The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi also took a bite and squinted his eyes in satisfaction. This was as delicious as the beef liver he had eaten in a skewers restaurant when he traveled to Chongqing that year: "Seventh Brother, how is it?"

Yun Ji nodded: "Delicious! I didn't expect beef liver to taste like this."

Min Xi said, "Yeah, I ate it once before, and at that time I thought, how can there be something so delicious! It's even sweeter than beef."

"Yes." Yun Ji admitted.

The employees also tasted the beef liver and were so surprised that they were speechless. Even Gale was not so resentful anymore: "Boss, how come this beef liver is so delicious!"

Min Xi smiled and said, "It tastes good, right? Tomorrow I will refine the butter and use the beef bones to make broth, then you will know what delicious food is."

“Is tripe as good as liver?” Gale asked.

Min Xi nodded: "I think so. It has a different taste, it's crispier. I like it very much. I don't know if you like it."

Hearing him say this, everyone must be looking forward to it.

After dinner, Min Xi said to everyone, "I will teach Diego and Jasper how to make double skin milk in a while. Those who are willing to learn can stay and learn with me. But if you want to learn from me, you must meet my requirements." He repeated what he had said to Jasper last night.

Everyone said they could do it.

Min Xi added: "While I open a shop in Lisbon, you are not allowed to disclose any secret recipes to any of your peers, including dishes, snacks and staple foods. When we leave here and return to our country, we will no longer be subject to this restriction. However, if you want to have a foothold in this industry, you should not be stupid enough to tell the secret recipe to your competitors."

Gale said, "Boss, can we teach our apprentices in the future?"

"Of course you can. As for how you want to discipline your apprentices, that's your business." Min Xi said, "Okay, the rules have been made clear, and you must remember them. I will now teach you how to make double skin milk."

While he was teaching everyone how to make double skin milk, Yun Ji boiled some hot water and took a bath. He also changed all his clothes. Otherwise, he always felt that he had a bad smell on his body. In this state, he could not go upstairs to sleep.

By the time Yun Ji finished taking a bath and changing his clothes, Min Xi had already taught him how to make shuangpi milk. After washing up, he went upstairs to sleep and left him a bowl of shuangpi milk.

After finishing his double skin milk, Yun Ji went upstairs, lifted the quilt and got into bed. He heard Min Xi say in the quilt, "Thank you for your hard work, Seventh Brother." He really felt sorry for Yun Ji. He was a pampered young man, but just because he wanted to eat some tripe, he washed the tripe and intestines for him without fear of the cold and dirt. His parents had never done this for him.

Yun Ji said, "It doesn't matter. I can't ask you to do it."

Min Xi stuck out his tongue: "It's all my fault for being greedy."

Yun Ji raised his hand and touched his head: "I will also follow you to eat something I have never eaten before."

"Seventh Brother, you haven't eaten tripe, it's delicious. This is my favorite dish when eating hot pot." Min Xi said.

Yunji Niutou looked at him and said, "You sound like you eat tripe all the time. I didn't know there were so many tripes to eat in Yingtian Prefecture."

Min Xi quickly tried to make up for it, "No, actually. My master loves to eat tripe. He always finds ways to get some tripe for us every year. Yingtian Prefecture is so big, and they always kill a few sick and old cows every year, so we can eat it almost every year."

Yun Ji thought it made sense and said, "Then I'll try it tomorrow to see what tripe tastes like."

"Then you wait, and I will clean the rest tomorrow." Min Xi said.

The next day, Min Xi added salt, flour, etc. to the beef tripe and intestines and washed them together, then rinsed them repeatedly with warm water. The tripe was torn directly into slices, and the beef intestines were blanched with spices and then cut into pieces.

While he was dealing with these, Yun Ji followed his instructions and chopped the ox shank bones and put them into the soup pot along with the ox spine, chicken and duck to make broth. After the soup was ready, he started to prepare the staple food.

