However, Ruan Yuan did not talk to Kong Shun about more ingredients that day. In the afternoon, Meng Zhu and his wife came to visit. Ruan Yuan and Kong Luhua also went out to greet them and took Meng Zhu and his wife to the study to prepare for a visit.

They cooked and drank tea together. The Longjing wells stored in Ruan Yuan's mansion were all the finest products from Hangzhou, so within a moment, the fragrance of tea was already overflowing in the study. Meng Zhu and his wife also quickly shared the refreshments, and Ruan Yuan took the initiative to come forward and interact with Meng Zhu first.

After serving a cup of tea and only taking a sip of tea, Meng Zhu's eyes lit up and he said to Ruan Yuan: "President Ruan, it seems that we have come to the right place to taste tea at your house today? Are you?

This tea is really... fragrant, but not overpowering. The water is also clear and mellow. Ordinary tea is definitely inferior. Look at your calligraphy and furnishings... Oh, I am so ashamed of myself. You

How can a rough guy like me have the nerve to come to such an elegant place as Mr. Ruan?"

"Haha, General Meng, you can tell me what you said, but our family really doesn't dare to take it seriously." Kong Luhua also took the initiative to smile at Meng Zhupai and said: "Master, I always have my own way of drinking tea water. This Hangzhou Longjing,

It's expensive but not expensive. If it weren't for you two as distinguished guests, Master would not be willing to take out his best Longjing. This water, when Master was in Hangzhou, had always been the same as the famous springs there.

Every year, people are sent here to fetch some of the best spring water in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, our tea cooking time and the heat are just right, so we have such a bowl of Longjing tea? If the general is willing to learn, we will naturally make this tea.

The method of making tea has been taught to the general. What does the general think?"

"Well... Haha, I'm getting older, and I'm not as energetic as before when I do things. I really can't learn how to drink tea." Meng Zhu said with emotion.

"Sister, where is An'er today?" When Mrs. Meng drank her cup of tea, she also felt that it was fragrant and elegant, and had endless aftertaste. She thought of Ruan An unconsciously, and took the initiative to ask Kong Luhua: "Sister,

The two of us went back that day and thought about it. Maybe we were a little anxious when we suddenly recognized An'er as our daughter, but we were sincere. Look at An'er's appearance, then... that was who I was back then.

Children, don't worry, as long as we old couple still have the title of Duke Cheng'en, we will definitely not treat An'er badly. Don't be too cautious, although today we are the elders and An'er is the junior, but...

But we can’t bear to leave An’er, otherwise, how about you ask An’er to come over and let’s have tea together?”

"Sister misses An'er so much, but we haven't thought carefully about it." Kong Luhua also smiled at Mrs. Meng: "It's just a pity today. After An'er came back from the General's Mansion, I don't know what happened in the past two days. Looking at her expression,

But I feel a lot tired, and I don’t eat as much as before. As a mother, I don’t know what to do. Thinking about An’er’s appearance these past two days, it’s really inconvenient to see people, so I just came today.

Sister, please don’t be offended if An’er is not asked to come over.”

"She looked tired and didn't eat much..." Unexpectedly, Mrs. Meng's eyes suddenly lit up while she was reciting Kong Luhua's words, and she asked Kong Luhua: "Sister, I remember you said that An'er has married that Zhang Shengqi.

It's been a month. If that's the case, is An'er already pregnant? If she is pregnant, you should find a doctor to take a look as soon as possible. After that, An'er should not be allowed to move around, so that she can have a good life and rest in peace.

But it doesn't matter today. If An'er really has a child, then how can I, the stepmother, be unhappy? According to me, at today's dinner, you can ask An'er and that Zhang Sheng to come over.

If we can't eat much, it doesn't matter. How can we, an old couple, blame such a well-behaved child? It's just that when we recognize mother and daughter, we always have to formally sworn sworn friends, right?"

