The four of them went back home and told someone to tell the people in the kitchen. In less than half an hour, a prepared duck was delivered.
To make roast duck, you must first marinate it.
In order to make the duck more flavorful and to be able to eat it smoothly in the evening, Yan Qiushu specially asked someone to poke a few more holes in the duck, put in the prepared marinade, apply it all over the duck, and massage it for a while before letting it soak in the flavor.
When it gets dark and the time is up, take out the duck, rinse it with hot water, wipe off the moisture on the skin, and then you can brush it with crispy water.
This is mainly made with honey, rice wine and other things. After brushing it several times, put chestnuts and other things into the duck's belly, and finally seal it with wooden sticks, put it into the oven and cover it with a lid.
However, the oven is not a rotating electric oven, so the duck needs to be taken out and turned over every quarter of an hour.
Ask Aunt Xu to help with this. Yan Qiushu needs to start making pancakes.
Boil the flour with a little hot water and stir it with chopsticks until it becomes flocculent. At this time, the temperature is about right and you can start kneading it into a smooth dough. Then let it rest for a quarter of an hour. After the resting time is up, you can start rolling out the dough.
The initial steps are similar to those for making dumpling wrappers. Once you have enough dumpling wrappers, apply oil to them layer by layer and stack them up. Roll three or four pieces together into thin dough sheets. Repeat these steps and finally steam them in a pot for five minutes. You will get thin, translucent but not sticky pancakes!
As Yan Qiushu was slowly completing this step, the oven began to emit the aroma of roast duck.
The taste is somewhat similar to honey roast chicken, but not the same. It smells so good that Shen Pingyu, who was reading, put down the book in his hand, looking helpless, and was supported by his younger brothers and sisters to squat next to the oven.
"It smells so good!" Dongdong could hardly hold back his saliva.
Wan'er smiled secretly and handed him a glass of water: "Dongdong, drink some, it will fill your stomach first."
"No!" Dongdong shook his head decisively, "I want to save my stomach for the roast duck!"
Chen Pingyu stared at his increasingly round face for a long while, and said, "Let's do horse stance first. If you want to eat your fill, you must do horse stance for an hour and run around the mansion for half an hour today."
Dongdong's face suddenly fell and he was reluctant.
Although he would rather be a general, so much exercise is too tiring!
Shen Pingyu, who had been trained by his elders to have extraordinary perseverance since childhood, said coldly: "You say you want to be a general, but you don't even have this little perseverance!"
Dong Dong said indignantly: "Of course not, I'm just doing horse stance!"
He snorted, found a sheltered place, and stood firmly in a horse stance. However, his eyes were still a little vague and he kept looking at the oven.
So delicious!
Yan Qiushu also smelled it and wanted to take it out and start eating it directly, but the other side dishes were not finished yet, except for the pancake skin and sweet noodle sauce.
This is even easier. Pour flour into a large iron pot and stir-fry on low heat until it is almost done. Pour in enough water and stir until it becomes milky white. Then add sugar, salt, soy sauce and other seasonings. Finally, put it back into the pot and simmer on low heat until the color gradually deepens from light brown to black. When the originally thin liquid like water starch becomes thick, it can be served.
On the other side, Shui Xian helped cut cucumbers and other ingredients.
When everything is done, the roast duck is just cooked and can be taken out of the pan!
Taking it out of the pot is not the end.
Yan Qiushu changed to a sharper knife, and held a clean towel in her other hand to keep it warm. She pressed the roast duck, cut a knife in the middle, and started slicing it one by one from the duck breast.
Each piece of roast duck must have thin and crispy duck skin and lean duck meat. The best shape is like a willow leaf. This seems simple, but it is also a bit difficult. When Yan Qiushu was learning this, she failed countless times and once got tired of eating roast duck.
But this thing was still delicious, so much so that after a while, she missed it again.
At this time, slices of roast duck appeared in her hands and fell on the plate. As she arranged them, from the inside to the outside, a beautiful peony flower gradually formed.
After the last piece of duck meat was put down, Yan Qiushu shook her sore hands and asked Shui Yu to take out all the sliced roast duck and ingredients. She gave a small portion to Mrs. Xiao and left the rest for the children.
She took out the chestnuts and other things from the roast duck and put them aside.
