The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

1. The Feast to the Emperor’s Taste

Translator: Qiu Yi

Proofread by Peter Gong

A billowing cloud of smoke is seen from the distance, rising from the transoms of the Imperial Kitchen which is built with purple walls and grey tiles, mingled with intensely strong smell of burnt food.

But the Imperial Kitchen is strangely quiet. Only squeaking sounds come ceaselessly from the pots on the hearth, which indicates that the food is to be charred or is becoming charred. But no one volunteers to stir the ladle. They just leave alone the fire in the hearth and let it lick the bottoms of the pots unchecked until the last drop of water quickly transforms into choking vapor.

By now the Imperial Kitchen has been crowded with people who are standing still in silence like clay figurines. Gradually, the whole kitchen is filled with charred smoke, which has already become irritating to people’s eyes and noses, and the pot is turning dark red, seeming to catch fire at any moment. Everyone on the spot feels an authentic sense of horror, just like looking at the sulky face of General Director Fu.

Fu Gonggong (eunuch in the palace) is the General Director of the Imperial Household Department, who leads the Emperor’s sedan chair. After his unexpected arrival, with no utterance, he just sweeps away a blue and white plate on which Chicken Slices with Egg Whites is placed. Along with a clank, the plate crashes into pieces.

Without any words, the action and the sound make a clear demonstration of his anger. All the people know the cause, so almost at the same moment they stop their work and bend towards Fu Gonggong with their lowered heads, daring not to breathe. However, they have no time to remove pots from the hearth and dishes from the pans. All they can do is watching these dishes, which should be made into exquisite cuisines, turning into a charred mess.

Xu Zhiwei stands very close to General Director Fu because the General Director of the Imperial Kitchen and the head chef usually arrange for the most undesirable cook to work by the hearth that is near to the door. The chef in this place can be easily affected by the comings and goings of the crowd. And when the officials of the Imperial Household Department come to supervise, the chef cooking here will be the first to be checked.

Xu Zhiwei bends and lowers his head like the other chefs, but he is the only one who doesn’t bow towards General Director Fu. He stands facing exactly the oil pot so that he can keep an eye on the floating ribs in the oil with his shrunken neck and rolled eyes. As he observes, he wrinkled his nose and sniffs in attempts to distinguish the smell of oil and fried ribs from the charred smoke. Although General Director Fu is still standing there, gathering all the energy to maintain his cruelty and authority, he has no intention to let them continue cooking. But Xu Zhiwei pays no attention to him. In contrast, he cares more about his pot and ribs.

Xu Zhiwei knows clearly what General Director Fu comes for. But he doesn’t think it counts. It’s just because of many rigid rules on meal service and some hidden rules of bribery observed by despicable men. The failure of making dishes cater to the Emperor’s taste, in the eyes of General Director Fu and Empress Dowager, is a very big matter.

Cooking meals for Emperor is indeed a big matter in the palace. After the demise of Emperor Xianfeng, Empress Dowager Cixi helped young Prince Zaichun inherit the throne as Emperor Tongzhi. The Qing government is troubled by domestic strife and foreign aggression and faced with great challenges. Before the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is completely pacified, the Nien rebellion comes back and annihilates the major force of the Eight Bannered Army of Sang-Ko-Lin-Sin. North Hebei province is stricken by a severe long drought, which makes people there homeless and the national treasury not fruitful as expected. Foreigners set up HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) in Shanghai, greatly undermining the finance of Qing… All of this, for an underage child, both mentally and physically, is a great torture. And in daily life, he has to learn how to read and write, and how to shoot and ride. Moreover, a great number of imperial etiquette and rules restrict his nature. That’s why recently this little Emperor has been in low spirits and has no appetite. Among a hundred delicate dishes in front of him, none of them can whet his appetite.

