Chapter 22 Bamboo Shoot and Liver Paste Soup

"Master, what materials do you need to prepare?"

Xu Qing rolled up his sleeves, arranged the firewood, and prepared to go out to buy groceries.

Master Abei said, "Bamboo shoots, pork liver, and an old hen. I see there is no clay pot in the kitchen, so I have to buy two more clay pots."

As soon as the ingredients came out, Xu Qing immediately understood what dish Chef Abei was going to make.

"It's bamboo shoot and liver paste soup."

Master Abei smiled appreciatively and said, "That's right."

This is a famous traditional dish, which is recorded in the Ju Xia Lou recipe given to him by Master Abei.

Bamboo shoots taste sweet and have the effects of clearing away heat and relieving cough, strengthening the spleen and stimulating appetite. They can cure loss of appetite and promote digestion and absorption.

Pork liver improves eyesight and replenishes blood, and is especially suitable for people with weak qi and blood and sallow complexion.

Chicken soup is rich in nutrients, replenishes the body and is easy to absorb. It can nourish the body, relieve fatigue and improve sleep quality.

The woman on the sickbed was pale and thin, in poor mental state, with poor appetite and long-term insufficient nutrition. She needed a food that could stimulate her appetite, strengthen her spleen and nourish her body.

Compared with solid food, soup is easier for people with weak constitutions to digest and absorb.

Xu Qing secretly sighed, Master Abei is indeed worthy of his name, with just one glance he could immediately think of what kind of food would be most suitable for the other person and what method of cooking would make it easier to absorb.

This is not just pure knowledge, but has turned into an instinct.

Xu Qing guessed that Chef Abei didn't even need to think about the recipe, the ingredients would automatically pop up on their own, and then be combined into various recipes in his mind, and Chef Abei would choose the most suitable one.

This ability is truly beyond reach.

Xu Qing felt that his talent was rare in the world and that was enough to make him proud.

However, Chef Abe always opens a new door for him when he feels proud enough, and tells him with his actions that the art of cooking is profound and he still has a long way to go.

His talent allows him to go faster and further than ordinary people on the road to the top.

But the deeper he went, the less effective his talent became.

Because there are many things ahead that cannot be obtained by talent alone.

After all, talent is something he can see and touch.

And those things above talent are mysterious, like castles in the air hanging high in the sky, beautiful and dreamy, but untouchable.

The only possible way Xu Qing could think of to achieve his goal was to learn cooking from Master Abei.

Master Abei is the one who climbed up the castle in the air. If Xu Qing follows her footsteps, maybe one day he will be able to touch that empty and dreamy door.

The vegetable market was not far away, and Xu Qing quickly bought the necessary ingredients.

First, pluck the hen's feathers with scalding water, remove excess fat and internal organs, and wash the whole chicken.

Chicken soup is best when it has a light taste, so the less fat the chicken contains, the better. Old hens are tough meat and are most suitable for making soup.

Then put the hen into cold water, add onions and ginger slices, boil, skim off the foam, cook for a few more minutes, take out and put into a casserole, add ginger slices, onion segments, wolfberry and red dates, add water and bring to a boil, then simmer for more than an hour.

After the chicken soup is cooked, take out a bowl and let it cool for later use.

Then prepare the bamboo shoots and pork liver. Wash the bamboo shoots and cut them into thin strips, then rinse them again in water and blanch them in hot water once or twice.

To keep the bamboo shoots fresh, tender and crisp, they should not be overcooked. Instead, quickly heating them in hot water will allow them to retain their unique fresh, crisp and sweet taste while being cooked.

Next comes the processing of the pig liver.

Wash the liver, cut it open and remove the fascia inside. The fascia is the source of the fishy smell of the liver, so it needs to be removed as much as possible.

After washing the liver, place it on the chopping board and beat it into a very fine pulp with the back of a knife. During the beating process, the tendons hidden in it should be slowly removed, and the force should not be too heavy, otherwise it will taste grainy.

Therefore, the force should be even and of moderate intensity.

Xu Qing's long-honed knife skills were fully demonstrated at this moment. The heavy kitchen knife seemed to be light in his hands, and his knife skills were delicate. Each time he lowered and lifted the knife gently, it seemed as if he was not beating it, but gently stroking the pig liver with the knife.

Xu Qing's superb knife skills attracted the attention of Mr. Wan. He used to watch his son cook and felt that his son's knife skills were top-notch, because his knife skills were not only fast but also highly precise. The vegetables he cut looked like they were carved out of the same mold. No matter how skilled a chef is, he could only do so well.

But when he saw Xu Qing's knife skills, he realized that there is a gap even among the best.

His son’s knife skills make one realize that it is a person using a knife, but the boy in front of him uses the knife as if it is an extension of his arm. He moves the knife as he wishes, as if he were using his arm with his fingers. It is so gentle and casual, and the control of weight and strength is just a matter of thought.

Old Master Wan couldn't help but walk closer. The shadow of the kitchen knife in the boy's hand seemed to have magical powers, which made his eyes glued to it and he didn't want to move away for a moment.

Suddenly, Xu Qing stopped using the kitchen knife. Old Man Wan looked down, wanting to see what would be produced with this superb knife skill.

When he looked down, his eyes widened in shock.

"This, this is..."

There was a copper-red mirror spread out on the wooden chopping board. It was smooth and shiny, and the refracted light reflected his face clearly and accurately.

No way, I must be dazzled.

He couldn't help rubbing his eyes, staring, and rubbing them again.

"Impossible... What is this?"

Xu Qing gently picked it up with a knife, and saw that the shiny mirror turned into a water-like slurry, as delicate as silk, and slowly spread out on the chopping board, as smooth as a mirror, like flowing metal.

"Liver pulp, of course."

Xu Qing replied.

"How can it be cut so delicately? How is it possible..."

Old Master Wan looked down at the liver paste and suddenly felt an urge in his heart. He really wanted to have a taste of it and wonder what such a delicate liver paste would taste like.

Thinking of this, saliva kept secreting from his mouth and he couldn't help swallowing.

Seeing the green light in Grandpa Wan's eyes, Xu Qing quickly put the liver paste into a bowl and handed it to Master Abei, fearing that if he was a step late, Grandpa Wan would snatch it away and swallow it in one gulp.

Master Abei smiled, took the liver paste that Xu Qing had beaten, took a closer look, and said in surprise: "Ah Qing, your knife skills are getting better and better."

Even if Master Abei did it himself, it would be hard to say that he could do better than Xu Qing.

While Master Abei felt proud, he couldn't help but feel a little lost.

It is not good for the apprentice to grow too fast, as the master will not feel a sense of accomplishment.

(End of this chapter)