If being in the West Kitchen was relatively leisurely, being in the Imperial Kitchen was busy and joyful.
In the small vegetarian kitchen of Tianbei Hall in the inner palace, brows were furrowed.
First of all, Su Wan and the other three got up before dawn, or even at two in the morning, and walked along the dark palace road for half an hour before finally reaching the vegetarian kitchen. Then they began to prepare the most exquisite delicacies and delivered them to the monks' dining hall before the hour of Yin, also known as dawn, or three in the morning.
A little later?
You are delaying the monks' practice, are you responsible?
I can't be responsible for this, so I have to be on time.
After making a relatively simple breakfast, I started to prepare lunch and try to finish it and send it over before noon or before 11 o'clock in the morning.
You can't leave yet. You have to develop a new recipe and show it to the mages within three days, otherwise you will be punished by copying scriptures.
If the new recipe is not to one's liking, one will be punished by copying scriptures.
Sometimes you do well and you still have to write it down.
The reason, of course, is that copying scriptures is to pray for the saints, don’t you do it?
Being responsible for feeding so many monks is already hard enough, now I have to hold a pen with the hand that holds the spoon?
No wonder these royal chefs have no temper at all.
The four of them returned to Ciqing Palace to rest yesterday at noon, and these imperial chefs were punished by making them copy Buddhist scriptures. It was really pitiful.
However, when talking about Ciqing Palace, Su Wan and the others couldn't help but hold their foreheads.
Although they knew that it was a palace that had fallen into disrepair and that no one had lived there for a long time, the dust inside was still beyond the four people's imagination.
There were enough rooms, after all, no one was living there. The palace servants guarding the palace found a side hall for the four of them that was closest to the palace road and would save the most time, and there they stayed.
I heard that the side hall next to it will be inhabited in the future, and most people come here for the Buddha's Birthday.
As for whether someone cleaned it, no one knows.
Anyway, Su Wan and the others spent more than two hours cleaning the side hall. Although they had only lived there for less than two months, the room was full of dust. If they didn't clean it thoroughly, they might have problems with their lungs.
In addition to the room they lived in, the four of them tacitly cleaned the small kitchen in the side hall.
This kitchen can no longer be said to be small, but it is cramped. After all, it is a small side hall. This kitchen was probably used only for preparing hot water and rarely for cooking.
But when the four of them heard that Tianbei Hall was not going to have dinner, they of course tacitly interrupted him.
If you don't eat it, we in the Shangshi Bureau and the Ministry of Rites will eat it. We are not Buddhists.
The last sentence was said by Su Wan, who also emphasized: "If anyone asks, we should say that we are reading the books in the Ministry of Rites and that we respect Buddhism because of the saints. It is not good to speak carelessly."
Whether it was Li Rongrong or the other two palace maids, they usually understood things quickly, but at this moment they did not quite understand what was meant.
If it were before, Su Wan might have been a little confused, but after reading the book for more than a month, she understood more about why the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism had to be balanced in ancient times.
As for how the three parties tried to maintain a balance among themselves, they actually used many harsh words when the words became heated.
Most of the people in the Ministry of Rites studied Confucianism, so how could they let the palace maids eat vegetarian food? If they did, it would be fine, but as long as they were from the Ministry of Rites and read books from the Ministry of Rites, they could not follow suit.
I guess the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate and others would jump and cheer for them.
After all, when it comes to this kind of issue, it’s no longer a question of whether or not to be a vegetarian.
But.
Needless to say.
Su Wan didn't mean to rise, but she was still young! If she didn't eat at night, she would be hungry.
In other words, if not eating at night is her own choice, then it's okay, can skipping dinner still be beneficial to health?
But if someone else forces her to make the choice, I'm sorry, Su Wan will eat it, and eat it in big mouthfuls!
After cleaning Ciqing Palace early yesterday, several people went to bed immediately in order to get to the Tianbei Hall kitchen as soon as possible.
But when I arrived, I found that other people had already arrived here, some were making porridge, some were cooking.
Su Wan calculated the time. They arrived here before three o'clock. Was it already too late?
Fortunately, I had soaked the mushrooms before leaving yesterday. After all, they are just the icing on the cake and only one or two dishes need to be made.
It is enough to make this dish today.
However, Su Wan and her friends soaked a whole bunch of mushrooms, which surprised Master Cai, who cooked in the small vegetarian kitchen, and Master Bai, who prepared the staple food.
"Why did you prepare so many things?"
Su Wan was also stunned and asked, "Aren't there 108 mages here?"
At this point, the kitchen man smiled, but his smile was a little bitter: "But there is a difference. We only need to be responsible for twelve mages, that is, ten little mages and two mages."
"The remaining monks are in charge of other large kitchens, and the two great masters are in charge of the Saint's royal kitchen."
Wait a minute.
Su Wan, Li Rongrong and others looked around the small vegetarian kitchen. Excluding the four of them, there were eighteen cooks. Eighteen people were specifically serving twelve?
This is too exaggerated.
You have to know that in each of their kitchens, there are more than one hundred people responsible for feeding one thousand five hundred people, or more than three hundred people responsible for four thousand two hundred people.
Judging from this proportion, we can see how luxurious the monks in Tianbei Hall are.
Moreover, they are actually divided into different levels. Ordinary monks are in a special large kitchen, the more powerful monks are here, and the most powerful are served by the saint's royal chef.
There were only four words in Su Wan's mind: waste of time and money.
The four of them were transferred here to cook for the ten people. They also cooked for them during the last winter festival.
