The hustle and bustle outside had nothing to do with Su Wan. She was now focused on preparing lunch.
When I was taking a break just now, I even thought about the noodles with soybean paste for dinner.
Thinking of noodles with soybean paste, Su Wan really wanted to drool.
Don’t think about it for now!
Make a good lunch!
There was still more than half an hour before lunchtime, and people were already coming and going at the door of the west kitchen. Even though it was not lunchtime, it would be nice to just smell the food.
Su Wan has already asked Yu Shu to lead the steaming of rice.
In the past, when they were in the small kitchen, Yu Shu helped Su Wan, and it was Su Wan who taught her at that time.
Now that Su Wan has spoken, Yu Shu works much faster. With the help of others, she can cook quite well even for a hundred people.
The most important thing when steaming rice is the ratio of water to rice.
When putting the rice in the steamer, Su Wan insisted again that since she was making lunch, the rice could not be steamed in a bad way.
Naturally, some white vinegar is added to make the rice taste better.
The kneaded steamed buns are ready and can be steamed.
Needless to say, the West Kitchen's skills in making steamed buns are excellent. Su Wan had given them instructions when they were making breakfast before.
Like the older palace maids and sisters, she knows how to do it.
Make two staple foods first.
Then simmer the soup.
The soup I made today is relatively simple, that is winter melon and tofu soup.
They are all cheap ingredients. The winter melons are from last year when there was a bumper harvest in Kyoto, and the inner palace distributed a lot to the western kitchen, which has not been finished yet.
But people who eat in the western kitchen would vomit when they see the winter melon.
Speaking of soup, it is one of Su Wan's favorite foods.
Soup is easy to digest and can regulate the body. There is also an old saying that drinking soup before a meal is better than a prescription.
The soup we are going to make this time is winter melon and tofu. Tofu contains calcium, and winter melon supplements vitamins, so it tastes particularly healthy.
The method is also very simple. Wash and peel the winter melon, cut it into cubes, and cut the tofu into cubes.
First stir-fry the winter melon to let it absorb the flavor, then add the tofu.
Finally, add water and start simmering. Both ingredients are easy to cook, so they can be done quickly.
The main course and soup were just waiting to be prepared, so Su Wan didn't keep an eye on them. The senior palace maids would naturally take care of them.
She then started to prepare today's dishes.
The first thing to do is to make the fish-flavored eggplant.
This well-known Sichuan dish is almost a must-order dish with rice. Almost all restaurants have this dish, which shows how popular it is.
But eggplant is not that easy to prepare.
It is difficult to cook eggplant if it is too old or too tender, and the eggplant with fish flavor is the second most oily dish among today's dishes.
Eggplant looks ordinary, but it tastes good only when it absorbs oil.
Therefore, cut the eggplant into strips and marinate it with salt, squeeze out the water, and then coat it with starch before frying.
The step of frying the eggplant is particularly important. It cannot be fried too overcooked, and the original color of the eggplant must be maintained, which is a test of one's skills.
After the eggplants for hundreds of people were fried, the palace servants in the west kitchen finally reacted.
Why did Su Wan say that among the four dishes today, fish-flavored eggplant is actually the most difficult to make.
Next, the eggplants need to be stir-fried in a pot. If you stir-fry them directly in a big pot, it will definitely not taste good.
As she was talking, Su Wan had already started frying the first pot of eggplant.
First put the onion, ginger and garlic in the pot, then pour in a small amount of minced meat, just to enhance the flavor.
After the pork is cooked, pour in the bean paste to make the dish slightly red, then add ginger slices to remove the fishy smell.
The last step is to add the fried eggplant strips. At this time, the eggplant is bright in color and shiny, but the color is not good enough. Add the prepared light soy sauce and sugar to enhance the flavor and appearance.
When serving, add a little balsamic vinegar and some starch.
The fish-flavored eggplant out of the pot at this time is the flavor that everyone often eats, sweet and sour, sticky and fragrant, and the artifact that goes well with rice is ready!
When Su Wan looked at the fish-flavored eggplant, she felt like she could eat two bowls of rice!
When the pot of eggplant came out, many palace servants had already picked up their chopsticks and were waiting to taste it!
