Chapter 7 Chicken and Mushroom Stew
Jiang Heng went to her uncle's wife's house and delivered the mushrooms to her first. Chen Aying saw that they were all good mushrooms, and there were even two porcini mushrooms. She felt so distressed that her eyelids were twitching. She wanted her to take them back quickly. These could be sold for money, so who would be willing to eat them?
It wasn't until Jiang Heng explained that these were damaged and difficult to sell that he accepted them: "Okay, sit for a while, your sister will be here soon."
"Okay." Jiang Heng nodded. The sun was already getting hot, so she found a shady spot in the yard. Just as she moved her chair out, her cousin Jiang Peng came back on her electric bike. Before she even entered the yard, she waved to her, "Xiao Heng!"
Jiang Heng smiled and called out, "Sister!"
There was a little girl with two pigtails in the back seat. When the car stopped and the mother and daughter got out, the little girl stretched her head and found someone she didn't recognize. She immediately hid behind her mother, staring at her curiously with her big eyes.
"Xiaoxiao, this is your aunt!" Jiang Peng pulled his daughter over and said. Jiang Heng hadn't been home for several years, and children have a short memory and are prone to mistaking people, so he reminded her, "Call her aunt!"
Xiaoxiao's real name is Jiang Ruoxiao. She is seven years old this year and is a bit shy and reserved. When she was pulled out, her face turned red and she whispered, "Auntie."
Jiang Heng smiled and said, "Hey~"
Jiang Peng was helpless: "This child is too introverted. I'm so worried about him." As he spoke, he handed over the milk tea in the basket: "Which one do you want? They all come with 50 cents of sugar."
Jiang Heng picked a mango sago and looked at the little girl who had already run off to the kitchen to chat with her father. From time to time, she could hear the child's voice and the adult's gentle, coaxing sounds. She smiled and said, "Isn't she quite lively? She's just not familiar with me. She's slow to warm up."
Jiang Peng sipped his bubble tea and shook his head. "How could that be? She's fine with us, but she's completely silent at school. I've read so much news over the past two years, and I'm worried she'll be bullied in school and won't say anything. Then she'll have nowhere to cry."
"The problem is, she's picky about food. Look at her head, it's smaller than most other kids her age. She also has skinny arms and legs, so she can't resist. Furthermore, the doctor said if she doesn't get enough nutrition, she'll need artificial height-enhancing injections, which cost thousands a month..."
At this point, Jiang Heng could understand, but she had never raised a child and didn't know how to solve the problem. She could only try her best to comfort him. As they chatted, she smelled a fragrance.
Pure free-range chicken, stewed in a large iron pot on a rural earthen stove, with spiritual wild mushrooms, the buff is directly stacked up.
Especially as time goes by, the aroma becomes more intense, the tender chicken is cooked to its essence, with a unique flavor, mixed with mushrooms, it makes people drool, it's amazing!
Jiang Peng couldn't talk any more. He swallowed and got up to go to the kitchen: "Mom, what did you make? It smells so good!"
Chen Aying smiled and said, "Xiao Heng picked these mushrooms in the mountains. I don't know where she went, but she picked some very expensive mushrooms. Look at the color. If you sell these mushrooms outside, they would cost tens of dollars per pound!"
"Wow!" Jiang Peng was a little surprised: "But this smells so good, right?!"
It's not like she hasn't eaten wild mushrooms before. She has been eating them since she was a child, and she has also eaten black mushrooms. Her threshold has been raised, but this one today was so fragrant that she couldn't stand it.
Chen Aying was quite proud: "That's right, maybe it's because of the good rain this year. I also enjoyed it yesterday, so I asked you to bring Xiaoxiao over to eat."
She opened the lid of the pot to see what was inside.
——
As soon as the lid of the pot was opened, the hot steam wrapped in a thicker fragrance instantly spread throughout the kitchen. Xiaoxiao was so greedy that she said, "What a nice smell!"
Chen Aying immediately said, "That's because your aunt is amazing. She found such delicious mushrooms. You have to thank her later, okay?"
"I know!" Xiaoxiao nodded decisively, staring eagerly at the pot: "Grandma, can I eat it?"
Jiang Peng also looked eagerly.
Seeing both of them like this, Chen Aying couldn't bear it anymore. She poked the chicken with chopsticks and found it was still not done, so she rummaged through it again and picked out a small chicken wing tip and handed it to Xiaoxiao. The chicken wing tip had less meat and the skin was already soft and rotten after cooking. It was ready to eat first: "Here, let's play with it first."
