Delicious Delicacy of the Demon Spirit

The back kitchen of the palace was busy as usual, but Li Kuer always felt that there was something wrong with the atmosphere.

She handed the vegetable basket to Xiao Qu, a tall servant girl who worked as her assistant, and Xiao Qu weighed it on a scale. If the difference between three catties was one or two, then it was calculated as three catties. She made an entry in the account book, according to the market price, and immediately came out with nine copper coins. give her.She took the copper plates and stuffed them one by one into the small pouch she sewed. The pouch, which was empty, immediately sank a little and made a crisp sound.

"By the way, Ku'er, do you know that our back kitchen is about to change?" Xiao Qu whispered to Li Ku'er while collecting the books.

Li Kuer thought to himself, could it be that he was referring to the new cook?Speaking of which, only the old prince and his three concubines are the masters of this house, and they don't live with their descendants. Therefore, if the new cook specializes in cooking for the prince and concubine, it means that she will be the back cook. number one.Li Kuer felt it later, and then she realized it, and nodded her head to pick up the conversation: "I heard Brother Zhao said it when I came here, but how can it be a change when you say it? Yes Isn't it a big deal?"

"Where is the fuss?" Xiaoqu looked at her with the eyes of an idiot, and decided to turn her brain around: "Think about it, whose world is this back chef? Mama Zhang! Even if she is old In the future, he will also recommend his son Zhang Da to sit in this position. What's more, how can there be one or two people who covet the position of chef in the open and in the dark? It was secretly about to chew a mouthful of teeth."

"When you say that, it's no wonder I just felt that something was wrong, and I thought about it." Li Kuer admired the venom in Xiaoqu's stomach, and when he thought about it now, he felt that they were one by one. Busy and hating but not reconciled, the unpleasant black energy on her body has already flowed out.

"Isn't that right? Don't you always look at the recipes of the prince and concubine when you buy any vegetables in the mansion? I'm not afraid to tell you that you have nothing to say about these two handfuls of vegetables, but chicken, duck, fish, meat, abalone, wing belly, etc. are different." , the water here is deep. Mama Zhang used to cook for princes and concubines, and she got a lot of oil and water from the ingredients. During the festivals, there were merchants who gave gifts and red envelopes. From now on, she will make meals for servants, but there is nothing You said, she can't..."

Xiao Qu stared at the back kitchen's black ledger and hadn't fully enjoyed it yet, the woman who made dim sum in the kitchen shouted, "Xiao Qu, what are you talking about, come and help me."

Xiaoqu trembled when she heard this, and quickly responded, then lowered her voice and told Li Kuer: "You just don't want to rot in your stomach what I said, don't tell anyone, I'll go to work first. By the way, I know you're on vacation today, but you can stay and eat, and it's not too late to leave after eating for an hour."

Li Ku'er nodded, and also understood Xiao Qu's meaning. Like Brother Zhao, he told her to wait for the new cook.In that case, let's take a look. After all, according to Xiaoqu, the supplier must have a good relationship with the person in charge, even if she is just a vegetable seller...

The legendary new cook arrived earlier than the legend.As soon as the three maids in the back kitchen brought back the prince and concubine's lunch, the butler came from afar with a woman.This woman is slender and tall, with a slightly thin body. She is wearing a dark red cotton skirt with dark patterns, and her hair is lightly pulled. She has an excellent agate red hairpin and holds a red lacquer food in her hand. Box, even with this modest attire, she still walks gracefully and gracefully, with an extraordinary temperament.When he got closer, he looked at the face with a clear smile, it was as beautiful as peaches and plums, and its skin was as white as snow, even without makeup, it was quite bright.

Li Ku'er was sitting on a small wooden bench to help pick beans, and when he raised his eyes, his eyes almost straightened.Where has she seen such a good-looking cook, in other words, how does this woman look like a vulgar cook who deals with chicken, duck, fish, pots and pans all day long?

Not to mention the cook, even the wives and ladies of the official family can be compared with her, Li Kuer thought so, but she couldn't guess the age of this woman.The contours and eyebrows are full of mature charm, and the skin is so white and tender that it looks like the thin snow on the branches in early spring.

It's hard to guess...the age of a beautiful woman.

"Come, come, come, everyone." The butler clapped his hands and summoned all the dozen or so people in the back kitchen to him.Although Li Kuer's position is not in the back kitchen, she also passed by, hiding at the back of the crowd, peeking at the beauty, unexpectedly, the other party seems to have noticed her, and smiled at her with lowered eyes, Only then looked away.

Seen by the beauties and even rewarded with smiling faces, Li Kuer's heart pounded and she couldn't hide her shyness. She was 15 years old and had never seen such beautiful beauties so closely, so she was inevitably nervous for a while.

"Ahem..." The butler cleared his throat and told everyone, "This is Miss He Weiran He, the famous chef invited by the prince from Xiangcheng. From now on, she will take care of the kitchen. You should do your best to help the princess' meals and other affairs, do you understand?"

Looking at the current situation, no one dares to say a word, and they all agree, but as for who is sincere and who is false, it is really difficult to comment.

