Zhang Shou remembered that he had tasted dishes like copper pot fish in Yunnan in his previous life. The most important word was spicy, so before chili peppers were popularized, he recommended this century-old restaurant to Ah Liu.
In fact, he had some doubts. However, he was not familiar with Tongzhou at all, and Ge Yong was happy to recommend him any place to stay, so he chose this one for the time being.
At least, if the equally naughty Ah Liu can say that the food is delicious, then it shouldn't be too bad.
Because of this, Teacher Ge tasted the dishes he cooked twice when he was in Cangzhou. Not only did he adapt well to peppers, but he also showed considerable love for them.
After leaving, he went to the kitchen in person, intending to watch the shopkeeper's cooking of fish in a copper pot. If it didn't work...
He wouldn't mind rolling up his sleeves and putting on a show of personally serving the chef to honor his master, and maybe it would become a legend.
Although he was a little surprised that Zhang Shou came to the kitchen in person, even if the shopkeeper cherished his craftsmanship in the past, he would never dare to refuse Zhang Shou's observation at this time - but when he thought that his signature dish might become someone else's
It was one of the dishes served to the banquet guests, and he still couldn't help but feel a little distressed, especially when Zhang Shou asked him to cook the first pot for others.
Zhang Shou didn't expect that the shopkeeper was afraid of him stealing his skills. As he watched, he discovered that the copper pot was exactly the same as the copper pot in his memory. The auxiliary ingredients for cooking fish were also green onions and celery. As for other seasonings, they were quite common.
Yes, except that there is no chili. When he saw the shopkeeper's method again, he immediately understood that this was a spicy, salty and fresh copper pot fish, without the most important flavor of spiciness.
The shopkeeper saw that Zhang Shou seemed a little dissatisfied after looking at the main ingredients and auxiliary ingredients, so he boldly said: "Sir, there are many families in Tongzhou who make this copper pot fish. It is said that it was taught by Grandpa Taizu when he passed by.
The cook made it. The pots are the same, and the fish are mostly the same. But only our family can build this century-old restaurant because of my ancestral craftsmanship. If you don’t believe it..."
Before anyone could finish what he said, Zhang Shou chuckled and said, "Okay, I didn't question what you meant. It's just that the teacher and I have a bit of a strong taste, so I specially brought some seasonings for you to stir-fry onions and ginger.
After that, add this flavor to me and stir-fry it together, and then add the fish and water."
Seeing that the shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then nodded after hesitating for a moment, Ah Liu took out a porcelain jar and handed it over without saying a word. Seeing that the shopkeeper took it carefully, he glanced at Zhang Shou and then said hard.
Said: "I'm watching here."
Zhang Shou didn't know that this boy was robbed because of the rice noodle seller Xu Ba, and now everyone seemed to be robbed. After seeing the shopkeeper open the porcelain jar, he looked at the red dried chili inside, with curiosity on his face.
He smiled and said: "This is called chili pepper. Well, just think of it as something similar to Sichuan peppercorns. This is a transplanted spice brought from overseas. It has a unique taste."
The shopkeeper didn't expect that his own shop would one day use precious spices from overseas. His eyes lit up and he was extremely excited. So when Zhang Shou turned around and left, he quickly concentrated on making the next pot of fish in a copper pot.
He was sautéing onions, garlic, and celery in a copper pot, and when he was about to open the porcelain jar and put the mysterious chili pepper in, he couldn't help but glance sideways at Ah Liu.
"I dare to ask, brother, do you want to put them all in?"
Ah Liu was finally startled this time, and hurriedly jumped forward, shouting in a deep voice: "Leave it less!"
If his wrist hadn't been held tightly by someone, the shopkeeper doubted that he would have poured all the can of chili into it with a shake of his hand! However, even though he was careful enough, when he next saw Ah Liu staring at him eagerly,
He couldn't help but tremble as he watched himself adding this unheard of condiment. His hands couldn't help but tremble.
Just like that... the excess amount of chili peppers followed his gesture and fell directly into the pot! Immediately afterwards, the extremely strong smell hit his nose, scaring him to retreat in a hurry and hit him repeatedly.
He sneezed several times and didn’t even know when the porcelain jar in his hand was taken away by Ah Liu!
At that moment, the shopkeeper, who had been cooking all his life, felt that his mind went blank, as if he had gone back to the time when he first learned to cook from his father when he was a child. Because he was too nervous, he used sugar as salt in the pot - that time, he was beaten by his father.
