The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The two of them laid on the bed, chatting idly, and soon fell asleep. They had been busy for two days in a row without stopping, which was even harder than when they opened a store in Lisbon.

The next day, before dawn, they both got up. There was only one horse, and both wanted to go. Min Xi said, "I'll go to Green's house and borrow a carriage."

Yun Ji said, "No need to borrow it, you ride the horse and I walk."

"Huh?" Min Xi thought he had heard it wrong.

"It just so happens that I haven't practiced these few days, so I'll treat it as a practice. You ride the horse and I'll trot all the way." Yun Ji put the basket of vegetables on his back and held the reins of the horse, "Go on."

Min Xi saw that he was not joking at all and knew that he was serious: "Okay, if you are tired of running, it's your turn to ride."

Yun Ji didn't comment: "Get on the horse and go."

Min Xi climbed onto the horse, and Yun Ji led the horse and walked in front. The horse walked slowly, and Yun Ji also walked slowly. When the horse trotted, Yun Ji also trotted along. In short, he never fell behind, and it seemed that his physical fitness was indeed good.

They were only a few miles away from the city, which was not far for Yun Ji. He arrived at the market without even sweating.

They went not to the market near Oxford Street, but to the market in the west of the city. This market was slightly smaller and also very lively, with more farmers from the suburbs selling vegetables here.

In addition to the common chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, there are also some game such as rabbits and wild ducks. Min Xi got inspired and bought a wild duck and a wild pigeon, planning to go back and make a three-set duck.

Min Xi loves to eat fish and shrimp. When he was in Lisbon, he ate them whenever he wanted. But after arriving in the UK, he seldom ate fish because the British do not like to eat fish and there are very few fish for sale in the market.

Although French fries and fried fish are the national dishes of the United Kingdom, the British at that time did not like to eat fish. At least in London, fish was not people's first choice, and potatoes had not yet been planted.

He went out of his way to look for fish and shrimp today, and unexpectedly found a freshwater perch, still alive. Min Xi simply bought the fish and the bucket, which contained three fish in total.

The fish was bought, but how to take it back was a problem.

"Seventh brother, let's rent a carriage and go back." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji said, "No need, I'll just carry it and think of it as practicing martial arts."

"You want to carry it back? That will be so tiring! Although it is not that heavy, your arms will be sore from carrying it such a long distance. You should call a carriage." Min Xi insisted on calling a carriage.

Yun Ji couldn't persuade him, so he finally called a carriage to take him home. Yun Ji rode a horse and Min Xi took a carriage. As a result, the coachman was in a hurry and the road was bumpy. The water in the bucket swayed violently, not only spilling a lot of water, but also hitting the three fish and making them turn upside down.

Min Xi was so anxious that he kept asking the driver to drive slower: "If all the fish are dead, what's the point of this bucket? I might as well just carry three dead fish back instead of riding in your carriage. If all my fish are dead, I will deduct the fare."

The driver slowed down after hearing his threat.

However, when they got home, the three fish had already turned over. Min Xi quickly changed the bucket and poured cool well water into it, hoping to save the fish, at least until the afternoon. If the fish were dead for too long, the taste would be greatly reduced.

At noon, the two of them ate the fish with the least vitality. The steamed sea bass was really fresh.

Yun Ji didn’t eat fish often, after all, there are few fish in the north. Later, when he arrived in Lisbon, he followed the local people’s recipes and ate all kinds of fish and shrimp. Not to mention, the seafood was really fresh. He also fell in love with eating fish like Min Xi.

At noon, the two of them finally had a satisfying meal again.

After lunch, the two began to prepare dinner. Today's menu was roast chicken, three-piece duck, braised sea bass, braised beef in soy sauce, stir-fried beef with green onions, braised lamb, lotus root and egg custard, plus a dish of fried arugula. The staple food was baked buns, and the dessert was custard buns.

At around three o'clock, Langdon came with his friends. There were more people than he had planned, seven in total, including Kane, who had gone to the Earl's Mansion with him yesterday.

Seven people came with four carriages, filling the yard.

Langdon said to Min Xi a little embarrassedly: "There is one more person than originally agreed. Do I have to pay extra?"

Min Xi waved his hand: "If you don't add more dishes, you don't have to pay extra."

"What if we need more dishes? I'm worried that your food is so delicious that we won't have enough to eat." Langdon smiled, revealing his big white teeth. In order to prepare for this evening's meal, he had eaten a fried egg at noon and saved room for dinner.

Min Xi smiled and said, "In that case, let's add two more dishes and 5 shillings."

"Okay!" Langdon was not stingy.

Min Xi added two dishes for him, steamed sea bass and roasted lamb. Of course, the roasted lamb was not intended to be made into skewers, but just skewered after being roasted. After all, these nobles were not Fernando, and who knew what they were particular about.

Fortunately, they arrived early, so Min Xi had time to prepare new dishes.

