Chapter 101 Mushroom and Beef Bibimbap
After preparing the ingredients for the next day, Yu Miaoyin led the child home.
"Can I wear the clothes my grandma bought for me tomorrow?" she asked.
"Of course you can."
Xiao Tangbao thought for a moment, "If I wash it, the sun won't come out anymore, can I still wear it on New Year's Day?"
Children's thoughts are very easy to guess. Yu Miaoyin knew that she wanted to wear this dress to the food festival. The weather forecast said that the next few days would be sunny. "Sure."
The two walked home hand in hand, exchanging the warmth of each other's palms.
The next day, just like when she was looking forward to wearing new clothes for the New Year, Xiao Tangbao got up early, obediently washed up, and even braided her hair. Yu Miaoyin praised her, "Great job, come and wear the clothes Grandma bought for you."
The child nodded, beaming as he put on the clothes his grandmother had bought him. After breakfast, he even went for a few walks outside. Because there was a high school student in the family, his grandmother also got up very early. Seeing how adorable the child was, she kept praising him, "So cute! This outfit suits you perfectly."
With a sense of pride, Xiao Tangbao spun around again. Xu Changxing, Zhou Gui, and Xu Ruian all praised her for being cute. Now Xiao Tangbao really became like a little bee, buzzing around and announcing her existence to the world, almost making her late.
As Yu Miaoyin watched the child board the school bus, she imitated her and waved goodbye vigorously.
Standing at the intersection, she wondered if children still in kindergarten generally grow faster. In just half a year, she felt that Xiaotangbao had grown taller and bigger.
Yu Miaoyin glanced at the calendar. The year was about to change again; another New Year was approaching. How quickly time flies…
On the eve of New Year's Day, Yu Miaoyin's small restaurant was closed to rush production of chicken biscuits, which made the high school students who wanted to treat themselves to a meal before the holiday feel like the sky had fallen. Jiajia comforted herself while eating instant noodles with egg and sausage, "It's okay, it's okay, I can go to the food festival tomorrow."
Inside the shop, Yu Miaoyin took out the marinated frozen meat, and a cool, fragrant aroma wafted out. Aunt Zheng leaned over to take a look, and the piled-up, slightly translucent frozen meat looked as beautiful as white agate.
Most people's first reaction to fatty pork is that it's greasy and has a fishy smell. But frozen pork made from fatty pork avoids these two drawbacks very well. After being marinated with white sugar and white wine, the fat in the pork is absorbed, making it firm and dense, and the fishy smell is also removed during the marinating process.
Adding it to chicken biscuits makes it incredibly fragrant. Yu Miaoyin took out a large iron wok, added glutinous rice flour, and started stir-frying it. She kept stirring it over low heat until it turned slightly yellow, then poured it out and added it to the filling made of marinated pork, sesame seeds, peanuts, fermented bean curd, and other ingredients.
The aroma of all these fillings combined was enticing enough. She then quickly mixed the maltose and oil, added flour, and kneaded it into a smooth dough to make the pastries. At this moment, Yang Fang and community volunteers came to help Yu Miaoyin.
Aunt Liu from the community also came over. "Thank you, Sister Fang, for bringing me here."
Yang Fang asked with a smile, "You're so happy to be here to help?"
Aunt Liu participated in the recording of "Yuncheng Fireworks" and was fortunate enough to eat the egg fried rice made by Boss Yu. It was such a simple bowl of egg fried rice, but she couldn't forget it after eating it.
Before entering, Aunt Liu said, "It would be nice to be able to help out for Boss Yu. The main thing is that Boss Yu's cooking smells so good, it makes me feel good."
As soon as she entered, she was drawn in by the sweet and salty aroma emanating from the room. Aunt Liu thought to herself, "This trip was worthwhile; just being able to smell the fragrance is worthwhile."
"Boss Yu, we've come to help."
Aunt Liu greeted Yu Miaoyin: "Hello, Boss Yu, what do you need me to do now?"
Yu Miaoyin nodded. "Just call me Xiaoyin. If you'd like to help, the first batch of pancakes is ready and we need everyone's help to pack them up."
