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

Xie Xiaochuan, who was on the opposite side, smelled the aroma of steamed dumplings in Liu Mei's hands, and for some reason, swallowed subconsciously.

And Liu Mei is a warm-hearted and good child. Seeing Xie Xiaochuan swallowing there, she subconsciously made a move that she herself regretted.

She conveniently stuffed the small bowl and chopsticks into Xie Xiaochuan's hands—who told him to be so greedy?

Liu Mei didn't save herself until everything was stuffed out: I made a fool of myself, this is my opponent!

But it was too late for her to take it back.

As soon as Xie Xiaochuan took the bowl and chopsticks, he was not polite, directly used the bamboo chopsticks used by Liu Mei, took the steamed dumpling with gray strips of vegetables, put it in his mouth, then closed his eyes, chewed in his mouth, and tasted silently.

Liu Mei looked at Xie Xiaochuan nervously, wondering what this talented cook would think of her simple steamed dumplings.In addition, she also wanted to use Xie Xiaochuan's expression changes to judge whether the two of them had a chance of winning.

Unexpectedly, after Xie Xiaochuan ate a whole steamed dumpling, he didn't say anything, and even his face still had that neither salty nor bland, oily or salty look.As soon as he stretched out his hand, he handed the bowl and chopsticks back.

But Liu Mei didn't pick it up - even if Xie Xiaochuan didn't despise the things she used, she would despise Xie Xiaochuan.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Xie Xiaochuan froze his arms in the air for two seconds, then turned around on his own, and put the dishes and chopsticks aside the stove.

The two turned their eyes away, and there was no communication since then.

Liu Mei secretly thought: Fortunately, everyone's dishes are almost ready at this time, otherwise the other party has tasted her own taste, so it would be good to try to restrain myself in terms of taste.

But she sneaked another look at Xie Xiaochuan's reaction, only to see that the other party was concentrating on the plate on her side, as if the steamed dumplings with gray strips that he tasted just now had no effect on him at all.

——Could it be that he feels that he has a chance to win?

Liu Mei quickly collected her mind, and also hurriedly packed up the dishes she had prepared and put them on the plate one by one.

In addition to the steamed dumplings with gray strips, the other dishes she cooked are also quite outstanding.

The pumpkin brought by Grandma Liu, also called pumpkin, was cut open from the top by Liu Mei, and the pumpkin seeds and flesh inside were taken out, and the outside pumpkin was steamed slightly until softened. It was used as a container for a three-fresh tofu and pumpkin stew. Only three kinds of open ocean, bacon, and fresh mushrooms are used, and they are stewed together with soft tofu and pumpkin until the umami flavor of the tofu and pumpkin is lifted out. Finally, only two kinds of tofu and pumpkin are taken and served in a pumpkin cup.

The dishes are actually very simple, but the advantage lies in the unique container, the tofu is mixed with the pumpkin pulp, the colors are bright and very beautiful.

The other two are also quite interesting.

One is dried eggplants, and the dried eggplants that Liu Mei got were all big pieces.She simply soaked the dried eggplant in warm water, and then made a stewed eggplant in oil according to the method of braised bamboo shoots in oil.The oil used was the same as the small portion of pork belly that she had left earlier, stir-fried over high heat to produce oil.Finally, when the dried eggplant was stewed, Liumei added some rock sugar. When the finished product came out, the plate was bright red, and it was hard to tell whether it was meat or eggplant.

And the gourd strips, that is, zucchini grown in long strips, are softened by willow eyebrow water, cut into inch-long pieces, and stir-fried with dried razor clams.The gourd strips are moderately soft and hard, and slightly tough when chewed, while the dried razor clam has a salty seafood flavor.When it came out of the pan, Liu Mei couldn't help but twitch her index finger due to the aroma of the gourd strips fried with dried razor clams.

Liu Mei looked at it for herself and felt full of confidence: these dishes, in terms of taste, must not lose to others.

But when she peeked at Xie Xiaochuan's work next to her, Liu Mei couldn't help being startled.

Xie Xiaochuan's processing method for the gray strip vegetables is the same as that of Liu Mei, soaking the vegetables in warm water to remove the moldy and dry smell.Then Xie Xiaochuan cut the gray strips that were already very thin, making it into a piece as thin as a cicada's wing.Then, Xie Xiaochuan stacked the gray sliced ​​vegetables with the same flat tip and ham that had been cut into the wings of a cicada one by one, then soaked it in the chicken juice, and simmered it slowly over a low heat.