But this time, there were two more of their masters coming.
Su Wan looked at the bucket of mushrooms and thought, “Okay, now the workload has been reduced, so I can do it more delicately, right?”
Su Wan thanked Master Cai and Master Bai, and continued cooking with Li Rongrong and others.
At this point, the soaked mushrooms have expanded and can be used directly.
Just use one tenth of it now and put the rest aside as you will need it later anyway.
Since Su Wan wanted to prepare these meals well, she must have prepared them carefully, so that the dishes she prepared carefully would not taste bad.
First, prepare the mushrooms, black fungus, spiced tofu, and carrots.
Cut all these things into shreds and set aside.
The shredded tofu and mushrooms are fried directly.
The fried shredded tofu and mushrooms are more chewy. As long as they are not over-fried, they will not be brittle to the point of breaking. Just fry out the moisture inside.
Then sauté all ingredients in a pan until fragrant.
Su Wan discovered that the oils here are basically vegetable oil, mushroom oil, sesame oil, rapeseed oil and other oils with slightly stronger odors. There are very few of them. It seems that only the most precious oils are used on a daily basis.
Master Cai said: "This clear oil is a mixture of several vegetable oils, so that there is no peculiar smell. It is made by the Saint's Royal Kitchen, but it has been provided for our use."
It seems that they feel a sense of sympathy, so they keep helping each other.
Su Wan thought, in fact, this is also a kind of modern blended oil. It’s not that blended oil is bad, but if it is added according to strict scientific proportions, the resulting oil will be fragrant and delicious.
In the ancient times of her time and space, there was a similar concept of oil blending. Different dishes used different oils, and the royal family was only more meticulous in this regard.
After all, in some dynasties, there were more than 200 chefs serving one emperor, and they had to cook in different ways.
However, the recipe for this blend must be top secret, and it is much better than the snack recipe she makes.
To be honest, whether it's Gan Xing or Li's pig's trotters, she has her own recipes. If she finds an expert with many years of experience to try them a few times, she will be able to imitate them almost perfectly.
But this clear oil must have gone through thousands of experiments before it was made.
So Su Wan was very careful when using it and never wasted it.
Master Cai and Master Bai saw that Su Wan understood everything immediately, so they didn't need to tell her which materials to use sparingly and which to use freely.
She can tell at a glance what is precious and what is ordinary.
Only someone who has handled countless ingredients could have such a skill, right?
Su Wan ignored the looks from others and even took out two cucumbers from the ice cellar, which made everyone tremble with fear.
In ancient times, cucumbers stored in February were extremely precious!
I was just praising her!
But Su Wan had already cut the cucumber into shreds and set aside.
Because this dish needs to be fried, cucumbers are particularly important. Otherwise, it will only be fragrant but not refreshing, and the taste will be average.
Spread out the fresh bean curd skin that has just been prepared, spread egg white on the inside of the bean curd skin, and then put the fried ingredients just now, such as shredded mushrooms, shredded fungus, shredded spiced tofu, and shredded carrots, all in an orderly manner horizontally on the bean curd skin.
After laying it out, just roll it up directly, which is similar to the method of rolling sushi. Because the bean curd skin is big enough, it looks like the length of a child's arm.
After rolling it up, apply a layer of bean curd skin on the outside and add egg white to any spots that are not covered, especially at the two ends.
Because there were twelve people eating, we made four long strips like this and fried them directly in the oil pan until they turned golden brown.
After being fried, the bean curd sheets' color immediately becomes beautiful, and the fragrance of the various shreds inside, which were originally fried fragrant, also permeates into the bean curd sheet skin. However, because the bean curd sheet skin is rolled into several layers and soaked in oil, it looks golden.
After being fried and fished out, the whole long strip looks like a golden dragon.
Master Cai and Master Bai came over and thought the dish was indeed beautiful. They also understood why cucumber was used, as it was the only way to relieve the greasiness from frying.
Looking at the fried bean curd strips, Su Wan picked up the knife and cut them into even sizes, just like cutting dough.
The round strips of bean curd sheets wrapped in five-shredded vegetables are cut into small round arches, which look similar to the shape of tiger skin bread.
But it is smaller and more delicate. After cutting it, you can see the filling inside. Several colors are mixed together, which is very vivid and cute.
But the best looking part is the skin.
The outside of the bean curd sheets were fried into a golden brown color, and then placed in small pieces on a plate and arranged in a circle around a green porcelain plate.
Just looking at it from afar and it's golden is not enough.
Su Wan took the chopped white radish and showed off her skills for the first time. In a few moments, she had carved a white, crystal clear and lovely lotus, which was placed right in the middle of the plate.
The dish is officially ready.
A celadon plate with a white, translucent blooming lotus in the middle and golden curls surrounding it.
Not only does it look good, it also has a nice fragrance. If you smell it carefully, you can smell the fresh scent of cucumber.
This dish is just an ordinary breakfast?!
Master Cai and Master Bai looked at each other and finally understood why those magicians wanted to let Su Wan and the others enter the inner palace. Their skills were truly amazing!
Wait, what is the name of this delicious dish?
Li Rongrong also looked at Su Wan. She never paid attention to the names of dishes and never tried to make them fancy. She guessed that this dish would be fried shredded bean curd?
Unexpectedly, Su Wan smiled and said, "This dish is called Solitary Golden Lotus."
Sitting alone on the golden lotus? !
Everyone looked at this dish again, what a clever name!
In the middle is a white lotus, and next to it are golden lotus petals! ? Amazing!
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