Chapter 152 The Aroma of Braised Food

Smoke from cooking is curling up.

The water in the kitchen was boiling and pork offal was being cooked.

Cheng Wanwan slapped her forehead. How could she have forgotten to buy another pot? It would make cooking easier that way.

However, the main room of the house was still a mess, so it shouldn't be too strange for her to suddenly take out a pot.

She turned and walked into the room over there, where several children were gathered around studying pens, ink, paper and inkstone. She silently lowered her head and took out an iron pot from her backpack, which was actually bought from the mall, and then returned to the kitchen with a natural expression.

One pot is used to cook braised dishes, and the other pot is used to cook rice and stir-fry vegetables.

Wu Huiniang's belly gradually grew bigger, and after working for a while, Cheng Wanwan ordered her to sit on a chair and rest.

She looked at Cheng Wanwan curiously: "Mom, what's in the pot?"

Cheng Wanwan took out some seasonings and placed them on the stove. "These are some herbs I found in the mountains. They smell delicious. I heard from the owner of the restaurant in town that adding some herbs to dishes will make them more fragrant. This is bay leaf, this is star anise, and this is cinnamon bark... We'll grow some at home next spring. They're too hard to find in the mountains, and too expensive to buy."

Common seasonings today were sold in pharmacies in ancient times and were relatively expensive.

Chili peppers didn't exist in this era; instead, a Chinese herbal medicine called Evodia rutaecarpa was used. It had a spicy flavor and was considered a relatively common condiment here.

She put all the seasonings into the pot and cooked them together. She didn't add too much dogwood; just a little to adjust the flavor.

Then she started preparing dinner.

Half of the pork is used to make twice-cooked pork, and the other half is saved for tomorrow. Tofu and pig's blood are cooked together, bean sprouts are stir-fried, and two eggs are added to make a pork and egg soup.

Under Cheng Wanwan's command, Wu Huiniang quickly fried all the dishes and then started to simmer the rice.

Cheng Wanwan carried the bowl of food into the main room, where the children were eating snacks.

Zhao Sidan licked the snack crumbs on his lips and said with great satisfaction, "The snacks my mother bought are so delicious."

"It's almost time for dinner. How can you still eat after a full snack?" Cheng Wanwan said unhappily, "Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

Shen Zheng stuffed the remaining snacks into Ah Fu's hands and asked, "Auntie, where did you buy these snacks? Why do they taste different from those at Baiwei Pavilion in Ping'an Town?"

Cheng Wanwan coughed and said, "What is Baiweige? I don't think I bought it there. There are women selling snacks everywhere on the street, so I just bought some from a random stall. What's wrong? Is it not delicious?"

"Delicious, delicious!" Afu nodded vigorously. "It's so much better than Baiweige. If this woman opened a pastry shop, she would definitely steal all of Baiweige's business."

Cheng Wanwan chuckled.

How could these snacks not be delicious? After thousands of years of inheritance, modern pastry-making techniques have reached their peak, making them unmatched by the snacks of this era.

She had indeed considered starting a pastry business before, but she only knew the theoretical knowledge and didn't understand the practical aspects. Kneading dough is a technical skill, so Wu Huiniang would have to do the business herself. However, Wu Huiniang was more than seven months pregnant and would give birth in a little over two months, so she decided to wait until after the baby was born before carefully considering how to start this business.

For now, let's try selling braised food for the time being.

She went to the kitchen, lifted the pot lid, and a rich aroma of meat wafted out.

The aroma wafted into the yard, and all the children couldn't resist gathering around.

Zhao Sidan sniffed: "Mom, what's this? It smells so good!"

Zhao Dashan said, "It should be pork offal. I cleaned and washed it before, but I didn't expect it to smell so good."

Shen Zheng swallowed hard: "It smells delicious."

The fragrance wafted through the courtyard and even reached the neighboring yard.

Loach couldn't help but swallow hard: "Mom, why is the meat from Sidan's family so delicious?"

Aunt Wang scolded him angrily: "You are eating meat in your mouth, but you are still thinking about other people's meat. How can you be so useless?"

After the autumn harvest, she asked the man to go to the town to buy a pound of pork and cook it all for one meal. The boy ate with his mouth full of oil and could even smell the aroma of other people's meat.

Wang Yongcheng couldn't help but swallow hard: "I have to say, the mountain wife's cooking is really good. How can it smell so good?"

Aunt Wang grabbed the man's ear: "What's wrong? You think my cooking isn't good enough?"

"No, of course not!" Wang Yongcheng quickly pleaded, "I was just chatting, just saying it casually, why did you take it so seriously?"

Aunt Wang snorted, let go of him, and lowered her head to clean up the mess on the table.

She went to the kitchen, took a white steamed bun from the pot, thought it seemed too little, then added two more, but it still didn't seem enough. So, she gritted her teeth and took a few pieces of meat that she had deliberately saved from another pot. With three white steamed buns and two ounces of meat, she figured she could exchange them for some food next door.

Aunt Wang walked to the door of Cheng Wanwan's house with a big bowl in her hand. As she got closer, the fragrance became stronger and more overwhelming. She was already full, but the smell aroused her appetite.

"Miss Mudfish, what brings you here?"

Cheng Wanwan wiped her hands and greeted them with a smile.

Aunt Wang said somewhat embarrassedly, "Today, Mudfish's father went to town to sell grain and bought some steamed buns and meat. I brought them over for your children to try. There are too many children, so there are only three steamed buns. You can share them among the children."

"No way!" Cheng Wanwan quickly declined. She never shared her family's good food with her neighbors, so how could she accept something from someone else? "These days, everyone has a hard time. White flour buns and meat are rare treats. Take them back for Mudfish and Barley to eat."

"Well, actually..." Aunt Wang was extremely embarrassed and spoke with difficulty, "The children smelled the fragrance of your house and their mouths were watering. I wanted to exchange some steamed buns for them."

"Hey, what's up? Oh, it's this." Cheng Wanwan laughed heartily. "I'm researching how to make braised food. I bought some pork offal to try it out. It just came out of the pot, and I was thinking of asking someone to help me taste it."

She turned and went into the house, cut off a portion of each item, piled them in a large bowl, and stuffed it into Aunt Wang's hands.

"After you've eaten it, let Loach and Barley tell me how it tastes and what needs to be improved. You've helped me a lot, and I can't thank you enough. How can I ask for your steamed buns and meat? Mother Loach, you should go back quickly. It's time for dinner at home. Let's go!"

Cheng Wanwan slammed the yard door shut.

Aunt Wang held her own bowl in one hand and Cheng Wanwan's bowl in the other. The bowl was full of pork. Although it was pig heads and pig offal that city people looked down upon, it was a rare fishy smell for the villagers. The most important thing was that it was cooked so fragrantly that one would drool just by smelling it.

Aunt Wang silently decided in her heart that when she eats later, she must remember to remind the children not to swallow the food whole, but to taste it carefully and not let Dashan Niang down.