[Red Mansion] A little chef came to the Grand View Garden

In the early morning of the next day, Ping'er and Xiaohong came into the Grand View Garden hand in hand, inspecting the preparations for the crab feast in the small kitchen for Sister Feng, and at the same time sending in news that made Liu's mother tremble with fear.

"The cook from the Dongfu saw that Xue's preparations are quite good. The cook from the Dongfu has already said that they are invincible. They plan to do something in normal times and do something today. So grandma Tell me to come in and see how you are doing here." Ping'er said, looking at the ingredients lined up in the small kitchen, he couldn't help frowning.

"Sister Ping'er," it was Liu Mei who said, "Today we are sure that we won't let the cook of the Xue family steal the limelight. However, this must require my sister to do us a favor, otherwise we can't do it. "

Ping'er looked at Liu Mei, seeing her speak so bluntly, couldn't help being stunned.

Liu Mei was very calm: come and don't be indecent, since Sister Feng made a request, they should provide the assistance that should be provided.

Xiao Hong was at the side, gently pulling the corner of Ping'er's clothes.Ping'er nodded, then turned to look at Liu Mei.

"Sister Ping'er, please come here with your ear." Liu Mei stepped forward, moved closer to Ping'er's ear, and said something.

After hearing this, Ping'er rolled his eyes, nodded and said, "This is easy, don't worry!"

Liu Mei was overjoyed, but Liu's mother was mixed.

Ping'er took Xiaohong and turned around and walked out. When she reached the door of the small kitchen, she turned her head and said gently: "Today's matter seems irrelevant, but it is also very important to our grandma. Ping'er hereby advances Thanks Aunt Liu, Auntie must not let our grandma down!"

Mother Liu's face suddenly became more serious.

Liu Mei thought on the sidelines, Ping'er is always gentle and polite, but what she said just now is actually not light compared to Sister Feng's threat of "throwing him out directly".It can be seen that sometimes this pair of master and servant, one who sings the red face and the other sings the bad face, when matched together, the effect is... quite good.

Mother Liu looked at Liu Mei tremblingly, "Mei'er, is what you said really all right?"

Liu Mei smiled, "Mother, it's too late to do other things now, mother. Why don't you just do what you need to do right now."

As she said that, she had already started to light a fire under the stove, preparing to steam the steamer.Before that, she had discussed with Liu Mu that [-] crabs should be steamed first, and then the crab roe, crab paste and crab meat would be taken out together to make crab powder.Crab shells and claws are taken out separately to boil crab juice.

For the rest of the crabs, wait for Jia Mu and others to enter the garden, and they will be steamed in the pot together.

Not long after, Jia Mu and her party entered the Grand View Garden.When she saw the lotus root and Champs Pavilion, Jia's mother praised it first.Seeing Jia Mu happy, Xiangyun's face felt bright, so naturally he did not forget to mention Baochai's arrangement.In front of Aunt Xue, everyone naturally praised Baochai.

All of a sudden everyone was seated.Li Wan was the only one serving at Jiamu's table, and Sister Feng was nowhere to be seen.

Mother Jia sighed: "It's a pity, girl Feng said today that she is not feeling well. This child is usually strong, but since she said that she is not feeling well today, she must really be unable to hold on. I ordered her to rest."

Then, Mother Jia turned to Mrs. Xing: "You mother-in-law, remember to go and see if you have invited a doctor. If you can't find it, please go to Doctor Wang. Their children are ignorant, so I'm afraid they don't know the severity."

Mrs. Xing got up quickly, and Mother Jia gave up.

Usually, Sister Feng and Li Wan served at the table, but now Li Wan was the only one, so the table was very silent, and everyone was bored.

Behind Li Wan, Ping'er said quietly: "Grandma, what do you need, I'll help you! The steamed crabs are outside right now, just tell me, and I'll bring them in!"

Li Wan didn't have many ideas at first, and others would not go to her if they had something to do.Hearing what Ping'er said, she turned her head and saw Xiangyun talking enthusiastically with Baoyu and the others. She nodded immediately and said, "Send it in!"

So the maids and servants from outside filed in, and first sent mung bean noodles in, preparing for everyone to wash their hands.The wine-warming stove next to it also warmed the wine.

Li Wan stood in front of Jiamu and others, peeling crabs for Jiamu and others.But she is alone, too busy.When Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue and others saw it, they all said, "Break the incense yourself, don't let me go."Baoyu and the others also refused to bother Li Wan to do it, so they either asked their maid to help, or they did it themselves.

So Li Wan only devoted himself to serving Jia Mu.

Mother Jia felt that something was missing, so she had to ask herself, "Don't take more crabs, put them in the steamer, and take them after you eat them!" Don't eat too much of Yu'er, be careful to accumulate cold air in your heart"...I was so busy that even Mrs. Wang didn't dare to live in peace. Fortunately, there was a mandarin duck with Ping'er, and the two were always serving by the side.

When they were young, everyone had eaten for a round, and Baoyu and the others all came down to see the title of the chrysanthemum poem made by Xiangyun Baochai.

Daiyu only ate some meat from her son's crab clips, then put down the chopsticks and stopped eating, sat alone, watched the fish for a while, and then came back, saying that she wanted to drink some wine.

