Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 651 - 0606: Cunning Plan to Explore the Village (2)
He mentioned a few of his signature dishes.
The dishes he knew were all learned from Li Yuzhu.
Ah Qing thought to herself, surprisingly, this Mr. Li has quite a few skills, including cooking.
Her young lady has good fortune.
Ah Qing said, "Mr. Li, please make do with some food first, and later, follow me to the kitchen to share experience with the cooks."
Li Xingsheng nodded, "No problem, no problem."
Lou Chengye and Li Xingsheng made do with the meal at Feihu Village.
The dishes are hard to describe, but the rice was decent.
But then again, the rice tasted good because of the quality of the grain, not much effort was put in by the cook.
Zhen An Prefecture produces a type of fragrant rice; as long as the water and fire are just right, the taste won’t be too bad.
However, the rice delivered by the Feihu Village had too much water and lacked the proper steam treatment.
The rice was neither porridge nor proper rice.
It’s suitable for the elderly and children with no teeth.
Lou Chengye, being a small servant, was not allowed to follow Li Xingsheng into the kitchen to cook; there were plenty of idle loiterers there.
Just randomly call a few people, and you can gather a cooking team of thirty.
Li Xingsheng followed Ah Qing to the kitchen.
Halfway there, they encountered a middle-aged tall and thin man with one blind eye.
This man was missing one eye, his exact age was hard to tell, probably about thirty-five or thirty-six.
"Second Master," Ah Qing stepped aside, clasping her fists in greeting.
"Is this the one your young lady fancies?" The one-eyed man, with arrogant and fierce expression, pointed at Li Guangsheng.
Li Xingsheng scrutinized the man, although he had only one eye, his gaze was fierce, not like a good person.
Then again, how many good people are there in Feihu Village?
Ah Qing, with her head down, replied, "No, this is just a cook brought by Miss Ling to cook for the Big Master."
"A cook?" The Second Master surveyed Li Xingsheng, and with a half-smile, said, "Once the Big Master’s meal is done, make some for me as well, I will pay a high price."
Ah Qing’s face changed.
But unexpectedly, Li Xingsheng said, "Thank you, Second Master, for your appreciation."
The one-eyed man glanced at Li Xingsheng, snorted lightly, and walked away.
Ah Qing breathed a sigh of relief and nodded at Li Xingsheng, "Let’s go, Mr. Li."
Li Xingsheng kept looking back at the one-eyed man until Ah Qing urged him a second time, he finally turned his head around.
The kitchen at Feihu Village was built next to a small waterfall, although a bit noisy, it was easy for washing.
The kitchen was spacious and bright, five or six people were busy inside.
There were those washing bowls, washing vegetables, the head chef checking dishes, chopping firewood, managing the stove.
Division of labor was quite clear.
Ah Qing went over and called out to everyone, "This is Mr. Li, he will be cooking here starting today, cooperate with him."
Ah Qing is Ling Yuezi’s head maid, and Ling Yuezi is the Big Master’s adopted daughter; the people in the kitchen immediately responded respectfully, "Yes, Miss Ah Qing."
Li Xingsheng took a tour around the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, picked up a large bowl, and cracked three eggs into it, beating the egg mixture.
Then, he ladled a spoonful of lard into the egg mixture and added a little salt.
His method for preparing the egg mixture was unique.
When bubbles formed in the egg mixture, Li Xingsheng gently skimmed them with chopsticks.
"I want to make Hibiscus Steamed Egg, light the fire," Li Xingsheng nodded to the person managing the stove.
The person managing the stove stuffed a handful of dry hay into the stove, added some fine wood, and began to light the fire.
Water was already in the pot; Li Xingsheng placed bamboo strips on top, put the bowl containing the egg mixture on the bamboo strips, and then inverted another bowl over it.
The person at the stove thought to himself, will eggs cooked this way get done?
But with Ah Qing watching, he dared not ask.
Once the large flame inside the stove brought the water to a boil, Li Xingsheng told the person at the stove to reduce the heat.
After some time had passed, Li Xingsheng instructed the stove person to extinguish the flame, but he didn’t lift the lid right away, letting the residual heat continue to warm the pot.
After a while, Li Xingsheng finally lifted the lid.
In the rising steam, Li Xingsheng removed the inverted bowl.
Ah Qing leaned in to look and found the egg mixture was done. Different from before, the steamed egg had no tiny bubbles, being smooth and tender custard.
"It’s ready." Li Xingsheng picked up two dry cloths and took out the bowl.
Ah Qing immediately brought over a tray to catch it.
"Mr. Li is quite a chef." praised Ah Qing.
"It’s a small skill," Li Xingsheng didn’t humble himself.
Ah Qing inverted a bowl over the custard bowl to hold the heat, she carried the tray, led Li Xingsheng to another large courtyard in the village.
This courtyard was larger; most of the people waiting inside were men.
Someone approached Ah Qing, "Miss Ah Qing."
"Is Miss Ling at Big Master’s place?" Ah Qing asked the person.
"Miss Ling just arrived." After saying this, the person looked at Li Xingsheng behind Ah Qing, "Miss Ah Qing, who is this?"
"Oh, Miss Ling invited him; he can cook food for patients, and he just made a special egg custard, I’m bringing it to let the ill Big Master have a taste."
Ah Qing continued forward.
They passed through a corridor and arrived in front of a large room.
Two people stood by the door as attendants.
Seeing Ah Qing approaching, the two pulled up the bamboo curtain to let them through.
The room was very spacious, with over a dozen large chairs neatly arranged on both sides.
Behind the chairs were carved wooden screens.
Ah Qing led Li Xingsheng behind the screen.
Li Xingsheng saw a middle-aged, large man lying on a big bed.
The man’s complexion was very haggard, his mouth crooked, as he spoke with Ling Yuezi who was sitting on a small stool by the bed.
