Yuan Dong nodded. "Princess, it would be a shame to reveal this order to Princess Jing. This dish looks really good to me. You could keep it for yourself. Why not try another one..."
"No, Princess Jing is not Princess Duan. She is shrewd, and she wouldn't trust anything ordinary. I know what's going on, and we've been trying it for so many days, and the extra ingredient has indeed achieved the desired effect, which is great."
Yuan Dong responded, "Are you still going to practice the dish you prepared today?"
Meng Qi thought about going to Bibotang every day these days to practice the dish she was really going to serve on the Wanshou Festival. Every day, she watched the "fruits of her labor" being eaten by Song Chengze, and smiled. This guy, to say that what he made yesterday was indeed a bit flavorful, but a few days ago it was just plain cabbage, but Song Chengze said it was delicious and ate it all every time.
Meng Qi felt warm in her heart. She now really liked the way she got along with Song Chengze. They didn't deliberately emphasize their relationship, but just made people feel comfortable in that natural way.
It's just that sometimes, at some moments, some things seem to be changing, like boiling water, bubbling somewhere in her heart, and she wants to suppress it, she must suppress it.
"Of course I have to go. Although I don't care what place I get, since I'm doing it, I have to bring a surprise to everyone. Besides, these two dishes are all thought out by my second sister. I will definitely make them successfully and have a chance to make them for mother and second sister to taste."
Yuan Dong hummed, thinking about the two menus that Second Miss Meng Wan had Chuan Er bring. One of them was called "Pak Choy in Clear Water." At first glance at the menu, Yuan Dong was puzzled. The Second Miss had thought for so long and came up with such a name for the dish. How could cabbage boiled in clear water be served at the Emperor's birthday banquet?
But seeing the elaborate preparation process, Yuan Dong knew this dish wasn't as simple as its name suggested. Sure enough, after a few days of experimentation, this dish had brought many surprises. Thinking of the prince's struggle to swallow it on the first day, and then his unexpected success yesterday in eating two bowls of thin noodles with the broth, Yuan Dong knew this dish would amaze everyone.
Yuan Dong thought of another dish, the "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" that the princess deliberately wanted Princess Jing to pay attention to. Compared with the "Plain Cabbage in Water", the ingredients of that dish are completely different. The ingredients alone took up an entire page, and the cooking time and method of each dish were different.
When Su Xin and the cook first started preparing the ingredients, it took them the entire morning just to prepare them, and then there was the cooking, steaming, and simmering. A rough calculation showed that Yuan Dong, for just one cooking session, would cost at least thirty or fifty taels of silver.
Both dishes are extremely delicious, one is light and the other is rich.
"Why did you choose Buddha Jumps Over the Wall? I think that dish has a greater chance of being outstanding during the Longevity Festival. After all, both the name and the ingredients are presentable and high-quality." Yuan Dong asked.
Meng Qi smiled faintly. "Three reasons. First, if it's too simple, Princess Jing will be less likely to be fooled. The more complicated and the more expensive the ingredients, the more she'll be interested. Second, if I really made that dish, it would have to be made at home and brought to the palace. Even if it's properly kept warm, the taste will be greatly reduced after it's been transported from home to the palace and then waited for the Emperor to eat it. It's not like the plain cabbage. We can make the soup, find a stove in the palace to boil it, and then pour it over the cabbage. It will be the same as what we just made. Third, the Emperor has been in poor health recently. He definitely doesn't like those rich and greasy dishes. It's better to be light and refreshing like this. It should be more to his liking."
Yuan Dong sighed, "The princess is indeed very thoughtful. Now it all depends on Ms. Zhang's ability."
"She definitely has that ability. For so many years, she's been inseparable from Wu Shi in obtaining information about the palace. If my guess is correct, there must be someone affiliated with Ms. Zhang in Yinyan Pavilion. It wouldn't be difficult for her to get a menu from Wu Shi. And given Wu Shi's tendency to show off, she'd probably tell her everything she learns every day. Even if she didn't have the menu, she'd be able to remember most of it just by listening to Wu Shi. There's no shortage of skilled cooks in the Jing Palace. With some careful thought, she could probably make something close to the recipe."
Yuan Dong said, "If Princess Jing really uses your dish, she won't be afraid of serving the same dish to two people. How will she explain it?"
"Explain? Humph. First, dishes presented to the Emperor must be presented in order. She's fourth in line, so naturally she's in front of me. If she serves it first, it'll give people a preconceived notion, so everyone will think I copied her. Second, she's smart, she wouldn't just make this one dish. If she saw I wasn't serving this 'Buddha Jumps Over the Wall,' she wouldn't have served it either."
Meng Qi stood up and said, "Just wait and see. While she's serving the dishes, word will spread that her menu is missing and stolen, and the person who stole the menu is connected to the Rui Palace."
Yuan Dong smiled slightly, "The princess is indeed very thoughtful. Now we just wait for her to make a fool of herself."
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