"In that case...then thank you sister for your kindness." Kong Luhua and Ruan Yuan were happy when they heard that Ruan An might be pregnant. They thought that since Meng Zhu and his wife had already agreed, even if they let Ruan An and his wife come to the dinner together.

, but it didn’t matter. Everyone continued to drink tea until sunset, and then they all went to the front hall to sit down.

On this day, the General of Guangzhou came to the headquarters of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. Ruan Yuan also decorated the reception hall. Thinking that such a grand event would not allow only two families to attend the banquet, he also asked Kang Shaoyong, the governor of Guangdong, and Wei Yuanyu, the chief envoy of Guangdong,

Guangdong Inspector Lian Jing sent an invitation, inviting everyone to come to the banquet. In addition, Yan Jie, as the manager of the Guangdong Communications Bureau, was also invited to the Governor's Mansion by Ruan Yuan. As night fell, everyone arrived one after another.

In the Governor's Hall, Ruan Yuan and Kong Luhua invited everyone into the hall one by one, and immediately told Kong Shun to serve the dishes. Within a quarter of an hour, the first portion of the dishes were delivered to the living room one after another. Strictly speaking, these dishes were just

Most of the snacks before the main meal are Yangzhou and Suzhou-Hangzhou style pastries and cakes. However, among the seven or eight snacks, there are two that are very different in shape. It seems that they are not from the south of the Yangtze River.

"General, madam, sister, Lian Zhitai, the three of you might as well try this dish first and see if my cook's skills in making this dish are still to your liking?" With that, Kong Luhua said

That is to say, he took the initiative to take the two strange-shaped snacks and placed one next to Mengzhu and his wife, and the other was placed next to Lian Jing, the inspector who was also a bannerman. Neither Mengzhu, his wife nor Lian Jing saw this.

The appearance is square, but the inside is made up of countless tiny pastries made of overlapping dough.

"Mrs. Ruan, this...isn't this Shaqima? The chef at Madam's home can actually...can make Shaqima exactly the same as in the capital?" Lian Jing saw that the shape and style of the dim sum in front of him were the same as those of the Manchus.

The homemade snack Shaqima outside the customs is exactly the same, except that this is Guangzhou. Even the chefs in the banner camp make the Shaqima in a shape that is quite different from that in Beijing. However, the Shaqima made in Ruan Mansion is quite different.

, it looked exactly like the capital city. I was surprised for a moment and asked Kong Luhua quickly.

"Yes, my wife and I worked as officials in the capital for four years, so our cook also learned a lot of Manchu cuisine. When our children were young, they also liked to eat this kind of Shaqima.

As the cook at home cooks it, he naturally becomes familiar with it. Moreover, the Shaqima we serve at home has a unique flavor. General, sister, you might as well try it first and see how our Shaqima is different from Jingzhong

How different are the flavors?" Kong Luhua looked at the three people in front of her and naturally recognized this Shaqima, so she followed the trend and took the initiative to explain this "Ruan Mansion Shaqima" to everyone.

, Sure enough, seeing that the style of Shaqima was exactly the same as that produced in Beijing, Meng Zhu and the other three people no longer had any worries, and one after another picked up the snacks on their plates and tasted them.

Sure enough, after the three of them had just eaten a few mouthfuls, their expressions changed drastically and they were full of admiration. Meng Zhu seemed to be particularly fond of this Shaqima, and for a moment he was reluctant to put down the remaining half of the Shaqima.

She asked Kong Luhua: "Mrs. Ruan, this Shaqima... tastes really amazing, and why do I feel that this Shaqima is better than those shops in Beijing? You see, the Shaqima in Beijing is just average

They are all very sweet, but most of them are greasy. If you eat too much, you will feel uncomfortable. But Madam's Shaqima not only has the same aroma as the taste in Beijing, but also has a much less greasy feel than the Shaqima in Beijing.

Ah? But I don’t know how the Shaqima in Madam’s home was made?”

"General Meng, you are indeed a real expert." Kong Luhua also smiled at Meng Zhu and his wife: "Actually, our cooks had already discovered this shortcoming when they first started making Shaqima. Shaqima was born out of the bitter cold outside the customs.

