After dying early, I traveled to ancient times and became a boy

Ye Xunqing asked Feng Jingheng to pack up the stall outside and discussed the cooking with Shopkeeper Xu. He wanted to use Shopkeeper Xu's kitchen, and Shopkeeper Xu was definitely happy to do so. Because as long as the town magistrate's wife was satisfied, his restaurant would attract more customers.

If you say that this dish of shrimps is a delicacy from the mountains and the sea, others may at most take a second look at it. But if you say that it was eaten by the emperor, then the common people will definitely squeeze in to see it!

"No problem." Shopkeeper Xu kept talking. "Young boss, you have to serve the town magistrate's wife well. If she is satisfied, we will both benefit in the future."

Ye Xunqing understood the pros and cons of the matter, so he put his utmost effort into cooking for the town magistrate's wife.

Because there were only two ladies eating, Ye Xunqing reduced the portion of the dishes by half and used smaller plates, but they were all the most exquisite plates.

The town magistrate's wife would not wait for Ye Xunqing too long, at most until lunch time, so Ye Xunqing had to prepare a table full of dishes before lunch, at least ten dishes.

Ye Xunqing wanted to serve a combination of meat and vegetables, starting with cold dishes, followed by hot dishes, then soup, and finally dessert. Since the conditions for making desserts were limited here, Ye Xunqing planned to use glutinous rice lotus root with osmanthus honey as the final dessert.

There are a lot of fresh ingredients and various seasonings in Manager Xu's restaurant, which is much better than the conditions at home, so Ye Xunqing can be free to play.

Ye Xunqing cooked while Feng Jingheng prepared the side dishes. They managed to prepare a table full of dishes in more than half an hour.

The town magistrate's wife said calmly, "Young boss, please introduce your dishes.

Ye Xunqing replied: "It's late autumn now, so of course it's better to eat some seasonal vegetables, so I use vegetables that can be bought in the market and some dried vegetables."

The first dish is a cold salad with black fungus. Black fungus is a mountain product, and now is not the season to eat fresh fungus, but dried black fungus can be stored for a long time and is safer to eat. The soul of a cold dish is the sauce. Only when the sauce is delicious can the dish be delicious.

Black fungus must be chilled after blanching. Although there is no ice water, if the weather is cold, you can also use cold water outside. Chilled black fungus is more refreshing and crispy.

He introduced a dish, and the town magistrate's wife tasted it and commented, "Black fungus is often eaten cooked. This is the first time I've seen it eaten cold. The taste is really novel."

The ancients mostly boiled and steamed their food, and eating hot food would prevent diarrhea.

Madam Liu also tasted it and said, "This black fungus soup is neither salty nor spicy, and has a hint of sweet and sour. It tastes excellent."

After they put down their chopsticks, Ye Xunqing introduced the second dish, cold lotus root slices, which was similar to the black fungus dish, but the soup was salty.

The town magistrate's wife was also very satisfied and ate several pieces in a row.

After eating the cold food, it’s time to have the hot food.

What catches your eye is braised pork with dried beans. The pork is not fat, and the braised pork is not fat either. Adding soaked dried beans not only increases the flavor, but also makes the beans more delicious, giving you two ways to enjoy one dish.

The wife of the town magistrate was not interested in eating meat, but she liked eating the beans inside. She said that the beans absorbed the flavor of the braised pork and tasted better than the meat.

Seeing her smile more and more, Ye Xunqing felt more at ease. As long as his wife was satisfied, his business would be easier in the future.

Ye Xunqing is most famous for his fried fish in the town. Unfortunately, Manager Xu doesn’t have fresh grass carp and crucian carp. But it doesn’t matter. He has live freshwater sea bass and mandarin fish, which are much more delicious than those fish.

Sea bass is best steamed, and mandarin fish should naturally be made into squirrel fish.

When the magistrate's wife heard that the odd-looking dish was called Squirrel Fish, she looked confused and asked, "Why is it called Squirrel Fish?"

Ye Xunqing casually explained, "It means it's exquisite." In fact, he didn't know, but everyone called it that anyway.

The town magistrate's wife did not ask any further questions. As long as it tasted good, it didn't matter what it was called.

The sauce of squirrel fish is a completely sweet and sour sauce. If fish wants to have flavor, it must rely on thick sauce, and the sweet and sour sauce of squirrel fish is its soul.

And Ye Xunqing happens to be very good at making the soul of the dish, which is the juice.

After the town magistrate’s wife finished eating, she asked Mrs. Liu, “Is this the fried fish you were talking about?”

Mrs. Liu replied, "Not really, but it's delicious too."

Ye Xunqing explained, "Madam, this is made with mandarin fish. Fried fish is made with fish with many bones, such as grass carp and crucian carp."

The town magistrate's wife nodded slightly, "Okay."

The penultimate dish is the boiled pork slices that Ye Xunqing usually likes to make. If you want the boiled pork slices to taste good, the key is to marinate the meat well. The most important thing is how to make the meat flavorful and tender.

Moreover, the temperature for cooking the meat slices must be controlled well. If the time is too short, the meat will not be cooked; if the time is too long, the meat will become tough.

Under the meat slices were some side dishes. Ye Xunqing used bean curd sheets, tofu and bean sprouts. The bean sprouts here were not very good. They were either withered and yellow or had roots. They did not look or taste good, but there was no choice. These were the only ones available.

The wife of the town magistrate liked the tender taste of the meat slices very much, and she scooped out all the meat slices in the soup bowl in a few bites.

After eating too much meat, you naturally need to balance it out with dessert. This is when glutinous rice lotus root with osmanthus honey comes into play.

The cooked glutinous rice lotus root is dark in color and looks a bit unattractive, but it tastes different when you put it in your mouth.

It tastes sweet, with a strong scent of osmanthus and a light fragrance of lotus root. It is soft and sticky when chewed, but not completely sticky to the teeth. Even toothless old men and women can easily bite it.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" The town magistrate's wife praised it generously. "This thing really pleases me, really pleases me!"

Mrs. Liu took the opportunity to ask, "Young Boss, do you still have this?"

Ye Xunqing replied, "There are still two sections. If the two ladies like them, I will ask my husband to pack them and send them to your house."

"No need." The town magistrate's wife wiped her mouth. "You can pack it up and we can take it back." Then she said, "Calculate the price of this table of food. It's my treat today."

Ye Xunqing said: "This table of food was invited by Shopkeeper Xu, I didn't know it."

Shopkeeper Xu had been accompanying Ye Xunqing the entire time. Upon hearing what Ye Xunqing said, he immediately replied, "Madam, your visit has brought glory to our humble shop. I dare not charge you any more money. It is my greatest honor to see that Madam is happy with her meal."

The magistrate's wife didn't listen to their flattery, but gave a wink to the maid beside her. The maid immediately took out two pieces of silver, one for Ye Xunqing and the other for Manager Xu.

"I'm happy today, so any extra money will be considered a reward." The town magistrate's wife chuckled.

The money she gave was definitely more than enough, and these dishes didn't cost much at all. The key was how the dishes were cooked.

"Manager Xu is very busy with the restaurant business. You don't have to stay here with me and other ladies. Go and get busy." Mrs. Liu said.

Shopkeeper Xu immediately understood that the two distinguished guests had something to say to Ye Xunqing, so he thanked them and left, leaving Ye Xunqing alone inside to entertain the two ladies.