Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 80
Tled by Serena Love
Unedited
Chapter 80: Fried Snails
The nobles in the palace wanted snails, so the people below had to send them immediately. They hurriedly picked up some very clean snails from the spring on the mountain and sent them into the palace.
After Jiang Shuyao had lunch in the imperial concubine palace, the snails were brought in. They also brought in the spices that Jiang Shuyao requested from Duke Xie's Mansion.
The snails sent in were all raised in mountain springs and washed repeatedly, and the snails would not be muddy after one more rinse. Jiang Shuyao asked people to soak the snails in saltwater for a while and let the snails spit mud for a while. Of course, if conditions permit, it would be better to add a few oil drops and soak them overnight.
After lunch, Jiang Shuyao talked to Concubine Lin for a while, and Concubine Lin went to take a nap.
Jiang Shuyao was bored. She was reading in the palace and thought of Xie Xun. Today, it is the closest she has been to Xie Xun's workplace.
She wondered what Xie Xun is doing, whether he's busy or not, whether he has a good lunch.
She held her chin in a daze, and suddenly a little eunuch ran over and whispered a few words to the eunuch in the palace.
Jiang Shuyao heard the sound and looked towards them. When she turned her head, the eyes of the two happened to meet her gaze.
The eunuch squeezed a flattering and kind smile at Jiang Shuyao. He bowed, walked over, and whispered, "Madam Xie, Master Xie asked Xiao Shunzi to give you a message asking if you had your lunch. Master Xie also said that if you stay in the palace until later, then maybe you could return home together. Master Xie will wait for you at the gate of the palace when he is off work."
Asking about lunch must be an excuse, Jiang Shuyao thought that Xie Xun probably also thought of her.
"Lunch is very good," she replied, "I see."
The eunuch covered his mouth and smiled. He hasn't seen this kind of silly newlywed couple for many years. Look how sweet they are.
He smiled and said, "That's good. I'll let Xiao Shunzi to go back and pass the message back. Is there anything Madam wants him to pass back?"
Jiang Shuyao shook her head, "Nothing." Even if there were any, it would be embarrassing to let others pass it on.
After Concubine Lin woke up, the two chatted about clothes and jewelry for a while, and in the afternoon, the snails in the dining room have finished soaking.
Concubine Lin and Jiang Shuyao chatted for an afternoon. The early evasiveness was gone. Seeing that the time was almost up, she said to Jiang Shuyao, "How about you? Do you really want to cook? Now while I'm soft, your aunt will reward you with some jewelry and rouge."
Jiang Shuyao stood up and said confidently, "Niang-Niang, don't underestimate me. If the snails I made are delicious, would you still reward me?"
"Reward." Looking at her bright and energetic appearance, Concubine Lin was delighted, "It depends on whether you have the ability to get this reward."
Jiang Shuyao withdrew and was invited to the dining room by the maid.
The Emperor favors concubine Lin, so her dining room is much larger than the small kitchen in Duke Xie's mansion. All the condiments and ingredients are also available.
Jiang Shuyao walked to the big basin of soaked snails. The snails' tails had been cut clean as she requested, so she could start cooking directly.
She boiled the processed snails in a pot first, added cooking wine to the boiled water, skimmed off the foam, and finally poured it out and drained it.
Then she heated the wok on a fierce fire. Added oil and heat it to 60% heat. She added garlic, soybean paste, green onions, ginger slices, etc., and sautéed until it is fully fragrant, then added the drained snails and stir-fried them. When the snails were fried in the pan, it made a crisp sound. With each slamming of the pan, the aroma of the raw material was absorbed into the snails. The dining room was instantly filled with a fresh and rich taste. At first, the smell was a bit weird, but after a while, it smells really good.
