He was betrayed at the beginning, from a cake seller to a wealthy person

The lottery and poetry contest were in full swing, and on the eighth day of September, the eight invited people were finally officially confirmed.

In the poetry competition, it was quite unexpected that Chu Tiankuo did not win the first place. The person who won the first place was an instructor from the county school. Last year, the eunuch attended the chrysanthemum banquet invited by the other party. After the banquet, he commented that "the flowers are all beautiful and superficial". Later, when Dian Mo was invited to attend the chrysanthemum banquet, he thought it was the same thing again and simply didn't go. . As a result, the people who came back told me how interesting the feast was, and he was so sorry that his intestines turned green.

He found out that last year's Liufang Banquet was organized by Lu Ji's shopkeeper, so as soon as Lu Ji made the name of the Chrysanthemum Banquet this year, he was even more determined to get the invitation than Chu Tiankuo.

Chu Tiankuo won the second place, and Liu Qingyan narrowly missed the third place and got the last invitation letter.

For Lu Ji, it all depends on luck. Some people can't win at all if they draw every day, while some people just walk by and win with just one draw.

On September [-]th, the Double Ninth Festival, the much-anticipated Chrysanthemum Banquet finally arrived amidst everyone’s expectations.

For the first time, Lu Ji moved all the chairs to the backyard and borrowed a long table. Eight people, five men and three women, old and young, sat in a circle around the table, all eagerly waiting for the meal to begin.

At the Spring Equinox and Winter Solstice, everyone was served a cup of tea, so that everyone should not drink tea in a hurry, as the food would not be served for a while.

The tea was chrysanthemum tea, and it was different from ordinary chrysanthemum tea. It had chrysanthemum bran specially roasted by Lu Yan, which was sweet and sweet.

Many varieties of chrysanthemums are edible. This time, Lu Yan mostly used golden-threaded chrysanthemums and a small amount of purple phoenix and peony chrysanthemums.

The chrysanthemum bran was fried in advance by Lu Yan. Remove the stamens from fresh chrysanthemums and dry the petals. Add sugar to the water in the pot and boil it into a paste. Let it cool slightly and then add the chrysanthemums and stir. The temperature should not be too high to ensure the bright color of the chrysanthemums. When the temperature slowly cools down and the sugar begins to solidify, crush it with a spatula and scoop it out, which is the chrysanthemum chaff. Chrysanthemum bran can be used to make many desserts and teas, and has many uses.

There are also chrysanthemum cakes prepared in advance. The chrysanthemum cake should have been made in the same way as ordinary flower cakes, but the flower cake needed to boil the sauce first, and the cooked flower sauce would have to be kept for a month. Lu Yan was too late, so she had to use a faster method. Put the washed chrysanthemum petals in the pot, add sugar and water, boil until thick, add glutinous rice flour, stir-fry the chrysanthemum paste and glutinous rice flour together, mix well and set aside. This is the filling.

The pie crust is made in the same way as the puff pastry mooncake, which is to wrap the dry puff pastry with water and oil flour, so that you can make a layer-by-layer crust that will fall off when touched. The filling is rolled into a ball, wrapped in the prepared pie crust, and then baked in the oven. The chrysanthemum cake is ready.

chrysanthemum cake

The first thing to make must be a cold dish that is not afraid of cold, cold chrysanthemums. Wash the chrysanthemum petals and put them into a basin, add chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and sugar to taste, plus soul chrysanthemum bran, and a sweet chrysanthemum mixture is ready.

The most time-consuming thing to make first is the chrysanthemum eight-treasure glutinous rice. Blanch the soaked glutinous rice in advance and cook it until the rice can be crushed by hand. Drain the water from the rice, add the fried chrysanthemum sauce and stir evenly. Spread the nuts in a bowl, put the mixed glutinous rice into the bowl, compact and smooth it. Put a plate into a steamer and steam for four quarters of an hour.

