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Chapter 144
1. Infatuated and tired couch, a screen of sleepy eyelashes
After going around for almost half a year, Pei Nianyu didn't dare to act rashly for many years because of the Peach Blossom Gu, but now that the dust has settled, Pei Nianyu can finally open up and have a big meal.
Just when Pei Nianyu wanted to start eating, he saw that there seemed to be some kind of enchantment in the room, which suddenly made Pei Nianyu lose his appetite.
He sighed and said:
"Ye Feng, do you still remember the Nanhu river crab that Zhuangzi brought up last fall, around September? The taste is really delicious."
"Could it be that the master forgot that I was still out of town in September last year..."
"It's my fault. This year, you will make up for last year's regrets."
For some reason, Pei Nianyu suddenly had a craving for crab roe, and all he could think about was spicy crab claws, as if the word "river crab" was dangling in front of his eyes.
"There is no shortage of river crabs in Capital City this year. As soon as the dark clouds and rain come, they will crackle and fall from the sky. You can see that the house is crawling all over the ground. How about it? How about I grab two and make them for youTry it? Steamed braised in soy sauce is good at everything."
Lou Yefeng said:
"Where do you bother the master to do it? Let the subordinates catch dozens of them for the master."
The martial arts learned by Professor Lou is naturally worth mentioning, and he caught all the crabs in the room into the basin in less than a stick of incense.
There is much talk about this thing in Capital City, and there is less talk about it. Taking advantage of the abundance of crabs in Capital City this year, Pei Nianyu is going to take this opportunity to give Lou Yefeng the various crab recipes he learned in his previous life.
It's just that Lou Yefeng was a little strange:
"Master, why don't you call your two apprentices?"
Pei Nianyu was angry: "How can this kind of thing be passed on to outsiders?"
After finishing speaking, he rolled up his cuffs and began to show off his skills.
"Ye Feng, do you know how many ways to cook crabs in cooking?"
"My subordinates are ignorant and ignorant. They only hear about steamed and braised. Among them, steamed is the most common."
"That's right, because steamed river crab is the most authentic. But even the simplest steaming requires skill and skill. You can learn from me."
I saw Pei Nianyu remove the bags from the dozens of river crabs and put them in a basin to wash.
"Remember the first point. You must be gentle when cleaning. The crabs are only delicious if they are alive. If they are killed, they will not be fresh."
But of course river crabs don't listen to people, the softer Pei Nianyu was when cleaning, the harder they thrashed.
Lou Yefeng watched the master's technique seriously, and his breathing seemed to have stopped.
Pei Nianyu continued:
"What should I do after washing? Steam it directly in the pot. But there is another process before steaming in the pot, don't forget it."
"Master asks for advice."
"—that is to tie the crab legs and claws with ropes."
"Ah, this! Master... You must be bullying them."
Pei Nianyu smiled and said:
"The crabs know that they are going to die, so they will struggle hard. Their muscles are working hard. If they are cooked at this time, the crab meat will become burnt and taste bad, so they must be tied first."
"This... this subordinate has been taught."
Pei Nianyu pointed out:
"You do this exercise, tie them all up, and remember to tie up the claws of the crabs too, otherwise it will hurt others."
Lou Yefeng immediately blushed, but after all, it was the master's order, so he still followed it.
"Then the next step is to steam it in the wok!"
They brought over the large steamer that was usually used to steam pasta and dim sum in the small kitchen, put the bundled river crabs in one by one, and filled half a pot of water to the bottom of the pot.
"Very well, then I will test you next."
"Master, please speak."
"Steaming crabs, should you put them in a pot with cold water or boiled water?"
"Here... cold water..."
"Yes, because heating needs to be done step by step. Let the water vapor in the pot heat up bit by bit, so that the meat quality of the crabs will be more delicious. Remember, the steamed dishes should not be stewed over high heat, otherwise the meat quality will be damaged.”
"Yes, my subordinates have remembered."
However, the cold water is really heated a little slowly, and the heat is too low.
Lou Yefeng was greedy for steamed crab roe, and only hoped to eat it quickly, so he couldn't help feeling impatient:
"Master, isn't the heat a bit slow? This subordinate waited anxiously..."
Pei Nianyu's face was serious:
"You're right. Of course you can't just wait here by yourself for this cooking skill. What should you do if you feel that it's too late?"
"This... I'm going to add some firewood?"
"Then why don't you take the initiative to do it?"
However, Lou Yefeng has never done such a thing as mastering the heat, and today he can only rely on the master to teach him.
After a while, the water in the pot gradually heated up, and Lou Yefeng couldn't help but secretly lifted the lid of the steamer to take a look, only to see that the crab shells inside gradually changed from blue to pink, which was the same as when he was soaked in hot water.Fumigation's face was exactly the same.
