"Where did the rumor come from? Isn't Xie Pei still here? How could he order someone to do such a thing?!" Concubine Jiang gritted her teeth and said, "Tomato Banquet, old minister."
"Is this a deliberate attempt to remind the so-called old ministers of the late emperor?"
Imperial Concubine Jiang's words made the people around her tremble. It would be fine for other people, but those who had worked in the palace for many years naturally knew the respect that the old officials had for the late emperor.
Therefore, he also refuted many things that the current emperor said. Whenever he mentioned something, he would say that the late emperor did not allow it. The late emperor said that the rules set by the late emperor cannot be violated and so on.
Only in secret did everyone know how much the emperor hated this sentence.
It seems as if the late emperor is the only one who can be emperor in this world.
It seems that he is the only wise ruler.
No matter how hard those behind him flattered, they could not catch up. Moreover, he was not a legitimate heir who was not even recognized by the late emperor. In the eyes of many ministers, he was not the legitimate heir at all.
Even if he is the biological son of the late emperor, he is not legitimate because he was not recognized by the late emperor.
But who did the late emperor recognize?
All his life, he was either fighting wars or handling government affairs, and it was common for him not to enter the harem for two or three months.
I had several sons and daughters, but I basically never took care of them.
The harem was very free back then, after all, no one was in charge.
But the fighting was fierce. Who wouldn't want their son to inherit the throne? To inherit such a great cause?
Imperial Concubine Jiang heard from the present emperor that the late emperor had basically never held any children, but the princess, who he had praised once, was immediately regarded as a treasure by all the civil and military officials in the court, and became famous all over the world in a short time. Now this princess still receives salaries from more than a dozen large counties, lives in a beautiful manor far away from the capital, and no one says anything about it even though her husband is changed every year.
Even the Censorate, which was responsible for reporting everything, pretended nothing had happened and said that the princess had extraordinary bearing and the style of the Wei and Jin dynasties.
What is the style of Wei and Jin Dynasties?
This was the case with his only daughter that the late emperor had ever praised, but for his sons, it was all about their academic performance. He would ask more questions to the one who performed better academically.
But just a few more questions would lead to another fight in the harem. Although they fought, they dared not cause any loss of life, otherwise the late emperor would not forgive them.
However, even if such fighting continued for a long time, the late emperor knew it in his heart, so he kept silent and just asked them to study hard and follow the ancestral rules in the future.
According to the ancestral rules, the eldest son takes charge of government affairs at the age of fourteen, the crown prince is appointed at the age of fifteen, and the other sons take charge of government affairs at the age of sixteen and provide good assistance.
But the late emperor had no empress, so how could he have a legitimate eldest son?
This is equivalent to putting everyone on the same starting line again.
Some people said that the late emperor rarely went to the harem, did not have deep feelings for the children, and did not understand their actual abilities, so he simply ignored them. The ministers did not think it was a big deal. After all, the late emperor was in good health, and it was okay to choose them later.
Who would have thought that the late emperor would pass away so quickly and in such a hurry? He said that he was in good health before his death. He even drank and ate with his ministers and handled official business.
When he stood up, his face suddenly turned blue and purple. The imperial physician rushed over and found that the emperor's pupils had changed from one size larger to another, his breathing had stopped, and his heartbeat had also stopped.
It took only a quarter of an hour between life and death, and during that time I couldn't utter a word.
If Su Wan heard this, she would probably realize that this was a symptom of cerebral hemorrhage. She drank and stayed up late, and then suddenly stood up, and something was not right with her whole person.
This disease has an acute and rapid onset.
Anyway, the death of the previous emperor did not tell who would be the crown prince, which also kicked off a three-month struggle in Tianxiang Kingdom.
With the late emperor's power, if he said just one more word, all the civil and military officials in the court would assist him wholeheartedly.
Unfortunately, no one knows who the late emperor wanted to be the crown prince, and he had not even considered this issue.
