gourmet chef

Chapter 298 The Showy Bai Xiaobai

As a young man who is passionate about cooking food, seeing so many top-notch ingredients, Bai Xiaobai's blood is almost boiling. He is already ready to move, and his heart is itchy, and he really wants to cook food by himself.

But today is to participate in the banquet, it is impossible to do it yourself.

It's better to keep a low profile.

Bai Xiaobai suppressed his excitement.

After looking at all the ingredients in the kitchen, he and Gao Chao left the kitchen and returned to the courtyard.

It was dark now, and the full moon hung in the sky.

The courtyard has been lit with headlights, bright as day.

A large automatic rotating table is set up in the courtyard, and more than 20 tables and chairs are set up, just right among the chrysanthemum bushes.

Guests can admire chrysanthemums, taste delicious food, smell the fragrance of flowers, and appreciate the full moon hanging in the sky.

Chen Chen sat in the main seat, and the guests sat on both sides in turn.

My uncle has a good relationship with Mr. Chen, so he was asked to sit next to him.

Bai Xiaobai and Gao Chao came a step late, and there were only the last two connected seats left, so there was no choice at all.

Bai Xiaobai chose a seat at random and Gao Chao also settled for the last seat casually.

In addition to the plates and chopsticks on the dining table, each person also has a whole pair of 'eight pieces of crab'.

Crab Eight Pieces is quite famous. Although Bai Xiaobai has never used it, he has heard of it for a long time.

The Eight Crab Pieces is a complete set of crab-eating tools made by craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, including eight pieces, namely hammer, upsetting, pliers, shovel, spoon, fork, scraper, and needle.

Each tool has a unique function, and it was a must for literati in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Bai Xiaobai carefully looked at the eight crabs in front of him.

Every tool is bright, with carvings and grasses on it, which is very exquisite, and feels like it is not made of stainless steel, but more like made of sterling silver.

Tools are good tools, but frankly speaking, Bai Xiaobai really doesn't know how to use them.

Although every autumn, he also steams fresh crabs to eat, but every time the crabs are steamed, Bai Xiaobai peels them off with his hands while they are still hot, and eats the crab paste and crab meat with his mouth, without relying on anyone at all. tool.

It's good now, this dinner actually uses such a formal crab-eating tool, which makes Bai Xiaobai a little at a loss.

But if you don't understand, you can learn with an open mind.

Anyway, Gao Chao is right next to him, you can refer to his crab-eating movements later, and use what you learn now.

Bai Xiaobai silently made up his mind.

Soon, Qiuju's crab feast officially began.

After all the guests were seated, the service staff at the side filled each guest's glass with half a glass of white wine.

Crabs belong to the big cold food, especially hairy crabs.

Therefore, when eating, it will be paired with a little mild wine and used together.

White wine has a strong bactericidal effect and is rich in vitamins. It can remove the fishy smell of crab meat and at the same time stimulate the umami taste of crab meat itself, making the taste better.

Therefore, many rich and noble people like to use it as the first choice for eating crabs.

But Bai Xiaobai personally doesn't particularly like the taste of this wine.

Therefore, before the official banquet, Chen Chen got up, raised his glass and toasted all the guests.

Bai Xiaobai just took a sip and didn't drink any more.

Gao Chao, who was sitting next to him, was very domineering, as if drinking plain water, he drank it all in one gulp.

Soon after the toast, the banquet officially began.

The first thing to serve is naturally steamed hairy crabs.

Steaming hot and full of flavor.

The orange-red Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs were distributed to each guest's plate one by one by the waiter.

Every guest silently picked up eight pieces of crabs and began to eat crabs.

Gao Chao deftly picked up the round-headed scissors among the eight pieces, and began to cut off two large claws and eight crab legs one by one with the scissors.

Then use a round hammer to lightly tap around the crab shell, and easily shovel open the back shell of the crab.

Then use the pliers, fork, scraper, and needle in turn, or pick, or clamp, or fork, or knock, to remove the crab gills, crab intestines, crab stomach, and crab heart, and then take out the orange-red crab roe and white jade-like crab one by one. Crab grease, white and tender crab meat.

