During the engagement party, Mrs. Du sold the pig that was divided from her family directly to Tian An.
After the banquet, all that was left of the pig was its head, four trotters, and offal. The cooks had wanted to throw the offal away, but luckily Tian An saw it and kept it.
It would be such a shame to throw away such a good thing!
After Tian An and Chun Xi brought the pigs back in a basket, they first sorted out the pig liver and kidneys, cleaned them, and set them aside to drain.
Then, clean the pig's head and trotters briefly, pluck out the pig's hair, and remove the iron hoof from the trotters. Then, light dry straw and blanch the pig's head and trotters with a fire scoop, and finally clean them.
Chunxi saw Tian An grabbing a few handfuls of wood ash and carrying pig intestines to the old house to wash them, so she took the initiative to take them.
Tian An's new house is right next to the old one. After the new house was built, the walls on both sides were opened up. Now the yard of the old house has been turned into small vegetable plots.
Tian An and Chun Xi each took a pair of chopsticks and quickly turned the pig intestines over, cleaning out all the dirt inside, and then rinsed them several times. The water used to wash the pig intestines was used directly to water the ground.
Then sprinkle some wood ash on it and rub it vigorously until all the mucus inside is scrubbed out, then rinse it several times with clean water. Then turn the intestines over to the original side and rinse them several times before you are done.
Tian An prepared the ingredients such as scallion knots, ginger slices, cardamom, star anise, etc. and started to make braised meat.
Mangzhong helped to light a small fire, Tian An put a little oil in the pot, added an appropriate amount of sugar, and began to boil sugar color.
When the sugar in the pot is boiled until dense bubbles appear and the color begins to turn brown, pour in an appropriate amount of water, add the pig's head, pig's trotters, pig intestines, and the marinade prepared in advance.
Bring to a boil over high heat first, then reduce to low and simmer.
The braised meat in the big pot was simmering, and the aroma of the meat in the yard made people salivate.
When Tian An saw that it was almost done, he lifted the lid of the pot and inserted chopsticks into the pig's head and trotters. If the chopsticks could easily penetrate the meat, it was done. He took another piece of meat and tasted it. The meat was soft, tender, flavorful and chewy.
Tian An and Mang Zhong worked together to move the braised meat from the pot to a winnowing basket to cool, reserving the brine for making soup. Then they began to prepare dinner.
Mangzhong was in charge of cooking the rice. Tian An took the pork liver and pork kidneys to the chopping board, slicing the liver thinly and removing the white fascia in the middle of the pork kidneys, then splitting them in half and cutting them into flower-shaped pieces.
Wash the cut pork liver with clean water to remove the blood, then put it in a large bowl, add clean water and cooking wine to soak to remove the fishy smell, then drain the water, add salt, starch and oil, stir evenly and marinate.
Marinate the pork kidneys with green onions, ginger and cooking wine on a plate and set aside.
Then heat oil in a pan, pour in the marinated pork liver and stir-fry until half cooked, then remove and set aside.
Add onions, ginger, garlic, and dried chilies to the pot, along with the spring bamboo shoots you saved for yourself, stir-fry for a few times, and add an appropriate amount of salt. Add the fried pork liver to the pot, add a little soy sauce to enhance the flavor, stir-fry evenly, and serve.
I started cooking again and made a plate of stir-fried pork kidneys.
I stir-fried some vegetables grown in my own fields and made a light bitter vegetable soup.
Finally, pick some slices of the cooled braised meat and put them on a plate, then use Tian An’s secret chili oil with green onions, ginger and garlic to make a universal dipping sauce.
Four dishes and one soup are just enough for six people.
After everyone sat down, Tian An first picked up a piece of braised pig intestine, dipped it in the dipping dish, and passed it to the big cow's mouth.
Daniu has become accustomed to Tian An feeding him from time to time.
He put the meat on the chopsticks into his mouth with a gloomy expression, and after a while he said, "It tastes salty, fragrant and chewy, but not hard. It has a rich flavor and a bright color. An An, what kind of meat is this! I have never eaten meat that tastes like this!"
Tian An said casually: "Pork!"
Da Niu looked incredulous: "Pork? I've eaten pork before, and it definitely doesn't taste like this."
Tian An said with a smile: "It's really pork! But Brother Daniu has definitely never eaten it. Because it's pig intestines!"
Looking at the delicious braised pig intestines in front of him, Daniu couldn't associate them with the fishy and smelly pig intestines.
Tian An picked up another piece of pig liver and put it to Da Niu's mouth: "Brother Da Niu, guess what this is."
Daniu opened his mouth and took a bite of the pig liver that Tian An had picked up, savoring it carefully. "It's fragrant and tender, smooth and tasty." He shook his head helplessly, "But I really can't guess what this is. Could it be from a pig too?"
Tian An said with crooked eyes, "Brother Da Niu is really smart. This is pig liver, one of the most ideal blood tonics. It has the functions of nourishing the liver, improving eyesight, nourishing blood, and providing nutritional health. Eating some pig liver from time to time is good for your health."
He picked up another piece of pork kidney and gave it to Danniu: "Brother Danniu, guess again, what is this?"
After eating the pork kidney, Daniu commented earnestly, "It's tender and crispy." Then he thought of the two previous ones and thought, "Could this also be from a pig?"
Tian An said: "This is pork kidney, so good, isn't it?"
Daniu praised generously, "An An is the first person to make these extremely smelly pig offal so delicious and go well with rice."
After Danniu had tasted every dish, everyone started eating.
Although Daniel seems to be eating politely, he is not slow at all. After a while, he starts to add more rice.
Tian An, who was about to pick up a pig's trotter fork, saw Xiaokang also reaching out for his chopsticks, so he held down his chopsticks and said, "Xiaokang can't eat this pig's trotter fork."
Then he looked at Chen Feng and said, "Chen Feng can't eat it either."
Not to mention Xiaokang and Chen Feng, the others also looked at her with confusion.
Tian An explained seriously: "An unmarried man who eats pig's trotter fork will never find a wife."
Several people asked in unison: "Why?"
Tian An said seriously, "Because the pig's trotter fork will poke the matchmaker's mouth, the matchmaker won't be able to match you up, and you won't be able to get married."
Xiaokang and Chen Feng nodded and took their eyes off the pig's trotters. They endured it in order to get married in the future.
They continued to eat. After a while, Xiaokang's nervous voice came again: "Sister, I just saw Brother Daniu eating a pig's trotter."
Several people looked up at Da Niu together.
Daniu swallowed nervously and said, "I didn't know what was going on. I just ate one. What should An An do? Is it a serious problem?"
Seeing Da Niu's nervous expression, Tian An said with a smile: "It's not serious! Brother Da Niu can eat pig's trotters!"
Xiaokang said with an indignant look on his face, "Why can Da Niu eat it? He's also an unmarried man!"
Looking at the few people, they all looked confused.
Tian An had no choice but to explain: "Although Brother Da Niu is unmarried, he is engaged! So it's edible."
A few people looked as if they had figured it out and continued eating. Only Xiaokang, the foodie, felt guilty and kept thinking about the pig's trotters.
There was no way around it. The more I couldn't eat something, the more I wanted to eat it. Who knew when he would get married? He felt so depressed when he thought about not being able to eat pig's trotters for so many years.
If his future wife knew that he married her just to eat pig's trotters, how sad she would be! Could it be that such a beautiful young lady couldn't compare to a braised pig's trotter?
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