Su Family's Secret Technique

Heroine Chen didn't care why Su Mo was buying a dog.

She took a deep breath and reluctantly stared at the cured meat stir-fry in the pot: "Then hurry up!"

"I'm going!"

Walking to the door, she turned back and reminded him: "Don't you dare steal my cured meat!"

Su Mo...

That's my cured meat, alright!

Who would have thought Heroine Chen was such a glutton? And how did she manage to maintain such a good figure!

In this era, common folk had few ways to prepare food.

It was just steaming and boiling!

Restaurants and eateries, however, added braising, stewing, and roasting, perhaps with a few spices for flavor.

Unseasoned pork was incredibly gamey, and anyone who'd eaten sow knew what a disgusting taste that was.

But ordinary people couldn't afford lamb or chicken. When they rarely got to eat meat, it was mostly pork.

One could only imagine how awful plain boiled pork tasted.

On the eighteenth day after his transmigration, Su Mo couldn't stand it anymore. Gritting his teeth, he took two taels of fine silver and went to the blacksmith to forge a pot of refined iron.

Refined iron wasn't cheap; it was a top-tier material for crafting weapons.

A pot weighing over ten catties, requiring it to be hammered exceptionally thin and uniformly, was a task of extreme technical difficulty. The blacksmith was still reluctant to part with it for two taels of silver.

When Chen Gan found out about this, he severely scolded Su Mo as a prodigal son.

Subsequently, he found excuses to visit Su Mo every few days!

And he'd even pack leftovers to take home!

Su Mo's cooking skills weren't actually that great. In any case, they couldn't compare to a restaurant chef. He had learned to cook for himself by following recipes because he'd gotten tired of fast food in his previous life.

But he spared no expense on oil, using refined salt that lacked the bitter taste of ordinary coarse salt.

He'd also add ginger, scallions, dogwood, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and other flavorings.

For the ancient people accustomed to plain boiled meat, it was a crushing, technologically superior attack!

Carrying the rice bucket and the stir-fry, he entered the inner hall.

Xue Yishu, already meticulously tidied up, had arrived in the inner hall.

She was currently listening to Heroine Chen boast about Su Mo's cooking.

But no matter how much Heroine Chen bragged, the County Magistrate's daughter just smiled without speaking.

She probably didn't believe that a yamen runner who only bullied commoners could have such good cooking skills!

Su Mo walked to the door.

Heroine Chen twitched her nose: "He's here!"

"It smells so good!"

"Hmph! You'll soon know I wasn't lying to you!"

"Before, I just ate food boiled in a big pot. He puts the meat and vegetables directly in the pot without adding water, and it doesn't even burn. It's amazing!"

The female knight-errant's nose was as sensitive as a dog's!

Hearing her words, Su Mo was speechless.

"Stop bragging!"

"It's just a simple cured meat stir-fry!"

He turned to look at the stunned Xue Yishu: "Brother Xue, eat more too. There won't be any food at noon; you'll have to wait until evening!"

"After we finish eating, you'll come with us to the East Market."

Xue Yishu shifted her gaze from the rice bucket, saying with some surprise: "What?"

"I'm going with you to the East Market?"

"What if... we're discovered?"

Su Mo smiled: "Isn't that better than staying here and having them find you?"

Xue Yishu thought about it and agreed.

If Su Mo wasn't here, what would she use to resist the household servants?

She couldn't use the Jade Sword Talisman either.

Her uncle had said that the talisman's power was astonishing and could take lives with a single strike, so it shouldn't be used lightly.

Moreover, the Jade Sword Talisman could only be used three times.

She had already used it once.

"Alright then, I rarely go out. It would be good to see the marketplace!"

Xue Yishu was actually quite looking forward to it.

In a year, she could only go out openly about ten or so times.

Such as during the Lantern Festival, the Qixi Festival, or poetry gatherings held by young ladies.

Other than that, she usually either studied "Admonitions for Women" in the inner chambers or practiced needlework, or engaged in boring activities like playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Everything outside was very new to her.

When she saw the large basin of stir-fried cured meat Su Mo placed on the table.

Xue Yishu's attention was immediately drawn to it.

She saw the dish with its green vegetables, red meat, and white garlic, glistening with oil. It truly had an enticing aroma that whetted the appetite and tickled her taste buds!

Then, she exclaimed in surprise, "Stir-fry?"

Su Mo was taken aback; he hadn't expected this young lady from a sheltered family to know what stir-fry was.

Even his third uncle, the old hand, didn't know!

He couldn't help but ask, "How do you know it's stir-fry?"

Xue Yishu explained, "My uncle once took me to Shenjing to visit a friend, and I had the good fortune to eat stir-fry at Tianyi Tower in Shenjing once!"

"However..."

She hesitated slightly: "The stir-fry at Tianyi Tower doesn't seem as good as yours!"

The skill of the renowned master chef at the world-famous Tianyi Tower.

Being inferior to a yamen constable in a rural county town was truly unbelievable.

Su Mo chuckled, "How is that possible? It's just rudimentary skill."

Xue Yishu shook her head, "Brother Su is too modest!"

"My uncle is a true gourmand. In his youth, he traveled extensively, tasting all sorts of delicacies from every province and prefecture in the land, yet he still praised Tianyi Tower's stir-fry highly."

