The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The shopkeeper enthusiastically pulled Min Xi into the store and said, "Waiter, go and call Chef Xing and tell him that there are guests. Ask him to cook a few of his signature dishes and serve a pot of Huadiao wine."

Min Xi almost cried when he heard the familiar Chinese. He was originally homesick and felt uneasy, but he didn't expect that the first fellow villager he met would warmly invite them to dinner. This was someone they had just met.

Min Xi hurriedly thanked him: "Thank you, father-in-law, we still have money for a meal, we can pay for it ourselves..."

The shopkeeper interrupted him and said, "Hey, what polite words are you talking about? It's not even the festival yet, it's still the New Year. You two kids have suffered so much outside, and it's your first meal back home, shouldn't we, the family, treat you?"

When Min Xi heard the word "family", his eyes got a little hot, so he stopped refusing: "Thank you, old man. May I ask your last name? Are you from Fujian?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Yes, you can tell from my accent. I'm from Zhangzhou, and my last name is Chen. I've been in Malacca for twenty years. In the past, the Ming Dynasty didn't allow us to go out to sea, so we ran away secretly and came here to make a living. In recent years, the Ming Emperor lifted the maritime ban, and we can finally go back home. We went back last year, but things have changed and our parents are no longer here. I'm afraid we will settle down here in the future." Malacca was the name given to Malacca by people in the Ming Dynasty.

Shopkeeper Chen was also a chatty person. He pulled them into the store and asked them to sit at an eight-person table. He enthusiastically took the teapot on the table and poured them tea: "Try our Fujian oolong tea. I'm afraid you won't be able to drink such pure oolong tea in Europe."

Min Xi took a sip. The tea was warm, but it was just right to quench thirst in the tropical Malacca. "It smells good. We also drink tea in Europe, but it's so expensive. We need to make a whole jar of tea with the tea leaves you use to make a pot of tea."

This made Shopkeeper Chen burst into laughter: "That place is too far away. If it is transported there, it will definitely be worth a hundred times more. If it is expensive, naturally you won't be willing to eat it. Just drink as much as you want here, and you'll be full!"

The waiter came running and saw that the shopkeeper was already sitting and chatting with a few guests who were dressed strangely, and was even personally greeting them. It seemed that he didn't need to serve them himself. The guests didn't order any dishes, and even asked the chef to prepare his specialty. He thought they were really some kind of guests, so he ran upstairs and called down the shopkeeper's wife.

The shopkeeper's wife finished packing, but found that she didn't recognize the person: "Boss, who is this relative? Why don't I know him?"

Shopkeeper Chen said with a smile, "My lady, of course you don't know them. These two guests are of great importance. A few years ago, they sailed to the hemp forest in Nanyang to do business. They encountered a storm at sea and the boat capsized. Only the two of them survived. They were taken to Europe by the Portuguese and lived there for several years. They just came back now. I thought that in the first month of the year, the two children had suffered so much outside and finally came back. Shouldn't our family greet them?"

When Min Xi and Yun Ji heard that it was the shopkeeper's wife, they quickly stood up and saluted: "Greetings, shopkeeper's wife."

The shopkeeper's wife looked at the two of them. They were dressed strangely and were dirty, which was the norm for sailors who had just disembarked. However, they were still dressed very neatly, their hair was combed meticulously, and their faces and hands were washed cleanly, indicating that they came from a good family: "What's your name, young man? Where are you from?"

Min Xi quickly introduced himself: "My surname is Min, and I am from Yingtian Prefecture."

Yun Ji said, "My surname is Yun. I am from the capital."

"You are all from Beijing, no wonder you look so impressive!" The shopkeeper said with a smile, "Please take a seat. You look young, how old are you this year?"

Min Xi said, "Twenty-two."

"I'm twenty-four." Yun Ji said.

"What does your family do? Are you married?" the shopkeeper's wife asked with a smile.

Min Xi immediately became alert this time. This was a real possibility of being a matchmaker. After all, Chinese people abroad also look for Chinese people to marry. He and Yun Ji are both of the right age to marry and are good-looking. Aren't they the best candidates for a son-in-law? Min Xi quickly said, "My family is also in business. We were married long before I left home."

Anyway, it's common for teenagers to get married in this era, and at their age, it wouldn't arouse suspicion if they said they were married.

The shopkeeper's wife looked regretful: "Oh, what a pity. Master, the more I look at these two children, the more I like them. I was thinking of finding a son-in-law for our girl if she didn't get married."

When Min Xi heard this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately he was smart. He looked at Yun Ji, who also raised his eyebrows, obviously satisfied with his answer.

Shopkeeper Chen asked about their experience in Europe. When he heard that they opened a restaurant in Europe, he said excitedly, "So it seems that we are in the same business. You should try our dishes and see if you can give us some advice."

Min Xi waved his hands quickly and said, "I don't deserve it. I just went to a foreign country and missed the food at home. No one knows how to cook, so I had to cook it myself. And the food there is really average. We don't have any money and no capital to start a business, so we opened a small restaurant to make a living."