There is no way, this pot of food looks good and smells good.
They use ordinary ingredients, why does it smell so good?
No wonder people said before that their cooking was not tasty. Now it seems that the people in the West Outer Palace have already gone easy on them.
Su Wan said: "If it is used to mix with rice, it will taste better."
As they were talking, Yu Shu immediately said, "Right away! The rice will be ready soon!"
Everyone's eyes lit up immediately.
The soft and distinct rice, topped with a spoonful of fish-flavored eggplant, makes your eyes light up when you take a bite of the rice dipped in the soup.
So delicious!
Oh my god!
It has a rich aroma of bean paste, the sweetness of oil, and the unique freshness of eggplant.
When you first eat the eggplant, the sauce on it stimulates your taste buds, and after a few more bites, you can taste the sweet and sticky taste of the eggplant.
No wonder Su Wan said bibimbap is the best!
Su Wan also ate half a bowl happily.
While everyone in the west kitchen was eating their meal while it was still hot, the aroma of the fish-flavored eggplant had already drifted to the palace road outside the west kitchen.
The smell so enchanted the palace servants who passed by that they subconsciously slowed down their pace and could not help swallowing their saliva.
Why isn’t dinner ready yet?
They can't wait!
The palace servants in the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department were obviously much faster in their work.
Finish your work quickly so you can have dinner in time!
When Su Wan was making the second pot of fish-flavored eggplant, she found a few people who were relatively nimble and learned from her.
Fortunately, the eggplant is already a semi-finished product and only needs to be stir-fried.
Moreover, Su Wan had already prepared a bowl of sauce with all the necessary seasonings, so they didn't need to spend any extra effort at all.
Just put things in order.
If you're cooking seriously, you can't take such shortcuts.
But now we are cooking in the cafeteria, so a little bit of teaching is definitely not practical.
First make it with a simple method, and after it is done, whoever asks Su Wan about cooking skills, she will answer them one by one.
There was no trace of impatience.
For a moment, no one knew who started calling Su Wan "Little Master" behind her back.
Of course I only shouted secretly, otherwise Su Wan would definitely refuse!
When several pots of fish-flavored eggplant are fried at the same time, the aroma will naturally spread further.
It’s because the west kitchen is relatively remote, otherwise there would definitely be officials who couldn’t contain themselves and went straight into the kitchen.
Because the west kitchen is located to the east of the palace road and to the west of it is the Taiye Lake, it is empty and almost no one comes here.
Needless to say, the south is the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department.
To the north are the Guandi Temple, the old treasury, and the Armory.
However, these aromas were enough for the palace servants in those two places to prepare for dinner.
They had a vague feeling that today's lunch would be beyond their expectations and taste better than they imagined.
Others were stir-frying eggplant with fish flavor, but they always felt like there was not enough time.
This is just one dish, and there are three more to go.
But Su Wan smiled and said, "You forgot that the ingredients have been processed in advance, so it's very quick to cook."
The second dish, Seven Star Fish Balls, has been cooked in the morning. Now just heat it up in the pot and add the soup from the previous cooking of fish balls. The soup is very clear and can be poured over the fish balls. There will still be a lot of fish ball soup left.
This soup will naturally not be wasted.
The third dish is garlic-stir-fried seasonal vegetables. Before stir-frying the seasonal vegetables, the Chinese cabbage needs to be blanched in boiling water. This can not only remove the rare bitter taste of the vegetables, but also ensure that they are cooked through and not overcooked. They can be taken out after blanching for a few seconds.
Then stir-fry over high heat for a dozen seconds. It will be full of garlic flavor and go well with rice when added with raw vegetables.
Even green vegetables can be cooked very deliciously.
The fourth dish is minced peas.
Boil and dry the peas in the morning, then fry the minced meat and directly pour in the peas and simmer for a while. The fragrant peas are ready. The peas are soft and have a meaty aroma and taste absolutely delicious.
Of the last three dishes, two were prepared in advance and one was a vegetable, and all were prepared very quickly.
Everything was ready just in time for lunch.
On the other side, seeing this, the fifth palace maid opened the door of the west kitchen at the right time to allow the palace servants to come in and eat.
