Seeing Li Qi's confident look, Zuo Boqing couldn't help but asked curiously: "Brother Li, are you sure you will win?"
Li Qi smiled slightly and asked without answering: "Brother Zuo, have you ever heard of 'imaginary taste'?"
"Imaginary taste?" Zuo Boqing muttered, shook his head and said, "What do you mean by this?"
Li Qi said slowly: "I remember my father once told me that if a chef has reached a certain level of cooking, he can imagine the taste. In the past, when we cooked, we would first think about what materials to use, and then iterate on it.
During the practice, we keep tasting, groping, and changing, but in this way, we just follow the taste of the dishes, and we make up for any shortcomings, but we never have a goal in mind. This is just like painting.
, Youdao means the hills and valleys in your mind and the paintings you draw. If you stand among the mountains and rivers and follow the painting, then you will always be limited to this scenery and cannot break through. What you paint is just a landscape painting. It lacks
A hint of artistic conception, but a painter of the level of Bachelor Zhang can paint a beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers even if he is sitting at home, and he also paints what he wants to express in his heart.
The same is true for cooking. Think about the taste first and then cook it. It is obviously better to explore while cooking, because no taste will be better than imagined. Of course, the premise is that you must have rich experience.
, you can do this only by knowing the taste of each food very well.”
After hearing this, Wu Xiaoliu and Chen Dazhu's faces were blank. Obviously, with their abilities, they were still unable to understand Li Qi's words.
Zuo Boqing frowned and lowered his head in thought. After a while, he said: "Your father's lofty remarks really benefited Zuo a lot. In this way, the taste of your third dish,
It’s just a figment of imagination.”
Li Qi smiled with a hint of pride: "I never knew what my father meant before. It wasn't until I made this dish that I realized the truth. It's really funny to say that, in fact, all of this was forced.
It came out because I didn’t have enough materials to support my repeated practice. I only had one chance, so I could only think about the taste and formulate the recipe before making it. So far, I have only made that dish once.
.”
After Zuo Boqing heard this, he became even more excited and wished he could get Li Qi to do it right now.
At this time, a palace maid knocked on the door and came in. She said, "Sir, the water has been boiled."
"That's great." Li Qi suddenly got up, put on his shoes and walked outside. His voice came from far away, "By the way. Ask the two palace maids to come and help me squeeze it, oh. Remember, touch it."
It can't be too ugly, as it will affect my performance."
Is this the same Li Qi just now? Zuo Boqing, Wu Xiaoliu, and Chen Dazhu looked at each other with complicated expressions on their faces.
Li Qi happily took a bath under the care of two obedient people, then went back to his room to rest for a while, ate some fruit, and replenished his strength. During this period, his left and right hands were always immersed in the care of two pairs of catkins.
While serving, I felt indescribably comfortable and useful.
In the Four Nations Banquet, this last dish is definitely the top priority. No matter whether the victory or defeat has been decided before, it will not affect everyone's expectations for this last dish.
Time flies by, and night falls quietly. At this time, the Longting Garden is illuminated by torches, as if it were daytime.
Boom, boom, boom.
I saw a lot of imperial troops suddenly coming around the pavilion in the east, completely surrounding a twenty-meter radius. Even a cockroach had to greet it eighteen times.
There are two stoves in the pavilion and three large stoves in the corridor. In addition, under the eaves on the left side of the pavilion, there is a large furnace. Next to the furnace is a long table with a yellow table spread on it. There is a pair of scissors and several large bowls on the yellow cloth.
On the right side of the pavilion, Wu Xiaoliu and Chen Dazhu were squatting in a newly dug pit to clean the puffer fish. Not long ago, Maqiao had delivered the puffer fish, and there were seven of the twelve puffer fish here. The nutritional value is very high, including red-finned pufferfish, three striped puffers, two dark-striped puffers, six males and six females.
The three masters and apprentices from Longjiang on the opposite side were very curious when they saw all this. One of the young masters asked: "Master, what are they doing?"
Long Jiang smiled disdainfully and snorted: "It's just sensationalism. Cooking doesn't rely on a large number of people." After a pause, he asked again: "Has the hole been dug?"
"We have already done."
"Well. Let's get started."
...
"Hey, it's already started."
Li Qi, who arrived late, saw that the other royal chefs had already arrived. He muttered and handed the fruit core in his hand to a little palace maid next to him, and said with a smile: "Give it to you as a souvenir."
The little palace maid looked at the fruit core in her little hand and felt like crying. Is there anyone who would give a gift like you?
"Brother Li."
"Has it been washed?"
"All twelve pufferfish have been washed."
"let's start."
"Is your hand healed?"
Li Qi made a very domineering fitness move and said with a proud smile: "It seems that the imperial doctor really didn't get in through connections."
When Chen Dazhu and Wu Xiaoliu saw this, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Even if they wanted to cook this dish, they wouldn't have the guts. The two of them chatted with Li Qi for a few words, then walked to the two tables respectively. Process the required ingredients.
