The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After leaving Green's yard, Min Xi thanked Powell, who said, "We are neighbors from now on, so we should take care of each other."

"Thank you! Powell, I will treat you to a meal later." Min Xi said.

Powell waved his hand nonchalantly: "You're welcome. I'll go back first. If you need anything, come to my house and ask. Maybe I can help you."

"it is good!"

Powell turned and disappeared into the night. Yun Ji grabbed the reins and climbed onto the horse. Then he bent down and extended his hand to Min Xi: "Get on."

Min Xi had a saddle hanging in his arms. He looked at Yun Ji in surprise: "Ride back on horseback?"

"How about you try this horse?" Yun Ji said with a smile.

"Can it carry both of us?" Min Xi said this, but he stretched out his hand to Yun Ji, and with a pull from him, he got on the horse's back.

The horse had no saddle and its back was slippery. Min Xi could only hold Yun Ji's waist and said, "I feel like we're going to crush it."

"It's okay, it's just a short distance and we'll be home soon. Hold on tight." Yun Ji felt the hand on his waist and clamped his legs around the horse's belly, urging it to go faster.

The summer nights in the English countryside are exceptionally peaceful, with a gentle breeze, cool and pleasant, and the sky above your head filled with stars, as if you could just reach out and scoop up a handful of silver.

"Seventh Brother, I think it's nice to live in the countryside. It's quiet, the environment is good, and the air is fresh." Min Xi said.

"I like it too." He likes this place more because it is a world for him and Min Xi, more private than when they were in Lisbon. Sometimes he even has an idea: it's not a bad idea to live here forever, without worldly things, just their paradise. Of course, this is just a thought.

When they got home, Yun Ji jumped off the horse first and helped Min Xi off the horse: "I'll go tie it up in the stable. Now the stable can finally be put to good use."

"Are the chickens and ducks locked up?"

"It's closed."

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower. When you go shopping for groceries tomorrow, stop by the hotel and tell Hopson and Brett to remember to come over for lunch tomorrow." The invitation was sent out yesterday when I went to the city to buy things. In theory, there was no need to notify them again, but it was better to remind them again to show my sincerity.

"Got it." Yun Ji's voice disappeared behind the house.

The advantage of living in the countryside is that it is quiet. Apart from the chirping of insects and barking of dogs, you can sleep very soundly at night.

When Min Xi woke up in the morning, Yun Ji was already up. The biggest advantage of running a private restaurant is that there is less work to do. From now on, buying food will be left to Yun Ji. He can sleep until dawn to work, and it will be in time.

He opened the window and saw Yun Ji practicing in the yard. Since moving here, Yun Ji has been getting up early every day to practice. This was a habit he had not had before, probably because the environment was not suitable and he could not practice. Now that the yard is so big and the air is good, isn't it especially suitable for practicing?

Yun Ji was tall, with long limbs. His every move was very graceful, powerful, and his punches and kicks were very powerful. Min Xi leaned on the window and watched for a while. Yun Ji felt his gaze, looked back, and raised his hand to greet him.

Min Xi whistled at him, "Handsome!"

Yun Ji's face was slightly hot. He always heard some strange words from Min Xi's mouth. He was used to it. After he finished the last set of moves, he stopped and said to Min Xi: "I'm going to buy vegetables."

Min Xi waved his hand: "Go ahead, be careful on the road."

Yun Ji took a towel from the shelf and wiped his sweat, then turned to the backyard to get the horse. Min Xi had been lying on the windowsill in a daze, and Yun Ji came to the front yard with a basket on his back and rode his horse. He subconsciously looked up at the window and saw Min Xi still lying there, so he raised his hand and waved: "Take good care of the house, I'll buy you some candy."

Min Xi came back to his senses and wrinkled his nose: "Huh, you treat me like a three-year-old child!"

Yun Ji smiled and rode his horse forward.

Seeing him leave, Min Xi stopped being in a daze and got up to wash and prepare the ingredients for the lunch party. The chickens and ducks had to be killed, and since there was little seafood in the UK, she could only use chickens, ducks, cows and sheep. Fortunately, there was room for creativity in these dishes, after all, the British had never eaten anything before.

Roast chicken requires more spices and it is expensive to make one or two chickens, so I won’t make it for a guest show. Today I’ll make beggar’s chicken.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were tidying up the yard two days ago. They took some time to walk around the village and familiarize themselves with the environment. Surprisingly, they saw a pond full of water lilies.

The two picked a lot of water lily leaves from the pond, washed them, and dried them. Isn't this the best ingredient for making beggar's chicken? As they were in the countryside, the conditions for making beggar's chicken were unique.

I planned to roast the duck, and since I was going to make baked buns today, I had a pot of them ready.

When Yun Ji came back, Min Xi had already prepared the chickens and ducks and was making breakfast.

Breakfast is steamed buns. I prepared some old dough yesterday, so it is easier to make the dough rise.

Yun Ji came in with a basket on his back: "I bought some beef, mutton, vegetables, spices, and some milk. There were very few fish and shrimps in the market, so I didn't buy any."

