Chapter 12 Braised Food
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Although the average is 167 servings a day, which is about 21 jin of meat (one jin of meat equals eight bowls of Fuding meat slices), which is about the same as their previous budget of 20 jin a day, that was the amount they planned for when the business was on track.
Moreover, they haven't even set up their stalls yet, so the system's double chance to open blind boxes is indeed hard to come by.
She Ning sighed.
After dropping She Ni off at school, She Ning returned home and went to the west wing to help the old lady She out of the yard for a walk.
The elderly woman's stroke has improved considerably this year. During her follow-up visit before the Lunar New Year, the doctor advised her to massage her limbs regularly. Recently, the old lady has been in good condition, and She Ning helps her out for a few walks every morning to get some fresh air.
"Oh, this peach tree is growing very well this year, it's almost ready to bloom," the old lady said with delight.
In the courtyard, the peach tree is growing vigorously, and its branches are covered with plump buds. Some of the buds have already swelled slightly, revealing pale pink flower buds. I believe that the tree will soon be full of flowers.
She Ning looked at the peach tree's status on the system panel. It had changed from "good" to "excellent," and the next stage had changed from "blooming in three days" to "blooming now," followed by "repair complete."
Just as she had guessed, the Eye of Truth's main strategy is to first violently destroy, then repair and rebuild, until the target reaches its current optimal state.
She Ning couldn't help but recall the three targets she selected when she first used it: a peach tree; a lychee tree; and She Ning herself, who was among them.
Or, she could find an opportunity to try, She Ning thought.
The sun was shining brightly today. After spending more than ten minutes with Grandma She, and noticing a little sweat on her forehead, She Ning helped her back to her room.
The old lady is also a very stubborn person. During her stroke rehabilitation, she never complained about the hardship or said she was tired. If it weren't for She Ning's constant attention, she would have kept going until she could no longer walk.
The first time, She Ning had no experience, and the old lady walked until her legs trembled and she was covered in sweat, without uttering a sound. She was so frightened that she now followed her with her eyes at all times, and stopped if anything seemed wrong.
The kitchen was piled high with ingredients that She Hongmei had bought that morning, including various pig offal such as pig heart, pig lungs, and pig intestines, as well as four large pig trotters. There was a slaughterhouse three kilometers away from their village, and all the pork in the town came from there.
The town is far away, so unless it's market day, most of the time the villagers go there to buy things. However, these are all private transactions. Items like pig heads, pig offal, and pig trotters, which people think have little meat, generally don't require coupons and are much cheaper than pork.
She cleaned out the most difficult-to-clean pig intestines and lungs and set them aside for later use. She used burning firewood to burn off the hair on the pig's trotters before scraping them clean with a knife.
Pig hearts are relatively easy to clean. After removing the blood clots and excess fat, She Ning cut them directly into thick slices.
Then, she put all the pork parts into a pot of cold water, added white wine, ginger and scallions, brought it to a boil to blanch and remove the fishy smell, then took them out and rinsed them clean. After completing all the preparations, she began to prepare the braising liquid.
Yesterday I wrote down the recipe for the braising liquid and gave it to She Hongmei. She has already gone to town to prepare all the spices and thoughtfully tied them into small packets in gauze bags.
She Ning can now simply use a spice packet to solve the problem.
Add water to a pot, along with a spice bag, scallions, and ginger. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add soy sauce, rock sugar, dark soy sauce, and other seasonings, and continue simmering for another 10 minutes.
To make the pig's trotters tender and fall off the bone, they need to be cooked for at least an hour. She Ning put them in to cook first, and then stood in front of the stove, watching the state of the braised pig's trotters. The bottom of the pot was a bit shallow, so she would stir them from time to time to prevent them from sticking to the bottom.
After braising for about thirty minutes, she started adding pig heart, lungs, intestines, etc., and then simmered everything over low heat for another forty minutes.
The aroma of the braised meat was extremely tempting and irresistible. Soon after she started braising, a rich, savory aroma wafted from the kitchen, out into the yard, and filled the air.
Her house was at the end of the village, where not many people lived, but the people living next door to her were in a terrible situation.
"Honey, can you smell a really strong and fragrant aroma?" Guan Xiuli nudged the man drinking porridge beside her, sniffed the aroma in the air, and swallowed.
"Which family is so extravagant, starting to stew meat so early in the morning?" Many people walked out of their homes with bowls in hand, smelling the aroma and saying enviously.
"This smell is so irresistible!" the man said, taking a few mouthfuls of porridge with the aroma.
"Hey, don't you think this smell is coming from Hongmei's house?" Standing in the courtyard, the fragrance was even more pronounced, especially near the She family's house. Guan Xiuli looked at the She family's wall, which was half a meter higher than her own, and asked.
"Honey, don't go." The man, who understood his wife very well, immediately knew what Guan Xiuli wanted to do when he heard her words, and hurriedly spoke up.
However, it was no use.
"I'll be right back." Guan Xiuli waved her hand at him and headed straight for the door.
Guan Xiuli has no particular hobbies except for eating. She never neglects her appetite and often takes her family to town for a treat. The taste of this braised meat is much more tempting and fragrant than the famous braised meat in town that has long queues every day.
She'll be really upset if she doesn't get to eat this today!