But this time, before the door was opened, I heard the bustling sounds outside.
They were obviously discussing today's meal.
"I haven't even entered the door yet! I can already smell the fragrance!"
"Ken's is a meat dish, otherwise it wouldn't be so fragrant."
"There is also the aroma of steamed buns. I always think that the steamed buns in the western kitchen are especially delicious."
"The door is open! Go ahead, brothers!"
In other words, people were not allowed to run around freely in the palace, so everyone could only walk quickly towards the cafeteria in the west kitchen.
This made the people in the Imperial Household Department very helpless.
Does it feel like there are more people coming to the Shangbao Palace?
Is this an illusion?
It is definitely not an illusion. Although most of the people in Shangbaojian have not arrived yet, many people have already discovered the benefits of the Western Kitchen.
Today, their eunuch chief said that he wanted to try it, and asked his subordinates to bring him some food.
Since the steward had said this, the rest of the people naturally came over to take a look.
Besides, they were quite close to the west kitchen, so they might not know anything else, but the smell was so tempting!
The aroma that can attract so many people is naturally the fragrant fish-flavored eggplant. It looks like a vegetarian dish, but it is no worse than meat.
However, the delicious dish in today's meal in the western kitchen is not only the fish-flavored eggplant, the other dishes are equally delicious.
When everyone entered the cafeteria, they saw three tables for serving food, and on each table there were seven large ceramic basins.
Four dishes, one soup, and two staple foods were placed in clean ceramic bowls, waiting for them to line up to get their meals.
Each person gets two large bowls.
Put the vegetables in one bowl and the staple food in another bowl. If you want to drink soup, you need to free up an extra bowl.
It’s not that the western kitchen is stingy, but that all the kitchens eat like this.
It was fine during breakfast, but at lunch there were more dishes and two bowls seemed not enough.
This made Su Wan subconsciously think of modern dinner plates. If there were dinner plates, it would be much more convenient, and the food would not stick to each other.
This thought flashed through his mind, and now he should quickly entertain the palace servants who came to eat.
To be precise, it is to entertain the palace servants from the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department. Now only people from these two places have come.
But this was quite a large number of people, and a long queue formed immediately.
The few imperial palace guards standing in the front were so proud. They were the first ones to get their meals!
But looking at the dishes in the ceramic pots, I didn’t know how to choose for a moment.
The maid in charge of serving food from the western kitchen introduced: "This is the Seven Star Fish Balls. Each person is limited to seven."
"Fish-flavored eggplant is best eaten with rice."
"Minced peas and meat, good with rice."
"Finally, we had garlic-fried seasonal vegetables and winter melon and tofu soup to relieve the greasiness."
"The staple food is either rice or steamed bread."
The imperial palace supervisor swallowed subconsciously.
When he was being introduced, the people behind him stretched their heads to look, among them were the young eunuch Wei Jun and the guard Zhuo Hui.
Both of them are very familiar with Su Wan, and they even sat together and ate pig's trotter rice yesterday.
I didn’t expect that my dream would come true today and I would get to eat the food cooked by Su Wan.
Wei Jun had tasted Su Wan's cooking skills and had praised her to Zhuo Hui countless times in private.
But no matter how much praise it gets, actually seeing these meals still makes one's saliva water.
Zhuo Hui couldn't help but say, "It smells so good. Su Wan is also so good at making lunch."
This was natural, but fortunately the people in front were eager to get their meals, so it was their turn soon.
There were rarely so many people sitting in the West Kitchen cafeteria, but Zhuo Hui didn't even look at the people around him and immediately took a bite of the beautiful, white and tender Seven Star Fish Ball.
After biting into it, I realized that there was tender and juicy meat filling inside the fish ball!
The meat filling is very firm, different from the chewy texture of fish meat, and has a more tender aroma of lard. Combined with the light appearance of the fish balls, I always feel it is not enough after taking a bite.
By the time Zhuo Hui reacted, all seven fish balls had been eaten by him. He hadn’t even taken a bite of rice. He had eaten all the fish balls?
Zhuo Hui was even a little annoyed, but fortunately there were still three dishes.
