Abandoned the Immortal Cultivator, returned to his hometown to farm and sing

Chapter 1231, 1220. Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth

As for how to make this braised assorted mountain delicacies dish, there's not much to say.

It's simply a matter of processing various ingredients in different ways, making broth from various ingredients, and then putting various ingredients into the pot to simmer at different times.

Clearly, the key to this dish lies in the ingredients...

Yes, this is a dish built entirely on rare and precious ingredients.

This dish uses Xuanwei ham from Yunnan, golden-edged beef tripe from Guizhou, bracken from Longnan in Gansu, and dried bamboo shoots from Ya'an Yucheng.

Matsutake mushrooms from Shangri-La at an altitude of 3600 meters, magnolia petals from Tongzi, Guizhou, alpine rock fungus from the cliffs of Emei Mountain, and bamboo fungus from the depths of the bamboo forests of southern Sichuan.

Black goat belly from southeastern Guizhou and sika deer tendon from northeastern China.

Of course, we can't forget the pork belly, cured meat, matsutake mushrooms, and lettuce from Tianhan Ping'an Ditch...

Anyway, whatever works well.

The dish "Stir-fried Assorted Dishes" was originally created by wealthy salt merchants to compete with "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" in terms of wealth.

Its core concept is to pile up materials, pile up good materials, and endlessly pile up good materials.

At the same time, it is necessary to preserve the seasoning system of "three fragrances, three peppers, three seasonings, seven flavors, eight tastes, and nine miscellaneous ingredients" of Yanbang cuisine, and to perfectly blend the delicacies of the mountains and fields with the everyday life of the city through the combined techniques of "frying, steaming, stewing, and braising".

However, with so many ingredients of different textures, properties, flavors, and even constantly changing characteristics mixed together, how to harmonize them so that they don't turn into an expensive stew is the real test of a chef's skill.

And just then, they encountered Chef Xu, who uses only the best ingredients to create the ultimate delicious food.

As the saying goes, "A single encounter between the golden wind and jade dew surpasses countless encounters in the mortal world."

A turtle and a mung bean, their eyes met...

Theoretically speaking, this dish is a combination of mountain delicacies and assorted ingredients.

That's the dish that Chef Xu is best at.

These delicacies from the mountains were all specially sourced for him from various places.

Among the towering mountains of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Shaanxi, grow delicacies bestowed by nature.

The soul of this braised assorted vegetables lies in the long journey the ingredients traveled along the mountain roads...

Actually, it's because Luo Yihang is most familiar with these provinces and can get good stuff from them.

As for the seafood, it was a bit lacking; Chef Xu was not satisfied.

So, delete it, delete it!
After the grand finale, we arrived at the final dish.

It was also the last dish of the ultimate culinary feast – boiled cabbage in clear broth!
After waiting for a while longer.

After the lingering taste in your mouth dissipates, only the aftertaste remains in your heart.

The door to the private room opened again.

A group of waiters walked in carrying trays.

A tray held rows of white porcelain bowls.

Count them, there are exactly eighteen.

Everyone present knew that the last dish of the day was the legendary boiled cabbage in clear broth.

And look at this porcelain cup, wow!

It's one serving per person!
No need to fight over it, no need to be shy, one serving for everyone!

That's incredibly extravagant!
Behind the waiter, another person pushed a small cart in.

A small stove was placed on the cart, and a fire was burning.

A long-spouted copper kettle sits on the stove.

And the person pushing the cart...

"Master Gao! It's you!"

Old Liang jumped up, followed by Old Hou and Old Sun.

Liang Yue initially thought the face looked familiar but was still wondering what it was.

Upon hearing the name "Master Gao," he suddenly remembered, "Gao Bingyi!" Only after calling out did he realize that calling him by his name directly was inappropriate, so he quickly added, "Master Gao."

The person who arrived was none other than the chef who had appeared in the New Taste competition. He was the most famous, the most senior, the highest-ranking, and one of the most skilled among the ten chefs in the competition.

Gao Bingyi, Vice President of the China Cuisine Association, Chairman of the Famous Chefs Committee of the China Cuisine Association, a culinary master, and a Shandong cuisine master.

"I was conscripted here to pour soup," Gao Bingyi chuckled.

"Are you going to show off your skills?" Old Liang asked hurriedly, completely ignoring the soup-pouring incident.

The saying "having gained Long, one desires Shu" applies here.

Gao Bingyi waved his hand, "We'll talk later, let's finish this dish first."

After saying that, he directed the waiters to place all the white porcelain bowls on the table, in three rows and six columns, neatly arranged.

Then Gao Bingyi picked up a cup and tilted it to show everyone.

In the plain white porcelain bowl, only a small, tender yellow cabbage now rests quietly.

Like a magnolia bud...

"For boiled cabbage, everyone knows that the most important thing is the clear broth, which should be as clear as water."

"But cabbage is just as important."

"The best cabbage must be used, fresh and fragrant. The broth must not mask the flavor of the cabbage. The two should be combined, preferably multiplied, but not subtracted."

"Today we are using Chinese cabbage from Ping'an Ditch. We only take the tender cores, which are as white as jade and as yellow as emerald. This is the best Chinese cabbage ever."

Sure enough, it's Ping'an Ditch again.

After listening to Ping'an Gou all night, the grandfathers wholeheartedly believed that the things from Ping'an Gou were the best.

Liang Yue and her friends didn't have this problem. They had long believed that the things from Ping'an Gou Cat Head were the best in the world, but they just had to... snatch them.

Gao Bingyi finished explaining the cabbage he had chosen.

Then they talked about how to process the cabbage.

"Each cabbage heart, though no bigger than a baby's fist, has thirty-six tiny holes densely pierced into each leaf with a fine needle."

"After the cabbage hearts are pierced, they must first be soaked in warm clear broth for fifteen seconds to absorb the subtle sweetness of the broth."

"After taking them out, they should be immediately put into ice-cold water. The rapid change between hot and cold will cause the vegetable leaves to tighten up and become more firm and crisp."

"Finally, gently place the chilled bok choy into the now lukewarm, crystal-clear broth, and simmer it over the lowest heat until it turns a translucent, warm, jade-like color, soft yet not mushy, with clearly defined veins."

"This is the kind of cabbage that can be used to make boiled cabbage in clear broth..."

Goodness, everyone says that boiled cabbage in clear broth costs one dollar, but the broth costs two thousand dollars. It turns out that this one-dollar cabbage has so many steps and is so complicated.

What does real boiled cabbage in clear broth look like?
"Anyway, it's not chicken soup with cabbage."

Gao Bingyi made a little joke.

Then, the copper kettle was lifted; it was half-full of "boiling water," which had been boiled again.

"This job of pouring boiling water is something that not many people besides a few of us can do."

As Gao Bingyi boasted, a thin stream of water poured down from the spout.

It was neither surging nor irrigated.

Instead, it was like a fine silk thread, with just the right amount of force, precisely poured onto the very top of the first bowl of cabbage heart in the first row.

This is not a violent erosion, but a tentative awakening.

"It moved! It moved!" Liang Yue and the others were watching intently when suddenly they shouted.

The instant the scalding "boiling water" came into contact with it,

The tenderest leaf tips, tightly wrapped around the outermost layer of the cabbage heart, seemed to be touched by this gentle "kiss".

It peeked outwards with an extremely slight, shy movement. Like the first tender bud bravely peeking out from the frozen earth in early spring, it timidly stretched its curled-up limbs...

(End of this chapter)