The two houses were less than ten meters apart. The closer Guan Xiuli got to the She family's house, the stronger the aroma became. She didn't even need to guess; the smell was definitely coming from the She family's house. She remembered that Hong Mei had praised She Ning's cooking skills to her before, and she thought Hong Mei was exaggerating. It turned out that Hong Mei was the clown.
She recalled that Hongmei had wanted to give her some milk brittle made by She Ning, but she declined because she was worried about Hongmei's family situation and told them to eat it themselves and get more nutrition.
How stupid of me, I should have just bought it with money.
Regretting her actions, Guan Xiuli finally arrived at the entrance of the She family's courtyard. The enticing aroma wafted towards her, making her mouth water. She was about to knock on the door.
"Xiuli, what are you doing here?" She Hongmei, carrying large and small bags, was standing not far away.
In the morning, after breakfast, She Hongmei hurriedly grabbed her small handbag and headed out to town. She went to find the stall management staff, found a stall she liked, signed a lease, and paid three months' rent. Then she bought some things and asked an acquaintance for help to get a stove and a large pot to use for cooking at her stall.
Finally, they went to the next village and brought back some tofu for She Ning and a hair tie for She Ni.
At the door, Guan Xiuli suddenly remembered that she had seen She Hongmei leave in the morning. She was not home now. She Ning rarely went out, so she didn't know her well. Besides, She Ning was a junior. If she were to come to the door so presumptuously just for a piece of meat, wouldn't that be disrespectful to an elder?
Still struggling with how to start the conversation, Guan Xiuli was instantly excited when she saw her best friend.
"My dear sister, you're finally back! Come quick, come quick!"
She Hongmei listened to Guan Xiuli recount her cravings with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. Having known each other for over a decade, She Hongmei knew Guan Xiuli loved to eat and would often search for delicious foods. However, she had no idea that Guan Xiuli would suffer from not being able to eat what she craved.
They had a good relationship, but in the past two years, they had been busy with their own families, so even though their houses were next door, they hadn't visited each other for a long time. A few days ago, when I went to her house to borrow her car, we barely chatted.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, Guan Xiuli helped She Hongmei carry the things in.
Hearing a noise outside, She Ning wiped the water off her hands and came out of the kitchen.
"Mom, you're back." She greeted She Hongmei and the woman beside her.
"Good morning, Aunt Guan."
"Hey, Xiao Ning, good morning," Guan Xiuli replied, belatedly realizing her embarrassment.
She's so obsessed with her cravings that she doesn't think straight. Her husband doesn't stop her at all. It's all his fault. If she loses face in front of the younger generation, he'll be punished by kneeling on a washboard when they get back.
She Hongmei arranged for Guan Xiuli to sit in the courtyard for a while. She carried her things to the kitchen and saw a pile of unpeeled eggs and eggshells on the stove, and a pot of bright red braising sauce simmering. She put down her things and prepared to clean up.
She Ning stopped her, threw the eggshells into the trash can herself, and explained to her, "The pig's trotters and offal will be ready in ten minutes. After that, I plan to braise some eggs and vegetables. With both meat and vegetables, it won't be so greasy."
The eggs were the ones that She Laosan lost money on that day. The restaurant hasn't been buying eggs lately, and they're not going to the market to sell them either. The hens at home are still laying eggs every day, and they were afraid this batch would spoil if left for too long, so She Ning simply braised them all.
"Just do whatever you think is best, and let me know if you need anything else." When it comes to kitchen matters, She Hongmei is used to listening to She Ning, and besides, it's just eggs, she didn't want phoenix eggs, so let's just braise them.
"Is this the pot you mentioned yesterday, Option Two?" Looking at the glossy, bright red braised pig's trotters, which looked strangely appealing, She Hongmei swallowed her saliva. No wonder Xiuli was so tempted. The aroma was irresistible up close, and its allure was so strong that she was tempted too.
I ate a big bowl of Fuding sliced meat this morning, but smelling this aroma, my stomach feels like I haven't eaten anything at all.
"Mom, try it." She picked out a piece of pig's heart, sliced it thinly with a knife, and handed her a slice.
With its rich, savory sauce and firm texture, the meat has a hint of sweetness and spiciness. Each bite is fragrant and leaves you wanting more.
She Hongmei was a little conflicted. Both the Fuding meat slices and this braised dish tasted amazing, and she couldn't decide which one to choose. This one was delicious, and that one was delicious too.
Or, how about we display both together?
Once the idea came up, She Hongmei thought about it more and more and felt that the plan was feasible. The braised food could be cooked in advance and sold directly. The Fuding meat slices needed to be cooked on the spot, but the main trouble was the preparation work.
If she can braise the food at night and get up early in the morning to prepare Fuding-style sliced meat, then everything will be fine.
Besides, didn't Xiao Ning say that soaking the braised food overnight would make it more flavorful and taste even better? The more she thought about it, the brighter She Hongmei's eyes became, and the more determined she became.
Having decided what to do, She Hongmei felt relieved and almost forgot that her friend was still waiting for food. She turned around happily, plated the pork heart that She Ni had cut, and took it to the yard.
Guan Xiuli sat restlessly in the courtyard, feeling as if there were nails on the stool. The rich fragrance filled her nostrils. When she saw She Hongmei come out, she wished she could turn into three legs and rush over to get it for her.
"Wow, this is so delicious!!!"
"My God, what kind of divine braised food is this?!"
“Hongmei, how come Xiaoning isn’t my daughter? You’re so lucky.”
"Are you selling them? I want to buy ten pounds."
A note from the author:
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