The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 357 It’s all here
An hour later.

Trusting in King Atu's cleverness, Gan Minglan, who had been guided to a courtyard, felt a little itchy to touch him.

Why do I want to skin a rat again?

The rat king looked utterly innocent as it met its owner's cool gaze.
Weren't you here to search for treasure in the palace? My newly recruited underling was born and raised here. If he says there's treasure, he definitely won't lie to me, Your Majesty!

Gan Minglan: So, your new underling thinks there's treasure in the palace kitchen?
Could it be that the tableware used in the palace of the Hu people was made of gold, silver and precious stones?

King Atu: "."

It passed on its master's eye-roll to its little brother.

After a brief exchange, the mice learned that this mouse, who had grown up eating delicacies from the royal kitchen, said that none of the treasures in the palace could compare to the chef's roasted pigeon!
The two places that rodents like most in the palace are the kitchen and the granary.

What can Gan Minglan do?

Since she was already there, she wanted to see what delicious food these Hu people were making for a midnight snack.

The kitchen was brightly lit by candlelight.

She spotted a perfect hiding spot and slipped in silently.

The kitchen in this palace is only about 200 square meters in size.

The largest area inside is a row of six large tandoor ovens.

How much do they love baking food in a tandoor oven?

She regretted it as soon as she hid it!
A cook had just lifted the lid of a tandoor oven.

The entire kitchen was filled with a wave of olfactory assault.

The Hu people were probably already used to this taste and didn't find it strange.

Gan Minglan, an outsider, held her breath, afraid that she would lose control of the sound of swallowing.

She only realized what was happening when she saw clearly the meat the other person had taken out.

Pigeon!

It turns out that tonight's midnight snack is roasted pigeon in a tandoor oven!
Strings of pigeons, roasted until golden brown.

It looks incredibly tempting.

Fragrant!
Very fragrant!
It smells so good!

It's an irresistible aroma of fat that any meat lover can't resist.

Several cooks wearing long black cotton-padded coats and white hats were helping to prepare the meals.

They were talking quietly in Uyghur as they worked.

You could also see the joy on their faces.

The chefs were indeed very happy.

The newly appointed king revealed this to the public.

He stayed in Hami for twenty years, and what he missed most during those twenty years was the roasted pigeon from the royal kitchen.

I really love this dish.

I ate it during the day.

I had just finished work in the first half of the night, and then I ordered this as a late-night snack.

In fact, the Uyghurs do not have the habit of eating late-night snacks.

But didn't the royal palace just get a new king?

Every master has a different temperament.

If you want to eat it, just make it for you.

The cooks aren't afraid of trouble.

What they fear is that the current ruler is unwilling to trouble them.

The palace is undergoing a major reshuffle these days.

The reason they were able to stay was because their roasted pigeon cooking skills were irreplaceable.

Actually, making this dish is really not troublesome.

The pigeon meat was marinated during the day.

The dough is coated with batter and placed in the tandoor oven; it will be cooked in 15 minutes.

Once roasted, simply select the ones with the richest color and the most succulent meat to present to the king.

The remaining six people working overtime in the kitchen tonight will each get one.

The cooks had no idea.

In the blink of an eye, the six roasted pigeons vanished. The kind that disappeared along with the plate.

The kitchen supervisor on duty couldn't find the pigeons and was so angry he kept cursing, "Who did this?"

Who did it?
Apart from the two who went to deliver meals to the king, the remaining four, including the steward, never left the kitchen.

"Find it! Search carefully!"

They searched high and low, even looking through the tandoor ovens by candlelight.

There wasn't even a trace of bone.

The other three firmly stated, "It wasn't one of our own people who took it!"

There's really no need for anyone to lie.

Not only does the current king love to eat roasted pigeon.

The former king and his family also enjoyed eating it.

This dish is made in the kitchen six out of seven days a year.

Once the pigeon is roasted, shouldn't the cooks taste it first to see how it tastes?

Even those that aren't in good condition or are burnt won't be wasted.

Anyway, those who work in the kitchen can get one or two every now and then.

I eat it often, so I'm not that craving it!
They even resorted to such dishonorable means to steal a few pigeons.

The steward thought about it and agreed. He muttered, "If it wasn't us, could it be those night patrolmen?"

"It must be them."

"You can't blame the rats for the pigeons being gone, but someone must have taken the whole plate!"

"There are no fewer than three thousand people on duty inside and outside the palace these days. The food in the main kitchen is not very good. Who else would be so hungry?"

"."

Someone was gnawing on a pigeon leg in their online space while remarking to the Rat King:

"It's worth the trip just for this taste of pigeon meat! Your Majesty, no one in the Nine Guards of Guanzhong raises pigeons yet. I'll definitely crave this dish when I get back!"

The vegetarian king glanced disdainfully at the plate, where two pigeons had been devoured by their owner in just a few minutes.
"If Chirp Chirp wants to eat, take more live ones back to raise!"

The king disliked the pigeons because he thought they were too small!

Once baked, it's about the size of an adult's fist.

What can you do with this little bit of meat?
Those soldiers who were reincarnated from starving ghosts, they would have to eat at least twenty-three of them at a time to be full!

Gan Minglan ate with relish, finishing three in a row before saying:

"Your Majesty, you don't understand! There's an old saying that one pigeon is better than nine chickens. Don't underestimate the pigeon just because it's not very big. Its meat is very nutritious and nourishing."

I've had pigeon soup before; it's very sweet and delicious. The roasted pigeon at Cantonese restaurants is also quite good.

The Hu people's method of marinating, coating, and baking in a tandoor oven is not as greasy as Cantonese cuisine, and has a different flavor altogether.

Listen to that sound, doesn't the crust sound like biting into a cookie?

The meat inside was still very juicy, and the texture was much more tender than chicken, with a wild, chewy quality.

She loves it like it's nothing, and once she starts eating, she can't stop.

After eating six, I still wanted more.

People in Northwest China seem to only like raising cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and donkeys when it comes to animal husbandry.

Pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese are quite rare.

Poor little Yuanyuan is almost a year old and has never eaten steamed egg custard.

Steamed with pigeon eggs, how delicious must it be?

Gan Minglan decided to follow the good advice and bring the pigeons from the Western Regions back to Ganluchuan to try raising them.

So the question is, where do you find live pigeons?

She can't possibly go to the Hu people's bazaar (market) to buy things, can she?
If we don't speak the language, we won't talk.

Will Suzhileg issue a city-wide arrest warrant for her?
The Rat King's newly recruited henchman quickly redeemed himself by doing good deeds: there really are live pigeons in the palace!
Isn't the coronation ceremony for the new king about to take place in the palace?

When leaders from all over come to congratulate the new king, they have no choice but to stay and enjoy a state banquet.

Since it's a state banquet, how could it be complete without dishes like roasted pigeon and pigeon soup?

King Rat: You, lead the way!

(End of this chapter)