The light brown tip of the chicken wing was still emitting heat. Xiaoxiao was afraid of being burned, so she hesitated before reaching out her hand. Then she saw her mother leaning over, opening and closing her teeth, and snatching the chicken away.
Taken away???
Xiaoxiao widened his eyes and looked at the scene in disbelief.
Jiang Peng panted heavily and fanned himself with his mouth. Feeling the temperature drop a little, he quickly put some food in his mouth. He was immediately attracted by the delicious soup on the tip of his tongue and his eyebrows trembled: "Woo woo woo! Delicious!"
There is not much meat on the tips of chicken wings. The taste of these chicken wings, which have been cooked but not cooked until they are soft enough, is far inferior to that of braised or fried chicken wings. They are just cooked, but after being covered with soup, the flavor of the chicken wings alone makes her eat them with relish.
Chen Aying was shocked: "...Aren't you grown up yet?! You even snatch everything your daughter eats?!"
Xiaoxiao nodded vigorously with tears in his eyes and a wronged look on his face.
Jiang Peng laughed dryly: "I thought it was too hot, so she didn't dare to bite it. I wasn't afraid, so I ate it first. Isn't there a chicken wing tip left?"
After all, we are all family, she is thick-skinned and not afraid.
Chen Aying rolled her eyes in annoyance and had to look for another chicken wing tip. Finally, she found one. This time, she blew on it first, and when she felt it was almost done, she brought it to Xiaoxiao. The little girl, who had been so quiet just now, now directly imitated her mother and held it in her mouth. She was no longer quiet and was fanning the chicken wing tip with her mouth to cool it down.
When she finally put it in her mouth, she was so delicious that her eyes widened: "Wow! It's really delicious!!!"
It smells so good and tastes so good!
Chen Aying looked at the two chickens, feeling both angry and amused. She searched in the pot again, but there was no third chicken wing tip. Fortunately, there was still a chicken foot. She took it out, wrapped the chicken foot in a piece of paper and handed it to Jiang Peng: "Xiao Heng, don't eat it secretly."
Xiaoxiao also looked alert: "It's for my aunt!"
Jiang Peng had already finished eating the tip of the chicken wing in his mouth, leaving only a little bone that he was reluctant to spit out. Upon hearing this, he immediately spat out the bone and took the chicken feet, staring at him eagerly: "I want to eat it!"
The little girl's face flushed with anxiety. She wanted to reach out and grab it, but hesitated. Just as Jiang Peng was wondering how far his daughter would go for her aunt's chicken feet, she ran out and shouted at Jiang Heng, who was concentrating on drinking milk tea in the yard: "Aunt! Mommy wants to eat your chicken feet!!!"
Jiang Heng: “…Ah?”
Jiang Peng: “…”
The two sisters looked at each other and laughed at the same time. Jiang Heng took the chicken feet handed to her by Jiang Peng, thanked Xiaoxiao, and said seriously to Jiang Peng, who was still smiling, "I suspect Xiaoxiao and Wenjing are angry about you. They can't fight you or make trouble with you, so they can only choose to lie down."
Jiang Peng laughed and said, "No, no, no, this is delicious enough. She's very picky about food. She doesn't care about ordinary things. If I take away the snacks that all other children like, she will change to another one. If I take them all, she will simply not eat them. Only this one is so delicious. It has taught her to be more protective of her food."
After saying that, he nodded in agreement.
That’s for sure!
——
It's still cooking here.
Some people have already eaten it.
Li Ruqin was the second aunt who bought mushrooms last night. She came from a well-off family. Although the demolition fee in the small county town was not as high as that in the big city, it also allowed her family's living standards to move up a level. Especially since her children were all promising, she lived a good life. She didn't have any hobbies except cooking for her children.
It happened to be Saturday today. On the way back from playing cards yesterday, she fell in love with some mushrooms at first sight and bought them for 150 yuan. It was so expensive that she felt distressed, but these mushrooms were good stuff and she knew what they were. Most importantly, since she had money, she was willing to buy anything to try.
Don’t say it, although many things are just a waste of money, some ingredients, after the price goes up, even if they are just called by a name, sometimes the taste is really good.
Mushrooms are one of them.
