Chapter 10: Praise for the Pork Rib Soup!
Eight cents can only buy a little over a pound of pork, but can buy more than three pounds of ribbonfish. If you are on an island, around the winter solstice, you can buy top-quality ribbonfish for two or three cents a pound. The best ones are silvery-white, bright and plump, and you can pick whichever you like.
Although fish and meat are free, they are not oily and can't fill your stomach. The more you eat, the more uncomfortable you feel. According to those educated youth who went to the countryside in the south, there are many lychees in Lingnan. "A courier gallops through the dust, and the imperial concubine smiles, but no one knows that it is lychees that have arrived." In many people's eyes, lychees are precious, right? But can you, a local, fill your stomach with the lychees from just one tree?
Eating one or two lychees might feel like a delicacy, but if you eat three or four pounds of lychees in one go, your whole mouth will feel sweet, greasy, and watery, making you feel nauseous and want to vomit.
If you want to cook fish well, you need to use more oil. Of course, it's not always the case. For example, you can steam shad directly to extract the fish oil. Sea fish are generally more delicious than river fish.
Qin Xiangxiang happily decided to make braised ribbonfish. Before braising, she would cut the ribbonfish into small pieces, coat them with flour, and fry them in oil over low heat until golden brown on both sides. Then, she would pour in sauce and spices, stir-fry, add water, and simmer over low heat for about ten minutes. This way, the braised ribbonfish would have a rich sauce on the outside, and be slightly crispy because it had been fried, while the fish meat inside would be delicate and tender, making it irresistibly fragrant.
Ordinary families wouldn't dare to eat like that, as it uses a lot of oil. Qin Xiangxiang had seen some families dip their chopsticks into an oil bowl and then drop the oil drop by drop into the pan to cook the vegetables.
With an urban household registration, each adult is rationed half a jin of oil per month. It's really not reasonable to be so stingy with oil, unless the family is in financial difficulty and has "transferred" the oil ration coupons, or there are too many teenagers. The mouths of boys in their teens are bottomless pits, and they can never get enough to eat.
Qin Xiangxiang's family consists of her, her parents, and a four-year-old child. Her father is getting old and eats less and less. The main people who eat in the family are her and her chubby son. They have a surplus of food coupons every month, and her father also gives subsidies to her grandparents and uncles.
Qin Xiang thought about using the food coupons she had saved to make herself extra meals, or to exchange them for small commodities. No matter where she went, food coupons were a form of hard currency.
Although the Qin family was relatively wealthy, Qin Xiangxiang was reluctant to pan-fry four ribbonfish. She was a calculating, demanding, and enjoyable person. She planned to make two braised ribbonfish coated in flour and pan-fried, and two ordinary braised ribbonfish that ordinary families would eat.
For a simple home-style braised ribbonfish, you don't need to coat it in flour and pan-fry it. You can cook it directly with fresh fish, and choose the two fattest ones. Use only soy sauce, scallions, ginger, garlic, sugar, and salt to cook a pot of braised ribbonfish. It's best to leave a lot of broth after cooking.
This braised ribbonfish doesn't need to be eaten while it's hot. Fishermen who know how to eat by the sea choose to cook a large pot of braised ribbonfish, without worrying about wasting it. They save it for the second or third meal, which is how "ribbonfish jelly" is formed naturally.
This kind of ribbonfish jelly is delicious, doesn't spoil easily, and can be eaten with rice, steamed buns, or noodles.
Qin Xiangxiang is a girl who loves to eat, so she decided to save a bowl of ribbonfish jelly to eat the next day, as it would be fresh, delicious and flavorful.
However, she has the day off tomorrow, and she wants to go out for wontons again. If she has time to go to the movie theater, she can also eat pan-fried buns from the shop across the street after watching the movie—these are extremely popular, and you have to queue for half an hour to buy them.
"Aunt Ding, are you home? Nobody's home. I just bought some ribbonfish, could you help me prepare them?"
Qin Xiangxiang knew how to gut and clean fish, so she begged her neighbor, Aunt Ding, who lived on the first floor, to help her.
"I bought four, a little over three pounds, but probably less than four pounds." Aunt Ding, wearing a white apron, cleanly and efficiently cut off the head, removed the internal organs, and then cut it into pieces for her, all in less than five minutes. "Same as before, no head?"
"Yes, Aunt Ding, here you go."
They're all neighbors, so helping each other out is no big deal. The head of the ribbonfish isn't tasty—it's flat and dry—so Qin Xiangxiang simply gave it to Aunt Ding. Fish heads like those of large yellow croakers are the best part, and she couldn't bear to give them away.
