The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Chapter 145 Chestnut Chicken

Shen Cao first took the chicken she bought yesterday out of the ice cellar and put it in a basin to thaw.

She went out into the yard to see how the others were processing the chestnuts.

To her surprise, she saw a group of people looking worried around a basket of chestnuts.

Just now, Wei Siyu seemed very confident, but she spent a long time poking at the chestnuts with an iron rod before finally getting them out.

However, even with gloves on, his hands were pricked by thorns and bled.

Seeing Wei Siyu's hand, no one else dared to make a move.

When Shen Cao came out, she saw a group of people gathered around the chestnut, trying to figure out what to do.

Upon hearing what had just happened, Shen Cao smiled.

"A bunch of pampered young masters and ladies who have never done any work, just wait and see what I do."

She went into the kitchen, took out a few tongs, and used them to pick up a chestnut and throw it on the ground.

When the others saw her using pliers to pick up chestnuts, they realized, "Oh, so that's how you do it!"

They all seem so clueless.

Shen Cao used both feet to press down hard on the chestnut, then squeezed it with one foot while holding it in place with the other.

Soon, the spiky sac on the chestnut cracked open.

Then she picked up the pliers and used them to pry the chestnuts out of the burr from the crack.

The whole process was very smooth, much faster than Wei Siyu's method, and required no manual labor at all.

"Sister Grass, you're amazing!!!"

“Unlike some people who are stupid enough to just break it with their hands.” Wanyue couldn’t help but complain as she looked at Wei Siyu.

"Alright, here are six extra pairs of pliers. Six of you will handle the chestnuts, and the rest of you will go to the kitchen to help me."

"I'll go to the kitchen to help you, Sister Cao'er."

Wanyue realized from the chestnut-peeling incident that Cao'er was the most capable person in the whole family.

Moreover, she has never been to the kitchen before, so this is a good opportunity for her to learn. Perhaps when she returns, she can even cook for her mother.

Shen Wan and Wan Yue were helping Shen Cao in the kitchen, while the others were helping peel chestnuts in the yard.

Shen Yu'an and Wei Siyu had never done anything like this before, and they were both very interested.

Especially Wei Siyu, who just embarrassed himself, he had to make amends.

Once inside the kitchen, Shen Cao first took out scallions, ginger, and garlic for the two of them to peel.

"Wanyue, where are your two aunts?" Shen Cao asked curiously, as she hadn't seen her two aunts.

"You mean Aunt Green Willow and Aunt Green Calyx? I sent them to the front to help Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen."

"When they're around, they're always telling me not to do this or that, it's really annoying."

“Shen Wan just said that Granny Zhang and the others went back, so I asked my two aunts to go and help out at the front.”

So that's how it is. No wonder I didn't see Granny Zhang and the others earlier; they've already left.

Shen Cao took out a cleaver and placed the washed chicken on the cutting board.

Wanyue was very curious when she saw this, and walked up to Shen Cao and asked, "Wow, Sister Cao'er, what are you doing?"

"Chop the chicken into small pieces. Be careful, or the crumbs might get on you."

Wanyue took a step back, ready to watch how Shen Cao chopped the chicken.

Shen Wan, standing beside her, asked, "Aren't you afraid? Don't you think it's cruel?"

She had met the daughter of a wealthy man in the county town before. Once, she stood at a pork stall and said that butchers shouldn't kill pigs, calling it cruel.

They even went to the old woman who sold the chickens and asked her to release the chickens, saying that they shouldn't kill living beings.

What did she do back then? She directly asked her if she usually eats meat, and she immediately fell silent.

She thought that all rich people's daughters were like that, so she wanted to ask Wanyue.

To everyone's surprise, Wan Yue replied without changing her expression, "Isn't chicken for eating?"

"Besides, they're already dead, so what's so cruel about it?"

Shen Wan gave her a thumbs up and said, "Sister, you're amazing."

Shen Cao knew about Shen Wan's situation and also knew why she asked Wan Yue, since she herself couldn't remember how many meat dishes she had cooked.

It is true that eating meat involves killing, but she cannot abstain from eating meat.

She's a carnivore.

Even if all these animals are released back into the wild, and humans stop eating meat.

However, the laws of nature, the survival of the fittest, are even more cruel.

"Crack! Bang!" Shen Cao quickly cut the whole chicken into evenly sized pieces.

After preparing the chicken pieces, she went outside and got a small bowl of chestnuts, asking the two of them to peel off the shells.

She then started making chestnut chicken.

The chicken was bought yesterday and killed by Shen's father this morning, so it's still quite fresh and doesn't need to be blanched.

She first poured more rapeseed oil into the pot than she usually does when stir-frying vegetables.

Then add a slice of angelica root and a slice of ginger to the oil.

Fry the ginger slices until they are golden brown, then add the chopped chicken pieces.

Because the oil was very hot, the chicken sizzled loudly as soon as it hit the pan, which startled Wanyue.

Wanyue immediately got up and ran to Shen Cao to see if she was alright.

Before Shen Cao could react, she saw a figure suddenly appear beside her.

The oil was bouncing around in the air, and Wanyue pulled her away.

"Sister Grass, are you alright?"

This was the first time Shen Cao had been pulled away while cooking. She held Wan Yue's hand and said, "It's okay, this is normal."

"The oil splattering won't hurt me."

"It's good that Sister Cao'er is alright. Be careful."

"Yeah, sister got it."

Shen Cao was surprised that this little girl cared so much about the people around her and had no airs of a princess at all, and her liking for her increased dramatically.

Without Wanyue's interference, she walked to the pot and continued frying the chicken.

After frying the chicken until the moisture evaporates, the aroma of the chicken is released.

"smell good."

People outside could smell the aroma of the chicken and worked even harder.

At this point, the surface of the chicken changed color, and Shen Cao added a few bay leaves and a small piece of cinnamon.

Then add salt, soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar.

With the addition of seasonings, the aroma of the chicken blends with the aroma of the seasonings, making it even more fragrant.

Shen Qing couldn't wait to peek in and asked, "Sister, when is dinner? It smells so good!"

"Maybe in half an hour."

"what!"

"Hurry up and peel the chestnuts. We'll be done once you're done."

After listening to Shen Cao's words, Shen Qing worked even harder at peeling the soil.

Shen Yu'an and Wei Siyu lost interest after peeling for a while and went to the study.

Only Xiaoqi, Xiaoqiao, and Shen Qing were left to peel.

In the kitchen, Shen Cao washed the chestnuts that Shen Wan and Wan Yue had just peeled and put them into the chicken.

Then add boiling water to the chicken, just enough to cover it, and simmer over low heat.

Shen Cao counted the number of people and prepared to cook a few more simple dishes.

There was still a small bowl of peeled shrimp left. Everyone ate the scrambled eggs with shrimp that we made, so we stir-fried some.

For the rest, she went to the warehouse to see what vegetables were left. There weren't many vegetables left in the warehouse, so she could ask Wanyue to go to the market with her tomorrow.

This princess has certainly never experienced going to a market.