Chapter 126 Fried Sausage and Pig-Killing Feast [First Update]...
He Yuzhen was suddenly called by name. Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw Wen Fan sticking his head out of the window of a van.
"...Wen Fan!"
He Yuzhen was overjoyed: "Why are you here?"
Wen Fan jumped out of the car: "My parents and I are here to buy pigs!"
When Mr. Wen saw from afar that it was his daughter's classmate, he slowed down and rolled down the window. He Yuzhen also greeted Mr. and Mrs. Wen.
Hello, Uncle and Aunt!
Hello, hello.
He Yuzhen tugged at Wen Fan's down jacket sleeve: "Are you going to the Lou family to buy pigs? Don't go yet, something seems to be going on at their house."
Wen Fan: "Huh? What is it?"
He Yuzhen whispered, "It seems the village is talking about requisitioning land again, and this time they're saying they'll include the Lou family's persimmon grove..."
He Yuzhen pursed her lips. Ever since she started junior high school, the village had been saying they were going to requisition land every year. They kept saying it year after year, like the boy who cried wolf, making everyone panic.
This year, the news came even earlier. It's only December, and the rumors are already quite detailed, saying that this time the land is really going to be requisitioned.
Not only will the houses near the mountain in the village be expropriated, but the persimmon grove of the Lou family will also be included.
I don't know who drew that land requisition map that everyone had a copy of. It included the Lou family's persimmon grove and Lou Da's house, but not Lou Da and his brother's.
In this way, Lou Da has all the advantages of timing and location. If the persimmon orchard is really requisitioned, it will be valued according to the economic category. What people fear most is not that everyone lacks something, but that you have it and I don't.
Even though the news of the land acquisition hadn't been confirmed, the two brothers of the Lou family couldn't sit still and came to discuss it with Lou Da during the New Year.
The implication was that he wanted to redistribute the persimmon orchard.
He Yuzhen sighed, "Luckily I ran into you first. It's not good to get involved in these family matters. Why don't you go sit at my grandma's house for a while? I'll have my cousin go check on things later, then you can go."
He Yuzhen and Wen Fan held hands, with Wen's father driving behind them. They soon arrived at Grandma He's house.
Grandma He still remembered Wen Fan, and Wen's father and mother also looked kind. The old lady warmly welcomed them, taking out the melon seeds and candies that she had specially bought for the New Year and kept offering them to them.
"I heard from Xiao Fan that you own a restaurant. Are you here to buy persimmons this time?"
Mother Wen: "No, no, I mainly came to see the pigs this time."
Wen's mother explained that her shop was preparing for the Lunar New Year and she wanted to buy two pigs.
"You can never buy good pigs in the city."
Although there are requirements for the weight of pigs to be sold, some people always try to take shortcuts. They slaughter and sell pigs that are not very big, and some sell old sows that have no breeding value. If you are not careful, you will fall into a trap.
Grandma He nodded repeatedly: "That's right. Yuzhen's father also said before that you can't buy good pork in the city. Any pork that claims to be black pork or local pork doesn't taste good. So I raise a few pigs every year, not for anything else, but just to feed my family."
After saying that, Grandma He enthusiastically pulled Mr. and Mrs. Wen to see the pigs she raised.
Wen Fan's pockets were stuffed with several snacks by He Yuzhen, and both of them were chewing on lollipops.
He Yuzhen suddenly muttered, "Oh no."
He grabbed Wen Fan and ran outside.
Wen Fan: "...What's broken?"
He Yuzhen: "My grandma, she definitely wanted to ask your parents if they wanted to buy our pig."
He Yuzhen whispered to Wen Fan, "Actually, recently a lot of people in the village have been coming to buy pigs. My grandma raises three pigs, and she wants to sell one, but my dad won't let her, saying that there aren't enough for our own family to eat..."
Grandma He watched as other families sold their pigs, and she couldn't bear to eat them all, even though she had raised them for a year!
Sell at least one of them; at least you'll see some money.
She was determined to sell the pig, but no one in the village had come to see it in the past few days, so Grandma He could only wait. Eventually, the Wen Fan family came to visit.
Wen Fan also stood by the pigpen watching the pigs. Grandma He's pigs were indeed quite good; they looked plump and large, white pigs, burrowing in the trough and grunting as they ate.