Yu Miaoyin went to the oven and took out the first plate of chicken biscuits. The aroma and heat rushed out together, extremely tempting, and the wheat fragrance after baking filled the room.
The chicken biscuits, laid out on the baking tray, varied in shape and size, their brownish-red color enticing. Several cracks in the biscuits resembled a tortoise shell, with sesame seeds embedded within, making them exceptionally fragrant and crispy.
This plate of freshly baked chicken biscuits was just as delicious as the oily fried rice on the show. Aunt Liu stared at it with wide eyes, her mouth almost watering.
"Would you like to try a piece first? We can pack it up after it cools down a bit," Yu Miaoyin said, taking one for herself first.
Aunt Liu, Aunt Zheng, and Yang Fang each took one. The freshly baked chicken biscuits were still steaming hot from being baked. You could feel the crumbs from the slightly charred chicken biscuits sticking to your hands, and they would fall off with a light touch.
Aunt Liu had to catch the chicken biscuit in her hand while eating it, as it was warmer inside. The temperature brought out the aroma of the biscuit, along with the salty fragrance of fermented bean curd and the rich aroma of candied pork. After finishing the biscuit, Aunt Liu put the chicken biscuit that had fallen into her hand into her mouth, filling her mouth with a wonderfully fragrant aroma.
Yu Miaoyin also thought it was delicious; the recipe was right, and the taste was right too.
"I'll take some over to the kids; they're best when they're fresh out of the pan." Yu Miaoyin remembers when she was little, her grandmother would fry crispy fried dough sticks at her maternal grandmother's house. Her parents would always tell her they were too "heaty" and would make her throat hurt, but her grandmother would hide one or two for her to try. In her memory, these hot, freshly fried crispy fried dough sticks were the most fragrant.
Thinking that Grandpa Xu's family was also there, she took a few more with her. Xu Ruian was doing his homework with Xiao Tangbao when Yu Miaoyin said, "Time for chicken biscuits, a reward for the child who studies hard."
"Thank you, Sister Ayin."
"Thank you, big sister, mua~"
Yu Miaoyin was in a hurry to go back and make chicken biscuits. She put the food down and told the two of them that she wanted to leave some for Grandpa Xu and the others before leaving.
Neither of them could continue their homework, so they started eating chicken biscuits. They were crispy, fragrant, and sweet, and because they were so crumbly, crumbs fell directly onto Xu Ruian's notebook. Xu Ruian simply scooped up the crumbs and ate them clean, leaving the once-white notebook speckled with oil stains. He leaned closer to smell it and said to Xiao Tangbao, "Sister, smell this! My notebook stole my biscuit; it still smells!"
...
After brushing with egg wash, they were baked in batches in the oven. Yu Miaoyin made them, while Aunt Liu, Aunt Zheng, and Yang Fang helped with the packaging. The packaging bags were custom-made, printed with promotional slogans related to Yuncheng. The packaging boxes were also provided by Yang Fang, saving Yu Miaoyin a lot of trouble.
I don't know how many batches of chicken biscuits they baked; they baked from morning till night. Yu Miaoyin soaked the red beans for making red bean paste and took some time to go with Yang Fang to check out the venue and familiarize themselves with it.
People were still busy working, and the staff passing by all looked at Yu Miaoyin and Yang Fang. Yu Miaoyin touched her face and asked, "Is there something on my face?"
"No, I don't think so." Yang Fang also found it strange.
The two continued walking around, completely bewildered. One of the staff members couldn't resist and ran over to ask Yang Fang, "Sister Fang, are you hiding something good in your bag? It smells so good, it's making my mouth water."
Yu Miaoyin then realized that it was because they had baked too many chicken biscuits, and the two of them had become too marinated...
After touring the place, Yu Miaoyin said goodbye to Yang Fang and then went to the market to buy ingredients to cook dinner for Xiao Tangbao. Xiao Tangbao had mentioned wanting to eat bibimbap a long time ago, and today she finally had time to make it.
Yu Miaoyin bought beef tenderloin, shiitake mushrooms, and white jade mushrooms to make mushroom and beef bibimbap.
