Chapter Thirty-Eight: Head Meat

The candlelight in the Xiong family's kitchen burned late into the night the night before.

Zhang Liuyi, along with the entire Xiong family, managed to clean up that large basin of troublesome pig offal.

The pig's stomach and lungs were repeatedly rinsed with clean water until they turned white and there was no more blood foam.

The pig intestines were thoroughly cleaned and rubbed inside and out with wood ash and coarse salt, and washed again and again, until they were no longer slippery to the touch and only had a faint meaty smell.

"It's done!"

Zhang straightened his aching back, patted it, and let out a long sigh of relief.

Song and Xiong Zijuan were exhausted, but looking at the freshly prepared ingredients in the basin, they both smiled with a great sense of accomplishment.

"Mother, sister, you two should rest. I'll take care of the rest."

Zhang quickly packed the cleaned tripe and lungs into a basket: "I need to take these to my sister-in-law right away; she needs them to make soup tomorrow morning."

As she spoke, she picked up the basket, took the spice packet she had prepared, and hurriedly went to the Zhang family under the cover of night. She handed the clean pig's stomach and lungs to Li Xiulan, and then put the pig's large intestine and heart into the pot to braise.

She put fire in the stove and waited for the pot to simmer before returning to her own courtyard to rest.

The rooster crowed three times, and the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Zhang Yili hardly slept soundly, her mind preoccupied with something.

She stood up briskly and nudged Xiong Zixiang beside her: "Brother Zixiang, it's time to get up. We have to go to the morning market with my dad today."

Xiong Zixiang gave a vague reply and got up as well.

After the two finished washing up, Xiong Zixiang still had to go to the yamen to report for duty.

When Zhang Yili and his wife, along with Xiong Zijuan, arrived at the Zhang family's courtyard, Zhang Dashan was already sharpening his knife in the yard, with half a carcass of pork, still covered in some blood, on the cutting board.

"Dad, didn't you say you only bought one? It's not sold out yet, is it? It'll lose its freshness if it's left out too long."

As Zhang Liuyi spoke, he helped lift the pork onto the cart.

"That's right, we have the leftovers from yesterday, we need to hurry up and sell them at Xishikou."

Zhang Dashan tucked the sharpened pig-slaughtering knife into his waistband: "Your sister-in-law, Zijuan, said she's going to try out a job today. Have you settled things in?"

"Yes, I already discussed it with my sister-in-law yesterday."

Zhang nodded, and at that moment, Li Xiulan also came out after getting ready.

Xiong Zijuan was slightly nervous when she saw Li Xiulan come out.

"Sister-in-law, Sister Zijuan, are you all ready? Shall we go now?" Zhang Yili greeted.

"Alright, alright!" Li Xiulan replied.

"I'd appreciate it if Sister Xiulan could take good care of me today," Xiong Zijuan said shyly.

Li Xiulan nodded and took her arm.

The whole family went out in a grand procession.

Without saying a word, Xiong Zixiang took the cart shaft from Zhang Dashan's hand: "Dad, let me push it for a bit."

Zhang Dashan was happy to save effort, so the cart was pushed in turns by Xiong Zixiang, Zhang Dashan, and Zhang Yili, and they made it to the dock smoothly.

After helping to unload and set up the stools, small tables, pots and stoves at the tripe and lung soup stall, and watching Li Xiulan and Xiong Zijuan start a fire, boil water, and prepare to cook the soup, Zhang Yiguan hurriedly went to the West Market to find her father, Zhang Dashan.

The area around Xishikou is mostly filled with vendors selling vegetables, meat, and groceries.

Zhang Dashan had already set up the meat cutting board and was chatting with a well-dressed, gray-haired, and vigorous old man.

The old man was carrying a small bag of freshly cut braised pork offal, which was from the earthenware jar next to Zhang Dashan's cutting board.

"Hey! Yi'er's here!" Zhang Dashan greeted his daughter with a smile when he saw her.

"Father." Zhang Yili walked over and nodded to the old man, "Uncle Hu, you've come so early in the morning!"

This old man, known as Lao Hu, is a famous gourmand in town. He is very picky about food, but he has a particular fondness for Zhang Xiaoli's braised dishes.

