The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

As soon as Shen Qing asked the question, everyone perked up their ears, afraid of missing anything.

Shen Cao picked up a piece of squid flower and put it into the boiling pot. After swishing it around a few times, the squid flower curled up, looking white and tender, which was very attractive.

Seeing that the squid flowers were almost cooked, Shen Cao picked them up, put them in the oil dish, dipped them in the oil, and put them in her mouth. Sure enough, they were just as crisp and sweet as she had expected.

"Do you understand? It's just putting these raw ingredients into a boiling pot, cooking them, and then you can eat them. You can cook whatever you want to eat, it's so convenient."

"Is it that simple?" After watching Shen Cao's demonstration, Wei Siyu couldn't wait to pick up a piece of squid with his chopsticks and put it into the pot. He had been drooling when he saw Shen Cao eating it.

I never imagined squid could be eaten this way.

The others followed Shen Cao's example and put the ingredients they wanted to eat into the pot to cook.

"By the way, you guys should try this." Shen Cao took out the tender meat she had marinated.

She was amazed when she first tasted tender meat cooked in hot pot in Sichuan Province.

She sliced ​​the pork neck into thin slices, marinated it with pepper and minced garlic, then added sweet potato starch and egg white and mixed it well. It was simple and delicious.

She used half a pound of pork neck to make two large plates, and she first put half a plate into each pot.

"You can eat other things first. We were in a bit of a rush today, and we didn't prepare many of the ingredients that can be used for hot pot. If you come back in winter, I promise you will have a different meal every day."

“Okay, it’s a deal then. I’ll come every winter from now on.” Wei Siyu eagerly agreed to Shen Cao before she had even swallowed the food in her mouth.

Shencao loves eating all kinds of meatballs when she has hot pot. Since the area is near the sea, there are plenty of ingredients available. You can make some hot pot meatballs and freeze them in the refrigerator so you can eat them whenever you want.

Luncheon meat is also an essential ingredient for her hot pot.

It was Shen Yu'an's first time eating hot pot. He dipped his food in both dipping sauces and enjoyed both.

I never imagined there was such an interesting food in the world. A group of people gathered around a stove to cook food. Although the ingredients came from the same pot, each ingredient had a unique flavor.

He especially liked the two dipping sauce bowls prepared by Shen Cao; he thought they tasted good no matter what he dipped in them.

This stuff is not only delicious in winter, but it's also warming. Shen Cao is simply a genius when it comes to food.

An idea popped into his mind.

"Let me tell you, hot pot is the best thing to eat in winter, and today we're having the simplest version."

"There are countless types of hot pot, such as clear broth hot pot with mutton, pickled cabbage hot pot with meat, beef hot pot, braised meat hot pot, mushroom hot pot, and so on."

"There are also all kinds of hot pot ingredients, such as dried bamboo shoots, hot pot meatballs, chicken gizzards, dried bean curd sticks, wide rice noodles, and so on, there are just too many."

"If I were to talk about it, I could go on for a whole day and night."

"Oh right, I also prepared some shrimp paste. I'll cook it for you guys." Shen Cao got a little excited when she talked about food. She used a spoon to scoop the shrimp paste she had prepared into the pot one spoonful at a time.

"Once they float up, you can eat them. The shrimp paste made from this fresh shrimp is delicious."

When the green shrimp paste was put into the pot, it immediately turned into a pinkish-orange color, just as Shen Cao had said. After a few minutes, the plump shrimp paste floated up as expected.

"Alright, you can eat the shrimp paste now."

At Shen Cao's command, everyone dipped their chopsticks into the pot and picked up a shrimp paste.

I dipped it in the sauce, took a bite, and it was chewy, smooth, and very sweet. It was indeed delicious.

Shen Cao also prepared more than a dozen ingredients, including dried bamboo shoots, green vegetables, pea shoots, vermicelli, and shrimp, which she had dried earlier.

In the end, not a single vegetable was left.

Everyone except Shen Cao was stuffed.

Especially Wei Siyu, he had been busy with family matters for a while and hadn't gotten off the boat. Every day on the boat, it was just braised fish, and he was so sick of it that he almost threw up.

He ate to his heart's content, as it was a rare treat to have such delicious food today.

"It's delicious! Does this pot have a name?" Shen Yu'an asked curiously.

"hot pot."

"It's a fitting name, not bad."

Of course, this is the wisdom of the ancient working people.

After the whole family had eaten and drunk their fill, Mr. and Mrs. Shen went to clean up, Shen Chen went to the study to read, and Shen Qing and Shen Wan went out to play.

Shen Cao led Shen Yu'an and Wei Siyu to the main room.

As soon as he sat down, Shen Cao asked, "Brother Shen, I want to ask you something. I didn't see any beef for sale at the market. I'd like to ask if it's not allowed to kill cattle at will."

Shen Yu'an fanned himself with his jade-bone fan and thought for a while. "I'm not too sure about the specifics, but it's not that you can't eat it. Oxen are oxen that help farmers with plowing. Unless they die of natural causes, they can be killed after being specially registered with the government."

"Aren't there cows specifically raised for food?"

"It seems so, but they are all nomadic peoples."

“Kyoto also has specialized breeding farms, but they are all for special supply.”

"What? Miss Grass wants to raise cattle?"

"Some ideas."

"This is not a good matter."

"No rush, we'll talk about it later."

"Ah."

"By the way, Brother Shen, please don't keep calling me 'Little Grass Girl,' you can just call me Little Grass."

"it is good."

"Little Grass, I have an idea I'd like to discuss with you."

"Is it possible to sell hot pot today?"

Shen Yu'an is indeed a businessman; he can spot business opportunities after just one hot pot meal.

"It's possible, but like I asked you about the cattle before, we can only start selling them on a large scale after we have a clear plan for raising cattle."

"Why?"

"Because the most important and delicious ingredients for hot pot are all from the cow." Such as tripe, honeycomb tripe, beef aorta, not to mention all kinds of beef and beef balls.

"I see, no wonder Little Grass asked me these questions."

"Then I'll ask around for you when I get back."

"it is good."

Hearing their conversation, Wei Siyu's mind started working. If these two wanted to do business, she had to get involved. One was cunning and calculating, and the other could cook all kinds of delicious food and knew everything about food. This business was sure to be profitable.

"However, even though I don't have beef, I can use other ingredients."

"The hot pot base wasn't ready, so the hot pot business has to slow down."

The chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns that Shen Cao asked Uncle Village Chief to plant have just been sown and will take several more months to mature.

"clear."

“If you two want to start a hot pot business, I have to invest,” Wei Siyu finally chimed in.

Seeing Wei Siyu's anxious expression, Shen Cao almost forgot about her.

The Wei family's shipping business is renowned throughout the country, so if I were to go into business in the future, I would naturally have to deal with transportation.

"Of course, Brother Wei is indispensable. I thought you and Brother Shen were one and the same." Shen Cao joked as he looked at the two of them.

Wei Siyu quickly denied it, "He is him, and I am me. I want to be with you. He is too insidious."

"Hahaha……"