"From now on, you will be your own family, but please don't have a relationship with me." He Weiran was born beautiful and refined, but has a good temper, and his words are approachable, especially the smile on his face, which made many servants present heartbroken. Have a good impression.

"It's the first time we meet, if you don't mind, why don't you try the gardenia cake I made this morning." She said, and opened the big red lacquer food box in her hand.

A burst of rich gardenia fragrance wafted out, and even Li Ku'er, who was standing on the outermost edge, smelled it, and her little nose couldn't help but twitched, so intoxicated.

He Weiran handed the food box to the maidservant Ah Chu who was standing directly opposite, and everyone gathered around her when they saw this, one by one you and I divided the gardenia crisps in the food box, waiting to taste this new cook Is the craftsmanship worthless?

Li Kuer was also greedy, and was still hungry after smelling the scent just now. He wanted to try the skills of the beautiful cook that the old prince invited from Xiangcheng all the way, but because he was not a cook after all, he was embarrassed to join in. go up.But seeing that everyone has tasted it, most of them showed a look of joy and enjoyment, and felt hot, and slowly moved forward to look at the food box that was left aside in the cold, it was empty, there was nothing left .

She was regretful and embarrassed at the same time, while regretting that she was slow to act, at the same time thinking that if she had known about this matter, she might as well not have kept it, out of sight and out of mouth...

Just as she was feeling annoyed, a slender white hand appeared in front of her, holding a small and exquisite gardenia cake in the palm.

Li Ku'er looked up and saw that it was He Weiran, she smiled playfully and said, "Here, why don't you continue? It will be gone in a while."

"Thank you." Li Ku'er took the gardenia cake with embarrassment, held it in his hand and looked at it carefully, but saw that the gardenia cake was small in size, round in shape, and a dozen white grains were evenly sprinkled on the baked tender yellow skin. Sesame, with a light bite, the skin is crispy and soft, and the filling is white and soft. It seems to be white bean paste, which is just right for sweetness. It is mixed with fragrant gardenia flakes and goat milk, and it melts in the mouth. endless aftertaste.

Li Ku'er felt that with just one mouthful, he became a person who was delicious from the inside out.

"Is it delicious?"

"Well, it's delicious!" Li Kuer nodded hurriedly, raised her eyes and wanted to thank her, but saw the new beautiful cook looking at the gardenia cake with a bit of filling in her hand, and lifted it up. Raising Liu Mei, with smiles in his eyes, he said to her: "You really are a cute and real little girl."

"Ah?" Li Ku'er was taken aback by the sudden compliment, and didn't understand how she let this sister see her cute and real qualities, although she claimed to be quite cute.

"What's your name?" He Weiran asked her again.

"Hmph, what is it, just this skill."

Before Li Ku'er could answer, a woman's voice sounded, the two of them followed the reputation, it was Zhang Ma, her eyes were quite contemptuous.She has a square face, a big mouth, and a slightly fat body. She is wearing a brown silk shirt with sleeves rolled up and a cloth around her waist. She has just cooked lunch, but it may be the last meal she cooks for Prince Qiao in this life. .

Naturally, He Weiran didn't know who she was, but looking at the aura of this glance, she could tell that this woman was shrewd and fierce in the past, not to be provoked, and looking at the attitude of the rest of the people who dared not speak up, she could more or less guess this woman position, stepped forward, still smiled decently and said: "Why did you say that, Auntie?"

Mama Zhang really wanted to pump out her rolling pin and beat the woman she met for the first time back to her hometown of Xiangcheng, but because of the presence of the housekeeper, it was difficult to get over it, so she slightly suppressed her anger, and said in a cold voice: "It's bitter." Is the food for people to eat? Whoever likes it can eat it." After speaking, he threw it back into the food box.

"Bitter things? Where is the bitterness?"

"It's also sweet, but it tastes like tea."

"Xiao Qu, so we both have different fillings."

"I still have chili in here."

"It seems that apart from the gardenia, the other materials are different."

"You said, is it because Mama Zhang couldn't see it and deliberately embarrassed Miss He?"

"￥#%#￥#..."

Everyone started discussing in low voices, Li Kuer looked at his own and then at others', and sure enough, the appearance was the same, but inside they were all different.Look at the half of the stuffing that Zhang Ma lost in the food box, it is pink and green stuffing, it looks good, and it also smells of gardenia, I don't know what kind of ingredients were added, it was so disgusted by Zhang Ma.

"It's from lotus seed paste." He Weiran picked up the discarded pink and green stuffed gardenia cake, put it back into Zhang Mama's hand, and continued to say with the corners of his mouth bent: "It's just that the lotus seed cores are left to have the bitter taste." The lotus seed core clears the heart-fire, calms the liver-fire, relieves the spleen-fire, and lowers the lung-fire. In hot weather, the heart is restless, and it is not good for my aunt's body."

Gritting her teeth, Zhang Ma had no choice but to take the gardenia cake, but she thought to herself: So this woman is just a tiger with a smiling face.