The most complicated and time-consuming dish to make is chrysanthemum fish soup. Choose fresh mandarin fish, clean it, fillet the fish, chop the fish head into pieces, prepare tangerine peel, ginger, pepper and rice wine. Put a little oil in the pot, fry the fish bones first and then add water. Add the ginger and tangerine peel, add rice wine and a little pepper, cover and simmer for three-quarters of an hour.

While the glutinous rice is steaming and the fish bones are boiling, make other dishes first.

Fried chrysanthemums are more like Lu Yan’s attempt within the risk-free rules. As we all know, everything can be made into tempura. Lu Yan had heard about the chrysanthemum banquet before, where chrysanthemum leaves were fried, but if the chrysanthemum leaves could be fried, couldn't the chrysanthemum petals be fried? Without breaking off the chrysanthemum petals, dip the whole flower into the batter and fry it in a pan until it becomes golden and crispy. Take it out and the fried chrysanthemum is ready.

The difference between making chrysanthemum fish balls and ordinary fish balls is that chrysanthemum petals are added to the fish paste, then balled into balls, and steamed in a pot.

The general principle of adding chrysanthemums to vegetables is the same. The wrapping method of chrysanthemum wontons is no different from ordinary wontons, except that washed chrysanthemum petals are added to the filling. Lu Yan's fingers flew and she quickly wrapped a basket of wontons shaped like ingots.

To make chrysanthemum glutinous rice balls, roll glutinous rice flour into a skin, wrap the fried chrysanthemum sauce around it, boil it in water until it swells and floats, scoop it out into a bowl, and sprinkle with chrysanthemum bran.

The other dishes are almost ready, and the fish bones are almost ready to be stewed. The mandarin fish meat is cooked in the pot, remove the fish skin and break the fish meat into small pieces. Remove the fish bones and tangerine peel and ginger slices from the fish soup, leaving only the soup. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add shredded mushrooms and fungus. Add some shredded ginger, season with salt, and simmer for a quarter of an hour. Thicken the gravy with water starch, then add the fish meat, stir gently, bring to a boil over high heat, then add the chrysanthemums, and finally sprinkle a handful of thin crisps, and the chrysanthemum fish soup is completed.

While Lu Yan was busy in the kitchen, several people who were invited were also chatting.

Song Bowen, who was placed in the main seat as the host, expressed his embarrassment because Zhu Jiaoyu was now sitting next to his subordinate. Song Bowen sincerely invited Zhu Jiaoyu to come and sit at the main seat. When he went down, he was rejected.

"I'm here as an invited guest today, how can I sit on the main seat?" Zhu Jiaoyu said, "Don't worry about Bowen. Today we are not in a teacher-student relationship. It's just a host-guest relationship. You can sit on top."

How dare Song Bowen? I hope it's okay if Jiaoyu doesn't take the main seat. It's okay if he goes down to the main office. Song Bowen quickly ran to sit next to Chu Tiankuo.

The few people gradually became familiar with each other and started chatting.

Chu Tiankuo couldn't help but ask: "Sir, the student really didn't expect you to come to this competition. I haven't seen you interested in Lu Ji before. What's the reason for this time?"

Zhu Jiaoyu sighed: "It's a long story. In fact, someone held a chrysanthemum banquet last year and invited me to participate. I went, but it turned out to be a very ordinary banquet, with a few pots of chrysanthemums and food that had nothing to do with chrysanthemums. Food. Later, another family held a Liufang Banquet and I was invited. I thought it was similar to the previous banquet, so I didn’t go."

Song Bowen trembled when he heard this. It turned out that he and Zhu Jiaoyu had such a connection.

Zhu Jiaoyu continued: "My colleagues who went there told me that the Liufang Banquet was very interesting, with interesting scenery and interesting dishes. I regretted it very much. I heard that the Liufang Banquet was jointly organized by shopkeepers Song and Lu. . The chrysanthemum banquet will be held again this year, and I will definitely not miss it again."

