What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 46 The Su Family's Secret Techniques

Chen, the female knight, didn't care why Su Mo wanted to buy a dog.

She took a deep breath, staring reluctantly at the stir-fried cured meat and vegetables in the pot: "Then hurry up!"

"I'm going!"

As he reached the door, he turned back and added, "Don't steal any of my cured meat!"

Su Mo...

This is my cured pork, okay?

Who would have thought that Ms. Chen is such a foodie? I wonder how she maintains such a great figure!

These days, ordinary people don't have many different kinds of food.

Steaming and boiling are the only options!

Restaurants and eateries offer more options like braising, stewing, and roasting, with the most common addition of spices for seasoning.

Uncooked pork has a very strong, unpleasant smell; anyone who has eaten old sow knows what a disgusting taste it is.

However, ordinary people cannot afford mutton or chicken, and when they do eat meat, it is mostly pork.

It's easy to imagine how unpalatable boiled pork must be.

On the eighteenth day of his journey, Su Mo couldn't resist any longer. He gritted his teeth, took two taels of pure silver, and went to the blacksmith's shop to have a fine iron pot made.

Fine iron is expensive, but it is an excellent material for forging weapons.

A fine iron pot weighing over ten pounds, requiring it to be forged to an exceptionally thin and even thickness, is extremely difficult to make technically sound. The blacksmith was somewhat reluctant to pay two taels of silver.

When Chen Qian found out about this, he gave Su Mo a severe dressing-down, calling him a spendthrift.

After that, he would find excuses to sneak over to Su Mo every few days!
We even packed some to take home after we finished eating!
Su Mo's cooking skills weren't actually that good; they were definitely not as good as those of professional chefs in restaurants. She had gotten tired of fast food in the past, so she started to support herself by practicing cooking by following recipes.

But he couldn't resist using a lot of oil and refined salt, which didn't have the bitter taste of ordinary coarse salt.

Add some ginger, scallions, dogwood, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, etc. to enhance the flavor.

For the ancients who ate boiled meat in plain water, this was simply a game-changer!

They carried the rice bucket and stir-fried dishes into the inner room.

Xue Yishu had already tidied herself up meticulously and entered the inner hall.

I was listening to Ms. Chen bragging about Su Mo's cooking skills.

But no matter how much Miss Chen boasted, the magistrate's daughter remained silent with a smile.

I doubt that a yamen runner who only bullies the common people could be such a good cook!

Su Mo walked to the door.

Ms. Chen sniffed: "Here it comes!"

"It smells so good!"

"Hmph! You'll soon find out I wasn't lying!"

"I used to eat food cooked in a big pot, but he put the meat and vegetables directly into the pot without adding a drop of water, and it still didn't burn! It's amazing!"

The heroine's nose is as sensitive as a dog's!
Hearing her words, Su Mo was speechless.

"Stop bragging to me!"

"It's just a regular stir-fried cured pork dish!"

He turned to look at the dumbfounded Xue Yishu: "Brother Xue, eat more, there's no food for lunch, we'll have to wait until dinner!"

"After you finish eating, you can come with us to the East Market."

Xue Yishu looked away from the rice bucket and asked in surprise, "What?"

"Should I go to the East Market with you too?"

"What if...we're discovered?"

Su Mo laughed and said, "It's better than staying here and getting caught, right?"

Xue Yishu thought about it and agreed.

With Su Mo gone, how could she possibly resist the servants?
And we cannot use the Jade Sword Talisman.

My uncle said that this talisman is incredibly powerful and can take a life if used lightly, so it should not be used lightly.

Moreover, the Jade Sword Talisman can only be used three times.

She has already used it once.

"Very well, I rarely go out, but it would be good for me to go to the market!"

Xue Yishu was actually quite looking forward to it.

In a year, you can only go out openly and legitimately about ten or eight times.

Such as the Lantern Festival, the Double Seventh Festival, or the Qixi Festival, or attending poetry gatherings held by the daughter's family.

Besides that, she usually spent her time either studying women's precepts in the inner quarters or practicing needlework, playing musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting—all rather uninteresting things.

Everything outside was new and exciting to her.

When they saw Su Mo put a large bowl of stir-fried cured pork on the table...

Xue Yishu's attention was immediately drawn to it.

The vegetables were green, the meat was red, and the garlic was white, all glistening with oil. The aroma was irresistible and made one's mouth water!
Then, unexpectedly, she said, "Stir-fry?"

Su Mo was taken aback, not expecting that this sheltered young lady would actually know how to cook.

Even my third uncle, that old fox, didn't know!
He couldn't help but ask, "How did you know this was stir-fried?"

Xue Yishu explained, "My uncle once took me to visit friends in Shenjing, and I was fortunate enough to eat stir-fried dishes at Tianyilou Restaurant in Shenjing!"

"but……"

She hesitated for a moment: "The stir-fries at Tianyi Restaurant don't seem to be as good as yours!"

The skills of the master chefs at Tianyilou Restaurant, which are famous throughout the world.

It's truly unbelievable that he's inferior to a constable from a county or town government.

Su Mo laughed and said, "How could that be? It's just a smattering of skill."

Xue Yishu shook his head: "Brother Su is too modest!"

"My uncle is a gourmet. In his youth, he traveled all over the country and tasted delicacies from all over the country. Yet he still praised the stir-fried dishes at Tianyilou."