The palace maid who served the meal just now said that fish-flavored eggplant goes best with rice, so she asked him to try it.
But this is called Fish-flavored Eggplant. He originally thought it was a meat dish, but now it looks like there is only some minced meat? Where’s the fish?
Wei Jun had heard before that Su Wan was an expert at cooking fish, and he thought he could get a taste of it this time.
As Zhuo Hui thought about it, he put the eggplant on the rice and ate it directly into his mouth.
But when you take a bite, the fat of the eggplant bursts out, revealing the unique aroma of eggplant, fat and bean paste.
He had never eaten such delicious food!
Compared with this one, yesterday’s big pig’s trotter is much inferior!
While Zhuo Hui was eating, Su Wan came over and asked with a smile, "How is it? Is it to your liking?"
"Perfect! It's absolutely perfect!" Wei Jun ate his rice very quickly. He knew that Su Wan's cooking skills were excellent. However, he had to eat quickly and could not enjoy the food as slowly as Zhuo Hui.
Who made his old master still waiting!
But Wei Jun also had the same question as Zhuo Hui: "They say this dish is called fish-flavored eggplant, and I saw it also says it's made with fish on the menu, so why isn't there any fish?"
When he reported the menu to his master, he specifically mentioned that Su Wan was cooking fish today!
Su Wan was subconsciously stunned. Oh no, she forgot to write the real name of Fish-flavored Eggplant.
Originally, the "fish" in "Fish-flavored Eggplant" and "Fish-flavored Shredded Pork" should be written as "yu" (yuwei), but it was changed to the current word through word of mouth.
After Su Wan explained, Zhuo Hui nodded: "It should indeed be the aftertaste of the aftertaste. I took a bite and my mouth was full of aftertaste."
“No wonder it’s called Yuxiang Eggplant!”
Seeing that they were enjoying their meal, Su Wan didn't disturb them.
But Wei Jun was still concerned about his master, so he simply packed some more and took it back to the Imperial Household Department.
The chief and deputy chief stewards are waiting!
Watching Wei Jun carrying the lunch box out, the guard Zhuo Hui was still eating.
Half a bowl of fish-flavored eggplant can go directly with a bowl of rice!
As a guard, you can also return the bowl, and when another bowl of rice is brought, you can naturally pick up the green vegetables next to it.
That is minced peas and minced meat, and seasonal vegetables with garlic.
Zhuo Hui loves to eat meat, otherwise he wouldn’t want to eat fish balls and then the brightly colored fish-flavored eggplant.
Now looking at the green vegetables, I always feel that they are hard to eat.
But since it was Su Wan who made it, Zhuo Hui's eyes widened when he took a bite of the minced peas and meat.
These peas don't need meat today!
The soft texture has a meaty aroma, just like the taste of meat!
The garlic greens may look bland, but they are actually rich in taste and full of garlic aroma!
tasty!
All delicious!
And they all go well with rice!
After eating these, get half a small bowl of winter melon and tofu soup. After drinking the soup, you will feel so relaxed!
Zhuo Hui secretly loosened his belt.
I ate too much today.
But there was no other way. If he could get more rice, he would definitely eat another bowl of fish-flavored eggplant rice!
That’s right, in fact, each kitchen has always been customized, and there are regulations on how much food each person should get. The Western kitchen did not enforce it strictly in the past, naturally because the food in the Western kitchen was not tasty.
Don’t talk about eating too much, just eat until you’re not hungry.
Before the meal started today, the Right Hand Man emphasized this matter, otherwise there would definitely not be enough delicious food!
As expected, what the Right Holder thought was correct. As soon as the west kitchen opened at noon, there was an endless stream of palace servants coming in to eat. Fortunately, this time, meals for more than 400 people were prepared, which was enough to cope with the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasure Department.
That being said, Zhuo Hui really wanted to go and ask for more food!
Even if you buy it, it’s fine.
As long as he can eat Su Wan's cooking again, he will do anything!
Unfortunately, there were many people who thought like Zhuo Hui, and they all looked at the people in the west kitchen eagerly.
This actually made the palace maids in the west kitchen feel uneasy.
Those who knew ate first, while those who didn’t think they were covered in gold and silver!
