Datang First Chef

"Huber! Huber!" Hu Weizhen is immersed in the world built by delicious food. The volcano formed by the accumulation of meat and tea is still erupting in his chest. What erupts from ordinary volcanoes is magma, but the magma erupted from his chest It's tea water and gravy.

Suddenly he heard someone calling his name constantly, Hu Weizhen opened his eyes suddenly, he had just closed his eyes and immersed himself in a dream, what a shame!

Hu Weizhen shunned his triangular goatee and said, "What's the matter?"

The person who called him was the young owner of another restaurant. In terms of seniority, he was his nephew and nephew. Looking at Yangzhou City, it is almost impossible to find a chef with seniority than Hu Weizhen. He is a bit stingy, but his craftsmanship is very good. Learning from time to time, even Wei Wen would nod and call him "Uncle" when he saw him.

The young owner's mouth was full of greasy food. If he hadn't come to participate in the tasting meeting, and one person could only eat small pieces, he must have ordered a few plates of meat to feast on. His expression is a little serious now: "Hu Bo, it's so delicious, what should I do?" ah."

Without even thinking about it, Hu Weizhen reprimanded: "What should I do, won't you cook better than him if he cooks delicious food? It's really embarrassing to shrink back from such a trivial matter!"

The younger generation shrank their heads after being trained by him, dare to speak?

After Hu Weizhen was awakened, he looked around to see the reactions of all the diners, as well as the reactions of the chefs and hosts who came with him. He came back to his senses quickly, and the rest were still trapped in the dream of delicious food. They all stretched their brows and smacked their lips. Tasting the lingering fragrance, the aftertaste is endless, Hu Weizhen fake coughed twice, and woke up a few people, they first woke up like a dream, confused, don't know what year it is, and when they saw the little old man's mean face, they suddenly woke up, as if facing a big enemy, His complexion changed from green to white, and he was speechless.

What Mo Wenyuan saw when he went out was a group of acquaintances and ordinary diners. He was not too surprised to see the former. On the contrary, he nodded with Hu Weizhen, the highest generation, to show respect.

Hu Weizhen is very useful, he likes other people to respect him, and he nodded to Mo Wenyuan in response, his long face seemed to be shortened.

When the buddy asked for comments from other people, Mo Wenyuan came to say hello to Hu Weizhen. He said, "Hu Bo."

Hu Weizhen said in a deep voice, "Well——"

"How are you eating?"

"Eat...very good." Squeezing out a few words from between his teeth, this was almost the best evaluation he could give.

"That's good." Mo Wenyuan didn't ask if you think you can open a shop in Jiangnan, Hu Weizhen's ugly and embarrassed face has already given him the answer.After several conversations, the young chefs who came in aggressively walked away in desperation. Zhong Heiyang laughed "baa baa baa baa baa" when he saw their backs. Fortunately, the chefs couldn't hear them, otherwise it would be even worse. Embarrassed.

Qin Weishan thought he had a little friendship with Mo Wenyuan, so he came over and asked, "What did you say to Huber?"

"I asked him how he ate without saying anything. Huber seemed quite satisfied."

Wei Wendao: "Hu Bo's temperament is not very good, but he cooks well."

Mo Wenyuan smiled and said: "I don't think he has a bad personality." It's just that he is a little stingy, a little arrogant, and whether he is embarrassed or not is written on his face. Compared with the double-faced, three-faced, sweet-bellied swordsman, he is much more straightforward and cute .

Qin Weishan looked Mo Wenyuan up and down, not knowing whether he should be broad-minded or rich in experience. Ordinary people would not be happy to see a person like Hu Weizhen who did not give a good face throughout the whole process, especially Mo Dalang was young and vigorous, and he was still a half-year-old when he let others go. My child, I will definitely not like old man Hu.

Mo Wenyuan seemed to be able to see what he was thinking: "Could he use tricks to plot against me?"