So there were three "wonderful" months, the three months of mourning for the late emperor. First, the marriage between Prince Yu and General Ding's beloved daughter was announced, but then the marriage was not announced. Then, because Prince Yu was ungrateful, he wanted to kill the entire Ding family before he even took the throne.
Ding Yingwan married someone else.
And then all sorts of things happened afterwards.
In other words, the current emperor has never been recognized by the saints, nor has he ever been recognized by the old ministers.
After all, what he did next was despised by the old ministers who were loyal to the late emperor.
How could they not be heartbroken when seeing their colleague General Ding and the Ding family, who had devoted their lives to the late emperor, dying or disbanding?
So there is a reason for the current situation in the court.
It's enough for everyone to live in peace, and don't expect too much harmony between the ruler and his subjects.
After all, there will never be another emperor like the previous one.
But Xie Pei actually brought up the late emperor at this time? !
Using these things to please a dead person.
No, it’s not about pleasing the dead, it’s about pleasing those old ministers.
What Xie Pei did was to say that he was willing to carry on his grandfather's last wish and that he respected the late emperor as much as the other old ministers.
Use this opportunity to win over the old ministers.
Although the power of this group of old ministers in the court is not as great as it was more than ten years ago, they are still the backbone of the court.
The old man in the Ministry of Rites Library is one.
The Minister of Works, several old men in the Hanlin Academy, and even a few cabinet ministers.
The Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, who loved eating, pondered for a long time when the news of the tomato banquet came out.
This is the situation now.
The saint does not value the first prince or the second prince, and obviously treats Xie Pei poorly.
Xie Pei did not force it and directly sought support from the late emperor.
His grandfather was the late emperor, and his maternal grandfather was General Ding. These two points were enough to attract the attention of many old officials.
From now on, he will no longer fight alone, but will have two important figures behind him who are crucial to the Tianxiang Kingdom.
The situation in the DPRK became unclear again.
When Xie Pei returned from the palace this time, what was waiting for him was not the questioning from the porcelain warehouse next to Chonghua Palace, but the tug of war between the two sides.
Unfortunately, Concubine Jiang couldn’t think that deeply for the time being. She just thought that Xie Pei was too cunning and actually forced a relationship with the late emperor.
After listening to the Imperial Concubine's words, the eunuch beside her whispered, "If that's the case, what did the Saint say to the late Emperor?"
He must have some resentment. After all, the late emperor was his father, but he never praised him. If he had been treated a little better, it would not have been so difficult for the saint to ascend the throne.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Jiang shook her head: "As far as I know, he only admires her."
But after admiring someone for a long time, there will be hatred, but no resentment.
There is no need to say this.
Xie Pei didn't need too much travel and would be able to return to Kyoto quickly. He was accompanied by the elderly people from his grandfather's family, who knew many officials.
However, the Dali Temple and the Imperial Household Department did come over and said that they had some evidence proving that the deaths of the two people who jumped into the well were related to the Third Prince, so they came over to inquire about the situation.
It was just a question about the situation. Since Xie Pei admired the late emperor and helped him promote fruits and vegetables, he had already won praise from many people.
It's not good to overdo things.
Their bad attitude at this time will only make people think that they are disrespectful to the late emperor.
This kind of twists and turns was too complicated, so Su Wan just listened to it.
But there is one thing that many people seem to have not realized.
I'm afraid what Xie Pei is aiming for is not the murder case in the porcelain warehouse, but the position of crown prince.
It is now late September, and in less than two months it will be Xie Pei's fifteenth birthday.
Do you still remember why the fight for succession in the previous generation was so brutal?
Of course, the chaotic scene occurred because the crown prince was not appointed early.
Use a sentence: "Do the living want to repeat the past mistakes and let brothers kill each other?"
This sentence is simply invincible in this situation.
Moreover, as for the saint, he didn't know whose son Xie Pei was, so he was always suspicious.
But to the old ministers, no matter whether Xie Pei was the son of Prince Yu or the son of the current emperor, he was still the grandson of the late emperor.
He is still the grandson of General Ding, and this will never change.
In this case, Xie Pei's background is not that important, anyway, it is not that important to the old ministers.