Grandma He kept saying how well she raised the pigs, and even the slow-witted Mr. Wen could tell that the old lady wanted to sell them.
She quietly asked Wen Fan, "Is your classmate's family planning to sell their pig to us?"
Wen Fan: "...Buy it if you want, two pigs aren't enough anyway."
One pig is only enough for the shop's consumption for two days, but there are so many ways to cook pork. If you cook every part of the pig in different ways, it will be almost Chinese New Year.
It will take nearly two weeks, and at least five or six pigs.
Wen Fan had come to the village today intending to check out other people's pigs. Since He Yuzhen's family had one, there was no harm in ordering one first.
Besides, Wen Fan thought the pig looked good as soon as he saw it. The old man raised pigs very well, and you could tell at a glance that the pork was of good quality.
As soon as Wen Fan said "good pig," his mother immediately started calculating the price with Grandma He.
Grandma He was a little embarrassed: "I didn't mean to steal your business from the Lou family... I was just thinking that if you don't like the Lou family's pigs, you can come and see mine..."
Mother Wen smiled: "It's alright, we were planning to order more anyway, the Lou family doesn't have enough."
Upon hearing this, Grandma He was completely relieved and warmly invited the person into the house, offering to calculate the price for her.
“Someone is coming to the village to buy live pigs. They start buying pigs that weigh 300 jin (150 kg) and pay 7 yuan per jin. My pigs are quite fat. I weighed them once before and they weighed 320 jin (160 kg). They must have grown even more recently… So, I’ll give you a discounted price: 2,000 yuan per pig, no extra charges.”
Grandma He was incredibly generous. Her children were doing well, and she had her own pension. She didn't rely on the pigs for a living. However, seeing others selling them made her itchy to sell some for money as well.
Now that it's my granddaughter's classmate's house, of course I have to give them a discount.
Mother Wen: "How could I let you suffer a loss? Whatever it is, that's what it is."
Grandma He: "Don't mention it. You're so good at cooking, I'm happy to sell you the pig. I'd be angry if the pig I raised was so well cooked badly."
Just like He Yuzhen's father, every year he brings back pork that is terribly cooked, and the pig dies in vain.
Mother Wen laughed heartily: "Alright, I won't refuse. I'll make some sausages and cured meat later, and have my husband bring some to you!"
Grandma He was overjoyed: "That's wonderful!"
Having agreed on the sale of a pig, the family decided that it was about time and went upstairs.
The house was deserted, as if the argument that had just taken place there was an illusion.
Lou Heng and Lou Yue, the siblings, were not home. Lou Da remained silent, while Feng Huijuan mustered her spirits to entertain Wen's mother and her family.
"Sister Yingzhi, I really had something to do today, otherwise I would have been waiting for you at the village entrance long ago."
Wen's mother patted her hand: "It's okay, it's easy to find here. Xiao Fan played with her classmates for a while... How about I come back later?"
Feng Huijuan's eyes were a little red, clearly indicating that something unpleasant had just happened at home.
Feng Huijuan shook her head. There was no time for so much sorrow and tears; business was the most important thing right now. She took the Wen family to the pigsty to see the pigs, and then gritted her teeth.
"Sister Yingzhi, do you only want two pigs? I have four of them, and I can sell them all."
Wen's mother was somewhat surprised: "Aren't you keeping some for your own family to eat?"
Feng Huijuan: "I'm not keeping it."
Over the years, she has been fortunate to receive help from her relatives. This year, she finally managed to save a little money, and she had planned to give half a pig to each of her two brothers-in-law's families. However, after today's commotion, she no longer wants to give them any.
Let's just sell it all, pay off the debt, and save the other party from saying something about "trading debt for forests".
Wen Fan stared at the pigs and nodded to his father. Feng Huijuan and her husband were raising pigs quite well; each of their four pigs was incredibly plump.
Wen's mother didn't ask too many questions. If Feng Huijuan said she wanted to sell, she would buy it.
The four pigs were priced at a total of nearly 10,000 yuan. The Lou family was responsible for finding someone to clean and prepare the pigs, and Mr. Wen would come to pick them up every two days.
After finalizing the deal on five pigs, Mr. and Mrs. Wen strolled around the village again. They found that Feng Huijuan's white radishes were all sold out, and now they only had some dried vegetables at home.
