Chapter 46: Perception Spanish mackerel dumplings and soybean, kelp and bone soup...
The sunset glows on the horizon, bathing the clouds in its rays of light.
Yu Zhile put down the notebook, stretched, and turned on the live broadcast.
Tonight we had Spanish mackerel dumplings and spicy fried snails, both of which are time-consuming dishes that need to be cooked in advance.
Yu Zhile asked Chen Zhao to cut some leeks, and Chen Zhao went out with a bamboo basket without saying a word.
Jiang Shangqing took turns with the people in the cowshed half a month ago, and is now still working in the clean water canal in the neighboring village. His grandfather is in charge of the vegetable garden.
"Grandpa Jiang, let me pick some vegetables." Chen Zhao called out to Jiang He who was watering the plants.
Jiang He bent down and put down the watering can. He looked much better than when he had just finished repairing the cowshed and returned to the village.
The vegetable garden in the cowshed is very rich in variety, as if it had been designed in advance. Various vegetables fill the garden, making it crowded but not cumbersome.
Chen Zhao chatted with him while cutting leeks and asked where the other two people were going.
Currently, there are only five people living in the cowshed. Apart from the grandfather and grandson of the Jiang family and Chen Zhao, there is Xia Jiangbai, a professor at the Provincial Agricultural University, and the other is Zhao Cheng, a dictator from Beijing.
"Old Xia is carrying manure to the material pit, and Old Zhao is inside the house." Jiang He raised his hand to brush off the dust on his clothes, his movements still retaining some of his former elegance.
As he spoke, a violent coughing sound was heard from inside the room.
"Why don't you go see Doctor Jiang? It seems to be more serious than last night." Chen Zhao looked up and asked.
Jiang He was quite helpless about this: "It's an old habit, and I can't persuade him. He is very stubborn."
Chen Zhao stuck the old sickle blade into the soil and shook off the dirt in his hands: "I'll ask Doctor Jiang to come over and take a look later."
Then he got up and picked some red peppers and walked out of the vegetable garden.
"Well, he is willing to listen to you." Jiang He started watering again.
Glancing at the trellis covered with green vines by the wall, he pointed and asked, "Now is the season for eating tender cucumbers, why don't you pick some?"
The cucumbers on the vines are emerald green, and some of the yellow flowers underneath have not fallen yet.
Chen Zhao grinned and said, "Next time, let's eat Spanish mackerel dumplings today."
As soon as he left, the bullpen returned to dead silence.
When Chen Zhao returned to the courtyard, Yu Zhile was directing Zhou Yuesheng to crack open the big bone.
Hit the middle of the bone with the back of the knife, then turn it over and hit it again at the same position, and the bone will be split into two halves.
Crack two bones into four pieces, add them into boiling water, remove them after the foam comes out, rinse them with warm water, then add them into the pot and simmer on low heat.
Chen Zhao's task today was to chop up the fat and lean pork, which he bought from the chef of a state-owned restaurant at a high price.
"Go knead the dough." Yu Zhile asked Zhou Yuesheng to do a new job and poked his head out of the kitchen. "Xiao Yue, pick out the meat of the snails and wash them with salt until there is no slime."
Before blanching the bones, a basin of boiling water was specially prepared, a bowl was used to soak the pepper water, and the rest was used to soak the dried kelp and soybeans.
"Sister, do you know anything about diet therapy?" Chen Zhao mentioned it casually.
Yu Zhile was spreading the Spanish mackerel when he heard the voice and looked up: "Huh?"
"No, don't people cough a lot in spring? I just wanted to ask." Chen Zhao touched his nose. "It's okay if you don't understand. I'm just asking casually."
"As for the dietary therapy for the elderly, it is better to ask a professional. Doctor Jiang is a good doctor." Yu Zhile said with some meaning.
Chen Zhao hummed twice and continued chopping the meat.
Yu Zhile began to process the Spanish mackerel, removing the gills, cutting open the belly, removing the internal organs, and then washing it and splitting it in half from the back.
Chen Zhao stared at the fish meat with bones attached curiously and asked, "There are so many bones, how do I get the meat?"
"Use a spoon to scrape the fish from the head to the tail." Yu Zhile demonstrated as he spoke. "Check the scraped meat to see if there are any small thorns. If not, chop it up a little more with a knife."
Scraping fish meat is a delicate job, and she was too busy to reply to the comments, but fortunately the audience had gotten used to this live broadcast rhythm.
The sound of Chen Zhao chopping meat and the sound of Yu Yue cracking snail shells alternated, adding a bit of fun.
Chop the fish meat and put it into a wooden basin, add the pepper water in batches and stir, then add the meat, oil and egg white in turn and mix well.
"When the filling sticks to the chopsticks and doesn't fall off, you can add the chives." Yu Zhile picked up a little with chopsticks at random, and the filling remained motionless. "Add some salt and oil, and stir in the same direction."
Why the same direction?
“Does it have to be in the same direction?”
The audience and Chen Zhao asked this question at the same time.
Yu Zhile stopped what he was doing and replied, "If you don't do it in one direction, the dumpling filling won't form a ball."
At this time, Zhou Yuesheng had already divided the dough into portions on the chopping board and brought them over.
The last experience was still fresh in his mind. Chen Zhao tactfully gave up his position and went out to help Yu Yue with the work.
The two of them had perfect understanding and controlled the speed of rolling the dough and making dumplings just right.
There is a little trick to getting the meat from the snails. You can't touch the meat at all with a bamboo stick. You have to use a big one to hit the small one first, and then the meat will fall out.
Chen Zhao clumsily imitated Yu Yue's movements. Yu Yue took five or six before he could barely take one.
"Hiss." Yu Yue suddenly gasped.