“The Emperor hasn’t had a good meal for days and looks listless and pale. The Empress Dowager ordered that all of you should dedicate yourselves to preparing meals to the emperor’s taste. But after so many days, you fail to serve a pleasing course. I was scolded by the Dowager and unfairly took responsibility for your mistake. If you still can’t stimulate the Emperor’s appetite, then next time you are to be scolded by the Empress Dowager.” The eyelids of General Director Fu stay in a loose manner and his voice seems to be squeezed through the slit between his teeth.

“Fu Gonggong, it’s our fault. We are so sorry that it bothers you!” De Gonggong, who works in Dish-order Room, approaches him with fear and caution. After a moment of being at a loss, as if suddenly enlightened, he takes out some bank notes from his chest and stuffs them into Fu Gonggong’s pocket.

Many royal chefs notice his action. All these bank notes are their hard-earned money, some of which were made recently and some were plundered by De Gonggong in the past. But at this very moment, they hope sincerely that General Director Fu takes the money. If he accepts it, it means that they are not at the end of their rope yet and still have the hope to go through this difficult time. As De Gonggong puts it, it’s life-saving money.

Xu Zhiwei doesn’t notice De Gonggong’s little trick, for his gaze was still fixed on the pot. It’s quite understandable because the pot today looks very different.

First, the pot itself is different. Xu Zhiwei adds a specially-made iron grid stand, which was forged by an expert cooker maker, the Blacksmith nicknamed Golden Monkey in Er Shaozi Hutong. With this iron grid stand, the fried food can roll between the middle and the top layers of oil and won’t sink to the bottom of the pot. It can ensure that ingredients are heated evenly and do not stick to the pot bottom where the temperature is the highest.

Second, the ribs are different. The ribs are the third and fourth ribs taken from the breastbone of one-year-old pigs, whose meat has the optimal quality and density with the slightest smell of pork. As for the third and fourth ribs, they not only have tender meat that can be easily heated and seasoned, but also have crispy bones with abundant marrow which comes out of bones and permeates into meat quickly after being fried.

Apart from the pot and ribs, more importantly, the oil used today is unusual. It’s the boiled oil refined by Xu Zhiwei according to his newly invented formula, of which the main material is colza oil. The colza oil is boiled on slow fire first to warm up. When the heat comes to a certain degree, the astringent odor of the oil will volatilize together with the vapor. Then when the smoke of colza oil almost vanishes, add one portion of beef tallow and one and a half portions of lard. Then the greasy smell of tallow and lard will soon disappear with the smoke. Now the unpleasant odor of the oil almost fades away and the oil has a more profound and mellower taste as a mixture. At last, Xu Zhiwei puts ginger slices and scallion segments that were prepared beforehand into the boiling oil and takes them out. This can remove the last taint of tallow and lard and leave in the oil a fresh flavor of ginger and scallion.

His new formula for refining boiled oil can be traced back to the hint he received from Mr. Weng in their chat a few days ago. Weng told him that in Book of Rites there is a saying “use fat with scallions and tallow with leeks” and speculated that that was how ancient people reduced the greasy taste. Fat and tallow are smelly oil extracted from animals, so seasoning vegetables that have strong scents, such as scallions and leeks, are used to remove the unpleasant odor to improve the flavor of oil.

As General Director Fu placidly takes the notes, the royal chefs all feel relieved. Until then, the head chef Wang Fengding takes two steps forward, speaking to General Director Fu with a bow, “Fu Gonggong, actually, we have been working hard to prepare meals according to the menu in recent days and dare not relax. The little Emperor is young and doesn’t have a full experience of tastes. It’s difficult to speculate his likes. The dishes in the palace have been served many times. They can’t please his appetite anymore.”

Wang Fengding’s words are quite reasonable. Chefs in the Imperial Kitchen can’t make meals as they like, as every dish is regulated. The addition of a new dish should be decided after it is discussed by the officials and General Director in the Imperial Household Department. Although there seem to be numerous delicacies in the Emperor’s meals, basically, they are chosen within a limited scope. But there is an advantage for chefs in the Imperial Kitchen. They can use whatever they want and select good ingredients. And among those chefs who are in good relations, exchanges of ingredients are allowed in the Imperial Kitchen, which provides a good place for the invention of new cuisines. So it’s fair and right to say that royal chefs have outstanding culinary skills because chefs qualified to be admitted into the palace are all excellent cooks, not to mention the their own performance and constant influence from what they see and hear in the kitchen. It would be a joke for royal chefs if they can’t make a dozen exclusive cuisines.