After Su Wan figured this out, she suddenly felt that Xie Pei had probably set up this plan long ago, and even planned to leave the palace there.
Just when I was thinking that I was doing something unnecessary, Su Wan placed a sprig of osmanthus flowers from the palace next to her pillow.
How do you know it is near the palace?
The beautiful osmanthus flowers are now in full bloom only near Yuhua Palace.
Many places say that blooming osmanthus flowers represent good luck and good things are about to happen.
Xie Pei gave her this. Besides expressing his gratitude, was there another intention to convey his feelings?
But what's wrong with Xie Pei recently? Every time he gives her something, he asks her to guess what it is, Lingnan fruit or blooming osmanthus.
What's wrong with this person.
Can't you just write the letter honestly?
Sure enough, the prince’s mind was full of twists and turns.
But after seeing the flowers, Su Wan was completely relieved and could continue watching the show.
It seems that nothing is wrong.
But the corn recipe mentioned above needs to be made.
People nowadays eat corn mostly by steaming or boiling it. It tastes really good in its original form, or by grinding it into cornmeal, which is also a good ingredient.
But few people make soup with corn. Only Su Wan likes to make soup with corn when she cooks.
Like the pine nut corn before, it also slowly spread from the palace to outside the palace around this year, and more ways of eating it appeared.
Su Wan has cooked many meals, and she basically doesn't hide them from others. Even the spicy hot pot and stinky tofu she made before were made in the kitchen without hiding anything.
So as long as people are willing to learn, they can naturally learn it.
Although I didn’t organize the menu like I do now, it was just because I didn’t have the opportunity.
From the Tianxiang Ice Drinks Brochure for ice drinks to the subsequent Tomato Banquet, everything she compiled was basically for the public to use.
Spicy hot pot, stinky tofu and cold noodles, although not organized, but never avoided others.
The palace maids who followed her basically knew something or two about it, and they could figure it out on their own.
Especially Malatang, which is made with the same method. Su Wan did not claim that this is her patent and ordered the surrounding merchants not to open Malatang shops.
So nowadays when you want to make corn recipes, it’s basically the same idea.
Su Wan was trying to figure out how to release the corn recipe in a reasonable way, when she heard a message from Xie Pei in Chonghua Palace saying that the tomato banquet was prepared by a master, and it was a coincidence that she got it.
As for the remaining corn, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, I would like to ask the people of Tianxiang to come up with ideas and think of more ways to eat them so that the late emperor’s hard work will not be in vain.
If you cook good dishes, you will be rewarded handsomely in Chonghua Palace.
Good man, you don't have to worry about this at all. As the saying goes, there is always a brave man when there is a big reward. Outsiders don't know about the mess in the palace. They only know that the eldest son of the royal family is indeed wise and brave.
For a time, the custom of cooking corn for eating became popular among the people. Now is the time when autumn corn and sweet potatoes are harvested, and the peanuts have also matured in the previous month.
After all, it is autumn, and after the autumn harvest, everyone has nothing to do and the granaries are full.
Then make something delicious!
There will be rewards if you do a good job!
The first to respond were the major restaurants in Kyoto, which hurriedly asked their chefs to research new dishes.
If I do it well, I can get praise from His Majesty the Third Prince!
Wouldn’t the restaurant business be even more prosperous?
Su Wan looked at the lively scene and couldn't help laughing. Who knew that this matter had something to do with her.
Because this "competition" has not even started yet, rumors are already circulating.
I don’t know who cooks the best corn in the world, but there is a young maid in the palace who cooks the best pine nut corn. If you have tasted the pine nut corn made by her, you will definitely think that it is the best.
So when we come back to compete, we still need her approval to see whether the corn rice is cooked well or not.
Only after the little palace maid nodded could we say yes.
Su Wan: ???
Food is something that is difficult to satisfy everyone, so this is not a formal competition with judges or a set of rules.
Why did he suddenly put her on a pedestal and even get her approval?
She was originally planning to cook some dishes, but now she has become a behind-the-scenes judge?