When the couple heard that Min Xi ran a restaurant, they thought he was in the same business and the best candidate for their son-in-law. Unfortunately, he already had a family, which was a real pity.

It turned out that the shopkeeper and his wife only had two daughters and no sons, so they wanted to find a son-in-law to inherit the family business. They have been looking for many years but have not found a suitable one. Today they met Min Xi and Yun Ji, who satisfied all the conditions. But they have to get married and start a family. Isn't it a pity?

Soon, the dishes were brought up from the kitchen, all Hakka dishes: stuffed tofu, stuffed bitter melon, steamed pork patties with preserved vegetables, pork tripe and chicken, braised pork, etc., as well as the familiar green vegetable - garlic water spinach.

Min Xi praised while eating: "This is authentic Chinese food. It has everything you want. It's not like in Europe, where a good cook can't cook without rice and can't make many dishes."

Especially the water spinach, tofu, bitter melon and steamed pork patties with preserved vegetables, which are dishes not available in Europe. Min Xi praised them highly.

Yun Ji also thought that the food at Yongfu Restaurant was well cooked. Although he preferred Min Xi’s dishes, he still thought they were very delicious.

Diego and Old Hughes both love to eat stuffed tofu. Min Xi and Yun Ji love to eat water spinach with garlic sauce. Yun Ji has never eaten it before and finds it crispy and tender. While eating, he asked, "What is this dish called?"

Shopkeeper Chen said, "Tongcai, also known as water spinach or water spinach, was brought here from the Ming Dynasty. Isn't it delicious?"

Yun Ji nodded: "It's delicious! There is no such dish in Beijing."

Min Xi explained: "This vegetable grows in water. It's too dry in the north for it to grow."

Shopkeeper Chen saw that they quickly finished their stuffed tofu and water spinach, and couldn't help but smile and said, "Surprisingly, the green vegetable and tofu are the most popular. Waiter, quickly ask Lao Xing to serve another dish of stuffed tofu and water spinach."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes, it's mainly because we can't eat such dishes in Europe. They don't have soybeans or even mung beans, so we can't make them ourselves. I haven't eaten tofu for several years, and I really miss it."

"We have enough vegetables and tofu here. You can eat as much as you want!" said Shopkeeper Chen with a smile.

After eating and drinking, Manager Chen kept them for a long time and told them which hotel was the cleanest. After Min Xi and his party settled down in a hotel run by a Chinese, they returned to the ship, took their luggage, took a good bath, and had a good sleep.

The next morning, Min Xi and Yun Ji took Diego and Old Xiu Si to have breakfast. Finally, they had an authentic Chinese breakfast, soy milk with fried dough sticks, and a serving of steamed dumplings, which was so delicious.

After breakfast, they planned to buy some clothes as they were going home soon and they couldn't go back wearing their dresses. There were quite a lot of Chinese living in Malacca and they had formed a small society with all kinds of shops, including clothing shops.

Min Xi and Yun Ji went to the clothing shop and bought two sets of ready-made Ming-style clothes. Unfortunately, there were not many thick clothes. After all, Malacca was located on the equator and winter clothes were not needed at all. There were a few winter clothes, which were all prepared for the merchants coming and going. But there were still few that could be sold, so not many were made. They did not pick out the right ones, so they could only buy two sets of single clothes to wear outside when the time came.

They also bought clothes for Diego and old Hughes. When settling the payment, they used Portuguese currency. This was a Portuguese colony, and Portuguese currency was also in circulation here, as was Ming Dynasty currency.

After buying the clothes, Min Xi went to the Yongfu Restaurant owned by Manager Chen for dinner again. This time they had to pay for the meal themselves no matter what.

After dinner, Min Xi handed Manager Chen a cloth bag and said, "These are the seeds I brought back from Europe. They were all brought back by Europeans from the New World. There are spices, vegetables, and grains. Malacca has a suitable climate, so I think they should be able to be grown."

He gave some seeds of chili peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and peanuts, but not potatoes because it was too hot in Malacca and potatoes could not be grown.

Shopkeeper Chen looked at the seeds in amazement: "This, these are too precious!" He was knowledgeable and knew how precious the seeds were.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Thank you for taking care of us. These are the seeds I brought back to try planting. Giving you some to plant in Malacca is also a kind of attempt. If I fail to plant them after I return, I can still come to you to ask for seeds."

"I will definitely live up to your trust and grow these seeds well." Shopkeeper Chen solemnly assured Min Xi.

Min Xi carefully told Manager Chen the uses and eating methods of each plant, as well as the sowing and planting methods. Manager Chen was also a fisherman and farmer when he was young, so he was no stranger to farming. He carefully wrote these down.

After hearing about the characteristics and yields of sweet potatoes and corn, Shopkeeper Chen was very excited: "What you are doing is a great thing that benefits the country and the people. If it can really be promoted in China, I wonder how many lives will be saved."