Good morning, Yi-jie!

When Lao Hu saw Zhang Yi, his eyes lit up. He waved the oil paper package in his hand and praised, "Yours is the best. It's braised thoroughly, fragrant but not greasy, and chewy. I can't stop thinking about it if I don't eat it for a day!"

As he spoke, he picked up another piece of pig intestine and put it in his mouth, squinting his eyes in satisfaction.

Zhang Yili was a little embarrassed by the praise: "Uncle Hu, I'm glad you like it."

Old Hu savored the taste in his mouth, his eyes then glancing at the small earthenware jar containing the braising liquid next to the cutting board.

He rubbed his hands together and said with a hint of negotiation, "Sister Yi, can I make a deal with you? Could you spare some of your leftover braising liquid for me? I'll take it back and use your delicious broth to braise some pig's head or something; I guarantee it will taste great."

"Braised pig's head meat?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liuyi was stunned and subconsciously tried to stop him: "Uncle Hu, you mean pig's head can be braised? Don't we usually slice it and eat it here?"

She looked at her father, Zhang Dashan. Zhang Dashan's skill in slicing pig's head was exceptional; the slices were as thin as cicada wings, with a perfect balance of lean and fat, making them a great dish to accompany drinks. Many of the town's regular customers loved this.

Some people even bought pig heads specifically to have Zhang Dashan slice them, and Zhang Dashan never charged him for the work, treating them as regular customers.

Old Hu waved his hand and laughed, "That's because we pay more attention to knife skills here. We slice it into pieces and eat it with great care. If you go further north, in many places, pig's head meat is chopped up and braised. It's more home-style and goes better with rice."

"After all, not everyone has your dad's special skill! For most families, they chop it up, simmer it in braising liquid, let it cool and let it solidify into a jelly. It's delicious and convenient to eat!"

Zhang Xiaoli's eyes lit up instantly, as if he had been enlightened. Pig's head meat was much easier to handle than pig offal.

It has a mild fishy smell and lots of meat!

If we can make it into braised dishes, wouldn't that be another good product to sell?

And the cost is low!

Her mind raced, and she immediately moved closer to Lao Hu, her face beaming with a sincere smile.

"Okay, Uncle Hu! How about this? You teach me how to make this braised pig's head, especially the secret to making that gelatinous substance that solidifies into a jelly. In return, I'll tell you my braising sauce recipe, and we'll exchange them! You like the taste of my braising sauce, right?"

Old Hu was a foodie who knew a lot about food and loved to experiment with it. When he heard that Zhang Yiwu wanted to exchange her delicious braising sauce recipe for it, he was overjoyed and readily agreed.

"Great! This deal is a good one! Uncle Hu won't lose out!"

He immediately perked up, pulled Zhang Xiaoyi to a slightly quieter spot near the meat counter, and began to explain in detail without holding back.

"The key to this braised pig's head is twofold: first, the blanching must be thorough to remove the fishy smell, and second, the collagen must be extracted! Chop the pig's head into large pieces, put it in a pot of cold water, add ginger and wine, bring it to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, and cook for half an hour. Then take it out and wash it clean."

"Then, put it into your braising jar, add some water to cover the meat, bring it to a boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and simmer slowly. You can't rush it, you have to simmer it until the meat is tender, you can easily pierce it with chopsticks, and the broth thickens and coats the spoon, then it's done."

"Turn off the heat, pour the meat and broth into a bowl, let it cool, and it will solidify into a jelly on its own! When you want to eat it, cut off a piece; it's trembling and glistening, it's so beautiful!"

Old Hu spoke with great enthusiasm, adding, "By the way, you can also make pig skin this way! Simmering pig skin jelly separately makes it more translucent and has a better texture."

Zhang listened intently, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Uncle Hu! Thank you so much! You've really helped me a lot!"

She thanked him excitedly and immediately told Lao Hu about the main spices in her braising sauce and their approximate proportions.

Old Hu, having received the recipe, happily carried away the jar of brine that Kuai had taken.

As the sun rose higher, the morning market gradually dispersed.

Zhang Dashan's half-portion of pork has been almost completely sold.

Zhang Liuyi helped pack up the stall, and together with Zhang Dashan, they pushed the cart to the dock to pick up Li Xiulan and the others to finish packing up.