Amanda cut the butter into pieces and started to refine the oil. Of course, hot pot will be more fragrant with butter.

The others were also busy. Greta and Gail were washing and cutting vegetables, while Jasper was making shrimp paste and fish balls.

Shrimp paste is almost the most popular side dish for hot pot, even more popular than lamb. Maybe it is because Lisbon loves seafood more, even if the price of a serving of shrimp paste is several times that of fresh shrimp, people are more willing to order it.

At noon, Baron Fernando arrived, and with him was a strange man who had never been to the hotel before.

When he arrived, he said to Yunji, "This is my cousin. He is from Spain. He heard that there is a Chinese restaurant here, so he asked me to bring him over to have a look."

The man was about 20 or 30 years old, not very tall, and his clothes were a little different from the Fulangji gentleman's suit that Yun Ji was familiar with. This was probably the difference between the two countries. He was wearing a gentleman's hat and was looking at Yun Ji curiously.

Yun Ji cast his gaze towards the other person. The man took off his hat and gave Yun Ji a very standard gentleman's salute: "Hello! Nice to meet you, I am Count Hernandez, from Madrid, Spain."

Yun Ji didn't expect that this noble from Luzon would show him such a great courtesy. He quickly returned the greeting: "Welcome, Your Excellency! What would you like to eat? Hot pot or stir-fry? Or both?"

Fernando said, "Has Min prepared the beef offal from yesterday? He said he would treat me to a meal."

Yun Ji said, "It's ready, let's have hot pot for lunch. I'll go tell him now, you guys go up to the Plum Hall on the second floor first."

Fernando said, "Give us two servings of that double-skin milk first."

Yun Ji nodded: "Okay."

Yun Ji went into the kitchen and explained the situation to Min Xi. Min Xi said, "The double-skin milk has just been prepared. You can serve two servings first. Ask the guest if he wants to eat anything or not. If not, I will serve them the food."

"Okay." Yun Ji went upstairs with two servings of double skin milk, knocked on the door and went in. The two people who were talking inside stopped talking and looked at Yun Ji pushing the door in.

Yun Ji put two servings of double-skin milk on the table and asked, "Your Excellency the Baron, Your Excellency the Earl, is there anything you want to eat or cannot eat?"

Fernando looked at Count Hernandez, and the Count shook his head, saying that he had no dietary restrictions and had never eaten Chinese food, so he let the Baron make the decision.

Fernando said to Yunji, "My cousin doesn't have any particular food restrictions. Please let Min serve the dishes. I trust his choices."

Yun Ji nodded and went out.

Fernando called his cousin: "Cousin, come and try the desserts in their store."

Count Hernandez looked at the double skin milk in the bowl and asked: "Is this milk?"

"It's a dairy product, try it." Fernando took a spoon and scooped a spoonful of solidified milk. He sucked it gently and put it all into his mouth, with a satisfied expression on his face.

The Earl looked at his reaction and scooped a spoonful of milk with a spoon. He found that the milk was not liquid, but solid. He took a bite and found that it was rich in milk flavor and smooth and refreshing. His eyes lit up instantly: "It's delicious! Is this a Chinese dessert?"

"Yes. Is it delicious?"

"Hmm, very good." The count took a second bite.

The two of them finished the bowl of double skin milk one bite at a time. Just as they put down their bowls and spoons, still unsatisfied, Min Xi knocked on the door and came in.

He personally served the baron and did not serve them beef intestines. After all, there was a Spanish noble here, and beef intestines still had some flavor, so he was afraid of offending the other party.

Fernando looked at the dishes he brought out on the plate and asked, "Min, what are these?"

Min Xi introduced them one by one: "This is beef, this is beef liver, and these are beef tripe. You can eat them one by one. Don't put too much at a time, and don't take too long. When you see the color change, it's ready. Take it out in time. If the meat is overcooked, it will not taste good. The rest of the dishes are all ones you have eaten before. If you want to eat anything else, ask the waiter for your order."

Fernando nodded: "Okay."