People in Kyoto don’t know who this little palace maid is, but people in the palace know!
Pine nut corn was made by Su Wandang as the autumn menu of the Western Kitchen last autumn. It was popular before, but who would have thought that it would be singled out now and become the best.
You are awesome, Xie Pei!
Anyway, no matter where Su Wan goes in the palace now, people will invite her to try the corn food they make to see how it tastes.
Su Wan no longer wants to move around!
But her job is to deliver messages everywhere, so she can't hide at all.
When she was about to leave the palace for the Ministry of Rites, she had learned her lesson and made a portion of tomato chicken meatballs, pine nut corn, and pear soup for the old man in the library.
Just carry the food box over there, no need to tell anyone!
The pear soup is for the old man to clear away heat and dryness, the tomato chicken meatballs were promised last time, and the pine nuts and corn are both a thank you, and she took them without the old man asking!
Unfortunately, Su Wan thought she had thought it through carefully, but things are unpredictable! Not only did the old man want to eat, but other people in the Ministry of Rites also wanted to eat.
Especially Cui Hucheng from the Ministry of Rites. He had eaten so many meals in the west kitchen and had eaten pine nut corn countless times, but this time he still came to take a bite of the food in the old man's lunch box.
The old man was so angry that he wanted to hit someone!
However, such a grand occasion also shows that the trend of making fresh food is very popular in Kyoto nowadays.
After all, many people think that if the tomato banquet can please the saint, then what about the corn banquet and the sweet potato banquet? What if they can be praised by the saint?
This may be okay for ordinary people to imagine.
But in the imperial court, the consequences were completely the opposite.
The saint was already in a very bad temper and became annoyed at the sight of these foods.
The more annoyed he was, the more unhappy the old officials became.
If he is not annoyed, it means he agrees with Xie Pei.
Thanks Pei!
These two words are simply a saint’s nightmare!
The situation in the court was so complicated that naturally no one cared about the little palace maid who became famous because of this. This allowed her to become famous while also protecting her from speculation.
Who makes so many other things?
Because this incident made Xie Pei's reputation increasingly better and won the favor of the old officials, the investigations by the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Dali Temple were all polite.
But after all, someone died, so we still have to investigate carefully.
The Porcelain Storehouse was originally in charge of the storage of porcelain, bronze and tin wares. In previous dynasties, it was also used to collect precious porcelain, lacquerware and other items from all over the country.
Now we have craftsmen who not only collect porcelain, but also make it.
In other words, all the precious porcelain and lacquerware in the world are here.
Needless to say, these things are valuable.
The two eunuchs who jumped into the well could make a profit of several thousand taels, and this was at a low price. If they had sold at a high price, the price would have definitely been higher.
The reason why they are sold at a low price is simple. After all, if you buy and sell on the black market, the price will definitely be lower than the market price.
Therefore, the Dali Temple's investigation was not to embarrass Xie Pei, but they really wanted to find out the truth so as to know whether these two people died in vain and whether there was any other murder involved.
The idea of the Internal Affairs Bureau was even simpler. These people were stealing the royal family's things, so they were stealing their things. After all, they also had the surname Xie and were royal relatives.
Therefore, Xie Pei was the most cooperative among the group of people, and even began to interfere in the case.
Logically speaking, he must avoid suspicion, but who can blame him for always finding the key evidence?
Xie Pei said that he was looking for evidence to prove his innocence, which was not wrong.
Everything was going as he had envisioned.
The old ministers have even begun to speak up for Xie Pei, asking how he could be related to the Porcelain Warehouse and hoping that the emperor will make a wise decision.
Fortunately, this farce finally came to an end in early October, which was also the saint’s birthday. However, since these were not big birthdays in recent years, there was basically no large-scale celebration.
But the case around his birthday came to light, and it's hard not to say whether it was intentional.
The result of the investigation was more profound than anyone had imagined. The two apprentices did jump into the well on their own, but someone forced them to do so. The imperial porcelain was sold on the black market for more than 100,000 taels of silver, a staggering amount that should have been accumulated over four to five years.
