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

There are five dishes on the table: sweet and sour pork ribs, steamed sea bass, dry-fried green beans, Wensi tofu soup, and braised pork.

It has both meat and vegetables; it looks pretty good.

Situ Liang's eyes darted around, and he pointed to the dishes on the table, saying, "We're going to compete tomorrow. I've thought of a game. Why don't we play it? It'll be a good warm-up for the competition."

game?

Shen Qing's lips curled up slightly. She roughly knew what Situ Liang was up to; he was deliberately trying to make things difficult for her.

"What game? Just tell me."

"Let's all guess what seasonings are in these dishes, shall we? If we guess wrong, we'll have to drink a penalty shot!" Situ Liang said excitedly, then turned to Guo Tiancheng and said, "Master, let's guess, you be the referee, okay?"

Guo Tiancheng didn't object; he also wanted to gauge Shen Qing's feelings, so he looked at her and asked, "Madam Shen, what do you think?"

"Since it's a warm-up for the competition, of course I'll play along."

"Let's start with this sweet and sour pork ribs," Shen Qing said, picking up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs with her chopsticks.

The dark reddish-brown ribs are glistening with oil, and a gentle sniff reveals a sweet and sour aroma mixed with a rich meaty fragrance.

Shen Qing didn't rush to bite into the ribs. She gently poked the meat with her chopsticks. The bones were clean and there was no blood, which meant that the ribs were cooked through.

The color of the meat gradually changes from dark red to light pink from the outside to the inside, indicating that it is cooked just right, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Then, Shen Qing slowly bit off a piece of meat, held it on the tip of her tongue, gently closed her eyes, and chewed it slowly.

Your teeth crush the meat, and the sauce coats your entire tongue, revealing a variety of flavors one after another: sour, sweet, salty, and fragrant.

"Madam Shen, can you guess? If you really can't, I'll speak first." Situ Liang spoke first, his gaze towards Shen Qing carrying a hint of contempt.

It's just sweet and sour pork ribs, why do you need to taste it for so long?

This is a famous dish. Although different chefs may have slight differences in how they make it, the main seasonings are basically the same.

"Sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, cooking wine, and ginger juice!" Situ Liang was extremely proud, looking at Guo Tiancheng with an expression that seemed to be seeking praise.

At the same time, he felt even more smug.

He tasted the seasoning in such a short time, while Madam Shen was still in a daze.

Guo Tiancheng nodded slightly. Indeed, he had also tasted these seasonings, which was quite obvious.

His little apprentice is indeed exceptionally talented.

Just then, Shen Qing spoke:

"The ratio of sugar to vinegar is two to one, two parts sugar and one part vinegar. The sugar is not white sugar, but caramelized sugar made from rock sugar, and the vinegar used is Zhenjiang vinegar."

Two types of soy sauce were used: light soy sauce for flavor and dark soy sauce for color. The ribs were marinated in ginger juice and cooking wine before frying...

Before Shen Qing could finish speaking, Situ Liang interrupted her, his face flushed: "What's there to brag about? I could taste it too, I just didn't say anything. As for the rock sugar and vinegar, I just didn't specify."

He blushed and tried his best to argue.

"Oh?" Shen Qing smiled faintly. "I see. There's one more seasoning I haven't mentioned yet. Since you're so capable, you can tell me."

There's one more seasoning?

Situ Liang felt a buzzing in his head and was completely stunned.

He just tasted it; it was clearly just ordinary sweet and sour pork ribs, with no other seasonings.

After holding it in for a while, her face turned even redder: "What other seasonings are there? I think you're just making things up on purpose."

"If you don't tell me about this last ingredient, I will," Shen Qing said leisurely, looking at Situ Liang as if he were a monkey.

Situ Liang clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "Tell me, I don't believe you can come up with anything else. That's all, absolutely nothing!!"

There definitely aren't any left. He glanced at his master just now, and his master looked completely bewildered.

Clearly, his master's judgment was the same as his!

Shen Qing chuckled softly and blurted out, "Preserved plums. When reducing the sauce at the end of this sweet and sour pork ribs dish, I added two or three softened preserved plums. They were used to retain the flavor but not the shape, which gives it a subtle fruity aroma."

"Of course, you won't be able to taste this fruity aroma if you don't pay close attention."

"Preserved plums?" Situ Liang's eyes widened. "Preserved plums in spare ribs?? Are you kidding me?"

That's absolutely a fantasy!

"Master!" Situ Liang wanted Guo Tiancheng to stand on his side.

Guo Tiancheng looked serious. He quickly picked up another piece of pork rib and began to savor it.

"It really does... it has a unique sourness, it really is a preserved plum..."

Guo Tiancheng was stunned. He was a chef with over thirty years of experience, yet he couldn't even taste the sourness of the preserved plum.

Despite her young age, Madam Shen had such a sharp tongue that she immediately detected the culprit.

His talent is simply amazing.

"Impossible!" Situ Liang stood up abruptly. How could there be preserved plums in sweet and sour pork ribs?

He rushed to the inn's kitchen and dragged the cook, who was cooking, directly to the table.

"Tell me, did you put preserved plums in your sweet and sour pork ribs?" He stared intently at the cook, his expression extremely serious.

The cook was terrified and stammered, "Re-release...release it! This is my secret recipe! What...what happened??"

He adds two or three preserved plums when making sweet and sour pork ribs to enhance the sourness and make the dish more flavorful.

Many customers love his sweet and sour pork ribs, but I don't know what's wrong with him today?

Situ Liang was completely stunned, his eyes lost their light, and he was utterly disoriented.

Good heavens, he actually lost, and lost completely.

And then there's Master Shen! Master Shen has been a chef for over thirty years and he never tasted the preserved plum, but this Madam Shen actually did!

He thought he was clever and wanted to make things difficult for Madam Shen, but he ended up humiliating himself and losing face.

Just then, Shen Qing's voice rang out again:

"The sourness of preserved plums is indeed good, but the sourness of preserved plums floats on the surface and doesn't sink enough. If it were me, I would add lemon juice. The preserved plums are cooked in the sauce, and the lemon juice is poured on before serving. The sourness of lemon is clear and can make this sweet and sour pork ribs more translucent."

"In addition, you can coat the ribs with a thin layer of dry starch before frying. Compared to coating them with batter, dry starch makes them crispier after frying, and it doesn't absorb oil, so they're not greasy."

"After the sweet and sour sauce has thickened, you can add a small spoonful of fruit vinegar before taking it off the heat. This will make the sour taste even more vibrant in your mouth."

After he finished speaking, the chef who had been inexplicably brought over lit up with excitement, looking at Shen Qing with intense admiration and excitement.