Because of the description of eggplant fish in Dream of the Red Chamber, Ye Chui had seen many people trying to recreate this delicacy in his previous life. Following the steps mentioned by Sister Feng, the dish was indeed made and the taste was absolutely good. However, people who are really picky and knowledgeable about food understand that such a taste cannot be included in the imperial flavor level of the Manchu and Han banquet. It must be missing something.
But what was missing? Ye Chui also spent a lot of time to really understand the mystery.
This dish needs something to give it a finishing touch, something that is of utmost importance, and this thing will take at least seven days to complete.
In the afternoon, Ye Chui took Han Yuyan to run around the nearby vegetable market and started purchasing ingredients for this dish. In addition to eggplant and chicken, the other two most important things are mushrooms and dried fruits. These two ingredients are the top priority to ensure that the dish tastes delicious.
As for which mushrooms and dried fruits to choose to create the best delicacy, Fengjie's words did not specify it clearly and were very vague. This was a secret recipe. You could choose any of them, but the taste would be greatly reduced. After research, Ye Chui had already mastered the most perfect combination: mushrooms should be oyster mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and dried shiitake mushrooms, and dried fruits should be cashews, northern almonds, and hazelnuts.
Each of these items needs to be carefully selected. Selecting ingredients is a technical job and is very time-consuming. Ye Chui is experienced in choosing ingredients, but even so, it took him three or four hours to select all of these things one by one. Han Yuyan, who was following behind him, was already impatient and wanted to go on strike.
It is said that accompanying a woman shopping is an extremely tiring job, but today, Han Yuyan's sister finally realized that accompanying Ye Chui, a cook, to the market is really the most tiring. She couldn't understand why a pile of dried mushrooms were all similar in size and appearance. Was it necessary to pick them one by one? The most outrageous one was the oyster mushroom that looked like a club. Ye Chui held two in his hand and placed them in front of Han Yuyan like a beauty pageant, asking her which one of the two was more beautiful...
In addition to these ingredients, dried tofu, new bamboo shoots, etc. also need to be carefully selected. Of course, the most important are the main ingredients, eggplant and chicken. Choose round eggplants with shiny skin and soft touch. As for chicken, there is no need to specifically select freshly slaughtered live chickens from the chicken farm, but there can be no mistakes in the selection. Ye Chui bought five broilers at once. He didn't need any other parts to make the eggplant dish, only the chicken breast.
After selecting the ingredients, Ye Chui took Han Yuyan to the nearby ceramic market and carefully selected a ceramic jar that was more than one foot high. This thing was the most important utensil for brewing the "finishing touch" that was missing in the eggplant fish.
Finally, Ye Chui carried the chickens, and Han Yuyan followed behind Ye Chui with a clay pot and a bunch of ingredients in plastic bags. She kept mumbling to herself. This sister was exhausted. She complained to Ye Chui, "Master, do you have to be so selective when cooking? I feel like they all taste about the same."
"Almost there is a difference. If the taste of the ingredients is slightly different, the difference can be magnified infinitely when making a dish, or even become a world of difference." Ye Chui turned his head and said to Han Yuyan meaningfully, "I'm wondering, are you Old Han's granddaughter? Old Han must understand this principle best."
Han Yuyan curled his lips, carried the things to the kitchen, rubbed his sore shoulders and sat down on the chair: "Why do I feel like Master, you are just trying to make me do hard labor?"
Hearing Han Yuyan say this, Ye Chui immediately laughed: "How can I bring so many things back by myself? I am just asking you to do some hard labor... What else do you think?"
Han Yuyan: “…”
Seeing that his sister was about to go berserk, Ye Chui quickly took precautions: "What are you doing? Are you going to betray your master and ancestors? Speaking of which, you have been walking around outside for so long and are sweating all over. Why don't you go take a shower first?"
After all, girls still like to be clean. After hearing what Ye Chui said, Han Yuyan felt a little uncomfortable. She glared at Ye Chui and turned around and ran upstairs.
Ye Chui smiled and began to prepare the ingredients. He had bought several portions of the things he had just bought at the market. The preparation of this Imperial Eggplant Dried Fish was complicated, and the proportions of the ingredients were extremely demanding. Ye Chui also needed to make several trials to ensure the most extreme taste.
