"Glug glug glug—"
Inside the large earthenware pot, chunks of duck meat rolled in the white broth, while the pickled radish pieces had a translucent, gelatinous texture. Golden fat gathered on the surface of the soup, making one's mouth water just by looking at it.
"Senior sister, is there anything seriously wrong with your health?"
Chenxiang stared intently at the little yellow chick sitting in the chair and asked seriously, his face full of hesitation:
"Should we go and find our master? I've heard that some demon cultivators revert to their original forms, mostly because their primordial spirits are damaged. Senior Sister, you are in such a state now, so don't force yourself to endure it."
Xu Milu covered her head with her chubby wings. When Chen Xiang saw her like this, he felt inexplicably ashamed.
"I just had a few mishaps during my cultivation. There's no need to trouble my master. He's sparring with Erlang Shen on an overseas immortal mountain and won't be back for at least ten or eight years. You don't need to worry too much about me. I think I'll be back to normal in a year or two."
Chenxiang stroked his chin, staring thoughtfully at her wings, his eyes full of curiosity:
"Hmm...Is that so?"
Xu Milu looked away guiltily.
—Actually, she didn't know how long it would take for her to return to human form. The energy generated by the overflow of merit not only made the system's energy surge to the maximum, but also directly fed back to her. In a sense, she could be considered to have turned misfortune into blessing.
Xu Milu was about to say something to salvage her dignity as a senior sister when she suddenly felt a warmth on her head. A finger forcefully rubbed her scalp, the warm touch catching her off guard. Looking up, she saw Mo Xuan's arrogant, handsome face suddenly appear above her:
"Hahahaha!! No wonder you always made excuses when I asked you about your background and origins, it turns out you're just a chubby, round-faced chicken, a tiny chick that hasn't even grown any feathers yet—"
Before she could finish speaking, Xu Milu couldn't hold back any longer. She flapped her wings and kicked out, her slender bird foot creating a powerful gust of wind that sent the clumsy dragon flying several feet away from the shop entrance, leaving a crater in the ground.
"You're the round-faced fat chicken, your whole family are round-faced fat chickens!"
Her brows were furrowed, and her round face was covered with a layer of pale yellow fuzz, giving her an inexplicably cute appearance.
"I am a phoenix! A phoenix! King of all birds, the head of all birds under heaven! You're the plagued little mudfish! I'm docking your pay for this month, you bastard!!"
—Incidentally, after she entered the Luan Bird stage, her physical strength was comparable to that of an immature dragon.
...
...
After an incense stick had burned, Mo Xuan, his face bruised and battered, sat at the table, looking at Xu Milu with a look of barely suppressed rage.
Xu Milu pretended not to see it. She finally understood why the dragon and phoenix clans had been at odds since the beginning of time—with the dragon clan's cheeky and teasing nature, it would be strange if they didn't get beaten up.
Anyway, Mo Xuan's physical strength is not bad. Her beating just now looked scary, but it was just like tickling to the dragon.
"The soup should be ready. Drink some soup first to warm your body and get rid of the cold. If you have any favorite vegetables, you can also put them in the pot to cook together. The taste will be sour and delicious, and it won't be a waste of this duck."
Xu Milu flapped her wings, and the bowls and chopsticks placed in front of her seemed to come alive, floating up. She skimmed the oil off the surface of the pot with a ladle and ladled out several pieces of steaming hot duck meat.
"This dish looks simple, but the selection of ingredients is quite particular. The duck should be a Muscovy duck, preferably an old duck. When making the soup base, star anise, bay leaves, and old ginger should be used. You also need to prepare pickled radish. The pickled radish is also important. You need to select fresh white radish, use salt to remove the moisture, and then add white vinegar, white wine, Sichuan peppercorns, and pickled peppers to seal it in a jar for pickling. Only in this way can the pickled radish be crisp and refreshing."
As for the duck, after cleaning the old Muscovy duck, it needs to be singed off with fire to remove any remaining feathers. The duck meat is cut into large chunks and blanched to remove the blood. Then, a whole piece of old ginger, sliced into pieces, is added and simmered for about half an hour. Finally, chopped pickled radish, bay leaves, star anise, and salt from the East China Sea are added and the soup is simmered for another hour. Only when the soup is rich and fragrant, the duck meat is tender and falls off the bone, and the pickled radish is soft, sweet, and glutinous, is the soup considered worthy of being served.
Xu Milu's mouth was dry from talking. When she looked up, she saw that Chen Xiang and Mo Xuan were already impatient, their eyes shining as they stared at the meat.
After saying all that, the two of them didn't listen at all, so she could only helplessly flap her wings:
"Alright, alright, eat up, eat up. You're not interested in cooking anyway."
"Of course we trust Madam Xu's cooking skills!"
"The food prepared by my senior sister is naturally delicious—"
Mo Xuan and Chen Xiang only had time to look up and reply with one sentence before they began to eat heartily. After being simmered over low heat for a long time, the duck meat had long since become tender. With a slight press between their lips and teeth, the skin and meat would separate. Duck meat is easy to overcook, but duck meat cooked in the old broth can be easily torn into strips, becoming more and more fragrant the more you chew.
The pickled radish was cooked until soft and tender, and it had a slightly translucent appearance when picked up with chopsticks. The originally prominent sour taste was mellowed by the magic of the high heat and the soup base, and it tasted just the right amount of sourness.
The broth, simmered over a low flame, is the essence of the dish. The intense sourness of the pickled radish combined with the greasiness of the old duck creates a surprisingly amazing taste. Add a handful of chopped green onions and cilantro, and the warm broth slides down your throat, carrying a hint of the spiciness of old ginger, as if it can drive away all the chill in your body.
Mo Xuan's eyes widened: "!!! How can it taste so delicious? When I was the Dragon King of Dongting Lake, those mortals would offer me fat chickens and ducks every year. I never knew that an old duck that had been around for so long could be made into such a delicious dish!"
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