Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 35 Shanzhai Cuisine

The kitchen of Zhixian Pavilion is second to none even in the whole of Dazhu.

In terms of "hardware", needless to say, all the good things that can be used are used; the iron of the iron pot is better than the iron used for some poorly used weapons; the wood of the chopping board is better than that of ordinary people's homes. The wood used for furniture is also expensive.

The ingredients and condiments are also available here - from the southeast to the northwest, delicacies from mountains and seas, and even materials that are not available in the local area of ​​Dazhu.

Take the fish just now as an example. You know, that era was no different than today. In modern society, even if you lived in an inland city, you could still eat seafood that was airlifted under low temperature preservation; but at that time, you In a city that is far away from the sea, if you want to eat sea fish, it is impossible...it is definitely difficult.

In other words, in ancient times, if a person lived in Sichuan, if he never left Sichuan, he probably never tasted or even seen any fish in the sea.

As for Luoyang, it’s actually similar; Luoyang faces the Yellow River to the north, so it’s not uncommon to find freshwater fish, but among the fish that Yuan Fangzhi brought out just now, anglerfish and horse mackerel are both marine fish, and anglerfish generally live in the deep sea. It is not easy to arrive, let alone transport to the inland.

From this point alone, it can be seen that the boss here is not only rich, but also has great powers.

And the "software" of this kitchen, that is, "people", is even more powerful...

The kitchen on the first floor of Bugui Building is already very large. When it was open for business, there were more than a dozen cooks and helpers working in the kitchen; while the kitchen on the second floor was almost the same size as the one on the first floor, but only three people were used in it. .

One is Yuan Fangzhi, a former royal chef known as the "King of Southern Cooks".

One is Yuan Fangzhi's deputy, an old eunuch named Zhang Ergui who left the palace with him.

There is another one, a helper named You Jing.

Yuan Fangzhi is undoubtedly the core figure in this kitchen; as early as 25 years old, he had already gained a reputation outside the world, and the dignitaries and dignitaries who went to the restaurant where he was in charge of cooking every day were full of praise for his craftsmanship.After a long time, even Li Qian, the eunuch who was then Shangshan Supervisor, heard about Yuan Fangzhi.

One day, Li Qian came to the restaurant where Yuan Fangzhi was staying after searching in a micro-service, and deliberately ordered a few rare dishes that Xiaoer had never heard of, wanting to try Chef Yuan's skills.As soon as Yuan Fangzhi heard the name of the dish in the back kitchen, he knew the identity of the visitor was extraordinary, so he also came with fighting spirit, not only made all the dishes ordered by Li Qian the icing on the cake, but also presented an original dish of his own—— "The spring tide brings rain and comes late."

This dish is a seasonal dish. The main ingredient is spring bamboo shoots, and they must be fresh bamboo shoots that have been dug out of the soil for less than half a day. There are also [-] kinds of auxiliary materials, all of which are It is a unique fresh vegetable and fruit in spring.

These [-] kinds of ingredients need to be cut and peeled with [-] kinds of knives, then cooked, and finally flavored with broth, so that these ingredients with different tastes and tastes can obtain an overall sense of coordination.

The final product, regardless of color, aroma, taste, meaning, or shape, is already a state of great accomplishment, especially the superb display of Yuan Fangzhi's superb knife skills.

Li Qian only took one bite, and he made up his mind that he must recruit this cook into the palace.

In the same year, Yuan Fangzhi was naturally promoted to the Imperial Dining Room, and 15 years later, he was conferred the title of "King of the Southern Kitchen" by the late Emperor himself, as famous as Chen Jiurong, the "King of the North" and also known as the "King of Folk Kitchen".

However, as time goes by, people will eventually grow old one day, and it is impossible to refuse to accept old age.

In this era when the average life expectancy was only 56, Yuan Fangzhi, who had been doing high-intensity physical work, began to feel that he was a bit powerless to work in the imperial dining room when he was [-] years old.

In addition, at this time, [-] years have passed since he was named the chef king, and his most glorious years have long since passed away; the current Emperor Yongtai is not very particular about eating... Imperial food He didn't know who was who in the room, and he didn't care.

Yuan Fangzhi felt that it was meaningless for him to stay any longer, so he applied to his superiors to report his old age and return home, and his superiors agreed.

