Chapter 11 Fuding Meat Slices
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As she spoke, Grandma She reached under the straw mat to take out some money. She Hongmei was both amused and exasperated, and quickly stopped her.
"Mom, how could I possibly need your money?"
The old lady has no income on a regular basis, relying entirely on the filial piety of her younger relatives during holidays and her monthly pension. She doesn't know how long she has saved up this hundred yuan. If her mother were to take this money, she's afraid her father would jump out of his coffin and beat her.
"What do you mean 'yours' and 'mine'? How can a family be so particular about money? When there are difficulties, we should face them together and get through them together." The old lady was very stubborn and insisted on taking out the money.
Although the old woman doesn't manage household affairs, she knows everything about the family. Over the years, she has had to take care of the two young children and the old woman herself. She can calculate how much money she can save at the end of the year with her eyes closed.
She's getting old and doesn't have many expenses, so since the family needs it, it's better to use it for them.
"Grandma, big businesses have big methods, and small businesses have small methods."
"Since we're just starting out, we'll definitely start small and try things out. Please keep your money for now. When we really need it later, we won't hesitate to ask you for it."
Seeing the two of them pushing and shoving each other back and forth like they were playing tai chi, She Ning, holding She Ni who had come over to watch the commotion, tried to persuade them.
"Mom, how much principal can we spare to cover the family's daily expenses?"
She Hongmei did the math and said, "About two hundred yuan."
Last year, the corn harvest was bountiful, and the price was a bit higher than in previous years. Three mu of land yielded 2,300 jin, and the price was 0.21 yuan per jin. After deducting fertilizer, she still made about 300 yuan. This year, she sold a lot of melons and vegetables to restaurants, which brought in about 70 or 80 yuan. The chickens she raised laid eggs, and after deducting what she ate at home, she also sold the surplus to restaurants. In the end, the family still has about 600 yuan.
Our family doesn't spend much on daily expenses. We grow our own rice, vegetables, and eggs. Apart from occasionally buying some meat and other food, we don't spend much. As for clothes, we have fabric at home, and we make our own new clothes, which doesn't cost much.
She kept 100 yuan as a daily fund for her family, 200 yuan as a reserve fund in case of any unexpected needs, and another 100 yuan to pay back to someone at the end of the month. The remaining 200 yuan was the start-up capital for setting up her stall.
"Two hundred yuan is enough," She Ning replied after thinking for a moment.
Prices are relatively low now. Pork is 0.8 yuan/jin, eggs are 0.38 yuan/jin, and beef is more expensive at 1.8 yuan/jin. She Ning has two options for the ingredients she sells at her stall.
One is Fuding meat slices, a famous snack in southern China. It is mainly made from lean pork and starch. The cooked meat slices are elastic and have a good texture. The soup is served with rice vinegar and chili, and sprinkled with cilantro. The sour and spicy taste is mixed with the light fragrance of cilantro, which is very tempting.
One is braised dishes. Chicken, duck, pork, beef, and vegetables can all be braised, whether meat or vegetables. She has several different flavor recipes, including red braising sauce, yellow braising sauce, and white braising sauce, as well as spicy and non-spicy ones.
She Hongmei and the others were stunned. They had never eaten any of the meat slices or braised dishes that She Ning mentioned.
"Is it tastier than roast duck?" Little She Ni swallowed hard, looked up at She Ning, and asked.
"Different flavors, all delicious."
"Wow, that was so delicious!" She still vividly remembers the roast duck she ate during the Chinese New Year this year. The freshly roasted duck had crispy skin, tender meat, and was full of juice. With one bite, the aroma of oil and meat mixed with the sweet and sour plum sauce made it not greasy at all, but rather left a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth.
Upon hearing her sister say it tastes just as good as roast duck, She Ni immediately declared it "super delicious!"
Hearing She Ning describe how delicious the food was, She Hongmei and Grandma She were also a little tempted. However, judging from the names of those delicacies, they didn't seem to be from their area.
“I read it in a book,” She Ning replied, meeting She Hongmei’s questioning gaze.
She Ning wasn't exactly lying; she had indeed seen these records about local delicacies in the treasure chest under the original owner's bed. One notebook contained two pages detailing the recipes for Fuding sliced meat and braised dishes.
There are also other dishes like jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes), thumb-sized pan-fried buns, and cold pot skewers. When she first saw them, she thought they were written by herself, as the handwriting was exactly the same and the cooking methods were very similar.
For example, many people use tapioca flour with lean meat to make Fuding sliced meat, but she prefers to use sweet potato flour, and she also likes to add pepper powder, as is the recipe in her notebook.
She was quite certain that she had never written in that notebook. The paper was yellowed and looked quite old, even though she had only recently transmigrated here.
"Oh, then let's make one each tomorrow and try it?" She Hongmei had no doubt about what She Ning said, which she had read in a book. From a young age, She Ning had strong hands-on skills. Despite being small and not even as tall as the stove, she loved to make all sorts of delicious things in the kitchen.
Her grandfather collected a whole bunch of books about food for her, so it wouldn't be surprising if one of them contained information about food.
She Hongmei is a very decisive person. Once she decides to do something, she immediately takes action. Before dawn the next day, she was no longer at home. When She Ning woke up, the lean meat had already been chopped into minced meat as she had agreed the day before.
