Chapter 20: Sweet and sour pork, a delicious treat!
The main house of the Lin family.
"My dear husband, I saw a young woman and an old man with my own eyes today, returning to the village with those three jinxes from the Lin family. Do you think Ye Cheng might be planning to get married?" Hu Shi poured Lin Changshou a cup of tea, her lips curled in disdain and gossip as she continued her rambling, "Look at my poor son, he's not young anymore, and he still hasn't found a wife. It's so worrying."
"All you do is nag. How can I not be anxious when my son can't find a wife?" Lin Changshou frowned, waved his hand impatiently, picked up his teacup, and gulped it down. The temperature of the tea didn't seem to dispel his irritation. Those few jinxes in the Lin family were dirt poor. Only someone with water in their brain would marry into that family. Besides, what kind of marriage proposal involves a young lady coming to the door? I'm afraid they're plotting something again.
Upon hearing this, Madam Hu snorted softly and retorted, "Oh, husband, you don't know this. Things are different now. They've really started doing business. I went to take a look today, and wow, there were layers upon layers of people surrounding that stall. I think they could easily make a hundred or two hundred copper coins a day!"
"Pah! They think they're qualified to do business? I bet their business won't last long!" Lin Changshou slammed down his teacup, his face full of malice, as if his words would immediately bring down the Lin family's business.
~
The next day.
The docks were still bustling. Aunt Li watched Lin Yao pack up her stall, slowly stirring the soup in the pot with a ladle in her hand. "Young lady Lin, are you closing up shop so early today?"
Lin Yao quickened her pace, replying, "Yes, I have something to do at home today, so I need to go home early." Before long, the three siblings finished packing up their stall and hurried home.
As soon as she got home, there was a knock on the door. Lin Yao quickly walked to the door and opened it.
Outside the door stood the Wang family grandfather and grandson. Wang Shan slightly raised his hand, lifted the basket in his hand, and smiled, "Miss Lin, I've brought A-Yu."
“Master.” Wang Xiaoyu bowed to him from the side.
"Come in quickly." Lin Yao led them through the door.
Lin Cheng had just moved the table out of the kitchen, placed the prepared items on it, and put a chair next to it. After Lin Yao led the grandfather and granddaughter into the house, she sat down on the chair in front of the house.
Wang Xiaoyu took the bamboo basket from Grandpa Wang, which contained the carefully prepared six gifts for her future initiation. She carefully placed the basket on the stone table in front of Lin Yao, and then straightened her slightly wrinkled clothes.
She walked up to Lin Yao, knelt down on both knees, straightened her back, respectfully clasped her hands in front of her chest, and lightly touched her forehead to the ground, performing a standard apprenticeship ceremony.
“Master, please accept my bow. I, Wang Xiaoyu, am honored to have you accept me as your disciple today. It is my greatest fortune. From now on, I will humbly learn from you, abide by your teachings, and never fail your guidance.” Wang Xiaoyu rarely spoke such a long passage; his clear voice echoed in the quiet courtyard.
Lin Yao looked at the bamboo basket in front of her and Wang Xiaoyu kneeling and bowing, her gaze falling on the six-fold salute. Inside the bamboo basket, celery, lotus seeds, red beans, red dates, longan, and dried lean meat strips were neatly arranged.
Grandpa Wang, standing to the side, nodded slightly with a gratified smile on his face. He took a step forward and said slowly, "Master Lin, this gift of six gifts is a small token of our appreciation. It is Xiaoyu's good fortune to be able to become your disciple. We will trouble you to teach her diligently in the future."
Lin Yao took the basket and placed it on the table. She reached out and helped her up, then handed her the red envelope. "This is my gift to you for becoming my disciple. We are about the same age, so you can just call me A Yao from now on. There's no need to be so formal."
Lin Yao didn't actually feel any psychological burden. Her real age was much older than Wang Xiaoyu, but right now she looked like a twelve-year-old girl. Hearing someone three years older than her call her "Master" made her feel a little uncomfortable.
But this time, Wang Xiaoyu, who usually seemed easy to talk to, became stubborn and said with a serious face, "That won't do. Respect for teachers and the importance of etiquette cannot be ignored. I should call you Master."