In the past, I would just buy some mushrooms in the supermarket and make some mushroom soup, which I could eat. Until one day, my best friend gave me some wild mushrooms that she had picked herself. After eating them once, Li Ruqin couldn't forget them and she also had a requirement for mushrooms.
Basically, she would buy any good mushrooms she came across to try. Over time, she developed a keen eye and could quickly tell whether they were wild mushrooms.
And what I bought yesterday was definitely it.
The mushrooms looked very fresh. After taking them home, without the influence of various smells outside, Li Ruqin seemed to be able to smell the unique pine forest fragrance of mushrooms all night long, making her dream as if she was staying in the cool and comfortable pine forest.
So when I woke up early in the morning, I went to the vegetable market and bought a chicken.
He prepared the dish slowly and steadily. As his family had big appetites, he added two potatoes, a baby cabbage and vermicelli. By the time his daughter came back, a large pot of chicken stewed with mushrooms was ready.
No other dishes are needed at all.
When my daughter came back, she called out "Mom" and then took a deep breath. The fatigue from driving back from the city center was instantly washed away by the delicious aroma, leaving only her mind full of appetite: "It smells so good!!! Mom, I want to eat! I'm so hungry!"
Li Ruqin knew from her daughter's tone that she had made a good purchase of the mushrooms, and immediately smiled: "Come and eat first, the meal will be served soon."
She was cooking today, but the only thing on her mind was stewing chicken with mushrooms. She only remembered to steam the rice halfway through, which caused the rice to be a few minutes late. When she turned around, she saw her husband following her like a ghost. She immediately said angrily, "What are you doing?"
The husband chuckled and said, "I'll eat with chopsticks."
Li Ruqin was fed up with him. He didn't come out when she was cooking, but came out when she smelled the food. She immediately yelled angrily, "What are you eating? The food isn't even cooked yet!"
The husband looked at his daughter who was already gnawing on the chicken leg with great joy, and was silent for two seconds. He hurried into the kitchen and said, "I'll go wash the pot. You take a rest first. The kitchen is hot."
Li Ruqin's expression brightened a little. She reminded him not to forget to clean the stove, and then looked at her daughter lovingly: "How does it taste?"
The young girl smiled and nodded. "It's delicious! Mom, you have amazing taste! These mushrooms are even better than the ones my friend gave me last time! The chicken is so soft and tender, and so easy to chew..."
The memory was beautified. It had been a long time since she last ate those delicious mushrooms. She thought they were extremely delicious, and at this moment, the delicious taste in her mouth seemed to replicate the original taste.
After saying that, she put down the chicken leg bone that she had gnawed clean, and even ate up the chicken skin which she didn't like before. After satisfying her craving, she felt embarrassed to eat more and thought about waiting for her parents to come.
He just licked his lips with satisfaction.
With this lick, the tip of her tongue touched the salty and fragrant taste that remained at the corner of her lips, and she couldn't help licking it again and again.
Li Ruqin looked at her daughter with amusement, and simply took the chopsticks and put the other chicken drumstick into her bowl: "Eat it."
The girl blushed. She hadn't been this greedy in a long time. The chicken and mushroom stew was really delicious. But she was embarrassed to eat it alone, so she immediately put the chicken leg to her mother's mouth: "Mom, you have some too. This is really delicious!"
Li Ruqin accidentally touched the chicken leg with her lips, so she had to open her mouth and bite it. As soon as she bit it, the juice soaked in the chicken meat overflowed. The salty, fragrant and delicious soup made her subconsciously slurp it, for fear of missing a drop.
hot!
But it tastes really good.
Her eyelids twitched, but she was reluctant to let go. After a moment's pause, she officially started eating and exclaimed, "Oh, it smells so good and tastes really good!"
The already exceptionally tender chicken thigh meat was even softer and more boneless, complementing the delicious flavor of the broth. As she ate, she muttered, "This meat is not bad either, stewed until tender. Oh, I think the cabbage and vermicelli will be delicious too, and there are potatoes..."
The girl was made greedy by what she said, and she picked up the chopsticks silently. She took a bite of mushrooms first. The mushrooms soaked in chicken soup had been cooked for a long time and were still tender and smooth. Then she took a bite of soft and sticky potatoes, vermicelli soaked in soup, and slightly sweet and soft baby cabbage. Every one of them was delicious!
The husband, who was busy alone in the kitchen, turned around and looked at his wife and daughter sharing the delicious food, enjoying it with relish and swallowing silently.
I won’t dare to be lazy anymore!
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