Chapter 100 Chapter 100-Two-in-one braised pork offal
The large and small intestines are ready, and there are two pig lungs.
Lin Chuntao actually likes to eat pig lungs very much, but it is difficult to prepare them well. Like pig intestines, they need to be repeatedly rinsed with water to wash out all the blood in the lungs so that the fishy smell will be less.
The pig kidneys and pig hearts were saved for frying, and the pig liver was also saved. Lin Chuntao planned to save the pig tripe to stew pig tripe and chicken soup later for her sisters to taste, so this time she only braised the intestines and lungs.
After cleaning everything, cut it into small pieces and put it into a pot of cold water. Lin Chuntao poured in some wine, added a lot of dried ginger slices, and threw in a few sections of green onion. Boiled it first to remove the foam and some fishy smell.
After cooking for about an incense stick, the foam came out. Lin Chuntao scooped up the foam, took out the food and washed it again with warm water, then cleaned the pot. Heat oil in a pot and stir-fry the ingredients, onion, ginger, garlic, chili segments and peppercorns until fragrant. Add a little sauce and a little malt sugar and continue to stir-fry. After the fragrance comes out, add water. Lin Chuntao put the intestines and pork into the pot, and then add cinnamon, bay leaves and other spices, cover it, bring to a boil over high heat and simmer over low heat.
Lin Chuntao's movements were skillful, and her movements were as smooth as flowing water.
Tomorrow's braised eggs still need to be made, so Lin Chunxing lit another fire, washed the eggs and boiled them.
The marinade for boiled eggs is prepared in advance. After the eggs are cooked, peel them and put them into the marinade to boil. The yard is immediately filled with fragrance.
Lin Chunxing was busy with her own things, and Lin Chuntao had a moment of free time. She went to the homestead and saw that Lao Sang and others had already started laying blue bricks.
Sun Hu, Yu Meixi and the others were also busy in an orderly manner. Lin Chuntao looked around and came back.
There was no need to steam beans today, so Meng Yun picked pepper stems with Grandma and the others. Lin Chunhe couldn't sit still, so she sat next to Meng Yun. The two of them held the same winnowing basket and chatted while working.
When the beans are almost dried, they can be ground and mixed into the jar. Lin Chuntao takes the time to mix the pepper powder and salt in the right proportions and sets them aside for later use.
After finishing, I looked at the pork in the big wooden basin. It had cooled down. The room was a little cooler, but not particularly cold. The fresh meat would be fine for two or three days, but it would probably become smelly after a long time.
There are several ways to process it. You can smoke the meat, pickle it with salt, or fry it. Put the oil and meat together in a jar and it can be stored for a long time without going bad.
But the taste will be different if stored in these ways.
Smoking and frying the meat were a bit troublesome. Lin Chuntao thought for a moment and called Pei Ying over to scoop out some salt. She decided to marinate it with salt first. It would not require too much salt to finish eating it in more than a month. Just a light marinating would be enough.
Pei Ying had never seen or cooked what Lin Chuntao said, so he thought the meat was to be fried and left alone.
"Well, tell me how to do it."
Lin Chuntao said, "Please bring the table in. I'll go get some salt."
Pei Ying went to bring in the table. Lin Chuntao took a large bowl and scooped half a bowl of salt. She told Pei Ying how to rub the salt on the meat. Pei Ying said, "This seems to need a lot of salt."
Lin Chuntao nodded and said, "After pickling, you don't need to add salt when frying or boiling it."
Pei Ying couldn't help laughing when he heard that.
Lin Chuntao said, "We probably won't be eating it all in a short time, so we don't need to add too much salt. Just marinate it a little bit."
"Pay special attention to the area around the bones; you need to put more salt than other areas."
Following Lin Chuntao's words, Pei Ying started to work, while Lin Chuntao helped to sprinkle salt beside him.
Lin Chuntao was going to cook the two pig front legs, pig head and pig tail in the next few days, so she didn't process them and just left them there. She mainly pickled the two pig hind legs and two ribs.
It took them an hour and a half to finish. While cleaning up, Lin Chuntao spilled all the salt on the table onto the meat. She said to Pei Ying, "The meat will release brine in a few days. Then we can buy some tofu, soak it in the brine, and dry it. We can then eat the salted tofu skin, which is quite fragrant."
After this matter was settled, it was almost evening.
The intestines and pig lungs simmering on the stove were already fragrant. Lin Chuntao took a chopstick and poked at them. The chopsticks went through easily. Lin Duoer, standing nearby, leaned in and asked, "Sister, are they cooked?"
"It's cooked. Go get a clean earthenware pot."