When Han Yuyan came down from upstairs after taking a shower, the restaurant was already filled with a thick aroma, mainly the aroma of chicken, mixed with the deliciousness of mushrooms and dried fruits. Although the eggplant fish dish is based on eggplant, in fact, eggplant is just a carrier in this dish. Eggplant has a soft texture, similar to a sponge, which can perfectly contain and carry the flavors of several other ingredients.
Han Yuyan took a deep breath and couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva. Her stomach subconsciously growled. The elder sister began to worry. She was not the kind of person who loved eating. She had seen a lot of delicious food with her grandfather, a world-renowned gourmet. But after meeting Ye Chui, she seemed to have trouble controlling her mouth... After staying with her cheap master for a long time, would she become a fat woman
When Wang Shiyu came back from school in the quiet evening, the delicious eggplant jerky made by Ye Chu was ready - it should be noted that this was just delicious eggplant jerky, not the "palace eggplant jerky" that Ye Chui was going to prepare for Wu Haimei.
When Han Yuyan's sister was helping to serve the rice, she suddenly saw a ceramic pot on the side of the stove. When Ye Chui bought this thing in the afternoon, she was curious and wondered what Ye Chui would buy it for. At this moment, she casually picked up the pottery pot and found that the weight of the pottery pot had changed, as if something had been put in it. She turned around and asked Ye Chui while opening the lid of the pottery pot: "Master, what did you put in it?"
"Don't open it!" Ye Chui quickly snatched the jar back from Han Yuyan's hand, "The contents inside must be sealed for at least seven days before opening. If you open it casually before then and it gets contaminated, the contents will go bad."
Han Yuyan frowned, but seeing Ye Chui speaking in a serious manner and putting the jar solemnly in the darkest place in the cupboard, she did not ask any more questions. She served the rice and, most importantly, a plate of delicious eggplant jerky was also served on the table. Han Yuyan muttered to herself, "I don't want to be a fat woman, I don't want to be a fat woman," and then she couldn't help but start to eat with relish.
This eggplant fish tastes very delicious when eaten with rice. When you take a bite, the delicious flavors of chicken, dried fruits, mushrooms, dried tofu and fresh bamboo shoots spread all over your mouth. You can't help but sigh that a small piece of eggplant can contain so many delicious flavors - if Han Yuyan hadn't personally accompanied Ye Chui to buy the eggplant, she would have doubted whether there was eggplant in this dish. She just felt that this dish brought the enjoyment of the taste buds to the extreme.
Looking at Han Yuyan, Wang Shiyu, and even the usually quiet and elegant An Jing, who were all scrambling to put food into their bowls at the dinner table, Ye Chui smiled. This delicious eggplant fish was sold in some large restaurants that pursued classicism in the previous life, and the price even reached eight or nine thousand per plate. Its outstanding taste was naturally self-evident.
But for Ye Chui, this dish still has flaws, and it is not enough to make an anorexic patient raise his expectations for delicious food again.
He turned his head and looked at the kitchen cupboard. After seven days of fermentation, the stuff in the ceramic jar would form something that would complement the delicious eggplant jerky. With that thing, the delicious eggplant jerky would be sublimated into the ultimate delicious palace eggplant jerky!
While they were having a meal, Ye Chui's cell phone suddenly rang. Only a handful of people had his number. He took a look at the number and saw it was from the fat man Tian Xiaodu. Ye Chui walked over and answered the call: "Hello, Xiaodu, what can I do for you? The hotel has been decorated. You have to work here anyway, so why don't you come over and take a look?"
Ever since the hotel started decorating, Tian Xiaodu has refused to come over for a visit. This made Ye Chu feel very strange, as if this fat man was afraid of something... What was there to be afraid of
"It doesn't matter what the restaurant is like. I'll go there when it officially opens." Tian Xiaodu said with a smile, and then continued to ask, "By the way, little brother, how are you preparing for the exam?"
Hearing Tian Xiaodu say this, Ye Chui was stunned for a moment: "What exam?"
Tian Xiaodu: "…Tomorrow's basic chef skills test."
Ye Chui: "Uh..."
I was so busy with the eggplant and dried fish today that I completely forgot about tomorrow's exam.
*****
Today's update~~~ We are now ranked 15th, and we are only one step away from 12th. If you read this novel and think it is good, please vote for it. It is the last week of the new book period, and I really want to rush to the front page~~ I will update more when we reach 12th~~