The General's Delicious Wife Chapter 050: Burying Heads Feasting
When Cui Second Sire saw this situation, he immediately clapped his palms and laughed, "Father, the chef you invited this time is a really knowledgeable person, yellow clams eaten like this will be the most tasty!"
After saying so, he got up and gave everyone a demonstration personally, placing a yellow clam that had been roasted open into Old Sire's bowl. "Father, be careful not to burn yourself, First take out the meat inside and eat it, and then drink the juice from its shell."
Cui Old Sire followed the method his son told him, eating the clam meat in one bite. It was slightly hot, and upon biting the clam meat, it was tender and had quite a chew, making the juice inside the clam meat swished about in the mouth. The umami taste instantly filled the gap between his teeth and his gum, it was so tasty that one cannot bear to swallow it.
Cui Old Sire's eyes lit up, and he poured the juice from the clam shell into his mouth in one shot. After a moment, then he contemplated on the taste, "Aiyo, this is really tasty!"
Hearing Cui Old Sire saying so, everyone got busy eating as instructed by Cui Second Sire.
Cui Shu Qing also hurried to pick a piece for himself. The fat clam meat was juicy and chewy, it was so tasty that he could have even swallowed his own tongue.
He ate three pieces of the Yellow Clams in succession and still felt insufficient, but he was embarrassed to take another again. He lifted his head up and saw Cui Second Sire who was smiling ear to ear, he was guarding the Stewed Chicken with Mushroom all alone. Licking his lips like a cat, he called out. "Uncle, it turns out that the seafood is so delicious, no wonder you cannot bear it to come back, why not I go to the sea with you!"
Hearing this, he almost swallowed the chicken bones that was in his mouth, and he choked himself into a series of coughs.
"Don't play your joke with me. You should first ask the Old Sire and your parents if they are willing to let me take you, the talented scholar, away."
Everyone laughed when they heard this.
The Charcoal Roasted Yellow Clams was quickly divided by everyone, and the charcoal grill was also removed so that it would not accidentally burn anybody.
Only now had Cui Shu Qing remembered that there was another dish of Stewed Chicken with Mushroom, and when he looked over, he realized that Cui Second Sire finished half of it by himself. So he grabbed a chopstick full hurriedly.
It was not that this Stewed Chicken with Mushroom was not well made, but because the seafood was far too rare and eye-catching, so this kind of frequently seen food on the banquet paled in comparison while everyone was eagerly waiting for the next dishes.
Only Cui Second Sire was happy to eat and praising it again and again.
The chicken was soft, tender and juicy, and the marinate was particularly delicious.
The mushroom was stewed soft and slick, with a unique aroma, and it absorbed the fragrance of the chicken soup which actually made it even more delicious than the chicken.
Cui Second Sire finished the last piece of chicken drumsticks, spit out the bones in his mouth, and said with a fully contented heart. "I haven't eaten such authentic local cuisine in so many years."
At this time, the back kitchen served up two more dishes under everyone's expectant gazes.
"Lotus Flower Celebration."
"Fortune Blossoms."
The Lotus Flower Celebration was a dish of cabbage vermicelli in superior soup. Xia Yue Chu took the method of making the vermicelli baby cabbage in superior soup, and pick a small and good-looking cabbage, cutting off the top part of its leaves, only leaving the leaf stalks at the bottom and spreading it out into layers, craving it into the shape of a lotus flower.
Vermicelli was spread as a base on the plate, the carved cabbage was placed on top, and the entire thing was submerged in superior soup stock and cooked until the vermicelli was soften and glutinous, and when the cabbage soaked up the superior soup. The layers and layers of cabbage leave became translucent appearing like the symbol of purity, the snow lotus of the holy mountain. It was extraordinarily beautiful.
The Fortune Blossoms was a dish of minced garlic on butterflied prawns, huge prawns was lined into a circle from the middle of the plate, looking at it from the top position, it looked like lively blooming peony. It was topped with minced garlic and oil, that pale yellow looked like dots of the flower pistil, exuding a unique roasted fragrance.
This was a moment that tested who had the sharpest chopsticks skills. Cui Shu Qing picks up three prawns at one go, and then sheepishly puts them into Cui Old Sire's bowl under the heavy stare from everyone at the table. "Grandfather, have a taste of these prawns."
