Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Red Braised Pork.
The meat alone was a little insufficient, so Ji Xu prepared to simmer some rice and stir-fry the wild amaranth that was left over from the morning, combining one meat and one vegetable.
When preparing to cut the meat, he remembered that Fengmei had said that the iron kitchen knife and wooden chopping board were exchanged for food. Tian's family had been unable to pay the rent for half a year after their grain boat capsized on the Mian River, and the rich family had taken the land back. Tian had originally planned to be back in a month or so, but all her meager savings were used for travel expenses, and there was not much food left for her two daughters. Later, they relied on exchanging some of their miscellaneous belongings for food and salt to barely make a living.
No knife or fork...
It was no big deal, she could use it after cleaning the hatchet. As for the chopping block, she brought in the wood block outside the door, shaved the top of the hatchet, rinsed it, and used it as a cushion.
Fresh fatty meat is cut into cubes two fingers wide and blanched in cold water.
It would take a while for the water in the pot to boil and blanch the meat, so she took this opportunity to pound the rice.
"Sister, Xiaozhu is here to pound!" Jizhu said with great joy.
Just thinking about meat and rice makes her saliva water. The last time she ate meat was on New Year's Day. Mother sold some melons and vegetables and bought a piece of lean meat. She cut it into thin strips and mixed it with radish soup. Mother put a lot of meat into her and second sister's bowls.
Thinking of this, Ji Zhu felt sad. It would be great if her mother was there too.
"Then let Xiaozhu come."
This mortar was foot-operated. A stone mortar was embedded in a pit dug in the ground. The stone mortar next to it was equipped with a lever, which could save effort when stepped on. Ji Xu simply asked her to help.
While pounding rice, Ji Zhu's attention was diverted and she was no longer immersed in sentimental mood.
Ji Xu thought that there was only one clay pot at home, and if he cooked the dishes and then simmered the rice, the dishes would have to cool down.
I might as well start another fire and cook bamboo tube rice. The bamboo left over from yesterday is still fresh.
Break open a bamboo tube at the edge, add pounded and washed rice and water into it, then close the broken half, seal it with wet yellow mud, and simmer it over a fire.
As for the blanched meat, there is no need to fry it with sugar color. Just put it in the bottom of the pot, add some sauce, and then pour in the liter of wine. Once the ceramic lid is closed, it can start simmering.
As the saying goes, "fast fire for porridge, slow fire for meat". The cooking time of this meat is very critical, it should be simmered slowly.
Burning wood stoves is a very particular matter. In the previous life, the old lady had decorated an ancient wood stove on the first floor. As for adding and removing wood, Ji Xu had been scolded many times since he was a child before he learned how to do it.
This time when Ji Zhu wanted to help light the fire, Ji Xu refused and asked her to play with the clay dog.
Ji Zhu was reluctant to leave, so she took the clay dog to play in the kitchen while smelling the aroma of meat.
Ji Xu watched the fire and took the time to cut the fat into slices to use as lard later.
I went to cut two more sections of bamboo tubes and split one in half. There were only three bowls with broken openings at home, and no plates or bowls, so I would use them to serve the dishes later.
At this time, water seeps out from the wall of the bamboo tube, and a fragrance of rice mixed with the fragrance of bamboo wafts into the air, which has a unique flavor.
The meat was still simmering in the pot, and she didn't remove the lid to let the oil and flavor evaporate. When the aroma of the meat became stronger due to the caramelization reaction of the wine in the small kitchen, she estimated that the time was just right and took off the pottery lid.
At the bottom of the pot, the meat was as red as amber and crystal clear. It was swaying slightly in the bubbling soup, which was extremely tempting.
When you take a bite, even the lean meat on top becomes soft and fragrant.
Ji Zhu, who was sitting beside the stove, took a deep breath, fearing that the fragrance would disappear and she wanted to swallow it into her stomach!
Ji Yuan, who was sleeping in the next yard, ran out and thought, in the middle of the day, it's not a festival, who would cook such delicious meat!
Looking around, I saw some smoke coming out of the window of the second room's kitchen.
Impossible. They were so poor that they had to eat only coarse grains and vegetables. How could they afford meat? Even her family only had meat once during the New Year.
Why does this meat smell so good? I have never heard of anyone in Benguli cooking meat so deliciously.
Ji Yuan swallowed his saliva and heard howling outside.
"Tiger boy wants to eat delicious meat!"
"Tiger boy wants to eat meat woooo ...
It turned out that Jin Shiguang had been arguing with a clay dog vendor and hadn't sold any pears. Seeing that there were few people in the market at noon, he returned with his basket. Unexpectedly, when he passed by the second house, Ji Huhai's dog nose smelled the meat, sucked his fingers and was about to go to the kitchen to take a look.
Does Jin know that Ji Xu's family bought meat today?
Jin Cuiru and Tian Guinv had been at odds with each other for more than ten years and they disliked each other. In the end, of course, she relied on giving birth to a son to divide the family and severely suppressed Tian Guinv. In the past two or three years, Tian Guinv had lost her former energy and spirit and had been obedient and had no energy to argue with her.
Jin Cuiru's life has always been better than the one next door, but she can't afford to lose face like this.
He hurriedly grabbed Ji Huhai and brought him home.
Ji Huhai rolled around in the village market for the whole morning, his body covered in dirt. He was being pulled by his mother, still shouting that he wanted to eat meat.
He stretched out his hands and tried to rush to the second room.
"Meat……"
"You little beggar!"
"Meat……"
"Meat, meat, meat, there's a piece of dead flesh on your grandfather's heel. Just gnaw it when he comes back!" Jin was so angry at his begging look that she pulled him into the courtyard.