Lin Duoer went and came back quickly, and Lin Chuntao put all the things into the earthenware jar and took the pot away.
"Sister, is it time to start steaming the rice?" Lin Chunxing asked from the side.
"Well, it's time to steam it."
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Lin Chunxing quickly went to get the steamer and pot and put them on the stove.
She brought the clay pot to the table and set it aside to cool down before starting to cut it.
As soon as it was brought over, Mrs. Hu said, "Chun Tao, what did you put in this braised pig intestine? It smells so good! Is this still pig intestine?"
Mrs. Deng also echoed, "That's right. Everyone says pig intestines are smelly. After slaughtering the pigs once a year, not many people cook them. They just chop them up and boil them in a pot of oil. The ones that are squeezed dry are a bit crispy and you can still eat a few pieces."
Lin Chuntao smiled when she heard this and said, "I feel embarrassed when my two aunts praise me so much."
They are not just praising it, it really smells good. Just smelling it makes my stomach growl.
Grandma smiled and said, "We are going to kill a pig this year, Chuntao. I'll ask you to help with the cooking then."
"Oh, if grandma calls me to eat the pig-killing dinner, I will definitely go there early."
Everyone laughed when she finished speaking. Aunt Guizhi said, "Chun Tao is really too busy. If she wasn't busy, she could make a feast for everyone. It would be a treat for everyone."
A few months ago, everyone ate at Qiao'er's banquet. Duo'er said that the pork liver was not tasty. Lin Chuntao thought that maybe it was not a good thing for a rural banquet to be too delicious.
The most important thing is that the gifts everyone gives are quite light. If these noodles are too delicious, then the money for buying vegetables and meat will have to be much higher, and not every family is so well-off.
After the food cooled down, Lin Chuntao took a knife and a sticky board and quickly cut it into slices.
Lin Chuntao tasted a piece herself. The intestines were already cooked until soft, and the marinade was very flavorful and fragrant, with a numbing and spicy taste. She then tasted a piece of pig lung, which was fragrant and springy. She sighed and said to Lin Chunxing, "Bring some bamboo sticks."
She cut the slices, put two slices on a bamboo skewer, and let each person taste a little. Using the bamboo skewers was convenient and saved the trouble of washing dishes.
It was so tempting that they took it without hesitation when Lin Chunxing offered it to them. Two pieces of pig lung and two pieces of intestine were skewered on a bamboo skewer. From the taste of the food, Sun smiled and said, "This doesn't seem to be the pig intestine and lung we know! It's like divine meat."
The old lady was exaggerating, but it was indeed delicious. Aunt Guizhi next to her couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Mrs. Hu said, "Mother, sister-in-law, we watched Chuntao wash it and made it."
My aunt and the others have already tasted Lin Chuntao's cooking, so they are not surprised by any delicious food. However, they will still be surprised the moment they put it in their mouths.
Lin Chunxing looked at the pot of pig intestines and lungs and wondered if she could sell them at that stall as well. Every day, she would braise a pot of pig offal, cut it up, and take it with her. She could sell it for a few coins per ounce. Those who loved drinking would buy at least half a pound to go with their drinks. Her business was sure to be good.
However, Lin Chunxing was just thinking about it for the time being. She had to wait a few days before telling Lin Chuntao.
After each of them ate two slices, Lin Chuntao invited them to eat again. Even though they still wanted to eat more, they felt embarrassed and quickly waved their hands to refuse.
The evening dish included braised pork offal. Lin Chuntao soaked some black fungus, cut some cucumber slices, and cut some meat slices, and made a small stir-fry. It had both meat and vegetables, and it wasn’t too greasy.
When the sun set, the foundation had been laid, and Lao Sang and his team had built the well. They set up the mold and built the wellhead. They usually had homemade manhole covers, which they could use directly.
Just when I was thinking of sending someone to call Lin Chuntao over to take a look, Lin Chuntao had already arrived.
Old Sang hurriedly said, "Mrs. Lin, come and see if there is anything else that needs to be improved. The well has been built."
Lin Chuntao walked around it and looked inside. She was very satisfied with the well.
Old Sang said, "Lady, you can just build a wooden rack for drawing water from it." He pointed at Sun Hu and said with a smile, "Old Sun knows how to do it. Just ask him to build one for you."
Sun Hu also agreed readily.
Lin Chuntao asked, "Will you come back to dismantle the mold in a few days?"
Lao Sang: "It won't affect you. Let's keep it for a few more days. When it's ready, Lao Sun can take it away and bring it back to me. I won't come over anymore."
