Su Qingluan followed Su Guangfu to the leeward side of the screen. She felt that all the warmth in her body had been taken away by the northwest wind. Now that the cold wind was gone and there was a charcoal stove beside her, warmth suddenly hit her face.
Because he often sets up a stove to eat hot pot outside, Su Guangfu specially made three benches. These three benches are wider than ordinary roads. They are not used for sitting, but for placing various ingredients.
Three benches form an equilateral triangle, surrounding the stove in the middle. This not only ensures that a variety of hot pot dishes and dipping sauces can be placed in an orderly manner, but also ensures that everyone will not be too close to the stove and get burned by the flames or the high temperature heat emitted by the stove. It is simply killing two birds with one stone.
Outside the bench were small stools for a family of five, and everyone sat on them to eat.
Because they were having hot pot today, the Su family had already discovered that using ordinary chopsticks to pick up the ingredients in the pot was not very convenient - especially when the pot was always boiling.
Because of this, Su Qingluan specially prepared special long chopsticks, and today was the first time they were used.
The two children were still very curious about using such long chopsticks for the first time. Su Xuanhe couldn't help but joked, "Sister, you bought us such long chopsticks. Are you letting them practice stilt walking?"
Su Xueyan gestured with her small arms, which looked like lotus root nodes, and said in surprise, "Sister! These chopsticks are as long as my arms!"
Yang was not surprised by this kind of chopsticks: "You two children don't often hang around the kitchen, so naturally you don't see this kind of chopsticks very often. Many fried dough stick stalls use this kind of chopsticks." Of course, Yang herself didn't use this kind of chopsticks, because the Su family before could not afford to fry things with wide oil.
The rice soup was poured into the hot pot, and the boiling water calmed down again. Su Qingluan grabbed a handful of wolfberries and sprinkled them on top as a garnish to make the hot pot soup less dull and white.
The rice soup that has been boiled is less likely to burn the bottom of the pot than the half-cooked state, but it should not be boiled over too high a heat. Fortunately, this stove is originally used for boiling Chinese medicine, the heating area is relatively small, and the firepower is not as strong as the large stove in the kitchen, so even if it is difficult to control the amount of charcoal below, the firepower will not be too strong.
Because it had just been opened, the rice soup in the pot would soon boil again as long as it was placed on the fire. Su Qingluan turned to look at Yang and said, "Mother, I'll put some of the meat in first." As she said this, she slid in some fish fillets, shrimp, and mutton.
Although the shrimp is a river shrimp, it is not small in size. Even though it cannot be compared with sea shrimp, when curled up, it is almost the size of an adult's little finger.
The river shrimp are sweet and fresh, especially now that the water has cooled, making their texture even firmer and more chewy. While they lack the abundant roe that makes the rice soup so delicious, they are still incredibly tender and delicious, just like the roe-laden shrimp of spring.
These fish, shrimp and mutton have been marinated in advance, removing the fishy smell that makes people frown, leaving only the fresh and fragrant taste. Moreover, these ingredients are boiled in rice soup, which also makes the rice soup taste richer.
Soon, sporadic bubbles appeared on the surface of the soup pot again, and Su Qingluan knew that it was almost ready.
She looked around and found that everyone's bowls were empty. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "Aren't you guys going to make a dipping sauce?"
Hearing this, everyone looked at her with puzzled expressions.
Yang looked at the marinated meat and asked, "But we already put a lot of seasonings in it."
The two younger ones: "What? Can't we just pick this up and drink it?"
Su Guangfu didn't ask anything, but he looked very confused.
Su Qingluan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Although it was marinated beforehand, these seasonings are only used to remove the fishy smell, but there is no saltiness?"
Yang was a little surprised: "I thought you would put some salt in the rice soup."
Su Qingluan shook her head: "That will make the meat cooked in the rice soup tough."
Seeing everyone looking at her as if they wanted to "copy her homework," Su Qingluan quickly smiled and said, "Except for soy sauce, which is essential, other ingredients like salt, sugar, sesame oil, broad bean paste, chopped green onions, minced ginger, minced garlic, and other spices can all be added according to your taste."
Of course, this complicated and unclear mixing process was discussed with Yang and Su Guangfu. As for the two little ones, Su Qingluan placed a small dish of soy sauce with sesame oil in front of each of them. Each dish only contained a little minced ginger and chopped green onions, without any spices.
"That's all for you two." Su Qingluan pushed the two plates to the two little guys.
Su Xuanhe looked at his parents and elder sister's plates, all of which were filled with different kinds of spices, and couldn't help but feel envious: "I want some too..."
"No, you don't want to." Su Qingluan's tone was very cold.
Compared to the little girl Su Xueyan who doesn't like spicy food at all, Su Xuanhe is the type of person who is "both green and playful" - his tolerance for spicy food is obviously not much different from Su Xueyan's, but he can't help but want to try it every time.
Of course, the consequences of this kind of "attempt" are often disastrous, including but not limited to lips swollen from the spiciness; stomach pain and diarrhea; and throats so swollen that you can't speak...
In short, every time he was in a mess, he became more and more courageous, and fought again after each defeat. In short, he was a person who never believed in evil and always wanted to challenge the impossible.
At the beginning, Yang and Su Guangfu planned to let their son "try" a little bit, but after failing again and again, the two began to acquiesce in Su Qingluan's "ruthless suppression" mode - just eat some onions, ginger and garlic on a daily basis, and other spices, as long as they are spicy, are not allowed to be touched.
Of course, the amount of onion, ginger, and garlic was only a "small amount," and Su Xuanhe must not be allowed to add as he pleased! Otherwise, it would definitely be a one-stop experience for sore throats, stomachaches, diarrhea, and anal pain!
Su Xuanhe looked at the spices such as dogwood powder and pepper powder, and took a glance at them unwillingly, and then took another glance at them, but he still didn't dare to say anything under Su Qingluan's stare - after all, his "glorious record" was really a bit embarrassing.
Su Qingluan had said before that after the rice soup boiled, you could eat the ingredients inside, so Su Xueyan took advantage of the moment when her sister was glaring at her brother and took the lead in adding a piece of lamb ribs to her dipping dish.
The rice soup had a white, lustrous sheen, wrapping the entire lamb chops with a light outer layer, making them look exceptionally juicy. In the dim light of the lanterns hanging on the screen, they exuded an enticing aroma.
Su Xueyan rolled the lamb ribs in a dipping dish with sesame oil and soy sauce, sprinkled some chopped ginger and green onion on them, and put them into her mouth.
Immediately, she exhaled a mouthful of hot, white air from the scalding heat. Even so, she couldn't bear to spit out the lamb chops in her mouth. Instead, she continued chewing while exhaling the hot air, and even called out to everyone, "Eat quickly! This meat is so tender, it seems to melt in your mouth!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
