Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 15
Tled by Serena Love
Unedited
Chapter 15: Spicy Prawns and Lotus Root Paste
While Xie Xun was still struggling outside, Jiang Shuyao came out from the kitchen.
Xie Xun's gaze collided with hers, making him feel a little uncomfortable.
Jiang Shuyao didn't care at all, she smiled at him, "You come back at the right time, it's just out of the pot." After saying that, she went straight to the east wing.
Her attitude was natural and generous. Xie Xun who was affected by her attitude, striding to keep up with her.
The two sat down face-to-face. Jiang Shuyao doesn't like others to serve her when she is eating, so the maidservants stepped back after putting on the plate.
Seeing Xie Xun sitting upright on the opposite side, with an extremely serious look, made Jiang Shuyao a little nervous.
The big taboo for eating is to be restrained.
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She picked up the porcelain jug on the table, leaned slightly, and poured a glass of wine for Xie Xun.
Upon seeing this, Xie Xun said in surprise, "This is... wine?" He has never seen a woman who drinks with meals.
"Of course." As Jiang Shuyao said this, her eyes turned into crescent-shaped smiles, "I ordered it especially. I have tasted it, and it is not bad. I don't know if you like it or not."
Ancient wine-making and drinking culture has a long history. There are many types of wine, such as flower wine and fruit wine, which is popular in the beverage industry like grape wine, date wine, mulberry wine, citrus wine, plum wine, pomegranate wine, peach wine and pear wine, and so on. The alcohol content is not high, the taste is sweet and delicious, especially suitable for women to drink.
When Jiang Shuyao heard Bai Zhi listed so many types of wine, she seemed to have fallen into a cellar. She waved her hand, and excitedly asked Bai Zhi to bring a bottle back.
Xie Xun looked at her, and then at the wine. He is slightly surprised and said, "Do you like drinking?"
Jiang Shuyao nodded.
Xie Xuan was taken aback for a moment, but he didn't say anything, and took a sip from the glass.
His fingers are white and slender, with well-defined joints, and the way he holds a jasper wine glass is particularly seductive. Jiang Shuyao couldn't help but drop her gaze on his hand.
Xie Xun did not pay attention, and asked, "This is pear wine?"
Jiang Shuyao moved her gaze to his white and skinny wrist, nodded intently, and replied, "Yes."
Xie Xun's cuffs are wide, and his wide sleeves dropped slightly when he raised his hand, revealing a section of the cuffs of his snow-white shirt. His wine tasting look is too elegant and handsome, so that Jiang Shuyao, who originally intended to create an atmosphere of eating and drinking at a roadside stall, is somewhat defeated.
"Cold and lovely, sweet and delicious." Xie Xun put down the wine glass, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face. "This is my first time drinking pear wine."
This was the first time Jiang Shuyao saw him smile.
The setting sun coated his body with a soft halo, his ink-like hair was tied high, and his face is like a crown jade. When he chuckled, the lonely and arrogant temperament on his body was instantly dissipated, and warmth melted like a warm spring moon over the willow trees.
[T/N: "The face is like a crown jade", is a Chinese idiom, pinyin is miàn rú guān yù, which is a metaphor for a man with ethereal appearance, and is also used to describe a man's beauty.]
Then the smile on his face froze.
"You... why you looked at me like this?" Xie Xun coughed and was a little flustered by Jiang Shuyao's scorching eyes.
Jiang Shuyao retracted her gaze that was admiring his beauty, and sighed with regret, "Nothing, let's eat."
She lifted the lid on the large porcelain bowl on the table, and a strong, spicy flavor instantly penetrated into Xie Xun's nasal cavity.
In front of his eyes is a pot of red and bright prawns. The skin has been deep-fried, and the color is full of luster. The sauce with red oil is poured on it. The hot steam is rolling up, and the pot is piled full with prawns.
Jiang Shuyao originally intended to make spicy crayfish, but it is a pity that crayfish was introduced to China in the 19th century. At this period, there are only ordinary shrimps. So she used spicy crayfish recipe to make this big pot of spicy prawns.
Xie Xun looked at this pot of prawns, thinking about the shrimp gnawing method that Jiang Shuyao has taught him before. He has some headaches, it's so many... and it was too troublesome to eat.
He was about to move his chopsticks when he saw a white hand leaning towards the bowl... Xie Xun was stunned while holding the chopsticks.
Jiang Shuyao peeled the prawn in three moves, threw it into her mouth, and squinted happily.
It's a pity that there is no crayfish at this time. If not, you can hold the crayfish shell and take a sip of the soup, that's the essence.
After Jiang Shuyao finished eating, she kept grabbing prawns. She feels Xie Xun's unbelieving gaze, and looked at him, "Are you not eating?"
Xie Xun looked at her hand and then at the shrimps, "You eat with your hands?"
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Jiang Shuyao said naturally. "It's so troublesome to use chopsticks. It's such a big pot."
She peeled the prawns as she is talking. After peeling, Xie Xun is still staring at her. Afterwards, she realized that people might not be able to accept it.
"You can use chopsticks, uh... my hands are not dirty."
Xie Xun saw her look embarrassed, and was about to say that he was not disgusted, only surprised, but Jiang Shuyao intercepted the conversation first and said quickly, "If you think it is troublesome, do you want to ask a maid to peel the prawns for you?"
Xie Xun hurriedly said, "No." As soon as he finished saying this, Jiang Shuyao suddenly leaned forward and handed a peeled prawn to him.
Her movements were so sudden that Xie Xun cannot react at all.