As for Zhang Ergui, he was considered to be half of Yuan Fangzhi's apprentice, and he basically studied with Yuan Fangzhi since he entered the palace.In fact, he is only two years younger than Yuan Fangzhi. The two are both teachers and friends. They have accumulated decades of friendship and have a good understanding at work. Therefore, when Zhang Ergui heard that Yuan Fangzhi was leaving, he decided to go together.

Some people may ask, does the eunuch leave the palace if he wants to?

Here I have to explain first that "eunuch" is not all "eunuch"; before the Qing Dynasty, "eunuch" was an official position. Although eunuchs and eunuchs were all eunuchs and could be collectively referred to as eunuchs, eunuchs were eunuchs who led eunuchs.

If you don’t understand, let me give you an example to make it clear: In the unit, your department managers are part-timers just like you, and can be collectively referred to as employees, but managers are employees who lead employees, and employees cannot all be managers.

After the Qing Dynasty, the terms eunuch and eunuch were completely confused, and only then did the so-called "little eunuch" come into being.

As for Zhang Ergui, he is not a eunuch, but an eunuch.At the age of Zhang Ergui, an old eunuch who has not yet been promoted, if he wants to leave the palace... no one will keep him.

In fact, in a few years, even if he doesn't want to leave, he will be driven away, because his body is no longer suitable for the low-level eunuch's position of serving people, which requires high physical fitness.

As for... the gang worker You Jing, he doesn't have a deep friendship with these two, because he has always been the one who doesn't return to the building. They only got acquainted when Yuan and Zhang came here a few years ago.

Sometimes, this "Zhixian Pavilion" doesn't have a single guest coming up all night. In this case, the kitchen on the second floor only needs to be responsible for the meals for the boss who lives on the third floor; You Jing sent it up.

There is no doubt that the dishes made by the combination of these three people are comparable to the imperial meals in the palace, and they are even worse.

However... Today, Sun Yixie, who is from the mixed fish market, actually came in to "teach Yuan Fangzhi how to cook", isn't this an anecdote?

However, Sun Yixie led the crowd and swaggered into the back kitchen of Zhixian Pavilion.

Zhang Ergui and You Jing, who were on standby inside, were stunned when they saw them walk in, completely unaware of what the battle was about.

And just as they were hesitating, Sun Yixie had already scanned the kitchen and walked towards the sink...

At the same time, Yuan Fangzhi came to his two colleagues and whispered to them what happened outside just now. The expressions of the two of them changed after hearing this, and they kept glanced at Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, as if they were not quite right. Trust your ears.

On the other hand, Sun Yixie took a while to get all the ingredients and started cooking.

Sun Yixie's cooking skills... It's not bad, roughly the level of being able to cook decent home-cooked dishes; of course, in Daxie, except for professional cooks, most men don't work in the kitchen Yes, among non-professionals, there are really not many who can have his skills.

It's just that, in Yuan Fangzhi's eyes, it would be too much of a joke...

"Mr. Sun..." After watching for a while, Yuan Fangzhi couldn't bear it anymore, stepped forward and interjected, "Your way of cutting shallots (i.e. onions)...isn't right."

"Don't worry about it, I have my way." Sun Yixie replied impatiently without raising his head.

Yuan Fangzhi said heartily: "I reminded you kindly, but it turned out to be self-defeating, okay... Anyway, you didn't tell me what to do when I was cooking, so I will shut up."

Just like that, he silently watched Sun Yixie toss there for a long time, and he didn't see anything about "fire skills", because how to use fire varies from dish to dish, and the dishes Sun Yixie cooks are his own. I don't understand... But Yuan Fangzhi can see the "sword skill" - this kid's knife skill is not very good, with this basic skill, he still wants to make a better whitebait than me?Where does the confidence come from?

The time for a stick of incense will soon pass.

Sun Yixie's hands and feet are quite nimble. In less than half an hour, he brought out a plate of brightly colored and fragrant whitebait dishes.

On that plate, the outer ring is red, and it is made of chopped tomatoes, shallots, capers, pickles, etc. These materials... are not cut very neatly, and are in a mess; the middle is piled up. A pile of white things like a hill is whitebait, not to mention...it's pretty good; on the "fish mountain", there is a lump of light yellow sauce; before serving, Sun Yixie is still The dish is sprinkled with some chopped spices.

From top to bottom, from inside to outside, green, yellow, white, red, four distinct colors, the unique and strong aroma is wrapped in the elegant fragrance of the fish itself... Only in terms of color and aroma, this The dish seemed to be pretty good.

So what kind of dish is this?

It's actually a French dish - corned beef.

