Jin Zichu placed a plate of frozen tofu on the table and said, "I saw some fresh mutton at the market this morning and thought it would be perfect for hotpot on such a nice day."
Chen Ming leaned in closer and sniffed the aroma coming out of the pot, "Zichu, you're not using clear soup, are you?"
"We use bone broth, so that the vegetables are more flavorful when cooked. What kind of sauce do you want? We have Erba sauce, chives and fermented bean curd." Jin Zichu asked the brother and sister while holding the bowl.
Chen Ming first asked his cousin, "Manman, what kind of sauce would you like?"
Of course it’s best to eat hotpot yourself. "Let me do it myself." Xu Manman took the empty bowl and stood up to do it herself.
She added a little bit of each sauce, crushed peanuts, minced garlic, chopped green onions and chopped coriander, and drizzled some soy sauce and sesame oil on top. The sauce she made was a little thick, but she has always liked it, and she also uses this sauce when eating Sichuan hot pot.
The blanched meat is placed in a bowl, and a chopstick of sauce is wrapped inside. When you take a bite, you first taste the rich aroma of meat, followed by the rich flavor of the sauce. The crushed peanuts inside add a special taste to this bite.
After you finish eating the meat, pick up a piece of frozen tofu and press it lightly. The soup inside will overflow. Then let it go. The soup mixed with the sauce will be absorbed by the frozen tofu again. The taste is no worse than the meat.
When you have almost finished eating the meat, add the noodles and put all the remaining meat in. When the noodles are cooked, remove them from the bowl with the meat. Add the reserved bone broth to the bowl, add some minced garlic and chopped green onions, and you have a bowl of delicious and stomach-warming mutton noodles.
The three people who had the meal found it very satisfying. It took them nearly an hour to finish the meal and they were sweating all over. When it was over, the whole house was filled with the smell of mutton hotpot.
When I went to class in the afternoon, the smell on Xu Manman had not yet dissipated.
Yang Yang stared at Xu Manman who came in, and twitched his nose. "Youngest, did you eat mutton for lunch?"
How could this dog's nose be so sharp? She even blew on it outside for a while before coming in. "Ah."
"Where did you eat? The cafeteria doesn't have this today. Did you eat at a state-owned restaurant outside?" It's cold now, and Yang Yang doesn't like to go out. He feels that his appetite has become dull after eating in the cafeteria every day. Now that he smells the aroma of meat, his appetite is aroused.
"It's not a state-owned restaurant. It's a friend of my eldest cousin who invited us to dinner." Xiao Jin is indeed my eldest cousin's friend, and today's meal was indeed treated by him, so it is not wrong to say so.
Yang Yang was really envious, "That's great, I also want someone to treat me to meat."
"Tomorrow is Saturday, you can go out to eat."
Yang Yang's eyes lit up, "Then come with me, youngest. Let's go eat Lao Mo."
"I have to wait for my eldest cousin tomorrow, so I can't go. You can ask my eldest or second sister."
Anyway, lunch is at Xiao Jin's place, so she is not in a hurry to go back tomorrow afternoon. She can just wait for her cousin. Besides, it is not worth her trouble just for a meal with Lao Mo in such a cold day. Xiao Jin can cook anything she wants.
Yang Yang counted on his fingers, "My eldest sister definitely won't go. My second sister is nowhere to be seen in the dormitory all day."
"Aren't there three other schoolgirls in the dormitory?"
"They~, I don't know if they would want to eat Lao Mo."
"If you don't want Lao Mo, you can eat something else. Shabu-shabu is also delicious. I had this for lunch today. Why don't you go back and ask?"
"Copper pot hot pot?" Yang Yang slurped her saliva. No wonder it smelled so good. She couldn't bear it just thinking about it. She thought to herself that since she would have no one to accompany her tomorrow, she would still go to eat alone. She was really craving meat.
We ate too much mutton at noon, so in the evening the three of us had the leftover bone soup with radish and cabbage. We soaked the rice in the hot soup. If you think it’s too light, you can also add a handful of pickles. It’s simple but warming. After the meal, we felt warm all over.
On Saturday, Yang Yang still went out to eat meat, and the person he made an appointment with was said to be a schoolmate who lived where Xu Manman used to live.
Xu Manman stayed in the Tsinghua and Peking University courtyard that afternoon, and even after Chen Ming came back from get out of class, she did not go back immediately.
These days, Chen Ming and Xu Manman have been staying in the study to study. The two would discuss some study problems. Jin Zichu did not disturb them, but just read a book quietly by the side.
One time when they were discussing mathematics, Jin Zichu poked his head in, making Chen Ming realize once again how outstanding his younger brother Zichu was.
Not only is he good at math, he also knows several foreign languages and has a wide range of knowledge.
Chen Ming couldn't stop sighing, "Zichu's family is well-educated. With his ability, he should be able to get into university. But the times have delayed him."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