Compared with Xie Xiaochuan, there is one advantage of Liu Mei's steamed dumplings with gray strips of vegetables: she chopped up the gray strips of vegetables to make stuffing, and wrapped all the dusty ingredients in the stuffing. .

However, Xie Xiaochuan's method is to peel the gray strips of vegetables until they are thin enough to be translucent, then overlap them between the flat tip and the ham, and then dunk them in the thick chicken sauce.In this way, although the gray strips are still gray and unattractive, once they pass between the red ham and the golden flat tips, they will immediately lose their eyesight and look ugly.

As for the dried eggplant, Xie Xiaochuan really took seven or eight chickens to go with it. He used chicken oil to fry the diced eggplant, and he used chicken stock when simmering it. Finally, he mixed it with freshly fried chicken breast.Knowing Xiao Chuan's approach, Liu Mei also felt that she was very foresight-Xie Xiao Chuan has the essence of the dishes of high-end families, and the dried eggplant in front of her is simply a Kuaishou version of eggplant.

In addition to the dried eggplant, Xie Xiaochuan also rolled the dried cowpea into balls and used it to simmer the hoof. Poured white bone broth soup.The dried cowpeas that have been stewed for a long time are rolled into balls with thread, floating and sinking in the bone soup in the sea bowl, but sucked away the fat from the stewed hooves.

Seeing this, Liu Mei couldn't help but want to praise Xie Xiaochuan's wit.

She knew that Jia Mu liked soft and rotten food, so Xie Xiaochuan's handling of the dried cowpea and hoof was just for Jia Mu's liking.It’s just that Xie Xiaochuan secretly made a trick. He actually put the cart before the horse. In this big dish, the hoof and tendons are the main ingredients, while the dried cowpea takes a back seat and is responsible for absorbing oil. It doesn't count.

Looking at the dishes the two made one by one, Mrs. Zhang, who came to urge the dishes, had a cloudy face, while Mother Liu, who came with her, had a dark face, as if she was not very optimistic about her daughter's results.

Liu Mei was also not sure about winning or losing.

Firstly, the other party is indeed a talented and talented cook, and secondly, Xie Xiaochuan's approach is indeed catering to Jia's family. The so-called "use the cheapest ingredients to make the most luxurious taste" is justly posted. In line with the family dignity of the Jia Mansion, even if the Jia Mansion flaunts its wealth, it is also elegant and easy to show off.

As for Liu Mei, she thought to herself that the taste of the dishes she cooked would not be inferior to that of Xie Xiaochuan, but she also knew that the dishes she made by herself, of course, paid attention to the original taste and simplicity, but it was because of this that she insisted on it. The original taste and simplicity may not be able to catch the eyes of the masters of the Jia family.

Therefore, seeing the expressions of Aunt Zhang and her mother at this moment, Liu Mei was even more sure that her chances of winning were not high.

But if you can't win, what's the big deal?As long as you can be worthy of yourself.

Liu Mei stared, and a thought flashed in her mind: at least, if Shiqing was here, she shouldn't be blamed for hastily overshadowing the original good taste of these local vegetables.

So, no pity!

It's just that this thought disappeared suddenly, and the next moment, Liu Mei tried her best not to think about Shi Qing anymore.

For a while, all the dishes were taught to the maids of Jia's mansion to put them in food boxes and take them away, and sent them to the Jinlou where Jia's mother hosted a banquet.

Since Liu Mei felt that her chances of winning were not great, she relaxed instead, humming some little tunes she heard from Mother Liu, and briskly tidied up the small kitchen by herself.

Xie Xiaochuan, on the other hand, seemed to attach great importance to the result, and was quite nervous. Instead of tidying up the kitchen utensils he brought, he paced back and forth in the small kitchen, frowning tightly, and looked up from time to time to see Liu Mei's reaction.The more relaxed Liu Mei was, the more anxious he became, as if something was on his mind and he couldn't make up his mind.

It took a long time to have a banquet at noon, and it took more than an hour before the news came down from above.

——As expected by Liu Mei, Xie Xiaochuan won.

"Mei'er, Meier, what a pity you are, many grandmas and girls like your dishes." The one who sent the message to the small kitchen was the lady in charge of the big kitchen, from Zhang Cai's family.Today, Xie Xiaochuan used up ten of her chickens at once, and all of them were taken from the big kitchen account, which made her feel a little pained.So as soon as Zhang Cai's family came back, they kept praising Liu Mei.

"Your Steamed Dumplings with Gray Tiao Vegetables is absolutely amazing. Even Master Bao said that he has never eaten such delicious dumplings."

Liu Mei smiled: "Aunt Zhang, I secretly left a few for you. They are raw and haven't been put into the pot yet. You can take them later. You only need to steam them for a quarter of an hour, and they will be delicious."