Aunt Ding smiled and said, "I made fried tofu and vermicelli soup at home today. I'll bring you a bowl later."
"Oh my, really? Auntie, your rice noodle soup is the best!" Qin Xiangxiang was overjoyed, admiring her own wit and intelligence. When she went out in the morning, she happened to see Aunt Ding's family taking the children to line up. Qin Xiangxiang guessed that they were lining up to buy meat, and there was a high chance that they would make something delicious. If they bought bones, they would definitely make rice noodle soup.
She bought fish today and asked Aunt Ding to help her prepare it. She gave the fish head to Aunt Ding, who would definitely treat her to a bowl of vermicelli soup.
Qin Xiangxiang! You're simply the smartest person in the world!
Unable to hide her joy, Qin Xiangxiang cheered for the extra bowl of delicious food she could enjoy that night, even forgetting her worries about her husband's refusal to agree to a divorce.
Praise Think!
Carrying the ribbonfish cut into sections upstairs, Qin Xiangxiang poured Shaoxing wine into it, sprinkled some shredded green onions, two crushed garlic cloves, and ginger slices on top. Before cooking, it should be marinated for at least twenty minutes.
Aunt Ding served her a soup of fried tofu and vermicelli. The light yellow pieces of fried tofu were soaking in the hot bone broth, and the silvery white vermicelli was even whiter than the broth. The bright green scallions were scattered in the center, making one think of the phrase "jade cabbage".
The broth glistened with oil, and contained tiny specks of fine, powdery meat and snowflake-like chunks of fat. The aroma of the bones had completely permeated the soup.
Qin Xiangxiang first tasted the soup. It was sweet and refreshing with a lingering aftertaste. The rice noodles had just the right amount of chewiness. The fried tofu, which had been soaked in water, had no beany smell at all. The skin was slightly firm, and when you chewed it gently, you could feel as if there were thousands of breathing holes inside the tofu, which would burst out all the bone broth contained within.
"Aunt Ding, your cooking is really good."
"Not at all, not at all—" Aunt Ding smiled. "Thinking about it, we bought some bones today. We were going to set aside a few for his second uncle, but he just called to say he didn't want them anymore. There are three uncooked ribs left, about two or three ounces. Do you want them?"
"Yes, of course I want it."
"If you want it, I'll give it to you at market price." Aunt Ding has a large family, and the three uncooked ribs left are an awkward number. Even if she cooks them, they won't be enough to share, so she might as well sell them at market price.
Qin Xiang thought that three pieces of pork ribs were just right. She washed the clay pot, quickly soaked the kelp in warm water and vinegar, and prepared to cook a kelp and pork rib soup in the clay pot. Even with only three pieces of pork ribs, it would be fragrant enough.
She works the early shift and is the first person to come home. Her mother has been busy every day lately and is always the last to come home. Her father works at a machine tool factory next to the textile factory, which is not far from the kindergarten. Qin Wutong's get off work hours coincide with his child pick-up and drop-off times. He is the one who picks up and drops off the child, so he doesn't get home until around five or six o'clock.
Just as Qin Xiangxiang was putting the soaked kelp and pork ribs into the casserole, her grandmother Zeng Fengyu returned with her son Li Qingfeng.
Li Qingfeng scrambled up, his face filled with pride and arrogance. Upon seeing Qin Xiangxiang, he immediately declared, "No divorce allowed!"
"Let your great-grandmother teach you a lesson!"
The hunched-over old lady went upstairs behind him, and the chubby boy felt confident and emboldened, no longer showing the anxious and timid look he had the night before.
"...It smells so good!" The chubby boy took a deep breath, his attention drawn to the lingering aroma of meat in the air.
He immediately headed towards the kitchen.
"Xiao Bao, don't go in!" The old lady had a full head of silver hair, neatly combed back. She was wearing a floral shirt as a base layer and a red woolen sweater on top. She was over sixty years old, but her body was very strong. After climbing the stairs, she immediately grabbed Xiao Bao and Li Qingfeng.
“Xiao Bao, you can’t go into the kitchen. The kitchen is not a place for men.” Zeng Fengyu raised her voice, lecturing Li Qingfeng, forbidding the child from entering the kitchen.
She hated her eldest son, Qin Wutong, for marrying a woman like Zhou Aodong. He stayed home every day cooking and taking care of his wife and children. What a good-for-nothing son! No wonder he couldn't have a son!
