Chapter 88 (The Hot Pot is Out of the Oven)

As a member of the Xiao family, you don't need to worry about the curfew or the closing of the city gates.

After having dinner with Yan Qiushu, Mrs. Xiao sat for a while, made sure that she was fine, and then went back with Xiao Huaiting.

After she sent Mrs. Xiao back, she went to take a look at the peppers on the way.

After reading it, she finally understood why Xiao Wai Ting sent it over now.

That’s a lot.

A rough look showed that there were fifty pots in total, and they were placed in the yard next door, with almost no place to stand.

This thing has to be transplanted into the field. Peppers like water and need to be watered frequently.

Yan Qiushu took a look and found that the peppers were well taken care of, but the soil looked a little dry, so she took a small colander and watered them for a while. Once the soil was moist, she left them alone.

The old farmer knew how to transplant these better than she did. She just needed to tell Manager Gu.

Yan Qiushu went back to take a shower and prepare to go to bed, when she found that Shui Yu had placed the large wooden box on her bedside table. The box was not locked and was opened directly.

As soon as she opened it, she was almost blinded by the glittering jewels inside.

No wonder it’s so heavy!

Some of it was gold and silver jewelry, and the rest was pearls and jade, quite a lot of them, all placed so casually in the box.

In fact, it's not really random. You can see that they have been sorted, or at least slightly divided by type.

But that's all.

Thanks to the original owner's identity, Yan Qiushu still knew the value of these. She picked up one at random. The round, beautiful and shiny pearl seemed to be surrounded by a circle of white halo under the candlelight.

Shui Yu exclaimed: "This pearl necklace is so beautiful!"

And it's not pure pearls, there's an emerald green jade pendant hanging from it.

If she wore it around her neck, Yan Qiushu felt that no matter how poor she was before, she would immediately become noble.

Yan Qiushu picked them up one by one and looked at them, her hands shaking.

She thought it was just a small gift like the ones she received before, but it turned out to be so heavy! She felt unworthy of it!

Yan Qiushu closed the door decisively and asked Shui Yu to lock it. She locked it first and carried the key with her. Then she put it under the bed and would return it the next time she went to Xiao's house or when Xiao Huaiting came over.

After doing all this, she felt uncomfortable lying in bed.

If a thief came, she would cry to death!

She can't bear this blessing.

Yan Qiushu did not sleep well that night.

She had nightmares all night about all kinds of thieves coming to her place to steal her jewelry. The next day she asked Steward Gu to tell Xiao Huaiting to come over when he was free.

But Xiao Wai-ting is not that free.

Yan Qiushu, on the other hand, had a lot of free time, so she started making plans as soon as she woke up in the morning.

When she was watering the plants last night, she found that many of the peppers were ripe, so they could be picked. Otherwise, they would rot on the plants, which would be a big loss. There were only a few dozen pots of peppers, and she would feel bad if she wasted a single one.

The peppers are picked, the edible ones are eaten, the inedible ones are dried, and the rest are transplanted and continue to grow until they can no longer bear fruit.

With the chili peppers, the hot pot also has to come out.

If you want to have hot pot, you naturally need hot pot base. She has prepared most of the ingredients, except for the lack of chili peppers. Now that she has everything, she can start making it.

Butter is at Manager Yao's place.

Yan Qiushu sent someone to tell them, and the person came back with a big bucket of butter. The method was the same as making lard.

Then add onions, coriander, celery, garlic and the like, fry until fragrant, and when they are browned, take them out and only a pot of oil will be left. At this time, pour in the various chopped chilies, chopped ginger, peppercorns, etc. prepared in advance and simmer.

The cooking time is about half an hour.

During this half hour, you can marinate the prepared brine package with white wine for a period of time. When the time is up, put it into the oil pan and stir-fry it, then pour in cooking wine, salt and sugar, and boil it again.

When the spicy aroma distracts everyone in the village, you can turn off the fire, pour the tea into sterilized molds, and finally store it in the ice cellar.

Because the pot is so small, she can only make one box of molds at a time. But there is actually a bit too much butter and just enough chili peppers. Yan Qiushu was reluctant to stop and worked on it for most of the day.

