The prince is more stable

Chapter 16: No Salt
When the father and son were walking in Yuqing Palace, Zhao Xiaoqian made a great wish.

Among my four major hobbies in life, eating ranks first.

Very serious, no joking.

Anyone who dares to put coriander in the dishes will destroy Zhao Xiaoqian's ambition. Whoever breaks his wings will have his paradise destroyed by him.

The cook deserved the beating.

Some people beat the cook after they have finished eating, but Zhao Xiaoqian is different. He beats the cook before he even eats.

Not eating coriander is Zhao Xiaoqian’s bottom line when it comes to eating. In past and present lives, he would feel like vomiting when he smelled coriander, and accidentally eating it would trigger a series of stress reactions.

Today I just kicked the cook a few times, which was considered very restrained.

"Coriander" was originally an alien species and was introduced to the Central Plains during the Western Han Dynasty.

The person who introduced it was named Zhang Qian, the one who was sent to the Western Regions. He not only introduced coriander, but also introduced many foreign species, each of which has been cultivated in our Chinese land for thousands of years.

Strictly selected by our ancestors, it must be the best quality.

The species Zhang Qian brought to the Central Plains either increased production and ensured food security or tasted delicious, such as cucumbers, garlic, grapes, broad beans, and so on.

Apart from coriander, it must have been a confused decision made by Zhang Qian.

Zhao Xiaoqian hated it deeply.

In my entire life, I have never hated my enemies so much.

Everyone’s name contains the character “Qian”, so why make things difficult for the little fans in the future?

After the cook had beaten him, Zhao Xiaoqian felt better. He didn't eat a single bite of the food because he was very hungry.

After kicking the cook in the butt again, Zhao Xiaoqian ordered him to take him to the kitchen in the palace.

He had long been dissatisfied with the food of the Song Dynasty. To Zhao Xiaoqian, who had experienced the eight major cuisines in his previous life, the food of the Song Dynasty was simply pig food.

What’s amazing is that stir-frying actually existed in this era, but it was not very popular, and the wok used for cooking was not the iron wok of later generations, but a square tripod.

The concept of stir-frying among chefs in the Song Dynasty is still in its primitive stage. That is, throwing vegetables into the pot without adding soup is considered stir-frying.

Moreover, stir-frying is not mainstream nowadays. Among the wealthy and powerful people and in restaurants in the market, meals are still mainly steamed, boiled and roasted.

The cook respectfully led Zhao Xiaoqian all the way to the kitchen.

When they met servants and maids in the palace, they were all surprised and confused, and stepped aside to greet them.

Zhao Xiaoqian's expression eased a little, and he even forced a smile to greet him.

The cook breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhao Xiaoqian looked better. But when Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at him, his expression turned cold again and he kicked him in the butt.

Most of the time, he was very friendly to his servants...except for the cook who put the coriander in.

The kitchen in the palace is quite large. After all, there are hundreds of people in the palace, including officials and servants, and the number of meals to be prepared every day is not a small number.

When Zhao Xiaoqian walked into the kitchen, he suddenly felt like he had traveled through a thousand years and returned to the operation room of the university cafeteria.

Two rows of cooks were standing in a row. There were about twenty stoves inside the house and outside in the open air. There were all kinds of meat and green vegetables on the chopping board, including coriander, which Zhao Xiaoqian hated.

The prepared meals were placed into lacquer boxes by the maids and sent to the masters of the various courtyards in the palace. Some of them were officials of the palace, and some were concubines in the backyard.

Seeing Zhao Xiaoqian coming, the cooks were startled and hurriedly stopped what they were doing and saluted Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded and issued the first order of the prince's inspection of the kitchen: "Throw away all the coriander in the kitchen. From now on, the palace is not allowed to purchase a single piece of coriander."

The chef who was beaten added: "The 'coriander' that the prince mentioned is cilantro."

The cooks suddenly realized and hurriedly took orders.

After looking at the food prepared by the chefs, Zhao Xiaoqian looked worried.

