"Old man, sister Xi Shi is pregnant. From now on, we will have two people. You will definitely dislike me." Hu Suhua said to Xiang Nan in the evening.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Xi Tzu's child is our child. Xi Tzu is her mother, and you are also her mother." Upon hearing this, Xiang Nan immediately advised, "I promise that a bowl of water will be served evenly. If I can't do it, , just let me be struck by five thunders from the sky..."
"Okay, okay, I'm just talking, don't swear randomly, it will be bad if you agree." Hu Suhua quickly covered his mouth.
"Madam, don't worry. I, Xilaile, am not the kind of ungrateful person. Without my father-in-law, where would I have learned such good medical skills? Without you, a good wife, how could I be where I am today?" Xiang Nan said with a smile. , "I will keep your kindness in my heart and I will never forget it."
"Yes." Hu Suhua nodded, "Hey, by the way, Sister Xishi is pregnant and can no longer work in the kitchen. What about the business of Shiweitian?"
"Hey, you are worrying too much. There are not many good cooks in the capital." Xiang Nan said with a smile, "There must be brave men under heavy rewards. If you don't believe that you can't recruit good cooks with money."
Hu Suhua nodded.
…
Suddenly, Sai Xishi was placed on maternity leave.
Shi Weitian will be left in charge of the second chef for the time being. His cooking skills are not as good as Xi Shi's, but he is still qualified to be a restaurant chef.
However, in order to ensure business, Xiang Nan paid a lot of money to hire two Shandong cuisine chefs.
Although now when talking about cuisines, there are those from Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Huaiyang and others. But in fact, in the late Qing Dynasty, the most sophisticated restaurants in Yanjing were basically Shandong cuisine restaurants. The eight buildings in the capital, Taifeng Building, Zhengyang Building, Hongxing Building, etc., all deal in Shandong cuisine.
Because Shandong cuisine pays attention to the food without getting tired of it, the meat without getting tired of it, and the techniques are diverse. There are more than 60 kinds in total, and it is the most skillful among the eight major cuisines. Therefore, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shandong cuisine had already entered the palace and became a palace dish.
What is good at the top will be bad at the bottom, which is why Shandong cuisine is highly respected by the people in the capital. Exquisite restaurants basically hire Shandong cuisine chefs. It was not until the Republic of China, when Yuan Shikai became president, that Henan cuisine began to flourish again.
In addition to recruiting cooks, Xiang Nan also wrote several recipes and gave them to the cooks to cook.
The Sikuquanshu compiled by Ji Xiaolan contains a lot of recipes, many of which are palace dishes. There are nearly 10,000 kinds of recipes, including seafood, river fresh food, miscellaneous livestock, Yu family, dim sum, medicinal diet, medicinal wine, etc.
It can be said that when it comes to eating, Ji Xiaolan is definitely an expert.
In the first part of "Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan", when he was sent to the execution ground to be beheaded, he even discussed the preparation of diced chicken with the executioner.
Xiang Nan inherited his talent and learning, so naturally he is no different in this regard.
Of course, he doesn't have the ability to do it. But writing a recipe to the cook is easy.
…
"Hey, brother Xi, where did you get all these recipes?" Sai Xishi was extremely surprised when he saw these recipes.
These recipes are all so exquisite, both in terms of materials and workmanship. Just to make eight-treasure tofu, you need to use shiitake mushroom shavings, mushroom shavings, pine nut shavings, melon seed shavings, chicken shavings, ham shavings... Put them together into the fragrant chicken soup, stir-fry until cooked, and then put it in the pot. It's really extraordinary.
If you want to make the ingredients, they must be very delicious.
And recipes like this are actually rare.
The reason is simple: teach the disciples and starve the master to death. If an ordinary person wants to learn how to cook, he must first become a master, and then start from washing vegetables, chopping vegetables, preparing vegetables, and cooking fires. It takes more than ten years of experience before he is ready to cook.
Even so, if you want to learn a dish, it depends on whether the master is willing or not.
If Sai Xishi's father is not a cook, it is basically impossible for her to learn cooking as a female.
"I copied these from Prince Jing's library. Let me tell you, many of them are palace dishes." Xiang Nan secretly said.
"Let me tell you, no wonder you are so sophisticated. A tofu can do so many tricks." When Sai Xishi heard this, he suddenly said, "Brother Xi, you are so kind to me."
Palace cuisine was only eaten by the emperor, and it was extremely difficult for it to spread to the people. It was not until the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the imperial chefs living among the people that palace cuisine gradually became known to the public.
It can be said that at this moment, it is basically impossible for Sai Xishi to learn palace cuisine.
Historically, Emperor Kangxi once gave Xu Jianan Shangshu this recipe of eight-treasure tofu. Even so, Xu Shangshu sent a thousand taels of silver to the imperial kitchen to learn this dish.
This shows how rare palace recipes are.
This is why in the TV series "The First Floor in the World", the imperial chef Liu Xiaozhen risked his life to get a copy of "The Book of Jade" from the Forbidden City, and regarded it as a treasure, not even giving it to his biological daughter.
It is no exaggeration to say that Xiang Nan gave Sai Xishi this cookbook, which is no different from giving her a gold mountain.
"You are my wife. If I am not good to you, who will I be good to?" Xiang Nan said with a smile.
Hearing what he said, Sai Xishi was even happier.
And with Xiang Nan's recipes, coupled with the hard work of the second chef, two Shandong cuisine masters, and all Shiweitian's employees, Shiweitian's business is still booming even though Sai Xishi is gone.
…
Seeing that Xiang Nan was getting more people, getting promoted to higher positions, his business was booming, his reputation was growing, and he was becoming more and more prominent in the capital, Wang Tianhe couldn't help but feel angry.
He wanted to cause trouble for Xiang Nan, but unfortunately, without Lu Zhong, he didn't even have anyone useful around him.
Although Lu Zhong was not very effective at doing things, he tried several times to deal with Xiang Nan but failed. But the rare thing is that he is loyal and can be used with confidence.
If it were anyone else, even if he had the ability to do things, Wang Tianhe wouldn't dare to use them because he couldn't trust them.
Just like Tian Kui, although he seems to be quite grateful, he has repeatedly expressed the idea of joining him. But Wang Tianhe never dared to trust him completely.
"You will hate the young dog when it comes to use~" Wang Tianhe sighed and prepared to recruit Tian Kui.
Although he didn't like Tian Kui very much and felt that this person was a bit shady, but there was really no one around him who could help him, so he had to let him try.
…
"Tian Kui, do you know how Lu Zhong got unlucky?" After Tian Kui arrived, Wang Tianhe took a sip of tea.
"I only heard that he was killed by a traitor." Tian Kui waved his hand.
"Remember, the person who harmed him is named Xilaile." Wang Tianhe said coldly, "Have you heard of this person?"
"I've heard of it." Tian Kui nodded, "As far as I know, he is a quack doctor with shallow medical skills and a reputation that is not worthy of his reputation.
That time in Cangzhou, he couldn't even cure the baby's abdominal bulge and almost lost his life. Thanks to Mr. Lu's helping hand, otherwise I wouldn't be here today. "
"Then do you think a quack like this can be allowed to continue to deceive people in the capital?" Wang Tianhe immediately asked again.
"Of course not." Tian Kui immediately nodded and said, "If such a quack doctor stays in the capital for one more day, I don't know how many people will suffer. I have read the books of sages since I was a child and am determined to protect the country and the people. Naturally, I cannot allow such a quack doctor to continue. Commit murder in the capital."
"Okay, that's well said." Wang Tianhe was immediately elated and extremely happy when he heard what Tian Kui said.
