Chapter 83 Spicy Lobster (Fake)
After waking up, Si Li was busy tidying up her house for the past two days and didn't pay any attention to Guan.
The person who came in was indeed the familiar Guan Ji apprentice, who called me "Master" first. The food box the apprentice brought contained two white balls, both covered with glutinous rice flour, round and plump, very similar in appearance to modern Daifuku.
Si Li's eyes lit up. Has the suggestion she gave been made into a finished product? She took a knife and cut the glutinous rice ball. The slightly warm filling of the cake flowed out. The orange-yellow and almost red salted egg yolk butter was eye-catching and had a strong smell.
The apprentice was extremely excited watching it flow out, but Si Li twitched her lips. Salted egg yolk daifuku? What kind of strange combination is this? She remembered that what she said before should be lava buns and snow meringue, right?
The other glutinous rice ball has a more normal combination than this one. The persimmon filling, which is improved on the basis of the persimmon-filled rice cake, is full of fruity flavor, and the glutinous rice flour filling with a strong milky aroma flows slowly along the cut surface, and the aroma is slightly weaker.
"Master, what did I do wrong?" the apprentice asked cautiously.
Si Li shook her head, "Was it your idea, the boss, or someone else? I remember that the last time I went there, most of you guys' skills in kneading the dough were not good enough. How come you have suddenly improved so much?" Now, for a simple snack like this, Si Li can judge the level of the maker just by looking at it and touching it. It's really amazing to feel like a master and looking down from a high place after upgrading her cooking skills.
"The boss taught me and I made it." The apprentice blushed, "You haven't been here for a few days, the boss said time is precious, we are all seizing the time to practice, he and the young master stayed with me all night long. The boss said the donkey rolls I made yesterday were almost good, so he let me try to make this."
Si Li understood that Guan Zhiyu was not only training his own apprentices but also waiting for a good opportunity to make a comeback, an opportunity to make the name of his own products famous in Beijing like Wanglaiju French fries.
Guan Ji's food had been tarnished by Guan Wai Lou in the past, and the new apprentice's skills were not as good as those of the master who had been immersed in this business for many years, so he simply found another way to make a name for himself by cooperating with Wang Lai Ju. Wang Lai Ju was still popular, so he naturally had to seize the time. This was an obvious plot, but it was not offensive.
"Well done, I can see you put your heart into it." Si Li praised, "I'll go to Guan Ji tomorrow at noon to take a look and see how good your donkey rolling skills are. Also, tell your boss to take care of yourself for me."
After sending off the apprentice Guan Ji, Si Li made two dishes of sweet potato shreds and corn pancakes that were waiting in the front hall, and gave two bowls of ice jelly to the brothers and sisters in the Prince of Yue's Mansion. Then she started to process the green-backed shrimps that Jiang Shizhi had sent.
Winter shrimps are not as plump as those in summer and autumn. Si Li peeled two shrimps as a demonstration and then gave them to Ah Zhuang and Ah Xiang to handle. The shrimps that had been dying in the basin of warm water came alive. Ah Zhuang took a pair of scissors and cut off the shrimp spears, then broke off the shrimp heads before handing them to Ah Xiang. The two of them worked together and processed the shrimps at a fairly fast speed. Soon they had a large plate of shrimp bodies.
Si Li was cutting the side dishes with her hands, but she was actually distracted by watching the system instructions.
【System: "Spicy Crayfish (Fake)": The sweet and sour taste is improved due to the fragile stomachs of teenagers. It is fried with local shrimp species in accordance with local customs. Since the taste and ingredients are completely different from the real dishes, it is labeled as fake. As an important dish used by ██ to reward him after a hard day at ██, after ██'s achievements won many praises, his mother's pride made this dish gain a special bonus.
The sweet and sour flavor is at the two-star level, increasing digestion speed by 10% within a quarter of an hour after consumption. The spicy flavor is at the three-star level, increasing the agility of thinking within a quarter of an hour after consumption, and the specific degree depends on the original talent of the consumer.
