11. Turtle Jelly
◎What a weirdo!◎
The kitchen of the Gu Mansion is not small, but it cannot accommodate so many people cooking at the same time, so they can only be divided into upper and lower batches.
Half of the chefs followed the maid's instructions and went to the small kitchen to prepare food.
Song Jinyi sat there, choosing the next batch to go. She hadn't figured out what to do yet.
In the southeast corner of the flower hall stands a rosewood longevity vine high table, on which stands a plain incense burner, emitting light white smoke and exuding a subtle fragrance.
She stared at the smoke floating upwards, watching the clouds rise slowly like gauze and dissipate at a certain height. She also saw Chun Sanniang, who stayed with her, drinking tea leisurely, and it seemed that she had already thought about what dishes to prepare.
After half an hour, the kitchen continued to serve dishes, which passed through the flower hall when they were brought to the villa where the young lady lived. The remaining chefs in the flower hall saw the dishes being served, and they came forward one by one to take a look and comment on them.
Song Jinyi, who was sitting at the door, couldn't help but feel curious. She stretched her neck and stared at what dishes they had prepared.
The first dish is a plate of "chicken oil rolls".
Song Jinyi frowned slightly, curled her lips, and criticized in her heart: "Although this chicken roll is delicious on ordinary days, it doesn't fit the theme and is a little greasy..."
Another "crystal lucky bag" was served. The translucent spring roll wrappers were filled with colorful seasonal vegetables. It looked pretty good, but... the taste was a little bland, and children might not like it.
Then came the lotus duck skewers, perilla fish, and plum blossom pancakes...
The chefs who came to the Gu Mansion were all well-known chefs in Yunzhou. This time they also showed off their specialties, which were colorful, fragrant and delicious. Song Jinyi, who hadn't even had lunch, felt hungry just by looking at them.
She subconsciously touched her belly, which was flat.
After all the dishes for the previous group were delivered, they returned to the flower hall, and the maid led the rest of them to the small kitchen.
After leaving the flower hall, the sun hanging in the sky was scorching the people below. After just a few steps, Song Jinyi was sweating all over. The closer she got to the small kitchen, the hotter it became.
Summer kitchen... Song Jinyi had already anticipated that once she entered, it would become a natural sauna.
She raised her thin arms to shield herself from the sun, thinking as she walked, "This weather, tsk, suddenly feels like eating a dessert to cool down, like..."
Her pupils suddenly shrank and her eyes were stunned. Yes... She thought of what to do, and her mood changed instantly. The corners of her mouth rose, her eyes were filled with joy, and she couldn't help laughing.
She felt she had won.
kitchen.
Song Jinyi lifted her skirt, stepped over the threshold, looked around, and saw that the kitchen was really spacious, big enough to accommodate four or five of her working places.
A high platform was built in the middle of the room as a partition to separate the left and right sides. Dozens of baskets of various sizes were placed on it, filled with various ingredients.
Song Jinyi took a quick glance and could hardly take her eyes off it. Not only was the kitchen spacious, but it also had all the ingredients you could need.
She sighed twice, worthy of being a noble person from Shengjing, he was indeed very "noble".
If she could stand out from the crowd this time, go to Shengjing, win the old lady's favor, and get the reward of one thousand taels, she could leave Yunzhou.
The imagination is beautiful, but the reality is difficult. For example, she must first win over everyone present.
There are stoves in all four corners of the kitchen, and one corner can accommodate two people cooking at the same time.
Song Jinyi was not qualified to choose first, so she had to wait for others to choose and took a seat at the side. She arranged the ingredients one by one in order and began to work on the dishes she had thought of in advance.
The room was stuffy and the stove was burning all the time. Sweat kept dripping down Song Jinyi's forehead, and she wiped the sweat off her face with a handkerchief from time to time.
When she raised her hand, she accidentally discovered that Chun Sanniang was sitting diagonally opposite her. Chun Sanniang was alone, and there was a person squatting next to her, bending over and doing odd jobs. Her face could not be seen clearly, and it seemed that she was the maid who was supposed to help her.
Song Jinyi looked at it enviously. The treatment in this big teahouse was different. She had someone to help her, but she was all alone.
After washing her hands, she soaked the agar-agar in advance to remove impurities.
Separate the meat from the shell of a fresh grass turtle, add water to the turtle shell and Chinese yam and bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for one hour until it becomes gelatinous.
After letting it sit for half an hour, she added chrysanthemum. Because honeysuckle was a little bitter, she measured the amount herself, then added summer cypress and licorice and simmered for another half an hour.
Filter the boiled water twice, add the soaked agar-agar and continue to boil.
It took nearly three hours to complete these parts. All the chefs in the kitchen had left, leaving only her and Chun Sanniang.
As she waited for the time, she took a look and saw that the people next door were making a dish of salad lettuce. They rolled up thin slices of bamboo shoots and tied them with vermicelli. They were laid out neatly and decorated with dried flowers, looking like green grass sprouts, which was quite beautiful.
