Chapter 20

Picking up the remaining beef, Zhou Yi placed about five to six pounds of beef on the cutting board, and threw the rest directly into the refrigerator.

The amount in front of him was enough to handle the family banquet in the evening. As for the rest, it could be stored for later use. When dealing with the beef in front of him, Zhou Yi did not use a kitchen knife. Instead, he used a rolling pin, a magical tool.

The highest quality beef short ribs not only have tender meat but also crispy small ribs. Using a knife would not only make it difficult to clean but also easily cause the delicious flavor to be lost.

The best way to handle this beef is to pound it. By pounding the beef thousands of times with a rolling pin, the muscles, tendons, and crispy bones are all crushed and mixed together, and even the meat juice is absorbed.

When the beef turned into a meat filling rich in meat juice, Zhou Yi seasoned it with pepper, salt, and a little chili, and added chopped green onions and diced shiitake mushrooms, stirring it into the final meat filling.

Next, Zhou Yi took out eggs, cracked five or six of them, and stirred them into a thick egg mixture. This was all the preparation needed for the beef potstickers.

Like steamed dumplings, potstickers are best when freshly cooked. So at this point, he could only set it aside and move on to the next main dish.

Perch, free-range hens, fresh vegetables, and mountain delicacies. Zhou Yi planned to make a perch and chicken soup dumplings. He picked up a perch, a large one weighing about eight pounds, which was almost as long as half of Zhou Yi's arm and quite plump.

He sliced open the fish's belly with one cut and then skillfully cleaned out the internal organs. This bold and decisive technique surprisingly did not damage the meat inside the fish's belly, preserving the flavor of the fish to the greatest extent.

After cleaning the internal organs, Zhou Yi skillfully filleted the fish, slicing large pieces of fish meat that fell onto the plate like snowflakes, not only in size but also in the ratio of fish skin to fish meat, which remained unchanged.

By the time the entire perch was reduced to clean fish bones, a thick pile of fish meat had already accumulated in front of Zhou Yi.

Fish meat is naturally loose and not suitable for making meat fillings, so other ingredients were needed to assist. He added a few eggs, diced bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms, seasoned with a little salt and cooking wine, and then mixed everything together. This was basically enough for the fish meat filling. The next step was to prepare the broth.

The cleaned hen, along with ginger slices, green onions, and shiitake mushrooms, was put into a pot to simmer. Zhou Yi controlled the heat with his abilities, continuously adding egg whites. When the hen was thoroughly cooked and broken down, he placed the pot on the stove and simmered it over low heat.

At this point, the main dishes were almost ready. It was time to prepare the main course. For today's main course, Zhou Yi planned to make lobster to welcome the guests.

First, he removed all the meat from the largest lobster, mixed it with ginger powder, a small amount of egg, pepper, and salt, and hand-rolled it into ping-pong ball-sized lobster balls. He then placed the pre-soaked bamboo fungus, monkey head mushrooms, matsutake, black fungus, and shiitake mushrooms into a clay pot and simmered them over low heat, followed by adding yam, white radish, and the prepared lobster balls.

This clay pot dish was about the most primitive mountain and sea delicacies, so artificial seasoning was not very important. The only thing to pay attention to was the continuous impurities. To ensure that the impurities did not interfere with the lobster's deliciousness, Zhou Yi used his mental power to control everything in the pot, removing the impurities as soon as they appeared. This process took quite a bit of time.

With his hands free, Zhou Yi sent a message to Xiarisi to ask where they were. He quickly received a reply from Xiarisi. Learning that they had just left New York City, Zhou Yi checked the time, which was just past 6:30 PM.

Feeling that there was still enough time, Zhou Yi took out a few onions and apples, peeled them, and put them in a frying pan, adding a little rum. He then chopped the beef, added various seasonings and water, and simmered it until the water evaporated and the sauce thickened, then poured it into a small teapot.

Next, Zhou Yi removed the heads from the remaining three blue lobsters, leaving only the tails and the whole lobster meat, coated them with a mixture of starch and crushed nuts, and deep-fried them in hot oil. Under the heat, the lobsters gradually turned a beautiful golden color, and the aroma alone was enough to make one's mouth water.

Just as Zhou Yi finished plating the fried lobsters, the gate of the villa's fence slowly opened. The gate, which used voice recognition as a key, could only be opened by three people, and Xiarisi was one of them.

Clearly, Xiarisi and her group had just arrived. As Zhou Yi took off his apron and walked to the gate, he saw Ororo, Jean Grey, Xiarisi, and three other young men and women getting out of the car.

Greeting the invited guests, Zhou Yi first gave Ororo and Jean Grey a warm hug, then looked at Xiarisi and the three young people beside her and said,

"Welcome to my home. I am Zhou Yi, Xiarisi's brother. For these two ladies, this is not our first meeting. But this gentleman is a new face, so I need to introduce myself." Zhou Yi nodded to Katie and the girl named Vivien, who had come with Xiarisi last time, then extended his hand to a tall, muscular, and somewhat quiet young man with neatly cut short hair.

