He changed Tiwat

As he spoke, he pulled a piece of leftover poultry from beside the cutting board, spread it flat on the board, and used the back of his knife to flatten it into an extremely thin sheet, like paper.

Judging from his skillful movements, he doesn't seem to have the same "never cooked before" attitude he claims to have.

"What I'm going to teach you now is the 'method of practice'. Actually, many laymen have a stereotypical impression of martial arts practice. They always think that to practice martial arts, you have to go to a dojo and hit wooden dummy or something. But in fact, everything has its own principle. If you understand one method, you can understand all methods. If you want to practice martial arts, you can practice everywhere in life. You can practice carrying water, chopping wood, mining, and forging iron. Of course, you can also practice while cooking."

"This 'Chicken Tofu' dish is something I just came up with. The sword manual for 'Sword of Wind Slash' is actually incorporated into the method of making this 'Chicken Tofu'. Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be 'Chicken Tofu'. Poultry, ham, or even cutting wood or stone... the principle is the same. I've just replaced the firewood I used to use for training with ingredients. A piece of firewood as thick as an arm has to be split into thousands of small strips of the same thickness without touching the wooden stake underneath."

"The key lies in the control of force. Only when you practice until you can make every cut with perfect precision, slicing the meat into small pieces without damaging the cutting board in the slightest, can you become a master."

As Jiang Xue spoke, she raised the kitchen knife in her hand.

Han Fulai stared intently at Jiang Xue's hand holding the kitchen knife, straining his ears to listen, not wanting to miss a single detail.

“I’ve seen you fight before and I roughly understand that you don’t actually have a martial arts foundation. You’ve simply learned a few spear techniques to use against your enemies. In reality, you’re just using your internal strength to drive the moves. Of course, you can use brute force to defeat an enemy who is weaker than you, but you can’t always encounter opponents who are weaker than you... Remember, control your strength like you control your fingers. This is called ‘mastery’.”

Jiang Xue moved her hand.

The cleaver moved up and down so fast that it created a blur, each time seemingly just a fleeting touch with the poultry, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

This technique wasn't unusual in the kitchen; Xiangling could chop meat at a similar speed. But what was unusual was that Han Fulai didn't hear a sound—normally, at that speed, the kitchen would have been filled with a series of "thump-thump-thump" sounds as he chopped with the knife.

After about ten seconds, Jiang Xue's wrist suddenly stopped.

The piece of poultry was still lying on the cutting board, seemingly unchanged.

Jiang Xue pushed the poultry meat on the cutting board with a cleaver, and the poultry meat immediately broke into a puddle of meat paste. As the cleaver moved, it was gradually rolled into a small meatball.

Han Fulai's eyes widened. Jiang Xue's cleaver could actually slice through paper-thin slices of meat without ever hitting the cutting board!

"This is how to practice 'Stepping Kill - Shattering Dream'. The power depends on the shift between light and heavy. You see, although I don't know much about cooking, I should be better than that chef in terms of knife skills... Don't rush the first time you try it. First, use the knife to remove the tendons from the meat on the table, chop it finely, and then pound the meat into small pieces. The main thing is to find the feeling of controlling your center of gravity."

Jiang Xue smiled, took another piece of poultry, and then handed the cleaver to Han Fulai.

"Okay, you try it."

Chapter 304 Crispy Rice is Just Crispy Rice [4k]

It should be said that Jiang Xue was a very good teacher. Under his instruction, Han Fulai quickly mastered the basic training method of "Sword of Wind Slash".

Of course, this is also thanks to the enhancement of his body when Zhongli passed on his immortal power and the remnants of the Salt God.

Ordinary people need to undergo a process of physical tempering when practicing martial arts. No matter how miraculous the martial arts manuals are, certain prerequisites must be met before they can unleash their power. Just like how powerful the Thousand Rocks Ancient Sword is, it's useless if a soldier can't lift it.

Jiang Xue has practiced martial arts since childhood, and has spent more than ten years relentlessly honing her skills in the "Wind-Slaying Sword" to achieve her current level of proficiency.

For Han Fulai, however, this process of tempering his body was personally completed by the Rock King Emperor. In the parlance of martial arts novels, it was equivalent to a peerless master "imparting power" to him, allowing him to skip the threshold of Foundation Establishment. He now possesses the "internal strength" of a peerless master, but lacks the "mental method" to utilize this "internal strength".

What Jiang Xue did was equivalent to teaching him the secrets of a divine skill, helping him to better unleash his inherent power.