"Can such delicious food really be found in the western dining room?"
“I’m so full!”
“It’s such a delicious delicacy!”
“I don’t know if I can still eat it tomorrow.”
As soon as this was said, many people immediately went to inquire whether Su Wan would still cook lunch tomorrow. If so, they would definitely have to go hungry!
This is not okay, the breakfast is delicious! There is no time for it!
But while talking, many people were still savoring the food they had just eaten.
Why are there only seven Seven Star Fish Balls?
They want to eat a sky full of stars!
There is also fish-flavored eggplant. Even if there is only fish-flavored eggplant, this meal is excellent!
Needless to say, the other dishes are all seasonal and delicious.
It’s the same ingredients as before, but there’s no need to say much about the results, right?
When everyone was praising and approving, Wei Jun was not the only one who sent food to his boss.
There is also the eunuch chief of the Shangbaojian.
The chief eunuch and the chief guard of the Shangbao Palace were having dinner together.
Naturally, they would not focus all their attention on the western kitchen. Today, they ordered Kyoto's famous roast goose, fresh meat soup, and a few snacks as usual.
This table of dishes would cost three or four taels of silver, which is enough for a young palace maid like Su Wan to spend two months.
But the two of them still found the food tasteless.
There’s nothing I can do. I’m almost tired of eating it.
At this time, the young eunuch from the Shangbao Palace, who had eaten and drunk his fill, came over with two portions of food distributed by the general manager.
The young eunuch secretly hoped that if the two stewards still didn't want to eat it, they could still reward them, the younger ones. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Even though I was full.
But he can eat another hundred seven-star fish balls.
The young eunuch had tasted the roast goose given by the steward before, but he always felt that the roast goose was not as delicious as the fish-flavored eggplant made by Su Wan.
Of course, it’s hard to say this out loud, since roast goose is so expensive, but it’s free in the western kitchen.
It always feels like sour grapes when I say it.
Anyway, he had already brought back the food and drinks for the two stewards, so he said respectfully: "My lords, the food from the western kitchen has been brought back, you can take a look."
But this morning I didn't even look at them and just gave them the little one.
The young eunuch was looking forward to it. The chief eunuch asked lazily, "What dishes did you cook today? Are they delicious?"
Is it tasty?
It must be delicious!
The young eunuch did not dare to hide it and immediately said, "I cooked four dishes today, most of them are vegetarian. I have never seen much of the world, but I think they taste great."
The chief guard of the Imperial Household Department beside him sneered, "Indeed, what good food have you ever eaten? What kind of place is the western kitchen? Even dogs won't eat the food there."
"Now I just changed a little bit and made a few vegetarian dishes and you guys praised me to the skies."
"Look at this Kyoto roast goose, it's really delicious."
"People, eat meat!"
The chief guard was also free today, so he waved his hand and said, "Bring it out for us to see."
The two stewards were both in their thirties and were born into wealthy families in Kyoto. They had seen and played everything, so naturally they just wanted to take a look.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious.
In the past, when it was time for dinner, they would just go to the Imperial Household Department because that place was poor, and they would just go to the Western Kitchen slowly.
But it’s not time for dinner yet, and even their subordinates have gone to the west kitchen to line up.
Just take a look at it now, since you are free anyway.
But as soon as the lunch box was opened, the fragrance inside emanated instantly, causing the originally lazy chief eunuch to sit up straight, and the chief guard even stared at the lunch box.
It’s probably because the quality of the food boxes in the palace is really good. The lids were tightly closed and I couldn’t smell anything inside.
When it was suddenly opened, people were extremely shocked.
It's not just the taste, but also the color of the food.
Since it was for the butler, naturally, the dishes were not served in one big bowl. Instead, they were served in delicate small plates, with each dish in one plate, and the soup and rice were served in separate small bowls. It looked so beautiful.
It wasn't noticeable if it was placed in the cafeteria, but when it was placed on the table, even the eunuch who had just eaten was a little stunned.
Snow-white fish balls, attractively colored eggplants, and beautiful pea vegetables.
No matter how you put it, it's definitely a good dish.
The winter melon and tofu soup next to it is also exceptionally clear.
