Xu Milu's family had a very lavish New Year's Eve dinner this year. The first dish was four cold dishes: salt-braised beef, braised pork knuckle, cold radish greens, and spicy purple seaweed salad.
Then came the hot dishes: Four Happiness Meatballs, Honey Spiced Chicken, Braised Pork Ribs, Spicy Chicken Cubes, Braised Pig Trotters with Soybeans, Braised Lamb with Radish, Braised Pork and Cabbage with Vermicelli, and Braised Pork with Yellow Wine and Abalone.
Next came two steamed dishes: steamed pork belly with preserved mustard greens and steamed silver scallops. Then came three fish and shrimp dishes: braised sakura shrimp with open back, peony pickled fish, and sweet and sour live fish.
Finally, there were two desserts: eight-treasure rice with candied fruit and green onion, and stewed pear with honey and white fungus.
Of course, the most important thing, dumplings, cannot be forgotten. They are filled with green radish and mutton, large and generously filled, symbolizing a prosperous and fulfilling year ahead.
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The table was laden with sixteen dishes. The braised beef and braised pork knuckle were bought from a deli outside. The four-happiness meatballs were prepared in advance by Liu Hongmei. The dumplings were made by Old Man Liu and Liu Hongjun together. The rest of the dishes were all made by Xu Milu under the guidance of Old Man Liu.
Honey-spiced chicken is made in a similar way to roasted chicken. Cut the whole chicken in half, rub it with sesame oil and a little salt, and set it aside.
Next, mince garlic, scallions, and ginger. Add cooking wine, soy sauce, and five-spice powder, and mix well. Poke holes in the surface of the chicken, then add the seasonings and spread them evenly. Marinate for half an hour, then place it on a baking tray. Bake over high heat for 15 minutes until the chicken skin changes color. Then, carefully brush on a layer of peach blossom mica honey and continue baking.
Fifteen minutes before the chicken was ready to be taken out of the oven, Xu Milu brushed another layer of honey water on the chicken to ensure that the skin would be fragrant and crispy.
Braised pork ribs and spicy diced chicken are quick and easy dishes to make, and pork stew with vermicelli is also simple. Xu Milu made them in no time.
Soybean stewed with pig's trotters sounds simple, but it's actually the most time-consuming dish to make.
This year, Xu Lanjuan's family slaughtered a pig. Before the Lunar New Year, Liu Hongmei sent half a pig over. She didn't know where she found out, but Liu Hongmei had just had surgery, so she insisted on sending all four pig trotters.
The pork from pigs raised by farmers is neither injected with water nor fed any feed. Even the pig trotters are pink and tender after being plucked and washed.
Cut the pig's trotters into pieces, put them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam to remove the odor, then remove the pig's trotter pieces and set aside. Mince the scallions, ginger and garlic. Heat oil over high heat, add sugar and stir-fry until hot, then coat the pig's trotters with the caramelized sugar.
Once the pork trotters in the pot are coated with a bright caramel color, sauté scallions, ginger, and garlic until fragrant. Then add star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves for seasoning. Use cooking wine to remove any unpleasant odors, and add dark soy sauce. Stir-fry evenly.
Xu Milu checked that the pig's trotters in the pot were almost cooked, so she added half a pot of boiling water. After the water boiled, she added the soybeans that had been soaked overnight, then covered the pot and simmered them slowly.
The soybean stewed pig's trotters have been simmering in the pressure cooker since morning. By now, the pig's trotters are so tender that the bones are soft and the skin is falling apart; they can be easily broken with chopsticks.
Old Liu lifted the pot lid to take a look, nodded in satisfaction, and then gave some instructions:
"Don't forget about the pickled fish. The best pickled cabbage is the salted pickled cabbage from Old Li's in the market. The pickled cabbage we make at home just doesn't taste the same."
"Don't worry, Grandpa, it's the pickled cabbage I bought from them."
Xu Milu responded in unison, her hands moving without pause. She struck the grass carp hard on the upper right side with the back of her knife, pulled with her left hand, and sliced it open with her right, pulling out the fish's internal organs.