"How come? We all rely on cooking skills to make a fortune. There is no such thing as plotting or not plotting. Besides, what method does he use to plot against you? The cooking skills are his own, and the most he can do is tamper with the ingredients. Heh, I may not be good for you. Sex is bigger than him."

Mo Wenyuan said: "Since that's the case, what's so unlovable about him? In my opinion, Huber is straightforward and worthy of friendship."

Qin Weishan sighed: "As expected of a Buddha." Being kind to others, tolerant, peaceful, and very precocious, middle-aged people can understand these truths, and young people can say these words, which is really rare.

……

It took Mo Wenyuan more than a month to try food and other things, and before June came, everything was ready for Li Sanniang restaurant in Jiangnan, just waiting to open the store. There were many people present on the opening day, not only Wei Wen, Qin Weishan and others, but also Even Huber and the others arrived, and one or two diners were very discerning. When they saw the people sitting around the low table, they gasped: "Most of the famous chefs in Jiangnan gather here."

Li Sanniang is very courageous. The Jiangnan store is bigger than the store in Liangjing. Those two stores are gradually expanding, but here it is in place in one step. In the short term, there is no need to worry about not having enough space.

Before the restaurant arrives, the low tables are full. The famous chefs from the south of the Yangtze River have taken up the seats on the lower half floor, and there are also nobles from aristocratic families, wealthy merchants, and ordinary people who want to enter the restaurant.

Qin Weishan sat with the merchants, and heard those people ask: "I heard that Qin Da and Mo Dalang have a little friendship, so we know why the food in this shop is delicious."

Li Sanniang's restaurant needs a large number of fresh fish orders every day. After several days of discussion between Li Sanniang and Qin Weishan, it was finally decided that his family would supply fresh fish for a long time.

After hearing this, Qin Weishan stroked his chin and said, "In my opinion, as long as the dishes are cooked by Mo Dalang, it is hard to find something delicious."

"Heh! The evaluation is so high, how does it compare with Wei Lang?"

"Between brothers."

"We have a lot of people, so we can order a few more dishes."

After speaking, he asked the waiter to order food. The waiter in Li Sanniang's restaurant was trained. Seeing that the merchants were not focused on ordering dishes, they seemed to want to repeat all the dishes, so they took the initiative to say: "Guests, why don't you try the Spring Water Banquet? "

"Spring Water Feast, what is that?"

"Mo Dalang composed a feast with timely dishes and named it Chunshui Banquet. There are twelve dishes in total. If you come to my house for the first time, order this banquet. The treasure of the shop is that Mo Dalang made new dishes after he came to Huaiyang."

The merchants were very happy when they heard this, and someone clapped their hands and said, "That's good, I don't even have to think about what dishes to order, so I'll come to the Spring Water Banquet."

There is also Humanities Zou Zou said: "Why is it called the Spring Water Banquet?"

"Mo Dalang said that when he came to the south of the Yangtze River at the beginning of spring, he saw a river of smoke and water shining on the clear haze, sparkling water, and a vast expanse of green. The river water in spring is really beautiful. In his dish, there are river fresh fish, which are special products in the south of the Yangtze River, and emerald green. The green vegetables, which are full of the spirit of spring, are arty and elegantly named "Spring Water Banquet."

"it is good!"

Not to mention merchants, even the scholars at the table next to them all said hello in unison after listening to Xiao Er's introduction. The scholars eat not only for the taste, but also for the fun and elegance. In their minds, the hazy scenery of the misty river in the early spring morning appeared, and they deeply felt that Mo Wenyuan was different from other cooks, he was a romantic cook who was knowledgeable and good at reciting poems.

"Give us a spring water feast as well."

"Here too."

……

The name of Spring Water Banquet spread farther and farther, and after another two months, people in both capitals had heard of the name of Spring Water Banquet in the South of the Yangtze River. Mo Xiaogou sitting in the restaurant, can be said to be the first and the second big.

"Is there a Spring Water Feast?"

