so spices and white wine should be added before cooking to remove the fishy smell.
Chen Huazheng poured a proper amount of oil into the pot, then poured in the prepared ingredients such as ginger slices, scallion segments, garlic cloves, etc. and stir-fried them until fragrant.
Pour the chopped venison into the pot and stir-fry quickly until the venison changes color, then pour the white wine on the venison and stir-fry again.
Qingzhi added clean water to the pot at the right time to cover the venison.
Chen Huazheng added the prepared dried tangerine peel and fermented bean curd, then covered the pot and started simmering.
Seeing Qingzhi starting to smash and chop the garlic, Princess Lejia felt a little strange. Did Zhengzheng forget the mint leaves? Why didn't she put the mint leaves into the pot and simmer them together?
Princess Lejia looked at it for a while and finally asked what was in her mind.
Chen Huazheng lit another small pot and poured a suitable amount of oil into it and heated it up.
"These mint leaves are used for mixing."
Mint leaves can be fried in flour to make fried mint, or added with other sauces to make mint sauce, but today Shen Huazheng is going to make mint sauce.
Princess Lejia stared at Shen Huazheng without blinking, and saw her put the washed raw mint leaves and green branches and processed minced garlic into a porcelain bowl, added a special sauce to it, and then poured a spoonful of freshly heated boiling oil on it.
With a "sizzling" sound, the juicy green mint leaves, minced garlic, sauce and boiling oil met in the bowl, and the mint leaves trembled slightly in the bowl.
All of a sudden, the fresh fragrance of mint, the aroma of garlic and the salty aroma of the sauce were immediately stimulated.
A very special complex aroma hit us, and everyone in the kitchen couldn't help swallowing.
Oh my god, this venison pot and mint sauce are so fragrant, how delicious they are when mixed together!!
Princess Lejia widened her eyes. She didn't expect that mint leaves could be processed in this way.
No wonder Zheng Zheng didn’t put the mint leaves into the pot to stew together. It turns out that the mint leaves were intended to be used as a condiment for the venison pot.
…
When it was time for dinner, the Shen family, the Zhou family and the Wenxinhou family gathered together, and Song Ye also joined them.
Except for Grand Tutor Zhou and his wife and Princess Yi'an, who didn't know what had happened, everyone else knew that they gathered together to celebrate the safe return of Zhou Ying and the other two.
Even Jiang Cheng, whose face was thicker than the city wall, was sensible enough not to disturb them and leave the space to them.
Emperor Jingning only sent An Desheng to give Shen Huazheng a reward, saying that the lollipops were delicious.
Andy On is a connoisseur of goods. When he left, he also took some venison, stir-fried rabbit meat, and wild mushrooms with oyster sauce.
I also took away some mint sauce...
*
Dinner began, and the table was filled with plate after plate of delicious food.
Every dish is delicious and tasty, and just looking at it makes your appetite whet.
In addition to the dishes made by Shen Huazheng, there were also some grilled meats and vegetables.
The barbecued meats are marinated and coated with honey before being grilled, and they are extremely fragrant.
There is a soup bowl in front of each person, which contains lotus seed, matsutake, red dates and wild duck soup.
Princess Lejia was holding chopsticks and was about to pick up some food when suddenly a huge wild mushroom appeared in her bowl.
She was stunned, and when she looked up, she saw the kind smiling face of Princess Yi'an.
"Grandma, you can eat by yourself, why are you serving me food?"
Princess Yi'an: "Grandmother only heard later that a tiger appeared in the enclosure today and injured many people. If it hadn't been shot by the people sent by Your Majesty, it would have escaped from the enclosure. Fortunately, you are fine. Otherwise, we will not participate in this kind of hunting activities in the future. It sounds quite dangerous."
Upon hearing the news, Princess Yi'an secretly went to see the tiger's corpse.
When she saw the huge corpse of the tiger, she was so shocked that she felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest. After returning home, she took some Qingxin Pills and rested for a long time before she recovered.
What would have happened if Ning'er and the others had run into such a big tiger?
Fortunately, with the blessing of the Bodhisattva, Ning'er, Yingyatou and the others were not in any accident or injured, and they returned safely.
However, the more she thought about it, the more scared she became. It would be better not to let her granddaughter participate in such dangerous hunting activities in the future.
This time there may be a vicious tiger that hurts people, but there may be other ferocious beasts next time.