Sleeping in the same room, She Ning had no idea when she got up, nor how long she had tried to keep the sound of chopping meat quiet so as not to disturb everyone.
In the dim candlelight, her slightly hunched back, graying temples, and rough hands bore witness to the hard work and sweat she had put into this family.
"Xiao Ning, you're up! Do you think this is the right size?" Turning around and seeing the person at the door, she wiped the slight sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and asked with a smile.
"Mom, you chopped it really well." She Ning wasn't exaggerating when she said this.
She Hongmei meticulously and carefully removed the tendons and fat from the pork and placed them in another bowl. The minced meat on the cutting board was very fine, looking even better than the meat ground by a meat grinder in later generations.
"That's fine, you teach me the rest." She Hongmei didn't let She Ning do it. She felt that since she was going to seriously set up a stall to make money, she had to learn the job from beginning to end. Watching others do it would never be as memorable as doing it yourself.
She Hongmei used a knife to scoop up the minced meat and put it into a basin. This time, they made a tasting test first, and only bought one and a half pounds of meat, which made the amount of meat in the basin seem particularly small.
However, if you want to set up a stall, you need at least 20 jin (10 kg) of meat; by then, the basins will be full.
She Ning instructed her to add salt, sugar, MSG, and other seasonings to the minced meat, mix it well, and then vigorously rub the minced meat with her wrists for about ten minutes. She then added a little scallion, ginger, garlic water, and baking soda to the minced meat and continued rubbing.
"Mom, now we can add the sweet potato starch in batches," She Ning said, pointing to the meat paste that She Hongmei had kneaded until it was sticky and could naturally stick to her hands.
The ratio of meat to sweet potato starch is 1:0.7. Add the weighed sweet potato starch to the minced meat in batches and continue stirring until it becomes sticky. Place it in cold water for later use.
Prepare the minced meat. She Ning, who was boiling water nearby, instructed her mother to use a spoon to scrape the minced meat into the boiling water, cover and cook for about two or three minutes.
While waiting, She Ning asked her to prepare the soup base. She put chopped green onions, cilantro, dried shrimp, and seaweed in a bowl. If you like spicy food, you can add chili peppers and rice vinegar. Then pour boiling soup over the ingredients in the bowl. When the meat slices in the pot float to the surface, they are cooked. Scoop the meat into the bowl. If you have the means, you can also drizzle sesame oil on top at the end.
The ingredients for the soup base can be randomly selected; if someone doesn't like cilantro, they can leave it out.
Following She Ning's instructions step by step, She Hongmei quickly prepared a bowl of fragrant Fuding pork slices.
"Mom, sister, what delicious food are you making?" Having just woken up, smelling a wonderful aroma of meat, She Ni appeared at the kitchen door with her messy, unkempt hair.
Seeing that her eyes weren't fully open yet, but her nose was already twitching as she sniffed in, She Ning couldn't help but chuckle and tugged at her little cheek: "Greedy cat, go brush your teeth and wash your face. After you finish breakfast, I'll take you to school."
"Good sister, good mom, you must wait for me before you eat." She hugged She Ning's waist and rubbed against her, then ran over and hugged She Hongmei's leg and rubbed against her again. Only then did she reluctantly run off to brush her teeth, looking back every few steps.
"I don't know who he takes after, being so greedy," She Hongmei said affectionately.
She Ning felt that this was good. Compared to She Ni, who was timid and hesitant at the beginning and only dared to hide behind her, this lively version of her was much better.
After all the Fuding sliced meat was cooked, She Hongmei delivered a bowl to Old Mrs. She's room before she came out to eat.
The weather was nice today, so they ate in the yard.
Beneath the revitalized peach tree, on the stone table, three steaming bowls contain tender, chewy, and smooth slices of meat, with a milky white broth and an irresistible aroma. Accompanied by the freshness of seaweed and dried shrimp, every bite is an ultimate tantalizing experience for the taste buds.
"I declare that this meat is my favorite meat!" Even though she couldn't remember its name, it didn't stop She Ni from happily announcing her favorite.
"Ah Ning, I also think this is great, it'll definitely sell well!" She Hongmei exclaimed as she swallowed the last mouthful of soup, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.
Not only does it taste delicious, but it also feels like it's all meat. Although people's lives are much better than before, very few families eat meat every day. Most people, like them, only eat it occasionally.
This Fuding pork slices, one pound of meat can make about two pounds of finished product, enough for seven or eight bowls. Each bowl costs 60 cents. One pound of pork is only 0.8 yuan. After deducting the cost of other ingredients and firewood, you can make at least 2 yuan.
If she eats 20 jin of meat a day, that's 40 yuan a day, 1200 yuan a month, and 2400 yuan for two months. She grows corn for more than four months, and even if she works herself to death, she only earns 300 yuan.
No wonder so many people set up stalls; the money comes so quickly. She Hongmei is already itching to set up her stall today.
Looking at her mother, who seemed to have been injected with chicken blood and was full of passion, She Ning couldn't help but smile slightly. It was wonderful to see her so full of life.
The next second,
"Triggering a timed task: Sell 500 servings of Fuding sliced meat within 3 days. Completing the task will reward you with double the chance to open blind boxes."
She Ning's smile froze.
A note from the author:
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