Seeing Wang Xiaoyu's stubbornness, Lin Yao didn't press the matter further. She turned to Wang Shan beside her, "Uncle, I accept this six-fold gift. Now that this apprenticeship ceremony has been performed, Xiaoyu and I are bound by a master-disciple relationship. Although I dare not claim to have superb skills, I will certainly impart all my knowledge and skills to you. I hope that Xiaoyu will study diligently in the future and achieve something in the art of cooking."
Wang Shan was overjoyed at the scene before him and nodded repeatedly, "Good, good, good. It's Xiaoyu's good fortune to have a master like you."
After the apprenticeship ceremony was completed, Lin Yao invited the grandfather and grandson to stay for a meal. "Uncle Wang, Ayu, today is such a joyous day, you must stay for a meal!" This was the first apprentice she had taken in this world, and she had to celebrate properly. She planned to cook a few dishes that would be suitable for all ages.
After much deliberation, Lin Yao decided to make sweet and sour pork, roast chicken, pork bone soup, and braised pork offal from her home.
Having made up her mind, Lin Yao led Wang Xiaoyu straight into the kitchen, ready to start learning right now!
Once inside the kitchen, Lin Yao first marinated the pheasant and told Lin Cheng that it could be roasted in 15 minutes. She then took out the ingredients for making sweet and sour pork.
Lin Yao took out a piece of pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat and sliced it into even, thin slices. As she sliced, she explained, "Ayu, this dish is called Guo Bao Rou (Sweet and Sour Pork). The knife skills for slicing the meat are very important. If the slices are too thin, they will easily break; if they are too thick, they will not fry through. They need to be sliced to the right thickness." Wang Xiaoyu watched intently with wide eyes.
After slicing the meat, she began to marinate it. She added a little rice wine to remove any fishy smell and sprinkled a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor.
Wang Xiaoyu moved closer, carefully observing Lin Yao's actions. "Master, why are you putting in wine?"
Lin Yao paused, realizing that in this day and age, alcohol is mostly seen as a pastime for men in the home, and very few people use it for cooking. She explained, "Alcohol can remove the fishy smell of meat and enhance its aroma."
"I see." Wang Xiaoyu nodded in sudden understanding.
After marinating the meat slices, Lin Yao took out a bowl, cracked an egg into it, and quickly stirred it with chopsticks to make an egg wash. "Next, we'll coat the meat slices with egg wash and starch. This will make the fried pork even crispier." Lin Yao said, pointing to the starch in the bowl next to her. "This is starch."
Lin Yao poured the egg mixture into the bowl containing the sliced meat, stirred it again to coat each slice. Then, she sprinkled sweet potato starch on top and gently tossed it with her hands until the meat slices were coated with a thin layer of starch. "See, like this, not too much starch and not too little. Too much will make it thick and hard after frying, and too little won't form a crispy crust," Lin Yao said, showing the meat slices in her hand.
Wang Xiaoyu nodded and silently made a mental note of it.
"The next step is to fry the meat, and the heat and time are the most important factors," Lin Yao said, while instructing Wang Xiaoyu to add firewood to the stove.
Lin Yao used chopsticks to pick up a slice of meat coated in starch and carefully placed it into the pot. "The heat doesn't need to be too high at this point, otherwise the surface of the meat will burn quickly while the inside is still uncooked." Lin Yao stared intently at the meat slices in the pot.
After a while, Lin Yao gently turned the meat slices with chopsticks to ensure they were heated evenly. When the meat slices turned a light golden brown, she removed them, drained the oil, and set them aside. "This is the first frying; fry the meat until it's just cooked through," Lin Yao said.
Next, she reheated the oil in the pan and poured the previously fried meat slices back in for a second frying. This time, the oil temperature was even higher, and the meat slices quickly turned golden brown and crispy.
"The second frying time should be shorter, mainly to make the outer skin of the meat slices crispier." Lin Yao said as she used a slotted spoon to scoop out the fried sweet and sour pork, drained the oil, and placed it on a plate.
She picked up the pre-mixed sweet and sour sauce, poured it into a separate pot, and heated it over low heat. As the temperature rose, the sauce began to bubble and thicken. Lin Yao quickly added the fried pork belly to the pot and stir-fried it rapidly, ensuring each piece of meat was evenly coated with the sauce.
Lin Yao wiped the sweat from her forehead and continued stir-frying. "This last step is also crucial. You have to be quick, or the meat won't be crispy." Wang Xiaoyu watched intently from the side, nodding repeatedly.
In no time, a plate of bright red, sweet and sour pork was ready. Lin Yao placed the pork on a plate and set it aside.