However, Sun Yixie replaced beef with fish, olive oil with vegetable oil, and used chili, onion, garlic, honey, dry mustard powder and oil-salt wine to make a homemade version of Dijon mustard.

In short, this is a "cottage cuisine", in which several ingredients and spices are used as genuine substitutes.

That's it...it's actually not easy; that is, this Zhixian Pavilion has everything in it. If you change the kitchen in another place, don't even think about it; like pepper, yellow mustard, honey, thyme, onion... There are no other places at all. In the Ming Dynasty, these are all rare things, some of which are more expensive than silver.

Anyway, this dish, he made it.

Sun Yixie tasted it himself, and it was not bad...Of course, this level of completion is due to the fact that this is not the first time he has made this dish.

In the original universe, he is a person who likes food very much, but after coming here, he can still eat a lot of Chinese food, but he can't touch Western food and Japanese food at all; He can only solve problems that money can't solve by himself.

So, relying on his basic knowledge of foreign cuisines, his memories of tasting these dishes before, and... a lot of spare time and money, he successfully restored many "dark cuisines".

The one in front of him is his masterpiece.

You want to say how delicious this method can really be... No, but it is enough to make Yuan Fangzhi feel delicious.

Because of the "freshness", it can add points to the deliciousness, and it can be added a lot.

If you let a person who has never eaten curry in his life and does not know its price, take a bite of curry that can only be regarded as "generally delicious" in the eyes of people who often eat curry, he will be surprised.

But if you let a person who often eats steak eat a piece of steak that is "averagely delicious", he will naturally only react mediocrely.

Instant noodles, which were once very popular in the 90s of the [-]th century, are in a similar situation-you may not even want to eat something that was considered a delicacy when you were young.

The taste hasn't changed, maybe even better, but...you have.

Yuan Fangzhi is like a child who has never eaten instant noodles. This mouthful of "French-style pickled whitebait" can spoil him.

The old man has lived all his life, and no one has taught him what Dijon mustard is. It is also the first time he has seen the method of stewing those "Western spices" with vegetables and fish; It is also the first time for him to taste the delicacy.

After eating, he took it.

"Okay! Good good good!" Yuan Fangzhi said good four times before he put down his chopsticks, "Sure enough, a hero born a boy, Yuan Mou bowed down."

Master, you have the bearing of a master; before Sun Yixie uttered wild words, Yuan Fangzhi was really unconvinced, but now that someone has really made something delicious that you have never tasted and can't make, then what Yuan Fangzhi should admit is will recognize.

There is no end to learning, and people with real talents and real learning will not be afraid to admit that someone is better than themselves in a certain way, because that is a normal thing; only those who deceive the world and steal their names will put Fame is more important than reality, and often rests on its laurels, and skills stop here.

"Hehe... It's easy to say, Sun is also playing tricks and making a fool of himself." Although Sun Yixie walked into the kitchen with [-]% certainty, it is inevitable that there are still two or three points in his heart. At this moment, he looked at the other party. Being bluffed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled and said something on the scene.

This is emotional intelligence; if there is no such ability to accommodate people and win people's hearts, how can he become the "big brother" of the fish market?

"Well...it's not bad." On the other side, Huang Donglai also came over to taste some of Sun Yixie's handicrafts.

His reaction was relatively flat; because to him, this is not a taste that he has no idea at all. When he watched Sun Yixie cook this dish, he already knew roughly what it would be like through the ingredients.

As a result, everyone tasted the dish, and Sun Huang and the two of them disappeared without eating a few chopsticks.

The more Yuan Fangzhi ate, the more he felt that this dish was good everywhere, and he made up his own brain, "This grandson may not be bad at knife skills, but he cut it like this on purpose, because whitebait itself is of different sizes, and the serving The dishes are also cut in different sizes, so that they can taste more layered." This conclusion explains why I was mistaken just now.

It's a pity that no matter how much Mr. Yuan appreciates Sun Yixie, he can't just invite them to the private room for dinner... Rules are rules, and they still have "two barriers" to pass.

"You two..." After tasting the dishes made by Sun Yixie and seeing Yuan Fangzhi's reaction, Xue Tui's attitude towards Shuangxie became much more respectful. Pause, and then said, "Sun Gongzi can not only easily pass this 'first-class' test, but also make Master Yuan give such a high evaluation with his cooking skills. It is really amazing." Turn around, and start to play tricks, "Thinking...the 'glance' of the second level is easy for the two of you, right?"

(End of this chapter)