Zhang Cai's family believed more and more that Liu Mei was a good girl, and felt that it was a pity that Liu Mei lost.

"Your pumpkin stew is also very good. The old lady alone ate a big bowl. It's a pity..." Zhang Cai's family hesitated to speak.

Liu Mei made up for her in her heart—it's a pity that the old lady prefers the soft and crispy hoof and tendons, and others will naturally follow Jia Mu's words and praise Xie Xiaochuan.

"At the end of the day, everyone said that the dishes you cook are both good, and you can't tell them apart. It's just that the old lady and concubine are all there, and they are both in high spirits, so I still want to compete. In the end, the old lady asked I asked Grandma Liu to choose one. In the end, grandma pointed out the dish made by my younger brother. Actually, I want to see that..."

When Zhang Cai's family said this, their eyes rolled, and they stopped talking.

Liu Mei almost let out a "chi" laugh: she thinks about it, it's actually quite fair.After all, things are rare and expensive, and the princes and ladies in Jia's mansion seldom have the opportunity to taste the farm's local vegetables, and they feel extremely fresh when they enter the mouth, so Baoyu and others must be more on their side; I work with these own products every day, and once I taste the rich and expensive dishes made by Xie Xiaochuan, I will be amazed.

Now she has nothing to worry about—yesterday, she tricked Pinger and let Xie Xiaochuan make a table of crab dishes and pearls, and suffered a big loss; today, Xie Xiaochuan borrowed Grandma Liu's choice When you make up for it, the two ends are evened out.

But Xie Xiaochuan was not happy when he heard the news of victory.

He suddenly raised his right foot, rubbing his toes on the polished blue brick floor of the kitchen, and then quickly took off the buffalo leather apron hanging on his body, and put it in the crook of his arm.Next, Xie Xiaochuan raised his head and looked at Zhang Cai's house.

"Aunt Zhang, I still want to report the results of the school examination on these dishes in your family today. I wonder if it would be convenient for you to let me know."

Zhang Cai's family was shocked, "What, you won everything..."

Unexpectedly, Xie Xiaochuan turned his head to look at Liu Mei, and said lightly: "Obviously, I didn't win."

Liu Mei frowned: What's the matter?

Could it be that Xie Xiaochuan thinks that winning is not thorough enough, and feels that a tie and Grandma Liu's final decision are not worthy of his new generation of famous chefs?So this person is not reconciled, and he has to go to Jia Mu and Aunt Xue to talk about it in person?

Xie Xiaochuan ignored Zhang Cai's family's astonishment, frowned with Liu Mei, and insisted calmly: "Thank you, Mrs. Zhang, please speak for Tong Bing."

After all, he is a male chef, and he needs to avoid a thing or two when he enters the garden.

Zhang Cai's family originally thought that after the reward from the superiors came down, and as soon as they were sent to Xie Xiaochuan's arms, they would let him get involved with the guy and leave. It would be cheaper to not go to the old lady.

But now... Seeing that Xiao Chuan persisted, and seemed unwilling to leave unless he agreed, Zhang Cai's family had no choice but to agree, and it was still the same sentence: "I can only go back for you. But whether the superiors will agree or not?" ……hehe!"

Although Zhang Cai's family gave a "hehe", Xie Xiaochuan was called to the Zhuijin Tower to answer the question later, saying that he could just answer the question outside the curtain.

Liu Mei was a little bored, and thought, maybe it was because of Aunt Xue's face that Mrs. Jia's mother agreed to let Xie Xiaochuan answer the phone.

She couldn't help but guess what Xie Xiaochuan would say to Mother Jia and the others.

Liu Mei has experienced the crab feast earlier and today's farmhouse dishes, and also thinks that Xie Xiaochuan is a very talented cook.It's just that the two have different ideas about cooking together. Some things are like chickens talking to ducks, and there is no common language.

And this Xie Xiaochuan has probably never been willing to reveal half of his heart to others, he is the kind who can't make an emoji even if he is sap.Unlike Liu Mei, who can laugh when she wants to, cry when she is sad, and complain secretly in her heart when she can't laugh or cry.

But even so, Liu Mei also believed that this Xie Xiaochuan was indeed a formidable opponent.If Chef Shang from Hongshunlou were to face Xie Xiaochuan, she would also think that Xie Xiaochuan had at least a [-]% to [-]% chance of winning.

Just as he was thinking, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the small kitchen, and it was Mother Liu who rushed over.