So when Xiangling returned to the kitchen with all the ingredients, she was greeted by Han Fulai's amazing knife skills.

Han Fulai wielded the knife with the skill of a sword, quickly skinning and deboning the poultry, removing all the tendons. Then, his knife moved with lightning speed, his hands flashing as he sliced ​​dozens of times, transforming a thick piece of poultry into thin, translucent slices in a short time. He used the "connecting slice" technique that Xiangling had taught him when he taught him to boil fish—the slices were layered and connected, yet together they formed a single, whole piece of poultry.

Han Fulai spread out the slices of poultry meat in a circle, then picked up the ham meat on the cutting board and sliced ​​it into small round pieces, each piece being exactly the same size and thickness, and falling precisely between the poultry meat slices.

After the whole ham was shaved, Han Fulai used a cleaver to gather the poultry meat together, making the ham and poultry meat fit together perfectly, as if the ham had originally grown inside the poultry meat, thus creating a red and white "poultry sausage".

Then, without hesitation, he flipped the knife handle over, smoothed the sausage with the back of the blade, and then pounded it carefully. Each stroke of his knife was extremely even, not too much or too little, and he quickly pounded it into a meat patty. The minced meat of poultry and ham was mixed together, forming a seamless whole—only in this way could the minced meat perfectly combine the two different flavors of poultry and ham.

Xiangling saw this and couldn't help but exclaim in approval.

She could clearly see that Han Fulai was wielding a knife like a sword. Knives are used with wide, sweeping strokes, often for slashing, while swords are used with lightness and agility, often for cutting and thrusting. Han Fulai's actions just now were all using the sword intent of cutting and thrusting. Even the way he pounded the meat pie just now seemed like he was using the back of the sword to strike and block the opponent's weapon, making every bit of force just right.

This is the realm of "perfection of detail".

Of course, Han Fulai had only just begun to learn swordsmanship from Jiang Xue, and his ability to reach this level was due to a clever trick.

If Xiangling could make eye contact with him, she would notice that Han Fulai's pupils have now turned pale gold—he is actually secretly channeling his immortal power to cosplay Zhongli, the carefree wanderer of the mortal world.

A meticulous person like Zhongli is naturally meticulous when it comes to cooking. Han Fulai still remembers how Zhongli would go to the kitchen to give instructions even for a simple bowl of sweet fermented rice balls at "Three Bowls and You Can't Go to Hong Kong." This kind of "obsessive-compulsive" mentality is perfect for controlling the amount of ingredients. Han Fulai is currently regretting that there would be an electronic scale, measuring cups, and a stopwatch in the kitchen, so that the amount of ingredients could be measured precisely to the gram, and the time for making minced meat could be measured precisely to the second.

"Xiangling is back. Have you found the ingredients?" Yanxiao straightened up from beside the stove and asked hurriedly when she saw Xiangling return.

He had previously gone to the warehouse to fetch the best poultry and ham, and then Jiang Xue instructed him to make broth. The broth was made from chicken soup, which was always kept in the kitchen, and he had just been adding firewood to the stove to heat the soup.

Xiangling happily pulled out a bunch of ingredients from her storage space and presented them to Yanxiao: "Look, fresh bird eggs and snapdragons, and matsutake mushrooms, they're huge!"

"Hey cook, what are you daydreaming about? The broth ingredients are here." Jiang Xue, sitting at the table, casually crossed her legs, directing the kitchen like a supervisor.

However, when it comes to the division of labor, Jiang Xue, the idle person who just waits to be fed, is actually the supervisor. After all, the detailed recipe for "chicken tofu" is in his head, and he only needs to give instructions.

"Tsk." Yan Xiao clicked his tongue helplessly. Jiang Xue's commanding manner was inexplicably authoritative, which reminded him of the authoritative "big sister" who used to be above him when he was in the underworld.

The "Big Sister," named Yan'er, is one of the two leading treasure-hunting groups in Mondstadt and Liyue, known in the martial arts world as the "Southern Eldest Sister," and is as famous as the "Northern Monster Bird" of Mondstadt. Their activities span Bishui Plain, Qiongji Wilderness, Lisha Suburbs, and Minlin, and it can be said that they have left their footprints in all the well-known and unknown ruins in Liyue.

At that time, Yanxiao was not a cook, but the third-in-command under Sister Yan'er, known as "Big Knife Yanxiao".

Back then, he was the leader of the treasure-hunting gang in charge of the Biyue Plain area. Every day, he would lead a group of brothers to gather in the mountains and forests, digging for treasure, exploring ruins, and occasionally robbing passing merchants. When he was in a good mood, he would also show off his cooking skills to his brothers, enjoying the admiring looks from them... In short, he drank wine from large bowls and ate large chunks of meat every day, living a very happy life.