Note: Since the spicy flavor has never been successfully produced, the failure risk is fixed at 50%. 】
The newly obtained "Spicy Lobster (僞)" recipe is as interesting as the previous mashed potato marked with 僞. One is a half-star recipe and the other is a two-and-a-half-star recipe. They are obviously different from other system recipes. The recipe introduction and bonus both show that they are not in the same system. Combined with the saying of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", it seems that both "僞" recipes are closely related to the previous host queen of the system. In addition to the mother and children mentioned in the introduction, the part that was painted over can only be the names of the queen and the queen's children.
The icy figure she had met also had a youth and a humane mother who was proud of him. Si Li sighed quietly.
However, the bonus of this dish is very useful, just suitable for Meng Taotao. When the spring shrimps are available, there will be more, and cooking for her will also help her take the exam well.
The two-star sweet and sour shrimp was not too difficult for Si Li now. She sautéed the scallions and garlic in a wok, and then fry the shrimps with the shrimp threads removed until they changed color. Fortunately, Jiang Shizhi had chosen the sweet and sour flavor, otherwise the spicy shrimps would have a 50% chance of failure. Si Li doubted that she would be able to eat them tomorrow. The rising mist blurred Si Li's vision and blocked the distant view from the courtyard.
The girl behind the mist had a slender figure, and her wrist holding the spatula was slender but not weak. Perhaps she herself did not realize that her aura was getting stronger and stronger as she stood in front of the stove, and her confidence was soaring that it almost burned people's eyes. Jiang Hengyun quickly looked away.
The system progress bar reached the end. Si Li turned off the fire and put it on the plate. She took out a shrimp and tasted it. The shrimp was covered with a layer of sweet and sour sauce. It was sweet but not greasy, sour but not disgusting, tender but not raw, just right. The white pepper and cooking wine eliminated the fishy smell, and the aroma was hidden in the shrimp meat. It was crispy and chewy, and the meat was firm and delicious. Even she wanted to praise it for being delicious.
While bragging in her heart, Si Li looked up and met the eyes of Princess Jinhe who seemed to be looking at her with some curiosity. She couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed as if she had been caught eating secretly. Si Li paused for a moment, adjusted her expression, and then calmly walked out with the plate and two bowls of rice.
Two dishes and one rice would be considered a shabby treat in the palace or the East Palace, but the Jiang brothers and sisters were used to it. The blanched cabbage in oyster sauce in another pot had become a little soft after being left for too long, and the soup was just right with the rice. The red and white colors looked very tempting.
"Shizhi, Afei, I'll make dinner first, and then I'll fry the portion you take with you when we're almost leaving. Otherwise, it'll be cold when you take it back." Si Liduo explained a little more to avoid any misunderstanding that she had embezzled the ingredients.
Jiang Rufei reached out and held her, hugging her gently. Si Lidun was surprised, "A Fei?" No response.
Jiang Hengyun said calmly, "That's for you." He looked at the familiar dishes in front of him and didn't move his chopsticks for a long time. Jiang Rufei took Si Li to sit beside him, took a shrimp, cracked the crispy shrimp shell, peeled out the shrimp meat with soup, and handed it to his brother, "Eat."
Jiang Hengyun closed his eyes and pushed his sister's hand back, "A Fei, eat it yourself."
When he was young, he wanted to eat spicy food, but his mother deceived him for several years with a sweet and sour shrimp. That year, he led his troops to war, and before leaving, he pestered his mother to eat real spicy shrimp. His mother promised to cook it for him after his triumphant return, but when he returned, no one was waiting for him anymore.
Jiang Hengyun picked up a piece of cabbage with chopsticks, but found it tasteless.
Seeing his silent expression, Si Li's heart skipped a beat. "Shrimp is hard to find in winter. Is it not suitable for me to eat it? Enjoy your meal. I still have orders to fulfill." She quickly excused herself and slipped away.
After finishing today's diners' orders, Si Li no longer had an excuse to avoid going to the courtyard. She suddenly had an idea and cooked a pot of sweet potato porridge for the shopkeeper Tang next door and sent it over.
Hulu, who was guarding in an inconspicuous place, noticed that his prince's face became even gloomier after the man left, and hurriedly chased after him.
Shopkeeper Tang was still asleep, so the bowl of porridge had to be put aside. Si Li looked around and caught Hulu, an acquaintance who came in from the back door, and pulled him aside and asked, "Brother Hulu, I have something to ask you."