And it is refreshing and delicious to eat in the summer.
The man next door had finished cooking and was bored. He looked at what Song Jinyi had prepared and asked sarcastically, "I saw all the flowers and herbs you used. They are all Chinese herbs. You just boiled a pot like this. Are you boiling Chinese medicine?"
Song Jinyi did not deny that this dessert could be considered a Chinese medicine in a sense.
She filtered the finished product again, waited until the paste became shiny, cut it into small, even pieces, and put them into a bowl.
The maid who had been waiting for a long time came over slowly. She looked at the bowl of pitch-black food with a solemn expression and slightly parted lips. Finally, she just asked softly, "Is the young lady okay?"
"Right away!" she said without raising her head. Cooking is a slow process, and the subsequent embellishments can be done in a few minutes.
The authentic tortoise jelly tastes slightly bitter. She poured the golden osmanthus honey on the surface from top to bottom, and the honey slid down step by step like a waterfall paved with gold.
Sprinkle a handful of dried osmanthus flowers and raisins on top, and pour brown sugar water on the edge of the bowl.
Song Jinyi looked at her finished product with satisfaction. It was perfect in color, aroma and taste!
The maid saw that she had only made some simple adjustments and the pastry looked much better than before, so she asked, "What is the name of this pastry?"
Song Jinyi replied: "—Turtle Jelly."
Guilinggao has a smooth texture, nourishes yin and moistens dryness, clears away heat and fire, and relieves summer heat and detoxifies.
It is simply a must-have delicacy in summer. Children like sweet things, so she adds honey and brown sugar to neutralize the slight bitterness with sweetness. It is neither bitter nor greasy, and the taste is just right.
There were still some leftover tortoise jelly in the pot. She scooped it up with a spoon and tasted it. The paste was like a black crystal gem, gleaming slightly. The fragile body trembled in the spoon, which made people feel pity.
Because of multiple filtration, the taste is so smooth.
The throat becomes a slide, and the paste flows smoothly along the tongue into the stomach, leaving only a faint aroma of Chinese herbal medicine in the mouth, which makes people feel unsatisfied.
At this time, she was sweating profusely from the heat in the kitchen. She tasted some tortoise jelly, and the slightly sweet and bitter tortoise jelly relieved half of her heat.
The maid asked her to go to the flower hall to rest for a while. She did not get up immediately. She raised her hand and pointed at the peeled turtle meat and asked, "Can I take this?"
The maid was stunned, probably not expecting her to say that. The used ingredients here were basically discarded. If someone was willing to take them back for reuse, naturally no one would stop them.
The maid smiled slightly: "Of course."
"Tsk," the village girl across from her laughed sarcastically. She had also finished by then and was washing her hands with a silk handkerchief. She looked down at her with condescending attitude, with the word "contempt" written all over her eyes.
Song Jinyi ignored her gaze and walked closer to her stove, looking at the food prepared by Chun Sanniang.
Chun Sanniang prepared a three-piece set: staple food, main course, and dessert.
The rice was cooked to the perfect softness, with some lotus root mixed in.
Song Jinyi recognized at a glance that this was the magical rice for relieving summer heat mentioned in "Shan Jia Qing Gong" - Yujing Rice.
The ingredients used in Yujing Rice are the freshest lotus seeds and lotus roots of the season. It tastes sweet, warm and astringent, with a fresh and fragrant aroma.
It has the flavor of harvest and is the fruit of the spleen. When cooked with glutinous rice, it tastes sweet with a light lotus seed fragrance.
The dish made with gardenia is the fried muduan mentioned in "Song Yan". It uses flowers as food, which is very delicious and elegant.
This dish is very literary. If it is placed in front of literati and elegant guests, it is estimated that it will gain a large number of fans and enthusiastic pursuit. Children may also find it fresh.
The after-meal dessert was a plate of light pink lotus root slices. Song Jinyi didn't know what it was called, but she could smell a faint scent of sour plum, which stimulated her appetite.
She nodded in appreciation and caught a glimpse of Chun Sanniang's assistant - the woman in the light yellow dress.
At this moment, her face was covered in sweat, just like Song Jinyi's, and her hair was stuck to her face. If she hadn't been hiding behind Chun Sanniang, Song Jinyi would have almost thought she was a chef.
The woman seemed to feel her gaze and immediately lowered her head, curled up her body, and wished she could bury herself in the ground.
What a weirdo!
Chun Sanniang moved sideways to block the woman and stared at her with a bad look.
Is it an illusion?
She always felt that the chef from Zui Liuxia seemed to be targeting her today.
Before I could think about it, the maid beside me said, "Please go to the flower hall to rest for a while. I will be out later."
…
The flower hall was bustling with activity. The chefs not only discussed their own dishes but also praised the food of others. Song Jinyi stayed alone in the corner and felt the noise.
After about half an incense stick of time, the person who announced the results finally arrived in the hall. The maid asked, "Which chef made the Yujing rice?"
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