Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

One night passed.

The next day, after Shen Qing woke up naturally, she slowly began to prepare to make bamboo tube bursting mochi.

The ingredients required for this dish are not complicated.

Bamboo tubes, glutinous rice flour, cornstarch, sugar, milk, butter, salted egg yolks, and heavy cream.

The other ingredients are fairly common, with only butter and heavy cream being relatively rare.

Hanshan City is close to the Liao Dynasty, and there are places in the city that sell butter.

As for whipped cream, although there was none in the city, there was something similar to it called "daigo," which was somewhat like concentrated cream.

For convenience, Shen Qing directly purchased the whipping cream from the system.

As for the other ingredients, they were all purchased from the city.

Making bamboo tube mochi isn't difficult, but the most important part is making the filling, which determines the texture of the mochi.

Mash the cooked salted egg yolks into a paste and set aside. Melt butter in a pan over low heat, then add the salted egg yolks and stir-fry until the yolks become sandy and bubbly.

Now add sugar and heavy cream, and continue to stir-fry until thickened, then remove from heat.

After cooling, roll them into small balls by hand and place them in deep well water to cool and set.

Soak the bamboo tube in clean water for half an hour beforehand, and use this time to start making the batter.

Mix glutinous rice flour and cornstarch together, then slowly pour warm milk with sugar into the flour while stirring. Finally, add melted butter.

Cut the bamboo leaves into round pieces slightly larger than the bamboo tube, place them at the bottom of the bamboo tube, then pour in the batter, add the previously rolled popping balls, and pour some more batter to cover the balls.

Finally, cover the opening of the bamboo tube with a bamboo leaf and steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

"Madam Shen, I'm here! I heard you sent someone to buy ingredients? What are you cooking today?"

Song Leye's voice rang out as soon as the steamer was put on the pot.

"Today's special is bamboo tube bursting mochi. I'll take a few later, and we can try them together with the old city lord," Shen Qing said.

She needed to inform the old city lord and Zhou Wentong and others before leaving the city.

After all, there were heavy troops guarding the city gates, to avoid any further misunderstandings.

"Bamboo tube, popping paste, mochi!"

Song Leye uttered each word carefully, his face full of surprise.

He simply couldn't understand those six words when they were put together.

No, that's not right. I can only understand the word "bamboo tube".

It's good if you can't understand it; the less you understand, the more novel the food must be.

"Madam Shen, when will it be ready? I can't wait any longer." He rubbed his hands together, looking very impatient.

Shen Qing chuckled: "It'll be soon, don't rush."

"Okay, okay, okay, I'll go tell Zheng Quan and the others right away. They'll be overjoyed!"

Song Leye ran off again in a flash.

Shen Qing smiled and shook her head. This Song Leye really has a wild and unconventional personality.

......

At this moment, in the main hall of the city lord's mansion, Zhou Wentong, Sun Mu, and others were expressing their opinions on the war.

The group is now divided into two factions.

Zhou Wentong, Zheng Quan, and others believed that they should lead an army of 100,000 to launch a proactive attack and teach the Liao people a lesson.

Wang Wusunmu and others believed that they should not send troops out casually, but should be extremely cautious. It would be best to use some strategy to drive away the Liao army at the lowest possible cost.

"In my opinion, no matter what, we have more people, and that's an advantage. Let's go all out and attack tonight while the Liao people are off guard!"

"No, no, this is too reckless. I have said many times that the Liao people are brave and their army is strong. If we charge like this, we will lose many soldiers."

"You said the Liao Kingdom hasn't made a move for a month. If we don't move and neither of us moves, when will we ever start fighting? What if the Liao Kingdom sends even more soldiers? Wouldn't we be finished?"

"We should prioritize defense. With the city walls and moat, it will take them a lot of effort to attack."

"..."

The two factions remained deadlocked, each with their own reasons, and for a time, they argued fiercely, spittle flying everywhere.

At this intense moment, an excited shout came from outside the hall:

"Madam Shen says we're having bamboo tube-wrapped, bursting mochi today!!"

"The bamboo tube bursting mochi is almost ready!"

Song Leye rushed in with a grin.

He was only responsible for escorting supplies, so he neither needed to nor wanted to participate in such disputes.

Anyway, there are a lot of smart people.

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they all turned to look at Song Leye.

"Oh my, need I say more? It must be Madam Shen's new product." Zhou Wentong subconsciously licked his lips.

Shen Niangzi's new products always surprise people.

Wang Wu's Adam's apple bobbed, and he turned to Sun Mu, saying, "Old City Lord, since we're still arguing and can't reach an agreement for the time being, why don't we go and try some of Lady Shen's delicacies?"

Sun Mu: "???"

"It's not mealtime yet. We need to discuss whether we should fight, and if so, how we should fight."

"Let's put the fighting aside for now, enjoying some good food is more important!" Zheng Quan waved his hand, grabbed Song Leye, and strode away.

He was both hungry and curious, his heart was pounding with desire, and he had to go and see Shen Niangzi's bamboo tube popping mochi right away.

"General Zheng—" Sun Mu called out with a frown.

It's impossible to reach them.

Zhou Wentong and Wang Wu exchanged a glance, and then helped Sun Mu up, one on each side.

"Old City Lord, go and try Shen Niangzi's mochi. You definitely won't regret it. After you've finished eating, we'll keep you company for as long as you want to discuss the war," Zhou Wentong said.

Wang Wu chimed in, "That's right, old city lord, we'll definitely come to a conclusion today. But let's go eat some mochi first. Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to try Lady Shen's cooking? Now's the perfect opportunity."

Sun Mu was caught between the two men, looking like he was about to cry but had no tears.

Why do these people abandon their business as soon as they hear about mochi?

War is no joke.

He gave a helpless, wry smile: "Try it, try it. I didn't say I wouldn't try it."

"But you guys are exaggerating a bit too much. You seem to have completely lost your minds as soon as you hear about Madam Shen's food."

"Release me, I can walk by myself."

exaggerate?

Zhou Wentong's lips curled up in a smile.

They are not exaggerating at all.

Once the old city lord has tasted it, he will know that no one can escape Madam Shen's delicious food.

I'm so curious about bamboo tube mochi with bursting filling! I wonder what it's like.