Such delicious food looks particularly pleasing to the eye.
Without waiting for the young eunuch to say anything, the chief guards and the chief eunuchs had already picked up their chopsticks.
They simply couldn't stop eating, not to mention this portion of food, the other portion was also served and was immediately eaten up by the two of them. After finishing it, they still felt like they were not satisfied.
"Don't eat my portion."
"You just ate my portion."
The two stewards were originally wealthy and idle people, but now they almost came to a fight over the food in the west kitchen.
As for the roast goose on the table, it had long been put aside and finally given directly to the little one below. After eating the food prepared in the western kitchen, who would want to eat this stuff!
After they each had a bowl of winter melon soup, they looked at each other.
Look at the surprise in the other person's eyes.
The two of them have eaten all over Kyoto. Although the cooking skills are not very sophisticated, the taste is really good.
And all the dishes are delicious with rice, so you can eat them for several dinners in a row!
It has been a long time since the two of them had such a feeling.
After catching the little eunuch and asking him again and again, the two men realized how many delicious foods they had missed.
Not to mention anything else, I’ve missed breakfast for several days!
The breakfast in the west kitchen started to improve last month, and now on May 1st, they were able to eat it for the first time!
This is incredible!
The chief eunuch touched his full stomach and said, "What about dinner tonight?"
Although I'm full now, but thinking about the food in the western kitchen, it should be okay to look forward to dinner now, right?
Unexpectedly, the young eunuch whispered, "It may not be good at night."
"Why?!" the chief guard also asked, "Shouldn't that little maid do it?"
"She did it, but it was too simple."
"There's only rice noodles with soybean paste and noodle soup."
The young eunuch answered truthfully. Anyone who heard it would think it was simple. It’s just a bowl of noodles. How could it be delicious?
The two stewards of the Shangbaojian said in unison: "In the evening, bring the food from the western kitchen over in the evening! Did you hear me?"
Just for this delicious lunch, they all came to show their support in the evening!
The simple dinner of noodles with soybean paste that everyone talks about is actually started in the west kitchen before the cafeteria closes at noon.
The lunch time is from noon to 3 p.m., approximately from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
But by about one o'clock, the food in the western kitchen had been sold out, and everyone could start cleaning up the kitchen and preparing to rest.
At this time, Su Wan, Xiaoyue, Chunxiang, and the second and third sisters among the senior palace maids were kneading the dough beside them. They would make more now and less in the evening, it would be the same.
As mentioned before, flour is a food ingredient with a lot of knowledge.
Simply put, they can be divided into high-gluten, medium-gluten and low-gluten flour, and their uses are also different.
The most commonly used medium-gluten flour is the one used most in daily life. Steamed buns, dumplings and other foods are basically made of medium-gluten flour.
But even so, there are still some things like when to use less water when mixing noodles and when to use more water, and there are also various ways to wash noodles.
It can be said that there are countless of them.
What Su Wan is making now is the most common dough, which is the dough with less water and a little harder.
In fact, Su Wan had made noodles twice before. One time was stir-fried noodles made with the soft noodles from the western kitchen.
Another time, I was rushing to work early in the morning to make clear soup noodles for Yan Pei.
Although they all tasted delicious, Su Wan felt that something was missing.
Now I am very serious about it, because the most important thing about noodles with soybean paste is the sauce and noodles.
Su Wan first added yeast and salt water to ordinary flour little by little, and then stirred the flour into flocs. While she was doing it, several people around her naturally followed suit, making sure to do it exactly as she did.
This is a time to learn skills, no one will be distracted.
After the noodles are formed into flocs, they are actually a bit dry, but noodles need to be dry so that they are chewier.
After the dough becomes flocs, you can start kneading the dough. The dough is very hard at this point, but you must not add water, otherwise all your efforts will be wasted. This also requires experience. Fortunately, with Su Wan supervising, no one made any mistakes.
After kneading into a dough, you don’t need to worry about it anymore. Cover it with a lid and let it rest for 25 minutes, or half an hour.
Knead it again after quarter of an hour. This time it will have a little moisture and will be easier to knead. After kneading it again, set it aside to let it rise.
Having done this, everyone can go back and rest.