When eating pickled fish, the first thing to enjoy is the taste, and the second is the freshness. Xu Milu didn't dare to stop and quickly removed the scales and gills. With a "bang", the fish spine was successfully separated from the fish meat.
With a flick of her wrist, she effortlessly sliced a piece of fish into the bowl, as easily as slicing tofu.
The sliced fish fillets are carefully rubbed with salt to remove the fishy smell. After washing them clean, they are mashed with sweet potato starch into a paste. The fish bones are dry-fried in a pan until fragrant, then removed. Next, ginger shreds, scallion segments, pickled peppers, green and red peppers, and pickled cabbage shreds are added and stir-fried until fragrant.
Once all the side dishes are fragrant, add boiling water and bring to a boil. Add a little salt and pepper, and finally add the fish slices one by one.
At this stage, the entire kitchen is filled with a tangy and spicy aroma, constantly stimulating one's taste buds.
But the dish wasn't finished yet. Xu Milu worked quickly, heating oil in a separate pot, sprinkling white sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, and chopped green onions into the sauerkraut fish pot, and then pouring the steaming hot oil over it—
"Sizzle..."
The fish slices floating on the surface come into full contact with the hot oil and immediately curl up. The fish meat turns white, and the soup in the pot is a light gold color, just like a "peony painting" made up of fish meat.
Xu Milu didn't stop, nor did she feel tired; in fact, she was quite excited—watching these delicacies appear from her hands as if by magic, Xu Milu felt it was a very fulfilling thing.
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As dish after dish was served, everyone in the room looked on in amazement.
Such a New Year's Eve dinner would be considered very lavish even if served outside, with a full range of cold and hot dishes, including shrimp, fish, meat, and eggs, and it was all prepared in just half a day.
The aroma of the food filled the room, wafting straight into everyone's nostrils and hitting them right in the head. Who wouldn't be overwhelmed by it?
"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and take pictures! I want to post them on your WeChat Moments so everyone can see the New Year's Eve dinner my granddaughter made!"
Old Liu was the happiest and quickly directed Sun Zhi to take pictures for him. Sun Zhi was a little flattered. To be honest, the old man used to dislike him a bit, but their relationship had improved a lot over the past few days.
"Dami, did you make all of this? You're amazing! You've only been learning to cook from your grandpa for a short time, and you're already doing it all on your own!"
Liu Hongjun kept taking pictures, not wanting to touch her chopsticks at all. Seeing Liu Hongmei's eyes welling up with tears, she couldn't help but whisper something to her sister:
"It's the New Year, such a joyous occasion, why are you red-eyed? Don't let Dad see you, he'll scold you!"
Liu Hongmei glared at her. Her younger sister had a lucky life, a carefree optimist who had never suffered any hardship in her life. Looking at the New Year's Eve dinner table, she suddenly remembered the old days.
“I’m just happy, what do you know? I remember when Dami was still in high school, during the Spring Festival, the three of us, mother and son, hid from those debt collectors. The three of us didn’t dare to go home for the New Year, so we spent the night in a steamed bun shop. Back then, we didn’t even have a New Year’s Eve dinner. Look at us now.”
Liu Hongjun also fell silent. She only knew that her sister had a hard life in the past. Although she had helped her, Liu Hongmei was stubborn and would swallow her anger. She had never heard of this incident.
Liu Hongmei choked up a bit: "I'm just happy. I've made it through. My family has finally made it through."
"Alright, alright, that's enough. Don't let the child worry, there are outsiders here."
Liu Hongjun's eyes darted around, and she suddenly said mysteriously:
"How about I tell you something happy to cheer you up? You know Liu Xing's fiancée from a while back, right? The tall, thin one, the girl named Xiaoting?"
Before Liu Hongmei could answer, she gloated:
"Oh dear, it's over! It happened before the Lunar New Year, just these past couple of days, you didn't know, did you? Tian Meiling was furious, saying she'd already given the bride price, and then her boyfriend broke up with her!!"
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