"No, no, just call me Hulu."
"Okay, Hulu, besides painting, does your prince have any other hobbies? Like daily necessities?"
Hulu's expression was a little subtle, "Just cook well." His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only cares about government affairs and his younger brother and sister-in-law all year round. What does he like? It doesn't exist. Otherwise, if they suddenly paid attention to Wanglaiju and the manager of Wanglaiju, they wouldn't have come up with all kinds of guesses. Fortunately, the manager didn't know the true identity of His Royal Highness, otherwise she would be convicted for spying on the Crown Prince's whereabouts.
After getting this answer, which was almost the same as no, Si Li sighed with regret. Isn't this because I didn't cook well? !
Fortunately, when they returned to their own yard, Jiang Shizhi looked much more normal. Si Li specially added an extra bowl of pear paste jelly, hoping that he could understand her kindness.
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The next day, at the appointed time, Si Li instructed Wang Ting, who was guarding the shop, not to let anyone in, and quietly left through the back door under the cover of the guards of the Prince of Yue's Palace. After going around the end of East Market Street, Si Li glanced at the two carriages that were still confronting each other and the circle of servants that had vaguely formed an encirclement, and then shrugged and quickly slipped away.
Since my second uncle feels so guilty and wants to make amends, I would like to ask him to hold off Master Si for a while.
Jian Bingde lifted the car curtain and glanced from a distance at the girl in blue who had deliberately changed her clothes. Just a few days had passed and a look of worry appeared on his face.
Songnian stepped onto the carriage and reported quietly, "I have asked someone to follow you quietly. No one will harass Miss Cousin."
"Don't disturb her." Jian Bingde withdrew his gaze, and the girl's back had disappeared on the long street.
Si Li turned into an alley and when she looked back there was no one behind her. She frowned, the vague feeling of being spied on was gone.
In the carriage, Jian Bingde sighed, "If things continue like this, Ali's business will be hard to do. Let someone else take care of this. Songnian, come with me to pick up the wife and go to the Si Mansion."
When the doorman reported that Jian Bingde had come to visit, Si Baifu's expression was much calmer than Jian Bingde's. However, his behavior of taking a normal rest instead of staying in Wenyuan Pavilion was very different from his behavior in the past years, showing that he was not at peace. "Please ask my uncle to come to the flower hall to talk."
Jian Bingde said little when he entered the room, "Si Baifu, what do you want to do to let A Li go? Since your family doesn't want her, we, the Jian family, will raise her. You are her biological father, and I am her uncle! How can a father send his daughter to die? I didn't quarrel with you before because of the relationship between Yue Niang and you, and A Li's future. So why do you block A Li's business every day? If you are shameless, I will go to Yu Shitai and have a good talk with him even if I have to roll on a nail board!"
"Brother Jianyong, you are too kind. Ah Li is my daughter, so of course she has to go home."
Si Baifu's answer without listening to a word made Jian Bingde laugh, "Okay, okay, you stay with your daughter. I want to ask, does Ah Li want to have the last name Si or Jian?"
Jian Bingde came and left quickly. The tea brought by the waiter was still steaming when he left in a gust of wind. Si Baifu sat in the armchair in the flower hall, his expression unpredictable.
He knew that Jian Bingde would not risk exposing Si Li's experiences before and after her departure to the historian. Having known each other for many years, Jian Bingde was too easy to understand. But his daughter Si Li...
In his memory, the little girl who stood behind Si Tang, who was too cowardly to say a word when she was bullied and only looked at him with longing eyes, would come over as long as he waved his hand. She was not at all similar to his Yue Niang.
But there was some disconnect between this timid image and the mess she had caused. If Si Baifu had known before that he had sent people to look for her, he believed that Si Li would have been ecstatic, but she didn't. Not only that, she also knew how to use the force to hide.
Si Baifu realized that something was out of control. He wrote a few words, folded them into a letter and handed it to the servant, "Go, tell the young lady to come home quickly."
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The author has something to say:
Child: I want to eat this!
Parents’ deception: This is what you are going to eat!
The little prince and the little princess (after realizing they were fooled): burst into tears.