Come back around 3:30 pm, and we'll talk about it then.
Now you can go back and take a nap!
However, the right-hand man still felt sorry for Su Wan.
The other palace maids can also take turns on duty. If they come earlier for this meal, they can come later for the next meal.
Only Su Wan couldn't do it, she followed almost the whole time.
But Su Wan didn't care at all.
She knew she was fighting for money! What was so hard about that?
And cooking is not a burden for her at all.
After taking a nap in the afternoon, Su Wan realized that she was a little late. When she got up, Yu Shu and her roommates had already left.
Obviously it was to let her have a good rest.
When she arrived at the west kitchen, before she could say anything, she heard the right steward who was always strict with rules say, "You should rest more. You don't need to do the chores at the beginning."
What this sentence means is that Su Wan only needs to cook and doesn't have to take care of the rest.
Su Wan also smiled but didn't say anything. This could be considered a preferential treatment, right?
As for the other people in the west kitchen?
There is no objection at all. People with ability will definitely be treated preferentially!
The western kitchen had already started to get busy at this time, and had prepared the ingredients that Su Wan wanted, including flour, pork belly, soybean paste, carrots, newly-released cucumbers, and some coriander.
This amount is enough to make noodles with soybean paste.
If the ingredients prepared for lunch are particularly rich, then the ingredients prepared for dinner can be said to be very simple, even to the point of being crude.
The people in the west kitchen trusted Su Wan very much. Since she said to prepare these, it must be correct.
But everyone is also curious, what exactly is this noodles with soybean paste?
Is it soybean paste?
In fact, there are many kinds of sauces in the palace. Not to mention that the three kitchens in the north, south and west will brew their own sauces, the most special miscellaneous store will also have many jars of sauces.
Among them, beef, mutton, fish and shrimp pastes are very common as seasonings, and there are also watermelon, black plum and other sauces with different flavors.
However, these sauces are rarely distributed to the Western kitchen, so the most commonly used one is the soybean paste.
But what Su Wan made this time was not soybean paste, but sweet noodle paste.
In fact, Su Wan also wants to make soybean paste herself, but now is not the time to make soybean paste. It would be best to make it in the first month of the lunar year.
It's May now and the weather is already a bit hot.
Unlike sweet noodle sauce, it can be made immediately.
Su Wan first heated the bottom of the pot, put in ordinary vegetable oil, and then slowly added the flour when the oil temperature just rose.
At this time, the fire of the boiler should be small and stable. Stir-fry the flour and oil while paying attention to the color. After stir-frying for a while, you can pour in soybean paste, soy sauce and water.
The flour and oil that have been colored and diluted now have the color of sweet noodle sauce, but without the viscosity and taste of sweet noodle sauce.
At this moment, of course, salt and sugar need to be added. In just a few moments, the flour inside has become the shape of the sweet noodle sauce we see every day, and the sweet noodle sauce is ready.
It is delicious whether you mix rice or noodles with the freshly made sweet noodle sauce.
This sauce is definitely no worse than any other sauce.
Moreover, you can make a lot of sauces at this time. After they cool down, you can put them into small jars and seal them. You can use them anytime in the future.
For example, if you want to eat sweet noodle sauce at night five days later, you can just take it out of the jar without having to make it again.
No wonder Confucius once said that he would not eat without the right sauce.
This also shows the importance of sauce. Without sauce, it won’t taste good!
But this is just the sweet noodle sauce, not the sauce for the final fried noodles.
Continue to heat oil in a pan, use vegetable oil as the base, pour in the chopped pork belly, wait for the aroma of the pork to come out, and finally pour in the sweet noodle sauce and soybean paste.
The two sauces are mixed together, giving off the aroma of both vegetarian and meat oils.
If it was just sweet bean sauce, it would be fine, but now the sauce flavor is obviously stronger.
Although Su Wan uses very little meat in her cooking, she can still make all her dishes have a meaty flavor!
This is the sauce used for the real noodles.
Many people looked at this bowl of sauce in surprise. What if you use this meat sauce and bean sauce to mix with noodles?
Now think about the taste!
After the sauce is ready, it is time to process the noodles.