The young man firmly shook Zhou Yi's extended hand and said calmly, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Zhou Yi. I am Peter, and I am honored to be invited to your home."

"Welcome, young man. It is my honor to invite Xiarisi's friends over." Zhou Yi patted Peter's shoulder and stepped aside. "Come in, ladies and gentlemen. Please feel at home. Although it's just a bachelor's territory, I hope you will find it satisfactory."

As the young people and Ororo walked into the hall, looking around curiously, Zhou Yi grabbed his sister and whispered,

"Hey, Xiarisi. Who is this young man? Don't tell me he is your... " At this moment, Zhou Yi had fully entered the role of a worried brother. Honestly, although he had a good impression of Peter, if his fears were confirmed, he would have to ask the professor to find him at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Hey, you worry too much." Xiarisi playfully rolled her eyes at her brother and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I'll tell you, Peter and I are just friends. I noticed he has a thing for Katie, so I invited him over. I plan to use this time away from school to help them make some progress!"

"Xiarisi, has anyone ever told you that your behavior is too sleazy?" Zhou Yi sighed and teased her, looking at her mischievous fox-like expression.

In response to her brother's teasing, Xiarisi bit her lip and pinched his soft waist, which didn't really hurt but made Zhou Yi grimace in a playful manner.

Having achieved her desired effect, Xiarisi raised her head and ran to her friends, swinging her long braid.

Looking at the somewhat nervous young people, Zhou Yi pretended to rub his waist and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you find it boring here, why don't you let Xiarisi take you to the game room? I'm sure my collection won't disappoint you."

At this, Zhou Yi glanced at Ororo, who shook her head in amusement, and Jean Grey, who stood with her arms crossed, and added, "If you're worried about the teachers, don't worry. I'll keep them occupied until it's time for dinner."

Seeing that Jean and Ororo had no intention of stopping her, Xiarisi directly led her two best friends upstairs. Knowing the location of the game room from previous visits, the tall Peter looked at the two teachers somewhat embarrassedly and followed the petite Katie out of the hall.

Watching the young people leave the hall, Zhou Yi directly reached out and wrapped his arm around Ororo's slender waist, smiling at the two women and said, "You arrived just in time. I need two people to help me in the kitchen."

Ororo quickly pushed away Zhou Yi's restless left hand and shot him a glare.

"Behave yourself, Jean is still here."

Jean Grey, upon hearing this, simply turned her head and said calmly, "I didn't see anything."

This attitude made Ororo even more embarrassed. After all, Zhou Yi was younger than her, and being so affectionate in front of her friend made her feel uncomfortable. So she firmly refused to let Zhou Yi take any more liberties.

In the end, Zhou Yi had to raise his hands in surrender to Ororo. He didn't mind being affectionate with Ororo in front of Jean, but the main dishes were very particular. The fried lobsters would become soft if left for too long.

So Zhou Yi said again, "Alright, alright, it's my fault. But ladies, I really need your help now."

"What do you need me to do? I only have experience making pasta," Jean Grey responded directly.

"It's simple, just follow my lead!" Zhou Yi pulled Ororo and led the two beautiful women directly into the kitchen.

Seeing the well-prepared ingredients in the kitchen, Ororo looked at Zhou Yi in surprise and said, "I never knew you had a talent for cooking."

"Trust me, it's professional level," Zhou Yi smiled, picked up the thickest piece of dough, and used a spoon to scoop a spoonful of the prepared beef filling, deftly sealing it with his fingers.

Watching Zhou Yi's incredible speed in making dumplings, Ororo rolled her eyes, and Jean Grey tried to mimic his technique but unfortunately squeezed the dumpling skin and burst it.

"Do you call this easy?" Ororo said irritably, as a user of Western culinary culture, she found this task almost beyond her capabilities.

"Trust me, this is the easiest thing. Just practice more," Zhou Yi encouraged her.

"Maybe not. I'd rather make sandwiches. Is there anything else I can help with?" Ororo rejected Zhou Yi's suggestion after destroying a pile of dumpling skins.

"Alright, dear. If you don't mind, could you get me some drinks? I haven't cleaned up in a while, and I only have wine and regularly delivered milk. I don't want the kids to complain about my hospitality."

"Sure, I'll take care of it." Ororo jingled her keys and left the kitchen with a light tone. Perhaps for her, this place was no less stressful than a battlefield.

Watching Ororo leave the house, Zhou Yi turned to Jean Grey, who was still struggling with making dumplings, and smiled.

"Alright, it seems you need a little help."

At this moment, Jean Grey was still struggling with the technique of making dumplings, but the results from her hands were not very satisfactory.

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