After picking up Fan Mu, Pei Yuezhi prepared to cook. First, she made the plum juice, which she would let cool for a while after cooking before drinking it.
Put all the ingredients into a pot, add some rock sugar, and simmer over low heat. It's very convenient and simple.
I originally planned to make two small cold dishes, but I suddenly craved sweet and sour pork.
I decisively took a piece of pork tenderloin, cut it into strips, and then soaked it in water for a while to remove the blood.
While we're at it, I'll knead the dough and make some cold noodles.
The dough needs to rest, and while the dough is resting, you can prepare the meat.
At this moment, Pei Yuezhi started to season the meat strips, adding some cooking wine, white pepper powder, and a little salt to the meat, and vigorously mixing it in one direction for a while.
Make the meat a little looser, and it will taste better after frying.
Then add about the same amount of starch, and mix it with your hands while kneading. After mixing well, add an egg, stir for a while, and let it sit for 20 minutes.
Pei Yuezhi called Liu Yuanyuan over to help cook some chicken breast so they could make cold chicken noodles later.
Place chicken breast in cold water, add a little cooking wine, blanch it once, skim off the foam that rises to the surface, then cook until done, let cool, and shred into chicken strips.
Once the meat is almost marinated, add cornstarch to coat it, ensuring each piece is evenly coated. Finally, add two tablespoons of oil to lock in the moisture.
Now heat the oil to prepare for frying the meat. Once the oil is hot, add the pork tenderloin strips one by one and fry for one minute to set their shape. Then, gently push them aside with chopsticks.
Fry for two or three minutes, then take it out.
Then raise the oil temperature and fry again for several tens of seconds, then remove and set aside.
Once the dough is deep-fried, stir-frying it will be much faster, so roll out the dough and cut the noodles first.
Pei Yuezhi skillfully rolled out the flatbread, then cut it into thinner noodles, leaving the rest to Liu Yuanyuan.
I remember in my past life, Liu Yuanyuan was not only unfamiliar with cooking, but also somewhat disliked it.
I've learned so much to help myself share the burden.
Thinking about all this, Pei Yuezhi felt a little guilty, but unfortunately, she couldn't let her just give up for the time being.
"Yueyue, what are you daydreaming about? Go stir-fry some pork tenderloin! I love sweet and sour pork tenderloin so much, yay yay yay!"
Pei Yuezhi snapped out of her daze: "Okay, I'll go make the sauce right away."
Add sugar, vinegar, light soy sauce, a suitable amount of salt, and a little water to a bowl.
Leave a little oil in the pot, pour in the sauce, and stir constantly with a spatula. Because of the sugar, the sauce will bubble. Once the bubbles disappear, the sauce will thicken.
Once the sauce starts bubbling vigorously and sticks to the sides of the spoon, you can add the pork tenderloin.
Stir-fry quickly and evenly to coat the pork tenderloin with the sauce, sprinkle with white sesame seeds, and it's ready to serve!
The noodles were almost cooked, so Pei Yuezhi quickly prepared a noodle sauce.
The two children are back and are washing their hands and setting the table; dinner will be ready soon.
The ratio of sesame paste to peanut butter is 1:1. Then add water and stir to make it thinner. Then add the water from before and stir to make it even thinner.
"Yueyue, did you add too little water the first time?" Liu Yuanyuan asked curiously from the side.
Pei Yuezhi patiently replied, "I feel that this way it will be easier to stir."
Next, chop some garlic, scallions, cilantro, and chili peppers. Pei Yuezhi discovered this by chance. These three children all like spicy food, but since they are children, it's better to put in less.
Add all these ingredients to the sesame paste, then add oyster sauce, light soy sauce, vinegar, five-spice powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, a little sugar, chicken bouillon, and finally drizzle with chili oil.
The cooked noodles, rinsed in well water, become both cool and chewy.
Well water is drinkable directly, saving you the trouble of boiling and cooling it down. It's also cooler and more refreshing, like ice-cold water.
Put the shredded chicken and noodles together, then shred a cucumber, drizzle with sauce, and mix well. Each noodle is coated with sauce, making it sticky, fragrant, and spicy.
"Dinner's ready! Come and get your bowls." Pei Yuezhi brought the pork tenderloin up and instructed the three children to get their bowls.
Having three obedient and sensible children feels pretty good.
They were all hungry and ate the noodles in big mouthfuls.
After eating for a while and filling their stomachs, they started talking.
"Aunt Pei, this sweet and sour pork tenderloin is completely different from the salty meat I usually eat. Nian Anke loves it so much."
It's clear this sweet and sour pork is very popular; half of it is already gone. Luckily, I made a lot more.
"Eat more if you like it, I knew you'd like it."
Actually, Pei Yuezhi didn't particularly love sweet and sour flavors; she just craved them occasionally, so once she got to try them, she didn't eat too many.
The observant Fan Chao noticed this and, thinking that she was reluctant to eat it, thoughtfully put a piece on her plate.
"Mom, why aren't you eating? You should eat more."
After saying that, he wanted to check on his Aunt Liu, but Aunt Liu was eating with great relish and didn't need any attention at all.
Pei Yuezhi looked at him with a relieved expression: "Okay, thank you, Chao'er. It's just that I don't particularly like sweet things, so I only crave them occasionally."
Fan Chao nodded and continued eating.
However, after observing him, Pei Yuezhi realized that he didn't seem to like sweet things very much.
After spending so much time together, Pei Yuezhi had figured out the three children's tastes.
Fan Chao likes spicy and salty food, and prefers a slightly strong flavor. He doesn't eat much sweet food. But after observing him closely today, it seems he doesn't really like it.
Fan Mu likes sweet and sour foods, but he's not picky about other flavors. He loves to eat almost anything, but his favorite is meat.
Li Nian'an likes sweet and spicy food, prefers mild flavors, and doesn't like food that's too salty.
Overall, the three of them have fairly similar tastes.
As for Liu Yuanyuan, she really eats everything, but she can't handle spicy food very well.
I personally love spicy food and prefer strong flavors.
While eating, Pei Yuezhi told them about renting a new house, saying that the house would be left for Liu Yuanyuan to live in with Li Nian'an, and then Liu's grandmother would be brought over.
Upon hearing this, Li Nian'an immediately became happy. The child hadn't been away from her grandmother for very long, and after such a long time apart, she was overjoyed to hear that she could be brought over.
After the meal, Pei Yuezhi tidied up and then took out watermelon and preserved plum juice, which she distributed to everyone.
"Mom, what kind of water is this? It's sweet and sour, and it tastes so good!" Fan Mu took a sip and squinted her eyes happily.
Pei Yuezhi also took a sip, and it was indeed very delicious. If there were ice cubes, adding a little more would make it even better.
"This is called plum juice. Drinking a little in the summer can cool you down and relieve heat. It tastes good, right?"
"Mmm, Mu'er likes it very much. Mu'er likes all sweet things!"
After everyone ate a slice of watermelon and drank some beverages, Pei Yuezhi led them back to the new house.
The yard was a little messy though; the kiln under construction wasn't finished yet, and things were piled up together. But most of the other things were tidied up.
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