"No."

"Why did I hear that the Jiangnan store has launched this banquet for nearly two months, how could there be no such banquet in Luoyang?"

He said earnestly: "The north is not the south of the Yangtze River. How can there be a lot of fresh fish in the land of fish and rice? If you really want to have a spring water feast, you can only go to Huaiyang and go to the store to eat. We don't have many kinds of fish here, and they are not fresh. "

After hearing this, the diners were extremely depressed, and it was the first time that Chang'an people struggled with their identities. Hey, I am so angry, why are there not many rivers near Chang'an?

Mo Xiaogou found Zhao Erniang after finishing his work, and said, "Auntie and Dalang are here, and the Jiangnan store is really a hit. These few days, all the guest officials came to ask why the Spring Water Banquet was not here, let alone them. I want to taste it, but we don’t have any fish here.”

Zhao Erniang was quite open-minded: "They have a spring water feast, we have a mung bean feast, instead of complaining here, it's better to see how the mung beans are growing. Da Lang said earlier that he will return to Chang'an this month, and he will definitely play with mung beans when he comes back."

"You don't need to say, I keep an eye on the ground very closely, and I just came back from the field yesterday."

It takes a lot of time to plant mung beans, and it only takes two months to plant a wave. After the mung beans are planted in April and harvested, they will continue to plant a new round of mung beans, sow in June, and harvest in August.Li Sanniang is a discerning person. The old farmer he hired was illiterate and had never read agricultural books. He spent his whole life planing and eating in the soil. In terms of understanding of crops, few people can match him. In the second round of planting, there was no teacher. The common method is to mix barley and mung beans. Mo Xiaogou went to see it yesterday, and the mung beans grown are plentiful and good.

"Is there enough harvest this year?"

"I don't know. Da Lang said that most of the mung beans will be made into vermicelli. After this year, I will definitely plant more. Then I will go to the farm to talk about it and see if I am willing to grow mung beans."

"In my opinion, as long as there are more people who buy fans and more people want mung beans, they will definitely be willing."

"Hey."

The two were still chatting, when suddenly, the guy from the soy sauce shop ran over with a look of surprise on his face. Xiaogou Mo knew something big must have happened after seeing it, so he asked him to talk slowly.

"A big business just came to the store."

"What big business?" Mo Xiaogou was curious. What they sell soy sauce is to keep a steady stream of water. They rely on the number of buyers to win. Whoever said that a spoonful of soy sauce only costs one penny, even if a bottle costs six pennies, they can't earn much.

"The person who came just now said that he would order six thousand guan soy sauce."

"How much?" Mo Xiaogou was dumbfounded, and Zhao Erniang was also stunned.

"Did you say six thousand strings?" Zhao Erniang asked.

"It's indeed [-] guan." The man announced, "And it's [-] guan every month."

……

Before Mo Wenyuan went home, he didn’t tell Mo Xiaogou and the others. As soon as he entered the door, he saw the scene of chaos. Mo Xiaogou grabbed the shop assistant and asked, “Is there enough soy sauce?”

"Enough is enough. The soy sauce is long-lasting. Before that, it was marinated in large batches every two days. The monthly supply is not a problem, but the citizens also buy a lot, so they have to make more."

"Do as much as you can, just get the nearest supplier first."

Mo Wenyuan's eyes turned into suspicious eyes. He and Zhong Hei Yang looked at each other, not knowing what happened. It stands to reason that their shop has enough soy sauce. Why is Mo Xiaogou not worried enough? ?

"Brother, what's the matter?" Mo Xiaogou is not his real brother, but the two grew up together, Mo Wenyuan has long regarded him as an elder brother, and they call him "Brother" and "Da Lang" call.

"Dalang, you're back?" Mo Xiaogou was very surprised, "The sheep are back too?"

The middle black sheep said hello.

"Why is there not enough soy sauce?" Mo Wenyuan was extremely confused, "Didn't you make a lot?"

