Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

Everyone took their seats at Liu Haizhong's invitation. Xu Damao was invited to the main table. At the same table were Liu Haizhong and his son, Yan Bugui and his son, the two hosts and the parties involved, as well as the two guests, Pian'erye and Cai Quanwu. The remaining two seats were reserved for the two chefs who were still cooking. They couldn't let them work in vain, right?

When Sha Zhu saw his second uncle coming and sitting at the main table, he felt that he was valued. It must be because of him that his second uncle sat at the main table. However, Sha Zhu only had time to raise his hand to say hello, and then continued to concentrate on cooking. This was a competition, and he couldn't be distracted, otherwise who would he complain to if he lost!

At this time, all the big pot dishes were served and everyone started to eat. Only Yu Li and Qin Jingru were left waiting to serve the dishes and the first and second aunts were making a fire. If the head of the family didn't work at this time, who would?

After the last dish was cooked, Nan Yi and Sha Zhu quickly cleaned up and sat down to eat. Everyone at the table was waiting for them!

This made the two of them quite satisfied, especially Sha Zhu, who felt that his status was extraordinary. In fact, if they were just simple chefs, they would definitely not wait for them, but they were neighbors in the yard and everyone had to taste their dishes in front of them so that they could decide the winner.

"Come on, our two chefs are here. Let's toast them first. It's their hard work that makes so many delicious dishes for us." Liu Haizhong said, raising his glass.

Nan Yi and Sha Zhu kept declining, but when everyone raised their glasses, they just drank it up.

"This second glass is to welcome the safe return of Jiefang and Guangtian." Yan Bugui also raised his glass and said.

Everyone raised their glasses and drank it all. Fortunately, the wine glasses they used today were not big, otherwise those with low alcohol tolerance would have had a hard time drinking.

Then Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui looked at Xu Damao, meaning that you should quickly drink a cup so that they can start eating.

Xu Damao was not polite. He filled the glass with wine and said, "Then I'll say this too. I hope everyone's life will get better and better. Cheers!"

"Dry!"

After drinking three glasses of wine in a row, everyone looked a little drunk.

Nan Yi pointed to the dishes he made on the table and said, "I made these dishes. Everyone, try them first and give your comments."

Everyone was not polite and picked up their chopsticks to pick up the food and put it into their mouths.

"Mm, delicious! So delicious!"

"It's better than the food I've had in big restaurants."

“Really good, very good reviews!”

"Nan Yi, why are you looking at me? I'm not saying that eating your cooking every day is almost the same, but today's dish is indeed very delicious. It's obvious that you put a lot of effort into it." Xu Damao said as he saw Nan Yi staring at him.

"If you don't give me a good review, I will definitely not invite you when I make something delicious next time!" Nan Yi said.

Sha Zhu beside him also tasted a few dishes of palace dishes made by Nan Yi. The style and presentation were very exquisite. From a professional point of view, his cooking skills were similar to his, at most slightly higher, but ordinary people could not taste this difference at all.

Seeing that Nan Yi's dishes were well received, Sha Zhu was a little anxious, "Everyone, don't just praise him, try my Sichuan and Tan dishes, those dishes over there are all made by me."

In the past, whenever someone in the courtyard had a happy event, they would ask him to be the chef. Sha Zhu only cooked Sichuan cuisine, and no one had ever tasted the Tan family cuisine cooked by Sha Zhu.

To be honest, Sha Zhu hadn't mastered the cooking of Tan's cuisine before his father He Daqing passed away. Although He Daqing left him a recipe, the ingredients of Tan's cuisine were hard to come by, and he had almost no chance to practice. Sha Zhu was a little unsure about the Tan's cuisine he was cooking, but he was more confident about Sichuan cuisine, so he wanted to urge everyone to try it.

At Sha Zhu's request, everyone picked up their chopsticks and tasted the dishes. Sha Zhu's Sichuan cuisine is relatively simple in ingredients, and he has been cooking for a long time, so the taste is still very good. In particular, Sichuan cuisine is spicy and fresh, which is very suitable for eating with rice, and is very popular.

"Delicious, this mapo tofu is so delicious, it melts in your mouth."

"My eldest nephew's cooking skills are really good. In the future, I will promote it to you more so that you can make some extra money." Cai Quanwu said, patting Sha Zhu's shoulder.

Cai Quanwu has married Xu Huizhen two years ago. Xu Damao as a friend, and Shazhu and Yushui as relatives went to the tavern to attend their wedding banquet.

"Uncle, let's have a drink." Sha Zhu said, holding up the wine glass.

"Come on, let's do it together. Last time you said the wedding was postponed but you didn't explain it clearly. This time, can you tell me what's going on?" Cai Quanwu asked.

Sha Zhu then told Cai Quanwu the story of the deaf old lady. Cai Quanwu nodded repeatedly and praised Sha Zhu as a kind and righteous man, which made Sha Zhu very happy.

Over there, Yan Bugui was drinking with his cousin, apologizing repeatedly, saying that he really didn't know that his cousin had returned from visiting relatives, otherwise he would have invited him a long time ago.

As for Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiefang, they had already started eating without saying a word. The food they ate in the army was just so-so. Although they had some meat these days, it was the taste of their mothers' food that they had grown up with. How could it be as delicious as the dishes carefully prepared by the two chefs?

Xu Damao on the side was also slowly savoring the Tan family dishes made by Sha Zhu. When Ge Zi was in confinement after childbirth, he had eaten Tan family dishes made by his mother-in-law many times. The difference was obvious when comparing the two.

It has to be said that Sha Zhu is indeed talented in cooking. Although he has not cooked Tan's dishes many times, it is not easy for him to cook most of the dishes just by following recipes without the guidance of a famous chef.

Of course, Xu Damao's mother-in-law did not inherit the complete Tan family cuisine. The core Tan family cuisine is only passed down to men, not women. Lou's mother only learned a lot from her childhood. Another thing is that when she got married, she brought a not-so-complete recipe book with her. Lou's mother's cooking skills are mainly based on some experience and studying recipes.

Xu Damao estimated that the recipes left by He Daqing might not be very complete. The Tan family was not stupid and they must have kept one or several skills to make a living. Teaching the apprentice and starving the master to death was not just talk.

"Da Mao, can you tell me how my cooking of Tan's cuisine is? I guess you and your wife are the only ones who eat Tan's cuisine regularly." Sha Zhu swallowed his pride and risked his life to improve his cooking skills.

When Sha Zhu was a child, he followed He Daqing to the Lou family and cooked many times. He also saw his father cook Tan's dishes. He also knew that Lou Bancheng's wife was from the Tan family. His father and Mrs. Lou had discussed the cooking methods of Tan's dishes, so he directly asked Xu Damao for his evaluation.

"The heat is not quite right, and the broth doesn't taste good because it hasn't been simmered for many days. Overall, your research is pretty good, but you just lack the ingredients to practice with. To sum it up, the Sichuan cuisine you make is on par with the old Nan cuisine, but the Tan cuisine is a little worse." Xu Damao said quite pertinently.

Although Sha Zhu was somewhat unwilling, he also knew the weaknesses of his own Tan family cuisine. Authentic Tan family cuisine required soaking the ingredients and making the broth several days in advance, which was not enough time he had in the morning.

Nan Yi also patted Sha Zhu on the shoulder and said, "Victory and defeat are common in the military. Our ancestors were royal chefs and later opened the Yaheju Restaurant. I just have more experience than you. Winning or losing is not the purpose of our competition. In the future, we will put aside our hostility and exchange cooking skills to make common progress."