Hidden Moth-Chapter 248 - 136: Rare Delicacies Ordered for Xiaohu’s Taste Test

Chapter 248: Chapter 136: Rare Delicacies Ordered for Xiaohu’s Taste Test

To help He Kao save time, a navigation map was thoughtfully sent to him through Divine Thought.

The ingredients for this dish aren’t many, just the usual ones like onion, ginger, and garlic. The ginger has to be white ginger, but Elder Li’s recipe doesn’t include onion or garlic. Instead, it requires him to use shallots, using the leaves instead of onions and the roots instead of garlic!

The dish has a name—Kan Li Extracted and Added Purple Jade Steam.

Shallots are known as wild onions and are common around the fields of Qi Yuan, but He Kao smiled wryly, saying, "Elder Li, it’s January in the solar calendar now. The season’s not right. Where can I find shallots?"

Jiang Daozhen: "You don’t always have to call him Elder Li or a senior. Just call him Uncle Li."

Calling him Uncle Li doesn’t solve the problem, but He Kao still changed the way he called him: "Uncle Li, where can I find shallots this season?"

Li Xiuyuan: "Did you not know this? Clearly still lacking in experience! Shallots are perennials, so why wouldn’t they be available in winter?"

"If you are asking me to dig up the roots, that’s doable, but fresh leaves..." At this point, He Kao suddenly stopped talking, nodding quickly, "I understand. I’ll go prepare the ingredients."

While it can’t be found around Qi Yuan, it can be found in the warmer southern regions, such as at the forest park in the northern suburbs of Nanhua City, where He Kao seemed to have seen shallots growing this season.

In elementary school, the Chinese class taught a poem that said, "East market buys swift horse, west market buys saddle and reins, south market buys bridle, north market buys long whip."

Yet today, He Kao traveled east to Tong Hill to buy white ginger, west to Fubo to buy aged vinegar, south to Nanhua City for shallots, and north to Guoxian County for tofu... Let’s leave Nanhua out of this. How did he get to those other places?

After buying a new car, He Kao was frequently sent on fieldwork by Gao Xue’e for over a month, spending his days out of the office. His colleagues believed he had displeased President E, unbeknownst to them that he himself requested President E to arrange it.

Hidden Moth can instantly arrive at places he has been to and remembers, so he needs to visit more places, hence he drives around everywhere.

Most of the places he visited daily were along the highway, mostly within a 500-kilometer radius from Qi Yuan. Consequently, He Kao has actually been to all the cities mentioned in the recipe.

Even Tongqiu City, where he needed to purchase white ginger, lies just barely within 500 kilometers of Qi Yuan, referring to driving distance rather than a straight line.

He Kao’s past routes didn’t exactly pass by the specified shops, but that’s easy to resolve by appearing at the nearest spot and then calling a car. Thankfully, calling a car is easy now.

These aren’t the big issues, the real challenge is—where to buy freshly caught saber jacks from today?

Luckily, He Kao has experience, so he quickly went online to check, and sure enough, someone is indeed farming them.

Artificial farming of saber jack is extremely difficult, production is very limited, it is still in the experimental research stage, so it hasn’t been promoted in the market, and the little output from the farms is already pre-sold.

The artificial farming base He Kao found is a place he can reach, so he applied his tactics to get there, manage to persuade, and buy three at a high price as required by Elder Li, taking them home to continue keeping them fresh.

This dish could not be hastily prepared, it had to wait until other dishes, especially the venison, were almost done, then placed in the pot to steam, and then served together.

With all the ingredients finally ready, He Kao rubbed his hands and asked, "Uncle Jiang, Uncle Li, what else would you like to order, say it all at once so I can prepare accordingly."

Jiang Daozhen: "It doesn’t need to be too complicated, just the three of us, four dishes and a soup should be enough."

Li Xiuyuan: "There are already two meat dishes, let’s add two vegetable dishes, each of us can order one."

Jiang Daozhen: "Then I’ll order a dish of winter bamboo shoots, don’t add salt, slice some fatty ham and stir-fry it in oil, use a hard fire and stir-fry quickly."

He Kao: "Will regular bamboo shoots do?"

