Da Zaojun

Chapter 44 Refining the Demon Pill
"How did you do it?" Master Bao marveled at Song Wuji's rapid progress!
I couldn't help but question: "Did you do this?"

Song Wuji knew that Master Bao didn't believe him, so he performed a tofu shredding trick on the spot and said, "I practiced diligently all night, found the feeling, and succeeded. Master Bao, how about this?"

"I've never heard of this! Are you really a culinary genius? Or is this the Kitchen God's blessing? When will the Kitchen God bless me? No, starting tomorrow, I'm going to worship the Kitchen God!"

Seeing that his Taoist faith was broken, Song Wuji couldn't help but laugh: The Kitchen God is right in front of you!

With his knife skills now perfected, Chef Bao said, "Then I'll teach you how to make the broth. Most dishes, including the chrysanthemum tofu, are made with broth. Now that you have perfected your knife skills, the only thing left is the broth."

It is said that Master Bao taught Song Wuji, but in fact it was Master Bao who made it. Song Wuji saw that the ingredients needed for the soup stock were too many and difficult to gather in the city.

Therefore, Master Bao made a simple broth by boiling pork bones, chicken bones, and duck bones into a light white soup.

Add radish, mushrooms, and celery and simmer to enhance the flavor.

After the flavoring is completed, remove all the hard ingredients, then chop the chicken into foam, mix it with egg white, and then add it into the soup little by little to absorb the impurities and then remove it.

Repeat this process continuously, and the soup should not boil during the process, but should be kept in the state of being on the verge of boiling.

Even for a simple broth, Chef Bao took a full three hours to create a broth as clear as spring water.

"This is my Bao family's signature dish. Originally, I was going to add ham, abalone, cuttlefish, pork belly, and scallops, but the more complicated the ingredients, the more likely the broth will fail, so I'll teach you a simple one first."

Song Wuji, however, was thinking of taking advantage of the situation. It was nothing more than the success of his Five Rats Moving Technique last night that made him want to take advantage of the loophole.

But I saw him carefully put the chrysanthemum tofu into a bowl, pour the broth on it, garnish it with two wolfberries, and steam it in a pot.

A quarter of an hour later, Song Wuji looked at the completion level +1 and laughed out loud.

So Song Wuji said to Master Bao, "Hanging the broth is quite difficult to learn. I'd rather learn knife skills!"

"If you can cut tofu like this, the others will be pretty much the same."

"The remaining dishes require a lot of skill, and they're made with shredded eggplant. Eggplant is softer than cucumber, so it's better suited for salads. While cucumbers are great for salads, eggplants absorb oil, which is why they're also called oil-drenched eggplant. The eggplants need to be sliced ​​thinly without breaking, and connected without breaking, so they can be stretched to several times their original length."

"The third dish is the Three Shredded Pork. You need to cut the chicken, pork, and bamboo shoots into shreds so thin you can thread a needle through them, yet tough but not broken. Then pour in broth and steam..."

"The fourth dish is three-piece duck. You need to completely debone the duck, chicken, pigeon, and quail eggs without breaking the skin or flesh. Then, put the quail eggs into the pigeon's stomach, the pigeon into the chicken's stomach, and the chicken into the duck's stomach."

"The fifth dish, Pagoda Pork, requires the pork belly to be sliced ​​very thinly, continuously and stacked like a pagoda."

Chef Bao sighed and said, "These are all signature dishes. No matter how good they taste, they're nothing special. But they are the signature dishes of this restaurant. Since you're willing to learn, I'll teach you everything. Since you're learning so quickly, I'll teach you one dish a day, and you'll be done in four days."

Then Master Bao said, "The other masters also have their own unique skills. You may want to ask them."

Song Wuji said, "They all say that you are the best chef in Taichang County. I will learn from you, first knife skills and then seasoning. Don't worry, I will definitely not let you teach me in vain."

After Song Wuji killed the rat in the warehouse, he obtained some blood rice, which was now steaming in the rice steamer.

Although this thing can be refined into essence pills, simply eating it as a meal can also strengthen the essence of the three treasures.

Regarding blood rice, a recipe for Laba porridge has also been unlocked. However, blood rice is only one type of grain; the remaining seven types of grains must be collected to make authentic Laba porridge. Even this ordinary steamed rice is ten times more fragrant than regular rice, and just the smell is enough to make your mouth water.

Just this blood rice is enough for Song Wuji to learn his skills.

Seeing Master Bao being humiliated, the chefs from the other three restaurants all laughed. However, making some home-cooked dishes here really did not reflect their level. So when they saw that Song Wuji was learning so quickly, and thought about the chaotic world with demons and monsters, and how uncertain his future would be, it would be better to spread his skills as soon as possible than to die guarding them, they envied Master Bao a little.

But Master Cao said, "We each have our own unique skills. Xiao Song, don't be partial to one over the other. Cooking is a profound art, and there's so much to learn. For example, even steamed buns – some people make them soft and sweet, while others make them hard and lumpy. Master Bao is the best cook in Taichang County, but in some ways, he's not as good as me!"

"Okay, okay! I'll learn everything, I'll learn everything!"

Song Wuji handed the prepared chrysanthemum tofu to several chefs to taste. One was the "food aroma" from the burning fire, and the other was the freshness from the stirring spoon. Together, the chrysanthemum tofu made with this simple broth tasted extraordinary, and even emitted a faint white light, turning the ordinary into the magical.

"Sure enough, after you've touched the food, the original flavor is even more intense, almost refreshing."

Master Bao tasted it and found it quite sweet. He scooped out a small bowl of blood rice. His blood immediately surged and he couldn't help but sit cross-legged and try to practice the Five Rats Moving Technique.

Cooks like Song Wuji are only responsible for cooking, while serving meals is the responsibility of Aunt Liu, Aunt Zou and the dozen or so aunts they are in charge of, so they have a lot of free time.

Song Wuji, thinking that the firemen were also soldiers, followed the cooks in explaining the Five Rats Moving Method.

If other places lack food to refine their essence, then Song Wuji and other cooks who run a large canteen have the most food. As the saying goes, if the cooks don't steal, the crops won't be harvested.

"The Five Rats Moving Technique: Induce the Qi from the groin to the lower Dantian..."

After Song Wuji finished speaking, he saw that they had not yet entered the door, and were just anxiously searching for the Qi with sweat on their foreheads. He knew that their comprehension was ordinary, and they were just ordinary people. In addition, they were older, so it was indeed difficult for them to achieve success as quickly as young people.

So he took out the rat demon's inner elixir and began to refine it.

The rat demon's inner elixir can randomly increase the three treasures value by 3 points, but Song Wuji is currently practicing the Five Rats Transporting Technique and has no way to break through, so he can only rely on external forces.

Holding the rat demon's inner elixir in his mouth, Song Wuji used his magical power to consume it, and suddenly a stream of heat flowed into Song Wuji's body.

At the same time, an illusion emerged, and Song Wuji was pulled into the rat demon illusion...

"Zhizhi~zhizhi~"

Amid the chirping of rats, Song Wuji opened his eyes. He started out in hellish difficulty, born in a rural dry toilet and became a poor toilet rat.

At this moment, a voice came from outside the toilet door: "Rat! Do you not have to pay taxes if you hide here?"

The mother mouse was pulled out just after giving birth.

Song Wuji only heard a few cries and then there was no sound.

As a baby toilet rat... I can only eat filth...

(End of this chapter)