He was beaten to death because sugar was much more expensive than salt and it was a waste of a pot of delicious food. Afterwards, his father forced him to eat all the pot of sweet fish.
To this day, he still remembers the weird smell of sweetness... The only good thing is that the next spanking made him at least remember that when sneezing, he should step back and turn sideways, and never face pots and pots.
Seasoning. Because in the opinion of the stubborn father, even if the guests cannot see it, it is the greatest blasphemy to the diet!
It wasn't until Ah Liu coughed heavily that the shopkeeper, who was caught in a memory-killing and sneezing frenzy, suddenly came back to his senses. When he saw that Ah Liu was actually stir-frying the condiments on his behalf, he hurriedly found paper to blow his nose clean.
, and then he just washed his hands and came back to take the wooden spatula, feeling very happy that this fierce little brother could actually use his hands.
Otherwise, after just a short time, it would be a mess!
His nose was still a little unhappy, and he begged for mercy in a low voice: "Brother, I know this seasoning is very precious, I didn't mean it..."
"Needless to say!" Ah Liu solemnly held the porcelain jar he just grabbed in his hand, glared at the shopkeeper angrily, and then said impatiently, "Don't waste time, do your thing quickly.
vegetable!"
Seeing that someone was in trouble, but he didn't seem to want to continue to investigate, the shopkeeper couldn't help but tremble. After he finished frying all the ingredients, he added fish pieces and stir-fried. Seeing that the heat was almost done, he added broth, covered the lid and simmered.
He couldn't help but wipe his sweat when he thought that the next step would be to simmer on low heat so that he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
But he found that Ah Liu was still standing nearby, and he suddenly became a little curious. Just now, this little brother was watching, and it could be explained that he was afraid that he would abuse or even steal this precious seasoning, but now it has been taken care of, and people
Why are you still standing by?
However, before he could ask the question in his mind, Ah Liu took the initiative to answer it for him: "When it's ready, give me a bowl to taste."
The shopkeeper almost stared out of his eyes. Could this be a poison test? The last time the prefect lived at his place, although there were people who came to the kitchen from time to time to check, no one tried the poison first. However, just think about it.
The difference between a magistrate and a dignified grand master, although he felt a little aggrieved, he still smiled and agreed. But the reason Ah Liu said next made him even more stunned.
Seeing that the shopkeeper seemed a little reluctant, Ah Liu said in a more serious tone, "I recommended you to the young master. If you don't cook well and waste the seasonings, then I recommended the wrong person. Do you understand?"
This time, the shopkeeper finally took a serious look at Ah Liu, and then finally remembered that this was indeed the guy who passed by his shop a few months ago and ate a pot of fish in one go! It was just that at that time
He came alone, but now he was accompanied by Taishi Ge and his group. He didn't recognize him at all! Who made this young man look...without any characteristics?
He who was originally trembling suddenly beamed, and then he patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, little brother! You brought such a distinguished old man as Taishi Ge to our century-old store, I will definitely use my 18 skills to live up to you."
Highly recommended! You can rest assured that it will taste delicious, and if it doesn’t, you won’t have to pay for it!”
Ah Liu glanced at the shopkeeper with disdain: "It's not delicious? Then I'll have to replace it."
The shopkeeper was immediately dumbfounded. Did he take the cook with him when he went out? He was really an old lady, this was such a grand display! But immediately after, he realized that he had completely gone astray. Because Ah Liu took a look at the kitchen, and then
He said to himself: "The young master is very naughty. If it really doesn't taste good, maybe he will come down and cook it himself."
Although he had been talking about Taishi Ge just now, being in Tongzhou, the shopkeeper was not blocked in information. Of course he knew that Zhang Shou was the future son-in-law of Zhao Guogong in the capital. He was favored by the emperor in the court and was a popular doctor of the Imperial Academy.
The teacher of a lot of dandies.
At this time, when he thought that his small shop would probably be reduced to Dr. Zhang washing his hands, making soup, and cooking to serve as a foil, he had an unprecedented sense of crisis. So, next, Ah Liu witnessed it with his own eyes.
The specialty of a truly top chef.
I saw that the kitchen knife was as fast as lightning, and the various side dishes almost turned into flowers under the shopkeeper's knife. Even if they were just arranged on the plate before being put into the pot, it was still pleasing to look at, even though they had not yet tasted it.
, but the young man looked at it and still showed a quite satisfied smile.
With such good knife skills and good presentation, plus he has tasted it himself, it should be able to satisfy the naughty young and old.
