...
Li Ning held half of his face and applied ice to it, but no one present seemed to care about him. Even his assistant, Xiao Sun, looked completely lost, gasping for breath with his mouth agape.
It smells so good.
The steaming white smoke rose with the wind, and the aroma swept over everyone present with an extremely domineering force.
The first thing you smell is spiciness!
The spiciness of the bicolor mandolin peppers has been locked in the pot for three hours, and now it is fully released. The concentrated spiciness explodes like a bomb, and within five meters of Xu Milu, no one can help but drool.
The spiciness isn't the harshness of chili peppers stir-fried in hot oil; it's a spiciness infused with various spices. When you inhale it, there's a slight sweet aftertaste on the back of your tongue.
"It smells so good! Is this spicy braised food? *slurp*"
Xiao Sun swallowed hard, drooling over the chopsticks in Xu Milu's hand.
No one had a chance to laugh at her. In fact, everyone's expressions were similar, so no one spoke, afraid that if they opened their mouths, they would drool all over the place.
It smells so good!
This aroma seems to carry a lively atmosphere, easily reminding people of their childhood when the whole family would gather together, watching the roast meat pot bubbling away, which would evoke a secret sense of anticipation.
—There must be something delicious in that pot.
Xu Milu was also quite tempted by the smell. She sniffed and felt that her nasal cavity was filled with the aroma of numbing spiciness.
She used her chopsticks to stir the various ingredients in the pot. Spicy items like duck wings and duck necks were covered in bright red sauce, thick and oily, making one want to grab them and devour them.
The pork ribs were cooked through, with the fat still clinging to them and turning reddish. When you pierced them with chopsticks, the meat trembled slightly. Xu Milu had no doubt that if you had a bowl of rice, this piece of meat would melt in your mouth.
"Um—how about we start eating? Can we still eat?"
Xu Milu hesitated and looked around. A group of people were nodding their heads like chickens pecking at rice, as if afraid that Xu Milu would change her mind.
"Come on, let's put some on Hongmei's plate first."
"Oh my god, this smells so spicy! I can't take it, I'm so hungry! What kind of chili is this? It's so flavorful!"
"Hey, give me a bite, who can resist this flavor!"
"Use my bowl first, we can eat together."
A group of people grabbed bowls, and those without bowls made do with cups, looking as if they wanted to jump right into the pot.
"Wow, this smell is amazing! Junior Aunt, you're incredible!!"
Li Ning was feeling a bit better now, so he simply found a large plate and, taking advantage of his tall and strong physique, filled it to the brim with duck meat and placed it on the table in front of the group.
"These are bicolor peppers that were just delivered by the Honghe Research Institute a couple of days ago. They say it's a new variety. Let's see how they taste."
As Xu Milu spoke, she picked up a still-warm duck foot and tentatively took a bite.
After being cooked in a high-temperature, extremely spicy braising sauce, the duck feet have become soft and tender inside. With one bite, the collagen melts on your tongue, and the spiciness that has perfectly seeped into the inside immediately bursts out, causing a slight numbness on the tip of your tongue and waves of heat in your mouth.
The most wonderful thing is the three spoonfuls of brown sugar granules that Xu Milu added. The spiciness of the braising sauce itself was not masked, but rather made even more outstanding by the sweetness. After the spiciness went down your throat, the slight aftertaste would then linger on your taste buds, making it so addictive that you couldn't stop eating it.
The allure of the bicolor mandolin pepper lies in its extreme spiciness, yet it doesn't irritate the stomach. Instead, it continuously stimulates the taste buds on the tip of the tongue, making you want to eat more and more—it's practically addictive.
"Slurp, little aunt, your spicy braised dishes are absolutely amazing! They're so much better than those other duck dishes. They're numbing, spicy, and fragrant, and even the bones are tender."
Li Ning, incredibly resilient, chewed with the other half of his face, not even letting go of the bones, sucking and gnawing at them; even a dog would shed tears upon seeing his bones.
"The Sichuan peppercorns aren't good enough; they're lacking in numbing flavor. The braising liquid isn't flavorful enough either. Next time, we need to add more sugar. You guys eat it; I'll go back and braise another pot for my master."
Xu Milu ate two pieces and then stopped, instead taking notes on her phone about what she didn't like.
Li Ning felt like a million alpacas were stampeding through his mind.
This feeling is like the top student in the class who gets a perfect score on the exam, and then having to criticize and educate yourself in front of him.
It's so curly, it's really curly.
...
...
Xu Milu stirred the bottom of the pot with a spoon, then turned the top layer of bean curd sheets, dried tofu, and edamame to the bottom to soak for a while before scooping them out.
Bean curd sheets and dried bean curd don't easily absorb flavor. So, take a sheet out, cut it into thin strips, and you don't need to add any seasonings. The sauce flavor will soak into it, making it spicy, numbing, and deliciously dry.
The most popular item is the braised duck neck, which changes color after being braised. It's a long piece, and all the flavors have perfectly permeated the bone. When you tear the meat off with your teeth, the numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant flavors continuously stimulate your tongue. If you gently suck on the bone, your whole throat will be filled with the rich taste of the sauce.
Even the bones are so tender they crumble into crumbs, leaving a slightly sweet and spicy aftertaste.
The braised edamame is even better. It's piping hot, with the edamame skins covered in broth. You pinch the end of the edamame and pop it into your mouth. With a pull, the soft, tender edamame falls between your teeth. Sucking on the broth on the edamame skin makes you crave a carbonated drink.
"This is so spicy! But I can't stop eating it, it's so delicious! Give me a bowl of rice, I can eat three big bowls!!"
Xiao Sun was slurping from the spiciness, her eyes welling up with tears, but when she looked up:
Good heavens!
The entire field ridge was filled with people gnawing on spicy braised food. Some weren't good at eating spicy food, and their lips turned bright red, but they still wouldn't let go. Others were covered in sweat but kept eating, slurping and slurping.
Some people simply can't handle spicy food. Seeing others enjoying it, they couldn't resist trying a bite, and as a result, tears streamed down their faces as they cried and stuffed dried tofu into their mouths.
It's really spicy!
But it's really delicious!
The wind was chilly on the ridges of the fields, but no one complained of the cold. Their faces were flushed and they were dazed from the heat, their eyes glazed over, and their mouths were full of fiery temper.
I'm so happy.
Eating a hot, spicy braised dish like this in the dead of winter makes you feel like you're on fire.
Even after sweating profusely, I feel comfortable and refreshed.
Someone who didn't know better might think this was some kind of illegal activity!
...
In the end, the whole pot of spicy food was finished, and even the braising liquid that Xu Milu felt was imperfect was packed up and taken home by Aunt Zhou.
“This tastes good. My husband has a terrible nose. If he smells me, he might not be able to sleep all night. I’ll take this soup home for him to soak rice in, so he can have a taste. If he doesn’t eat it, I’ll give it to my son. It’s so delicious, we can’t let it go to waste.”
Aunt Zhou's lips were swollen, but she looked completely at ease.
Xu Milu paused for a moment, unsure whether to criticize Aunt Zhou's obvious disdain for her son, or to remind her that her lips were swollen like sausages.
...
...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com