The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi returned to the store and started processing seafood to make paella.

Amanda always comes early. When she arrived at the store, it was just after seven o'clock. Seeing Min Xi busy, she quickly said, "Boss, let me help you."

Min Xi said, "You take care of the seafood. I have prepared everything here. You can come and see how I make seafood rice later. If you have a chance in the future, you can also try to make it. But we don't have rice for sale here now. When we have rice in the future, you can try to make it yourself."

"Okay!" Amanda agreed readily.

While Amanda was processing the seafood, Min Xi was preparing other ingredients for the paella. In addition to seafood, the paella also contains some vegetables such as carrots and onions, making it a nutritionally comprehensive dish.

After preparing the ingredients and washing the rice, we started cooking. Min Xi called Amanda over to watch. First, fry the shrimp heads to make shrimp soup, then stir-fry the washed rice, vegetables and seafood together, and add the shrimp soup to stew. Paella requires distinct grains of rice, so brown rice is very suitable, and the cooked paella is chewier.

Min Xi said: "If you have broth, you can also add some broth, so that the taste will be richer."

“I remember that,” Amanda said.

When Greta and Connor arrived, they smelled a strong aroma. They sniffed, "What did we have for breakfast this morning? It smells so good!"

Amanda smiled and said, "The owner made the paella himself. It looks delicious. We are in for a treat!"

Everyone waited until Yunji came back before starting to eat breakfast. Every grain of rice soaked in the seafood broth exploded in the mouth, and was so delicious that everyone forgot to express their feelings and just continued to eat.

Even though Min Xi was prepared and cooked more rice, it was still not enough. Everyone put down their plates and felt unsatisfied. This was their first time eating rice, and no one disliked it. They all thought that rice was just right for their appetite. Not to mention Min Xi and Yun Ji, who liked rice in the first place.

Gail asked, "Boss, is this rice only available in Spain? We don't have rice in Portugal?"

Min Xi said: "Rice is available in most countries in Asia. But I'm not sure about Europe. I haven't found it in Portugal yet. It may be grown in some places, but I can't find rice in Lisbon."

"That's a shame! If we sold this paella in our restaurant, it would definitely be popular," said Gail.

"I bought some rice and planned to plant it to see if it can grow. If it can, it will be easier for us to eat rice in the future," said Min Xi.

"Wow, that's great! Good luck to the boss. If it grows well, we will have paella to eat in the future." Gail said with a smile.

Diego's eyes were full of admiration: "Boss, you are really good. You can even grow rice."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Of course, your boss knows a lot. Just wait, in the fall, we will be able to enjoy paella freedom."

Before noon, Baron and his wife Fernando and Lord Melo arrived one after another. There was also an uninvited guest, the Baron's eldest brother, Lord Fernando.

He had gone out to do some errands, and on the way back he saw his brother's carriage, so he stopped to say hello. When he heard that Min Xi and Yun Ji had returned from Spain and wanted to treat them to a meal, he followed them over.

"Please forgive me for coming here uninvited!" Lord Fernando bowed to Min Si as a gentleman.

Min Xi smiled and said, "You are too polite, sir. I was inconsiderate and did not invite you. I thought you might be busy during the day, so I did not bother you."

"It's not your fault! I'm sorry for disturbing you. Don't worry about me. I'll just eat with them." Lord Fernando waved his hand and smiled friendly.

The food on their table was prepared by Min Xi himself. The usual dishes were not prepared, but instead different cooking methods were used, such as braised chicken, old duck soup, lamb casserole, garlic spare ribs, meat with sand, pan-fried fish, braised shrimp, and stir-fried spinach. The staple food was seafood rice, and the dessert was candied sweet potato.

These dishes were basically unheard of by the crowd, so when the dishes were served, the Baron's eyes widened: "Min, what else did you hold back from showing us? I haven't even eaten any of these dishes!"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Why don't you try it and see if it suits your taste."

He and Yun Ji were both staying in the private room, so they naturally didn't need to greet the guests who came to eat in the restaurant.

The Baron and others couldn't wait to taste all the dishes one by one, commenting on them as they ate. The conclusion was nothing more than one: delicious!

The baron asked, "Are these dishes your latest inventions?"

Min Xi shook his head, "No, these are all Chinese dishes. I just don't cook them for you often. Only the staple food and desserts are new to me. The paella is something I learned from Valencia, Spain. It's the local way of eating, and I improved it a bit. The candied sweet potato is made according to the way we make desserts in China. The sweet potatoes were bought from Spain. Baron, do you remember the crop seeds I asked you to bring back from Oxford University? Spain is already promoting its cultivation, and it can be bought on the market, although not much. We bought some back so that everyone can have a taste first."

