The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi planned to do something big this year. He did not plant the land that Sanvis found for him last year. Sanvis was not here this year, and he didn't know who the owner of the land was, so he simply planned to rent the land himself.

He found the farmer from whom he bought the straw last year, rented a piece of land from him for 1 reais, and planned to hire him to farm for him.

Farming has always been 30% planting and 70% management. They don't have time to go to the fields every day, so the crops can only fend for themselves. Last year's harvest was not ideal, so this year he decided to hire someone to do the farming and management.

The land was turned over by the farmer, but Min Xi was the one who raised the seedlings himself. After all, the farmer had never grown these crops and was not very familiar with their habits. He needed Min Xi to tell him how to take care of them, and he also needed to figure it out slowly on his own.

In March, the weather became noticeably warmer, and Min Xi began to prepare for breeding. March is a very suitable breeding season in southern China, but Lisbon is a high-latitude area after all. Even with the Mediterranean climate, the temperature in March is still a little lower, with the highest temperature during the day being only more than 10 degrees and even only a few degrees at night. Therefore, if breeding is done outdoors, the germination time will be very long and the growth will be very slow.

Therefore, Min Xi chose Fernando’s glass greenhouse as the breeding site. The temperature in the greenhouse is high and stable, and once the seeds germinate, the plants will have the light they need.

Fernando agreed readily. For him, it was just a small matter. He was even willing to help take care of the seedlings and often report to Min Xi on the germination and growth progress of the seedlings.

Generally speaking, it takes at least a month to transplant crop seedlings. Min Xi waited until the seedlings were 45 days old before starting to transplant them. At this time, it was already mid-April, the weather was warming up, and there was plenty of rain, which was a suitable time for farming.

Before transplanting, Min Xi and Yun Ji moved the seedlings together with the wooden boxes for raising seedlings out of the greenhouse and sent them to the field. They were not in a hurry to plant them, but let them adapt to the natural environment for five or six days. Only after they had fully adapted to the temperature outside the greenhouse did they start transplanting.

There were quite a lot of tomato and pepper seedlings cultivated this time, and the seedlings were in good condition and very strong. Min Xi planned to plant a large area of ​​tomatoes and peppers, and gave the remaining seedlings to the farmer to deal with. There were very few peanut and corn seedlings, so naturally not a single one could be given away, and they were still the ones that needed special care.

When planting, in addition to the old farmer couple they hired, Min Xi and Yun Ji also did the work themselves.

While planting, Min Xi explained the habits of these crops. Without exception, these four crops are relatively light-loving and drought-tolerant, so they don't need to be watered too often. Usually, they just need to pay attention to weeding and pest control. As for thinning branches and fruits, Min Xi will come over to instruct the old farmer in person.

For these plots of land, Min Xi promised to pay the old farmer 1 reais as wages, paying 500 reais first and then paying him the other half after the harvest.

The old farmer is very satisfied. In addition to the land rent, he can also earn money from farming. He will definitely help take care of these plots of land.

Min Xi also told the old farmer that the tomatoes grown from the extra seedlings could not only be eaten by the farmer himself, but also sold at the market. The peppers were too spicy and it was estimated that not many people would eat them, but they could be sent to Chinese restaurants and he would buy them all.

The old farmer readily agreed, saying that he would also grow some and give some to his relatives and neighbors.

After planting a few plots of land, it was still early, so Min Xi and Yun Ji went to pick some bear onions, which are at their freshest. Spring is the best season to eat leeks.

Before leaving, Min Xi and Yun Ji went to an old farmer's house to buy a chicken and then went back to kill it and eat it.

The whole month of April is the local fasting period. Catholics cannot eat any meat from hot-blooded animals, including chicken, duck, goose, pig, cattle, sheep and other animals. They can only eat fish, shrimp and eggs. Min Xi and Yun Ji, two non-believers, can eat any meat, but it is not sold in the market, so they can't eat it even if they want to.

From the beginning of April to now, it has been more than 20 days. Fish, shrimp and crabs are always on the table. Although we eat them in different ways, we still feel bored. So, I finally persuaded the old farmer and bought a little rooster from him.

Min Xi said: "This chicken belongs to us tonight, they can't eat it, hehe."

Yun Ji said, "How do you plan to eat?"

Min Xi said, "Seventh Brother, how do you want to eat it? Blanched or braised? Or spicy chicken? I remember there seems to be some dried chili peppers left?"

