At this moment, Liu Tianming brought in the prepared chicken, along with its internal organs.
"Auntie, could you get some flour and salt and clean these innards again?" Jiang Hua said.
This helps to better remove odors from internal organs.
"Okay." Aunt Liu quickly took it out to wash.
“Jiang Hua, I see you don’t have enough bowls, chopsticks, tables, and chairs. My dad and I will go back and bring over some of ours to use first,” Liu Tianming said, rubbing his hands together.
"Okay, thank you, Brother Tianming."
After they left, Jiang Hua chopped off the chicken's wings and feet, and planned to make a soup with the cleaned chicken giblets and pork bones later.
Let's make poached chicken, a famous dish from Guangdong.
Jiang Hua immediately slammed her hand on the table and decided on the main dish for tonight.
After preparing the other dishes and putting the soup on the stove, Jiang Hua started boiling water in another pot to make poached chicken.
There are techniques to making poached chicken; the chicken meat needs to be poached three times.
Add scallions, ginger, rice wine, and a little salt to the pot of water used to scald the chicken and bring it to a boil.
After the water boils, hold the chicken by the neck and put it in and out three times to ensure the meat is heated evenly. Finally, put the whole chicken into the pot and submerge it completely in the water.
The heat doesn't need to be too high, just keep bubbling. Cover and simmer for half an hour. This chicken is a bit big, so it takes longer.
"Huahua, is it possible to cook chicken like this?" Aunt Liu asked curiously as soon as she came in and saw Jiang Hua cooking the chicken.
“Yes, it tastes even better this way.” Jiang Hua nodded.
While waiting, I started preparing the ginger paste, which is the finishing touch to poached chicken, an indispensable soulmate.
Mince the ginger, making it as fine as possible. You can gently crush it with the back of a knife. Then, chop the washed scallions into scallion flowers and put them together with the minced ginger. Add an appropriate amount of salt, drizzle with a little hot oil, and then drizzle with peanut oil to dissolve the salt.
Peanut oil from that era was very fragrant, without any added technology or grueling processes; it was all freshly pressed. However, it was also very expensive, so not many people would buy it to eat.
After mixing well, the ginger sauce for the poached chicken is ready. Jiang Hua also made a dipping sauce with soy sauce, offering multiple flavors and options. All you need to do is cut the chicken in half and plate it.
The time was almost up. Jiang Hua lifted the lid, took out a chopstick, and inserted it into the chicken leg. If no blood came out, it was cooked.
He took a wooden basin to the well, filled it with water, took out the cooked chicken, and put it into the freshly drawn well water.
Skim off the foam from the water used to boil the chicken, then put the chicken feet, wings, and pork bones into the water, along with the broth ingredients I prepared earlier. I'll add the chicken giblets later.
"Huahua, you're amazing! I've learned so much from watching you cook." Aunt Liu was full of admiration.
“Not at all, Auntie, I figured it out gradually,” Jiang Hua replied.
The soup was already cooking, so Jiang Hua prepared the remaining dishes. Half an hour later, the soup was ready, and the fish and ribs were steamed.
Jiang Hua fished the chicken out of the well water, cut it into two plates, and poured the freshly made ginger paste and soy sauce dipping sauce over them.
This method produces a poached chicken with crispy skin and tender meat, fresh, fragrant, and smooth, preserving the chicken's freshness to a great extent. Jiang Hua still remembers the old man at the next table saying, "Chicken should taste like chicken," when she was eating poached chicken in modern times.
In the courtyard, the table and chairs were already set out, and Liu Tianming and Uncle Liu had also set out the bowls and chopsticks. At Aunt Liu's command, everyone came over to serve the dishes.
Before long, the two tables pushed together were filled with dishes. Except for the salt and pepper ribs, which were a little spicy, the rest were mostly light and mild.
"Dr. Jiang, you've really worked hard today. We've troubled you so much, and you've even prepared such a large feast," Dean Li said hurriedly, picking up his teacup and offering it as a toast instead of wine.
"Aunt Liu and Uncle Liu helped me prepare all the dishes today. If anyone has worked hard, it's all thanks to them," Jiang Hua said, raising her teacup.
"From now on, I'll have to trouble Dean Li, Madam Li, and Master Li to take good care of A-Yi at the academy."
"That's right, that's right. I took a liking to Jiang Jingyi the moment I saw him," Dean Li said.
"Thank you very much, Lord Bai," Jiang Hua said, looking at Bai Heng sitting to the side.
No one dared to sit next to Bai Heng, so in the end only Jiang Hua did.
"Dr. Jiang, you're too kind. This is what I should do as the county magistrate," Bai Heng replied.
Looking at the table full of dishes, the aroma filling the air, no one reached for their chopsticks, and no one else picked up any food. Finally, after exchanging pleasantries, Jiang Hua said, "It won't taste good if it gets cold," and only then did they start eating.
Because of Dean Li and Bai Heng's presence, Aunt Liu's family ate a little reservedly, but it didn't affect the deliciousness of the dishes at all. Although they were a bit bland, they tasted really fresh and fragrant, and gradually everyone relaxed.
At Xu Dagui's house, Xu Yaozu stood at the door, glancing at Aunt Liu's house from time to time. He had just seen them moving tables and chairs, and carrying bowls and chopsticks. The dean of Shifang Academy and that county magistrate must have stayed at Jiang Jingyi's house for a meal.
A surge of jealousy welled up in Xu Yaozu's heart. Why did Jiang Jingyi have this opportunity?
"Yaozu, come and eat." Madam Xu called out as she came out.
Seeing that he kept looking at Liu's side, he then pretended to curse Jiang Hua a few more times.
"Grandma, what happened today?" Lin Shuyan asked curiously as she listened to Madam Xu's curses.
During this period, she has been busy in town with Brother Xuan and Young Master Ye, working on the shop and cooking recipes.
For some reason, after waking up one night, she could tell what ingredients were used in everything she ate, including the new dishes that Mingyue introduced.
However, some seasonings were simply unavailable, and Jiang Hua had no idea how she made them. So she wrote down the ingredients she tasted, and left the recipe to Young Master Ye.
What's amazing is that this ability only works when she's with Xuan-gege. Thinking about this, Lin Shuyan felt a sweet warmth in her heart, knowing she could stay with Xuan-gege without having to find an excuse.
"It's that good-for-nothing again, who actually got to know Dean Li of Shifang Academy and the county magistrate." Madam Xu embellished the story of what happened today.
"Grandma, how did Jiang Hua come to know the dean of Shifang Academy?" Lin Shuyan asked curiously.
"Who knows what happened? But I heard that the white wolf girl saved their dean, and they even called that slut 'Dr. Jiang'," Madam Xu recalled.
"Dr. Jiang?" Lin Shuyan murmured.
When did Jiang Hua learn medicine? Before, when she was still Xu Erya, she only had eyes for Zhou Yingxuan and didn't know so much. Now she's cooking, running a shop, and even knows medicine?
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