Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 523: The Small Kitchen in Kangning Palace

"This is in front of the Queen Mother, so you should cook some food that you are good at for her."

The Queen Mother became very interested after hearing what Shen Yu said, and waved her hand: "Luo Yao, don't make decisions for her. Since she said that porridge tastes good, let her make it."

"After hearing what she said, I really want to drink a bowl of refreshing rice porridge now."

Shen Yu stood up, bowed, and said, "Then I will go downstairs to cook porridge for the Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother nodded and called over the palace maid who had been standing by her side, wearing a ramie blue double-breasted jacket, "Mrs. Zhen, take Miss Shen over."

"Tell the small kitchen to prepare whatever ingredients Miss Shen needs. If there is nothing here, send someone to ask for it from the imperial kitchen."

Zhenniang answered yes and took Shen Yu to the small kitchen in Kangning Palace.

Although it is called a small kitchen, it is actually bigger than any kitchen Shen Yu has ever seen.

The kitchen utensils were complete and the ingredients were plentiful. There were also four cooks waiting there, and seven or eight eunuchs helping out.

When everyone saw Zhenniang and her people coming, they put down their work and lined up in two rows to wait.

This Zhenniang was in her early thirties, with a kind face, neat clothes and tidy hair. Judging from the way she behaved, she must be the head maid in the Empress Dowager's palace.

When they saw her coming, everyone rushed forward to greet her and called her Aunt Zhen.

Zhenniang was surrounded by people and greeted by everyone, but she just nodded slightly.

Then he instructed everyone in a gentle tone: "This is Miss Shen, who was specially invited by Old Madam Lu to cook for the Queen Mother. You all should be very supportive. Don't hide anything Miss Shen needs."

All the cooks and eunuchs in the small kitchen have been tormented these days and have lost their sense of superiority.

Early this morning, the emperor called everyone over and gave them a scolding. Everyone was so pale and came back covered in cold sweats.

Although it was not only the people in the small kitchen who were scolded, the hundred or so chefs in the imperial kitchen and the thirty or forty top chefs from the restaurants summoned from the capital also received a severe scolding.

But everyone is afraid.

If I continue like this, I'm afraid that not only will I be scolded by the emperor, but it will be a simple matter. It's hard to say whether I can keep my head.

At this moment, they were just hoping that a skilled chef would come down from nowhere and cook some dishes that would suit the Queen Mother's taste so that they could breathe a sigh of relief.

At this moment, when they heard Aunt Zhen introduce that this young girl dressed as a folk woman was here to cook, they immediately became excited.

He went to the doctor in a hurry.

No one present questioned the cooking skills of the girl in front of them, or asked which restaurant she came from.

They just responded one after another, "Don't worry, Aunt Zhen, whatever Miss Shen wants, as long as we can get it, no matter if it's flying in the sky or swimming in the water, even if it's not available in the palace, we will find a way to get it."

"As long as the Queen Mother has an appetite, she will ask the servants to do anything."

They spoke from the bottom of their hearts, and after they finished speaking, they all looked at Shen Yu eagerly, as if they regarded Shen Yu as their savior.

Zhenniang knew the nature of the people in the small kitchen, so she was not willing to believe what they said. She said with a stern face, "You are just good at talking, but don't just talk and don't do anything."

"If I find out, be careful and I will report it to the Queen Mother and have you punished."

Everyone expressed their feelings again, one after another. For a moment, the small kitchen was noisy and no one could hear what everyone was saying.

Shen Yu waited for a while before clearing his throat and saying, "Everyone, please be quiet. Since everyone has said so, I won't be polite."

As she spoke, she looked around and listed the things she needed: a small clay pot that had been used before to cook meat porridge, a small charcoal stove, this year's new rice, a jar of freshly drawn mountain spring water, and preferably smokeless fruit wood charcoal.

As for the pickles, Shen Yu planned to cook the porridge later, taste the pickles himself, and then decide which kind of pickles to use.

After she listed the items needed, everyone was stunned.

One of them, who seemed to be the cook in the small kitchen, smiled carefully and said, "Miss Shen, this is the imperial palace, and it is in the Queen Mother's Kangning Palace."

"We have all kinds of ingredients here. Just ask for what you want. There's no need to test us like this."

Shen Yu said honestly: "No, I really only need these few things, everyone please help me prepare them quickly."

However, Zhenniang listened to the entire conversation between the Empress Dowager and Miss Shen in the Empress Dowager's warm room, and felt that what Miss Shen said about asking the Empress Dowager to eat a light diet made sense.

In the past, when someone in a poor family fell ill, the first thing that would come to their mind was to cook a bowl of porridge. After eating it for two meals, the patient would be well again.

At this time, she also urged: "Why are you still standing there? Just go and get whatever Miss Shen wants."

"If Miss Shen cooked the same way as you do, there would be no need for Miss Shen to travel thousands of miles to come here."

When everyone saw Aunt Zhen urging them, they quickly responded and went to get the things that Shen Yu had requested.

As expected of a palace, there are so many things here.

In a short while, all the items Shen Yu needed were prepared, and there were two or three of each kind of food and item for Shen Yu to choose from.

Shen Yu chose a small casserole of moderate size, which felt a little rough but had good air permeability, from the five or six casseroles of different sizes in front of him.

For rice, I chose the green-stemmed rice that looks oily, translucent, and has long, thin stems.

Use a small spoon to scoop out a spoonful of mountain spring water and taste it. It is very sweet and refreshing.

The charcoal is jujube charcoal with uniform size pieces.

First, clean the small casserole carefully, pour in a pot of spring water, bring to a boil over high heat until it boils for a while, turn the lid over and blanch it in the water, then pour out the boiling water.

When the casserole and lid are cool, pour the washed rice into the pot and add appropriate amount of spring water.

Cover the pot first and bring to a boil.

When the rice and water in the pot begin to boil, remove the lid, spread the fruit charcoal in the small stove evenly, and remove some of it so that the porridge in the pot always keeps a slight bubble.

Shen Yu asked a young eunuch who was in charge of the stove in the small kitchen to sit there and look after it. After instructing him how to add charcoal, he got up and went to see what pickles were in the small kitchen.

The pickles here are very complete, and there are jars of various colors and textures. They are not like those pickled in the palace.

Shen Yu checked and guessed, he estimated that the Empress Dowager liked to eat pickles these days, so the chefs collected all kinds of pickles in the capital and sent them in.

There are not only the common pickled radish, pickled ginger, and pickled mustard greens, but also green Chinese mustard, pickled cucumbers, and sour beans.