By the end, the hot pot base made at the beginning has solidified.

Zhao Shuhong and Shui Yu, who were helping at the side, were already impatient. Seeing that this thing was the same as Yan Qiushu said, they asked, "Didn't they say it's ok once it solidifies? Can we eat it now?"

“How do you eat this?”

Yan Qiushu stretched her body and said happily: "Let's make hot pot!"

"Eat hot pot?" Zhao Shuhong knew what was going on and nodded, "Okay, I'll go make the dishes. What do you want to eat?"

Hot pot is also available at this time. When I ate hot pot chicken before, it already had condiments. Later, the grilled fish she made could also be boiled with water, but none of them had such a strong taste.

Speaking of which, Zhao Shuhong definitely can't stand such spicy food. Yan Qiushu thought about making a mushroom pot later and said, "Let's make a little bit of the same. The three of us can't eat too much."

Zhao Shuhong nodded and went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, while Shui Xian went to prepare various kinds of meat.

There is strength in numbers, and soon all the ingredients were prepared.

But because there were only three people, there were many types but small portions. Yan Qiushu looked at them and sighed: "Mrs. Xiao should have come over today."

She likes spicy food, and so does Xiao Wai Ting, and the latter has a big appetite.

After sighing, she took a thin knife and cut a small square piece of the solidified hot pot base. Then, with more force, the base was pried out.

Just like her modern hot pot base, the butter is on top, dyed orange-red by chili peppers, and the bottom is filled with various dark-colored condiments.

Shui Yan came over with a piece of gauze, wrapped the small piece of base material in it, tied a knot with a rope, and then put it into the boiling water on the stove.

As soon as it was put in, in the blink of an eye, the orange-red butter began to spread due to the hot water, and the oil spread on the hot water. After a while, the color of the base material was revealed, and began to dye this pot of clear boiling water a bright and rich color.

Exactly the same as Yan Qiushu expected!

When she was doing this originally, she inhaled a lot of fragrance. Now watching, she couldn't help but sniffing, and suddenly found that why was the smell still so strong?

Zhao Shuhong, who came over to watch, also sniffed and said with a smile: "Ah Shu, the smell on your body is much more fragrant than the smell in this pot!"

Yan Qiushu: “…”

After a day of doing it, her whole body was filled with this fragrance.

Yan Qiushu wanted to wash it first, but then she changed her mind and thought that she would have to eat later, so she gave up.

She decided to just give up and continue helping, and said to Shui Yu, "Tell Manager Gu to quickly send a box of the base material to the Xiao Mansion."

It's just in time to eat it since it's not yet dinner time.

"Okay." Shui Yan went to the cellar and got a box of liquid that was almost solidified. He put it in an ice bucket and handed it to Manager Gu. When he came back, they could already start.

As there was no suitable table, the three of them could only stand and eat the hot pot.

But even so, it does not diminish the charm of spicy hot pot at all!

The gauze blocked the orange-red bubbling soup, which was thick but not turbid at all. When the pieces of meat and vegetables were put into the pot and added, there was no pepper or the like stuck to them.

Those ingredients will change color.

For example, the fresh lotus root color turns reddish brown after rolling in the pot for a while, with a pleasant spicy smell. It tastes spicy and numb when you put it in your mouth!

Lotus root slices are a popular choice and are usually picked up not long after being cooked.

The lotus root slices in Yan Qiushu's bowl were like this. They had just been put in the bowl, but she didn't dare to eat them right away like other meats. The main reason was that the meat had not been chilled and was cut a little thick, so it had to be cooked for a longer time.

So I set my sights on lotus root slices.

The lotus root slices were quickly picked up, emitting hot steam. She took a small bite and it was warm, then came the familiar spicy taste.

Yan Qiushu was busy making hot pot base, so she had shrimp cakes made by Zhao Shuhong for lunch. She had some shrimps from yesterday, so she had a light meal.

But because of its bland taste, there was no other taste in her mouth.

At this time, you can taste the original flavor of the ingredients in the hot pot, which is moderately salty and very spicy. After eating, you will feel that the area from your tongue to your mouth that has come into contact with the food is numb, as if there are a circle of little people dancing on it, jumping up and down non-stop, and the stimulation causes a lot of saliva to be secreted.

