However, Xu Yuehuai felt that she still had many things to do and could not stay here indefinitely. The king's biggest concern was the little princess, so he immediately expressed his willingness to leave the recipe behind.
"Your Majesty, you need not worry. I will leave all the recipes I made before to the kitchen so that they can prepare new and interesting dishes for the little princess each time. After a while, the little princess's appetite will gradually return, and she will also figure out many things on her own."
Qi Guze, who was standing next to him, chimed in, "I think this is the best way."
After hearing this, the king nodded slightly: "Since you have already put it this way, and I understand what you mean, I will not force you any further."
The king then expressed his hope that Xu Yuehuai could stay a few more days, as the little princess had only just recovered somewhat and he did not want her to be subjected to any further stress.
So the two decided to bring it up with the little princess first and see how she would react.
Qi Guze stretched and looked at Xu Yuehuai, unable to help but smile: "This is really great. The King of Mingyue Kingdom is a smart man. He understands these things very well."
Fortunately, the king had an independent mindset and was not affected by what Maimaiti had just said.
"Your Highness, I'm returning to the Central Plains after resolving the matter with the little princess. Tianxiang Tower is still waiting for me." After saying this, Xu Yuehuai entered the palace again.
[Bleed and cleaned, marinated to remove the gamey smell, seasoned with a secret sauce, and then roasted.] Xu Yuehuai wrote down the recipe for roasted whole lamb on a piece of paper and then handed it to the head chef in charge of the little princess's meals.
The head chef took the recipe, looking puzzled: "Are you leaving here?"
Xu Yuehua nodded: "This is the recipe for roasting a whole lamb. I will also make hot pot tonight. You should study it carefully, because the little princess's meals will depend on you in the future."
The head chef was overjoyed upon hearing this. He had thought that Xu Yuehuai would take his position, but now, not only had she not returned the new recipe, she had also given him a new culinary recipe.
"I will do my best to take care of the little princess," the chef said, then left with a beaming smile.
To prevent the little princess from losing her appetite and becoming irritable, Xu Yuehuai plans to make her hot pot for dinner and has started preparing the ingredients now.
She instructed the head chef to find her a copper pot: "Go outside and find a blacksmith to make two dividers inside, one horizontal and one vertical."
"Understood." Although the head chef was very curious about it, he still did as she asked and quickly brought back a four-compartment pot.
Now that she had the pot, the next step was to make the broth and prepare the side dishes. She had originally wanted to make a half-and-half pot, but she really couldn't choose between tomato, mushroom, and spicy broths—in Xu Yuehuai's world, she never made choices; she just took them all.
Thinking about this made her very happy, so she worked even harder to prepare. She chopped up the scallions, ginger, and garlic, and prepared the chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and most importantly, tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms. With everything ready, Xu Yuehuai gave the order to "start cooking," and everyone started stirring with the pots and pans.
[Tomato Broth: Bring water to a boil in a pot, add tomatoes, and remove them briefly. Peel and chop them finely. Heat oil in a pan, add scallions, ginger, and garlic, then add the chopped tomatoes. Stir-fry until the broth thickens into a sauce. Done!]
[Mushroom Soup Base: Prepare shiitake mushrooms, qi-tonifying herbs, ginseng, and lingzhi. Wash and place them in a large pot. Simmer in a large pot, add seasonings, and cook until thickened. Reduce the sauce and serve.]
[Spicy hot pot base: Heat oil and sauté until fragrant, add chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, stir-fry until fragrant, add broth, and then reduce the sauce.]
"All done! Now I just need to wash some side dishes and plate them." Xu Yuehuai's happiness is simple; cooking delicious food makes her forget her troubles and worries.
Soak and wash the fish and shrimp in salt water. Slice the fish, peel and devein the shrimp, and slice the tenderloin of the lamb. Once all the meat is prepared, marinate it slightly and set it aside.
Peel and slice the potatoes and carrots, wash and cut the cabbage into sections, knead a dough, and roll it out into noodles for later use.
The head chef next to her was stunned by her series of smooth and effortless movements; he had never seen cooking like this before.
Xu Yuehuai always manages to come up with amazing and surprising ideas.
"Arrange these on a plate, then get some ice to chill them," Xu Yuehuai instructed the head chef before heading off to find the little princess.
The little princess was happily riding her horse without a care in the world. When she saw Xu Yuehuai, she was overjoyed and rode over to pull her along for a horse race.
The two played for a while, and then it got dark. "Little princess, I've prepared something delicious for you."
"What? What?" the little princess asked, tugging at her.
Xu Yuehuai deliberately kept everyone in suspense, saying, "You'll find out when you get there. Come and catch me!" With that, she ran off.
The two chased each other to the flower trellis in the backyard. "Chef, bring it all up."
At Xu Yuehuai's command, the head chef and a group of servants brought up the ingredients she had prepared in advance.
"Sister Yue, aren't these all raw? How are we supposed to eat them?" The little princess was startled when she saw a table full of raw food.
She smiled gently and said, "Please wait a moment."
She got up and lit the stove next to her. Then she poured the tomato broth, mushroom broth, and spicy broth into three small compartments, and added some water to the remaining compartment.
Only then did the little princess notice the difference in the pot. "Sister Yue, why is this pot different from any I've seen before?"
"This is my newly modified four-compartment cooker, which can cook four different flavors at once." Xu Yuehuai turned up the heat after saying that, and soon the aroma filled the air. One moment it was the sweet and sour tomato, the next it was the tempting spicy aroma, and then it was the aroma of ginseng and mushrooms.
The little princess was so tempted, "Sister Yue, you're amazing! This smells so good!"
Xu Yuehuai handed her a bowl and chopsticks, "This one is tomato flavor, this one is spicy flavor, this one is mushroom flavor, and this one is plain flavor. You can put in the vegetables or meat you want to eat and these are the different flavors. Try them out."
"Hehehe, I want to eat this and this." The little princess couldn't wait any longer. When she saw that it was time to eat, she happily chose fish slices, mutton, and shrimp balls and put them into the pot to cook.
Seeing this, Xu Yuehuai shook her head, then added some vegetables. Instantly, the aroma of meat mixed with the flavors of tomato and mushroom soup and the spicy aroma created a dazzling effect that made the people serving nearby stare with wide eyes.
"Sister Yue, can we eat now?" the little princess asked, holding her bowl and chopsticks. Xu Yuehuai stirred it and said, "Yes, we can eat it as soon as it floats to the surface."
The head chef next to him was writing in a small notebook, "[It's ready to eat when it floats up.]"
"How is it? Is it delicious?" Xu Yuehuai could tell from the way the little princess ate that she really liked it.
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