In the past two years, they have become more and more greedy, and have taken in countless amounts of money. At least hundreds of people were involved in the case. They originally thought that since two apprentices had died, they could use them as the scapegoat.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Jiang and Concubine Chu decided to use this matter to point the finger at Xie Pei.
Xie Pei is not someone who can be easily bullied, so he will naturally find out the real murderer and clear his name.
During their investigation, several craftsmen were about to flee with their families. They were all craftsmen involved in the case.
Two of the craftsmen were released by the Internal Affairs Bureau without being noticed, while the rest were all arrested.
It turned out that four or five years ago, someone asked if they could buy and sell imperial porcelain. At that time, my appetite was small and I could only sell one piece every few months. I could get dozens of taels of silver for each piece, which was already very good.
But things got more and more outrageous, and it got to the point where no one could stop it.
That’s why what’s happening now happened.
Su Wan looked at the list and found that most of the craftsmen on the list were from foreign countries.
Most of these craftsmen came from the vicinity of Tianxiang State. They must be skilled craftsmen. Some of them came here because they won battles.
Some of them admired Tianxiang Kingdom and defected there on their own initiative.
The late emperor had always been like this. No matter whether they were from outside or inside, as long as they did their job well, he would give them land and money.
But now it seems that the seeds of disaster have been hidden. If the monarch is strong, everyone under him will behave themselves. If he is weak, the situation will be completely different.
This is normal. Unless the craftsmen in Tianxiang Country have no relatives or friends, they dare not act so boldly. If they care about their family, some people in the family will not dare to do so.
After all, few people would take the risk of implicating the entire clan.
Moreover, those who can work in the palace to make imperial porcelain basically have some family training, so there is no need for them to earn this much money.
The matter was understood. Concubine Jiang and Concubine Chu kept it secret and the case was not announced to the public, but the six ministers and six university secretaries knew it very well.
The porcelain warehouse was also reorganized to see how many items were lost and whether they could be recovered.
Xie Pei took people to look for the black market again, but the black market had already fled a few days after the two apprentices jumped into the well, and they only found scattered items, which were obviously from the palace.
It can be seen that if the apprentice's suicide by jumping into the well had not been publicized, and if the news had not been widely spread in order to frame Xie Pei, the loss to the palace would not have been so great.
In fact, those people are very smart and it would be fine if they just stole some things.
When it comes to the matter of fighting for the position of crown prince, he will run away faster than anyone else.
After the storm has passed, they will surely come back slowly. After all, there are benefits here, so they will come.
However, the matter was settled for the palace and the court.
The cause of death of the apprentice who jumped into the well was uncovered, and many craftsmen who embezzled money were caught.
There has been a major change in the Ciqiku.
Who will be planted this time is another matter.
Everything was settled, it was already the tenth day of October, the weather was getting colder, and New Year gifts from the palace began to be distributed. This year the distribution was a little late, but there were enough gifts.
I guess it was also because of the chaos that happened in the palace before, so that everyone can feel comforted.
Indeed, once winter supplies were distributed, the atmosphere in the palace gradually improved. I heard that cotton clothes were also distributed to the homes of civil and military officials in Kyoto, all in preparation for winter.
The saint’s birthday was only briefly celebrated in the palace, and even only a few people from the Guanglu Temple went, while the inner palace had already been arranged.
But saints probably don’t care about their own birthdays. After all, in another month, it will be Xie Pei’s fifteenth birthday.
Officials have already submitted memorials one after another, requesting the enthronement of a crown prince.
The reason used was similar to what Su Wan thought.
"Saint, do you want to repeat the same mistakes? Do you want to see brothers killing each other?"
"Back then, the late emperor failed to appoint a crown prince, and the Tianxiang Kingdom was almost in turmoil."
"Even the late emperor said that we should follow the rules of our ancestors. Please make a decision as soon as possible."
Still call it decision?
How can we decide this?
After only one year in power, there has been such a huge mess. And now you still want to be the crown prince?
The saint would naturally avoid it directly, but with recent events, Xie Pei has won over enough people's hearts.
