Chapter 65 Saturday Banquet
The deep green of cucumber, the light green of lettuce and the tender yellow of water chestnut bamboo shoots are arranged vertically on the plate, creating a layered spring mountain scenery. The plate is filled with tender yellow chicken and drizzled with a circle of green oil.
The pink and tender, crystal clear skin is made into lotus petals, with cold snow crab meat as the core.
"What is this?" Xu Lemei couldn't figure it out.
Last time Yue Ning painted a picture of persimmons on branches of a sparrow. Today she used branches directly in the middle and placed six persimmon-shaped balls on both sides. The words "Persimmons and Ruyi" were written on the side of the plate.
"Papaya and bird's nest balls." Yue Ning replied.
The braised lion head and foie gras were served with the first snow in the Forbidden City, which she had painted.
These four cold dishes just make up the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Of the two dishes in the middle, one was the one Yang Yuhe knew; it was Yue Baohua’s specialty, Lingnan Osmanthus Bund.
This old dish can be found in fewer and fewer places, mainly because of the complicated process. The lean meat and fat are sliced into paper-thin slices, with a layer of lean meat sandwiched between a layer of fat, then wrapped with salted egg yolk, and then tied with goose intestines, brushed with secret barbecue sauce and baked.
It tastes crispy on the outside and fragrant on the inside, with layers of flavor. Some gourmets come all the way from Australia just to have a taste of it. Just for the slight difference between Li Xinrong and Yue Baohua.
The osmanthus flowers look like the sun, what is this silky salad arranged in the shape of the moon?
Cai Zhiyuan laughed: "Is Luobo going to have another meeting?"
Others don’t know, but Cai Zhiyuan talked about this story: “Last time she didn’t even give me enough carrots to eat at the meeting.”
"I'll give you enough to eat this time." Yue Ning smiled, "Enjoy your meal!"
After the grandparents left, Cai Zhiyuan slightly pinched the tie around his neck and said, "We are going to see an exhibition of paintings by a foreigner. We have to wear formal attire. Is this table of food enough for us? Is it a formal treatment?"
No one else can refute this.
“Eat, eat!”
The waiter served them drinks and poured them wine.
Everyone started to pick up their chopsticks. Xu Lemei picked up a piece of chicken and said, "This green one is scallion oil!"
Yang Yuhe immediately fell in love with the pink foie gras. He took a bite and said, "Try the lion head goose foie gras. It's good and well cooked. I've said it before, our Chaoshan braised foie gras is definitely not worse than French foie gras."
Cai Zhiyuan passed the foie gras to Miss Su and said, "Sophie, you like French foie gras, so you will definitely like this."
"Thank you!" Miss Su picked up a piece of liver, and it trembled as she picked it up.
In fact, she seldom touched offal except for world-famous dishes like French foie gras. With her boss Cai Zhiyuan around, she couldn't refuse. It was foie gras anyway, so she ate a piece. She just hoped he wouldn't be so smart and think she liked it.
Sophie lowered her head to eat the goose liver. It was pink, soft, fragrant and smooth, without the fishy smell of offal as she remembered. It tasted exceptionally good.
"Miss Su, is it delicious?" Yang Yuhe asked.
"It's delicious. It has a different taste from French foie gras. The tenderness of French foie gras is the aroma of rich fat. This foie gras has the pinkness of the foie gras itself." Sophie couldn't help but take another piece.
"Our Lion-head goose is the largest breed of goose, with a large and tender liver. What about French foie gras? It is the foie gras that is fattened by stuffing. I will get sick of French foie gras if I eat two more pieces, but I won't get sick of this Chaoshan braised foie gras!" As a gourmet, Yang Yuhe couldn't help showing off.
"Miss Su, try this papaya bird's nest ball." Le Mei recommended it to Sophie, "This dish looks good and is not difficult to make. I'll ask Yue Ning."
After knocking on the door, the waiter pushed it open, and a waiter followed him in pushing a cart. The waiter served each person a small soup bowl with a lid. On the cart, a small glass teapot was placed on an alcohol lamp, and you could see the clear and transparent soup bubbling slightly.