After Bai Xiaobai copied Gao Chao's entire movements simultaneously, he also picked out a piece of crab meat that was full of fragrance and umami.

Picking up the crab shell with one hand and sending the delicious crab meat to the lips and tongue, there is really a kind of enjoyment that cannot be described in words.

Bai Xiaobai couldn't help but close his eyes and enjoy the delicious food in his mouth.

There is no need for any dipping sauce, the crab roe is smooth, the crab paste is smooth and tender, the crab meat is delicate, salty and slightly sweet, all sweeping across the entire mouth at this moment, the feeling that makes the lips and teeth fragrant is really wonderful.

One bite after another, Bai Xiaobai ate up a hairy crab in the blink of an eye, not even a scrap of meat left in the crab claws.

In this banquet, there is no limit on the number of hairy crabs.

Gao Chao is simply an expert in crab eating, and his movements are very skillful. Bai Xiaobai just finished eating the first one, and he is almost finishing the second one.

This speed is simply no one else.

Many guests also started to eat the second crab.

Bai Xiaobai also ordered a second crab and was about to continue eating.

At this time, Chen Chen suddenly said, "Eating crabs must be paired with good wine. Let's not patronize eating crabs. I'll test you guys with some extra questions."

The host of the banquet spoke, and all the guests stopped their crab peeling actions and applauded unanimously.

A male guest echoed, "Mr. Chen, what questions do you have to test everyone, tell us and listen."

"Yeah, it's not interesting for us all to just eat. If you say it, everyone can guess and have fun."

Some female guests also became interested when they heard it, "Old Chen, don't make your question too difficult, otherwise everyone may not be able to guess it."

Chen Chen smiled and said, "The first question is very simple, it is related to crabs. But I will say a rule in advance, after I finish asking, all of you are not allowed to use your mobile phone to look up information on Baidu, otherwise you will be fined three glasses of wine."

"Okay, Mr. Chen, hurry up and listen."

A guest said confidently, "I am a know-it-all. I know astronomy from the top and geography from the bottom, so I can't help it."

Some gamblers also suggested, "By the way, Mr. Chen, if you answer the question correctly, will there be any rewards? There is no reward and no motivation, so let's bet."

Chen Chen bought a pass and said, "The answer to this first question is very simple and there is no reward. The reward will only be given if you answer the following questions correctly."

"Come on, Mr. Chen, hurry up and listen."

Many guests put on a posture of listening attentively.

Bai Xiaobai also put down the food in his hands and listened carefully.

I only heard Chen Chen say unhurriedly, "When our ancient literati and refined scholars ate crabs, what kind of wine did they like to drink with?"

A male guest immediately said without thinking, "This question is too simple, it is white wine."

Some guests immediately joked, "Where did white wine come from in ancient times, isn't this nonsense?"

Chen Chen shook his head and said, "Wrong, it's not white wine, guess again."

Another female guest guessed, "Could it be rice wine?"

"wrong."

"wine?."

"wrong."

Some customers even yelled cooking wine indiscriminately, which caused a burst of laughter from the guests sitting there.

Several guests guessed wildly, and they all guessed wrong. Chen Chen turned around and asked Bai Yuanshan beside him, "Brother Bai, do you know what wine to go with?"

Although Bai Yuanshan is a drunkard, he only knows how to drink, so how could he know these things, so he just said casually, "Could it be chrysanthemum wine?"

"Brother Bai, you are also an expert in drinking, but you still guessed wrong." After Chen Chen finished speaking, he casually asked Gao Chao, "Xiao Chao, what kind of wine do you think it is?"

Gao Chao pondered for a while, then solemnly said, "It's sweet-scented osmanthus wine or white bar."

Chen Chen still shook his head, he fixed his eyes on the silent Bai Xiaobai next to Gao Chao.

"Brother Bai, do you know what kind of wine it is?"

Bai Xiaobai originally just wanted to be a handsome man who eats crabs quietly.

Hearing Chen Chen call him 'Bai Xiaodi', he was sweating like a waterfall.

(End of this chapter)