To make Mapo Tofu, you need to stir-fry some Sichuan peppercorns first.
Without adding oil to the empty pan, stir-fry the peppercorns until fragrant, then hand it over to our good assistant, Liu Yuanyuan.
"Yuanyuan, grind these peppercorns into powder."
Without saying a word, Liu Yuanyuan got right to work.
Pei Yuezhi, on the other hand, cut the tofu into smaller pieces.
Chop some green garlic, dice the white parts and cut the green parts into small sections.
The fermented soybean paste and fermented black beans used in this dish need to be finely chopped with a knife first, so that they are easier to stir-fry until fragrant.
Prepare another starch slurry, and the preparations are almost complete.
Boil water in a pot, blanch the tofu with a little salt for one minute, then remove and drain.
Heat a little more oil. Pei Yuezhi had left some of the minced meat from making the eggplant fritters, so she'll use it to make Mapo Tofu now.
The authentic way is to use beef, but people in ancient times didn't dare to eat it, so they used pork instead. Anyway, it's a more common home-style cooking method, so it might not be as authentic.
Heat oil in a pan, add minced meat, and stir-fry over low heat to render out excess oil until the meat is golden brown. Then add the chopped fermented black beans and broad bean paste.
After frying the fermented soybean paste over low heat until it has a rich aroma, add chili powder and fry until the oil turns red. Then you can add water.
After bringing the broth to a boil over high heat, add some sugar, chicken bouillon, and MSG, and then add salt to taste.
Then add the tofu and the chopped garlic cloves, stir gently, and simmer for a few minutes.
Once the broth has reduced a bit, you can add the cornstarch slurry in three batches, along with the garlic leaves. While adding the cornstarch slurry, stir gently. Once it thickens, it's ready to serve.
The stew of "Three Treasures of the Earth" is almost ready. Turn up the heat to reduce the sauce, leaving a little extra broth. It's absolutely delicious with rice.
When it's done cooking, sprinkle on some minced garlic and a little MSG, and the sticky stewed eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers is ready.
Pei Yuezhi went to check on how the meat was cooked.
If you poke the fatty meat with chopsticks and it feels very soft and tender, then you can take it out.
After letting it cool slightly, slice it.
As for the broth from stewing the meat, it's great for stewing cabbage or something similar.
While the meat is drying, prepare some garlic cloves, add a little salt, mash them into garlic paste, then add a little light soy sauce and a little water, making sure it's not too salty.
We can eat soon, and I can also stir-fry the fish-flavored eggplant fritters.
"If I don't cook it soon, will you eat it all?" Pei Yuezhi stopped Liu Yuanyuan's outstretched hand.
Liu Yuanyuan chuckled: "I only ate one, it's not that big of a deal."
"I'm going to start cooking the vegetables now. Could you slice the meat for me?"
"Received, received."
Heat some oil in a pan, sauté the scallions, ginger, and garlic, then add the fermented bean paste and sauté over low heat until the oil turns red. Finally, stir in the prepared fish-fragrant sauce.
Simmer the sauce until it thickens and bubbles, then pour it over the fried eggplant slices.
Stir-fry evenly so that the eggplant slices are fully coated with sauce.
Before taking it off the heat, sprinkle with freshly chopped green peppers, which can both garnish and enhance the flavor.
Liu Yuanyuan cut the meat into relatively even slices and sprinkled the dipping sauce she had just prepared on the meat slices.
Finally, it's time to eat. Cooking large portions of food is quite tiring.
Granny Liu returned sometime earlier, and judging from her expression, she seemed to have found out the truth.
"Mom, is dinner ready? It smells so good! Mu'er is so hungry. Brother, come and help me get the bowls!" Fan Mu peered into the kitchen from the doorway.
Pei Yuezhi smiled and replied, "Yes, dinner is ready. The dishes Mom made today are especially good with rice."
"Mom's cooking is always delicious."
After the food was laid out, the group sat down to eat.
Although Liang Zhenzhen had experienced the sumptuous lunch and heard everyone say that it was normal food, she was still quite surprised to see this table of fragrant dishes.
After all, how could a normal family eat meat at every meal? Especially since this meal involved large pieces of meat.
"Eat up and try these dishes. I've never made them before, and they're all very fragrant and perfect with rice."
"This garlic pork belly is cut into large slices, it must be really satisfying to eat. And the Mapo tofu is quite spicy. I asked Zhenzhen before cooking, and she said she can handle spicy food."
"And this fish-flavored eggplant fritter is filled with minced meat and then deep-fried. And this stew, don't be fooled by its appearance, the taste is absolutely amazing. I specially saved some broth to mix with rice."
Pei Yuezhi introduced these dishes.
Everyone was eager to start eating, so they asked Grandma Liu to start first, and then everyone eagerly picked up some food to eat.
Liu Yuanyuan was afraid that Liang Zhenzhen would be too shy to pick up food, so she first put a few pieces of meat on her plate, then served her a spoonful of stir-fried potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers. Feeling that wasn't enough, she also put some stuffed eggplant on her plate.
"Aunt Liu... Aunt Liu, you don't need to put any more food on your plate, please eat." Liang Zhenzhen said.
"Okay, then I won't serve you any more food, but you have to serve yourself, don't be shy."
Pei Yuezhi was a little hungry and ate with great relish. The meat was exceptionally well-cooked today, not fishy at all, and with the seasoned minced garlic, it wasn't greasy at all. The minimal seasoning perfectly preserved the meat's aroma.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Even Liang Zhenzhen ate quite a lot of food under Liu Yuanyuan's "supervision".
After dinner, Pei Yuezhi didn't have to do the dishes or clean up herself, so she called Liu Yuanyuan and Grandma Liu to her room.
"Auntie, have you found that old friend?"
"We found him and asked about the Liang family's situation. This child has really had a hard life, but he was not lying."
Grandma Liu recounted all the information she had gathered, which was basically consistent with what Liang Zhenzhen had said. She also went into more detail about what kind of work she did.
Not only did she have to cook and clean, but she also had to wash the whole family's clothes by herself in the freezing cold. Her second uncle's family would beat and scold her at the drop of a hat, which was really miserable.
It's basically confirmed. Liang Zhenzhen didn't say anything, and since her indenture is still with me, she can be trusted for the time being.
Pei Yuezhi planned to test her cooking skills and teach her some simple cooking methods so that she could have an easier time.
With nothing else to do, Grandma Liu went home first. Liu Yuanyuan wanted to chat with her best friend, and Li Nian'an wanted to stay with her friend of the same age.
It's strange that neither of them wants to leave. Liu Yuanyuan is clearly not the original owner of this body anymore, and the child is not her biological child, so how come they are so similar in personality?
However, since Liu Yuanyuan didn't want to leave, let's stay and help her with some chores.
Pei Yuezhi took two chickens of similar size and build, intending to marinate them and make beggar's chicken tomorrow.
Since she didn't feel like doing anything, she left the marinating of the chicken to Liu Yuanyuan, while she took charge from the sidelines.
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