Chapter 135 Spicy Pig Trotters

Braised dishes take a long time to make and can't be made in a short time. As dinner time approaches, everyone tacitly waits to eat the new flavor of soup noodles.

Seeing their expectant looks, Lin Chuntao couldn't help but tease them, "Don't have too high expectations, you might not like it."

The more Lin Chuntao said this, the more curious they became about what it tasted like that Lin Chuntao said they might not like it.

Take out the rice noodles to be cooked, rinse them with warm water, and then drain them in a bamboo sieve.

After preparing the rice flour, Lin Chuntao chopped some minced meat. While she was chopping the meat, Lin Chunxing and Lin Chunhe watched from the side.

"Sis, is this minced meat still for making sauce?"

Lin Chuntao shook her head: "There's still some stir-fried meat sauce left. We just put it directly into the soup noodles to cook."

Once the minced meat was chopped, Lin Chuntao sprinkled in some cornstarch, added a small spoonful of wine, and mixed it well before using it.

After preparing the vegetables and meat, Lin Chuntao ladled some lard to make a soup. Then she put the minced meat in to cook. Once the color of the minced meat changed, Lin Chuntao grabbed some stinky tofu, washed it, broke it into pieces, and put it into the soup.

Lin Chunxing stared wide-eyed as she watched the stinky tofu being added to the clear broth.

People in Yizhou love to eat stinky tofu, but it's mostly grilled or fried. No matter how it's cooked, it always has to have chili peppers. Stinky tofu in clear broth without chili peppers might be a bit hard to swallow.

Seeing Lin Chunxing's expression, Lin Chuntao laughed. She took a spoon and stirred the minced meat in the pot, then gently scooped out some stinky tofu, added meat sauce, rice noodles, and two spoonfuls of chili oil. After stirring, she set it to cook.

The soup noodles in the pot boiled quickly, and before long, the soup became thick and fragrant. Lin Chunxing frowned and took two sips. It wasn't that it was particularly fragrant, but the aroma was captivating. She stood beside Lin Chuntao and asked, "Sister, should we add salt now?"

Lin Chuntao said, "You can put it in. Bring the salt shaker over."

Lin Chunhe ran to get the salt shaker. After adding the salt, Lin Chuntao put pea shoots and chopped chives into the pot. Both of these vegetables cook very quickly and were cooked in the boiling broth.

After the vegetables were cooked, Lin Chuntao called out, "Get your bowls and chopsticks, you can serve them now."

Lin Duo'er ran to get bowls and chopsticks. Lin Chuntao served them rice noodles while saying, "If you want it spicier, add some chili oil and Sichuan peppercorn powder yourself."

The younger sisters agreed in unison. After all the noodles were scooped out, Lin Chunhe looked at what was left in the pot and said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, could you scoop some more tofu for me? It smells delicious."

Lin Chuntao scooped a spoonful of soup and stinky tofu for her.

The younger girls looked at the rich broth coating the noodles, which looked very appetizing, and had already forgotten what the stinky tofu looked like when it was first put in.

But it was uncertain whether Pei Ying could get used to Lin Chuntao's food. She said to Pei Ying, "Try a couple of bites and see. If you don't like it, I'll cook it for you again."

Pei Ying smiled and said, "It smells quite good, so we probably don't need to cook it again."

He brought a bowl. The stinky tofu smelled terrible when it wasn't cooked. If it hadn't been put in this soup, Pei Ying thought he might not have dared to eat it because of its appearance. But it was filled with minced meat and looked a bit like mashed soft tofu. People at the market would sell soft tofu, and Zhang Dayong and his friends would occasionally buy a bowl, sprinkle a spoonful of chili oil and some oil on it, and eat it with relish.

Pei Ying tried a bite, and the noodles were very flavorful. He then tried a bite of tofu and surprisingly couldn't taste any unpleasant smell. Instead, it had a smooth and creamy texture and was inexplicably delicious.

Lin Chuntao picked up a mouthful of cold rice noodles with her chopsticks, looking at Pei Ying. After he swallowed, Lin Chuntao smiled and asked, "How was it?"

Pei Ying smiled and said, "I don't know how to describe it, but it's quite delicious."

Lin Chuntao smiled upon hearing this and lowered her head to start eating.

After Lin Chunxing and the others took a bite, they were pleasantly surprised. The broth was richer than the previous meat sauce noodles, and the noodles were more flavorful. It even tasted a bit more fragrant than the previous one. The refreshing aroma of pea shoots made the soup noodles not greasy at all.

Lin Chuntao loves rice noodles. She has tried all kinds of flavors, including stir-fried rice noodles, mixed rice noodles, and soup rice noodles, whether it's clear soup or spicy.

She had tasted this stinky tofu soup noodles by chance once and then fell in love with it completely.

This isn't something for the average person, so people usually just cook it at home and eat it themselves, and whether they sell it in a shop is another matter.

After finishing her meal, Lin Chunxing was also a little conflicted. She thought it was still very delicious, but she was worried about whether anyone would buy it if she sold it. After thinking for a while, she said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, let's go ahead and eat it. If not many people eat it, we can change it."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Okay, I want something lighter tonight without bone broth, but this one is made with bone broth as the base, just like the braised pork rice noodles. You can cook another one with bone broth base for me to try tomorrow."

Lin Chunxing, the manager of the noodle shop, said that if she wanted to do it, Lin Chuntao would definitely support her. Just like she said, if it's not good, we'll change it again.

"Sis, what's this one called?"

Lin Chuntao said, "We'll buy some small earthenware pots to cook it in, and call it Stinky Tofu Pot Soup Noodles."