Ji Yuan felt embarrassed and ran back to the east room.
Ji Xu ignored the noise next door and was already frying amaranth. The lard had not been boiled yet, so he picked up a few pieces of sliced fat and stir-fried them to release the oil.
Sizzle.
Stir-frying in hot oil over a high fire, this earthenware cauldron was not as good as the iron pots of later generations. It heated up slowly and the temperature was not high enough. Ji Xu thought that he would have to buy an iron cauldron when he had money in the future.
However, even if this is fried in a clay pot with animal oil, it is still more appetizing than stewing it in plain water.
When the meal was ready, Ji Xu put the rice in a bamboo tube, topped it with the translucent red meat and fresh green leafy vegetables, then covered it and tied it with a straw rope.
"Go ahead and send it to my second sister while it's still hot."
She was boiling lard at home, and there was a fire in the stove, so she could keep the food warm and wait for Ji Zhu to come back to eat together.
"Okay!" Jizhu ran away excitedly.
The walls are made of blue bricks, the roofs are covered with tiles, and the tiles are painted with "Ma Jia Tian Xia". As soon as you enter the courtyard, you will see a family that is more imposing than the others next to the rice fields. This is the Feng family.
It wasn't far away, and Jizhu could see the house after running for a distance.
She went around the edge of the yard to the back mountain of Feng's house.
"Hello...oh oh oh..."
After Ji Feng fed the pigs the last bit of grass and washed her hands with mountain spring water, she carefully held the bamboo tube and sat on the pile of firewood. Mr. Feng allowed her to pick up some firewood to burn during her break in herding pigs, and this was what she picked up today.
When the lid was opened, the trembling meat was revealed, and the gravy was soaked in the rice, making my already hungry stomach growl.
As I took a bite of the meat, my eyes lit up. It was so soft and slightly sweet, and the aroma of the meat was so strong that I almost swallowed my tongue.
"Erfeng, what are you eating? It smells so good! Give me a piece too."
The person who came was Wang Li, who looked about ten years old. He was holding a small jar made of hollow grass, and crickets chirping could be heard from inside.
Behind him, six-year-old Feng Xingba, wearing fine cloth clothes and also holding a cricket jar, smelled the fragrance and followed.
"No way." Wang Li is the son of Wang Mazi. Wang Mazi once stole the cucumbers grown by her mother and spoke ill of her behind her back.
"I'll trade you some crickets," said Wang Li.
"What do I need you for, you stubborn thing? I won't change you, I won't change you." Ji Feng did not forget to eat. The wild amaranth that she was used to eating was also delicious. The taste was hard to describe. She didn't know how her sister made it.
Wang Li was so greedy that he snorted, "I'm not hungry anymore. Who knows if you stole this meat from the Feng family?"
"You're a bastard with a sore tongue," he said, getting angry at the mention of stealing Ji Feng. "How dare you say that? Go back and ask your grandfather how many petty thefts you've committed! Aren't you afraid of dysentery from eating my cucumbers?"
"Hmph, you dare to tell me, why do you come here to catch crickets?" After saying that, he glanced at the bulging mouth of Wang Li's bag.
There are many fruit trees planted in the mountain behind the Feng family.
Wang Li covered his sleeve pocket with his hands, his face flushed, and turned around and ran down the mountain.
Feng Xingba was still staring at the meat in her bamboo bowl.
It was completely different from the meat cooked at home, and it was so fragrant that he couldn't help but drool.
But the children all knew that Ji Feng was like her mother. She looked honest, but was actually very good at scolding and fighting.
When Feng Xingba saw her scolding Wang Li and making him run away, he also wanted to run away, but he was greedy.
"Do you want to eat too?" Ji Feng asked.
Feng Xingba nodded, his eyes almost falling into her bowl.
Ji Feng thought of his eldest mother, Aunt Xu, who had served him a bowl of white rice and a piece of meat.
Feng Xingba took a bite, then stuffed the whole piece into his mouth and even licked his fingers.
I still feel unsatisfied.
"Sister Erfeng, can I exchange some potatoes with you?" Feng Xingba still wanted to eat.
Sweet potatoes? Ji Feng knew that his family had a lot of land, and they planted five or six acres of sweet potatoes alone. At this time of year, all the members of the Feng family came together to dig sweet potatoes.
The big potatoes can be used to make soup, and it would be nice to bring them back for my elder sister and younger sister to enjoy as a fresh treat.
"OK."
Feng Xingba immediately ran back, holding a large, fresh potato with mud on it. His uncle Feng Da shouted from behind, "What are you going to do with the potato?"
"Exchange meat with Sister Erfeng!"
Feng Da was also surprised to hear this. He raised pigs on the hill at home and had no shortage of meat to eat, so why was he so greedy?
Feng Xingba was afraid that Ji Feng had eaten all the meat, so he ran very fast, and his sturdy little body was so breathless that he could hardly breathe.
In fact, the meat was so delicious that Ji Feng couldn't bear to eat any piece after tasting it. He first ate the rice and amaranth dipped in the gravy, wanting to save the meat for last. After counting, he found that there were still five pieces left.
She picked up a piece and gave it to Feng Xingba.
He looked at the huge potato on the ground, thought for a moment, and then picked up another piece for him.
The meat was so soft and tender that Feng Xingba didn't need to chew it. He ate it very quickly, his mouth full of oil.
"Okay, I'm going to eat the remaining three pieces myself."
"Sister Erfeng, what is the name of this meat?" Feng Xingba thought it over and went back to ask his grandmother to cook it for him.
Ji Zhu had mentioned the name of the meat dish when she came to bring her food. She said it exactly as it was:
"Braised pork."
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