Mo Xiaogou's face was flushed, and he was in a very good mood: "You came just in time. Yesterday, the store received a big order for soy sauce, six thousand per month." This business is really too big.

Mo Wenyuan has stayed with Monk Huiyuan for a long time, and his political intuition is also very sensitive. Hearing that Liuqian Guan has already made a guess in his heart, I am afraid that the government will not come forward to buy soy sauce and supply it to soldiers stationed everywhere. If it is what he thinks Similarly, six thousand guan is just the beginning, and I am afraid that there will only be more supplies in the future.

The grain supply of the army in the Tang Dynasty was mainly composed of rice and pickles. Needless to say, rice is part of the tax, and the state can supply it directly, while the sources of pickles are more complicated, and some of them are made by people in related handicraft industries. , but there are still a large number of acquisitions from the market.

There is a great demand for pickles in the army. It is recorded in the "Quan Tang Shu" in later generations that there are only 500 soldiers stationed in Annan, and their annual pickle expenditure is nearly [-] guan. The production speed of the handicraft industry cannot keep up with the consumption speed. The market It has become the main source of pickles.

By analogy, soy sauce is currently a unique technology, and the government has not mastered it. Now that the emperor is a good emperor, it is naturally impossible to order them to hand over the production method just for the sake of small soy sauce. Buying has become the only way.

Mo Wenyuan thinks about it. Compared with bean paste and vegetables, the seasoning effect of soy sauce is not inferior to the above two, and the taste is better. It is also good at carrying and storing. It is really the best choice for condiments on the march, and more importantly Because the price is cheap, the expense of soy sauce is bound to be less than buying pickles and so on.

All in all, soy sauce has a bright future.

After thinking about it, Mo Wenyuan said cautiously: "Brother, you must pay attention to this business, and the future is boundless if you do it well."

"I can save it."

……

Mo Wenyuan wanted to know if his speculation about the whereabouts of the soy sauce was correct, so he went to familiar places to inquire about the news. The place he was most familiar with and also the place with the best information was Daxingshan Temple.

The monks in Daxingshan Temple were very happy to see him. Many acquaintances stepped forward and sighed with Mo Wenyuan: "Mo Dalang, soy sauce is really good!" The category of "Mo Xiaolang Jun", and the monks in the temple have always respected him, so he simply changed his name to Mo Dalang.

"It's good to eat happily."

"Aren't you happy? That soy sauce is amazing. Even the most common white reeds have a salty smell when cooked with soy sauce. The snow-white meat of reeds is dyed brown and spread on the white rice. I used chopsticks to poke holes in the reeds, and the holes were so watery that the tips of the chopsticks were all stained." He can eat several bowls of rice with just a plate of braised white radish !

Looking at his appearance, Mo Wenyuan thought to himself that it is no wonder that the monk gained a lot of weight. He ate too much of the staple food of braised vegetarian dishes. Can he not gain weight?

Instead of going to Monk Huiyuan first, he ran to the hall of Daxingshan Temple to borrow the kitchen to make offerings to Guanyin Bodhisattva.Mo Wenyuan is very sincere, and he must do what he says, and he will deliver an offering to the Bodhisattva once a month. The dishes are exquisite and the appearance is like a work of art.

For example, he cuts radishes into pieces for himself, but for Bodhisattvas, he has to be carved out by Xiu carvers. Last time, he carved a small Bodhisattva statue, which aroused the praise of the monks in Daming Temple in Yangzhou, thinking that Mo Dalang was very special. Pious, full of Buddha nature.

After seeing it, Zhongheiyang was even a little jealous. He knew that cutting white radish into pieces tasted the same as carving a Bodhisattva from a white radish, but no matter what, Mo Wenyuan’s painstaking efforts were poured into the carving, and he felt jealous just thinking about it. Isn’t it a Bodhisattva? Well?How could it take him so long.

Too bad!

