The Rutes" starship arrived at the Blue Star Empire at past 6 the following evening. It was so large that it blotted out the sky. It was impossible for people to not notice their arrival. Along with the official announcement from the government, everyone in the empire knew that the Rutes have come for a visit.
The people of the Empire had a very favorable impression of the Rutes. This was because the Rutes presented a united front with the Empire against their enemies during the thousand year long wars.
The Rute"s planet was rich in a rare type of metal ore. It was lightweight and extremely st.u.r.dy. When made into starships or mechs, it gave an indisputable advantage. Consequently, their planet was often targeted and coveted. As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The people of the empire were extremely intelligent. They were constantly making technological innovations in the manufacture of starships and mechs. Although the Rutes were extremely good at fighting, they were weak in terms of technological innovation. It was a marriage made in heaven. They easily reached a trade agreement. The Rutes would provide the rare metal ore and the fighting prowess while the empire would provide the plans and technological a.s.sistance. It was a mutually beneficial partnership.
The visit of the Rute people this time was for Xia Mi"s, the flower of the Empire"s, latest blueprints for S-cla.s.s mechs. Both sides attached great importance to this.
The meeting between the leaders of the two countries" naturally attracted countless media reporters. The last time the Rute people visited, they expressed their fondness for natural ingredients. Having heard that they had especially ordered dishes for this visit, the people were paying particular attention to this banquet.
On the live news broadcast, President Gu saw the Rutes coming out of the starship, and immediately said, “The Rute people have arrived, prepare to open the banquet!”
“Yes!” When they heard his order, the back kitchen immediately began to get busy.
Xue Ning and the others" seventeen dishes have already been prepared. The smart robots placed them one by one in the outer hall for the Rutes to eat as much as they wished. They were very well-prepared, and most of the dishes were easy to prepare dishes. It would be no trouble for them even if they were to make these dishes on the spot. They were sure to be able to cope with the needs of the Rute people.
As for Ruan Tang"s side, he first prepared the cold dishes such as crystal shrimp, beancurd fish rolls, cold tofu salad and soy braised cod. When the Rutes" delegation arrive, they could immediately serve these first to let them have a taste. These dishes were ones that appeared in state banquets during Ruan Tang"s past life. The taste was naturally very good. Whether it was shrimp or fish, it was all meat. Even if the Rutes preferred richer flavors, they should still be willing to eat these. As for the meat dishes that the Rutes loved, they were all hot dishes that needed to be prepared on the spot. However, all the preparatory work had already been done. Even the soup had already been boiling for a long time, it only needed to be boiled one final time for around 5 to 10 minutes and it would be ready. When the time came, they could serve these dishes one after the other. These were sure to satisfy their craving.
The Rutes" visiting delegation followed the government officials who came to receive them into the Empire State Building. They rode the elevator to the 55th floor and entered the banquet hall.
The doors to the main banquet hall were opened. Even at the back kitchen, they could hear the hubbub from outside. Ruan Tang didn"t need President Gu to tell him that the protagonists of this reception feast had already arrived.
“Begin service!”
In the main banquet hall, all four round tables were filled. On the main table were Gilbert, the leader of the Rute, and his four trusted subordinates, the emperor, His Majesty Cheng Ji, the empress Qiu Rui, Supreme Commander He Wei Ye, Marshal He Yun Chen, Dean of the Academy of Sciences, He Yun Yi, Vice President of the Academy of Sciences, Bai Che, and the protagonist of this event, Xia Mi. The other three tables seated the other Rute delegates and the government VIPs.
Although the two sides have different languages because of their different races, with the help of intelligent translators, communication was not a problem at all.
When the top of the line simulation-type smart robot came with a dish, the Rutes couldn"t help but sit up straight and watch them approach. When they came to the Blue Star Empire last time, they felt that the empire"s highly praised natural ingredients tasted quite good. Just now, when they pa.s.sed through the outer hall, they were met with such sweet smelling dishes. It made them antic.i.p.ate this banquet even more.
They heard that the Blue Star Empire had a four-star chef with exemplary cooking skills, so they discussed it with the Empire and made the request to sample this chef"s dishes. The Empire was very straight forward in their response — that chef would be responsible for today"s reception banquet.