On the way back, the family sat in the ox-drawn cart, and Zhang Liuyi couldn't wait to share the secret recipe he had gotten from Lao Hu that morning with Li Xiulan and Xiong Zijuan.

"Sister-in-law! Sister Zijuan! Guess what? I ran into Uncle Hu at the morning market today, and he taught me a way to make braised pig's head! It can even be simmered into a jelly!"

Zhang Liuyi, sounding excited, repeated Lao Hu's steps exactly as he had described.

Li Xiulan's eyes lit up: "Braised pig's head meat? It can be jellyed? That sounds interesting. Pig's head meat is much easier to prepare than offal! And it can fetch a higher price."

Xiong Zijuan asked curiously, "Can the frost really freeze like Uncle Hu said?"

“He said it’s possible! Let’s go back and try it and we’ll see!” Zhang Yi said confidently.

Li Xiulan chimed in, "That sounds promising! If it really works out, we'll have another great product to sell!"

Zhang Dashan held the cart from behind, listening to the younger generation's enthusiastic discussion, a smile playing on his lips.

He didn't understand the intricacies of these dishes, but he knew that his daughter and niece-in-law were quick-witted and always managed to come up with new ideas.

Upon returning to the Zhang family courtyard, the three of them didn't even have time to drink water before they immediately began experimenting, with Zhang Yili naturally serving as the head chef.

"Dad, hurry! Help me get that big pig's head out of our house!" Zhang Xiaoyi shouted as he rolled up his sleeves.

Zhang Dashan quickly went to the storage room and brought out the pig's head that he had received a couple of days ago but hadn't processed yet.

Li Xiulan went to boil water. Xiong Zijuan helped her find a large basin.

Zhang Liuyi picked up the sharp cleaver in the house and directed Li Xiulan, "Sister-in-law, help me hold it down! Let's split this pig's head open first!"

With a few swift strokes, the pig's head was neatly split in two.

Zhang Yili quickly began deboning the pig's head, separating the meat from the bones. Although his movements were not as refined as Zhang Dashan's, they were still clean and efficient.

Zhang Liuyi threw large chunks of pig's head meat into the boiling pot, adding ginger slices and a large spoonful of wine.

The water boiled again, and blood foam rose to the surface.

Li Xiulan took a large spoon and carefully skimmed off the foam.

After boiling for about 15 minutes, Zhang took the meat out, rinsed it with clean water, and the meat became much whiter.

Zhang Liuyi put the washed pig's head meat chunks into another large pot, poured in his own rich and fragrant old braising broth, and added some water to cover the meat chunks.

As the fire boiled, the rich aroma of the braising sauce instantly filled the entire courtyard.

Then, she removed a few pieces of firewood, keeping the soup in the pot at a gentle simmer, bubbling softly.

"Next, we need to simmer it! Simmer it over low heat until it becomes gelatinous!" Zhang stared intently at the pot.

Time passed slowly, and the fire in the stove maintained a certain temperature.

The broth in the pot gradually thickened and darkened in color.

Zhang noticed that the meat was getting softer and softer every now and then. She scooped up a spoonful of soup and found that the soup had become thick and could cling to the spoon!

"Done, turn off the fire!" Zhang Yili said, and Xiong Zijuan immediately removed the firewood from the stove, very efficiently.

They carefully poured the scalding hot, thick meat and broth from the pot into a clean, large earthenware bowl.

The dark brown broth coated the reddish-brown chunks of meat, steaming hot, and the rich aroma forcefully filled everyone's noses.

"This...this can be frozen?" Li Xiulan leaned closer to look.

"I think so? Let's see tomorrow."

Zhang Liuyi smiled expectantly: "Uncle Hu said it will solidify on its own once it cools down! It smells delicious now!"

Xiong Zijuan also came over to smell it and praised, "Hmm, this smell is even better than just smelling the braising broth, and it also has a hint of stir-fried meat aroma."

Their family is doing so well, yet they haven't been betrayed by their neighbors? And even after everyone becomes successful, they won't separate? (From my happiness anxiety syndrome)

It smells so good... The section about the pig's head meat is really well written.

I'm craving braised food.