The dishes given to Bodhisattva are not only delicious but also beautiful. The braised dishes are too dark and not very attractive. Most of the dishes he cooks are light in taste. The taste is still the same, but the types are different. What I really want to say is Both Longjing Shrimp and Dongpo Pork are delicious, but one has a strong taste and the other has a light taste.

The new dishes were delivered to the altar on a small tray, and the bottom of the plate almost touched the countertop, and the dishes disappeared with a flash of white light.Mo Wenyuan stood with his hands down to show respect.

In another corner of Daxingshan Temple, Hui Zhi, who was sitting in the monk's dormitory, showed a look of anticipation, white light flashed, and the new dishes were placed in front of him, with a pleasant aroma.

When he saw the dishes clearly, Huizhi's expression stiffened suddenly. There were two reasons. One was that he felt that there were too few braised dishes, just a little bit, not even half of it.

He is not a Bodhisattva with a light taste, but a Bodhisattva with a heavy taste. Otherwise, he would never forget Buddha Jumping Over the Wall. No matter how delicious the clear soup is, no matter how beautifully cooked, he likes thick red sauce and soy sauce. Braised radish is boiled without white water. The radish looks elegant, but the Bodhisattva said that seeing the deep reddish-brown color made him happy.

Another point……

Monk Huizhi picked up the sculpture of the little Bodhisattva with chopsticks, feeling inexplicable. In fact, the small sculpture is very popular. The monks think it is a manifestation of Mo Wenyuan's sincerity. Zhong Heiyang feels that the sculpture contains Mo Wenyuan's hard work, which is very rare However, when the Bodhisattva saw this sculpture, especially this sculpture was similar to his image, his mood was very delicate.

Bodhisattva: emmmmmmmmm why do you feel like you are eating yourself?

If Mo Wenyuan knew what he was thinking, he would definitely explain that the carving of radishes is not for the Bodhisattva to eat, but for decoration to make the dishes more exquisite.

Who knew that the Foodie Bodhisattva was sharpening his knife and preparing to eat his own miniature carvings.

Huizhi opened his bloody mouth and was about to bite off the head of the Bodhisattva when Monkey King suddenly appeared on the stage.

Sun Wukong: "..."

Buddha:"……"

"Go ahead and eat." Sun Wukong said calmly, "Bodhisattva, why don't you start eating from your feet."

It's too cruel to bite from the head.

Buddha:"……"

Why do you always show up when I eat? ? ?

……

After the trip to the south of the Yangtze River, Mo Wenyuan learned some knowledge about tea from Zen Master Zhile, so he thought about making tea for Master Huiyuan. Master Huiyuan had a good impression of tea, and Mo Wenyuan often watched him tinkering with tea cake.

The two sat on the futon, in front of Mo Wenyuan was the tool for making tea, he took care of all the work and said: "Master, I brought back some good tea cakes from the south, and I will make tea for you. how?"

"You also learned how to make tea?"

"I met a friend on the road who loves tea very much. He told me about the differences between different kinds of tea. He was not very talented, and he only understood part of it. I was still confused about the difference in water quality and the complicated tea-making process."

"However, I still have some confidence in the steps of roasting tea cakes and brewing. When I was in Jiangnan, I made some dishes and snacks that used tea cakes. During this period, I have become proficient in these two steps."

Monk Huiyuan smiled and said: "Even I have heard about the Spring Water Feast you cooked up in the south of the Yangtze River. If it wasn't for me being a monk who can't eat meat, I would really like to try it."

"I can't eat meat, but I don't care too much about vegetarian dishes. When you have time, master, I will make some of the vegetable snacks for you to eat. The taste is guaranteed to be good."

After the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, Mo Wenyuan finally got to the point and asked Master Huiyuan if he knew something about the use of soy sauce.Monk Huiyuan knew what he meant after hearing a few cryptic words from him. He said leisurely, "Are you asking the sage if he intends to add soy sauce to the army's food supply?"