The remaining duck bones are cut into pieces without the skin and meat, but coated with pepper salt, cumin, pepper and other seasonings, and put into the oven again. After a quarter of an hour, it will become another delicious delicacy!
Yan Qiushu carefully observed the placement of the duck rack. After confirming that it was correct, she closed the oven door, washed her hands, and then went to the restaurant. As she entered, she asked with a smile, "How is it? Is it delicious?"
But when she completely entered the restaurant, the three children at the small table were sitting and looking at her.
The beautiful roast duck peony flower didn't move a single leaf.
Seeing her coming, Dongdong couldn't wait to say, "Sister Shu, come and sit down quickly! We're waiting for you."
Yan Qiushu curved her lips and smiled: "Okay, here I come."
She sat down and saw that they hadn't started eating yet. She was both amused and heartwarming. She took a piece of pancake wrapper and said, "Put this in your hand, and then put whatever you want on it. Of course, to avoid it having no taste, you need to dip it in this sweet noodle sauce."
The three children looked over curiously.
Just as she was demonstrating, she first picked up a piece of roast duck, dipped it in a little of the sauce that was almost as thick as ink, and then placed it on the pancake skin. She then picked up cucumber strips and other things, and after placing them neatly, she folded the pancake skin into a rectangle, and finally stuffed it directly into her mouth.
The thin crust has a slightly floury feel. With a little force from your teeth, the crust breaks open, and the sweet and salty sauce wrapped inside appears in your mouth. The taste is a bit strong, but soon the crispness of the cucumber, the crispness of the roast duck skin, and the meaty aroma of the roast duck all appear.
The various flavors influence and harmonize with each other, and finally converge in the mouth into an amazing delicacy.
Although Shen Pingyu had just heard Shui Yu talk about the method of eating it once, when he looked at it now, his eyes were still full of surprise, but he had to admit that this food was ingenious enough.
He was still hesitating about how to eat it when he saw Dongdong beside him had already wrapped a big round cake and stuffed it into his mouth with his mouth wide open: "Hmm..."
Wan'er was very proud. She had just finished wrapping a pancake like Yan Qiushu's. When she looked up and saw her brother like this, she laughed out loud: "Dongdong, go slowly, there are still many!"
Dongdong rolled his eyes at the stuffing, but he didn't care about anything else and kept chewing. With the help of the sweet noodle sauce, he quickly swallowed most of it and said with satisfaction, "It's delicious! Mmm!"
Chen Pingyu laughed in silence, but still asked the maid to wipe his hands before he took the dough and started to wrap it.
A piece of duck, two cucumber strips...
After everything was done, he folded it neatly, took a small bite, the crust broke in the middle, and the meat went directly into his mouth. However, Shen Pingyu felt unsatisfied because there were no cucumber strips, so he stuffed the rest into his mouth.
Hmm!
It is indeed a bit filling, but when eaten together, it is neither too salty nor too bland, and not greasy or bitter.
So delicious!
He opened his eyes and heard the familiar sound of something being stuffed next to him. Shen Pingyu turned his head and saw Dongdong trying hard to stuff something into his mouth. His eyes were narrowed and he exuded a sense of pleasure.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Eat slowly."
Dongdong nodded and continued to stuff it in.
Yan Qiushu laughed when she saw this. Dongdong's behavior aroused her appetite, so she continued to eat. She was only satisfied after eating one bite at a time!
As the four of them were devouring the meat, Shui Yu suddenly reminded them, "Young lady, the Sixth Young Master is here."
Dongdong's ears perked up: "Huh? Uncle!"
Shen Pingyu: “Uncle!”
Wan'er: "Uncle!"
Before Yan Qiushu could say anything, the three children laughed first. They had almost finished eating, with a small half left, so the three of them looked directly at the door.
Yan Qiushu nodded and asked Shui Yu to invite the person in.
Soon the doorway darkened, and a tall, slender figure appeared in front of everyone. He then looked towards the side hall, confirmed his identity, and strode over. As he got closer, Yan Qiushu discovered that the man had not even shaved his stubble, his clothes had some tears in them, and his hair was not as delicate as before.
Like a long journey of fatigue.
But on second thought, it would definitely not be an easy task to expose the Qiao family's affairs in less than a month.