Therefore, in order to keep out the cold, we always paid equal attention to sugar and oil, but now we are in Lingnan. If we blindly add oil and sugar, it will only become more greasy and unpalatable. So our family changed the method very early and made

When making the noodles, we first used eggs, and when cooking and frying, we added honey, so that we could use much less sugar and oil, and it would not be as greasy as the original Sachima. But I didn’t know the taste.

How do you two taste it?"

"This...is this very good? In my opinion, this land in Lingnan was originally not suitable for eating Shaqima. Now that Madam has made this method, it seems that we can also taste Shengjing in Lingnan in the future.

It smells so good!" It seemed that the Mengzhu couple had been completely attracted by Shaqima and felt reluctant to leave it. But after a while, several dishes were served one after another. This time it was the main course, including a roast chicken dish.

, bright in color, fragrant and delicious.

"Houmin, you are also from Zhejiang. Have you ever recognized this roast chicken? I'll take a look at this dish. It's up to you to try it first and see how it's different from other roast chickens in Zhejiang?"

Once, it was Ruan Yuan who took the initiative to speak and advised Yan Jie on the side.

"Teacher, this... then students should be respectful rather than obey orders." Yan Jie knew that he was the only one without an official position among the people present. He did not dare to say anything at first, but with Ruan Yuan in front of him to encourage him, he wanted to come here.

It would be more appropriate for him to introduce the dish himself, so he picked a few pieces of roast chicken and tasted it. In just a moment, Yan Jie was already surprised and happy, and immediately said to everyone present: "My lords, I will learn from you later.

A native of Qiantang, Zhejiang, this roast chicken is also a famous dish in Hangzhou. It is generally called yellow mud chicken. It is always cooked with slow fire, which is the easiest way to bring out the aroma of the chicken itself. However... Ordinary yellow mud chicken is often not heated enough, so

Maybe it's too rich, and it's easy to leave a smoky smell. But my teacher's yellow mud chicken has the aroma of ordinary roast chicken, but also has a fresher feeling, but the smoky smell is almost gone. This... this is really rare.

."

"Really, let me have a taste too." Meng Zhu was interested in hearing Yan Jie's praise of the roast chicken, so he took two pieces of roast chicken and tasted it. Sure enough, Meng Zhu nodded again and again and said to

Kong Luhua asked: "Mrs. Ruan, what this junior said just now is indeed true. This chicken is really fresh, with all the color, flavor and flavor. It is the best! Can you give us some advice on how to cook it?"

"The general is very complimentary. In fact, the preparation of this yellow mud chicken is a bit unexpected. But when my family makes this dish, I have to rub spices on the chicken in advance, so that the smell of spices can eliminate the smell of smoke.

In this way, it will only have a fresh and delicious taste, but it will not lose its richness." After saying that, Kong Luhua also told the Mengzhu couple how to make the yellow clay chicken. In fact, the so-called yellow clay chicken is what the people call it.

Literati often think that the name of beggar's chicken is inelegant, so they often use yellow mud chicken instead. Mengzhu and his wife were amazed when they heard this. They didn't know that there was such a way to cook chicken in Jiangnan.

Soon, the Ruan family's chef served another dish of chicken. Everyone saw that Ruan Yuan's family had served as officials for almost half of the world, and the same chicken could produce two completely different flavors. They all praised the Ruan family's chef.

This white-chopped chicken is also a dish with superb knife skills and delicious meat. Everyone enjoys it. The next dish is the roast duck carefully made by Kong Shun. At this time, the duck meat has been sliced ​​by Kong Shun into petals, all in one piece.

They were all lined up on the dinner plate. The skin of the roast duck was crispy and tender, and the aroma was fragrant. Everyone was moved. Kong Luhua also asked Meng Zhu to take a few pieces and eat them together with the pancake sauce. Meng Zhu naturally applauded continuously.
Chapter completed!