However, when the four cold dishes were served on the table, many among the Rutes revealed disappointed expressions.
“How come it"s different from the ones I saw in the video?”
“Exactly! Why doesn"t it have any smell at all?”
“What is this white thing? It kind of looks like insects. Can we really eat this?”
Gilbert and others on the main table were still okay, but the other Rutes on the other tables couldn"t help but mutter apprehensively. They didn"t know what cold dishes were. They just thought that these dishes had no smell at all and looked completely ordinary. They weren"t as good as the barbecue in the outer hall. Even if they were arranged beautifully and appeared well-balanced on the plate, they couldn"t appreciate it at all.
Each guest in the reception banquets was served their own portion. Each person was presented with four small plates. On each plate was a delicate and well-balanced cold dish. Because it was a national banquet, Ruan Tang had also paid particular attention to the plating. Aside from making sure the color of the ingredients themselves matched together well, he also painstakingly sculpted several “food carvings” which showed Ruan Tang"s superb knife skills.
But for everyone present, no one has seen this kind of plating before. Although it seemed like there were dragons and phoenixes, flowers and gra.s.ses, but they couldn"t see what these things were made with, nor did they know if these things were purely for decoration or if they could be eaten.
This situation was especially awkward for the royal couple. They had never seen nor tasted Ruan Tang"s cooking before. When Cheng Ji saw these dishes, for a moment, his face also revealed an unnatural expression. However, these dishes were already on the table. He couldn"t just stare rudely at the dishes like this and let the Rutes know that he was also unfamiliar with these dishes. Thereupon, he said to everyone, “The chef"s craftsmanship is very special. I"m sure these dishes will give everyone a pleasant surprise.” As he said this, he picked up his chopsticks and took a particularly harmless looking sh.e.l.led shrimp.
The Rute people didn"t use chopsticks, so a set of fork, knife and spoon was laid out for their use. They couldn"t not give the Emperor face, so they picked up their spoons to start eating, but they didn"t know where to start.
However, the He Family father and sons as well as Xia Mi and Bai Che, had already taken the initiative to pick up their chopsticks and start eating. Others might not be able to recognize the ingredients in these dishes, but these were nothing unfamiliar to them.
Crystal shrimp was made from stir-fried sh.e.l.led shrimps. Each one was glittering and translucent. They were incomparably beautiful and had such a springy texture and wonderful taste. The outer layer of the beancurd fish roll was made from thin sheets of dried bean curd and inside was fresh and tender fish. After frying, the outer layer had turned an alluring golden color. It was crispy on the outside and tender inside. It simply tasted great. The cold tofu salad was made with salted egg yolks that Ruan Tang had marinated himself, paired with soy sauce, fragrant scallions and chili oil. The salty and spicy taste spread from the tip of the tongue. Although no meat was mixed with it, it still made people unable to stop eating it. The soy braised cod was sliced into thick pieces and each piece was salty and savory with a hint of sweetness. Like the others, it was also very delicious.
While the others were still hesitating, the five people"s chopsticks appeared like raindrops as it descended upon their food. In an instant, they had eaten more than half their plate.
Seeing how they were so engrossed in their food that they couldn"t even lift their heads, Cheng Ji couldn"t help but pick up a fish roll with his chopsticks. As a result, when the delicious taste bloomed from the tip of his tongue, his eyes can"t help but widen. He could no longer converse with Gilbert and the others as he too became engrossed in eating. He didn"t forget though, to signal the empress Qiu Rui to quickly start eating as well.
Even though Gilbert and his people were a bit slower to act, they learned from watching the others and also quickly ate a spoonful of the dishes. With just one bite, they were immediately shocked. How could such plain looking dishes have this kind of taste?!
After a short while, the main table grew quiet as almost everyone was busy eating. The other three tables were stunned.
At the door of the main banquet hall, two reporters were carefully carrying out live broadcasts. But as this was a banquet for the leader of another planet, although broadcasting the dishes posed no problem, holographic mode was definitely not open. Although there had been no official announcement, there were several sharp-eyed netizens who immediately recognized the maker of these dishes.
[Miao Miao loves to eat all the dishes of the anchor: Ah, ah, these dishes, with just one look I know my Ruan Tang made these!]
