Tonight, Fang Yan didn't prepare a full Manchu Han Imperial Feast, but with the limited ingredients, she still managed to make six dishes and a soup.
A platter of braised meats is already in the pot.
She also bought two large ducks today, keeping the duck blood and intestines, along with meat from a pig's skull, to make a knock-off version of Maoxuewang (a Sichuan dish).
The people of Gouzi Village can handle a little spice, but not too much, so today's imitation Maoxuewang is a mild version.
Blanch bean sprouts, lettuce, wood ear mushrooms, and other vegetarian vegetables in boiling water until cooked, then place them at the bottom of a large bowl.
Heat oil in a wok again, stir-fry tofu sauce, chili sauce, etc. until the oil turns red, add two large spoonfuls of pork bone broth, and two large spoonfuls of water.
Bring to a boil, then add the sliced duck blood, duck intestines, and pork head meat in that order.
Bring to a boil again for five seconds, then scoop it out and put it into a large bowl filled with vegetables.
Sauté dried chili peppers and a small amount of Sichuan peppercorns in hot oil until fragrant. While the oil is still hot, pour it into the prepared Mao Xue Wang (a spicy Sichuan dish). With a few sizzling sounds, a pungent aroma, different from that of braised food, immediately fills the entire room.
"What is the third brother's family cooking? It smells so good that I don't want to do any work."
"Stop pretending here. Get all this work done before dark. The third brother's family is preparing a big meal tonight to reward us."
The village chief came over, kicked the person who was trying to slack off, and then yelled at everyone.
The house has been in disrepair for years, with small pits and holes here and there, but there are no other major problems. It's just that repairs are quite troublesome.
Five grown men can repair the house in an afternoon.
They worked hard to repair the house as quickly as possible, while Fang Yan worked hard to cook in the kitchen.
Aunt Wang was worried that Fang Yan wouldn't be able to cook a decent dinner for the neighbors who came to help, so she came over to help.
Now, she has been completely reduced to a stoker.
Just by smelling the braised platter and the spicy blood curd, she knew that Lao San's cooking skills were definitely superior to hers, and she was too embarrassed to show off her skills anymore.
Fang Yan deftly shredded the two large, fat ducks into pieces, first picking out the fatty parts and then frying them over low heat to render the oil.
Then pour the remaining duck meat into the pot and stir-fry over high heat until the skin sizzles and oil comes out. Then add ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and salted soybean paste.
Stir-fry for a few more seconds, add water, sprinkle in a few handfuls of soaked dried bamboo shoots, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for fifteen minutes.
Before serving, sprinkle with a few red chili rings and garlic flowers for color.
Oh my god!
The main selling point is that it's both delicious and visually appealing.
The color scheme is a professional habit that Fang Yan, as a veteran food blogger, has inherited.
For a simpler version, if you find it too troublesome, you can omit the color scheme.
The only difficult part of making sauerkraut fish is slicing the fish.
Fortunately, Fang Yan was skilled with a knife, and the fish slices she made were thin and intact.
Fry the fish head, bones, and tail until golden brown, then simmer to make a milky white fish soup.
Since the children couldn't eat spicy food, Fang Yan divided the fish soup into two portions, one large and one small.
Heat oil in a wok again, sauté ginger slices, garlic and chili until fragrant, then add the chopped pickled cabbage and stir-fry for a minute or two until the aroma is fully released. Then pour in the large pot of fish soup, along with the fish head, tail and bones.
The fish head and other ingredients are already cooked. Once the broth boils, you can scoop everything out, including the pickled cabbage.
Next, spread out the fish fillets that have been marinated in advance with egg white and starch and sprinkle them into the hot soup in the pot. Blanch them for five seconds and then remove them all.
Place a handful of dried chili peppers and a few peppercorns on the surface of the sauerkraut fish, drizzle with hot oil to release the aroma, and then add a sprig of cilantro. A classic sauerkraut fish dish is ready.
If you don't need to worry about the children, you don't have to do this.
Fang Yan did this simply to make a tofu and fish bone soup for the children who couldn't eat spicy food.
Today, Fang Yan bought three pounds of tofu. She kept a small piece to make tofu and fish bone soup for the children, and used the rest to make Mapo Tofu, one of the best dishes to accompany rice.
Of course, it's the mildly spicy version.
Make another braised eggplant dish, and that makes six dishes and a soup—all done.
Looking outside, the village chief and the others had already started to finish their work.
Fang Yan quickly cut two cooled braised pig ears, cut a lot of pig head meat, and then cut braised pig intestines and other ingredients to make a five-piece braised food platter.
"Uncle, Village Chief, dinner is ready." Fang Yan brought the dishes to the table and went to call Zhang Zongde and the others to come and eat.
Braised platter, imitation Maoxuewang (a Sichuan dish), braised duck with dried bamboo shoots, pickled fish, tofu and fish bone soup, Mapo tofu, braised eggplant, and pork head bone and corn soup.
At this time, everyone usually eats less meat dishes, and today they are doing physical labor, so they were afraid there wouldn't be enough to eat. Fang Yan directly filled a basin with the food, which showed her sincerity.
The people I called over to help today are usually the steady and capable type, but in front of this table full of delicious food, they instantly turned into hotheaded young men, even fighting over a single bean sprout in the spicy blood curd.
"Third brother's wife, when did you learn this skill?" Even Zhang Zongde nodded repeatedly as he ate, looking extremely comfortable and satisfied.
Fang Yan replied calmly, "I have a distant relative on my mother's side who is a cook. When I was little, I helped him for a while, but unfortunately, after I got married, I never had the chance to cook a decent meal."
The original owner's family home was on the other side of the county town, a bit far from Gouzi Village.
Fang Yan bet they wouldn't go to such a far place to investigate such a trivial matter.
Aunt Wang sat with her husband. She took a bite of the fragrant braised pig's head and continued Fang Yan's words, "Zhang Laowu and Huang Hongmei's family are heartless. They say outside every day that Gou Dan is so thin because you abused him and didn't feed him. We were so confused before that we were deceived by them!"
Now, I don't need to listen to anything anyone tells me; I just believe what I see with my own eyes. Look at the third sister's family; they're so afraid their child will go hungry, they're feeding the child bite by bite. How could she not feed her child?
With all that swill that Zhang Laowu and Huang Hongmei gave them, it's no wonder the child couldn't get fat!
The men at the dinner table didn't think that far ahead; their thoughts were the most straightforward.
They were just helping to repair the house, and the third brother's family cooked such a delicious meal to reward them, and the portion was so generous.
If they are so generous to them, how could they possibly not feed their own children?
Within just one day of returning, Fang Yan not only separated the family but also cleared the original owner of suspicion of abusing the children.
Of course, some people also believe that we cannot change our opinion of Fang Yan based on just one day's performance.
Fang Yan didn't bother to argue. She figured that once she had raised her baby to be healthy and chubby, those who still harbored ill will towards the original owner would naturally change their minds.
Right now, she has something urgent to resolve...
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