Before five o'clock, the dishes were served one after another. Min Xi asked them to eat while waiting. The dishes were served one by one. Yun Ji was responsible for distributing the dishes to everyone. Some dishes today were cooked whole. If he didn't help them to separate them, they would not taste good.

The first dish was three sets of duck, and Min Xi and Yun Ji came in person. Everyone saw Yun Ji holding a large copper basin in his hand, and a whole duck was soaked in a large basin of soup. The duck was yellow in color and looked very ordinary, as if there was nothing special about it, and they couldn't help but raise their eyebrows.

When Yun Ji put down the basin, everyone noticed that it didn't seem to be a duck. It had two other heads but only one body. This way of eating it was very strange.

Min Xi introduced the dish to everyone, saying, "This dish is called 'Three Ducks'. The boneless wild pigeon is stuffed into the stomach of a wild duck, and then stuffed into the stomach of a domestic duck. It is the most difficult dish to make today. Please enjoy it now."

To be honest, Min Xi himself had never eaten three-piece duck, but he had seen how it was prepared and eaten. You need to debone them all, stuff the pigeon into the wild duck's stomach, stuff the ham into the gap between them, and then stuff the wild duck into the domestic duck's stomach. Then stew it slowly over low heat until all three kinds of meat are soft and rotten. The dish is considered ready, and the time required is no shorter than that of roast chicken.

Once he explained, everyone realized the uniqueness of this dish and that it actually had such a complicated preparation method.

Yun Ji followed Min Xi's instructions and used chopsticks to rip the duck apart. Min Xi then used a spoon to scoop the soup from outside into the ripped duck, then scooped out the soup and placed it in the guests' soup bowls: "Everyone, please have a taste."

Everyone looked at the little bit of soup in the bowl and found it a little unbelievable, but they still drank it. An indescribable deliciousness rushed straight to their heads, and the feeling was as if they were in heaven. Everyone's eyes showed extreme surprise. It turned out that a duck could taste like this!

Yun Ji peeled off the second layer of wild duck meat, and Min Xi followed the same method, added soup, and then scooped it out and shared it with everyone.

At this moment, everyone couldn't wait to drink it. It was even more delicious than before. The taste simply reached the peak of life. Everyone's scalp was numb. This Chinese person was really good at cooking. Is this the most delicious thing that a human can make?

After drinking the soup, Yun Ji helped to split the duck meat and put it into everyone's bowl. Min Xi said, "Okay, now that we have tasted its flavor, it's time to eat the meat. Please enjoy it slowly."

Everyone had already tasted the deliciousness of this dish, so they started eating it quickly without being urged. The duck meat was fat and tender, and completely boneless, leaving a lingering fragrance in the mouth and was extremely delicious.

The wild duck has another different flavor, with a hint of smoky ham flavor, which is very impressive. The innermost layer of pigeon meat is extremely tender and melts in your mouth.

Langdon thought this dish alone was worth a pound.

Kane sighed, "No wonder the food here is so expensive. I feel this dish is worth the price. After eating three sets of duck, I feel like my life has not been lived in vain!"

Langdon said proudly, “Isn’t that disappointing?”

"We were not disappointed, it was totally worth it! Thank you for bringing us to taste such delicious food." His friends praised him for his wise decision and thanked him for bringing them to taste such a delicious meal.

The three-piece duck is about the deliciousness of the food itself, as well as the special deliciousness of the three ingredients after they are blended together, so it was the first dish served. Sure enough, the effect was very significant and everyone was impressed.

The second dish was roast chicken, which was stewed with a mixture of spices. Tasting it after the original three-piece duck was another new taste baptism.

All in all, all the guests at this table felt that their tongues had finally worked as they were supposed to.

When the meal was over, Langdon suddenly sighed, "I kind of regret coming here for this meal."

Everyone looked at him in surprise: "Why?" Everyone was grateful that he invited them to the meal.

Langdon said sadly, "What will I do after this meal? Will I still have an appetite?"

Everyone fell silent after hearing this. Yes, before eating this meal, everyone thought that eating was just eating, without much expectation, and they would not hate it. But now that they have experienced the baptism of Chinese food, can their mentality return to the past? Compared with this meal, what they ate before was really pig food.

Kane said: "I have a suggestion. We can take turns treating each other. It's only one pound a meal. If that doesn't work, we can also pool our money to have a meal together."

This suggestion made everyone excited. Yes, we can come and eat in the future. We can pool our money to come and eat, or mobilize the rich people around us to come and eat. It would also be nice to come and have a meal.

Langdon's eyes lit up. "Okay, who's going to pay for the next meal?"

Kane said: "I'll treat you next time. But you can't eat it every day, just eat it once every few days. It won't be fresh if you eat it too often." The main reason is that it's expensive and you can't afford to eat it often.

"Thank you Kane!" Everyone thanked him, "You decide the time."

Kane said: "Then let's have another meal together in three days!"

"it is good!"