She just reached out to get the self-pouring jug filled with wine, but she saw Liu Mei standing in front of her with a smile on her face. She brought another small silver jug ​​with pine, bamboo and plum patterns in her hand, poured a cup, and handed it to Daiyu: "Lin Girl, here is the shochu infused with silk juniper flowers, just hot."

Daiyu laughed: "You girl, you really..."

She took the small cup in Liu Mei's hand, took a sip, then put it down, and asked Liu Mei with a smile: "Why doesn't Meier go with them to eat?"

Liu Mei shook her head and said, "Crab dishes will be served later!"

Daiyu wondered: "There are also crab dishes? Most of them are tired after eating this starter crab. Where can I eat crab dishes?"

Liu Mei nodded with a smile, and praised Daiyu in her heart for knowing her intentions, "It's just that grandma and girls have eaten crabs, and the cold will accumulate in their stomachs, so they always need some food to cushion, and some snacks, so it's okay." gone."

She turned her head to look at Baochai and the others, who were already gathered under the corridor of the Ouxiangxie. She immediately smiled and said, "I won't delay the girl's display of her poetic talent. I will prepare a snack for the girl later, and when the girl wins the chrysanthemum poem Kui, remember to try it."

Daiyu couldn't help laughing, covered her mouth and said with a smile: "How do you know..."

After all, she still has this talent and arrogance, immediately put down the small cup in her hand, nodded and said, "Mei'er, anyway, thank you for your good words, after I write those poems, I will come back to taste your snacks."

After finishing speaking, Daiyu got together with Baochai and the others.

Liu Mei stood by the corridor of the Ouxiangxie, looking at the situation in front of her, she couldn't help but feel a little proud.

There were two tables in the lotus root champagne, and another two tables in the corridor. By this time, everyone had eaten for a while, and the tables were covered with crab shells and claws, which was quite a mess.Jia's mother stopped eating, and Mrs. Wang and others also stopped.

Daiyu was right - after eating this kind of starter crab, you will get tired of trying anything else, and if you serve abalone and sea cucumber at this time, everyone will probably lose their appetite.

This is Liu Meishi's petty eyesight.

Because of Qingwen's flamboyant appearance last night, she thought of the crab feast.Mother Jia and the others ate crabs just for fun. Naturally, the big steamed crabs were eaten by themselves, which were fresh and interesting.

So this steamed crab is the protagonist of the table. The task of the chef is actually to add icing on the cake, not to overwhelm the guests.

However, the premise of forming this situation is that everyone will do it together as soon as they come up, and each of them will eat a big crab.It would be more difficult if crab dishes were served on the head of the big kitchen as soon as it came up.

That's why Liu Mei asked Ping'er to help her cheat—this can't be considered cheating, the only request she asked was to ask Ping'er to help, so that the big crabs steamed from their small kitchen would be delivered to everyone's as soon as possible hand.

This is very simple for Ping'er, it's just a small matter behind Li Wan's back, but it determines whether Liu Mei and the others will be able to suppress the powerful foreign cooks in the future.

Coincidentally, the crabs steamed by Liu Mei and the others in their small kitchen were divided into one share, and the first round was almost eaten.Liu Mei used to be very worried, fearing that before everyone was tired of eating, Xue's crab dishes would be delivered.

It just so happened that the chef in the East Mansion probably gave up on himself, so he didn't bother to make any effort, and just steamed all the crabs he got, and sent them up, which led to the current situation.

The cook invited by Xue's family is probably still waiting.

After all, Aunt Xue is only focused on talking with Mrs. Jia Muwang, while Baochai... Baochai is composing poems.

Sure enough, not long after, Jia Mu told Li Wan at the banquet, "Ask if the kitchen has prepared rice, porridge, etc. After eating these crabs, you have to make another cushion, and when you turn back, you will pour cold wind in the garden, and you will have a stomachache." .”

Only then did Aunt Xue think of the cooks hired by her family, and said: "Old lady, what a coincidence! My Pan'er happened to hire a few cooks. Seeing that they are good at cooking and good at cooking crab dishes, I ordered them to cook a few. Firstly, Pan'er is filial to the old lady, and secondly, the old lady is well-informed and wants to ask the old lady to comment on it, but it still catches your eye."

It happened that Li Wan came back and said to Jia Mu: "If you go back to the old lady, the chef brought by the small kitchen and Grandma Zhen have made some vegetables, rice, porridge, desserts, and some sweet soup."

When Jia Mu heard Li Wan say the word "vegetables", she became energetic.As she gets older, she misses the lighter, juicier fresh vegetables more and more after the greasy taste.He hurriedly said: "Bring them all together, bring them up. Everyone just pick and taste what you like. Zhu'er daughter-in-law, you sit first, and Yuanyang and Ping'er will replace you."

After hearing this, Aunt Xue hesitated.She thought Mother Jia would be serious about it, and ordered people to bring up the dishes prepared by Xue's family and taste them one by one.But now Aunt Xue herself felt a little empty and lonely in her stomach, those delicacies might not be able to comfort her, but it was not as good as a bowl of porridge or a piece of dim sum.

For a while, the big dishes from Xue's family and the snacks made by the kitchens of the East and West Second Mansions were brought up together at a discounted price.There are so many beautiful things in eyes, a full table is placed.