Chen Zhao immediately raised his head and teased: "I said that when doing things, you have to -"
Halfway through his speech, his voice stopped abruptly because Yu Yue looked very painful.
"What's wrong?" Chen Zhao squatted beside him and asked anxiously.
Yu Yue covered his knee with his palm, but the pain lasted less than thirty seconds, so short that he suspected that everything was just an illusion.
"What's wrong? Your forehead is covered in sweat." Chen Zhao lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
Yu Yue stared at the corner of fabric wet with sweat and smiled: "It's okay."
He was certain that his legs, which had been as stagnant as water for the past five years, were causing him excruciating pain.
He finally regained feeling in his legs.
"Brother, are you happy?" Yu Chi ran over and lay on his knees.
Yu Yue leaned over and kissed his face.
"Are you really okay?" Chen Zhao frowned and looked at him for a long time.
After receiving several affirmative responses, he sat back on the small bench and continued to fight with the ox-eye snail.
While everyone was busy, Ning Tan arrived at Huaxi Village again.
This time, he did not show up, but found a suitable place for observation on the mountain.
The workers in Huaxi Village just got off work at this time, and a large group of people gathered from the fields towards the village road.
Everyone had a numb expression and looked lifeless.
As he watched, Ning Tan discovered some clues.
The population structure of Huaxi Village is very abnormal, with a very low proportion of middle-aged and young women and young children.
He recalled Captain Du's unusual behavior and was sure that there was something fishy going on.
After a while, there was a rustling sound coming from under the big tree where Ning Tan was hiding, and a man and a woman approached, chatting casually.
"You have been going up the mountain frequently recently. Has your sister's illness completely healed?" the boy asked.
The girl replied: "Well, someone has reserved the seedlings on the mountain, so we need to take good care of them."
"Is she the person who gave you medical expenses last time? Can she be trusted? We can't do business now, what if--" The boy was interrupted.
The girl said: "There is no chance of that happening. She is a good person and I don't want to disappoint her."
At the same time, the girl stepped into the shade of the trees, but Ning Tan could only see half of her face.
"Well, you can always judge people better than me. I will go up the mountain with you in the future and take good care of the flower seedlings."
"No need, didn't your uncle ask you to learn from Du Zijun?"
"I don't like being with them. They, ah." The boy hesitated, sighed, and said, "With you, well, it's more fun to go up the mountain."
His ears were so red they almost bled.
The two gradually walked away and disappeared from Ning Tan's narrow vision.
After that, Ning Tan stayed for a while, using a telescope to look at people scattered around the village.
Smoke rose from the kitchen, but he still could not sense any trace of life in Huaxi Village. The people here were like the walking dead.
In the Yu family courtyard, Chen Zhao lifted the lid of the pot and a burst of steam hit his face.
The pale white soup gurgles and rolls, bringing out a rich meaty aroma.
"Pick up the kelp slices and soybeans and add them in to cook. Remove some firewood and let it simmer slowly." Yu Zhile reminded Chen Zhao while making dumplings.
Chen Zhao followed her instructions methodically, closed the lid, and pulled out half of the burning firewood from the bottom of the stove and placed it under the iron pot stove.
To eat steamed dumplings today, we need to boil water first.
"The last one, done." Yu Zhile pinched the edge of the last dumpling.
A small and a large bamboo curtain are filled with plump dumplings, which are put into the steaming pot one by one.
In a few minutes, the faint aroma of fish spread in the air.
[I can already smell it, it smells good. ]
【With the delicious taste, I drank ten bottles of nutrient solution. 】
As time passed, the fragrance gradually spread from the kitchen to the entire courtyard.
During the meal, Yu Zhile also prepared two dipping sauces for the dumplings - mashed garlic chili and aged vinegar.
The soup was ready, the dumplings were out of the pot, and Yu Yue and his friend finally finished digging out the snail meat.
Yu Zhile took a large bowl, picked up a full bowl of dumplings, and filled a clay pot with soup.
"Take it back to the cowshed. Come back quickly. We'll be ready for dinner once the snail meat is fried." She put the things into a bamboo basket and handed it to Chen Zhao.
Chen Zhao was quite surprised.
In order not to implicate him, people in the cowshed would usually try to avoid suspicion, which led to rumors among villagers that he had fought with the old men in the cowshed several times.
To be more precise, some people at the educated youth site said that he had a bad temper and beat the old man every night to vent his anger.
"You bought so many things at the market last time that it will take you forever to use them." Yu Zhile never believed the rumors in the village.
Chen Zhao entered the praise mode in advance: "Sister, you are worthy of your good eyesight."
"Stop joking and go." Yu Zhile said with a smile.
Spicy stir-fried ox-eye snail meat is a quick dish. Heat the oil, add ginger, onion and garlic, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add two spoons of chili sauce, then pour in the snail meat and stir-fry until cooked, then it can be served.
When the food was served, Chen Zhao had already run back from the cowshed.
The slight exercise increased his appetite, and he couldn't wait to pick up a big dumpling and put it into his mouth.
The meat filling was tender, juicy and chewy, and it slid down his esophagus with the rich aged vinegar, making him squint his eyes in satisfaction.
The unique flavor made him linger on the taste and he couldn't help but try another dipping sauce, which was so spicy that it brought tears to his eyes.
The little incident did not affect his appetite, and he ate even more vigorously.
"It's so fragrant, and the texture is a bit more chewy than abalone dumplings, and the soup is more delicious than eight-ribbon dumplings." Chen Zhao concluded.
The kelp and bone soup was refreshing and not greasy, and the spicy fried snail meat was spicy and appetizing. Everyone had a full meal.
Not long after the meal, Zhang Wenxin ran to the courtyard and said breathlessly: "Zhang Zhenhua is dead!"
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