Chapter 1627: Chapter 1626: Tastes Very Good
Spicy Strips are all about flavor, all about excitent. Qiao Xiaomai used every seasoning she had on hand, and once the dish was ready, an alluring aroma swept through the kitchen, exuding an air of dominance akin to “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.”
For as long as she could rember, “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” had been the most commanding dish Qiao Xiaomai had ever made, its flavor always managing to overshadow everything else in the vicinity.
Now that the Spicy Strips were done, they too were overpowering the fragrance of every other dish in the kitchen.
Qiao Xiaomai picked up a piece with her chopsticks and tasted it. The familiar flavor made her sigh.
Since these dried bean curds were made from soybeans irrigated with Spiritual Spring water, their taste was exceptional—far better than any Spicy Strips she’d made in her previous life.
But overall, the flavor was still similar to what she rembered. It was so familiar that it left her feeling lancholic.
Even though there was no one left in her previous life to miss, that was the place where she grew up—a ho that had now beco an eternal mory, a place she could never return to.
Slowly chewing the Spicy Strips in her mouth, she forcibly suppressed the pangs of nostalgia stirring in her heart. Such feelings were aningless; she shouldn’t dwell on them—they were nothing but a waste of ti.
Carrying the freshly made Spicy Strips, she went back to the study. Inside, Tong Sanlang had already finished his Milk Tea and resud drawing. When he saw her enter, Tong Sanlang put down his brush and exclaid, “It slls incredible!”
Qiao Xiaomai grinned proudly. “Witness the magic of Spicy Strips, huh?”
Tong Sanlang nodded emphatically as he stood up. “The reputation is well-deserved.”
Hearing his praise, Qiao Xiaomai’s face lit up with even more pride. She placed the tray down in the study. “Go on, give it a try.”
Tong Sanlang picked up a piece with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth. His first impression was the spice—it wasn’t the dry, biting kind but a rich, aromatic kind of heat. Behind the spicy notes, there was an even more complex layering of flavors. There were so many seasonings, in fact, that his tongue couldn’t imdiately distinguish them all.
Still, it was delicious—extrely delicious.
It fully lived up to the acclaim.
“Send so over for the Emperor Eritus to try,” he suggested.
Yang Wenxiao, though unable to handle heavily seasoned foods, could still taste and sample new dishes.
“Let’s go together,” Qiao Xiaomai said, as she was thinking the sa thing.
So the couple carried the tray over to Yang Wenxiao’s Courtyard and placed the Spicy Strips in front of him. The intense aroma made Yang Wenxiao raise an eyebrow. “What’s this?”
“Spicy Bamboo Tofu. You should try it—it’s very spicy,” she replied.
Yang Wenxiao picked up a piece with his chopsticks and tasted it.
The bean curd had been soaked until soft enough for him to chew, and the spiciness was tolerable for him. However, the sheer abundance of seasoning had turned the tofu into a rich and stimulating experience.
Given his age, this wasn’t sothing he particularly enjoyed.
But among younger people, it would probably be quite popular.
He finished chewing one piece, then set down his chopsticks. “Not bad. How did you co up with this?”
“I’d just had so sweet Milk Tea and suddenly craved sothing spicy, so I went to the kitchen. When I saw so soaked bean curd, I grabbed it and went all-in with the seasonings. To my surprise, the end product turned out pretty well,” Qiao Xiaomai explained.
The reasoning she gave was completely logical. Yang Wenxiao chuckled and offered a couple of words of praise before suggesting, “Sell it at the Theater.”
“Of course. With chili peppers being so expensive, fifty taels a plate,” Qiao Xiaomai replied.
Chili peppers had never been publicly sold on their own before. What people had tasted so far had always been in combination with dishes like crayfish, so the price of chili peppers was entirely up to her discretion.
The dried bean curd was made from soybeans irrigated with the Spiritual Spring, and chili peppers were a rare luxury. Selling a small plate for fifty taels wasn’t unreasonable at all.
After the autumn harvest, she finally had so free ti. The winter wheat had just been planted, and she didn’t need to water the fields with Spiritual Spring water every day anymore, leaving her with plenty of ti for making Spicy Strips.
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