Song Bowen smiled: "Yes, the Liufang Banquet was jointly organized by students and shopkeeper Lu. The biggest feature of the Liufang Banquet is that there are flowers everywhere, but there is no real flower. Shopkeeper Lu is very good at turning vegetables into flowers. It looks so vivid and lifelike.”

Zhu Jiaoyu nodded: "Yes, I heard it from my colleagues. So this time I can see Shopkeeper Lu's exquisite craftsmanship?"

Song Bowen smiled again: "If you think that this chrysanthemum banquet is a replica of the last fragrant banquet, you will be disappointed. Shopkeeper Lu said that this time we will change the method and use flowers as food instead of cooking. Flower type, focus on eating chrysanthemums.”

Zhu Jiaoyu was slightly surprised. Before he could say anything, Lu Yan's dishes were almost done and the food finally started to be served.

The first dish is chrysanthemum salad. A plate of yellow chrysanthemum petals is dotted with a few purple chrysanthemum petals. The seasoning has not changed its original color and it still looks bright.

Chrysanthemum salad

Everyone picked up a few pieces and put them in their mouths, enjoying the most authentic taste of chrysanthemums. The seasoning is sweet, but it does not overwhelm the others. Instead, it highlights the sweet taste of the chrysanthemum, making it crispy, fresh and refreshing.

"It turns out that chrysanthemums taste like this." Liu Qingyan said with emotion: "I didn't know that chrysanthemums could be eaten before."

Lu Yan warned: "Not all varieties can be eaten, so don't steal ornamental varieties to eat!"

Everyone laughed.

The second dish was fried chrysanthemums. Each person is given a whole fried chrysanthemum, which is directly battered and deep-fried, still retaining the appearance of the flower when it blooms. Everyone was holding flowers and didn't know where to start.

Fried chrysanthemums

Chu Tiankuo couldn't help it first and took a bite. The crispy shell breaks instantly, and you get another crispy petal. Fried food has a special ability to make people happy. Chu Tiankuo immediately held the flower and started to bite it, and the others followed his example and started eating.

The third course was chrysanthemum wontons. Each person has a small bowl of chrysanthemum wontons. There are four wontons in the bowl. The wonton soup is clear with chrysanthemum petals floating in it. The wontons made of chrysanthemums are added to the meat filling, and the soup bursts in your mouth when you take a bite. The freshness of the pork and the freshness of the chrysanthemums are perfectly blended together. When you take a sip of the soup, you will also be filled with the fragrance of chrysanthemums. The slightly scalding wonton soup is swallowed into the stomach, and it warms all the way from the mouth to the stomach, making people unable to help but sigh with satisfaction.

The fourth course is steamed chrysanthemum fish balls. The biggest difference between chrysanthemum fish balls and ordinary fish balls is that chrysanthemum petals are added to the fish paste. The balls are beaten and taste chewy and chewy. The taste is not only the deliciousness of the fish, but also the unmissable aroma of chrysanthemums, which adds a touch of sweetness.

Chrysanthemum fish balls

"Among the meats, fish is indeed the most suitable to go with chrysanthemums." Chu Tiankuo said with emotion: "Fish meat does not have the meaty oiliness of poultry and livestock meat. It is more fresh rather than fragrant. It is just right for the sweet taste of chrysanthemums. The taste of both They complement each other and will not overwhelm the fragrance of flowers due to the overpowering smell of oil.”

Liu Qingyan nodded wildly in agreement.

"Then you must like this." Lu Yan served the biggest dish: "Chrysanthemum fish soup."

Chrysanthemum fish soup, after being cooked for a long time, has a unique and rich flavor of fish, with the unique sweet aroma of chrysanthemums. The mushrooms have absorbed the soup, and the mushrooms have a very special texture, soft and yet very pliable. The fungus shreds are crispy, smooth and tender, making a crunching sound in your mouth. The fish meat was broken into small pieces, and the unique fiber texture of the fish meat can be tasted in the mouth. The last handful of crispy grains sprinkled in is the finishing touch. The crispy grains are soaked in the fish soup, half of which retains the crispy texture, and the other half has become pliable. Biting a few of them into the soft and sticky fish soup instantly enhances the taste. of richness.

