After careful cooking, the state banquet-level seafood dish, Drip-Water Guanyin, was finally completed amidst everyone's anticipation.
The final step was to use the essence of the soup that had dripped into the bowl earlier, adding salt, sugar, oyster sauce, and starch to create a boiling, thick gravy.
Drizzled over the steamed abalone, the nearly lost state banquet-level dish, Drip-Water Guanyin, was declared complete.
The moment Xiangling carried out the abalones, the entire ship erupted. The aroma of abalone wafted with the sea breeze, permeating the whole Deathmatch Star, causing all the crew members to stop their actions unconsciously, inhaling the scent of this mysterious dish.
“Why is it so fragrant? Did Captain Beidou cook all the seafood together?” a sailor exclaimed.
“Nonsense, not only is your brain slow, but your nose is also terrible. This fragrance clearly contains not only seafood but also the scent of chicken, duck, and pigeon…” Another sailor cast a scornful glance, though he himself couldn't understand why the chicken, duck, and pigeon he cooked didn't smell this good.
“Feng Yi, quickly, let me taste it! I’ve waited three days, I’m dying of impatience!” Beidou said excitedly, holding a knife and fork. She was even more eager than Feng Yi and Xiangling, who were cooking, to taste this mysterious seafood dish.
“Please, Kaedehara, you try it too!” Feng Yi handed Beidou and Kaedehara their portions, and then began to taste their own dish with Xiangling, as the chefs of this renowned dish.
“Delicious, so delicious! Although I haven't tasted the Lunar dishes from Xinyue Kuan, I believe this Drip-Water Guanyin is definitely no worse than their Lunar dishes!” Xiangling was intoxicated by the aroma of Drip-Water Guanyin, feeling as if her tongue was melting. Learning this seafood dish, Xiangling felt she had taken another big step towards revolutionizing Liyue’s culinary world.
“I have tasted the Lunar dishes from Xinyue Kuan, but compared to this seafood dish made by Feng Yi, it’s not worth mentioning, not even a fraction of it!” Beidou praised Feng Yi’s skill immensely. Although Xinyue Kuan’s seafood dishes were expensive, she had tasted many of them. She used to think that was the peak of seafood cuisine. But today, the peak had to be replaced.
It’s not that Xinyue Kuan’s cooking is bad; a master who dominates half of Liyue’s culinary scene certainly has extraordinary skills. But both Xinyue Kuan and Liuli Pavilion are controlled by capital, having lost their original intention and maintaining their dominant position by monopolizing precious ingredients. Truly passionate chefs who develop and improve dishes are few and far between, and might even be ostracized by other chefs corrupted by different ideologies. Beidou had asked Ningguang about this issue, but Ningguang said that everything has its life cycle, and the inevitable fate is to decline after reaching its peak. Liuli Pavilion and Xinyue Kuan have already been glorious for long enough. Once their roots completely rot, new shoots will naturally replace them. And Feng Yi’s Drip-Water Guanyin made Beidou seem to see the sunlight shining on those new shoots, and she seemed to have found the shoots that would replace the rotten capital. Beidou smiled as she watched Xiangling, who was cheerfully sharing the seafood dish with Guoba.
“Soft and tender, with a rich fragrance, exquisite!” Kaedehara, a man of culture, praised with refined words.
“Spending days just to bring out the best in the abalone, the unique cooking method not only gives the dried abalone a new flavor but also makes its texture soft and chewy. Then, through dry steaming, the abalone absorbed the rich broth, and after three days of repeated concentration, the abalone finally exuded a fresh aroma from inside out, sticking to the teeth when eaten, with a rich meaty fragrance. Chewing and swallowing slowly, one can not only taste the unique flavor of dried abalone but also the scent of chicken, duck, and pigeon within the abalone, truly a delicacy on earth!” After finishing this state banquet-level dish, Feng Yi began to explain its unique characteristics to everyone. While seemingly explaining to Beidou and the others, he was actually emphasizing the essence of the dish to Xiangling.
“Reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles, perhaps only by wandering far and wide can one have the opportunity to taste such a level of delicacy? Truly fortunate!” Kaedehara said with relief, putting down his thoroughly cleaned plate after listening to Feng Yi’s explanation.
“Captain Beidou, what are you eating? It smells so good, everyone is so hungry they're about to gnaw on their fingers!” Pushed by the crew, the first mate, as a representative of the sailors, stepped forward to negotiate with Beidou.
“A seafood dish so delicious that you lick the plate clean, even better than Yuehai Pavilion!” Beidou didn’t hide anything, presenting the thoroughly licked plate before everyone, boasting loudly, making the sailors who hadn’t tasted Drip-Water Guanyin even more eager. The sailors: Being able to smell but not eat made them feel like cats scratching their hearts, restless all over.
“Then… how can we eat it? No matter how much it costs!” The first mate said, gritting his teeth, seeing the expectant eyes of the sailors.
“You want to eat it? That’s easy. Only Feng Yi and my sister Xiangling know how to make this dish. But Feng Yi will be leaving in Inazuma later. The only one who can make this dish is my sister Xiangling. If you call her ‘Sister Xiangling,’ let’s see if she agrees to make it for you!” Beidou stepped on a wooden crate, pulled Xiangling to her side, and grinned at the sailors below.
“Sister Xiangling!”
“Sister Xiangling!”
The sailors below shouted “Sister Xiangling!” in unison, happily joining Beidou in teasing. Xiangling, new to the world, had never seen such a scene! She quickly waved her hands, asking the sailors to stop, but this seemed to make the sailors even more enthusiastic, their boisterous cheers growing louder. Xiangling quickly assured them that if there were enough ingredients, she would make it for everyone, which finally stopped the farce. Then, all the crew members worked together, operating the ship and accelerating towards Inazuma, all for the sake of buying ingredients as soon as possible.
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, the "Southern Cross" fleet broke through the thunderstorm area and successfully arrived at Ritou, Inazuma. At this time, the entire Inazuma was under the turbulent policy of national isolation. During the period of the isolation decree, to truly step onto Narukami's territory, one must first pass through Ritou. Ritou is governed by the Kangetsu Commission, and people must hold various permits to enter and exit this place. These permits often require complex procedures and some special connections to obtain. This was also why Feng Yi had previously invested in Dori. He needed Dori to help him handle all the procedures for legally landing on Ritou. He had recently sent a message to Dori informing her of his itinerary, and by calculating the time, she should be arriving soon. Feng Yi and Beidou disembarked together and stood at the pier of Ritou, waiting for their contact person. As for Kaedehara, his identity was special, and he was currently wanted by the Shogunate army, so he could only wave goodbye to Feng Yi from the ship.