He shouldn't have run into Boss Filgott, and he definitely shouldn't have mistaken her for an ordinary Mondstadt merchant and tried to rob her...

After his boss, Phil Gaudette, gave him a good beating, he was thrown into jail.

Yan Xiao's crime was serious, and he should still be in jail, but unexpectedly, someone was willing to bail him out. The person who bailed him out was none other than his boss, Phil Gaudette. As for the condition for his bail, it was naturally to work for his boss.

From then on, "Da Dao Yan Xiao" became "Chu Zi Yan Xiao".

However, Yanxiao has gradually discovered over the past two years that being a cook is much happier than being a robber.

"...But the happy things don't include being bossed around by this freeloader."

Yan smiled and muttered to himself, then took the ingredients Xiangling had brought and began to work.

He washed the matsutake mushrooms and snapdragons and put them into the soup pot to simmer. Then he took a bowl and chopsticks, beat the eggs and stirred them well for later use.

Han Fulai continued processing the next batch of poultry and ham.

Seeing the bustling activity in the kitchen, Xiangling couldn't be left behind. She took out her apron, tied it on, and headed towards the stove.

Jiang Xue acted like a general commanding soldiers, methodically assigning tasks to the three of them.

"Yes, now we can start the fire and cook, Miss Xiangling?"

Xiangling patted Guoba's head.

"Crispy rice crust, let's warm this place up!"

"Rua!"

"Brother Fulai, put the minced meat into the pot."

"Okay." Han Fulai did as instructed and sprinkled the minced meat into the soup pot.

"Remember to keep the heat just right. If the heat is too low, the minced meat won't cook through, and if the heat is too high, the minced meat will break up and won't clump together," Jiang Xue instructed.

"Even stewing meat requires specially prepared broth, the cost of this dish is way too high..." Yan Xiao muttered softly.

Jiang Xue hummed in response, and Yan Xiao quickly shut up.

"Cook, go get a strainer. You need to filter out all the floating parts in the soup. The soup must be clear!"

"Got it!"

With the collaboration of the three, Jiang Xue's self-created "Chicken Tofu" was quickly completed.

Finely chop chicken breast and stir until it becomes sticky. Add various minced meats, coat with egg drop soup, and simmer in clear broth for 35 minutes. The finished product is fresh and elegant, white in color, and resembles tofu pudding. It clumps together without falling apart, and has a fragrant aroma that makes it very appetizing.

Jiang Xue nodded.

"Hmm, that should count as done. Chef, why don't you try a bite first?"

"Okay, I'll try it..."

Yan Xiao immediately took the porcelain spoon and scooped up a spoonful of chicken tofu.

With just a light sip, the delicate texture melts on the tongue. Then, the exquisite flavors linger, as if trying to lift the taster's soul from their body.

"Hmm, this tastes...it's so delicious, but it also tastes like tofu pudding..."

What Yan Xiao saw before her was no longer a meat dish, but a gentle breeze, a handful of clear spring water, and a wisp of divine thought—truly the ultimate taste of life.

He quickly scooped up another spoonful of chicken tofu and examined it closely.

"...It looks quite good, and the preparation is very meticulous. The name 'meat on the basis of vegetables' is also very impressive... Not bad! Not bad! The shopkeeper will definitely like this dish!" He turned to Jiang Xue and gave her a thumbs up. "I didn't expect that you, who eats for free, actually have some skills."

By transforming meat into vegetarian form, it is "eating chicken without seeing chicken, yet surpassing chicken in appearance." It is not only delicious and visually appealing, but also creative and stylish. Furthermore, it incorporates swordsmanship into the dish, highlighting the chef's exceptional skill. It is truly a masterpiece among masterpieces and absolutely deserves the title of "a unique dish that should not exist in the world."

Seeing Yan Xiao's overjoyed expression, Jiang Xue couldn't help but chuckle and tapped the empty bowl in front of her.

"I haven't even had my food yet."

"Yes, yes, we have everything." Yan Xiao hurriedly went to get the bowls and plates.

Soon, four bowls of steaming hot chicken tofu appeared on the kitchen table.

Han Fulai picked up a spoon and took a bite, feeling a unique sense of happiness fill his heart. It is said that labor is the best seasoning, and the dishes he made himself tasted especially delicious—especially since this dish was made using the swordsmanship he had just learned.

