8mi Chapter 27 - Li Bai: Can This Elevator Take Me to Pluck the Stars?
Chapter 27 - Li Bai: Can This Elevator Take Me to Pluck the Stars?
Chapter 27 Li Bai: Can This Elevator Take Me to Pluck the Stars?
Above the sky, the Taste of China continued to play. Various delicious dishes appeared in succession, including Nuodeng ham, matsutake mushrooms, stir-fried winter bamboo shoots, pickled yellow soybeans with small yellow fish, lotus root and pork rib stew, fish head pancake, pan-fried mackerel, sauerkraut fish soup, spicy red snails, and more!
The appearance of these foods, paired with high-quality visuals, music, and narration, created an immersive experience for the viewers, which was quite a shock to ancient people.
“Oh my God!”
Ying Zheng swore again, looking at the food in the sky and then at the food on his plate, feeling instantly unimpressed. During the Qin and Han dynasties, food variety wasn’t very rich. Meals back then mainly consisted of six types: rice, millet, barley, wheat, and other grains, while the main types of meat were beef, mutton, pork, dog, goose, and fish.
As for beef, even Ying Zheng didn’t dare to eat it casually, as cows were like ancient tractors, representing productive power—something the emperor couldn’t waste. The Taste of China on the sky screen gradually shifted from slow-paced clips to a fast-paced montage.
[Chicken hotpot, dried tofu with hot sauce, fermented rice dumplings, purple-style tiger tail, sunflower meatballs (commonly known as lion’s head), snowflake river fish, faux leopard fetus, Wensi tofu, Jinxiang duck, fish-flavored pork slices, Yangzhou fried rice, deep-fried stinky tofu, golden fish playing in lotus flowers, crispy shrimp balls, braised sea cucumber… ]
With each high-frequency appearance of these delicious dishes, everyone from all ancient realms was left dizzy and overwhelmed. Almost every chef was desperately trying to memorize the dishes appearing on the screen, especially those from the imperial kitchens.
In the Han dynasty realm, Liu Che looked at the sky and drooled. He was also a fan of fine food and loved grilled meat. He often ordered his chefs to make the outer skin of the meat extra crispy while keeping the juices inside for the best flavor. But even so, when he saw the dishes on The Taste of China, he almost drooled.
“Chef! Write down all these dishes for me!” Liu Che ordered.
In the Qin dynasty realm, Ying Zheng waved his hand, “Everyone in the kitchen, pay attention! I want all these dishes!”
At that moment, the kitchen staff looked at each other with bitter expressions. They clearly saw that the ingredients and various condiments were things they could never surpass. Meanwhile, the sky screen continued to flash with scenes from The Taste of China.
[The Taste of China is divided into chapters like Nature’s Gifts, Staples, Creative Inspirations, Time’s Flavors, Secrets of the Kitchen, Five Flavors, and Our Fields, each showcasing corresponding dishes and related content.]
For instance, in the “Five Flavors” chapter, it described sugar-coated pancakes, smoked duck, Liangxi crispy eels, crab-filled dumplings, hand-pulled wontons, braised ribs, orange peel duck, salt-baked chicken, Sichuan pickled peppers, and bean paste sauce…
At this point, in the Spring and Autumn period, famous chef Yi Ya put down his utensils and stared in shock at the foods on the screen. Yi Ya was not only a chef but also a sorcerer, skilled in frying, simmering, roasting, and especially in seasoning.
“The dishes in later times seem to use an abundant variety of seasonings, creating a range of different tastes,” Yi Ya remarked. “But the simplest cooking methods, as shown earlier, I believe, preserve the original flavors best.”
Yi Ya acknowledged that these dishes all had their merits, but he believed that the simplest cooking methods, which preserve the natural flavors, represented the true essence of cooking.
Though he said this, he soon began
He squinted his eyes and said, “Can this elevator take me to pluck the stars?”