Because I started kneading the dough and letting it rest at noon, the time now is just right.
After taking out the dough, you can roll it out and cut it into noodles. This step requires meticulous experience and practice makes perfect.
The palace maids who followed Su Wan to make lunch were all serious and meticulous. Although their movements were slower than Su Wan's, they managed to get the job done.
When cutting the noodles at the last moment, start shredding the onions, cucumbers, and carrots.
All the ingredients are ready.
Just wait for the bottom to be poured with fried sauce, and then add shredded green onion, cucumber and carrot.
The final mix is enough to make you salivate!
The mixed noodles are shiny in color, rich in sauce flavor, and have a hint of sweetness.
The noodles are smooth and chewy, this delicacy is truly unique.
And once the sauce is ready, it can be served very quickly.
The meals for seventy or eighty people in the west kitchen can be prepared within fifteen minutes.
And the noodle soup listed on the menu is just plain boiled noodle soup.
The noodle soup is white and clear in color. It is very comfortable to eat with a mouthful of soup.
Who said this meal was simple?
It’s not easy at all!
Just making the sauce takes a lot of steps! Now it just looks simple.
This taste is no worse than the stir-fried dishes we had at noon!
The palace servants who had eaten in advance in the western kitchen were already impressed by the taste of the noodles with soybean paste. They felt that the noodles tasted too good.
It makes people want to eat it again!
I always feel that if they continue like this, they will definitely gain weight!
Su Wan had already eaten half a bowl, and the taste was the same as she remembered.
That's what her mother taught her.
The Western Kitchen was enjoying its meal, but naturally it did not forget the palace maids from the Imperial Household and the Imperial Treasures Supervisor who were queuing outside.
Although they think the dinner is a bit simple, they will definitely come and try it!
Even if it’s simple, it must be edible!
Who would order food outside when you can eat in the cafeteria for free?
Not to mention the food in this cafeteria is delicious!
So when the west kitchen opened in the evening, people came in one after another.
The palace maids in the west kitchen started working immediately!
Noodles must taste better now!
The palace servants, who originally thought it was just a simple noodle dish, could not believe their eyes.
Why does this noodles with soybean paste look so good?
The noodles are used as the base, topped with red, white and green vegetables, then poured with sauce. It looks so good that it can be painted!
After another stir, the complex aroma makes you feel the difference of this bowl of noodles little by little.
This is not simple at all!
It’s definitely not easy!
Among them, there was a young eunuch who was in a hurry to deliver the food to the Shangbao Palace. The two stewards said that they had to eat it as soon as possible and must not be late.
I just feel sorry for myself. I have to serve the two stewards well. I'm afraid that when he comes back, there will be no food to eat.
Look at the people in the cafeteria trying hard to eat noodles.
He knew that the noodles tonight would be delicious!
It’s good enough that these people left him a bowl of noodle soup!
Noodles with soybean paste may sound ordinary, but everyone who has eaten it will be immediately shocked by its delicious taste.
This is also expected.
After all, the food that can be passed down for many years must be good.
The entire western dining hall was suddenly even quieter than at noon, with the sound of people eating noodles filled the air.
It was only after the meal that the praises began to be heard one after another.
"I thought the lunch was good enough."
"I can eat this bowl of noodles with soybean paste every day."
"What was the Western Kitchen doing before? Why didn't they use such great skills?"
"I am not dreaming, am I? Even the western kitchen in my dream can't make such delicious food, right?"
Yesterday's lunch and dinner in the western kitchen were hard to swallow.
Now it makes people want to eat their tongues.
The changes are huge.
It was hard to believe for a moment.
After Wei Jun and Zhuo Hui finished eating, their eyes were dazed. It was so delicious!
It’s really delicious!
The color, taste, and texture make this the most delicious noodles they have ever eaten!
Not only is the sauce good, the noodles are also good!
The whole western kitchen was filled with the aroma of noodles with soybean paste, and the noodle soup next to it was delicious no matter how you drank it, a perfect match with noodles with soybean paste!
After Su Wan finished these things, she rested nearby.
She is already adjusting tomorrow's meals, and tomorrow's meals will not disappoint everyone!
Su Wanzhun
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