"OK."
Jiang Hua followed the waiter inside with a basket she had brought from home. The basket was filled with spices she had taken out of her spatial storage beforehand.
Jiang Hua went inside, and Jiang Xingzhou followed behind, holding Jiang Jingyi's hand.
Although it's a small kitchen, it's fully equipped with all the necessary ingredients and seasonings.
"This small kitchen and the small kitchen are just for occasional use. Sometimes when there are too many guests, this small kitchen is used." The waiter seemed to have seen through Jiang Hua's thoughts and stepped forward to explain at the right time.
Before the wild boar was finished being processed, Jiang Hua thought for a moment and then went to the shelf where the side dishes were placed to select the side dishes she would need later.
She plans to make a stir-fried wild boar and a braised wild boar, one spicy and one non-spicy.
Fortunately, we have millet peppers in this era, but they don't seem to be used much, and some of them have been dried out.
While Jiang Hua was preparing the side dishes, the waiter also brought over the processed wild boar meat, which was the pork belly cut that Jiang Hua had specifically requested.
"Miss Jiang, please cook here first. I'll go out and greet the guests," the waiter said, putting down the wild boar meat.
"good."
After the waiter left, Jiang Hua rolled up her sleeves and prepared to cut the wild boar meat herself.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Jiang Xingzhou stepped forward and asked.
"Then you can keep an eye on the fire for me later," Jiang Hua said.
Wild boar meat for stir-frying needs to be sliced thinly, while wild boar meat for braised dishes needs to be cut into evenly sized chunks. Of course, the most important thing is the ingredients to be added when cooking.
Because braised wild boar takes a long time to prepare, Jiang Hua decided to make this dish first.
Put the chopped wild boar meat directly into a hot pot without blanching it, and slowly render out the fat.
Because pork belly is mostly fat, you need to render some of the fat first so it won't be greasy when you eat it. Fry one side until golden brown before flipping it over, and take it out when it's almost done.
Take out a clean casserole dish, place two slices of ginger at the bottom, and then neatly arrange the pieces of pork belly (which have been rendered of fat) into the casserole dish.
Next, add six small spoonfuls of wine to the pot to remove the fishy smell, along with an appropriate amount of soy sauce to increase the saltiness.
As for salt, don't add it yet, because meat with added salt is difficult to cook until tender. You can add it later when the sauce has reduced.
Then, I added the cinnamon, star anise, and other spices that had been prepared in the basket, followed by a few pieces of yellow rock sugar and two dried chilies. Finally, I added hot water to cover the pork belly in the casserole, covered it, and put it on a stove to cook.
"First, bring the broth in the pot to a boil over high heat, then simmer it slowly over low heat," Jiang Hua said to Jiang Xingzhou.
"Okay." Jiang Xingzhou nodded.
The braised wild boar meat has already started cooking, so I'll start making another dish: stir-fried wild boar meat.
This dish is a common side dish in modern Hunan. Hunan cuisine is mostly spicy, so chili peppers are naturally an essential ingredient.
Jiang Hua selected some chili peppers and small red chili peppers from the shelf. Not knowing if the people here could handle spicy food, she planned to make them mildly spicy.
First, roll the bell peppers until they are chopped; this will make them look better when stir-fried.
Ginger, garlic, peppercorns, soy sauce, fermented black beans, salt, and MSG were all prepared. She had prepared the peppercorns and MSG in advance from her spatial storage.
Add some soy sauce, wine, and peppercorns to the thinly sliced pork belly and mix well. Set aside. Next, heat the pan and stir-fry the chopped bell peppers and chili peppers.
Adding a little salt can help the chili peppers absorb the flavor better and also help release the moisture from the peppers.
Once the chili peppers in the pan have been stir-fried until they are almost cooked through and have dehydrated but still look bright green, remove them from the pan and set them aside.
After the pot has cooled down, turn the fire back on and put the marinated pork belly into the cold pot. Use the lowest heat to slowly render the fat from the pork belly.
Finally, stir-fry it until it turns a golden brown color and the whole house smells delicious. Take it out and, using the oil rendered in the pan, add ginger, garlic, and fermented black beans. Turn up the heat and stir-fry until fragrant.
Then add the pork belly and the previously sautéed chili peppers and stir-fry quickly until evenly mixed. Add appropriate amounts of salt, soy sauce, and MSG, stir-fry for a while, and then it's ready to serve.
By this time, the aroma of stir-fried pork filled the small kitchen.
"Stepmother, it smells so good, it makes me hungry!" Jiang Jingyi sniffed and said.
"Miss Jiang, your fragrance has wafted into the lobby. The shopkeeper asked me to come in and take a look."
At this moment, the waiter also came in from outside and said.
“This is stir-fried wild boar meat, just cooked. Take it to your manager to try. There’s also braised wild boar meat stewing in the pot, it’s not ready yet,” Jiang Hua said.
"Alright, Miss Jiang, I'll take it out for the shopkeeper to try right away." The waiter immediately placed the dish of stir-fried wild boar meat on a tray and took it out.
Fifteen minutes later, the braised pork stewing in the casserole was ready. Jiang Hua lifted the lid, and a rich and tempting aroma wafted out.
Jiang Hua took a clean pair of chopsticks, picked up a piece from the bowl, put it in a small bowl, and handed it to Jiang Jingyi, who was practically drooling over it.
"My stepmother is so kind!" Jiang Jingyi said, carefully taking the bowl that Jiang Hua handed him.
He picked up a piece of meat from the bowl, blew on it, put it in his mouth, and ate it with a satisfied expression.
"Stepmother, it's delicious!" Jiang Jingyi praised.
Jiang Hua nodded, then called over the waiter who was waiting at the door and asked him to take the casserole out.
After the waiter left, he didn't keep Jiang Hua waiting for long before rushing back in.
"Miss Jiang, the shopkeeper requests your presence." The waiter's face now showed more respect.
When Jiang Hua arrived at the lobby, she immediately saw that the two dishes on the table had already been eaten by the manager of Mingyue Tower and other diners.
"Manager, when did Mingyue Restaurant change its chef? These two new dishes taste absolutely amazing!" one of the diners couldn't help but praise.
"Esteemed guests, these are newly developed dishes at Mingyue Restaurant, which are not yet officially on sale," the manager said, bowing.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the diners, the manager walked towards Jiang Hua with a smile on his face.
“Miss Jiang, my surname is Bai, and I am the manager of Mingyue Tower in Qingshi Town,” Manager Bai said as he stepped forward.
"Manager Bai." Jiang Hua nodded slightly.
"Miss Jiang, would you mind having a word with me in private?" Manager Bai asked again.
“Okay.” Jiang Hua nodded and looked at Jiang Xingzhou: “You and A Yi wait here for a while.”
"Okay," Jiang Xingzhou nodded in agreement.
Jiang Hua followed Manager Bai to a private room on the second floor of Mingyue Tower, where a waiter promptly brought tea.
"Miss Jiang, please have some tea," Manager Bai said politely.
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