Lin Chuntao nodded slightly and calculated the money with Lao Sang. Because the well was dug a little bigger, more blue bricks were used, and the total cost was almost nine hundred coins.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "The meal is ready. Let's go wash our hands and eat first."
Sun Hu, Yu Meixi and the others packed up and prepared to go eat. Lao Sang wanted to say that he didn't want to eat, but he was a little concerned about Lin Chuntao's cooking skills, so he didn't hesitate and followed them back to wash their hands and eat.
Today's dishes don't look as appetizing as the twice-cooked pork. The braised intestines and pig lungs are not very bright in color and look rather ordinary. Moreover, they don't smell particularly fragrant when they are not steaming hot.
A group of men would drink a little wine on weekdays, and pig ears and pig offal were their favorite braised foods.
I thought it was just an ordinary braised dish, but I didn’t expect it to give me such a divine feeling after taking one bite.
Old Sang took a deep breath and was glad that he stayed for the meal.
Old Ma and his friends wolfed down half a bowl of rice. Sun Hu and Lin Chuntao said, "Sister Chuntao, you have such a skill, why don't you sell braised food? If you do, your business will definitely be very good."
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "Brother, you're joking. I can't compare to those who specialize in making braised food."
Sun Hu waved his hands three times in a row.
"Don't be so modest, sister. This is much better than the ones at the braised food stall!"
After Sun Hu finished speaking, Yu Meixi said, "What you said makes me want to try it."
Yu Meixi usually doesn't eat pig intestines and pig lungs, so she didn't serve them just now. Hearing her words, Sun Hu quickly passed some to her and said, "Try it, these intestines and pig lungs are very delicious."
Yu Meixi is a little afraid of the taste of pig intestines, so she doesn't eat them on weekdays. She also thinks pig lungs are a bit disgusting to chew, so she doesn't eat them either.
Looking at Sun Hu's drunken look, it looked like he had just drunk two kilograms of liquor.
She couldn't help but be curious and tried a piece.
The inner wall of the braised sausage is soft and sticky, while the outer skin is actually a bit crispy. It is not the kind that is spongy, nor is it the kind that is hard to chew and makes you feel sick while chewing.
It was the first time she had eaten such delicious braised sausage. After swallowing it, she continued to taste a piece of pig lung.
The pig lungs taste very good, just like meat, not difficult to chew at all, and the flavor of the marinade is absorbed into it, making it very fragrant.
Yu Meixi looked at everyone and said with a smile, as if she had discovered a new world: "No, I have to go and scoop some. It's delicious."
As he said that, he went over and scooped half a spoonful into the bowl.
Pei Ying had eaten the braised pig's head made by Lin Chuntao before, which was delicious. As for the pig's large intestine and lung, he rarely ate them because he was always slaughtering pigs and was not particularly short of this kind of meat. Firstly, it was troublesome, and secondly, the taste of this thing was very fishy if not handled properly, which he could not stand.
As for the braised food stalls outside, he didn't drink on weekdays, so he almost never bought anything from them. Only when his master was still alive, the old man liked to drink and always asked him to buy some braised food. He would occasionally eat a bite or two, but the taste was average, so he lost interest.
This was the first time he had eaten something so delicious in all these years.
He thought that if he had not been lost and wandering outside, he would not have come to Yizhou. If he had not come to Yizhou, he would not have met Lin Chuntao. If that day had happened, he would definitely have missed out on countless delicacies in the world.
After dinner, Lin Chuntao went to get money from Lao Sang and had two delicious meals. Lao Sang also gave Lin Chuntao a small amount. The original amount was 864 coins, and he took 800 coins and left.
Before leaving, he asked Lin Chuntao to remember to save some sauce for him.
Sun Hu and his colleagues had to rush to finish their work. The days were long recently and it was still a while before dark. After dinner, they went back to work.
The well now had a cover. Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying said, "Let's buy two locks tomorrow and lock the cover at night."
"good."
They were busy until dusk before they dispersed. Yesterday, Lin Chuntao asked her aunt and others to bring her cousins, but today she didn't bring anyone.
No meat was cooked today, so Lin Chuntao took a piece of breast forkbone meat to take back to her aunt.
The meat in this area has some bones, but it has both fat and lean meat. It tastes delicious whether fried or boiled.
One piece weighed about five or six pounds. Seeing the piece of meat, the aunt-in-law hurriedly stopped Lin Chuntao and said, "What are you going to do with this meat? You keep it for yourself, we won't take it."
Lin Chuntao said, "I asked you to bring your sisters and the others, but you didn't bring any of them. Please take them home and cook them. They can heat them up and eat them at home tomorrow."
