Just past dawn, the streets of the county town were extremely quiet. Three horse-drawn carts were carrying large barrels filled with seafood collected yesterday. This morning, just past 1 AM, when the fishing boats approached, they bought all the seafood from those boats.
As mentioned before, if they encounter fishing boats docking, they should simply buy the seafood.
In the capital, they accompanied the mansion's purchasing team to the seafood market. The princess consort loved seafood, so the fourth prince didn't care about the price.
The price was almost ten times higher in the two places.
"Go back and report the price truthfully to your master." The guards dared not be greedy for more information.
The guards escorted the carriage toward the Yuelai Inn. Just as they arrived at the door, the innkeeper opened it and watched as the guards escorted the lively seafood.
Yesterday, Qingyan had already instructed his staff to add salt and water to the seafood he bought to help it expel sand. Even the byssal threads on the mussels were cleaned off.
After Qingyan regained consciousness, he personally cooked a delicious mussel dish to prepare a pleasant meal for Kangxi and the others.
Everyone had been waiting for this mussel feast since last night.
At dawn, Qingyan got up early, opened the window, and heard the sound of a carriage returning.
"Little darling, why are you up so early?" Yin rarely stayed in bed, but when he peeked into the bed, he found that Qingyan was not there.
He quickly turned over and looked outside. Qingyan had just leaned down and kissed the twins on the forehead. She was about to quietly leave to go to the small kitchen to cook the mussels.
"In a bit, go prepare some food. How about we have mussel porridge?" The mussels need to be marinated beforehand, otherwise they will have a strange taste.
Qingyan changed into a simple dress and left the inner chamber. Not far away was the mountain house in the courtyard.
"Your Highness, everything is ready." Su Lan personally led the maids to clean the foot silk, which was now placed on a plate.
There was even a bowl of peeled mussels. After personally arranging the menu, she also made a kind of mussel rice, stir-frying the soaked rice with soy sauce, pepper and other seasonings, and then putting it on top of the mussels and mixing it well.
After pan-frying the meat until cooked, add the seasonings on top, and a delicious plate of mussel rice can be served quickly.
"The flavor has been improved, you should try it too!" Qingyan prepared a lot for Sulan and the others to taste and let them see if there was anything that needed improvement.
After tasting it, Su Lan and others felt that the flavor was too bland and might not suit Emperor Kangxi's taste.
"Master, would you like to add some more salt?" Su Lan reminded her master.
Qingyan shook her head. The point of mussel rice is its freshness. Actually, it doesn't need any sauce. Just pouring lemon juice on it would be even better.
"Just mix the vegetables with the dressing and put the mussels in," Qingyan instructed directly.
Su Zhu quickly and efficiently mixed the vegetables, placing a large bowl of vegetables on the cutting board.
"Onions and wood ear mushrooms, and the imperial chef who came along made some pastries. Master, have the people at Yue Lai Inn prepare to learn how to make mixed vegetables and mussel rice, etc." Su Zhu had already learned how to make them; they were quite simple to do.
At breakfast, two new dishes were served. Kangxi was surprised to see that the mussels that had been black yesterday had actually been made into a dish and served.
"Father, these two dishes are new. This is mixed seasonal vegetables, and this is mussel rice!" Qingyan quickly realized.
Emperor Kangxi was the first to taste it and was immediately drawn to the mussel rice, which was topped with a sauce that had a slightly exotic flavor.
Yin Ze ate a light mussel porridge, and he felt quite good with the simple food.
After breakfast, Kangxi went to Yu Qingyan and said that he felt it was quite good.
"Little darling, these mussels taste quite good. How about the travel expenses to send them from the capital?" Emperor Kangxi was preparing to send the delicacy to the palace.
During each of his southern tours, Emperor Kangxi would select several delicacies to bring to the palace, which seemed like a good choice.
"Father, we still need to calculate this. We don't know how many of the mussels will survive once they're transported to the capital," Qingyan quickly said.
Emperor Kangxi realized that during the transport, large blocks of ice would be needed to keep the goods chilled, an expense that most merchants could not afford.
"Master, the manager has sent someone over!" Su Lan saw the manager pacing anxiously and quickly came in to report.
"Go and take a look, and while you're at it, inquire whether it can be transported to the capital." Kangxi gave the order, and Qingyan quickly nodded.
Qingyan went to the study and saw the shopkeeper standing on the table with several dishes made according to Qingyan's ideas.
The chefs thought the taste was good, and after asking the price, they roughly calculated the cost price and thought it was just right.
"Master, these dishes could be considered new additions, but the price is hard to determine. Sea mussel rice and similar dishes are rarely available to everyone." The sea mussel rice is quite delicious; it would be excellent as a special dish for private rooms.
Tomato and mussel soup is available as a special offer. Tomatoes and Qingyan's special tomato sauce have always been the signature dishes of Yuelai Inn. Therefore, whenever a new product is launched, the tomato soup will be sold out.
"Hmm, the price can be increased." Qingyan wanted one dish to be a new item for the private rooms, while the others would be listed as ordinary dishes.
Each season, Qingyan prepares several new dishes as new menu items for Yuelai Inn.
"This mussel menu will be exclusively available here; other shops won't need it." Qingyan made a definitive conclusion: Shandong mussels are the best.
As soon as he finished speaking, the shopkeeper quickly expressed his gratitude.
Each time Qingyan goes on a tour, one or two inns will have new dishes. The remaining dishes are basically light and light, and are arranged by Qingyan himself. The menus of the shops by the sea are all similar.
"Furthermore, the mussels are sourced from specific villages and sold in limited quantities. If demand is too high, you can source from two or three more villages," Qingyan ordered directly. "How much would it cost to send mussels to the capital?"
Towards the end, Qingyan still remembered Kangxi's order that if this item were to be sent to the capital, it should be prepared by the imperial merchants.
"It's probably lost a little over two-thirds!" the innkeeper calculated briefly. "However, once we get to the capital, these seafood will double in price. Master, the Yue Lai Inn in the capital can sell them."
Mussels are sold in Beijing for ten times the price.
Qingyan nodded slightly and said, "You should transport a batch to the capital first. Apart from the mussel rice, make a recipe for the rest and send it over together."
"Yes!" the shopkeeper readily agreed.
The shopkeeper's biggest worry has finally been resolved.
Their small shop finally had its own special dishes, which would be a way to attract customers in the future.
After Qingyan had arranged everything, the manager got up and left. Watching the manager's retreating figure, she felt a little melancholy.
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