Yun Ji thought for a moment and said, "How about half boiled chicken and half spicy chicken?"

"Okay!" Min Xi agreed readily.

So that night, there were only three plates on the table, one was leek and egg dumplings, one was boiled chicken, and one was spicy chicken.

Diego and others could only eat dumplings and watch the two hosts eat the chicken with relish, drooling with greed.

On May 5, the first day after the fast ended, Min Xi asked the butcher to kill a castrated pig and send it to him early in the morning. They wrote several new dishes on the chopping board that day: braised pork, braised pork with sugar, twice-cooked pork, and sweet and sour pork, with salty, sweet, spicy, and sweet and sour flavors.

As expected, there were a lot of people coming to eat today. After all, April had just passed and the fast was finally over. Normally, people didn’t like to eat chicken or mutton very much, but if they really didn’t eat them for a month, it would certainly arouse people’s rebellious psychology.

When they arrived, they saw the names of the dishes written on the chopping board at the door and were very surprised. Why were all the dishes today pork? You know, the people who come to eat are at least middle class or above, and they usually try not to eat pork because it is not in line with their status. Pork is only eaten by the lower class. Although the pork cooked in Chinese restaurants tastes much better than what they cook, it still can't cover up the fishy smell of pork, so it is not very popular.

However, the waiters in charge of taking orders today actively recommended these pork dishes to everyone, ensuring that today's pork had no peculiar smell and would make them want to eat it again.

The guests were skeptical. The more conservative ones ordered the familiar sweet and sour pork. The adventurous ones listened to the advice and ordered the braised pork. Those who liked sweet food also tried the candied pork.

These dishes were prepared early in the morning. The braised pork and sweetened pork had been ready long ago, so they could be served directly when guests arrived. The twice-cooked pork was also cooked and cut, and could be served after a stir-fry. The sweet and sour pork was also fried once and then fried again before being served.

So today's dishes were served very quickly. Of course, in addition to Min Xi, Amanda can also help now. For example, she can make deep-fried pot-fried pork, so the dishes are served much faster than before.

The guests saw that the first dishes served were all the new dishes in the restaurant today. They were full of curiosity. What was so magical about this pork? The guests picked up their forks and tried it. They were very surprised. Is this pork? How come there is no smell at all? It is just fragrant. The braised pork is soft, glutinous, salty and fragrant. The pot-wrapped pork is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The braised sugar pork is sweet and delicious. Even the slightly spicy twice-cooked pork has a unique taste.

Is this really made of pork? The customer couldn't help but stop the busy waiter and asked, "Is this really made of pork?"

"It's the real deal!" Gail said with a smile, "I told you that the pork today tastes different from before. I didn't lie to you, did I? If you like it, you can order a few other dishes to try. This kind of pork will be available today and tomorrow, but it may not be available the day after tomorrow."

After hearing what he said, the customer said: "Then hurry up and order the remaining dishes for me to try."

"Okay!" Gail agreed happily. To be honest, seeing the guests' reaction like this, he felt a sense of accomplishment. Their boss was always so unexpected.

The customer asked, "Why is this pork different from the pork we usually eat?"

Gale said, "Because our host brought the pig-raising technology from their country, the pork no longer has a fishy smell. Our host was also commended by His Majesty the King, who awarded him the Medal of Honorary Citizen. His Majesty also plans to promote this pig-raising technology throughout Fulanji."

The guest asked with great interest: "Does that mean we can eat pork without the smell in the future?"

Gale nodded: "Yes. But it takes time to promote the technology. Currently, there is very little pork without smell."

The guest understood. No wonder he was told that there might be no more tomorrow. It seemed that there were very few pigs without a bad smell now, so he had to eat them carefully. He decided to come over to eat in the evening and tomorrow as well.

Because the fast was over and there was no smell of pork, the restaurant business was particularly hot on the 1st. Even at noon, the table turnover rate was fully booked, and in the evening the table turnover rate was unprecedentedly high, exceeding 300%.

The guests lined up outside the restaurant. The braised pork and braised sweet and sour pork were out of stock, so they had to switch to stir-fried meat, which the guests all thought was delicious.

By the time the shop closed in the evening, everyone was exhausted. Min Xi took inventory and found that only half of the more than 200 kilograms of pork was left. This really underestimated everyone's spending power.