"But the stir-fries at Tianyi Restaurant do not look as good as those made by Brother Su!"

Ms. Chen couldn't hold back any longer: "Stop talking, or the food will get cold!"

She eagerly picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a large slice of cured meat, and popped it into her mouth. "Mmm! Delicious! Absolutely delicious!"

Then he shoved another big mouthful into his mouth.

Its cheeks were puffed out, making it look like a little squirrel with its mouth stuffed full of pine cones.

Su Mo smiled and greeted Xue Yishu, "Miss Chen is right, let's eat first!"

Xue Yishu nodded, picked up her chopsticks, then took out a handkerchief to wipe them before picking up a small piece of cured meat and putting it in her mouth.

Her eating manners were far superior to those of Lady Chen.

His eyes lit up immediately, and the favorability bar above his head jumped up abruptly.

It jumped from 8% to 10%!

Su Mo...

I never imagined that you could increase someone's favorability in this way.

I wonder if this tactic will work on the female centurion.

As later generations have said, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

vice versa.

Miss Xue began to eat elegantly.

But seeing Ms. Chen wolfing down her food like a whirlwind, with hardly any stir-fried vegetables left, he finally couldn't help but speed up his eating.

Su Mo was dumbfounded.

Did I underestimate their appetite?
More than a pound of green vegetables and half a pound of cured meat.

How come I'm almost out of food after eating so little?
……

Ms. Chen was overjoyed with the meal; she probably had never eaten anything so delicious in her life.

If there were a progress bar, it would be able to reach the maximum level in no time!

If I marry Su Mo, I can eat this kind of delicious food every day.

She would absolutely drag Su Mo to the Civil Affairs Bureau immediately... well, she should say she would immediately pick up a pen and force Su Mo to write a marriage certificate and send it home!
As she wiped her mouth, she clicked her tongue in admiration and asked, "Su Mo..."

Calling Su Mo by his given name directly seemed a bit distant, so he changed his form of address: "Young Master Su, what kind of meat is this? It tastes so delicious!"

Xue Yishu also looked at Su Mo with curiosity.

Su Mo felt that the title sounded a bit strange coming from Chen Nvxia's mouth, so she smiled and said, "Just call me Su Mo!"

"It's just pork, haven't you ever eaten it before?"

Ms. Chen's eyes widened immediately: "Pork?"

"How is this possible? Pork is supposed to be gamey, isn't it? It tastes awful!"

It's not like she's never eaten pork before.

The villagers often go hunting in the mountains and have caught quite a few wild boars.

Su Mo was about to explain.

Xue Yishu suddenly said with a serious expression, "Miss Chen, this is a secret that Brother Su does not pass on. It is best not to ask about it casually."

Upon hearing this, Ms. Chen also realized the truth.

Such a secret technique could be passed down as a family heirloom.

Even if the descendants of the Su family cannot become clerks, they can still use this skill to open a restaurant and eatery, and make a living from it generation after generation.

The stir-fried dishes at Tianyilou cost one tael of silver for a small plate, and it's said that you have to make a reservation to get a table!
Even a worn-out broom is treasured, let alone the true secrets that can be passed down to future generations!

Let alone outsiders.

It cannot be passed down even to one's own daughters; it is only passed down to sons, not daughters!
Su Mo smiled and said, "There's nothing I can't say."

There are two methods to remove the fishy smell from pork.

"The first one is not something I can tell you."

"The second method is also simple: use ginger, garlic, and cooking wine to remove the fishy smell, and stir-fry over high heat."

"The pork needs to be processed a little before it is air-dried."

"If you want to learn, I'm happy to teach you, but..."

Xue Yishu stared blankly at Su Mo.

This clerk actually revealed the secret method?
The female knight-errant Chen asked excitedly, "But what?"

"Would you like to become an apprentice and learn a skill?"

"Ah! From now on, you're no longer my master, we're from a different generation!"

"No! Father said..."

She stopped abruptly and covered her mouth tightly!

so close!

I almost let it slip!

Su Mo was speechless: "What are you thinking!"

"I mean, once you learn it, you'll be in charge of the kitchen!"

I learned to cook in my past life because I was a single guy with no one to take care of me, and I was tired of fast food, so I had no choice but to do it.

In this lifetime, I have finally gained status and position.

But unfortunately, no one knows how to cook, so they still have to cook for themselves.

What's the difference between this and before I time-traveled?
Now that Miss Chen has delivered herself to his doorstep, Su Mo certainly won't miss the opportunity!
We've found a cook!
Xue Yishu then expressed his deep respect for Su Mo: "Brother Su is truly... a hero who regards money as dirt!"

"You are so generous in sharing your cooking secrets, which cost one tael of silver per plate. I am truly impressed!"

Su Mo was taken aback: "What? One tael of silver per plate?"

Xue Yishu explained, "The minimum price for a stir-fried dish at Tianyilou is one tael of silver, and it's only a small plate."

Su Mo subconsciously swallowed.

His gaze shifted to Lady Chen: "Ahem, is it too late to take back what you said earlier?"

Xue Yishu was dumbfounded!
The chivalrous woman placed her ever-present greatsword on the table: "What do you think?"

I'm stuck at 3,000 words for this update, so I'm begging for your monthly votes! Brothers, please help me out, this book is at a critical juncture!

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(End of this chapter)