The house was empty except for the light in front of the door. Yu Miaoyin took out her key and had just inserted it into the lock when Xiao Tangbao ran over and shouted, "Sister, you're back! I missed you so much! You were kidnapped by cookies today!"
"I miss you too." The second half of the sentence sounded like something out of a storybook. Yu Miaoyin replied, "Then how about you come and save me with a sword in the future?"
"Alright, I'm the great hero Xiao Tangbao, whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
The lights came back on, and the sounds of children laughing and talking filled the room. It was a bit noisy, but it was a comforting sound.
While listening to her chat with Xiao Ran in the kitchen, Yu Miaoyin quickly sliced the beef tenderloin into thin slices, marinated it with cornstarch and salt, then cut the shiitake mushrooms into thick slices and tore the white beech mushrooms into small bunches. She used a spatula to scoop out a small piece of lard and stir-fried the beef tenderloin over high heat until fragrant and the surface changed color, then set it aside.
Stir-fry shiitake and white beech mushrooms together, then add water and simmer to bring out their flavor. While they're simmering, she thickens a sauce with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, honey, and cornstarch slurry to make a rice-mixing sauce. She then stir-fries the cooked beef and mushrooms together until both are coated with the sauce.
"Come and eat!" Yu Miaoyin called out. Xiao Tangbao immediately ran over, taking out two bowls. Her older sister's bowl was bigger because her older sister was the big girl, and big girls eat more!
Yu Miaoyin placed the stir-fried mushrooms and beef on top of the rice. The thick, slightly sticky sauce slid down the rice and slowly seeped into the gaps, with the dark brown mushrooms and beef piled up.
"Is this rice bibimbap?" Xiao Tangbao asked.
"Yes." Yu Miaoyin soaked the pot in dish soap water, thinking it would be better to clean it up together after dinner.
She took out a big spoon to mix the rice, and Xiao Tangbao took off the clothes her grandma had bought and put on the clothes she often wore when she "threw her tantrums" at home.
"The rice smells so good!" she said as she stirred, turning the rice to the bottom of the bowl so that the white rice grains at the bottom were also stained with the brown color, each grain glossy and translucent.
She took a big gulp, swallowing the rice, beef, and mushrooms all at once. Greedy, she ate a huge mouthful, and only after swallowing it completely did she excitedly exclaim, "So fragrant! This rice my sister made smells so good, the mushrooms and beef inside smell so good too, it's all so delicious!"
The beef is tender and juicy, with slightly crispy edges curled up with sauce. The rich aroma of mushrooms clings to the rice and beef. With each bite, you can taste the meaty flavor of the beef, the savory aroma of the sauce, and the freshness of the mushrooms.
She ate her meal with gusto, her little hands clenched into fists and gently tapping the table as she said, "It's so delicious, a thousand times, ten thousand times delicious! I love my older sister the most!"
Yu Miaoyin nodded in satisfaction. She noticed that the child always expressed his love with extra enthusiasm when he ate something delicious. Her phone, which was on the table, vibrated a few times; Yu Miaoyin picked it up to look at it.
It was a message from Yang Fang, reminding her of tomorrow's event time. Yu Miaoyin replied, "Okay, got it."
She told Xiaotangbao, "Your older sister will be very busy tomorrow, so you can play with Grandma and Sister Yiling. There will be lots of delicious food at the food festival."
"Get a good night's sleep. My sister went to check it out; the food festival venue is huge, really huge." She'll probably be exhausted after walking around. This shows how much Yuncheng values this food festival; I hope everything goes smoothly.
"Okay, I'll be good." She nodded earnestly.
Yu Miaoyin lowered her head to eat, finding the mushroom and beef bibimbap incredibly delicious. The chewy mushrooms paired with the tender beef created layers of flavor that exploded in her mouth. If only it could be made into a mushroom and beef sauce! Then, if she didn't feel like cooking, she could just scoop a spoonful and mix it with her rice—so convenient…
After taking a hot shower, Yu Miaoyin and Xiao Tangbao went to bed early to recharge for the food festival the next day.
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