Chapter 81 Pheasant Stewed with Mushrooms
"After I developed anorexia, my father tried every possible way to help me. He consulted many famous doctors and invited many great chefs. However, before I met you, their efforts only alleviated my symptoms, but didn't completely cure me," Heidi said. "This restaurant in the capital was one of his attempts."
Takumi Yuu: "That's quite generous! Your father must love you very much."
"Indeed." Heidi smiled gently. "My father is very kind to me, but this isn't a big deal. It's just a restaurant in the city center that employs a group of famous chefs from all over the world. Their cooking skills may not impress me, but many nobles in the capital love their dishes."
Jiang You: "..." I understand. Although the food does not meet the standards of a picky young lady, the skills of these famous chefs are probably among the best in the Principality of Huntington.
"This restaurant is just a business to me," Heidi said. "If you can cure me, I'd be happy to give it to you, along with all the staff, equipment, ingredients, and everything else you need. As for how to run this restaurant, you can decide for yourself. Our family will unconditionally support your decision."
"Wow!" Jiang You was shocked. "Your decision seems a bit too hasty..." A restaurant, can you just give away food? The nobles of this era are really too generous.
Heidi smiled. "I'm optimistic about your cooking, and I believe you can save me. It's too painful not to be able to enjoy food and life. After tasting your cooking, I never want to live a life worse than death again."
"Oh," Jiang You said, somewhat understanding her thoughts. "However, I don't want to make a decision so quickly on such an important matter. Why not wait until I arrive in the capital and conduct an on-site inspection of the business environment there before making any decisions?"
"Okay." Heidi agreed readily. She just wanted to recruit Jiangyou. Since Jiangyou still had concerns, she didn't want to scare him away.
They talked for a while longer, then they felt the carriage slow down and the knight's voice came from the window: "We are ready to set up camp."
Their accommodation tonight was also a lakeside campground for travelers, but the scenery here was different. Where the lakeshore met the forest, stood a row of lovely little wooden houses, suspended over the water like stilt houses.
"Wow!" Jiang You couldn't help but exclaim, "What a beautiful little house!"
"We'll stay here tonight." Andre helped her and Heidi get off the carriage, and moved Jiangyou's kitchen utensils and their unused food down. Jericho led the horses to the stable next to the camp to feed them grass and water.
"This camp only provides small cabins. You'll need to bring your own bedding and kitchen utensils. You can cook near the campfire in the middle of the camp," Andre said. "This is very close to the Royal Academy of Magic. If all goes well, we'll be in the capital tomorrow."
The three magicians also stopped after them, looking reluctant to leave even though the school was right next to them. "Just give us one more meal! Just one more meal! We can do anything!"
Jiang You laughed: "There's really nothing I can do about you guys."
She counted the ingredients and said, "Tonight we'll have pheasant stewed with mushrooms and fried mutton buns... Well, we have a lot of rabbits, we can roast a few and braise a few more."
The leftover roast lamb from last night had already been devoured as dry food at noon, leaving only a few sprigs of yam and lotus root, perfect for garnishing the braised rabbit pot. They'd bought quite a few mushrooms from the innkeeper, and they also had the pheasant the hunter had given them yesterday, perfect for making the classic dish, 'Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms'... Well, as someone from another world, you have to be flexible when you're away from home, so let's call it pheasant stewed with mushrooms.
"The camp manager sells fresh wild vegetables and lake fish." Jericho is also familiar with this place. "We can buy some ingredients from him."
"I'll do it! I'll do it!" Eslan rushed out with his two friends, "Leave the shopping to us!"
Andre helped Jiangyou set up the snack kiosk and pots, then took the chickens and rabbits to the lake to process them.
The mutton buns had been steamed for breakfast, and there were still a dozen or so left. Since there were no ovens in the wild, Jiangyou put them in a large iron pot and reheated them, pan-frying them the same way he pan-fried them. Dried mushrooms were quickly soaked in the Crucible of Time, and the yam and lotus root were peeled and cut into chunks...
After doing all this, Andre came back with clean pheasants and rabbits.
Jiangyou took out the mutton buns and put them aside to keep them warm with a heat preservation spell. Then he rinsed the de-haired pheasant with clean water again, chopped it into small pieces with a sharp knife, and cut the green onions, ginger and garlic into large pieces and set them aside for later use.
The rabbits were divided into two piles. Half were skewered on a skewer, brushed with a mixture of soy sauce and maltose, and placed over the campfire for Andrei and Jericho to grill. The other half was also cut into small pieces and marinated with sliced ginger, garlic, scallions, cooking wine, salt, and a small amount of white vinegar to remove the fishy smell. After marinating for ten minutes, the rabbit meat was washed to remove the fishy smell, leaving only the ginger and garlic. Cooking wine, salt, and pepper were added and marinated for another fifteen minutes.
The rabbit marinated twice in this way will basically have no peculiar smell and can be fried directly without blanching, and it will taste very fragrant.
Jiang You first takes out a large iron wok, heats oil, and sautés scallions, ginger, and garlic until fragrant. He then throws in a few star aniseed seeds and stir-fries the chicken. Some people blanch the chicken for this dish, while others prefer to stir-fry it directly. Jiang You prefers to stir-fry the chicken until it's dry, which makes it more fragrant and flavorful.
Once the chicken is cooked through and has a pleasant burnt aroma, add the cooking wine and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the soy sauce and sugar mixture and continue stir-frying over high heat until the chicken is evenly colored and turns a nice amber color. Add boiling water to create the rich, oily broth.
Jiangyou turned down the heat, covered the pot, and let the pheasant slowly stew in the pot. When the chicken was almost cooked, he added the soaked mushrooms and continued stewing.
Chicken only needs time to become delicious, so Jiangyou begins to braise the rabbit. Heat a casserole pot and sauté scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried Sichuan peppercorns. Add the rabbit and stir-fry until it changes color. Then, add sugar and soy sauce and continue to stir-fry. Then, add some hot water and simmer the rabbit for about ten minutes.
The side dishes for this braised hotpot are very casual. Jiangyou originally liked to add lettuce and cucumber, but the yam and lotus root on hand are also very good choices. You just need to throw them into the casserole and cook them with the rabbit meat according to the time to get a delicious dish.
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