“Do you mean that only new dishes can please the little Emperor?” General Director Fu casts a glance at Wang Fengding. “I daren’t. You have the final say.” Wang Fengding breaks out in a cold sweat as if there is a serpent coiling around his neck. Xu Zhiwei stands nearby, but he doesn’t pay attention to their conversation because he still focuses on the oil pot, sniffing carefully with a wrinkled nose.

As the oil in the pot today is the boiled oil, no unpleasant odors nor impurities comes out. So when the oil is half warmed, ribs should be put into it. Xu Zhiwei puts ribs into the pot just shortly before the arrival of General Director Fu. When other chefs’ food starts to be charred, the oil in his pot is at a high heat and ribs begin to toss.

Half warmed oil can keep ribs fried yet fresh. In addition, since the ribs stay between the middle and the top layers of oil, they can be heated and cooked evenly from outside to inside. The surface layer will not turn hard quickly due to a high temperature and the inner layer can not only be fully cooked but also reserve the juice inside meat. In the meanwhile, the smell of scallions and gingers in boiled oil can clear away the unpleasant odor of ribs and the fragrant scent of oil itself can penetrate into the meat. So Xu Zhiwei doesn’t pickle ribs with other condiments but puts them directly into the oil pot as they originally are. The result achieved by pickling can be realized by boiled oil.

“The merciful Empress Dowager just issued an imperial edict that ‘The Feast to the Emperor’s Taste’ will be held on end for three days. During this time, all the royal chefs in the Imperial Kitchen can serve the Emperor with three delicious courses that they are good at. The chef whose dishes are appetising enough to win the Emperor’s favour will be rewarded with gold and silver, and additionally, he will be entitled as Supervisor with a Rank of Band Five in the Imperial Kitchen, which enjoys the same power as Directors of the Imperial Household Department. Chefs, this is a big opportunity to bring glory on your ancestors and make your name. You should seize it. Koff, koff (coughing)…” The smoke in the kitchen is so heavy that even General Director Fu, standing close to the door, is choked.

Xu Zhiwei lifts his head suddenly. At last, his gaze is shifted from the oil pot and also the ribs that are charring. Just at the same time, a pot where water is boiled dry catches fire suddenly and bursts into a flame. Now the sparkling light in Xu Zhiwei’s eyes is dancing just like that red flame as if some hope is kindled inside his eyes.

“Koff, stop standing here and go on with your work.” After finishing these words, General Director Fu immediately turns around, covering his mouth with his sleeves, and trots out of the Imperial Kitchen. Shortly after his departure, the whole kitchen is thrown into a mess. Some people put out fire by upending pots; some remove the pots, and some cool the pots with water. In an instant, the crashes of hot pots, the cracking sounds produced by pouring cold water into hot pots and the knocking of spoons to get rid of sticky food in the pots mingle together. Only human voice is not heard. Probably it’s for the cause of General Director Fu who might haven’t walked too far. They fear that any improper word may come to his ears. Or perhaps after hearing General Director Fu’s words, all of them come up with some ideas and are making secret plans in their minds.

Xu Zhiwei doesn’t move his pot. He just lowers his head towards the pot and then takes a deep breath. Although this breath contains too much burnt smell, he still manages to distinguish the fragrances of oil from ribs clearly. In fact, the ribs have already been charred and there have been many impurities in oil. But somewhere along the way, the smell that is perfectly right has been etched in his memory.

This is the taste that Xu Zhiwei has been searching for long, so he is very excited. The last sentence Fu Gonggong said before his leaving gives a long-awaited opportunity to Xu Zhiwei. So he feels more excited. At his moment, though Xu Zhiwei is standing still, his heart is billowing and boiling like the oil in front of him.