No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 74 The Chef's Fried Rice

The government held a banquet to entertain the Liao envoys, which naturally had nothing to do with Su Ze, a minor official of the selection level.

The road on Imperial Street was blocked, and the yamen runners of Kaifeng Prefecture finally arrived at the scene. With their guidance, the traffic flow gradually moved, and Su Ze finally returned home before dark.

[Master of Taoyuan, the Kitchen God invites you to visit Taohuayuan.]

The voice of the guiding boy sounded in Su Ze's ears. Su Ze took off his official robe, picked up a book at random, and silently recited the mantra to enter the Peach Blossom Spring.

After a dizzy spell, Su Ze found himself in Taohuawu.

After finishing a day's official business, standing on Taohuawu, Su Ze took a deep breath of the fragrant air and felt refreshed.

There is no intrigue here, only beautiful scenery like poetry and painting.

Willow branches hang down on the water, reflecting the delicate crescent moon in the sky.

A breeze blew past, blowing away the moon reflected in the water.

"Go back home."

Su Ze whispered something, and lights lit up on the buildings not far away, but there was a noise coming from the [neighborhood shop].

The guiding boy not far away waved to Su Ze and said:

[Master Taoyuan, this way! Everyone is waiting for you!]

Su Ze walked along the path to the side of the [Neighborhood Shop], and sure enough, all the spiritual boys gathered here.

Holding a large spoon, the Kitchen God asked Su Ze:

"Master Taoyuan, have you eaten?"

Su Ze was stunned for a moment, his stomach growling uncontrollably. The God of Cooking immediately walked into the shop, holding a bowl of steaming fried rice, and handed it to Su Ze, saying:

"Try my cooking!"

Su Ze took the fried rice. It was a dark brown fried rice with some golden eggs visible. Su Ze smelled a strong aroma of sauce.

"This is?"

The God of Cooking said, his hands on his hips:
"This is my secret recipe of soy sauce and egg fried rice! Come and try it!"

Su Ze took the chopsticks, picked up a piece of rice and put it into his mouth. He felt the fragrance lingered in his mouth and it was delicious!
Su Ze couldn't help but take a few more mouthfuls of rice. When the satisfaction of eating a big mouthful filled his body, he burped, put down the empty bowl without a grain of rice, and exclaimed loudly:

“So delicious!”

The God of Cooking's eyes narrowed, the vegetable leaves above his head swayed, and the spiritual boys around him cheered.

Wait, soy sauce!
Su Ze asked:

"Has the soy sauce been brewed?"

The God of Cooking nodded and said:

"The soybean harvest is short, we harvested it a few days ago. Today, when the soybean sauce is ready, we invited the owner of Taoyuan to come and taste it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be delicious with just rice and eggs."

Su Ze became more alert and asked:

"If it were in the outside world, using your method, how many days would it take to produce something like this?"

The Cook God said:

"If your skills are up to par, you can make the sauce in about six days."

So fast! ?

Su Ze was also surprised.

According to Zhang Wusheng, the head of the Today's Sauce and Vinegar Shop, they can only start making sauce in winter, and the earliest they can produce sauce is summer.

Moreover, after making the sauce in summer, you cannot continue to make the sauce. You have to wait until winter to make the sauce, which means that the sauce can only be made once a year.

The chef's method not only requires only six days to make the sauce, but is also not limited to winter, which increases the efficiency by more than dozens of times!

The God of Cooking brought a bamboo tube from the house. When he opened the tube, Su Ze saw the black and shiny soy sauce.

Su Ze scooped out some soy sauce, dipped his finger in it and put it into his mouth. It was delicious!

It’s much more delicious than the soy sauce I taste in soy vinegar today!

Su Ze put down the soy sauce and said to the God of Cooking:

"Master Chef, can you give me your secret recipe for making sauce?"

The God of Cooking shook the radish leaves on his head and said:
"Of course, no problem! Master Taoyuan has done so much for me, so I'll give you this secret recipe. I'll write it down right away. If you don't understand something, you can come to the [Chef's Soy Sauce Shop] and watch me make the sauce." Su Ze said gratefully:
"Thank you so much, God of Cooking. Is there anything else you need?"

The God of Cooking grabbed the cooking spoon and said:

"Master Taoyuan, it would be great if I could have some spices. Besides making sauces, I also have many recipes!"

spices?

Spices are now expensive, but Su Ze is also an official now. He nodded and said:
"I'll collect some for you."

The God of Cooking said:
"Master Taoyuan, what I want are the spice seeds. I will only use the spices grown in Taoyuan."

Su Ze then remembered the chef's skill [Picky], and he nodded and said:
"I'll get you some spice seeds and start a spice garden."

The God of Cooking nodded in satisfaction. Su Ze thought of Feng Shiyuan next door and asked:
"Is there any fried rice left?"

"There are a lot more."

"Please pack some for me, I'll take it out for others to try."

"I'll pack it for you right away!"

"Also, give me a bucket of soy sauce."

"no problem!"

Su Ze came out of Peach Blossom Spring, carrying soy sauce and fried rice, and knocked on the door of Feng Shiyuan's house next door.

"Lift?"

Su Ze handed the fried rice in his hand to Feng Shiyuan and said:

“Try my fried rice.”

"You did it?"

Feng Shiyuan looked at Su Ze in confusion. Didn’t he see Su Ze light a fire and cook?

But considering that Su Ze has been living alone for a long time, it is normal for him to be able to cook.

Feng Shiyuan was deeply moved. He used to be a clerk in Kaifeng Prefecture, but in the eyes of officials, they were still lowly clerks, and some officials were even ashamed to talk to clerks.

Su Ze not only pleaded with the government for a special pardon for himself, but also allowed him to be an official again. What moved Feng Shiyuan even more was that Su Ze never seemed to treat him as a servant, but as an equal.

"Try it."

Feng Shiyuan took a bite and said with his eyes shining:
"good to eat!"

Su Ze took out the bamboo tube again and said:

"How does this soy sauce taste?"

Feng Shiyuan dipped a little soy sauce in it and exclaimed:

"Delicious! Your soy sauce is as good as those time-honored brands in Bianjing City!"

Su Ze asked excitedly:
“If I were to sell it to those regular stores, would they buy it?”

Feng Shiyuan thought for a moment, shook his head and said:

"probably not."

"Why?"

"Firstly, the demand for it is huge in those regular stores, so they have stable suppliers. Secondly, your soy sauce has no reputation, so regular stores won't buy it."

"But this soy sauce is so delicious, it can be sold to some foot shop vendors."

Su Ze suddenly realized that even good wine needs to be promoted within a bush. Even in this era of information explosion, good things need to be promoted well before they can be sold.

Su Ze has plenty of ways to promote this thing.

When it came to promoting his soy sauce, Su Ze quickly thought of a perfect candidate.

Now it depends on whether the people in the sauce and vinegar industry are willing to seize this opportunity. Su Ze has also thought about the retreat. If they are not willing to brew new sauce, the worst that can happen is that the Municipal Exchange will directly hire people to brew soy sauce.

The next day.

When Su Ze arrived at the store and house affairs office early in the morning, he saw Zhang Wusheng, the head of the sauce and vinegar department, already standing at the door of the office waiting for Su Ze.

(End of this chapter)