Gradually, there was a feeling of confrontation.
The reason is that he originally lacked control over the court. He didn't think it was a big deal before, but now that there is a competitor, he realizes how difficult this matter is.
After being questioned several times, the saint actually claimed to be sick. No one knew whether it was real or fake. Instead, he stayed in bed and ignored all the questions.
Su Wan listened and knew what was going on.
I just don’t want to miss Xie Pei’s birthday. I’ll talk about it later.
In fact, Xie Pei was not in a hurry, he just wanted to force the saint. A little pressure would make him look ugly, which was quite fun.
If she were Xie Pei, she would play the same way.
Unfortunately, Su Wan doesn’t have time for the moment, because the Ministry of Rites wants her to go to the Ministry of Rites cafeteria for some time.
The chef of the Ministry of Rites canteen passed away and had to take bereavement leave for at least three months. Immediately, the food there became poor.
Who asked the chef's apprentice to go to mourn? After all, that was their master's grandfather. This kind of culinary inheritance is very normal, so once they ask for leave, they have to ask four or five people.
The Ministry of Rites naturally approved this matter, but they did not expect the food to deteriorate so much, so the Ministry of Rites headquarters thought about borrowing people from the Guanglu Temple or the Shangshi Division to help out, at least to get through this period of time.
In fact, the Ministry of Rites had wanted to send someone to help before. At that time, the chef was seriously ill and there was a shortage of manpower. After that, there were many things to do in the palace, so they wanted to endure it.
I can’t stand it anymore, I’d better transfer someone!
It is not uncommon to transfer people from various places, so it is not surprising.
But when the topic of transferring people came up, many people in the Ministry of Rites thought of the same name.
Su Wan!
Su Wan is well-known for her power in the Ministry of Rites.
Even in the entire Shangshi Division, his cooking skills are among the best.
If she had not worked in Tianbei Palace for a few days, she would have been recommended to the saint's royal kitchen long ago.
The saint doesn't like anyone who has stayed in Tianbei Palace, even if it wasn't her fault, so no one wants to cause trouble.
The saints don’t know Su Wan, but they do.
Recently, many restaurants have asked the Ministry of Rites to find the young palace maid from the Imperial Food Bureau and ask her to be a judge and taste the new dishes.
Everyone knows the answer.
Therefore, the people at the Ministry of Rites headquarters basically didn’t give it much thought. Anyway, you can send anyone from the Shangshi Division, and Su Wan must be on the list.
The superior naturally would not refuse. She would not let Su Wan miss any opportunity to gain experience, not to mention establishing good relations with the Ministry of Rites.
Although Su Wan is young, she is steady and quick-witted. This little palace maid will bring honor to the Imperial Food Bureau wherever she works.
As for Su Wan, she has no objection to working anywhere.
I have been to the Ministry of Rites headquarters many times and even made ketchup for ketchup noodles in the kitchen there for the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, who was also the father of the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple.
So if she went over there, she could easily integrate with everyone in the kitchen.
There were not many main officials in the Ministry of Rites headquarters, less than eight, and the rest were all minor clerks and officials of low rank.
So being responsible for meals for these eight people is relatively simple.
I’ve cooked meals for hundreds or even thousands of people before, so why would I be afraid of this?
However, if you go to the Ministry of Rites to cook, you will have to temporarily move out of the Shangshenjian and live in the official office of the Ministry of Rites.
Su Wan was pleasantly surprised when she heard this: "Then I can go out anytime."
"Well, you can go out anytime. As long as you finish your work and errands, you can go home anytime." Aunt Yonglan, the head of the Imperial Kitchen, said, "So this is a good thing."
“You can still go out and be a judge.”
Just go home and see your aunt.
You can go outside, but you can't be a judge.
Overall, it's a good thing.
Now that winter is approaching, Su Wan is also preparing to buy some new things for her aunt, asking her to take care of her health.
The mother in that time and space died due to poor health, so she and her aunt had to be careful in this life.
As soon as winter comes, it suddenly becomes cold, and it is actually easy for the body to have problems.