Jiang Daozhen chuckled: "Since you asked, it wouldn’t be right to ask for ordinary bamboo shoots, let’s use this Purple Jade Bamboo Shoots instead, see if the market sells it."

Li Xiuyuan chimed in: "The market probably doesn’t sell it, figure out a way to dig for it yourself. This thing, the taste changes overnight, freshly dug is best, blanch a little in boiling water before stir-frying... Xiao Kao, you know how to cook it, right?"

He Kao nodded: "Don’t worry, this dish is something I make often."

Originally, he regretted asking when he could’ve just gone for regular bamboo shoots, but then he glanced around and instantly relaxed.

Because Jiang Daozhen pulled out a piece of bamboo with skin, bright purple in color, with yellow spots, the bamboo skin gleaming like jade, seemingly carrying a natural gloss.

This type of bamboo He Kao has seen before, the small bamboo chair Old Man Jiang uses to set up a chess stall, is made from this material. Just earlier, while looking for venison deep in Gu Mountain, he happened to see a grove of this bamboo. So he’ll go digging.

"Then Uncle Li, what’s the other vegetable dish you want to order?"

Li Xiuyuan: "Let’s keep it simple, one dish of fried mulberry leaves, slow pan-fried."

Fried mulberry leaves is a local, particularly a common dish around neighboring provinces like Wucheng, typically consumed in early spring, picking tender leaves that have just grown, lightly coating them and frying.

Young mulberry leaves have a layer of yellow fuzz on the surface, allowing the coating to adhere.

This dish not only tests craftsmanship but also tests the control of fire, it has another name—Yellow Bud, Green Leaf, Naturally Spring.

The oil temperature cannot be too high, the cooking time cannot be too long, once the coating is slightly crispy, they should be removed, keeping the leaves tender green, with an excellent taste suitable for drinking.

The so-called tempura in Sang Island Country was learned from the ancient Eastern Country’s cooking technique, but the taste differs significantly.

This time, He Kao learned a lesson and didn’t mention the wrong season for harvesting tender mulberry leaves. In the southern regions with warm and humid climates, some mulberry trees grow leaves year-round, South Flower should have them.

Even if suitable tender leaves can’t be found for cooking in South Flower, there should be more in Sawa Country, right? He Kao just returned from Sawa Country, and he remembered seeing mulberry trees there.

He Kao: "The dishes are all set, what about the soup?"

Jiang Daozhen turned to Li Xiuyuan: "You are the guest, you choose the soup."

Li Xiuyuan: "For soup, keep the taste light, let’s have a purslane egg drop soup."

This dish is quite simple, the large farmer’s markets nearby can easily get everything needed, but after Li Xiuyuan finished speaking and saw He Kao didn’t ask further, he paused and added, "The purslane should be fresh, preferably small red purslane just picked.

As for the eggs, the best would be wild bamboo partridge eggs, don’t use the immature ones!

The so-called small red purslane is the very tender purslane with the leaves curled up and not fully spread open, only the underside of the leaf is visible. Because the fresh purslane leaves have a red underside, they’re also called small red purslane.

The so-called immature eggs, also known as fertilized eggs, are those that can hatch into chicks.

Purslane is manageable, He Kao can scoop them up with a ladle, even if he goes to Taigu City to get them! As for bamboo partridge, what a coincidence, he just saw a partridge nest with eggs at Bai Ma Mountain yesterday.

After spending half a day searching for venison, he didn’t find any in the mountains but still had some harvest, finding bamboo partridge at Bai Ma Mountain and Purple Jade Bamboo at Gu Mountain, serving as a reserve of ingredients.

Although he has secured the ingredients, getting the eggs, digging for bamboo shoots, and picking mulberry leaves is quite labor-intensive, keeping He Kao quite busy.

The two elders leisurely sipped tea in the main hall, catching the moment when He Kao wasn’t present, Li Xiuyuan asked, "Old Ghost Jiang, do you think this kid’s control of heat is about enough?"

**

PS: Black Pot Venison Stew, White Jade Steam Saber Jack, Golden-Spotted Bamboo Shoots, Green Mulberry Spring Leaves, Red Purslane Egg Drop Soup, offering four dishes and a soup, seeking monthly votes!