Ever since he had the idea of expanding his stall, Lin Yan would go around when there were few people around to see how others did it.
If he wanted to sell tofu and pork soup, he'd need a larger stove, a deeper pot, a colander, a chopping board, and tables, chairs, and bowls. Lin Yan wrote down everything he needed and planned to start preparing after discussing it with his family.
He first talked to Zhou Chunlan, who supported his idea and told him to go for it boldly, saying that she had enough money.
Lin Yan was grateful, but he didn't want to ask for the money. The dozen or so taels he had saved should be enough.
Zhao Shiyun knew what he was doing when he saw him wandering around. He took care of the tofu stall so that Lin Yan wouldn't have to worry about it.
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After selling tofu that day, Lin Yan and Zhao Shiyun returned home and as soon as they entered the yard, they saw a chicken lying on the ground.
Lin Yan asked curiously, "What happened to the chicken? Did it fall asleep?"
Li Yuemei replied: "No, I was scared to death by Dahei."
Lin Yan’s eyes widened:???
"Scared to death? That's outrageous."
Yu Ge'er snorted unhappily, "Yeah, today Dahei passed by our house and this chicken happened to be strolling there. Dahei suddenly barked a few times, and the chicken got scared and lay down. It hasn't gotten up yet."
Dahei is the village headman's dog. He likes to wander around the village on weekdays. Children all like to play with him, but they didn't expect that he would scare the chickens in the house to death.
Zhao Shiyun couldn't help laughing. It was really outrageous.
Lin Yan covered his mouth and laughed: "Then I will do it tonight."
Li Yuemei said, "Okay, I'll kill the chicken."
Yu Ge'er went to the kitchen to boil water, and Lin Yan took the opportunity to cut down a bunch of peppers hanging under the eaves.
He planned to make spicy chicken, but using too much oil would be too extravagant, so he decided to make a simple version.
Li Yuemei asked Yuger to hold the chicken's feet while she plucked the fluff from the chicken's neck. As soon as the kitchen knife cut it, the chicken started flapping its wings.
"Ahhh, Ahhh~" Yu Ge'er grabbed the chicken's feet tightly, tilted his head back, and dodged the attack of the chicken's wings.
Lin Yan and Zhao Shiyun were also startled. Could it be that the chicken was faking its death? But the knife had already been dropped, so it had to be killed. Li Yuemei pinched the chicken's head and continued to rub its neck.
After A-mo killed the chicken, Lin Yan asked Zhao Shiyun to chop the chicken into small pieces, make a soup with the chicken gizzards, chicken liver, chicken intestines and sweet potato starch, and marinate the rest of the meat with wine, salt and a little pepper.
Cut the dried chilies into sections, then prepare the green onions, ginger, garlic, and cooked sesame seeds, and chop them all.
Soak the sweet potato flour in warm water for a while so it's easier to boil. Pour water into a pot and add the soaked sweet potato flour. Once it's cooked, add the chicken gizzards, liver, and intestines. This dish doesn't require any complicated steps; just cook until done. Once it's almost done, add a handful of greens. Before serving, season with a spoonful of pork, soy sauce, salt, and a sprinkle of chopped green onions.
Next, make the spicy chicken. The general method is to deep-fry the marinated chicken until it changes color. Lin Yan pours the chicken into the pan and stir-fries it without adding any oil. The chicken skin is very oily, so it will release oil after a while. When it is fried until it is golden brown and the oil is released, it can be served and set aside.
Heat oil in another pan, add ginger, garlic, dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry. Add appropriate amount of salt, sugar and soy sauce to taste. Finally, sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds and serve.
"The delicious spicy chicken is ready." Lin Yansheng took a deep sniff and said, "It smells so good~"
The whole family had long been captivated by the overbearing aroma. They swallowed their saliva and stared at the kitchen door, waiting for Lin Yan's order to start eating.
"It's time to eat~" Before he finished speaking, Yu Ge'er and Zhao Shiyun rushed in to help serve the food. Lin Yan looked at his suddenly empty hands and blinked.
"Brother, come here quickly~" Yu Ge'er quickly served the food and waited for Lin Yan to come and sit down.
Lin Yan shook his head helplessly and sat down at the table.
Everyone eagerly picked up their chopsticks. The first bite of spicy chicken was followed by a burst of spicy flavor, followed by the fresh, tender texture of the chicken. Yu Ge'er gasped from the spiciness, but he kept stuffing his mouth with food. "Eat slowly, no one's trying to snatch it from you," Li Yuemei said with a smile.
Halfway through the meal, Zhao Shiyun suddenly said, "Brother Yan, do you want to eat mutton?" Lin Yan's eyes lit up, and then he shook his head: "This mutton is too expensive, let's forget it." Brother Yu's eyes rolled around: "I want to eat it, I want to eat it!"
Zhao Shiyun rolled his eyes at him and said, "You want to eat everything." Everyone laughed when they heard that.
Li Yuemei asked, "Why are you suddenly asking about mutton?"
Zhao Shiyun swallowed the chicken in his mouth before answering, "Today a merchant came to buy fragrant tofu. I chatted with him for a while. They came from the north and brought a lot of sheep with them. They plan to sell them here, both live and mutton. They just arrived in town yesterday and plan to rent a stall tomorrow to slaughter and sell them immediately."
Zhao Qiming interrupted, "Then go buy a few pounds tomorrow? I haven't eaten it in years."
The others looked at Li Yuemei, waiting for her to speak. Li Yuemei chuckled, "If you want to eat, buy it. Did I stop you from buying it? Why are you all looking at me?"
Yu Ge'er cheered and rushed over to hug Li Yuemei and act coquettishly.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Zhao Shiyun hurried to open it and saw the village head standing outside with his dog Dahei. The village head said with an embarrassed look on his face: "Shiyun, I heard that my dog Dahei scared your chicken to death. I will make up for the chicken." He did not dare to look into the yard. As a village head, he was ashamed for not taking good care of his dog.
Zhao Shiyun waved his hands quickly, "No need, no need. The chicken has already been cooked and everyone is enjoying it. Besides, Dahei didn't mean to do it. And the chicken was flailing around when we killed it. Maybe it was just pretending."
When the village head heard this, he felt even more guilty. He had not intended to eat the chicken in the first place, but killed it because he was scared by Dahei. So he insisted on giving Dahei some copper coins before he would leave.
Zhao Shiyun took the copper coin and walked back helplessly. He put the copper coin on the table. The family also heard what he had just said and looked at each other in silence for a while.
Li Yuemei put the copper coin away and said, "Just take it. When you go to buy mutton tomorrow, use this copper coin to buy a few chicks."
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