Su Tang began to focus on preparing the ingredients.
Li Xiumei was left in the kitchen to help with the fire. Then, she witnessed what "miraculous skill" truly meant.
Su Tang put the plump old hen that Qin Ye had somehow gotten, several pounds of pork spine with reddish marrow, a whole piece of glossy, fragrant Jinhua ham, and a few thick slices of old ginger into a large pot that was big enough to stew a whole sheep.
"Add water until it covers the ingredients by three fingers," Su Tang instructed.
Li Xiumei hurriedly picked up the bucket and poured water into the pot. Just as she turned to get firewood and her view was blocked, Su Tang flicked her fingertips almost imperceptibly, and a few drops of spiritual spring water, thicker than water and full of vitality, silently dissolved into the pot.
Flames roared in the stove.
Li Xiumei worked the bellows while nervously watching the pot. Soon, the fire boiled, and a thick layer of scum, smelling fishy, surged to the surface. Su Tang, holding a large ladle, patiently and meticulously skimmed off every last drop of scum.
Then, turn the heat down to low, cover the pot with the lid, leaving only a small gap.
Time seemed to slow down at that moment, with only the occasional crackling sound coming from the stove.
About half an hour later, a rich and mellow aroma of meat began to waft out. At first, it was subtle, but gradually, the aroma became more assertive, penetrating Li Xiumei's nostrils and making her stomach rumble with hunger.
Just by smelling it, Li Xiumei knew that this soup must be good!
But this is only the first step.
Next, Su Tang took the tender chicken breast and a piece of high-quality lean pork tenderloin and placed them on the cutting board.
"Sister-in-law, watch carefully."
Before she finished speaking, Su Tang held a gleaming kitchen knife in each hand. Li Xiumei felt a blur before her eyes as the two kitchen knives seemed to come alive, dancing swiftly in her hands, so fast that only a blurry afterimage remained.
All I could hear was a rapid, rhythmic thud, like a torrential downpour pounding on banana leaves.
Li Xiumei's eyes widened, her mouth involuntarily opened, and she was completely dumbfounded.
Is this... is this even the speed that a human can achieve?
Within a minute or two, the rapid drumming stopped abruptly. The flashing of knives ceased.
On the cutting board, the original chicken and pork had disappeared, replaced by two mounds of fine, snow-white minced meat without a trace of tendon or fiber.
Li Xiumei couldn't help but lean forward, gasping in astonishment. This...this was chopped with a knife? This is hundreds of times finer than the meat grinder in the supply and marketing cooperative!
Su Tang remained calm, divided the two piles of minced meat into two large bowls, added water and a little salt to each, and stirred them rapidly in one direction with chopsticks, quickly turning them into two bowls of "meat paste" of just the right consistency.
By this time, the broth in the pot had been simmering for more than two hours, and the aroma was so strong that it almost burst through the roof and couldn't even be blocked through the cracks in the door.
Su Tang used a strainer to scoop out all the solids from the soup, leaving only a pot of thick, milky-white soup rich in collagen.
Next came the most crucial step, something Li Xiumei had never heard of or seen before—sweeping the soup.
"Sister-in-law, make the fire burn brighter and the soup boils vigorously."
Li Xiumei hurriedly added a handful of dry firewood to the stove, and the bellows whirred loudly.
Su Tang picked up the bowl of minced pork and, as the soup boiled violently, slowly poured the minced pork in in thin strands. The snow-white minced pork quickly solidified in the boiling soup, forming a huge, fine net that gathered towards the center, absorbing and enveloping all the tiny impurities in the soup.
"Turn off the heat!"
At Su Tang's command, Li Xiumei immediately removed the firewood from the stove.
A moment later, Su Tang used a fine-mesh strainer to scoop out the large clump of solidified minced pork intact.
A miracle happened.
The originally milky white soup has become much lighter in color and clearer, but the aroma has become even more refined.
This isn't over yet.
Su Tang asked Li Xiumei to start the fire again. Once the soup boiled again, she poured the bowl of even finer, more absorbent minced chicken, which experts call "chicken tofu," into the soup using the same method.
When the second batch of minced meat was scooped out intact, Li Xiumei could no longer contain herself and let out a short gasp, quickly covering her mouth with her hand.
The soup in the pot had become crystal clear and bright yellow. If it weren't for the extremely rich and delicious aroma that was ten times stronger than before, seemingly able to penetrate into one's bones, anyone would think it was just a pot of freshly boiled water.
"This...this is it?" Li Xiumei looked at the pot of "miracle soup," her voice trembling.
At that moment, she developed an unprecedented, blind confidence in this dish.
This isn't just plain boiled cabbage; it's nectar! What can Wang Cuicui compare it to? Her head?!
The food competition was held on the playground of the residential compound, attracting a huge crowd, just as lively as during the Spring Festival.
The soldiers from the logistics department had set up more than a dozen simple coal stoves early in the morning. The participating military wives were eager to compete. Even the families of several regimental-level officers came. Even Zhou, the wife of Deputy Commander Liu from the division headquarters, sat smiling on the judges' table, with the old head of the cooking squad sitting next to her.
A crowd gathered around Wang Cuicui and Zhang Yujuan's stove.
They proudly displayed the piece of pork belly with its perfect balance of fat and lean meat, along with various seasonings such as mushrooms, fermented bean paste, and minced meat. Before they even started cooking, the mere preparation of the ingredients drew admiration from everyone, and her pride was practically overflowing.
In contrast, Su Tang and Li Xiumei's stalls looked exceptionally shabby.
A small table, a slightly worn soup pot, and a few plump, jade-like cabbages beside it. That's it.
"Hey, is this what Li Xiumei and the others are using for the competition? That's so shabby! There's not even a piece of meat." A familiar military wife whispered to her companion.
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