The Legend of Fangren

Chapter 180 Medicinal Hot Pot - The Origin of a Culinary Delight

Hot pot originates from the most primitive boiled food, simple, unpretentious, and basic, like a blank sheet of paper; how it turns out depends entirely on how the cook paints it.

Dandian's biggest advantage lies in its medicinal herbs. Their unique aroma and therapeutic value set it apart from other restaurants, creating a market without competition.

Over the past few days, under the careful guidance of his master, Fang Shi has gained a great understanding of the effects of various medicinal herbs and has also memorized their tastes.

Back then, he searched everywhere for seasonings and finally found them in a pharmacy. Now, this medicine shop is simply a spice storehouse to him. Regardless of its efficacy, all the medicinal herbs in it are used as seasonings. He throws them into the hot pot water and they all mix together.

"What a waste—what a waste—" Zhu Zhu, who was standing to the side, shook her head in regret, but neither walked away nor stopped it.

Fang Shi finished cooking the soup and ladled a spoonful for her to try. She swallowed a mouthful, her eyes sparkling, and exclaimed, "It's so delicious—delicious—!"

"Looks like I can do it this time. I'll write it down."

Although Zhu Zhu is inexperienced in the ways of the world, she is, after all, a young lady from a wealthy family and a family of alchemists. She must have eaten well since she was a child, so we can tell the quality of the recipe just by looking at her reaction.

Fang Shi wasn't without a mouth, of course; it's just that he had already tasted all sorts of ingredients while seasoning, and his tongue was somewhat numb. Letting Zhu Zhu taste it was purely for secondary confirmation.

Zhu Zhu initially resisted, but later, like a frog being slowly boiled in water, she stopped resisting altogether.

Fang Shi's seasoning is not without logic or purely based on memories of his past life. Everything is based on reality, believing in the body's own will. Only what is good for oneself will be tasted good on the tongue, rather than simply ignoring the fact that good medicine tastes bitter.

It should be known that all medicines have some degree of toxicity, and bitter medicines are all harmful. They are beyond the scope of the human body's needs, and should not be taken on a daily basis unless forcibly supplementing the body's deficiencies.

Therefore, although medicinal cuisine has the name of medicine, it is actually mainly food.

At this moment, Zhu Huan'e walked into the room and saw the two of them making such a fuss. She felt both relieved and helpless.

"I know you mean well, but things aren't that easy—"

Zhu Zhu immediately lowered her head, her lips tightly pressed together, swallowing hard, but unable to swallow her breath. Not only could she not swallow the breath in her throat, but a lot of air kept gushing out from her chest.

If even Sister Zhu has resigned herself to her fate, can she really escape that home?

The main family of the Xuan Dan Sect is associated with the element of fire, and this has been passed down through generations. The yang element is dominant and the yin element is weak. Historically, the women have been less talented than the men, resulting in the women having a lot of fire energy but never being able to achieve their own ambitions. They can only accept their fate and be arranged by their families. This can be seen from Zhu Zhu's experience of being several years older than Fang Shi but still inexperienced in the ways of the world. Within the Xuan Dan Sect, the young lady is just a vase, and her only value is that she can be sold for a good price when someone takes a liking to her.

At this point, Fang Shi said, "Everything is difficult at the beginning, but once you start, the hardest step will be over."

He stirred the soup in the alchemy furnace with a ladle, using the method he had learned from his master, but now it was being used to harmonize the flavors. He added a few traces of medicinal herbs to the fragrant soup to make it more complete, and then ladled out a bowl and presented it to his master.

The aroma in the bowl felt somewhat familiar to Zhu Huan'e. With her years of experience in alchemy, she could immediately smell the aroma of several medicinal herbs. However, while she could instantly identify the ingredients of low-grade pills, she could not fully recognize the composition of this soup at this moment.

It was clearly just a bowl of soup mixed with medicinal herbs, reduced to an ordinary dish, yet it exuded a rich aroma that even Zhu Huan'e found hard to resist.

"Master, how about we let everyone in the shop try this medicinal hot pot for dinner tonight?"

Zhu Huan'e said without much thought, "Nonsense! Evening is the busiest time at Dan Dian. Wouldn't it take up too much space if we put such a troublesome soup pot in the main hall?"

However, she stopped speaking as soon as she finished, and then realized Fang Shi's purpose.

"you mean----"

"That's right." Fang Shi lowered his head and stirred the warm soup in the bowl with a spoon, then scooped up a small spoonful and brought it to his master's lips.

Zhu Huan'e was taken aback for a moment, but then heard Fang Shi urging her gently, "It won't taste as good when it gets cold, so have a taste."

So she tucked a strand of dark red hair behind her ear, bent down, and took a small bite.

This taste! It's even more amazing than what you can smell. The warm soup is like a rich aroma that has materialized, washing over your taste buds on your tongue. It's just a combination of various flavors from ordinary food, but under the heat, it weaves together a complex taste that even a third or fourth-tier spiritual item cannot express.

And such delicious food can be enjoyed even by ordinary mortals.

Let the soup linger in your mouth for a while, until the initial surprise fades, before finally swallowing it.

Zhu Huan'e was won over and nodded in agreement: "Tonight we'll let everyone have this hot pot."

"I believe everyone will like it." Fang Shi smiled gently, and even Zhu Zhu looked forward to it.

In the blink of an eye, the streetlights dimmed, pedestrians gradually increased, and the entrance of the alchemy shop was filled with crowds.

Unlike in the past, the store was unusually crowded today, with people outside complaining.

"What's going on? Why are there so many people at Dandian today?"

"Could it be that a new, high-quality pill has been launched, and people inside are bidding against it?"

"Come on, the traffic jam started half an hour ago. Who's going to just sit around looking without buying anything?"

"Stop guessing. The landlady has gone crazy today and made all the servants and maids eat dinner in the hall, making it incredibly crowded."

"What?! The proprietress showed up?! Damn, I need to squeeze in and take a look. You bunch of bastards, if you're not buying pills, get out of here! Don't stop me!"

"You're the one who's in a hurry to watch! You're allowed to be so eager, but we're not?"

As a result, the people behind didn't hear the important point at all; they only focused on the stunningly beautiful proprietress and squeezed their way in, making it difficult for those inside to get out and even more difficult for those outside to get in.

Once everyone had squeezed inside, they finally caught sight of the proprietress at the front, only to be drawn to a sudden, enticing aroma.

It smells so good! Did the landlady put on some new perfume? But most perfumes smell salty.

So, just like the people in front, those who squeezed in later were naturally drawn to the newly appeared dining tables in the hall.

There were only four tables, and the Danton servants didn't all sit there to eat; instead, they took turns working and eating.

Such unruly behavior would never have been seen before, but today it not only happened, but it also happened right under the landlady's nose.

"The main thing is, it smells so good!"

Even some high-level cultivators in the crowd may not have tasted such a fragrant soup. The complex and delicious flavor is a complete game-changer for the Xuan Realm's diet, which is usually made by boiling raw ingredients. It is no exaggeration to say that those people were talking about it endlessly.

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