"This...Master...could it be any faster?"
"It's absolutely impossible. The essence of steaming crab roe lies in the four words of slow fire and slow steaming. Just wait patiently."
After about one stick of incense, the water in the steamer began to boil, and the water vapor came out one by one.
"This is called steaming the steamer. Once the steamer starts to steam, it means that it is almost done. At this time, you have to mark the time and turn off the fire after a quarter of an hour."
Lou Yefeng was impatient at this time, but he could not help but let out a groan in his heart after listening to it for another quarter of an hour.
Unexpectedly, he is just an apprentice, and his master is a culinary master, so Pei Nianyu is in complete control of the fire, how can Lou Yefeng be the master?
Therefore, Lou Yefeng had no choice but to listen to his master's instructions, and turned off the fire after a quarter of an hour, and finally ate the steamed crab roe.
………
After the two of them had dinner, they suddenly started chatting.
"Ye Feng, do you know what are the two types of dishes?"
"It doesn't bother me—it's naturally the second category of meat and vegetables."
Pei Nianyu nodded.
"The meat dish is naturally meat, and the egg is half."
"Let's say that this person has been hunting for a living since ancient times. He ate chicken, duck, beef, mutton, fish, meat and shrimp. Later, with settlements and civilization, he learned to live by animal husbandry. This is naturally because..."
Lou Yefeng took over:
"Because chicken, duck and fish are indispensable, our shadow guards will occasionally allocate some meat to eat during training. After all, if you don't eat meat, you will have no strength. How to train? And who in this world doesn't like to eat meat?"
"What you said is very good. It is human nature to like meat, so in later generations, everyone will find ways to divide the meat of these animals into various parts, and invent each with its own taste and method."
"Then why are there vegetarian dishes?"
"Because vegetarian dishes are also indispensable...?"
Pei Nianyu nodded:
"That's right, if you only eat meat and don't eat vegetables, of course you can't, and you can't eat only vegetarian dishes and don't eat meat dishes. But Ye Feng, do you know that the cooking method of this vegetarian dish also needs meat to enhance the taste."
Lou Yefeng looked serious: "I would like to hear the details."
"Do you still remember the dish I made boiled cabbage earlier?"
"Of course I remember, the craftsmanship is extremely complicated and delicious."
"This boiled cabbage is just clear soup with cabbage leaves. At first glance, do you think it's a vegetarian dish?"
"Of course."
"But do you remember the broth used to make boiled cabbage?"
"—Using the old duck's duck rack, with chicken and pork ribs, boil the broth for a day and a night. After the broth is ready, add minced meat and chicken oil, and finally pour it on the cabbage."
"Yes, so you see, even if it is a fresh dish like cabbage, if you want to taste it, you have to rely on the broth to enhance the freshness. What does this mean?"
"There can be no green vegetables in the meat dishes, but if there is no meat in the green vegetables, most of them will not taste good."
"The truth you discovered is very correct. Vegetarian dishes, such as stewed tofu with cabbage, do you think anyone will buy them if they are sold in restaurants?"
"I'm afraid no one will care."
Pei Nianyu continued:
"So in cooking, it is often necessary to add meat to vegetarian dishes. Some add minced meat, such as ants climbing a tree. Some need to use bone broth, such as boiled cabbage. Or some need to use refinedLard, and so on."
Lou Yefeng nodded to show that he understood.And Pei Nianyu remembered something again:
"Speaking of which, do you know why this dynasty's culinary skills were not popular a few years ago?"
"This, this subordinate is obsessed with martial arts, and this issue has indeed not been studied."
"It's because of a policy of the first emperor. This is an allusion that my deceased mother and concubine told me when I was a child."
"—About thirty or forty years ago, the first emperor had just ascended the throne as emperor. And the first emperor had a baby name when he was young, and there was a word in the baby name called 厹四声, which was pronounced (check it yourself. So after the first emperor ascended the throne, the firstThe thing is..."
"taboo!"
"That's right. The new emperor must avoid taboos when he ascends the throne. The first emperor didn't like this word very much. He thought it was not very elegant and elegant, so he became angry when he saw this word. Naturally, this enthronement was an imperial decree, and the entire Da Jing Dynasty banned it.Use the pronunciation of this word..."
"Ah, wouldn't this bring a lot of inconvenience to scholars and students?"
"It was really inconvenient at the beginning. But the imperial examinations for scholars are for the purpose of being the ministers of the emperor. How can a little inconvenience make it difficult for them? What's more, they can still write excellent stereotyped articles when they can't use this word.Isn't it more obvious that you are capable, loyal and considerate for His Majesty?"