As expected, desserts are the most popular among European tastes. They reached a consensus that the candied sweet potato was the most popular among several guests, the meat with sand was also very popular, and the paella was also to their liking.

Min Xi and Yun Ji, both of whom have Chinese stomachs, prefer braised chicken, garlic spare ribs, and pan-fried fish.

After tasting all the dishes, everyone slowed down, enjoyed the food, chatted, and asked them about their experience in Spain.

"Didn't you say you would be gone for at least two months? Why did you come back early?" asked the Baron.

Min Xi said: "We found some crop seeds from a professor at the University of Valencia and had to plant them in a hurry, so we came back early."

The baron knew that he was collecting crop seeds: "What did you find?"

"Botato is a crop very similar to sweet potato. It is said to be more suitable for growing in low temperature environments, so we rushed back to plant it before the weather warmed up," said Min Xi.

"Different from sweet potatoes?" asked the Baron.

"It's different. I'll show it to you later." Min Xi said.

Lord Mello asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

Min Xi smiled at him: "We run a restaurant, so we always like to find more ingredients to enrich the table, so we look everywhere for suitable ingredients." This was of course false, but he did not intend to tell them his true intentions. Although other countries do not have this awareness of prevention these days, it is always better to be more careful.

"You are really obsessed with food." Lord Mello sighed.

Min Xi smiled and said, "In China, there are some sayings like 'food is the first necessity of the people' and 'eating is the most important thing to the emperor'. When acquaintances meet and greet each other, they always ask 'have you eaten yet'. This shows how important eating is to us. Only after we have filled our stomachs can we consider other issues."

Lord Fernando smiled and said, “That’s an interesting statement.”

"Plant it quickly and let me taste it. I think this sweet potato with sugar is especially delicious. I want to plant some." said the baron.

Min Xi said, "Sure. When the seeds sprout, I'll give you some sprouts to plant."

"Where's the botato? Give me some." The baron was not afraid of having too much, since he didn't need to farm the land himself anyway.

Min Xi shook his head: "Boto is not good. It can't be propagated by cuttings. I need very few seeds. Once they grow out, I'll give you some to plant."

"That's fine!" The Baron didn't care. He was not obsessed with these things and preferred flowers and plants.

Min Xi said, "My seventh brother and I plan to rent a yard and then build a garden to grow vegetables. Oh, and we also need a piece of land with easy access to water to grow rice. I bought some rice from Valencia and want to grow some rice to make rice."

The baron's eyes widened when he heard this: "You want to farm your own land?"

"You don't have to farm it yourself, you can hire someone, but the land must be within my visible range. We both still plan to open a private restaurant like we did in London, and only serve one table per meal," said Min Xi.

The baron smiled and said, "A table of restaurants is great! It will be convenient for me to eat the dishes you cook in the future."

Lord Fernando asked, "What about the price? It won't be as expensive as in England?"

Min Xi said, "Not really. But the price hasn't been decided yet. Can you give me some advice? What's a suitable price?" If they only entertain two tables a day, 1 reais per table would definitely be cheaper.

Baron Fernando said: "It should be at least 5 reais per table. In the UK, it costs 1 pound per table. Are we Portuguese poorer than the British?"

His brother looked at him and thought that his brother was a full man who didn't know the hunger of a hungry man. He spent 5 reais on a meal without blinking an eye. He only earned reais a year, so he couldn't afford a few private meals.

He is different from the baron. He is waiting to inherit the title. He does not have much private property at present. He serves in Congress and gets a salary. The rest of his income is the income from the farm given by his grandfather. He has a family to support and has to attend various social events. He really cannot be as lavish as the baron.

Seeing that everyone was silent after the Baron finished speaking, Min Xi said, "Isn't 5 reais a bit expensive?" This at least completely excluded the Baron's friends from the opportunity to eat private dishes.

The baron said, "I don't think it's expensive. Simon, don't you think so?"

Lord Mello nodded: "I think it's okay." He is the only son in his family and all the property belongs to him, so he is really not short of money.

"If it's too cheap and too many people come to eat, Simon and I won't be able to get a seat." This is what the Baron was concerned about.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Thank you all for your suggestions. I will discuss with Brother Qi and then decide the price."

Yun Ji said, "Regarding renting a house, I wonder if anyone knows anyone who has a vacant house in the suburbs of Lisbon."