Mother Liu, who rushed over under the sun, blushed with excitement, and said loudly to Liu Mei: "Mei'er, the old lady has sent a message for you to receive the reward... This time, the old lady is very generous, so generous." A reward."

She was so excited that she was incoherent, Liu Mei needed to automatically block her mother's constant calculation of how much of the dowry this reward would save her, in order to understand Liu's mother's description clearly——

She actually won? !

And the reason for winning this time was that Xie Xiaochuan went to Zhuijinlou to make a face-to-face confession and admitted defeat.Even if Mother Jia wanted to give Aunt Xue face, she didn't succeed, so she had to make two handfuls of slime as last time, and gave Xie Xiaochuan some rewards, which was hard work, and transferred the big gift package originally given to Xie Xiaochuan to Liu Mei .

Liu Mei was extremely surprised.

She didn't care about such jokes when Jia Mu hosted a banquet.But Xie Xiaochuan is different, Xie Xiaochuan still has the master's family above him, he has already won, but he forced himself to admit defeat, wouldn't it be embarrassing for Xue's family?

Moreover, such an arrogant cook could do such a thing of admitting defeat - she wouldn't believe it even if she was killed.

But even if Liu Mei didn't believe it was true, she was immediately pulled by her mother and went to Zhuijin Tower to thank her.

When they arrived at Zhuijin Tower, Mother Jia and others were listening to Grandma Liu's jokes. Everyone was hearing the funny part, and everyone laughed so hard that they couldn't pay attention to Liu Mei.So Ping'er came out, stuffed the rewarded things into Liu Mei's hands, nodded at her, and said, "Lian Er|Grandma asked me to tell you that you are fine." After speaking, Ping'er turned his head and smiled at Liu Mu, Whispered: "Aunt Liu, come with me."

So Mother Liu quickly followed Ping'er in, leaving Liu Mei standing outside alone, holding a lot of rewards in her hands in a daze.

She turned her head slightly, and saw that Xie Xiaochuan was standing alone outside the Jin Building, lost in thought, still wearing his buffalo leather apron.

Hearing the movement, Xie Xiaochuan raised his head.The eyes of the two collided immediately, Liu Mei couldn't help it, and asked, "Why?"

What she asked was, why did you throw in the towel?

Xie Xiaochuan lowered his head, rubbed the toes of his right foot on the ground, and replied coldly: "Go, go back and tidy up the small kitchen."

Liu Mei was stunned—this person...is giving orders to her?Hello, do I know you well?

Xie Xiaochuan ignored her, turned around and went to the small kitchen.

"Hey, do you think that I owe you a favor?" Liu Mei hurriedly followed.

She must clarify this matter, after all, she is also a proud cook.This kind of ambiguous "victory" is not wanted by others, and neither is she!

"Let's talk in the small kitchen." Xie Xiaochuan said in front.

Liu Mei paused for a moment, and hurried to follow, complaining hard in her heart to understand Xiao Chuan's tone of speech - as if she was really an acquaintance.

Both of them walked quickly, and after a while, they came to the small kitchen.

Earlier, the servants of Jia's mansion were still handling the ten chickens by the well at the entrance of the small kitchen, but now, Xie Xiaochuan, who used luxurious ingredients to match local vegetables from the farm, voluntarily surrendered.

"This time, the dishes you and I made each have their own advantages, and they are equal." Xie Xiaochuan, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped, turned his back to Liu Mei, and said this.

"Then why are you..." Liu Mei opened her mouth and wanted to ask back.

But before she could speak, she suddenly remembered the steamed dumpling.

"And this time, I thank you." At this time, Xie Xiaochuan turned around and looked at Liu Mei.The sun shone directly on his face, causing Xie Xiaochuan to narrow his eyes slightly.

"However, this matter is only once. If I confront you next time, I will naturally try my best to win. But you will have no chance of winning."

Liu Mei didn't listen to Xie Xiaochuan's war letter at all, and she didn't think that she would have the possibility of competing with Xie Xiaochuan again in the future.

She was startled, raised her head to look at Xie Xiaochuan, and asked hesitantly, "You thank me because of that dumpling?"

Xie Xiaochuan nodded, "Yes, because of that dumpling."

The warm autumn sun was dazzling, shining on his face, brilliantly concealing the slight sadness he inadvertently revealed.

"You have solved a puzzle that has puzzled me for a long time," he said.

The author has something to say: Liu Mei: Zongzi, Zongzi... It's the Dragon Boat Festival, why don't you come out?

Zongzi: Oh, I'm still staying in the author's Gagen tonight... Besides, I'm not a Zongzi yet.

Well, there is another update tonight, try not to be too late.