The eldest aunt said, "Why should we give them so much? It's too much. I'll cut a little and take it with me. I can just give them a feast tomorrow."
Lin Chuntao did not agree with her, nor did she cut the meat for her, and asked her to take it all away.
Lin Chuntao boiled two bowls of lard yesterday and today, and produced a lot of oil residue. She filled a bowl with it and asked them to take it back.
My aunt refused to take it, so Lin Chuntao said, "Don't be so polite to me, aunt. Big Brother Sun and the others are waiting for you. Just give this to my cousins as a snack."
My aunt-in-law looked back and saw that Yu Meixi and the others were indeed waiting there. Her face was troubled. My uncle said, "Just take what Chuntao asked you to bring back to the child."
My aunt had no choice but to take it away.
As soon as they left, the whole house seemed to become quiet, and the village became quiet too.
In the next few days, Pei Ying was mainly in charge of the house building work, while Lin Chuntao was busy making the sauce. After the beans were dried, they were put into the stone mill and ground into powder; the peppers with the stems removed were soaked in warm water, drained, and ground into pepper powder, which was mixed into the beans together with the previously prepared ingredients, and then the sauce jar was sealed.
Lin Chuntao filled six jars with 700 kilograms of bean sauce. Five jars would have been fine, but if they were too heavy, it would have been troublesome to move them in if it rained while she was drying the sauce.
The time of sealing the vat is different, and some people dry the sauce earlier and some later.
After this batch was packed and ready for fermentation, and after this batch was put into the tank, Lin Chuntao started to make the next batch.
This time she divided the 700 kilograms into three days. Next time she thinks it would be better to do more in one day so that it would be more convenient when drying the sauce.
Things went smoothly afterwards. My eldest and second aunts worked hard for a whole day, planting peppers and vegetables.
After finishing his work, he came over to help Lin Chuntao get another batch of beans.
Lin Changzong and his companions helped Lin Chuntao dig yellow clay while cutting thatch for her.
The busy days passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was September 15th. In the evening, Yu Meixi said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister Chuntao, we have enough yellow clay. You don't need to dig any more tomorrow. The thatch is almost done too."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said to Lin Changzong and the others, "Thank you so much, uncles, for all the help you've given me these days. Thank you, great grandfather, for all of this. After dinner, let's all sit down and have a cup of tea."
After they finished their meal and had tea, she and Meng Yun counted the money and packed it in red envelopes. Twenty coins a day, eighteen days in total, three hundred and sixty coins per person.
This was different from Sun Hu and the others, who just gave money directly. Her neighbors were all relatives, and she was still a junior. It would not look good if she just handed a string of money to others when they helped her. So she had discussed it with Meng Yun in advance, and after calculating it, they would write their names on the red envelope. When the time came, she would just give them a red envelope directly, which was a happy event in itself and looked festive.
After it was packed, it was placed on a bamboo plate. Meng Yun held it and Lin Chuntao went to serve it.
She gave it to her while thanking him, but her uncle and his friends refused to accept it. It was only after Lin Chuntao persuaded them that they accepted it.
Lin Changzong and the others had agreed to pay when they invited us, so it was okay to take it now. Even if they were relatives, they were only cousins.
The uncle felt uncomfortable when he held the red envelope. Lin Chuntao was his niece. If his sister was still alive and asked him to build a house, would he still take her money?
In his opinion, he couldn't take anything given by Xu Xiu, let alone Lin Chuntao.
But with so many people around, if he kept refusing, it would make the person who took it look bad, so Lin Chuntao persuaded him and he accepted it first.
I'm going to return it to her when I understand it.
It was getting late, so everyone went back.
Lin Changzong and his men returned with the red envelope. Although they did not see any money, the red envelope felt heavy and substantial in their hands. They had been working from morning till night for the past eighteen days, just like the autumn harvest, and were extremely exhausted.
But Lin Chuntao was willing to do so. They had been eating particularly well these days. Although they were tired, they all had rosy complexions and looked much better than Chen Dongniang who was at home.
Hu and Lin Jiahui receive their pay every day, so it doesn't have much impact.
However, Lin Cunzheng, Lin Changzong and others went home, closed the courtyard door, opened the red envelope, and found a long string of copper coins. After a while, there were 360 copper coins in a string. Four strings came into their house at once!
The old lady simply took out a hemp rope and strung the money together, leaving 440 coins.
She looked at her sons and said, "For the rest, do you want to each take one hundred and one or should I collect it all first?"
Lin Changzong looked at Chen Dongniang and said, "Let's take it ourselves. I want to make a dress for Dongniang."