So beautiful!

This familiar taste!

Yan Qiushu's eyes were filled with tears as she ate. She was filled with joy and emotion, but the other two also had tears in their eyes simply because of the spiciness of the food.

Zhao Shuhong kept gasping while eating, but she felt that the taste was really good. She was reluctant to give up so quickly. After finally eating a vegetable that was a little soft, she took a gulp of milk tea and expressed her sincere admiration: "I thought the dried shrimp pot last night was already very spicy, but I didn't expect it to be this spicy. My mouth is going to be ruined!"

It is delicious. Ordinary vegetables can become so delicious.

The water was better, without the milk tea, but not much better. She swallowed the meatball carefully. While swallowing her saliva, she said weakly: "Girl, eating such spicy food is not good for your health, right?"

Yan Qiushu froze while chewing the corn.

Really...

It’s so spicy, can her anus bear it?

There seems to be no anorectal department here???

Yan Qiushu thought about it, and quickly calmed down: "It's okay, I'll make you some cool tea later!"

Regardless of anything else, she still knows how to make cooling tea. This thing was recognized as having a strong cooling effect in Guangdong in her previous life. Plus with the blessing of her golden finger, they will definitely be healthy!

Yan Qiushu was so confident that Shui Yu and Zhao Shuhong were relieved: "Cooling tea sounds delicious. Can it really reduce internal heat?"

"Of course! But don't force yourself. If you can't eat, just try the mushroom soup pot. The soup is delicious!" Yan Qiushu nodded vigorously, but still persuaded them.

Shui Xuan wiped his sweat and said with a smile: "Actually, the spicy hot pot is quite delicious. I didn't like to eat yuba before, but I didn't expect it to be so delicious in the hot pot!"

Yuba is what Yan Qiushu used to make by drying the soy milk skin when she was making soy milk.

They only ate this once, and there was no hot pot at the time. The taste was average and not at all good compared to the other food, so they just left the rest.

Bean curd sticks are very durable.

So Yan Qiushu came here and brought it back. This time when she was going to eat hot pot, she thought of it.

It just so happened that she picked up a piece of bean curd stick.

It was as long as an index finger, with many wrinkles. Because it had been soaked in water beforehand, the bean curd was soft, and the wrinkles on it contained a lot of juice. Yan Qiushu put it in a bowl to cool down, and then put it in her mouth. Before she had time to chew, the salty and spicy soup from the hot pot overflowed onto her lips and tongue, giving her a sudden shock. She felt that the taste was - really good!

If you really eat it, the bean curd sheets are soft and tender. Compared with fried bean curd sheets, they are much more tender and naturally more delicious.

By this time, the meat is basically cooked. Nowadays, beef has a lot of tendons and is difficult to chew, so the meat inside is mostly lamb and pork.

Yan Qiushu picked up a piece of mutton with bones. It looked like lamb chops. There was still some fat in this part of the mutton, but after being cooked in the hot pot, the meat was soft and the oil inside seemed to have been cooked out. When eaten together with the lean parts, it didn't taste greasy at all.

She ate mouthful after mouthful until she was sweating all over. Finally, when her stomach was full, she put it down with a feeling of not having enough.

The two people beside her couldn't bear it anymore and ran to the mushroom soup pot with their food. They ate while looking at her with admiration: "Warrior!"

Yan Qiushu burped with a strong smell of hot pot and said modestly, "Thank you very much."

The three of them smiled at each other, and when they grinned, their mouths, which were a little red and swollen from the spiciness, began to hurt, and they quickly retracted their smiles, still looking very angry.

At this time, the person who went to deliver the hot pot base also came back, but he looked extremely cautious, as if something big had happened.

Yan Qiushu subconsciously thought of the rebellion of the Third Prince, and her heart skipped a beat: "What happened to the Xiao family?"

The servant said, "Nothing happened to the Xiao family, but when I went to deliver something this time, I heard that the general and Prince Chang impeached the Third Prince in the court this morning, accusing Prince Huai and Prince Xuan of murdering their brothers and colluding with the enemy. His Majesty was so angry that he fainted in the court."