Every winter, many elderly people cannot survive. For example, the chef of the Ministry of Rites passed away around the beginning of winter in October because he was too old to withstand the cold winter.
This time I went out, I just made my aunt's place warmer.
Not only does she have money, but her aunt also has silver. This time her aunt should not refuse.
Who knew that as soon as Su Wan walked out of Dong'anli Gate, the person she saw was Xie Pei.
This time, the Imperial Kitchen sent people over, not only Su Wan, but also several palace maids to help. Naturally, everyone stood aside waiting for the Third Prince to go first.
Xie Pei glanced at Su Wan and went in through the Dong'anli Gate.
After Xie Pei left, he heard people around him talking: "Who is that? He looks scary."
"Third Prince, didn't you see his clothes? And he was the only young man who entered from Dong'anli Gate."
"Yes, this place is closer to Chonghua Palace."
"I didn't expect that the Third Prince was so scary, but he was also good-looking."
"Indeed, he is more handsome than the other princes."
hansome?
Su Wan had a strange look on her face, but in fact, she did think that the child was handsome.
But after being in contact for a long time, I lost the feeling and just treated him as a younger brother.
Although she completely forgot the fact that she is actually younger than Xie Pei.
Now, listening to everyone praising him, he actually found it a bit amusing.
The two met each other for the first time since they parted at the palace. On weekdays, Su Wan either received osmanthus flowers or plump chestnuts, as well as Kyoto's famous snacks.
Anyway, she was asked to guess what the things given to her meant.
Su Wan felt that if she were to play the game "Drawing, Guessing" with Xie Pei now, they would definitely have a great rapport and would win first place directly.
After being transferred from the Shangshenjian to the Ministry of Rites headquarters, I realized that the kitchen here is not small at all.
After asking, I found out that on weekdays I only have to cook lunch and some afternoon snacks, and some soup if I work overtime at night.
The rest is basically ignored.
After all, this is not in the palace, and there are officials here. My home is in Kyoto City, so my family will naturally cook whatever I want to eat.
Who doesn’t have a few good cooks in their home?
This means that the Ministry of Rites just has a working meal. If people want to eat something good, they can go home and eat.
So the kitchen here is relatively small, and part of it is used for making soup and tea. Tea is even more important than meals.
These officials could go without meals, but they could not go without tea. The functions of tea were to taste and to refresh the mind, so it was so important.
Su Wan took the four palace maids to familiarize themselves with the place and basically prepared lunch.
There are four or five people in the kitchen who cook for minor officials, and three who do odd jobs. Such staffing is something that people in the Imperial Food Bureau would envy.
Look at them, they only cook for more than 30 people, but they have a kitchen for more than a dozen people.
In the Shangshi Division, these dozen or so people would be responsible for the meals of at least a hundred people.
It would be fine if there was no comparison, but the comparison is really miserable.
Especially this year, many palace maids were released, and the manpower situation is obviously tighter.
Joking aside, everyone still works very quickly.
Probably because they were trained by the busy schedule of the Shangshi Division, the five of them were always extremely efficient in their work, and even if they wanted to slack off, they always found the right time to do so.
Since it was my first time here at noon, I was inevitably a little rushed.
However, the officials specifically requested pine nut corn and tomato noodles, and they were free to make the rest.
That's easy. Pine nut corn is easy to make, not to mention tomato sauce noodles.
Su Wan calculated that there were eight people and decided to divide them into two tables for the meal. Basically, six dishes, one soup and one staple food would be enough.
The other four people are responsible for preparing the other meals, and Su Wan only needs to cook the main dish every day.
Su Wan had just arrived today, and seeing the chicken prepared in the kitchen, she decided to make some boiled chicken. This dish is simple to prepare and tastes delicious, and few people would refuse it.
After knowing everyone’s taste, I can cook according to their taste.
Anyway, making boiled chicken is always the right choice in most situations.
This method is also a famous Cantonese recipe. In Cantonese cuisine, chicken is a very important component, and there is also a saying that no feast is complete without chicken.
