After blanching a whole chicken, spare ribs, and chicken feet, fry them, then add ham, dried scallops, and cuttlefish to simmer into a rich broth. Strain out the bones and dregs, then add soaked abalones, fish maw, dried scallops, and dried mushrooms. Simmer over low heat for two hours, and the extremely delicious Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is ready.
Just this one soup already represents the ultimate in earthly delicacies, but Li Ying still thought it wasn't enough. She had already planned a way to make it even better.
During this time, stuff ginger and scallions into a cleaned goose, rub it thoroughly to remove the fishy smell. Then stuff the stewed Buddha Jumps Over the Wall into the goose's belly. Seal the cut tightly, and then blow air between the skin and the meat to separate them.
Scald the goose with boiling water to set the skin, then hang it up to dry. Only a goose treated like this can have its fat fully forced out during roasting, resulting in crispy skin and tender meat.
If you want the roasted goose to have a bright red and shiny appearance, you need to boil a honey and crispy sugar water. After it cools down, carefully brush it on the surface of the goose and let it dry for another three hours.
Hang the whole goose up and roast it with fruit - wood charcoal and walnut charcoal. When the roasted goose comes out of the oven, its skin is dark red and it smells extremely fragrant.
Cut open the goose's belly, and the abalones have perfectly absorbed the fragrance of the roasted goose, while the goose meat has also absorbed the rich flavor of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. With the slight sweetness of the fruit - wood and the charred aroma of the charcoal, each bite of the crispy skin is fragrant and crispy, with the meat full of juice. It's hard to tell whether the inside or the outside of this roasted goose is more delicious.
Compared with the Roasted Goose with Hidden Delicacies, the preparation of another dish, "Hundred - Flower Chicken from the South of the Yangtze River", is much easier.
Debone a whole chicken and carefully peel off the skin, making sure to be gentle and not damage it at all.
Take fresh river shrimps, shell them, and pound them into a fine shrimp paste with the back of a knife. Add salt and cornstarch, and beat it repeatedly until it becomes sticky. Then add sugar and pepper to remove the fishy smell and enhance the freshness.
Finally, add egg white, crab meat, and very finely chopped fat meat to increase the richness and freshness of the shrimp dumplings. After adding a little sesame oil, stuff it tightly into the chicken skin.
After steaming the Hundred - Flower Chicken, pour boiling hot oil over it to fry the skin until it turns golden. Cut it into small pieces and arrange them on a plate in the shape of a chicken.
Boil white chrysanthemums with chicken broth, season it with salt and wine, thicken it with a thin layer of crystal starch, pour it over the chicken, and sprinkle a layer of chrysanthemum petals for decoration.
This Hundred - Flower Chicken is the top dish among the four famous dishes in the South of the Yangtze River. It has the name of chicken but no real chicken meat. The chicken skin is crispy, and the shrimp paste is elastic and smooth. Each bite is sweet and not greasy, with a faint and elegant floral fragrance. It's really praised by literati.
Li Ying also prepared several meaty dishes such as Tower - shaped Braised Pork, Stewed Pork Hock in Rock Sugar, Squirrel - shaped Mandarin Fish, and Eight - Treasures Gourd Duck, as well as some "innovative dishes" like Taibai Marinated Pork, Spicy Fish Balls, and Spicy Chicken. She made a whole table of dishes in a lively manner and calmly handed them to the maids and servants to serve.
Shopkeeper Wu stared at her in disbelief as she skillfully handled the pots and pans. Although he knew she was usually dexterous, he really didn't expect that as a woman, her cooking skills on the table were in no way inferior to the chefs in the Zizai Workshop.
He felt ashamed for a moment and even a little bit of guilt welled up in his heart.
If previously, his promotion of her was because of the "fish sauce" and he had some thoughts of reciprocation, even though he had seen her various ingenious ideas, he only regarded them as the lucky ideas of a country woman.
But now, as he watched the servants come in one after another, carrying plates of delicious and fragrant dishes, for the first time in his life, he had the feeling that "there are always people better than oneself and there is always a higher sky".
He was sincerely convinced. Looking at Li Ying, he thought for a moment and was about to apologize.
"Boss Li... I..."
Li Ying guessed his intention, but just waved her hand nonchalantly and interrupted him.
"Shopkeeper Wu, not yet. We don't know if today's dishes suit your master's taste."
However, she didn't feel the slightest bit of nervousness in her heart.
After all, even a person like Yan Lianzhi had been completely convinced by her cooking skills.
Sure enough, not long after, a message came from the banquet. The butler personally came to the kitchen to invite Shopkeeper Wu and Li Ying to go and answer some questions.
Li Ying meekly followed the maid who was leading the way. After passing through layers of pavilions and waterside terraces, she soon arrived at the banquet hall.
She kept her eyes down and stood respectfully at the lower position. She only heard the person sitting in the main seat among the guests say slowly, "The dishes today do have a novel taste."
Li Ying was secretly surprised in her heart - she vaguely felt that this voice was familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.
She carefully raised her eyes and stole a glance. From the corner of her eye, she vaguely saw a corner of a purple robe, and a pair of hands like old tree bark were rubbing a white jade pendant.
Who else could it be but the one who had had a "free meal" at her barbecue stall the other day!
She really didn't expect that this purple - robed man was the Minister of the Supreme Court. She couldn't help but feel secretly happy.
Su Buchi had told her clearly that if she wanted to find out the details of the Lu family's private salt case back then and expose the long - term secret schemes and duplicity of the hypocritical Imperial Inspector Lin, she must do her best to win the favor of the Minister of the Supreme Court.
However, his fellow - apprentice brother, who had been demoted in a disguised way and was now the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, had been in office for many years, currying favor with people up and down. But this Minister of the Supreme Court was the most upright and incorruptible, and it was extremely difficult to get along with him. It was so hard to get in touch with him!
It was said that this person never socialized with his colleagues. Only his most trusted disciples could enter his mansion and have a home - cooked meal.
Lu Xunguang and she had tried their best, and Su Buchi had almost drunk himself to death at the dinner table, just hoping to meet a "noble person" who could take him into the Minister of the Supreme Court's mansion, but they never found a way and hadn't even seen this adult once.
Who would have thought that after searching high and low in vain, it came so easily!
When the Minister of the Supreme Court met her gaze, he immediately averted his eyes. Li Ying knew that he must be worried that as a vulgar person, she would have no sense of propriety and might blurt out the matter of his "free meal" in a hurry, losing his dignity. She couldn't help but find it funny.
So she simply pretended to have forgotten all about it and just politely saluted him.
"This commoner woman greets your Excellency."
Since she knew how to behave, the Minister of the Supreme Court felt very comfortable. He casually asked her a few questions about how each dish was made. Then, he waved his hand and ordered, "Miss Li, take the reward and stay for a while. Don't leave in a hurry. Wait until I ask the cook in the mansion to have a cooking competition with you before leaving."
Li Ying saluted again and said respectfully, "This commoner woman will follow your Excellency's orders."