Seeing Wen Fan staring at her, Feng Huijuan filled a basket and gave it to the Wen family.
"Sister Yingzhi, don't worry, I will make sure everything is prepared properly."
Wen's mother: "I trust you to handle things."
There were five pigs in total. Mother Wen thought to herself that she would keep enough for her own family to eat, and then rest once the rest were sold out!
Early the next morning, Wen's father drove to the village to pick up the pig. Feng Huijuan was indeed clever; she found someone to slaughter the pig early and collected the blood in a container.
She was also good at handling things, arranging to slaughter Grandma He's pig first, and then put her own pig aside for later.
Father Wen emptied the back row of the car and put the pork, along with the blood, on it. The pig's internal organs were placed in a separate large basin.
After giving a few instructions, Mr. Wen brought the pork to the shop.
It was just past dawn, and Wen Fan was waiting in the shop. Seeing the three layers of snow-white lard, Wen Fan clapped his hands in satisfaction: "Let's begin."
The kitchen immediately sprang into action.
Wen Fan deftly cut the pork apart with a boning knife.
Pork ribs, tenderloin, front neck, plum blossom, foreleg, hind leg, shank, rump, trotters, tail, bone, head, ears, pork belly...
Each part of the body has its own way of being prepared.
That's why Wen Fan has become too lazy to write the menu on the blackboard.
She planned to try a novel approach: ordering food after it's cooked, cooking as many dishes as needed, and serving them fresh on the spot.
With a large basin of pig's blood, Wen Fan first made pig's blood sausage.
Mix the broth with hot water and seasonings, using a roughly 1:1 ratio of blood to water. After mixing the blood, take the small intestines, thoroughly clean them, fill them with blood, tie both ends tightly, and cook them over low heat. Prick the intestines with a toothpick once in the middle; as long as no blood seeps out of the casing, it's done.
Fresh pig blood sausage has a slightly fishy smell, but it's not unpleasant.
After making several skewers, Wen Fan kept some pig's blood to modify the soup base and made a separate section of sausage.
After the sausage was cooked, Wen Fan took it out, cut it into round slices, heated oil in a pan, and coated both sides of the sausage with a layer of starch before frying. Soon, the outer casing shrank due to the heat, and the originally uniform round pieces looked like they had a rubber band in the middle. The sausage gave off a fried aroma.
After making this fried sausage, Wen Fan prepared a bowl of garlic sauce.
"Try it."
Yao Qingqin, who came to work early in the morning, had never seen this kind of food before, and couldn't wait to stuff a bite into it.
"tasty!"
The fried sausage is golden and crispy on both sides, while the middle is tender and bouncy like pig's blood. The pig's blood itself has a unique flavor when covered by garlic sauce.
Yao Qingqin ate a few pieces and became more and more addicted.
However, Wen's mother ate a piece and said she didn't like it.
"It tastes pretty good, but I just can't get used to eating pig's blood."
Wen Fan: "It's alright, there are other things too."
Fried sausage is a local snack, and its flavor is destined to be accepted by only a portion of people, so Wen Fan only made a little for his family to try.
Wen Fan took out all the freshly made blood sausages and cut them into pieces. Then there were sauerkraut, pork belly, pork bones, and the frozen tofu from a while ago also came in handy.
A pot of fragrant pork stew was so delicious that many early-arriving customers couldn't help but lift the curtain and ask if it was ready just by smelling the aroma.
"It smells so good!"
The appeal of "made to order" lies not only in attracting customers, but also in the freshness of the ingredients, which ensures an aroma unlike anything before.
Wen Fan cooked a huge pot of food, indicating that his mother should oversee the sale.
"Anyway, this is the only pot we have today, and it will be sold out by noon."
Besides preparing the pork stew, Wen Fan immediately began preparing other dishes.
He handed the pork belly to Wen's father to cut into strips, cubes, slices, and minced meat, while Wen Fan began to cook the braised pork hock.
A large, savory braised pork hock is placed in a pot, while pig's trotters, soybeans, and peanuts are added to a clay pot. Pork bones are cracked open in the middle and placed in a deep pot to simmer a large pot of rich pork bone soup.
Wen Fan glanced at his watch: "That's about it."
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