"The style of scholars in the imperial court is like this, but it can be predicted."
"So as soon as the imperial decree came out, starting from the literati, the spring and autumn brushwork began from top to bottom. From the school of the Imperial College to the private schools of the country scholars, everyone took the initiative to change the spring and autumn brushwork.The meat character in the article I wrote."
"In the beginning, everyone was just working hard on the articles. It's just that the late emperor was greatly moved by seeing everyone so loyal and loyal. Naturally, he regarded those who were disobedient as nail in the eyes and thorn in the flesh."
"Then one day, when Emperor Xian was on a tour in micro-clothes, he saw a young man on the side of the street. Xu Shi had just finished playing with his playmates and was hungry. His mother gave him a rou jia mo. The boy was eating rou jia mo.At that time, I couldn't help but admire how delicious the elbow meat was, but it happened to be heard by the passing emperor..."
Lou Yefeng understood: "So it's like being poked by a lung tube?"
"Indeed, the first emperor was furious and ordered the shadow guards to arrest the young man and interrogate him, whether he was instigated by the remnants of the previous dynasty to give him eye drops on purpose."
"After the young man was imprisoned silently, the first emperor returned to Beijing and issued another imperial decree that no one in the Dajing Dynasty was allowed to eat meat. The imperial decree explained it this way: because pork is pickled and uncleanIt is unclean, and after people eat it, their words and deeds will be polluted by pork, and they will become ignorant of etiquette and morality. Therefore, eating meat is not good, and for the sake of the future of the Dajing Dynasty, everyone is not allowed to eat it."
Lou Yefeng was shocked: "Then will he eat or not?"
"The first emperor was an emperor, so of course he can eat it."
Lou Yefeng: "..."
"Naturally, the dignitaries in the court and the central government are unwilling to give up this delicacy, but they secretly eat it in their own mansion, and no one can control it."
"Wouldn't the common people be angry and disobedient?"
"Naturally, the common people are unwilling in every possible way to this imperial decree, but their arms can't twist their thighs, so what can they do if they don't thank the emperor for his kindness. And there are naturally many people among the common people who are grateful for the emperor's kindness, and they all obey the imperial decree.Those who eat meat will be sent to the county government right away, and those who eat meat will be sentenced for violating the imperial decree. As time goes by, everyone gradually refuses to eat meat."
"In those few years, no matter in the city or in the countryside, all the butchers in the market lost their livelihood. Occasionally they wanted to open a business, but they were all caught by the county government.head."
"Later, there was no meat in the market. You can't make bricks without straw. Without materials, how can chefs make progress? So for so many years, the cooks didn't even know what meat dishes were.I have never seen it before, and how to cook good meat dishes."
Lou Yefeng agrees:
"That's the reason. The emperors of the previous dynasties promoted swords and soldiers, so everyone was armed. The emperors of the previous dynasties valued agriculture and mulberry, so they had a bumper harvest every year, and the warehouses were full. The first emperor suppressed meat and advocated vegetables, so vegetarian dishes flourished."
"Until one day later, the first emperor suddenly didn't care about his baby name. So he gradually relaxed this rule, and slowly some cooks started to study meat dishes again."
"Okay, after talking so much, it's time to rest, wash up and go to bed."
"Yes, master."
—————
What follows is the only remaining original text: The bath is always filled with warm water, and Pei Nianyu cleans it up for him carefully and gently.After turning around for a while, I saw that he was leaning on his shoulder, soaked in warm water and fell asleep.
Pei Nianyu felt suddenly soft in his heart.
In the past so many years, I let my guard down and slept on Lou Yefeng's shoulders.Because Pei Nianyu knew that when Lou Yefeng was around, it was safe.But Lou Yefeng had never relaxed his mind so much in front of him, and now he was exhausted from eating too much, but he caught Lou Yefeng's side.
Pei Nianyu couldn't get enough of such a rare sight, so he stared blankly for a long time.
He saw a few gray hairs mixed with Lou Yefeng's temples, and saw the shadows of swords and swords passing by the corners of his eyes settled into the traces of years of wind and frost.
Seeing his cold and serious eyebrows that have helped him block many open and hidden arrows, seeing his... now tired but contented face.
Ye Feng... Thank you for your kindness.
Pei Nianyu quietly took the sleeping Mr. Xi into his arms.
In the past, his royal status and those involuntary ups and downs caused his Ye Feng to miss the best years.But the passage of time has also made the once young Ye Feng even more attractive.
The days to come will still be long, no matter whether the life after that is calm or magnificent.I only hope that from now on, we will live up to each other.