He looked down at her hand, her wrists are like snow, and her fingers are pale.
The successive astonishment made him a little stunned, his mind was puzzled for a moment. He looked at the hand holding the prawn very close to him, he subconsciously lowered his head, and took the prawn with his mouth.
Silence, weird silence.
Jiang Shuyao expected that he would use chopsticks to pick up the prawn, or he would simply dislike it and say that he doesn't want it. It was him who kept his cold demeanor and tricky behavior. What's the matter with picking with his mouth?
Xie Xun didn't realize how he lowered his head and bit the prawn. When he realized what he had done, there was a thud in his head, eagerly climbing to the base of his ears, and a bloody redness quickly appeared on his ears.
Xie Xun was a little flustered for a while, not knowing how to conceal it, but before Jiang Shuyao noticed that his ears were red, his mouth tastes the prawn.
An irritating spiciness suddenly came up from the tip of his tongue. He was not prepared for this, and coughed because of the sudden pungency.
His white face was red and he is coughing, his waist was arched, and even the corners of his eyes are stained red, which looked really painful.
"Are you okay?" Jiang Shuyao asked.
Xie Xun shakes his head and took a sip of fruit wine to barely relieve the spiciness.
His face was burning fiercely and his behavior just now was really embarrassing, he didn't know what to do at the moment.
Jiang Shuyao didn't care at all. After all, eating spicy food would sometimes cause tears and nose to flow together. There is no embarrassment.
Without stopping, she said to Xie Xun, "Do you want to eat it?"
Xie Xun nodded in a pretending manner, so he won't look so fragile and delicate.
"Then I will call a maid to help you peel the shrimp." Jiang Shuyao said.
As soon as she finished speaking, Xie Xun immediately interrupted, "No." As if trying to prove something, he quickly reached out and picked up a spicy prawn, and began to peel it awkwardly.
Jiang Shuyao thinks he is a little weird, but she and Xie Xun have always been from the different world, so she is too lazy to think about it. Anyway, she doesn't have the right way of thinking for this era.
Xie Xun felt that Jiang Shuyao's eyes are not on him, and he was relieved.
He peeled the shrimp, hesitantly, and slowly put it into his mouth.
It's not like his mind flew elsewhere, at the first bite it was not choking, however the prawn wrapped in the soup is extremely hot, and the tip of his tongue hurt slightly.
The rich and spicy flavor activates all taste buds. Salty, spicy, numbing, and fragrant. All the flavors complement the flavor of prawn, which is different from the common light flavor, it is extremely rich and spicy. The sauce is as thick as gravy, and it is wrapped in oil.
After swallowing, the tip of his tongue is still numb and painful, leaving the unique sweetness of shrimp in the mouth.
He raised his head to look at Jiang Shuyao. She had already peeled a large plate of prawn quickly with her hands, and her lips were so hot that she could barely rolled up the wine glass with her ring finger and little finger, and drank it unsightly.
Seeing her eating happily, Xie Xun panicked.
There is still a faint spicy taste in his mouth, and the tip of the tongue is slightly tingling and painful. The more you do this, the more you want to eat one bite after another, as if it can alleviate the spiciness. The spicy flavor is addictive, and the flavor is even more memorable.
Xie Xun peeled the prawns faster and faster. The spicy and delicious taste stimulated a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
He really doesn't know how Jiang Shuyao made such delicious prawns. The thick sauce penetrates into the prawn. It is tender and elastic. The delicate flavor of prawn is also incorporated into the sauce, and even the spicy oil envelops the sweet flavor of the prawns.
The sauce is salty and spicy, but it can't conceal the sweet taste of prawn. Xie Xun took one bite after another, and even gave birth to an idea of using steamed buns to soak the brown-red sauce withprawn flavor. It must be delicious, even if it's just steamed buns, it's better than the food they eat for lunch in the East Palace.
The two ate prawns quietly, except for the noise of peeling prawns, there is only the sound of the bamboo leaves being blown by the cool wind outside the house.
Jiang Shuyao was eating very happily, and finally stopped when her stomach was about to burst.
Xie Xun was quick to get started, and now his speed of peeling prawns is already faster than a veteran like her. The two wiped out the large bowl of prawns cleanly, completely without any grace of a gentleman.
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Jiang Shuyao asked people to collect the dishes, and they both washed their hands several times with acacia soap several times until the smell on their hands disappeared.
Xie Xun was satisfied with this meal. He was about to go back to the study, but was stopped by Jiang Shuyao, "Are you going to drink lotus root paste?"
"...More?"
Jiang Shuyao nodded and returned to the table, "Of course, you can't just eat prawns. Lotus root paste can be regarded as a staple food, it can remove the oil and suppress the saltiness."
Xie Xun has to admire Jiang Shuyao for really know about eating .
The prepared lotus root paste is transparent and thick, it is crystal clear, with a faint red color in the white paste. It is sweet in the mouth, soft and slightly waxy. There is no need to chew, the sweet lotus root paste will slide down the throat, leaving a long sweetness.
After a meal of spicy and salty meat dishes, he eats a bowl of sweet and glutinous lotus root paste. He feels comfortable all over. He feels that the dryness brought by the hot and spicy prawns disappears with the sweetness.
Xie Xun ate two bowls before putting down the bowl reluctantly.
Thinking of tomorrow and eating those boring and tasteless meals, he feels desperate.
[T/N: The Chinese considers lotus root as a "cooling" food, so it is consumed to restore balance to the body, especially after eating hot or "heaty" food.]
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