There are at least a dozen ways to cook chicken in Cantonese cuisine alone. Not only the white-cut chicken is famous, but also Qingyuan chicken, tea-flavored chicken, Wenchang chicken and so on.
Every dish has its own characteristics, and today's boiled chicken is no exception.
When making boiled chicken, it is best to choose a relatively tender chicken, which is easy to cook, and it must be fresh, otherwise the dish will definitely lose its proper taste.
But instead of cooking the chicken, it is better to make the seasoning sauce first, as this sauce is the soul of the poached chicken.
The ingredients needed are also simple. Cut the ginger into grains and mash it into a paste. Cut the scallion into shreds. Add salt and mix well.
Then heat the peanut oil and pour it into a bowl to bring out the flavors of the minced ginger and shredded green onion. The delicious dipping sauce is now ready.
The next step is to process the chicken. The fresh, immature chickens have just been slaughtered and cleaned. They look small in size, but the meat is of excellent quality.
Hook the whole chicken with an iron hook and soak it in boiling water for five minutes, then immediately take it out and pour out all the messy and dirty water inside.
Then change to another pot of boiling water and continue the previous steps. When the water is clear, cook it for a quarter of an hour to fifteen minutes.
Because the chicken is tender enough, this kind of chicken is already cooked. After taking it out, put it in cold water to cool it down. At this time, the speed must be fast, and the cold water can make the skin more tender, smooth and soft.
After the chicken is completely cold, evenly apply peanut oil on it. Finally, cut it into pieces according to the parts and place them on a plate. The scallion, ginger and oil sauce made next to it can also be placed on top.
This is the seemingly simple boiled chicken.
This is what Cantonese cuisine is, or it can be said to be one of the typical Cantonese cuisines. This type of Cantonese cuisine strives to be fresh and delicious. If it is to be light, it must be beautiful in its lightness.
There are also differences. When eating it in summer and autumn, it should be lighter, and when eating it in winter and spring, it should be stronger.
I guess it’s because of this attention to detail that Cantonese cuisine is one of the eight major cuisines?
Anyway, you can hardly go wrong with this dish of chicken.
Especially in a place like the Ministry of Rites, if you cook too fancy, you might be disliked. It is better to make some plain but beautiful dishes and give it a try first.
When Su Wan finished making the pine nut corn and boiled chicken, she also attracted a crowd of onlookers.
There's nothing I can do about it, the food she cooks always looks so good.
Not to mention the tomato noodles, I've seen them before.
No matter which dish, it is all delicious.
Such food was soon served to the adults' table. There were eight adults, four at each table, and they always felt a little strange when looking at the pine nut corn.
This is different from the pine nut corn they eat outside!
There are also imitation pine nut corn dishes in Kyoto restaurants, but they are basically not accurate and are completely different from Su Wan’s authentic method.
The taste is really rich and sweet after taking a bite.
Instantly delights anyone with a sweet tooth.
Then there is the poached chicken, which is cooked for just the right amount of time, not too tough to chew, nor too tender to be undercooked.
Delicious chicken with a simple, rustic dip.
What you eat is the deliciousness of the chicken itself.
Compared to other meats, chicken itself has very little flavor, so it is very suitable for this method. You don’t even need any spices, and the taste is still delicious.
This simplification has a kind of elegant beauty.
Although they talked about the elegant beauty, they had actually already started pinching and eating it.
We are all family, why be polite?
Look at this chicken leg. If you are reluctant to put down your chopsticks, they will grab the chicken leg first!
After finishing a table of dishes, it feels so comfortable to enjoy a bowl of delicious noodles with ketchup.
The people from the Shangshisi are quite good at cooking.
Especially Su Wan. Some people tasted the food cooked by Su Wan for the first time today, and there was only one sentence in their minds, that is, it is worthy of its reputation!
It’s Su Wan as expected!
When they thought that Su Wan would be cooking here for at least the next three months, they were so happy!
I just don’t know what snacks Su Wan will prepare in the afternoon, but I’m actually looking forward to it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
