Chapter 175 Five-fingered Peach Hoof Flower Soup (Part 2)
Andre, who had already mastered the use of chopsticks, picked up the pig's trotter easily.
The pig's trotters had been carefully processed, and the skin was like flawless white jade, crystal clear, without a single stray hair. If it had not been explained in advance that it was a pig's trotter, most of the nobles would probably not have been able to recognize what kind of meat it was.
The excess fat seemed to have been stewed into the soup, and the pig's trotters absorbed a rich yet elegant herbal aroma instead. Andrei took a deep sniff and felt as if he were in the mountains, his mouth and nose filled with the fragrance of plants and trees.
The fragrance had a hint of milk, and was also wrapped in a somewhat strange yet familiar scent. Andre carefully identified it for a long time, and recalled the southern coconuts he had tasted when he was a child at Count Saka's estate.
"What a wonderful aroma." He muttered and took a bite of the pig's trotter.
The aroma of the five-fingered ginseng is rich, yet the taste, as Jiangyou had described, is quite light. With each bite, the dish's true flavors are clearly palpable: a hint of ginger spiciness, a perfectly balanced yet captivating saltiness, the delicate sweetness of the goji berries... and, of course, the pig's trotter, free of any other odors and emitting a light herbal milky aroma.
The skin, meat, and tendons are cooked to perfection, tender yet slightly springy. The skin and tendons yield to the assault of the teeth, yet they unexpectedly offer a resilient embrace. The fat, though not greasy, feels like a hidden treasure, revealing a myriad of flavors with each chew, offering endless surprises.
Andre enjoyed this unique taste very much. His green eyes narrowed slightly as he savored the light flavor comfortably and carefully. He then dipped the remaining half of the pig's trotter in the sauce and put it into his mouth again.
His green eyes suddenly widened.
The delicate milky aroma of the herbs and the rich, yet not greasy, flavor of the pig's trotters, bathed in the herbs, were transformed into a whole new flavor the moment they came into contact with the sauce. With his first bite, Andre's taste buds were overwhelmed by the onslaught of delicious flavors.
All the analysis of taste can be reduced to a few simple words: delicious, I want it, have another bite.
And he did just that.
After a few bites, my overly excited nerves finally calmed, and I was able to calm down and savor the dish carefully. The aroma of garlic and ginger, mixed with the aroma of fermented beans, and the sweet and sour taste of sugar and vinegar, fully combined and reacted with the flavor of the pig's trotter itself, forming a harmonious symphony.
Before he knew it, three bowls of soup had been consumed, and a large pile of pork bones appeared before Andrei. Actually, it wasn't just him; everyone else was doing the same, except for Jiang You, who was still absorbing the soul fire.
When Andre was about to fill his fourth bowl, Jiang You pushed her own portion of "leftovers" in front of him. The black-haired knight took it and started eating without even raising his eyelids. Winston, who was sitting opposite him, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and his fake face was full of the desire to explore more gossip.
"Hey, this is really interesting." After just a few days of not seeing each other, how did these two become closer? He had once thought that his adopted brother had been traumatized by Vivian as a child, and that he had since closed his heart and locked himself away from girls... Now it seemed that perhaps those ordinary girls couldn't touch Andre's heart.
But… Winston glanced at the unconscious skeleton next to him again, feeling a headache: Could his uncle and aunt really accept such an unusual daughter-in-law? He also wondered how Andrei's relationship with his family had been recently. He had heard that Andrei and his father had had a big fight, and that the two of them were almost at odds… Alas, every family has its own problems.
As the saying goes, loyalty and filial piety are difficult to achieve, and the nobles faced even greater worries: titles and territories needed to be inherited by future generations, while military forces and wealth needed to be continuously expanded. To maintain their wealth, they needed a strong army capable of intimidating others, and to raise a strong army, they needed to invest a large amount of wealth. The two were mutually reinforcing, like an inescapable vicious cycle.
While the poor struggled to make ends meet due to poverty, the aristocracy, despite possessing more than enough, was still bound by these material possessions, even forcing them to sacrifice their personal happiness. Future careers, marriages, and even children became chips that needed to be carefully placed...
He and Vivian might be familiar with the rules of this game, but the unruly Andrei might not be willing to compromise. Perhaps it would be better to live happily with a skeleton than to be in a cold relationship with a noble lady.
Winston thought about it and took another sip of the soup. "Hmm, this tastes really good."
After a meal, everyone's belly was full and well-hydrated. They slumped back in their chairs and sighed contentedly, "I'm so full!"
“The soup is delicious!”
"I like pig's head. Make more next time. Too little won't be enough!"
Jiangyou couldn't help but chuckle as she listened to their conversation. She dumped the empty pots and pans into the kitchen sink and went to the brewing room to collect the black beans. Before making fermented black beans, the black beans needed to be washed and soaked to absorb enough moisture before being steamed. She started preparing now so she could begin brewing that evening.
The others were not idle either. After resting for a while and recovering their strength, they voluntarily helped, some washed dishes, some wiped the table... When Jiangyou came out of the brewing room, the entire front hall was as clean as new, the stove was shining, all the dishes were washed and turned upside down on the drain rack to dry.
"Xiaoyou~ Then I'll go back first~" Aunt Wolf put on her flower hat and said to Jiangyou with a smile.
"I'm going home too." Nasha, clutching her notebook, bowed to Takumi. After a busy day, her mind was overflowing with all sorts of knowledge, and she needed to go home and sort it out.
Not to mention that the kind Aunt Wolf also taught her how to meditate and improve her magic power. Nasha planned to practice it seriously... Before today, who would have thought that being a cook would consume so much magic power?
After saying goodbye, the brewery returned to silence. Jiang You locked the courtyard door and the door to the house one by one, and glanced at Andre and Winston who were sitting at the bar. "Would you like a drink?"
"Just give me a witch beer," said Winston.
"Passion fruit honey water will do." Andrei took out the letter that Jiangyou had stuffed in his hand earlier and said to Winston, "Show me the invitation you received."
Winston whistled, and a hawk suddenly flew in from the window and dropped a rose-red letter with a gold border from mid-air. Winston stretched out his hand, took the letter, and examined it carefully in the candlelight.
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