The old lady said, "Okay, take it yourselves." She counted out 110 coins and handed them to Lin Cunzheng. "Here, this is yours. Do you want to keep it yourself or let me keep it for you?"
Lin Cunzheng frowned, and Lin Changzong laughed and said, "Mom, you are so mean! When has my father ever accepted money?"
The old lady took the money with a smile and said to Lin Changzong, "You keep it for yourselves. The three sisters will make clothes. I will buy cloth in a few days and make one for each of them."
When Chen Dongniang and Hu heard that there were new clothes, they smiled and said, "Thank you, mother!"
The children nearby were also clamoring to make new clothes. The old lady said, "You made them for the New Year, and made them for your mother to wear to work. If you make them now, won't you have nothing new to wear for the New Year?"
The half-grown children have grown up and know that their elders have been working hard recently, but the younger ones have been fooled by Sun.
Anyway, I will definitely have new clothes for the Chinese New Year this year, and I am so happy.
Lin Changsen and his two younger brothers, from the second branch of the Lin family next door, returned. They all had smiles on their faces and locked the gate after entering the yard.
Qiu looked at them like this and thought, they are all in their forties, why are they still laughing secretly?
"Did you pick up some money? Do you want to laugh or not?"
Lin Changsen took the red envelope out of his pocket and said to his mother, "We have dug enough yellow clay from Chuntao. There is no need to dig again tomorrow."
Qiu looked at the bag and smiled: "How much is there?"
Lin Changsen said, "I haven't counted them yet, let's count them now and see."
As he spoke, he brought the table over. The family gathered around the table and began to count. There were three hundred and sixty in each of the three bags. Mrs. Qiu took a deep breath and said, "Didn't you and your uncle take away more than two strings of Chuntao?"
Lin Changsen nodded.
The second son, Lin Changyuan, said to the old lady, "I see that the second uncle's family has become rich recently. The eldest aunt and the second sister-in-law, as well as the third son's family, are all helping Chuntao with work over there all day long. They must have paid them."
Qiu said, "It was given to you. Haven't you heard about it?"
Lin Changsen and the others shook their heads. Qiu said, "On the day Chuntao butchered the pig, Luo Baozhen said something mean to your sister-in-law, saying that so many people were helping Lin Chuntao with the work, and that she was praising her so much, so if she made any money, she would share it with them."
"Your sister-in-law must have been so angry that she said it directly."
"After Luo Baozhen found out, she told everyone. She even went to Chuntao to ask if there was any work, but Chuntao said no. When Luo came back, she felt that Chuntao was targeting her. She often complained in the village, saying that your uncle's family, after all, is the village head family, and it's shameful for a young woman to order them around. She said very harsh things."
Lin Changsen frowned upon hearing this, "Do my uncle and aunt know?"
Qiu said, "She should know, but it doesn't matter whether she knows or not. There are still many people in the village who know the truth. They can see that Chuntao has made money and may need to find someone to do the work in the future. I just listened to Luo's talk, and few people agreed."
After these words fell, the old man beside him said calmly: "Lao Wu's family is unlucky. They have a promising child like Chun Tao, but they don't even know where the rest of the family has gone."
Qiu turned around and glared at him.
"If they were still around, Chuntao and the others would be in big trouble. Isn't this a good thing? Back when the sisters were poor and pitiful, Laowu and the others could have severed ties with them. Now, they have even less to do with each other."
After Qiu finished speaking, the old man fell silent.
The old lady put all the money away, turned around to look at Lin Changsen and the others and asked, "Will Chuntao's house take several more days to build?"
Lin Changsen: "It will probably be healed in 16 or 17 days. The people she hired are quite reliable, not lazy ones."
Qiu said, "The trees haven't been cut down yet. Ask Chuntao when they'll be cut down, and you can go and help her. I went to the fields during the day and saw that the bean sprouts are turning yellow, and some corn is ready to be harvested. I'm going to get busy with the work in the fields."
Lin Changsen: "Give us two days to rest."
Qiu took the money and smiled: "Rest, I'll give you two days to rest at home and prepare to break the corn."
Lin Changsen smiled helplessly.
My uncle and his friends took Sun Hu and his friends' mule cart for a while before they split up and walked back at a fork in the road. It was already dark when they got home.
He took out the red envelope and said to the second and third brothers, "We won't accept this money from Chuntao. We'll give it back to her tomorrow."
The second and third uncles didn't say anything. The eldest aunt hissed coldly and said, "It's not appropriate to accept it, but I don't think Chuntao will accept it if we return it."
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