She added water and let it boil for three minutes to let the soup further immerse the snail meat. Then she added pepper, perilla leaves, salt, cooking wine, and continue to stir fry. For fried snails, perilla leaves are the soul, which can perfectly remove the snails' muddy smell and increase the freshness and fragrance. Finally, she stir-fried with high heat to allow the snails to absorb the soup, oil, and the aromatic better. At the same time, the soup was collected. After being out of the pot, the snails were immersed in the thick and salty soup.
Fried snails are a heavy-tasting dish. Jiang Shuyao was not light-handed with the ingredients. The oil was enough, the fried snails were shiny, and the soup was thick. The black snails were piled on a white porcelain plate and become a small mountain. To the palace people who have never eaten snails, it looked really strange. But the fragrance is too strong and attractive, so they can't help but ignore snails' strangeness and wanted to try what it is like.
When it arrived at the table, Concubine Lin's reaction was much greater than the palace staff's.
She frowned tightly, and her face was stiff. She shrank her neck, pinched her nose, and said in disgust, "You really fried this."
Jiang Shuyao said helplessly, "It doesn't smell bad."
Concubine Lin raised her eyebrows. Even though her expression was distorted, she was still very beautiful.
She hesitated to let go of her hand, and as soon as she let it go, a strong fragrance penetrated into her nose. It is very fresh, with a pungent and spicy aroma and a soft medicinal aroma in the middle.
She tentatively walked forward and saw the fried snails on the table. Her expression of disgust was put back on her face, "How do you eat this? Do you eat the shells?"
Jiang Shuyao picked up a bamboo stick and picked out some tender meat from the snails, "You just eat the meat, but don't eat the tail." Although the snails are raised in mountain springs, it is better to eat them without the tails.
Now that the two of them had a bet, and Jiang Shuyao made it, someone had to taste it.
Concubine Lin's eyes swept around on the eunuchs in the palace. She pointed her finger at a eunuch, "You come and try." After that, she felt that she was unkind and added, "There is a reward."
Jiang Shuyao became even more helpless.
The eunuch was originally from a poor family, and he had been in the palace for so many years. He was not a delicate person.
He bowed his head and walked to the table. He kneeled down respectfully, touching his head on the ground and saying, "Thank you, Niang-Niang and Madam, for the food."
He acted like he was given poison. A palace lady brought a porcelain plate over, picked a snail, put it on the plate, and then brought it to the eunuch.
The eunuch raised his head and copied Jiang Shuyao's movement to pick out the snail's tender meat.
The soup was thick and stuck on the snail with a hint of spicy oil. The spicy and strong fragrance spreads over the surface, which is a taste he has never experienced before. It is rich in layers, and the freshness and the spiciness are perfectly neutralized. It seems that all the fragrance in the world is incorporated into this small snail meat.
Originally, he was still racking his brains about how to use words if it was unpalatable, but now he suddenly realized that he didn't seem to need any euphemism.
Jiang Shuyao told him not to eat the tail, so he just bite the snail meat lightly between his teeth. The snail meat was very tender but with some tenacity inside the tenderness. Just as he imagined, the rich and complex taste was all incorporated into the small snail meat. It is extremely delicious, extremely spicy, with a hint of sweetness that lasted for a long time.
This novel is hosted on pure tl. com / do not repost or steal!
Obviously, there is only a little piece, but a strong fragrance bursts out in the mouth in an instant. It is fresh, refreshing, and spicy. If there is wine at this time, eat a bite of snail meat and drink a bitter and sweet wine, he would die happily.
"How is it?" Concubine Lin asked.
The eunuch hurriedly walked out of the trance after savoring the aftertaste and said, "Returning to the imperial concubine, great!" Unfortunately, he was stupid and couldn't describe well. He couldn't give the snails the praise it deserved.
Jiang Shuyao expected this answer but didn't respond much, but Concubine Lin couldn't believe it, "Really?"
Without the eunuch's answer, she also knew that a eunuch would not dare to answer lies, but such a firm "excellent" still made her unable to believe it. She walked quickly to the table and looked at the plate of fried snails.
When she walked in, the fragrance was intense, and the spicy sweetness became more prominent.