[Feng Yue Xuanhe: Aiya, if you don"t want to eat, then let me! Watching them is really making me anxious!]
[Falling Sakura: Hu hu hu, they"re all dishes that haven"t been made during the live broadcast. They look so good… QAQ]
Without the holographic mode, the audience watching the live news could only look at the enticing dishes and silently swallow down their saliva.
Everyone quickly gobbled down the four cold dishes. Even the carved carrots and gourds weren"t let off. The cold dish stage was just to whet their appet.i.tes. Because there was no wine, Ruan Tang prepared for them some sweet and tangy, appetizing plum juice. It made everyone"s mouth water all the more.
Several smart robots lined up at this time to place the new dishes in front of everyone, while taking away the empty plates.
It seemed like it had been timed just perfectly right. When they had just put down their cups, a new hot dish was already placed before them. Four intelligent robots carried four very large trays. The trays were covered with a round metal lid, which made it impossible to see any clue of what was inside. Once the smart robots were standing next to the tables, they took off the lid and immediately, that delicious smell that was unique to meat suddenly engulfed their senses.
On the trays, they could see twelve delicate and shallow plates arranged in a leaf-like pattern. Each plate was filled with five plump pieces of roast duck. On one side of each dish was also a small plate of Ruan Tang"s specially concocted thick sauce.
The roast duck"s skin was a tempting reddish brown. It had been roasted until the duck fat coated the outer skin, making it look glossy and l.u.s.trous. It looked exceptionally delicious. Ruan Tang roasted the ducks in the oven provided by the Academy of Sciences. The roast duck had already been cut into pieces in advance, which made the succulent and juicy duck meat under the reddish-brown skin clearly visible.
As soon as the smart robots placed the dishes in front of everyone, hardly anyone spoke another word. Everyone picked up their chopsticks and once again entered into “battle mode”.
The roast duck had a unique fragrance. Its skin was crispy and its meat was tender. Its taste was rich and mellow. Although it looked oily, it did not taste at all greasy. If you dip it in the sauce, the taste would become so delicious that they hated how they couldn"t just eat the bones with it. Not to mention the Rutes, even the imperial people were bowled over by the delicious taste of the roast duck.
“What kind of animal meat is this? How is it so delicious?” Facing his empty plate, Gilbert reminisced about the delicious taste of the roast duck. He still wanted to eat more of it and he couldn"t help but ask.
The Rutes" planet was relatively remote. The only animals they had access to were the large beasts living in s.p.a.ce. Not only were they difficult to capture, but their flesh was also very tough. It couldn"t compare at all to these tender meats from the empire. The last time they visited, they were already shocked by the imperial people"s barbecue, but they never thought that the dishes this time would be every better than that last time"s.
“This…” Not to mention roast duck, this was the first time for Cheng Ji to even taste duck meat so how could he explain what ingredient this is?
“Your Majesty, this dish is called crispy roast duck. The main ingredient is duck meat.” He Yun Yi pointed to a sign standing in the middle of the table. “There is a menu over here.”
Hearing, He Wei Ye and He Yun Chen couldn"t help but reveal expressions of surprise. Duck meat has a very gamey taste. For those of them who had higher ranked const.i.tutions and keener senses, let alone the taste, even the smell of duck was unacceptable. However, after going through Ruan Tang"s cooking method, the roast duck did not have a trace of gamey-ness. All that remained was a savory fragrance.
The menu had been especially translated into two languages, so Gilbert had no problem reading it. Seeing all these unfamiliar dish names on the menu, it made him look forward even more to the coming dishes.
Ruan Tang had just finished plating the honey chicken wings, when he saw the empty plates return after just two or three minutes. He was stunned. “They"re all finished?”
“Haha, let"s serve the second dish. Those outside can"t wait any longer.” President Gu said with a smile.
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Recipes:
Crystal Shrimp: No recipe. It"s basically just boiled shrimp. If you get really fresh shrimp even just boiling it tastes great.
Beancurd Roll: Though the filling here is shrimp and pork because that"s more popular
Chilled tofu:
Soy braised cod: Link Though there"s a lot of ways to make this.
Roast or Peking Duck: Link For the brave who want to try it themselves =)
Link For the not so brave that just want to see how Hong Kong restaurants do it.