People in ancient times were really not that happy. Their diet was too simple and crude. How could they feel happy in life if they ate these things every day?
After much hesitation, Zhao Xiaoqian decided to do it himself. He absolutely couldn't let himself down when it came to food. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, he would have to live and die in the Song Dynasty. "Chop the leeks, beat three eggs, and add salt," Zhao Xiaoqian instructed.

A square pot is placed on the fire, some lard is added, the food is put into the pot, and turned over, and soon a fried egg with chives is ready.

A rich aroma of food filled the air, and the surrounding cooks sniffed, looking shocked.

Can you cook like this?
Zhao Xiaoqian ignored their reactions, found an empty low table, asked the chef to serve a bowl of rice, and ate it with a plate of fried eggs with leeks.

However, after taking just two bites, Zhao Xiaoqian smacked his lips and felt something was wrong.

He took another bite, threw away his chopsticks, and his expression became more and more unhappy.

The dish is well cooked and the aroma is enough to whet your appetite, but why does it taste slightly bitter when you put it in your mouth? What’s wrong?

Chives are fragrant, and so are eggs...

"Bring some salt!" Zhao Xiaoqian ordered.

A small salt jar was brought over. Zhao Xiaoqian leaned over to take a look. The salt inside was not the snow-white crystals he had imagined, but large particles of dark yellow color.

Zhao Xiaoqian dipped his little finger in a little salt and put it into his mouth, then spat loudly.

The reason was found: salt is bitter.

No wonder Zhao Xiaoqian always felt that the food in the palace was very ordinary these days. He had no appetite and even the salt tasted bitter. How could it be called "delicious food"?
"Why is salt bitter?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked the chef who had been beaten.

The cook looked bewildered. "Huh? Salt... is kind of bitter to begin with."

Zhao Xiaoqian was not satisfied with this answer, and the cook began to panic again, so he explained: "Sir, our palace mostly uses official salt, and official salt is indeed a bit bitter."

Zhao Xiaoqian understood the meaning behind the words: "You mean, besides official salt, there is also private salt on the market? What about private salt?"

The cook was startled and quickly denied it: "I didn't know that buying private salt is a serious crime. How dare I break the law?"

Zhao Xiaoqian patted his shoulder with a friendly expression and said, "Let's have a good chat. Deceiving the prince is a serious crime and you will be punished by having your legs broken. Tell the truth and I won't hold you accountable."

The cook had a bitter look on his face. His luck today was definitely against Tai Sui. How could he be so unlucky to be targeted by the prince?

Carefully pulling Zhao Xiaoqian aside, the cook told him the truth.

In the Song Dynasty, there were actually unspoken rules between official salt and private salt. Not to mention ordinary people, the powerful and wealthy families would of course only buy official salt on the surface, but most of the salt they used privately for their masters was actually private salt.

There is an amazing fact that private salt is not only cheaper than official salt, but also of much better quality.

The official salt on the market costs 47 cents per pound, while private salt only costs 14 cents.

Official salt is rough, dark yellow in color, has large grains and tastes bitter.

Private salt is relatively finer and whiter in color. Of course, it still tastes a bit bitter.

There was a problem with the ancient salt-making process. Whether it was rock salt, well salt or sea salt, the bitterness in it could not be removed and separated.

The reason for this is that the conditions and technology in ancient times were limited, and it was impossible to fundamentally remove impurities from table salt. That is why the salt is dark yellow and tastes bitter when people eat it.

The same was true for the salt used in the Chu Palace. The salt jars in the back kitchen were all filled with official salt.

Of course, the chef would secretly use private salt in the dishes prepared for the princes, heirs, and concubines in the mansion.

Zhao Xiaoqian complained that the food was unpalatable, but he didn't know that he was already treated very well. If he tried the food eaten by the servants in the mansion, he would find it even worse.

"If this problem is not solved, I will go out and get struck by lightning on a rainy day and live in another world." Zhao Xiaoqian gritted his teeth.

Eating is as important as the sky, this is no joke.

The cook looked at him in confusion.

Zhao Xiaoqian hooked his shoulder and invited him warmly: "... Let's take the blame together, and you can take the blame."

　Today's third update, the speed is shocking! Please collect and send various data, it's very important, thank you!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)