Seeing that Cui Old Sire had already began eating it, the others could not spare anymore efforts in being reserved, and their chopsticks began stretching out to the prawns.
Cui Shu Qing exerted an extraordinary hand speed this time, and actually grabbed two pieces of prawns under such a fierce competition, thereafter he grabbed some of the fried minced garlic too, savoring it slowly and sensibly.
Two of the elders who had preference for lightly seasoned food could not stop praising the Lotus Flower Celebration.
Before everyone had gotten over the excellent appearance and taste of these two dishes, another two dishes were served to the table.
"Firebird's Auspicious Gift."
"Huadiao* Drunken Shrimp."
Firebird's Auspicious Gift was the first to attract everyone's attention, this was a dish of braised quail. But the rare thing about it was the Reishi that had been carved out from a carrot that was then held between the baby quail's beak, which was nested in a semicircle of golden fried crisp, with its wings spread out as if signaling its desire to take flight, not only was it beautiful in its form, but it was also honorable in its meaning.
Cui Old Sire was, after all, an elder and the birthday star, so everyone was being obliging to him, and he did not care to be chivalrous, with a stroke of chopsticks action, he took almost half of the fowl.
After he took his share, everyone stretched out their chopsticks towards it, and everyone refused to fall behind.
After all, for a table of ten people, a small little baby quail only had so much meat, and if one were to be one step slower, they could only chew on the bones.
The baby quail was instantly devoured, and only the empty nest was left on the plate.
The quail was plated artfully, but in actual fact, it was braised till its fully soft, which was particularly suitable for the appetite of any elderly. Once it entered the mouth, the meat and bones would easily separate with the slightest pressure of the tongue.
After marinating the quail overnight, the thick and flavorful reddish sauce seeped in deeply into the quail meat.
The practice of first cooking by boiling then frying had tightly locked in the marinate and juice within the quail, as one proceeded to chew and savor the taste, the different dimension of flavor would explode, making everyone around the table unable to spare any effort to hold a decent conversation. All had their mouths shut tightly, enjoying the deliciousness within their mouths, for the fear of losing that taste if they had opened their mouths in the slightest. Only until the pathetically few pieces of quail meat were completely swallowed, then did they praise it with a lingering sense of longing.
"This baby quail is the best I have ever eaten."
"This taste is really amazing, I really didn't expect that quails can be eaten like this."
Cui Shu Qing cleaned up even the meatless feet of the quail, then smacking his lips together and looked at the other dish.
Huadiao Drunken Shrimp was the Pipi shrimp. Xia Yue Chu was afraid that it would be too difficult to eat the Pipi shrimp on such a prestige banquet, so she cut the Pipi shrimp shell open on one side. She used Huadiao wine as marinate before cooking, then using a plating trick to hide the seam which she had cut, making it looked complete as individual Pipi shrimp.
Although they were all crustacean, the texture of Pipi shrimp and prawns were fundamentally different. This dish was also exuding the aroma of wine, which was simply too tempting.
It was silence throughout the five main rooms of the Cui family at this moment, because everyone was busy eating, and they did not have time to talk at all. It was a stark disparity to the lively free flow buffet happening on the sun drying grains field opposite them.
Although Cui Second Sire had been by the sea all the year round, it was the first time he had eaten pipi shrimp like this. It was not enough for him even after having a few pieces consecutively, he hated that he could not go to the kitchen and ask the chef how the dish was prepared.
Huadiao Drunken Shrimp was quickly swept clean, yet there was no indication that the next two dishes were ready to be served.
The people at the table seemed to be waiting for the moon and waiting for the stars (Meaning: waiting in full expectations), even Cui Old Sire hesitated to ask someone to urge the next dishes.
"Grandfather, let me go take a look in the kitchen." After finishing the last Pipi shrimp, Cui Shu Qing wiped his mouth and dashed off.
By right, his manner was considerably rude, but it was the wish of everyone at the table, so even Cui Old Sire who values rules and etiquette the most did not sound out any disagreement.
.
.
.
Translator Notes:
This is so funny! Seeing the reserved culture breaking down before delicious food. Must be so worth it.
Some of the Chinese words are hard to translate because I can't seem to find the English equivalent. So I just used their PinYin, which is the English spelling/pronunciation of the Chinese word.
*HuaDiao is the name of a traditional Chinese yellow wine aged from glutinous rice and yeast. It is now commonly used as a cooking wine.
Translated by YellowBean.