Chrysanthemum fish soup

Chu Tiankuo and Liu Qingyan were already eating without raising their heads. Song Bowen looked around. Everyone was squinting and savoring, and no one had time to talk.

The last dish was two desserts, a bowl of chrysanthemum glutinous rice for each person and a bowl of chrysanthemum glutinous rice balls for each person.

The chrysanthemum glutinous rice has become soft and sticky after being steamed for a long time. It is mixed with chrysanthemum sauce before steaming, and sprinkled with chrysanthemum bran after it is cooked. The aroma and sweetness of chrysanthemums fill your mouth.

Chrysanthemum glutinous rice

Chrysanthemum glutinous rice balls are also a favorite among glutinous rice lovers. Bite through the soft and glutinous glutinous rice dumpling skin, and the sweet chrysanthemum filling flows into your mouth. The sweet taste is a perfect match with the soft and glutinous texture of glutinous rice.

Chrysanthemum glutinous rice balls

"It's so delicious." Liu Qingyan gave a thumbs up: "I really got this invitation right. I didn't expect that I would like eating flowers so much."

Lu Yan warned again: "Don't pick ornamental flowers to eat at home! Come to me if you want to eat anything, and tell me, don't do it yourself, do you hear me?"

"I know, I know!" Liu Qingyan smiled.

Lu Yan turned her head to Zhu Jiaoyu, who had been silent. She was cooking in the kitchen and heard a lot of what they said. She knew that he was here for the Liufang Banquet, and she was a little worried. After all, the scale of this time was not comparable to the Liufang Banquet.

"Zhu Jiaoyu, how was your meal?" Lu Yan asked, "Are you satisfied? I didn't disappoint you, did I?"

Zhu Jiaoyu focused on eating the food since it was served and said nothing. At this time, all the dishes in front of him had been cleared. Zhu Jiaoyu stroked his beard and smiled: "Satisfied! So satisfied! Shopkeeper Lu is so good at his craftsmanship. Now I regret not going to the Liufang Banquet last year."

Lu Yan grinned: "As long as you like it. Don't regret it. The dishes in Liufangyan look colorful, but in fact most of them are not difficult to make. Except for boiled cabbage, I can add everything else to the menu. You can come and eat anytime you want. .”

Zhu Jiaoyu was surprised and said hello: "That's great."

Others who had listened to them chatting for a long time and were curious about Liufang Yan also clapped their hands and agreed: "Hurry up! I am so curious that they say it!"

Chu Tiankuo and Liu Qingyan's eyes were also shining.

The chrysanthemum banquet ended successfully, and Lu Yan and Song Bowen prepared souvenirs for everyone. Each person has a chrysanthemum-yellow cardboard bag printed with Luji and a dot of ink, which contains three chrysanthemum cakes wrapped in oil paper, a letterhead printed with chrysanthemums, and a long strip of cardboard with chrysanthemums printed on it. Lu Yan said that thing is called a bookmark.

Everyone left after eating and drinking and carrying souvenirs. Everyone was very happy.

Liu Qingyan walked out of Lu Ji's door and was stopped when she was about to leave.

"Miss Liu, wait a moment." It was Chu Tiankuo.

Liu Qingyan turned around and looked at the little fat man's fair face, which was slightly red.

"Miss Liu, I read your poems. I think your poems are clear and elegant, and you are also transparent and intelligent. I really want to get to know you." Chu Tiankuo bowed his hands in a scholarly manner: "I don't know if you have any How about I take this opportunity to be friends with you?"

Liu Qingyan looked at the little fat man's red ears and smiled until her eyes were crooked: "Okay!"