And so, the two sisters finalized their order for the new product.

After dinner, while it was still bright outside, Lin Chuntao braised the pig's head and trotters, and the sisters sat and rested in the courtyard.

After winter set in, Yizhou was no longer hot like in summer. As the sun set, a cool breeze gradually crept in. The sisters hadn't been sitting for long before Lin Chunhe and the others went to boil water for a bath.

The pig's head meat wasn't cooked yet, and it was already dark.

The younger sisters were so excited about buying a house that they couldn't sleep and didn't go to bed early. Lin Chuntao also waited until the meat was cooked and brought down from the pot before she tidied up and went to bed.

The next day at lunch, Lin Chuntao cut up some braised pig's trotters and also made spicy braised pig's head.

Pig's head meat has always been one of their favorite foods, especially Pei Ying and Zhang Dayong. They like to drink and also enjoy buying braised food, but Pei Ying thinks the braised food they buy is far inferior to the one Lin Chuntao makes.

As for the braised pig's trotters, Lin Chuntao had never made them before, but now that she's tried them, she feels that while they don't taste as good as pig's head meat, they are superior in texture.

The texture is good, but the flavor is still a little lacking.

Lin Chunxing thought for a moment and asked Lin Chuntao, "Sister, can this pig's trotter be made into other flavors?"

Lin Chuntao thought for a moment and said, "There is a way. We can bring the stone slab we used to bake the flatbreads and put it on the stove later."

Lin Chunxing started a fire, and Lin Chuntao put the remaining two pig trotters on the stone slab to roast. When they started to ooze oil, she sprinkled some chili powder and Sichuan peppercorn powder on them, then flipped them over and roasted them for a while.

After roasting, Lin Chunxing took a knife and cut the pig's trotters into small pieces. Everyone tasted a piece, and after roasting them for a while, the taste was different. With the addition of chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns by Lin Chuntao, the aroma, numbing sensation, and spiciness all came out, but it wasn't like pungent pig's head meat. Now the taste and texture were perfect. Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "Sister, let's make the pig's trotters like this and sell them."

Lin Chuntao smiled upon hearing this: "Sure, but it adds another step to the process, making it a little more troublesome."

Lin Chunxing said, "I think this flavor is more appealing. Even if people don't come to eat noodles, they might still come to buy a pig's trotter as a treat. Didn't you say we should set up more stoves? We should be able to manage."

Lin Chuntao smiled upon hearing this: "As long as you feel you can manage, I'll go with whatever you say."

Because of buying this shop, Lin Chunxing seemed to be even more motivated.

Last night I ordered a bowl of rice noodle soup, and today I ordered two braised dishes. Lin Chuntao said, "I'll make another bowl of rice noodle soup tonight. If possible, we'll serve them together. For now, these are the main dishes. We'll see how things go. Since we're opening a shop to sell three meals a day, should we add something else to our breakfast menu besides rice noodle soup?"

Lin Chunxing said, "We can sell braised food for lunch and dinner. Sister, how about we sell steamed buns for breakfast?"

Hearing Lin Chunxing's words, Pei Ying looked at Lin Chuntao. Lin Chuntao shook her head at Lin Chunxing, "It's all thin flour and sugar, and kneading the dough is hard work. I feel like this probably won't make much money."

Lin Chunxing nodded. She just thought the steamed buns were delicious and that many people would like to eat them. She didn't think carefully about the fact that Lin Chuntao had added sugar to the white flour steamed buns. Flour wasn't cheap, and neither was sugar.

Ultimately, the purpose of doing business is to make money.

Lin Chuntao said, "There are too many things to do, and I feel you will be very busy and tired. Let's think about something like braised eggs first. If that's not possible, we can make some mixed rice noodles. It's simple and convenient to make. We can give a bowl of soup to those who eat the mixed rice noodles."

Lin Chunxing nodded, "Then I'll listen to my sister."

"There's quite a bit of pork head meat left. Should we keep it to eat, or should I take it to the market and try selling it?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Just keep it at home to eat. I'll cut some up and cook it in a bit. Aren't you going to have your cousins ​​go with you to manage the shop? You need to discuss it with your uncle and the others. I'll take some over for my uncle to have with his drinks."

Although she had mentioned this before, she didn't expect to buy the shop so quickly, and she hadn't thought about who would help her with this.

Hesitating for a moment, Lin Chunxing looked at Lin Chuntao and asked, "Sister, who should I ask to come with me?"

Lin Chuntao said, "Xu Sheng and Xu Huan are a bit older, I feel they would be more suitable, what do you think?"

"If they're willing to go, I'll take them to set up a stall first to get familiar with it. If they can do it, then they can go."

Lin Chunxing said this, and Lin Chuntao had no objection.

After resting for a while, Lin Chuntao cut some pig's head meat and put it in an earthenware pot. She poured chili oil on it, mixed it up, and then carried the pot to her uncle's house with Lin Chunxing. Pei Ying did not go with them. Lin Chuntao asked him to ask Lin Cunzheng and Lin Changzong to help plow the fields tomorrow, as the radishes also needed to be planted in the next two days.

When the two sisters arrived at their uncle's house, they were threshing soybeans, and dust filled the yard.

Upon seeing the two of them arrive, the aunt and uncle tidied up their things and rested for a while. They then went to get some sweet potatoes, washed them, and cooked them for lunch.

Lin Chuntao got straight to the point, leaving her uncles speechless with surprise. Lin Chuntao said, "If my cousin and I are willing, then tomorrow we can go to the market with Chunxing to get acquainted. If we can do it, then we can do it; if we don't want to, then we can come back."