Yan Qiushu told him about that. At this time, the Xiao family was under attack from all sides and there were not many people who could be used. This person would probably go there in person to escort the people back and get rid of the people who were chasing him.
She sighed inwardly.
At this time, Xiao Huaiting also walked closer and looked directly at the woman in front of him. As he bowed, he noticed that the woman's makeup was different from what he remembered. Especially when he met her upturned eyes that were outlined, his heart skipped a beat and he stammered, "A-Miss Shu."
Yan Qiushu smiled slightly: "Hello, General Xiao."
The young man nodded slightly, his gaze shifting from the woman in front of him to the three children. He coughed softly, "Pingyu, Wan'er, Dongdong, have you been eating and drinking here all day long?"
Wan'er smiled sweetly: "Yes!"
Shen Pingyu said shyly: "Uncle, yes."
"Sister Shu has made delicious food again, little uncle, come and have some." Dongdong smiled and helped to wrap a pancake as if presenting a treasure and stood on tiptoe to put it into his mouth.
The boy rubbed his nephew's head, lowered his head cooperatively, and ate the food his nephew gave him.
After such a long time, the bread and meat were cold, but he hadn't eaten such delicious food for a long time. Even though it was cold, it was still delicious. He nodded repeatedly while eating: "Wow! It's delicious. What is this?"
"I know, I know!" Dongdong hurriedly raised his hand and replied, "Order roast duck!"
Shen Pingyu corrected: "It's Peking duck."
Dongdong pouted, feeling a little disappointed and at a disadvantage.
Wan'er looked at her brothers and sisters fighting with jealousy, and giggled with her hands covering her mouth.
Xiao Huaiting suppressed a smile: "Well, I understand." He looked at the girl who was looking at him with a smile, and softened his voice: "Miss Shu's cooking skills are getting better and better."
"General Xiao, you're too polite." Yan Qiushu smiled and said, "Pingyu and the others are full. If you don't mind, General Xiao, would you like to sit down and eat with us? There's still some food in the kitchen, and it should be ready by now. I'll bring it over."
Xiao Huaiting felt a little embarrassed, but he was reluctant to leave: "Then thank you for your help, young lady."
Yan Qiushu shook her head and turned to leave.
The duck bones from the oven are just right, and the chestnuts fried in a pan and slightly heated are also just right.
Soon, Yan Qiushu brought the food over: "This is the salt and pepper duck rack, and these are the chestnuts that were roasted inside the duck. You can try some too."
The young man who was being served by three children had no time to eat, as he smelled such delicious food at the tip of his nose. It had a little bit of spiciness, but more of a salty aroma from roasting. It was not just the taste of salt, but also contained many other condiments. The mixed pepper and salt aroma, after being roasted in the high temperature of the oven, was full of meaty aroma.
But because there is no fat, it is not greasy. The fragrance is so delicious that you can tell it is extremely delicious just by smelling it.
Xiao Huaiting had high expectations for Yan Qiushu's cooking skills except for the sour plum soup at the beginning. Now that he finally had something hot to eat after such a long time, it was no exception.
He picked up a rack of duck breast.
There wasn't much meat on it, but it was all lean, with the skin covered in seasonings. When he took a bite, it was meaty but not greasy, crispy but not bitter, with a salty and fragrant taste with a hint of spiciness on the tip of his tongue, and the warm taste immediately soothed the chillness of the cold roast duck he had just eaten.
Xiao Huaiting finished the meat on the duck rack in a few bites, and almost bit the bones. But at least he had some sense. This was not the outside world where people were short of food and clothing. There were plenty of delicious food at this time, so he put it down and picked up a piece of duck neck instead.
The skin is already very crispy, and it falls off in your mouth with just a slight bite. It still has some toughness while chewing, and you can taste the texture of the crispy skin. It is a little sweeter than the previous duck bones, and less greasy than the cold roast duck.
Xiao Huaiting took several bites in a row, then took a big mouthful of the soft chestnuts. Hmm... he felt a little choked.
Just at this moment, a pair of white hands brought over a cup of hot drink with a milky aroma.
He took it, took a big gulp, and seemed to come back to life. He exhaled a stream of hot air, and his whole body felt warm.
Comfortable!
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