"If you really can't hide it from Master, the soy sauce shop in Chang'an City has received a big order. I think it looks like the government is buying it."

"I have indeed heard that the sage tasted soy sauce when it appeared, and praised it as 'very good taste and long lasting flavor', and after knowing its low price, he even said that this product can 'benefit the common people'. "He said, "The sage attaches great importance to soy sauce."

Mo Wenyuan knew in his heart that eight or nine out of ten people who bought a lot of soy sauce in the store were military purchasers, and six thousand guan was just the beginning. If the soy sauce was still the only one in the future, the money would only increase.

Of course, Mo Wenyuan knows that making soy sauce is not very difficult, and the possibility of their family dominating is not very high. However, considering that soy sauce koji is still quite difficult to cultivate, there is no need to worry too much in recent years.

After getting the exact news from Master Huiyuan, Mo Wenyuan's heart finally settled down a lot, but when he thought that soy sauce might be used as the necessary food supply for the army in the future, he had thousands of thoughts in his heart, sitting on the back of the black sheep I've been thinking about it.

……

In late August of the lunar calendar, the mung beans planted are all ripe, and all the mung beans are collected and piled up into several hills with sharp corners.The harvest was very good. Mo Wenyuan calculated that in addition to staying and planting, he could do a lot with fans alone, and he had made an agreement with Tianzhu traders before that he would send a large amount of mung beans from Tianzhu. Calculate the time , also coming soon.

He didn't immediately devote himself to the production of fans after harvesting the mung beans. Mo Wenyuan thought, this year is a busy year, not only himself, Mo Xiaogou and Zhao Erniang are also busy with soy sauce.Fortunately, their first month's soy sauce had already been given away, and they had the rare leisure just like themselves.

Mo Wenyuan said to Zhongheiyang: "There are so many mung beans, let's reward ourselves first and make some delicious snacks suitable for summer."

Hearing what he said, how could Zhongheiyang not support it? He wished he could support Mo Wenyuan with his four hooves up, and immediately let out a series of clear and cheerful "baa baa baa baa baa!"

Well, well, well!

Mo Wenyuan said: "I need to use ice to make this food, and I need you to help me when the time comes."

no problem!

……

The most suitable thing to make in summer is, of course, mung bean ice cream!Mung beans have the effect of clearing heat and relieving fire. Before ice cream was popularized, many people used to drink mung bean soup to relieve heat and cool down.

The biggest problem with making sorbet is that there is no ice. There is only one way to obtain ice in the Tang Dynasty, and that is to store ice, which is to store ice in winter and use it in summer.

This method consumes a lot of money. Except for the royal family, only the rich can do it. Mo Wenyuan's family is still rich, and it is still far away from Cangbing.

However, they have the all-round black sheep, which can easily cool down or make ice cubes.

Mo Wenyuan first soaked the mung beans in water for two or three hours, and then boiled the mung beans in a pot. The fire was so hot that many mung bean skins were boiled off, and the uncooked mung bean skins would fall off when they were cooled.

The mung beans are filtered by a gauze net into a fine and dense bean paste. The bean paste is placed in a wooden basin, and fresh cream and a small amount of goat milk are added to stir vigorously——

Finally, put the stirred red bean paste into a mold made of thin wood chips.

Mo Wenyuan said seriously: "Yang, it's time to play your role! Cool down the mold to the point where ice can condense!"

It was rare for Zhong Hei Yang to be entrusted with such an important task. With a breath of "huh--", a layer of frost formed on the mold. Mo Wenyuan poured the hard popsicle out of the mold and gave Zhong Hei Yang a thumbs up.

Easy Mung Bean Sorbet, ready!

He found Zhao Erniang Mo Xiaogou, and the three of them sat under the shade of a tree with a light green ice cream in their mouths, crunching and chewing very well.

Mo Wenyuan leaned on Zhongheiyang, very happy, eating ice cream in summer is really cool!