The waiter lifted the lid of the soup bowl in front of Miss Su, revealing two flowers, one white and one orange, and a freshly cracked... quail egg?
He poured the boiling clear soup into the soup bowl. Although it was a clear soup, it had a strong aroma.
When the waiter came to pour the clear soup into Yang Yuhe's bowl, Yang Yuhe asked, "What is this?"
"The flowers blossom in pairs."
"This soup is made from boiled cabbage. It doesn't look like... it has the flavor of Matsutake mushroom in it?" Yang Yuhe tasted it.
As a gourmet, Yang Yuhe talked about boiled cabbage in Sichuan cuisine and clams in chicken soup, which is known as the "after" of Fujian cuisine. He said that these seemingly watery dishes are the most difficult to make.
Cai Zhiyuan ate while listening: "This soup tastes good. It's not like the pigeon soup at Yulongxuan, which has a mixed taste."
"The thick soup after mixing various ingredients is to have the taste of the blended ingredients. The clear soup that is about to open is to have the original taste of the ingredients. This is the thick soup that is clarified, which not only enriches the blended taste, but also has this extremely clear color."
"It's complicated, really complicated!"
The door opened again, and this time there was not so much fancy stuff, two squabs, cut into four pieces, a dish of sour plum sauce, and a dish of pepper and salt.
The waiter said, "Ning Xiaochu's glass-crusted pigeon."
Cai Zhiyuan passed it to Sophie: "Sophie, Ningning's crispy pigeon is unique and it's really delicious when eaten hot."
Sophie is not a person who cares about food. She usually only eats a fist-sized piece of bread for a meal. But today she ate one bite after another and really didn't want to stop.
After the pigeon, the waiter brought in another dish with a lifelike dragon head, a curved body, an upturned dragon tail, and something white like clouds, which should be egg white and shrimp meat. It looked like a dragon hidden in the clouds.
"Golden dragon making rain. The dragon head, body and tail are all made of barbecued pork crisps. You can eat them!" said the waiter.
“What about these clouds?”
"Australian lobster with egg white." explained the waiter.
Now Yang Yuhe figured out what was going on. He always felt that Yue Ning was a very generous girl and spoke in a kind and gentle manner, and that it was Lu Jinyong who was too petty.
That soup is just a reference to the pigeon soup at Yulongxuan, and her Golden Dragon Rain is just a reference to the shrimp balls at Yulongxuan.
When the abalone and goose feet came, Yang Yuhe was more certain. You say they are fussy, right? Her dishes are different from his, but if they are put together, right? They can definitely be compared.
South African abalone is not as good as Japanese Jipin abalone. Baohualou’s advantage lies in taste. Abalone is a food ingredient with a light taste. The quality of the dried abalone itself is very important, and soaking and stewing are equally important.
Yang Yuhe ate a piece of abalone and said, "Uncle Hua's abalone is from South Africa, which he stockpiled a few years ago. After a few years of aging, the sweet fragrance of the abalone has come out. It's mainly because he knows how to prepare it."
"Its characteristics are freshness, sweetness, and the taste of the sea." Xu Lemei also said, "I also like to come here to eat abalone rice. A serving of abalone rice costs 18 yuan, with a twelve-head abalone and a serving of rice. It is super satisfying."
The next dish is the fish with bean paste made by Yue Baohua, the most common fish, cooked in the most homely way. After eating a lot of delicacies from land and sea, having such a dish, plus a Cantonese cabbage, seems to be away from the hustle and bustle, and back to the simple feeling of a bowl of porridge and a meal.
"Just a meal would be nice." Yang Yuhe was very full, but still felt he needed a bite of rice.
There was a knock on the door, and Yue Ning personally brought in a plate of fried rice: "Yangzhou fried rice."
"Is this the Yangzhou fried rice that you've been teasing Junxian about for so long?" Cai Zhiyuan said.
Yue Ning smiled: "Lobster head, shrimp whiskers and shrimp legs, I plan to make lobster rice. Do you want to eat it?"
Cai Zhiyuan's eyes lit up: "Okay!"
"Choose between Yangzhou fried rice and lobster rice. Which one do you choose?" Yue Ning asked him.