Using swordsmanship in cooking may sound strange, but the effect is indeed quite good. Han Fulai has secretly decided to cook this way from now on, and in time he might actually master the "Sword of Wind Slash".

On the other side, Xiangling couldn't wait to pull out her cooking notebook and was writing down the recipe for chicken tofu and the inspiration that had just come to her:

If regular chicken can be made this delicious, then perhaps chilled meat would taste even better? I should probably go back to Longji Snow Mountain sometime.

Actually, if you look closely at Xiangling's cooking notes, you can find out where Xiangling has been and where she is going. Compared to cooking notes, this notebook is more like a memo, and it is mostly about food.

Such as:

The shallow waters around Guyun Pavilion are teeming with incredibly delicious shellfish. Rumors circulate of sea monsters there?

[The sea monster meat tastes amazing! Next time, I'll invite my sister Beidou to hunt sea monsters together. Would it taste even better if we steamed it with egg?]

[Sweet berries! Lots of them here. Bring a basket, dig up a few to take home and plant.]

This Mondstadt restaurant's way of serving matsutake mushrooms with butter is so luxurious! They should just sell matsutake mushrooms. Matsutake mushrooms stir-fried with Yunnan peppers—it sounds delicious! I might borrow their kitchen tomorrow and try it…

[The ingredients from the snow-capped mountains are fierce! The ingredients are attacking!]

Last time, she went to Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain in search of the legendary dragon as an ingredient, spending a whole week in the icy wilderness. When Master Mao found her later, she was lying in ambush in the deep valley of the snow mountain, trying to capture the legendary "King" of Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain, the "Great Snow Pig King".

That was a legendary creature among hunters: it was said that a snow boar king lived in the snow and ice of the snow mountains, waiting for his frozen companions to revive. It was as tall as a giant elephant, with thick fur that was impervious to swords and spears, and two tusks comparable to the horns of a battering ram.

When the once desolate, frozen land comes back to life, and when uninvited guests disturb the peace of the ice caves, the legendary king who led the snow pig herd to prosperity will awaken from his slumber, shake off the accumulated ice and snow, and give the impolite guest a good scolding.

— Xiangling discovered huge snow boar hoof prints outside a cave and set a trap to capture the legendary Great Snow Boar King.

Unfortunately, Xiangling's hunting plan came to an end due to Master Mao's arrival. Otherwise, the guests at Wanmintang might have been able to taste the legendary Snow Pig King meat.

At this moment, Guoba also hopped and skipped over to the edge of the table, stretching out its two little paws.

"Ah, Guoba! You're trying to steal some again!" Xiangling scolded, puffing out her cheeks.

Guoba looked at Xiangling with a pitiful expression, then turned to look at Han Fulai, looking on with anticipation.

Seeing this, Han Fulai knew that it wanted to try this unusual dish, so he quickly bent down and spoon-fed Guoba his bowl of chicken tofu.

After finishing a bowl of chicken and tofu pudding, Guoba happily spun around a few times, as if dancing to thank everyone, looking quite endearing.

This heartwarming scene brought joy to everyone.

While everyone was enjoying their meal, Yanxiao pointed at the rice crust and asked, "Speaking of which, Miss Xiangling, what exactly is this 'mysterious creature'... I mean, the rice crust?"

Upon hearing this, Xiangling simply smiled and said, "A rice crust is a rice crust."

Actually, she didn't recognize the species of rice crust, but whenever a customer asked about its origins and showed curiosity about this junior cook at Wanmintang, Xiangling would vividly describe her encounter with rice crust to the customer:

One day, a sudden downpour occurred. Xiangling, who wanted to collect "glass bags," braved the wind and rain to reach the halfway point, but was already exhausted and hungry. In a daze, she ran into a cave, only to find a shrine inside.

So she sat down by the shrine and took out two spicy meat buns from her bag.

She wolfed down one piece; she placed the other in front of the shrine. Intending to rest a while before eating, she somehow drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up, the spicy meat buns were gone. A mysterious creature was crouching beside her, watching her.

"Is it delicious?" young Xiangling asked the "mysterious creature".

It nodded.

"Want some more?" Xiangling rummaged through her bag and pulled out some dried meat.

It nodded.

Xiangling made a new friend. Perhaps attracted by Xiangling's cooking, it stayed by her side wherever she went.

Xiangling named it after her favorite snack since childhood, and called it "Guoba" (meaning "crispy rice crust").

Chapter 305 Maximus, the God of the Hearth [4k]

When the topic of rice crust comes up, Xiangling immediately starts talking non-stop.