13 Twice-cooked Pork with Potato Peel and Garlic Sprouts
◎Invite Madam Jiang to the palace◎
Living in Jiangmi Lane, life is more convenient than living in Qinglian Temple.
There is a vegetable market just outside the door.
Jiang Qinglan bought some pork, garlic sprouts, cornstarch, and some seasonal vegetables.
Including the steamed buns I bought for Tuantuan, the total cost was about thirty cents.
With her current savings, this expense wasn't that much. So, when she reached the beef and mutton stall, she couldn't move another step.
She prefers beef and mutton to pork.
When she was in school, she got tired of eating in the cafeteria, so she would go there every now and then to eat beef and mutton soup - healthy fresh beef soup, Guangdong beef and offal pot, and old Beijing mutton hot pot.
These beef and mutton with different flavors are some fresh, some rich, some dipped in fragrant sesame seeds, and some with juicy coriander.
Each has its own wonderful flavor.
Just like in the previous life, beef and mutton are much more expensive than pork at this time.
She asked just now, pork is only 20 wen per pound, but beef is 50 wen, and mutton is even 70 wen per pound.
Even so, looking at the rose-red beef and mutton on the meat stall, Jiang Qinglan had already imagined what they would look like when made into beef hot pot or mutton barbecue.
Tuantuan also looked at it eagerly.
Jiang Qinglan was hesitant at first, but seeing this, he gritted his teeth and called out to the stall owner, "Give me two pounds of beef and one pound of mutton!"
Who said that we should eat meat vigorously and eat meat fiercely?
Just eat! Make money just to eat!
…
When she got home, she first decided to eat pork. She had already planned to make twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts.
Twice-cooked pork is a famous Sichuan dish. The pork belly is first boiled and then stir-fried, hence the name "twice-cooked pork".
This dish is salty, fresh, fragrant, heavy in salt and oil, slightly spicy and sweet. It is the perfect dish to go with wine and a good side dish for rice. It is most suitable for people like Jiang Qinglan who haven't tasted meat for a long time.
There are dishes with pork belly and lotus root, called lotus root stir-fry; there are dishes with green peppers, called green pepper stir-fry; but Jiang Qinglan’s favorite is potato peel and garlic sprout stir-fry.
Cut the cooked pork belly into thin slices, making sure each slice is half fat and half lean. Add the pork belly to the wok and sauté over low heat until fragrant.
A skilled cook like Jiang Qinglan can master the timing of stir-frying meat and make each piece of meat into a lantern-shaped shape.
When you put the finished product in your mouth, you will only feel the meat is chewy and tasty, without noticing that the lean meat is dry and tough; you will only feel the oiliness, tenderness, smoothness and refreshing taste, without noticing that there is fat in between.
This half-fat, half-lean meat, with its soft, glutinous skin, adds a touch of flavor with every chew. Therefore, it's a delicious dish to enjoy with rice or wine.
Let's talk about sweet potato skin. It is made by mixing sweet potato flour with water and then baking it in a pan.
Chongqing snack stalls like to wrap hot and sour radish, watercress, steamed pork with rice flour and other foods in potato skins and roast them over charcoal fire, which is called "roasted potato skins".
Chengdu people love to use it to stir-fry twice-cooked pork.
This well-spread sweet potato skin is a thin layer that is soft and sticky.
When fried in a frying pan with pork belly, it absorbs the aroma of spices such as peppercorns, ginger slices, and the juice made from chopped bean paste.
It immediately becomes crystal clear, gray with red, and very tasty.
Green garlic sprouts are also a must for this dish.
The garlic sprouts should have both white and green ends. Chop them and cut them into oblique sections to fully expose the garlic aroma. Add the pork belly slices and sweet potato skins after they're stir-fried. Stir-fry for a few times until they're tender and ready to serve.
This famous Sichuan dish is delicious and has a great flavor and aroma.
The meat, stained with a rich, doubanjiang sauce, was a vibrant red. The sweet potato skin was soft and glutinous, and the garlic sprouts, alternating between white and green, were a truly beautiful sight.
The aroma of ingredients and various seasonings lingers for a long time and fills the entire house.