Those so-called honors and rewards are all empty talk; her Ning'er doesn't need them.
Princess Lejia's eyes were slightly red and her throat was dry.
She knew that this version was told to Princess Yi'an and Grand Tutor Zhou and his wife by Emperor Jingning.
The three of them are old and cannot stand being frightened.
Besides, the matter has already passed, there is no need to make them worry again.
Princess Lejia: "Grandma, I won't participate in those hunting activities anymore. I will just stay by your side."
Princess Yi'an smiled and said, "You said it yourself. Don't say that your grandmother is holding you back and not letting you go out to play."
"I have always loved spending time with my grandmother. I am so happy, so why would I feel like I am being restricted?"
Princess Lejia used the serving chopsticks to pick up a wild mushroom for Princess Yi'an as well: "Grandma, this wild mushroom cooked with oyster sauce is so delicious. Please try it, I also helped to make this dish."
She had cut off the stems of the mushrooms one by one with scissors.
Hehehe~~
"Really?" Princess Yi'an immediately became interested, "Then Grandmother must try it carefully."
She knew her granddaughter well, and understood that Princess Lejia's so-called "participation" meant at most just helping Shen Huazheng.
But even if that is true, this dish is still different for Princess Yi'an.
The wild mushroom is crystal clear in color, covered with thick soup, and exudes a fresh fragrance, looking like an elegant gem.
Princess Yi'an picked up the wild mushrooms in the bowl and put them into her mouth.
Wild mushrooms have a thick texture and fully absorb the oyster sauce during the cooking process, making them taste rich, tender and full of freshness and fragrance.
When you take a bite, you first feel the thick and rich taste and long-lasting fragrance of the wild mushroom, which is the fragrance of nature.
What follows is the delicious taste of oyster sauce, with a light scent of the ocean.
The fragrance from the mountains and the freshness from the ocean collide with each other, and the mountains and the sea meet on the tip of the tongue. The fusion of the two is unexpectedly harmonious, and it is simply a perfect match.
Like a breeze blowing slowly, it brings a natural and mellow enjoyment to the taste buds.
Just chew it and your mouth will be filled with fragrance.
It’s so delicious~~
Princess Yi'an swallowed the wild mushroom in her mouth and said, "It's delicious. Grandmother likes it very much."
I have to say that cooking wild mushrooms this way tastes much better than the mushroom soup I made in previous years.
It even tastes better than meat.
Princess Lejia smiled sweetly. She also picked up the wild mushrooms in her bowl, brought it to her mouth and took a bite.
Wild mushrooms in oyster sauce have a smooth texture, sweet taste, full of oyster aroma and superb freshness.
It’s great to be back alive and to enjoy delicious food with family and friends again.
"Zheng'er, how do you use this sauce? Do you just dip it in and eat it? But why do I feel like it's a bit redundant?"
Zhou Zeyan was most interested in the venison stew. He had already tasted a piece without the sauce.
Wild venison is plump and firm. During the stewing process, the aroma of the auxiliary ingredients and the soup have penetrated into every inch of the venison, blending with the elastic and tender meat.
As you chew, the rich and delicate taste of the venison and the fragrant sauce combine perfectly together, and you can also smell the aroma of fermented bean curd.
Zhou Zeyan felt that the venison stew was delicious just as it was, and the extra bowl of seasoning seemed a bit redundant.
Chen Huazheng smiled and said, "Cousin Yan, this sauce is not for dipping venison. It's for dipping mint leaves."
Chen Huazheng: "When eating this dish, you can indeed eat the venison directly, but if you eat too much, you will feel sick. Adding this mint seasoning is just right. The best way to eat it is to take a bite of mint leaves and a bite of venison. You can try it, it will have a completely different taste."
When making the mint dressing, Shen Huazheng did not chop the mint leaves into small pieces, just to make it easier for everyone to eat the mint leaves.
A bite of mint leaves and a bite of venison?
It was the first time Zhou Zeyan heard of this way of eating, but out of trust in Shen Huazheng's cooking skills and taste, he did it anyway.
As soon as he took a bite, he squinted his eyes because of the delicious taste.
The mint leaves have picked up the flavor of the minced garlic and sauce, but they are still fragrant and pleasant.
The venison is chewy, has a mellow flavor, and is salty and fresh.
The fresh and refreshing taste intertwined with the aroma of venison is surprisingly delicious.
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