And when Zhang Shou helped Ge Yong and ordered people to call the two accompanying students to come down for dinner, the shopkeeper had already brought his son, nephew and grandson and presented four dishes and one soup, including fish in a copper pot.
According to his original intention, he originally tried his best to make more, but was stopped by Ah Liu directly, saying that the copper pot fish weighing four kilograms was at least one dish worth three dishes, which was enough.
The little peanuts, the little monk Guantao, and the accompanying guards occupied the four tables next to them. The dishes were almost the same as those of Zhang Shou Ge Yong. The only difference was that the fish in the copper pot became a copper pot.
Chicken - there were only three fresh fish in total, and the previous guests had reserved two, so the rest were naturally not enough. In front of the young monk, there was a vegetarian dish.
At this moment, the guests were also shouted and greeted by the shopkeeper to come down to eat. Originally, they planned to wait until Zhang Shou and his party finished eating, but the shopkeeper shouted that it was Taishi Ge's order and there was no need to be rigid. These people also
He was really unconventional. As he came down one by one, he took advantage of the condescending position at the beginning to peek at what was being eaten in the other compartment.
When they discovered that there were only four dishes and one soup on the table of the dignified Imperial Master, some people couldn't help but exclaimed: "Grand Master Ge is really simple. I still eat like a first-class official, and I have to collect pearls all the time."
A table full of them!”
The guest who spoke didn't shut up in a hurry until he realized that his voice was too loud. Then he followed the other two companions in despair to his table under the guidance of the waiter, only to find that he was actually talking to the old lady Ge.
The teachers are next to each other. As long as you stand on tiptoe and look around, you can clearly see what is on the table!
As soon as he sat down bravely, he heard Ge Yong's laughter in his ears: "A first-grade official needs a meal of ten or eight dishes. That's either a rich family and no worries about food or luxury."
He is a corrupt person by nature. My family is just a small fortune, and I have sons and grandsons. I can’t eat it all by myself and leave nothing to them, so of course I have to save a little.”
Seeing that the guest who just commented on the lack of food hurriedly stood up, as if he wanted to apologize in a hurry, Zhang Shou raised his glass with a smile and said: "Teacher is just joking with you. In fact, the teacher just pities me, a student with a poor family background."
, so he went out of his way to save money for me. As a master of arithmetic like the teacher, he naturally knows best how to live within his means and never waste anything."
Hearing what Zhang Shou said, there was a burst of compliments from all around. The guest who originally wanted to apologize also sat down at Zhang Shou's gesture.
And it was only then that Ge Yong glanced sideways at Zhang Shou with a half-smile but not a smile - just now, he wanted to put gold on his face, he, a close disciple, really didn't remember to support him all the time!
If his former students dared to be so disgusting, he would have smashed them over with a chopstick! But who made Zhang Shou have so many strange contents in his stomach that he could study them day and night?
And when Zhang Shou took a pair of clean chopsticks and gave him a chopstick fish, he took the first bite. His original casual expression immediately changed. Then, he immediately looked at the two people opposite him.
Some shy future disciples said: "Don't be polite when eating. Eat it while it's hot. Don't wait until it cools down. The taste won't be right!" If you don't eat it, you won't be able to eat it!
After saying this, Ge Yong caught a glimpse of Ah Liu standing in the corner of the store, his eyes roving around like a hawk, so he shouted: "Ah Liu, stop standing there, this is not in the wilderness.
, come and eat together!”
When Ah Liu saw Zhang Shou looking at him with a smile, he coughed lightly and said, "I ate in the kitchen first!"
"This kid is always like this outside. Unless he hunts game or catches fish with his own hands, and then sees what I cook, he will sit down and eat together. Otherwise, he must have finished eating first and then stood guard next to me.
.”
Zhang Shou explained to Ge Yong, and then pointed to the copper pot and said: "Teacher, do you believe it? If this fish originally weighed five kilograms, now there are four more kilograms on the top of the pot. If there are four kilograms, there are now at most three kilograms in it."
Jin? If you don’t believe it, we can ask the shopkeeper.”
The people on the side had already been a little stunned. However, what made them even more stunned was that Zhang Shou waved to the shopkeeper to ask questions. The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, and then said hesitantly: "The boy ate two bowls of fish.
, which is about a pound. However, he still ate half the pot of mutton and a bowl of rice by himself."
Hearing that rice can be measured in a basin, Ge Yong finally raised eyebrows. He glanced at Ah Liu, who still looked as usual, coughed angrily and said: "Since he has eaten, forget it, let's eat! You three
Don’t be embarrassed young people, I can tell you that I am not young, but I have a very good appetite!”