Li Qi first checked the tools carefully, then put on an apron and gloves, and came to the long table next to the furnace. He placed a red-fin pufferfish on it. Li Qi skillfully cut open the abdomen with scissors and took out the internal organs. , leaving the liver and ribs, removing the eyes, gills, and skinning the fish, the whole sequence of actions was like mercury pouring down the ground without any pause, which shows that his right arm has regained its vitality.
After finishing processing a puffer fish, Li Qi put the necessary ones into the bowl. After carefully checking the unnecessary ones, he directly packed them with the yellow cloth on the table, including the scissors, and threw them into the furnace for burning. Then he took out I threw the gloves in and immediately put on a new pair.
The maid on the side hurriedly laid out the yellow cloth that had been prepared long ago, and put the scissors and large bowls sterilized in hot water one by one.
This approach is indeed very wasteful, but it is more convenient. It can save Li Qi a lot of time. After all, there are twelve pufferfish here. Of course, the most important thing is that he does not need to pay for it.
In the attic, Duan Zhengwen was standing in front of the window. Suddenly he saw that the east attic was surrounded by guards. He couldn't help but feel a little curious. He let out a sigh and said, "Why are there so many guards standing there?"
Cai Jing laughed and said, "That's because Li Qi is cooking pufferfish at this time. One of the pufferfish rules is that you must not make any noise, so as not to disturb the people who are slaughtering pufferfish. That's why the emperor sent someone to stand guard for him."
Duan Zhengwen was shocked and said: "Grand Master. Could it be that Li Qi's third dish is puffer fish?"
Cai Jing smiled and nodded.
Duan Zhengwen snorted and said, "I understand. The person the Grand Master mentioned earlier who can cook non-poisonous puffer fish is Li Qi."
Cai Jing smiled and said: "Who else could be there besides him?"
Wang Fu, who realized later, said in a deep voice: "This Li Qizhen is getting more and more outrageous. The pufferfish is highly poisonous and is known to the whole world. How can he offer this poison to the emperor?"
Cai Jing glanced at him slightly and said nothing.
"Hey." Song Huizong raised his hand and said, "I have known about this for a long time. I allowed him to do this."
Wang Fu was stunned and said: "But your Majesty is the most powerful person in the world. How can you take the risk of eating puffer fish?"
Cai Jing smiled and said: "Don't be upset, Mr. Wang. Li Qi dares to do this, so he is absolutely sure. To be honest, I and the lieutenant have already tasted the puffer fish he cooked."
Gao Qiu nodded and said, "Yes, this puffer fish meat is indeed very delicious."
Cai Jing made a puffer fish law. There is a pufferfish law. What he said made Duan Zhengwen feel itchy in his heart. He cupped his hands towards Song Huizong and said: "Your Majesty, I want to see this puffer fish law. Is it okay?"
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty laughed and said: "I have exactly what I want. All my dear friends, please go with me to see how Li Qi cooks this puffer fish."
"yes."
Song Huizong led a group of ministers and envoys to the downstairs.
When the guards on guard saw Song Huizong coming, they were about to salute. Song Huizong raised his hand to stop them and whispered to the crowd: "Let's just stand here and watch, so as not to disturb him."
When Heshi Liebohe saw all this, he was a little puzzled. Isn't it just cooking a dish? It's like a war. I want to try what kind of dish this is later. It requires such a big battle.
When Richard saw Li Qi throwing a yellow cloth bag into the furnace, he asked curiously: "Huh? What is he doing?"
Cai Jing explained: "He was burning the poisonous internal organs of the puffer fish. A small amount of these things can kill people, so they must be buried alive or burned."
Everyone nodded frequently, feeling fearful and vaguely expecting in their hearts.
Duan Zhengwen saw five stoves placed on the pavilion, with a large steamer on one, a stew pot on another, and large pots on the other three. Master Li Qi and his apprentice were each standing in front of a table.
There is no connection between them. Is this three people cooking one dish, or three people cooking three dishes? I asked: "Do you need so many stoves to make puffer fish?"
Cai Jing shook his head and said, "I don't know. When Gao Taiwei and I saw him making it, we just used a stove to make it."
It was the first time for everyone to see this kind of cooking method, and they were very curious, but they did not dare to go forward and ask, so they had to stand and watch.
After a while, Li Qi suddenly threw another yellow bag into the furnace, took off his gloves, changed off his apron, threw them all into the furnace, and then carried the bowl to the long table on the far left.
"Woof woof woof."
At this time, a dog barked suddenly from the opposite side. Everyone looked for the sound and faintly saw a few guards leading four dogs to a big tree, and then tied the dogs to the big tree.
Richard asked curiously: "What is this dog used for?"
Liang Shicheng flattered and said with a smile: "This is the emperor's idea. According to Li Qi, when inviting guests to eat pufferfish, he had to taste it first. The emperor thought it was too risky, so he ordered some dogs to be brought in.
The dog tries it first, which is safer."
"The Emperor's Holy Ming."
Some people whispered.
"Where, where."
Song Huizong waved his hands, but his face looked proud.
Everyone watched for a while, and then returned to the attic. After a while, Gao Ping walked in with his last delicacy. This was the final decisive battle.
When everyone saw the dish he cooked, they immediately exclaimed: "Roasted suckling pig!"