Jiang Qinglan and the others had a fried pancake for lunch. They had been busy moving and were starving, so they were looking forward to this oily meal.
The sweet potato skin and twice-cooked pork were out of the pot, the rain stopped, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. They took their food and went to the yard to eat.
Although Tuantuan was very hungry, he was still very polite under the Jiang family's upbringing and ate with chopsticks.
Jiang Qinglan taught her: "The oil in this twice-cooked pork is the most fragrant, and it is extremely delicious when mixed with rice."
He scooped some with a spoon and placed it on the white rice in their bowls.
The twice-cooked pork in the shape of a lantern hole, the chewy, soft and glutinous light gray and translucent potato skin, the oily and green garlic sprouts, and the black fermented black beans were all covering the rice.
The oily soup that has absorbed the bean paste and various seasonings has soaked the fragrant white rice into a red color.
Jiang Qinglan used chopsticks to mix the vegetables, meat, rice, and oil together, and said, "Tuantuan, do you know what Taotie is?"
Tuan Tuan said, "I know. It's just a very ferocious monster."
In the past, her nanny taught her to eat and drink slowly and politely, and not to be too rough, otherwise the monster Taotie would come and eat her.
Jiang Qinglan shook his head: "No." He suddenly dug a mouthful of rice, chewed it with big mouthfuls, and showed it to his sister, "This is a glutton. It's so comfortable to be a glutton while eating."
Tuantuan widened her eyes. Is she still her gentle and polite sister eating like this?
Jiang Qinglan knew what she was thinking.
She squinted her eyes, looked up at the sun hidden in the clouds, and smiled: "Sister, we have all experienced great changes."
"When there's sunshine, you should bask in it. When there's delicious food, you should eat it with big mouthfuls! Otherwise, your life would be in vain!"
Tuantuan seemed to understand but didn't quite understand, but he followed suit and started to eat rice by picking up the bowl.
So delicious!
She dug faster and faster, and not only was her mouth greasy, but a grain of rice also stuck to her nose.
Jiang Qinglan laughed heartily, helped her pick up the rice, and said, "Outside, we should be more polite. But once we enter this courtyard and close the door, we will eat like this."
Tuantuan's mouth was full and he couldn't speak. He just nodded heavily and said, "Yeah!"
——
At dusk, Zhongwa.
Beside the puppet stage, a young boy in blue clothes was leaning against something and dozing off. He was startled awake by a creaking sound.
On the opposite side, there were two girls, one big and one small.
A shoulder pole stood against the side wall. Two bamboo baskets held a large food box each. A slender woman was opening the door, followed closely by a short, plump girl.
The door was made of wood and hadn't been oiled for years. The creaking sound was the sound of the door opening. When the young boy saw them coming, his eyes widened and he ran away like the wind.
He has been waiting for three days and finally got his wish. He will go back and tell Brother Pinglin!
Jiang Qinglan and her sister had no idea what was going on and were busy packing up their stall.
Just after seeing off a group of customers, two young men came on horseback and did not dismount when they arrived in front of the stall.
One of them waved his hand loudly: "My lady, your good fortune has come. Pack your things and follow me to the palace!"
Jiang Qinglan examined them closely: their hair was neatly combed, and they wore fine cotton-padded jackets. Their horses rode with vigor and pride. Especially, there was a hint of arrogance between their brows.
A wealthy servant from a noble family.
Jiang Qinglan has been trying to adapt since he came here.
In feudal society, hierarchy was paramount. Ordinary people could still interact appropriately with one another. But the nobility, like the young woman in the purple dress a few days ago, always looked down upon the common people.
These powerful slaves shared their master's power and authority, but also became arrogant.
In fact, Pinglin and Moshan, as the first-class servants of the Prince of Dongping Palace, should behave like this.
Ordinary people say: I would rather marry a slave from a wealthy family than a maid from a small one. This means that the slaves of wealthy families have seen more of the world than the masters of small families.
This was still a girl. As gentlemen, the two of them had seen more of the world by Xie Shizi's side.
But Jiang Qinglan was no ordinary person. She blinked and said, "I am deeply apprehensive that a noble person has come to visit me in such a humble place. May I ask, gentlemen, which palace are you from?"