"Do we have to choose one or the other? Can't we do both?" Cai Zhiyuan asked.
"This fried rice is delicious." Yang Yuhe took another bite, "I've never eaten fried rice so delicious."
Xu Lemei took a bite and said, "Give me the recipe for fried rice, and I'll teach the grandmothers how to make it."
Cai Zhiyuan immediately started eating the Yangzhou fried rice, and Miss Su, who was already full, couldn't help but eat half a bowl.
Yue Ning waited until they had finished sharing a plate of Yangzhou fried rice, then asked with a smile, "Shall I give you another bowl of soaked rice?"
Cai Zhiyuan waved his hand: "No, no, maybe next time!"
"So?" Yue Ning laughed.
Yue Ning saw off several distinguished guests and especially thanked Miss Su. Miss Su said, "Working for me? I will do my best to fulfill the boss's request."
Yue Ning couldn't say anything. Some bosses, for example, Cai Zhiyuan, exploited their employees more the harder they worked and didn't know how to cherish their capable people.
"Ningning, how about I come over tomorrow morning and have lobster rice for breakfast?"
"roll!"
*
Everyone knew that they had finished eating, and everyone was anxiously waiting for the film to come out, especially HTV. Like the owner, there must be the TV station. They were as cunning as Cai Zhiyuan and didn't show anything else but the clip where Cai Zhiyuan said that Yue Ning used a dish of "Yangzhou fried rice" to whet Qiao Junxian's appetite.
Now, most of Qiao Junxian’s mom fans, who are Sister Le Mei’s viewers, have asked Sister Le Mei to teach them how to make this fried rice.
Sister Le Mei said that you should consider whether to do it after the film is aired?
The TV station rushed to air this real-life film a week later.
Starting from the early morning when Baohualou collected the ingredients, Yue Baohua personally checked the ingredients, Yue Ning made oyster sauce and green onion oil. She held the green onion oil and said with a giggle: "Does this look like Fengyoujing?"
Then I watched her knead the dough into crispy pieces, add egg yolk to make it golden dragon color, shape a dragon head, and also shape a cute little lion dance and a cute rabbit.
A ball of minced chicken is put into the thick white soup, and the soup gradually becomes clear. Then another ball of minced chicken is put in, and that's it, the thick soup becomes clear. The aroma of matsutake and morel mushrooms is easy to spread, so they are added last.
The sour plum sauce is made by Yue Baohua pickling salty sour plums himself, and Yue Ning mashing and seasoning them.
Scallops and shrimps are pounded into a paste, steamed into pancakes, and shaped into flower petals. It looks complicated, and these dishes require not only time but also skills to prepare.
"Since our ancestors domesticated rice, the Chinese have been constantly pursuing delicious food, evolving into various schools and unique skills, and eventually becoming like a martial arts master who has no skills, but is better with no skills. I am still learning how to integrate these skills, and can only be considered to be getting started."
In the film, Yue Ning talked while doing it.
She has just entered the door, so does that mean others haven’t even entered the door?
This group of people attending the banquet are so funny. They wear such clothes to Baohua Tower?
Looking at the food on the table, it looks like a painting!
Later on, the housewives finally understood why Sister Le Mei said she would not teach them how to make fried rice anymore.
In the film, Yue Ning specifically asked the cameraman to watch her make fried rice. This? Those who can learn it are definitely not ordinary people. Ordinary people basically can't learn it.
This film resonates with many gourmets. The presentation of these dishes is beautiful, but what makes gourmets even more excited is that these dishes remind them of those years and those chefs who cooked seriously. Some dishes are expensive for a reason, unlike some places where the prices are ridiculously high but the taste is just so-so.
Thinking of this, everyone will feel sorry for this pair of grandparents and grandchildren. The good chef is located in this place in Mong Kok, Po Wah Building, and the positioning was determined from the beginning.
Forget it! Forget it! Baohualou is still short of cooks? Let's restore the previous attendance rate first!
Just then, the grandparents and grandchildren finally received feedback from the Second Commercial Bureau of Yuecheng. Even with the expedited procedure, the cooperation between Baohua Building and Fuyun Building had just been approved.
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