"These are enough. Go cut some beef and stir-fry it, and then we'll eat steamed buns later." Min Xi instructed.

"Okay." Yun Ji took the beef out of the basket and bought a lot according to Min Xi's instructions, because Min Xi planned to braise the beef and make beef jerky.

Yun Ji cut the vegetables and Min Xi fried them, and the two of them worked together to prepare breakfast.

Not long after breakfast, guests arrived. It was Hopson and his three friends. His friends looked at Min Xi and Yun Ji with inquiring eyes, obviously with great interest in them.

After saying hello, Min Xi went to the kitchen to busy herself.

Yunji made tea for the guests and served the cookies and cakes baked yesterday: "Lunch will take some time, everyone can have some tea and snacks first."

"It's okay, you guys go ahead and do your work, we'll kill time on our own." Hopson picked up the cookie, put it in his mouth and took a bite, then raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Did you make this cookie yourself, or did you buy it?"

Yun Ji stopped and tried to think about what he meant, then he understood: "We did it ourselves."

Hopson smiled and said, "I didn't expect you guys could make cookies. They taste really good. Very delicious! Try these cookies, too. They're soft and crispy."

Upon hearing this, Hopson's friends went to try the dim sum, and they all thought it was very good. It seems that today's meal is indeed worth looking forward to.

Hopson had said he would treat them to a meal a few days ago, and that they had to come because they would regret it for the rest of their lives if they missed it. But he hadn't decided on a specific date for the meal, saying that he would notify them later. When asked about it, he said that the chef hadn't confirmed which day he would be free.

Everyone's appetite was whetted. What kind of chef could make such a big fuss? Was this meal a must?

Yesterday, Hopson came to tell them happily that they could have lunch at noon tomorrow, and asked them to go to his hotel early in the morning so that they could go together. Hopson also specifically told them to eat less for breakfast.

This was even more strange. Shouldn't we gather at a restaurant for dinner? Why did we have to go to his hotel? If we just told him the address, wouldn't everyone be able to find it? Hopson said that if he didn't lead the way, they really wouldn't be able to find it, because the restaurant was not in the city, but in a private estate in the suburbs.

Min Xi prepared roast duck, beggar's chicken, stir-fried beef with celery, braised beef, stir-fried lamb with green onions, and radish and lamb soup today. He also steamed an egg custard and made a cold dish with shredded cucumber, carrot and onion.

Add the dessert custard buns and the staple food baked dumplings, there are ten dishes in total, making it perfect.

When the dishes were almost ready, Brett arrived, and there were three people with him. Brett's friends were very surprised, because this was his house, but he was not the host today. What was going on?

After all the dishes were ready, the host and the guests sat at the table together. Min Xi sat at the host seat: "Let me introduce myself. My name is Min, and this is my brother Yun. We are from faraway China. We are new to your precious place, and Mr. Bright took care of us and rented this house for us as a temporary place to stay. In order to thank Mr. Bright and Mr. Hopson for their care, I specially prepared a meal of our hometown food to entertain everyone today. I hope these foods will suit your taste."

Because it was a long table, it was very inconvenient to pick up food, so Min Xi had to stand up and serve the food to everyone himself. The first dish was roast duck. After all, it should be eaten while hot, so it was best to eat this first.

Everyone saw the browned meat slices on the silver plate. They had never seen this way of eating before. They picked it up with a fork and put it in their mouths and took a bite. They were instantly amazed by the crispy skin and the tender duck meat underneath. Their mouths were full of the aroma of fat.

Dip it in the owner's secret sauce and it tastes even better. I never thought duck could be so delicious. This Chinese man is really good at eating.

The second dish was beggar's chicken. Considering that it was not easy to make it once, Min Xi made two in total. Unexpectedly, there were so many people that two should be enough.

Min Xi and Yun Ji brought out two lumps of mud and showed them to everyone. Everyone's eyes widened, thinking they were seeing things. Were they two lumps of mud?

Hopson asked the question that everyone was wondering about, and Min Xi smiled and replied, "Yes, it's called beggar's chicken, and it's made of mud."

"Mud can be eaten?" Hopson couldn't believe his ears.

"Of course you can't eat it, but you can use it to cook." Min Xi placed the beggar's chicken on a small round table nearby and used a small mallet to gently knock open the outer mud shell. Everyone saw the leaves inside. Then, the leaves were cut open, revealing the golden chicken meat, and at the same time, they could smell the tempting aroma.

They knew chicken smelled good, but they never thought it would smell this good.

Min Xi washed his hands and tore the chicken off with his hands. The steaming chicken was still dripping with juice. Min Xi said, "Please eat it while it's hot."

Everyone hesitated and dared not pick up the fork, but Hopson could not wait to take a bite and was instantly conquered. The juicy chicken was soft and boneless, smooth and tender, and had a sweet and rich flavor that he had never tasted before: "Oh my God! This is the most delicious chicken I have ever eaten in my life!"