Chapter 76 Black Rice
Zhu Tao nodded with all her might. She had never even seen one tael of silver, let alone ten taels. "Yeah."
"So you have to work hard, so that I can pay you and you can repay the ten taels of silver you owe me. Of course, if you are willing to pay interest, I will be happy to do that too."
"I, I'm willing to pay." Zhu Tao's face turned red with excitement.
"In that case, then don't just stand there. We have a lot of guests at home today, and we still have a lot of things to do."
"Okay." Zhu Tao took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen.
Wen Zhenyi looked at her with amusement. This girl gave her hope, and she would work harder than anyone else.
She checked what she had bought. There were fresh shrimps and fish, as well as chicken, tofu, beef, etc. The ingredients were quite rich, enough for her to show off her skills.
"Dad, help me kill the chicken and the fish."
"Mom, help me open the back of the shrimp."
"Okay."
"Xiao Taozi, knead the dough."
Everyone in the family knew Wen Zhenyi's instructions, but Master Cheng and his men were unable to get involved and could only ask the servants to help.
Old Lady Wen smiled and asked them to sit down: "Sit down and rest for a while, you can't help here."
When Hu Zi and the other children heard that they were going to the Wen family for dinner, they couldn't wait any longer. They arrived before the adults in the family.
Their laughter could be heard throughout the yard.
Wen Zhenyi looked at the cleaned chicken. It was not an old chicken. An old chicken would be best for stewing soup, but now she was going to stew the soup and make a Huadiao chicken.
Today's fish is sea fish, which is delicious when steamed.
Making a spicy hot pot with shrimp and beef is also a good choice.
I don’t plan to make any complicated dishes, today I will focus on home cooking.
Zhu Tao was very diligent. She had already cleaned all the necessary ingredients, placed them aside, and started to light the fire in the stove.
Wen Zhenyi first steamed the glutinous rice soaked in nanzhu leaves. Fortunately, she soaked a lot of rice today, otherwise it would not be enough for so many people to eat.
Zhu Tao looked at the glutinous rice with a strange color and asked, "Yi Yi, is this rice bad?"
"No, I dyed it with tree leaves. It's called black rice. Eating it regularly can improve your complexion and prolong your life."
“So magical?”
"You have a lot to learn in the future. I will tell you slowly later."
"Okay." Zhu Tao deftly steamed all the black rice. "What else do you need me to do?"
"Just help me out for a while."
Wen Zhenyi asked someone to help slice and chop everything she needed, and she could put it directly into the pot. Although her knife skills were not as good as before, it was still usable.
Since it wasn't a banquet, she wouldn't be so particular.
Wen Zhenyi sliced the fish without cutting off the belly, put a few fish into a basin, poured in salt, cooking wine, and shredded green onion and ginger and marinated for fifteen minutes.
She saw that she had bought scallops and planned to make steamed vermicelli with garlic.
Soak the vermicelli until soft, pour oil into the pot, and when the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic, chili pepper, and chopped green onion. When the garlic turns slightly yellow, add some soy sauce and salt to season.
Take out the vermicelli and place it on a plate, place the scallops on top, pour the sauce you just made on top, and steam it in a steamer.
Zhu Tao was passing the seasonings to the side, looking at them in amazement: "Yi Yi, you are amazing, these all look delicious."
"You'll learn slowly and cook deliciously."
Zhu Tao nodded and looked at it carefully.
Wen Zhenyi found a casserole, boiled carrots, king oyster mushrooms, potatoes, etc. in water for two minutes, then poured oil into the pot, poured onions, ginger and garlic into the pot, stir-fried until fragrant, and then added the freshly cooked vegetables and stir-fried.
Put the vegetables into the casserole and spread them out flat, then put the processed shrimp and marinated beef on top, add the prepared sauce and water, cover with a lid and let it sit for a while.
Wen Zhenyi washed the pot clean, added oil into it, added the green onion and ginger and stir-fried until fragrant, then added the chicken pieces and stir-fried until the chicken pieces turned slightly white.
Add Huadiao wine and wolfberry to cover the chicken pieces, and simmer for more than 25 minutes until the Huadiao wine is thickened.
The fish here has also been marinated. She placed the fish in a fan shape on a round plate, put the fish head in the front, pressed down the fish tail, and made it into the shape of a peacock spreading its tail.
Put the fish into the steamer, and today's main dishes are ready. Wen Zhenyi doesn't need to prepare the remaining side dishes.
Ma Yinghe has already done it herself. Her cooking skills are improving rapidly and she has no problem frying or boiling.
Wen Zhenyi waited until the fish was steamed, then took out the shredded ginger, placed red pepper rings on the fish slices, added some shredded green onions, poured the prepared soy sauce on it, and poured a spoonful of hot oil on it, and it was done.
Several other dishes were also taken out of the pot and sent out one by one.
Wen Zhenyi knew that servants were not allowed to eat with their masters, so he specially left a portion for them in the kitchen, which deeply touched the servants and maids.
Today their yard was full of people, and all five tables were occupied.
Mr. Cheng stared at the dishes and rice on the table with his eyes wide open, and his mouth was watering as he smelled them.
Wen Zhenyi and the others brought out the last dish of Hua Diao Chicken: "Okay, it's time to eat, all the dishes are here."
Hu Zi's mother looked at the dishes on the table, her eyes unable to take it all in: "So many?"
"Aunt, it looks like a lot, but it's actually not difficult to make." Wen Zhen explained to them with a smile.
"It's not that you're working hard. We said we were going to help, so we took it over and had a free meal." Benben's mother said a little embarrassedly.
"What's the matter? You can continue to help tomorrow." Wen Zhenyi blinked mischievously.
The stupid mother smiled and hit her: "I have cleaned up your shop today, but there is no one else who can help. If you want to help, you have to wait until your shop opens."
"Hehe, it's okay, it's okay. When my store opens, you can go and help." Wen Zhenyi sat at the table with Lei Yingying and the others.
Meng Caidie still wanted to maintain her ladylike image, so she must have already reached for her chopsticks.
Wen Zhenyi pulled Zhu Tao to sit next to him: "Okay, let's eat."
Zhu Tao looked at the ladies sitting opposite her and couldn't help feeling a little nervous. She lowered her head and didn't dare to look at them, nor did she dare to reach out to pick up the food.
Wen Zhenyi picked up some food for her when he saw her and asked, "Is the food not to your liking?"
"No, it's not."
Song Huanhuan ate the black rice in small sips: "Are you afraid of us?"
"Ah!" Zhu Tao was startled, looked up at her, then quickly lowered her head and dared not say a word.
Lei Yingying put down her bowl and chopsticks: "We don't eat humans, there's no need to be so afraid of us."
Meng Caidie swallowed what she had in her mouth: "Look, Miss Wen is not afraid of us, and she even gives us a cold look."
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