Although it's true that "if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too," fortunately, the granddaughter Qin Xiangxiang gave birth to a son, and this younger generation must not be led astray.
"Why can't I go into the kitchen!" Li Qingfeng felt wronged. Men aren't allowed in the kitchen? If he couldn't go into the kitchen, wouldn't his mother secretly eat all the good food in the house?! Why?!
"I want to go into the kitchen! I want to go into the kitchen! My mom must have hidden some good food! I want to eat meat!"
Zeng Fengyu was speechless. She could also smell the aroma in the air. She advised, "You can eat meat without going into the kitchen."
“Although you are still young, you will also make women submit to you and serve you in the future, even your mother.”
Li Qingfeng's gaze was firm: "I want to go into the kitchen!"
"You don't need to go into the kitchen; you'll always be the first to eat the best food at home."
Li Qingfeng said anxiously, "...Great-Grandma, who are you on? My mother has such a big mouth, she ate it all in one go!"
Zeng Fengyu closed her eyes. This child is really hard to teach!
“Listen to your grandmother. You must make women submit to you, even your mother.”
"Waaaaah... I want to go into the kitchen!"
Qin Xiang thought to himself: I also want to make women submit to me, even my grandmother.
"Grandma, Dad went to the park for exercise? You're leaving soon, right?"
"I'll leave after I bring Qingfeng back."
"Grandma," Qin Xiangxiang called out to her, "There's seaweed and pork rib soup cooking in the casserole in the kitchen today. If you have time, could you help clean the toilet seat? There'll be just enough time in a bit, and I'll bring you a big bowl of seaweed soup."
"You made pork rib soup?" The old lady's eyes lit up as she smelled a delicious aroma. "Alright then, it'll be ready in an hour or so, right? I'll take a big bowl with me, and the second son's kids can have some too."
"Of course, there's plenty of soup."
The old lady was overjoyed. If she bought ribs, she would buy at least a pound or two, and then she would scoop out half a pound of ribs.
Smelling the aroma of meat in the air and with this plan in mind, the old lady went to clean the toilet in a rather pleasant mood.
The Xu family only cooked a simple stir-fry for dinner, but seeing that the Qin family had fish, meat, and ribs, they couldn't help but feel envious.
"Grandma, your granddaughter's family has such good food; they're really living a life of luxury."
"Not at all, it's just that times have changed, the city has improved, and the children are doing well."
Zeng Fengyu deliberately lingered a little longer, and it got dark. Zhou Aodong and his wife still hadn't returned. She glanced at the sky and asked, "My dear granddaughter, is the soup ready?"
"Okay, Grandma, let's eat first."
Li Qingfeng, the chubby boy, couldn't wait to run into the kitchen. Zeng Fengyu also stopped mentioning the "men can't go into the kitchen" thing. Qin Xiangxiang counted the heads and ladled out three bowls of soup, with a piece of pork rib in each bowl.
She picked up the soup bowl with the largest pork rib and started eating.
The chubby boy sat on a small stool and obediently drank his soup.
The old lady glanced at a bone in the soup bowl, muttered under her breath about how stingy it was, and said, "I'll take the basket back to your second uncle's place to eat."
"Milk, please do as you please."
“Your second aunt loves seaweed, so I’ll make her some more seaweed.” As she spoke, Zeng Fengyu lifted the lid of the casserole and picked up a ladle to scoop out the “seaweed.” She scooped at the bottom of the pot and her expression changed drastically; there wasn’t a single piece of meat or bone at the bottom.
She questioned, "Think about it, you scooped all the ribs out?"
"Grandma, there are only three pieces of pork ribs in total. Aunt Ding's family on the first floor gave them to me." Qin Xiangxiang said with a smile, "It's just right for the three of us, one piece each."
"My second aunt loves seaweed, so please scoop some more seaweed for her."
The old lady was so angry she almost rolled her eyes. Her hand holding the soup bowl was trembling, but she couldn't bear to smash it. Even a bone is still flesh.
She scooped up a lot more seaweed, put it in her basket, and took it downstairs. After all, it was bone broth, and the aroma couldn't be masked.
When the Ding family on the first floor saw her, they greeted her, saying, "Think about the pork rib soup you made? You even specially prepared it for the old lady. She is such a filial granddaughter."
"There were only three pieces of pork ribs in total, which was difficult to divide in our family, so we gave them to Xiangxiang—Grandma, you are so lucky, Xiangxiang is so thoughtful of you."
Zeng Fengyu's lips twitched uncontrollably. This wretched girl, this awful granddaughter, is there anyone who can control her?
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