Chapter 238 (Part 1): Rampant Bragging

Translated by Gumihou

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com

Chu Xiu blushed at Duan Tingxuan’s remark. Sadly, Su Nuan Nuan merely rolled her eyes and scolded him, “Just pay attention to your game of Go and enough with your nonsense.” Then, she said to Chu Xiu in a much gentler voice, “It is correct to say that Buddha Jumps over the Wall is difficult to make. However, it is also not wrong to say that it is simple to make. One just has to master the steps for making it. Listen to me carefully:

First, you must prepare all the ingredients. The dried ingredients must be soaked much earlier, at least a day or two before the cooking date [1]. When it comes to cooking, you should start by boiling some water in this hundred-year-old Shaoxing wine jar. Add shark fin, fish lips, and some rice wine into the water. Boil for about the same amount of time used to brew a cup of tea. Take the fins and lips out and set them aside.

Next, blanch the soaked dried fish in boiling water, about less than half the time it takes to brew a cup of tea will do. You must also par-boil [1] the pork belly and goat meat to get rid of the remaining blood and scum off the fresh meat. Take everything out and rinse off whatever scum is sticking onto the meat. This step is to maintain a clear, jewel-like soup.

Next, par-boil a rooster in boiling water [1]. This is to clean out the insides and get rid of whatever blood or scum, of course. Take it out and clean off all the scum with fresh water. Naturally, I choose a rooster since I like roosters better. In the south, people like old hens more. They say that hens have a much better taste, but to me, the sturdy bones of roosters make for a much better broth. Well, it’s all up to one’s taste, of course.

Well, next, place a large piece of ginger into the pot. Oh, before that you should smash it with the flat of your chopper to release more flavour. Then, add star anise, bay leaf, and rock sugar into the pot. Since it’s such a large jar, you should also add four or five large onions to enhance the flavour.

The next step is…”

Su Nuan Nuan was very familiar with all the steps needed to make Buddha Jumps over the Wall. As she continued to wax on and on about the intricacies of making this dish, poor Chu Xiu, a commoner girl from a farmer’s family was completely lost. The most complicated dish she had ever done was steamed fish or stewed meat, and despite her natural intelligence, Su Nuan Nuan’s long explanation ended up turning her eyes into confused spirals…

Finally, Duan Tingxuan and Long Pingzhang yelled from the side, “Enough! Don’t say anything more, if you continue, our brains will become melt out of our ears. What’s all this about dried fish, pork belly, and rooster meat, what’s the difference between par-boiling and blanching? We have headaches now, and our Go pieces have all turned into fish lips and sharks fin!!”

Su Nuan Nuan laughed at them, seeing young Chu Xiu still in a daze, she said comfortingly, “Never mind, didn’t I say it’s a really complicated dish? However, as long as one mastered the various cooking steps and fire control, anyone could make it. How about this, I’ll write down all the steps for you, and you get your Brother A-Niu to help you learn, alright?”

Chu Xiu, looking like someone who had been pardoned from death sentence, nodded gratefully. At this, Duan Tingxuan shook his head like a dog, as though trying to shake off all the ingredients stuck in his head in order to focus better on his Go game. Before continuing with his game, he asked Nuan Nuan, “Aside from this Buddha Jumps over the Wall, are you going to make any other dishes for the competition against Fu Sheng Xiang? It only takes a nod from you to kill those people, but surely we can’t be too heavy-handed? Don’t take out heavy-duty weapons like the Lion Head or the Stuffed Eggplant. Be generous and give them some breathing room, alright?”

“Be at ease, I am definitely kinder than you. Though your words sound kind and generous on the surface, you are in fact rampantly bragging your head off, aren’t you?”

At this, both Duan Tingxuan and Long Pingzhang laughed out loud. Suddenly, the little marquis fell silent in the middle of his laughter and took away three of Long Pingzhang’s Go pieces. Then he nodded seriously and said, “I know myself, and Nuan Nuan does too.”

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com~

News of Fu Sheng Xiang and An Le Lou’s cooking battle only took a single day to spread through the entirety of Lin Qing. The people of this prosperous city have always liked excitement, and with such a big event coming up, how could they not be happy? When Fu Sheng Xiang went over to Kick the Hall, the number of people who knew were actually not that many. It took only two days for the news to spread through the entire city. Everyone hated the fact that they had to wait three more days for the big showdown when An Le Lou suddenly announced that they want the challenge to happen one day earlier.

This really exceeded everyone’s expectations and that very evening, people started to gather around Fu Sheng Xiang, some setting up tents on various strategic grounds to have the best view for tomorrow’s showdown. When the sun came up the next day, there were crowds of people as far as the eye could see.

Unbeknownst to the crowd outside, at this very moment Su Nuan Nuan was currently scurrying around Fu Sheng Xiang’s kitchen like an overworked ant…

She was having a face-off against a full table of ingredients. After a while, she growled, “Where is that bastard Li Qiushan? He left after just one word to say that he’s leaving, but just where did he put my wine jar? Duan Tingxuan, investigate that bastard’s background for me. Is that bastard some scum spy of Fu Sheng Xiang?”

“No, no, that really cannot be, Nuan Nuan, if he really is a spy for Fu Sheng Xiang, all he had to do is put a crack at the bottom of the wine jar to sabotage us, ah.” Duan Tingxuan did his best to soothe his wife.

Just then, Si Ping came running in, calling loudly, “It’s coming! It’s coming! It’s coming!”

“What’s coming? Speak properly.” Duan Tingxuan snapped, causing Si Ping to shiver in fright. He caught his breath and said, “I- i- it’s Manager Li! He’s coming with two people, they brought two huge wine jars with them. The jars are about this big…”

As Si Ping spoke, he used his hands indicate the size of the wine jars, causing both Su Nuan Nuan and Duan Tingxuan to sweatdrop at his antics… finally, husband and wife left Si Ping to look after the kitchen and hurried over to the balcony to see what was happening for themselves. What they saw was Li Qiushan shouting himself hoarse at the tightly packed onlookers to make way. Luckily, the crowd recognised him as the Manager of An Le Lou and eagerly parted way for him so that the show could go on. If the crowd had not parted for him, not only would it be difficult for him to squeeze through, the two men behind him, both hugging huge wine jars to their chests like precious toddlers, would not be able to push their way through.

[Gumihou: What the… Manager Li are you serious!?]

[1] She kept using the character for ‘soup’ when it should be ‘boiling water’. The author was also lazy enough to just write ‘r’ for ‘meat’ and ‘j’ for ‘chicken’. So, I’m going to assume she’s not in her right mind and give you guys the correct instructions for making Buddha Jumps over the Wall…

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Choose your tier from the menu below!

$2 – Have a Dumpling

238.2 – Rampant Bragging

$5 – Slurp Some Longevity Noodles

239 – Sichuan Poached Fish

$10 – Chomp on a Duck Thigh!

240.1 – Ya Zi’s Report

240.2 – Ya Zi’s Report

$20 – Let’s have a Hearty Hotpot!

241 – Northeast Plain

242.1 When It Rains, It Pours