"Which palace?" Mo Shan was a little speechless. He had a sign of Dongping Palace hanging on his waist, and everyone in Lin'an City knew it!
This person...maybe he is from another place.
"It's the Prince of Dongping's Palace by the West Lake." Pinglin was in a better mood and explained patiently.
Jiang Qinglan pondered for a moment. The day he left the Lu family's residence, he'd encountered a group of young men on horseback outside the Jiahui Gate. Madam Qian had said at the time that they were Prince Xie of the Dongping Palace...
Mo Shan became impatient.
Their Dongping Palace was a place of immense wealth and splendor, with others desperately trying to squeeze in, yet this man was so ungrateful? His eyes were rolling around, and I wondered what he was thinking!
At that moment, he frowned and said, "What are you dawdling for?!" He looked as if he was ordering someone around.
Pinglin added, "What do you think, my lady? You can ask for anything you want."
Jiang Qinglan smiled slightly and thought to himself: The people in the Prince of Dongping's Mansion, whether they are masters or servants, all like to ride horses and act domineeringly.
…
The two returned to the palace.
Pinglin knelt on the ground and said, "My Lord, Madam Jiang doesn't want to enter the mansion."
At this time, Xie Linchuan was looking at the list of finalists for the Cuju competition in a few days, and pointed his finger at a name named Liu.
Hearing this, he was very surprised: "Don't want to?"
With the wealth of the Dongping Palace, the silver that the masters gave out as rewards was much more than what one could earn outside. Therefore, everyone wanted it.
Just like the guy in Jianlong Temple, he immediately agreed. Unexpectedly, there were still some who were unwilling.
"But you think the monthly salary is too little?"
"No, no," Pinglin said hurriedly, "They've all been given the same monthly allowance as me. It's just that Madam Jiang said...said..."
"What did you say?" Xie Linchuan was the most annoying person who hesitated.
"Mrs. Jiang said it wasn't that she didn't want to, but she simply couldn't. She had previously injured her waist and knees, so she couldn't bend or kneel."
"But when doing things in the palace, one has to bow and kneel. To avoid offending the noble, she decided not to come."
"Is there such a thing?"
Xie Linchuan was a little skeptical. How could someone be injured in just these two places? Even if someone had, they would be paralyzed in bed. She was clearly walking briskly.
"Of course I have!" Pinglin said confidently, eager to single himself out. "I used to know someone who fell from a great height..."
A ball of paper was thrown at him, hitting him right between the eyebrows. Pinglin cried out "Ouch" and covered his forehead.
"You're just exaggerating. You're taking it that far."
Pinglin said anxiously, "Yes. Madam Jiang said that she is in Zhongwa anyway, so if the nobles of the palace want to eat anything, they can just go and buy it."
"I asked her why Zhongwa was empty a few days ago. She said it was raining and she didn't set up her stall. She also said that as long as it wasn't raining, she would be at the Zhongwa stall."
"Only when there are big events or competitions will she set up her stall where there are a lot of people. There's a Cuju tournament in a couple of days, so she won't go to Zhongwa, but to the Xishan Cuju field."
Xie Linchuan wasn't particularly interested in Madam Jiang. He was simply curious about why someone would reject the Prince of Dongping's mansion, so he asked a few more questions.
At that moment, after listening to Pinglin's incoherent speech, he was a little impatient. Just as he was about to tell him to leave, he heard the words "Cuju Field" and perked up again.
Yes, when she went to the government office to get the certificate, she asked Yang Langjun about Cuju. For this, he even stood up and took a few looks.
He thought it was something else, but it turned out that he wanted to set up a stall. He was really obsessed with money.
He smiled contemptuously and looked carefully at the list of Cuju team members in his hand.
Outside the window, the shadows of flowers are lush, and the sunlight leaking through the branches casts spots of light on the table.
Suddenly, he remembered what his grandmother had said before: "You have to put in a lot of thought, even dream about it."
He smiled again, revealing his white teeth and two deep dimples at the corners of his mouth. Sure enough, she was thinking about making money every day.
"Forget it, leave her alone."
【Author’s words】
Haha, Xie Shizi, you can show off now. It won’t be long before she tortures you to tears, like this → [starry eyes][burst into tears]
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