Wang Xiaoyu had never seen such a cooking method before. This dish, called Guo Bao Rou (Sweet and Sour Pork), smelled sweet and sour and was very tempting. The rich aroma filled her nostrils, and she couldn't help but swallow.
Wang Xiaoyu stared intently at Lin Yao's movements. She had never seen or even heard of such a novel and unique cooking method before. The dish, called Guo Bao Rou (Sweet and Sour Pork), was being tossed and fried in the pot, and its sweet and sour aroma wafted into her nostrils, making her swallow hard.
Seeing Wang Xiaoyu's rare expression, Lin Yao couldn't help but chuckle softly, causing Wang Xiaoyu to blush deeply.
Lin Yao's smile remained unchanged. "Take it out. I'll make some soup, and then we can have dinner."
"Yes, Master." Wang Xiaoyu picked up the dishes and quickly walked out of the kitchen.
Next up is pork bone soup. Pork bones are cheap but nutritious, containing a certain amount of protein and minerals.③ These proteins are very important for the body's growth and maintaining bone strength.④ Lin Yao glanced at the people in the yard—the old, the young, the weak—and pork bone soup was the most cost-effective tonic soup they could afford right now.
Lin Yao took the prepared pork bones out of the basin and put them into the pot, pouring in enough water to cover them. Then, she added firewood to the stove and waited quietly for the water to slowly boil.
The earthen stove burned brightly, and soon the water in the pot began to bubble and froth, with white foam gradually rising to the surface. Lin Yao quickly picked up a ladle and carefully skimmed off the foam. After skimming off the foam, Lin Yao threw the carrots and ginger slices from the cutting board into the pot all at once.
The soup in the pot boiled again, and Lin Yao ladled it into a bowl. "The soup is ready!"
Meanwhile, Lin Cheng's roast chicken was also successfully completed. The roast chicken was reddish-brown, glistening with oil, and the skin was slightly charred and fragrant. Lin Cheng placed the roast chicken on a plate, carried it to the table in the yard, and then went back to the kitchen to scoop out the braised pork offal that had been simmering over a low flame.
Today, as Wang Xiaoyu became Lin Cheng's apprentice, Lin Cheng moved the table from the kitchen to the courtyard. With the sun setting and a gentle breeze blowing, dining in the courtyard offered a unique and leisurely pleasure.
"This is so delicious!" Lin Song, though small, had a big appetite, his cheeks puffing out.
"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you." Lin Yao couldn't help but find Lin Song's eating habits a little amusing. She picked up a piece of golden-brown, crispy-skinned sweet and sour pork, put it in her bowl, and took a small bite. The sweet and sour taste spread in her mouth, accompanied by the crispy texture, making her squint her eyes slightly—this was the taste!
Wang Xiaoyu and Wang Shan sat to one side, looking at the sumptuous dishes on the table, their expressions somewhat restrained. Wang Shan was alright; when his son and daughter-in-law were alive, the family had enjoyed a period of good times. But this was the first time Wang Xiaoyu had ever seen such a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate, let alone tasted it.
Noticing the awkwardness of the grandfather and grandson, Lin Yao quickly said, "Grandpa, Ayu, please don't be shy, eat as much as you like. Ayu is my first apprentice, from now on we're family. Try it and see if it suits your taste."
Hearing this, the grandfather and grandson relaxed a little.
Wang Xiaoyu first picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork, as she had long been curious about its taste. She put the pork in her mouth, gently bit down, and with a "crunch," the crispy outer layer cracked open. Then, the sweet and sour sauce spread across her tongue, instantly filling her mouth with a rich flavor, followed by the full aroma of meat—a symphony of tastes.
Wang Xiaoyu's eyes lit up instantly, and a look of surprise appeared on her face. She said indistinctly, "This meat tastes so special. I've never eaten such delicious meat before." As she spoke, she couldn't help but take another big bite, savoring its wonderful flavor.
Seeing his granddaughter enjoying her meal so much, Grandpa Wang picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and tried it himself. The moment the meat entered his mouth, he felt even more certain that having his granddaughter apprentice under Miss Lin was the absolutely right decision, and he kept praising, "Master Lin's cooking skills are truly exceptional."
The five of them were completely satisfied with the meal, their bellies full.
A note from the author:
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① Quoted from Baidu
②Quoted from Baidu
③ Quoted from Baidu
④ Quoted from Baidu
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