"But Tianyi Tower's stir-fry, visually, is indeed not as good as what Brother Su made!"

Heroine Chen couldn't hold back any longer: "Stop talking, or the food will get cold!"

She eagerly picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a large piece of cured meat, and put it in her mouth.

"Mmm! Delicious! Extremely delicious!"

Then she took another large mouthful.

Her cheeks puffed out, making her look like a little squirrel stuffing its cheeks with pine nuts.

Su Mo smiled and beckoned to Xue Yishu, "Miss Chen is right, let's eat until we're full!"

Xue Yishu nodded, picked up her chopsticks, took out a handkerchief to wipe them, and then picked up a small piece of cured meat and put it in her mouth.

Her eating etiquette was far more refined than Heroine Chen's.

Immediately, her eyes lit up, and the favorability progress bar above her head flickered.

It jumped from 8% to 10%!

Su Mo...

He hadn't expected favorability could be increased this way.

He wondered if this trick would work on the Female Captain.

As the saying goes, to capture a man's heart, you must first capture his stomach.

The reverse is also true.

Miss Xue began to eat elegantly.

But seeing Heroine Chen gobbling down the food like a whirlwind, with the stir-fry almost gone, she finally couldn't help but speed up.

Su Mo watched, dumbfounded.

Had he underestimated their appetites?

More than a pound of vegetables, and half a pound of cured meat.

Why was it almost gone when he hadn't eaten much?

Heroine Chen was overjoyed after the meal, likely never having eaten anything so delicious in her life.

If there were a progress bar, it would have been filled instantly!

If marrying Su Mo meant she could eat such delicious food every day, She would immediately drag Su Mo to the civil affairs bureau... no, she would immediately grab a brush and force Su Mo to write a marriage proposal and send it to her home!

As she wiped the corners of her mouth, she asked with a sigh of admiration, "Su Mo..."

Perhaps calling Su Mo by his name directly felt a bit too informal, so she changed her address: "Young Master Su, what kind of meat is this? Why does it taste so fragrant?"

Xue Yishu also looked at Su Mo curiously.

Su Mo felt that the address coming from Heroine Chen was strange, and he chuckled, "Just call me Su Mo!"

"It's just pork, haven't you guys eaten it before?"

Heroine Chen's eyes widened instantly: "Pork?"

"How is that possible? Pork isn't usually gamey, is it? It tastes awful!"

It wasn't like she had never eaten pork before.

The people in the stronghold often hunted in the mountains, and they had hunted wild boars more than once.

Just as Su Mo was about to explain.

Xue Yishu suddenly said with a serious expression, "Miss Chen, this is Brother Su's secret technique that he doesn't pass down. It's best not to ask about it casually."

Upon hearing this, Heroine Chen also came to her senses.

Such a secret technique could be considered a family heirloom.

Even if the descendants of the Su family couldn't become Subordinate Clerks, they could still open a restaurant or eatery with this skill and eat for generations.

The stir-fried dishes at Tianyi Tower cost one tael of silver for a small plate, and it was said that you even needed a reservation to eat there!

People even cherish their own worn-out brooms, let alone a genuine secret technique that could be passed down to future generations!

Let alone outsiders.

Even their own daughters couldn't be taught; it was only passed down to males, not females!

Su Mo, however, chuckled, "There's nothing I can't say."

"To remove the gamey smell from pork, there are two methods."

"The first method is not something I can tell you."

"The second method is also simple: use ginger, garlic, and cooking wine to remove the smell, then stir-fry over high heat."

"Before drying the pork, it also needs to be processed a little."

"If you want to learn, I don't mind teaching you, but..."

Xue Yishu stared blankly at Su Mo.

This Subordinate Clerk actually revealed the secret technique?

Heroine Chen, however, asked excitedly, "But what?"

"Do I have to become your disciple to learn?"

"Ah! Then you won't be my master anymore, and we'll be from different generations!"

"No! Daddy said..."

At this point, she quickly stopped, covering her mouth tightly!

So close!

She almost let it slip!

Su Mo was speechless, "Where did your mind go!"

"I mean, after you learn it, you'll be in charge of the kitchen from now on!"

He learned to cook in his previous life because he was single and no one took care of him, and he got tired of fast food, so he had no choice.

In this life, he finally had status and position.

But no one understood cooking, so he still had to cook himself.

What was the difference between this and before he transmigrated?

Now that Heroine Chen had come to his doorstep, Su Mo certainly wouldn't miss the opportunity!

He had found his future cook!

Xue Yishu looked at Su Mo with newfound respect, "Brother Su is truly... a hero who regards wealth as dirt!"

"To generously impart a secret technique for stir-fried dishes that cost one tael of silver per plate is truly admirable!"

Su Mo was stunned, "One tael of silver per plate what?"

Xue Yishu explained, "The stir-fried dishes at Tianyi Tower cost at least one tael of silver, and it's only a small dish."

Su Mo subconsciously swallowed.

He turned his gaze to Heroine Chen, "Ahem, is it too late to take back what I just said?"

Xue Yishu was dumbfounded!

Heroine Chen placed her great treasure sword, which she always carried with her, on the table: "What do you think?"