Seeing Jiang Shuyao looking at her with a smile, she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and said, "Bring it to me. I will have a taste."
Naturally, she didn't need to pick the snail meat herself. The maid picked it out for her, and she hesitantly put it in her mouth.
She has lived in the palace for a long time, and it has been a long time since she had eaten strong-flavored food, let alone chili.
She was stunned by this burst of flavor.
When the snail meat falls on the tip of her tongue, the spiciness blooms in the mouth. It is a bit painful and a bit numbing, but it is also a stimulating scent that makes people secrete saliva—followed by the freshness of the snail meat, which is soaked in the soup. It was rich, with a sweet and savory base. The freshness, sweetness, and spiciness became more vivid. All kinds of flavors invaded every part of her mouth in an instant. Before chewing, she couldn't help but swallow the snails.
She chewed the snail meat again. This texture is very wonderful, tender but firm, chewy, and elastic between her teeth. The more you chew, the more fragrant it is, and the more obvious the flavor is. Because the snails were from a sweet spring, the meat is a bit sweet. After chewing it carefully and swallowing it, she only felt completely uncomfortable. It evoked her gluttony, but it was such a small piece, which is not enough.
Jiang Shuyao knew her thoughts just by looking at her expression. She suppressed her smile and said, "How?"
Concubine Lin said no longer. She reached out her hand to explore the plate. Her maid quickly picked one for her, but she waved her hand, "I'll do it myself."
She took a snail in her hand. It was really strange. Why could such an ugly little thing be so delicious?
Jiang Shuyao reminded her at the right time, "There is soup in the snails, hold on the tail, and then slurped out the snail meat. This way of eating is the most wonderful."
Her simple sentence made Concubine Lin swallow unconsciously.
She tentatively put the snail to her mouth, and she was taken aback when her lips touched the snail, and the action was too unsightly. But it was too late. The delicious soup on the snail shell had already made her react subconsciously. With a slight suck, the rich and spicy soup suddenly poured into the mouth. It was not much, but enough to make her taste buds wake up instantly.
The soup is fresher than the snail meat. It seems that all the essence is integrated into this small bite of the soup. It seems to be hot and spicy but full of rich aroma. The taste of umami is so delicious that people can't get enough of it.
This novel is hosted on pure tl. com / do not repost or steal!
She couldn't hold back and took another sip, making a "slurp" noise, which was really indecent, but at this time, she couldn't think of it anymore.
Jiang Shuyao saw that she had sucked several snails one after another, and then she reminded her loudly, "Niang-Niang, how is it? Is it worth the reward?"
Concubine Lin froze for a moment and soon stretched out again, with a smile on her eyebrows, and said very cheerfully, "Reward!" Then she added, "Now you have convinced me."
As she said, she kept on hand, "In the future, the Lin family's food business will be supported by me, so don't worry about Prince Kang." She sighed, "This is the first time since I entered the palace that I supported the Lin family's business to the Emperor. Darling, you can stand up in the future, don't let me down."
Jiang Shuyao didn't expect things to develop in such a way, and she was surprised, "The Emperor?"
"Naturally." Concubine Lin said, "Don't worry, I will do what I said."
She wiped her fingertips, regaining her lazy look, "But not now. It smells too strong. Wait until I take a shower before I go to the Emperor."
Jiang Shuyao nodded. She thought about waiting until she went back and asked Xie Xun about it.
Concubine Lin looked up at the sky and said, "It's getting late. You can go back first."
Jiang Shuyao thought that Xie Xun was still waiting for her at the palace gate, so she bowed and went out.
Not long after she went out, Concubine Lin swept away her lazy look just now and started to suck snails again. This time, she was finally didn't need to be restrained from enjoying her snails. With loud noise and great force, she sucked the snails directly into her mouth and tasted the soup while chewing the meat.
This novel is hosted on pure tl. com / do not repost or steal!
If you enjoyed Serena’s work, buy her a ko-fi! 