Chapter 33 Trying to Cook: Su Zhihan, let alone tasting the lamb cooked by Aunt Wu...
Su Zhihan had never even seen the mutton that Aunt Wu made, let alone tasted it, so she had no way of guessing what it tasted like.
From the people in the kitchen, she learned that the dish was Wu's mother's specialty, with fresh mutton and an excellent taste.
After saying that, she placed the porcelain plate on the table.
Cao's mother didn't even notice what Su Zhihan was saying; her gaze was completely fixed on the stir-fried mutton.
This dish looks incredibly tempting.
Finely chopped scallions, garlic, and cilantro are mixed with slices of lean and fatty lamb, all coated with a glossy sauce.
Wisps of steam, carrying an enticing aroma, rose upwards, directly into Cao's mother's nostrils. She swallowed, belatedly replying, "Then, shall I try it now?"
Cao's mother picked up the wooden chopsticks and eagerly put a slice of meat into her mouth. It was only when Su Zhihan reminded her to be careful of the heat that she remembered this.
Cao's mother slowed down, blew on it to cool it down, and then put it in her mouth. As the thinly sliced mutton landed on her tongue, the salty and savory sauce and the unique aroma of mutton followed one after another, knocking heavily on the door of her taste buds, making Cao's mother chew vigorously.
As you open and close your teeth, the rich juices burst on your tongue. The sauce doesn't overpower the meat's aroma; instead, it enhances the meat's sweetness, making it completely free of any fishy or gamey taste.
What surprised Cao's mother even more was that although the mutton was sliced very thinly, it was incredibly tender, which showed that Han Jie'er had controlled the heat perfectly when cooking it.
...It was truly delicious.
After taking a bite, Cao's mother started thinking about rice.
Su Zhihan seemed to read her mind, and the next second she served both her and Jiang Zhenniang a bowl of rice.
"Oh dear... this, this is so embarrassing." They'd come to deliver mutton, but now they'd unwittingly sat down to drink and eat. Thinking of this, Cao's mother suddenly remembered her husband and two children waiting for her at home, and felt a pang of guilt.
I may think about it, but my body still behaves itself.
Cao's mother didn't move an inch. She reached out and took the rice that Su Zhihan brought, picked up a piece of mutton with her chopsticks and placed it on the rice, then took a big bite—it was truly satisfying!
As you chew, the juicy meat seeps out from between the crevices, swimming freely in your mouth. Paired with perfectly cooked rice that's neither too soft nor too hard, it's truly a masterpiece.
"Oh my, this taste is truly—" Mrs. Cao racked her brains, unable to find the words to describe it, regretting that her mouth was too clumsy and she lacked the vocabulary to fully describe such a delicious flavor. After a long pause, she finally managed to squeeze out a few words: "Incredible, absolutely delicious!"
"Aunt Cao, what do you think of this stir-fried mutton compared to Aunt Wu's braised mutton with scallions?" This was Su Zhihan's biggest concern.
“Hmm…it’s not easy to compare? Your methods are quite different.” Cao Mama shook her head hesitantly, and seeing Su Zhihan’s puzzled look, she continued to explain: “The mutton that Granny Wu made was not stir-fried.”
“I saw Granny Wu do it once.”
"Put large chunks of mutton in cold water, bring to a boil, and then slice them thinly." Cao's mother thought carefully, pointing to the stir-fried mutton in front of her, and said, "But even if you say thin slices, they should be thicker than what you made."
"The braised mutton with scallions that Granny Wu makes is actually about tasting the original flavor of the mutton," Cao's mother emphasized.
Su Zhihan's stir-fried mutton was perfectly cooked, with the sauce and mutton blending together harmoniously, creating a flavorful and appetizing dish.
After thinking for a moment, Cao Mama continued, "The most important part of Granny Wu's dish is the dipping sauce, but she always makes the dipping sauce herself, without Qiuyue and Sulan being around."
"And that dish is not appetizing at all."
"Grandma Wu's cooking is more suitable to be paired with a little wine, so she has almost never cooked in the kitchen before. She only cooks when others pay her to.
It's clear that the maid who brought it up must be up to no good.
Cao's mother thought to herself, and after a moment of careful recollection, she remembered something from the past: "That's right, I once heard Zhang's mother and the butcher talking about it. They said that Granny Wu's dipping sauce was special, and it contained scallion oil and more than a dozen other spices."
“Mother Zhang said this dipping sauce recipe is amazing, not something Mother Wu could make, and she suspects that she learned it from somewhere else.”
Cao's mother remembered this incident vividly. After hearing this, she also had the idea of finding someone to learn the recipe. However, the recipes outside were either too expensive or she didn't like them. If she wanted to learn a better recipe, she would have to find a master... but that was no easy task.
Over time, Cao's mother also let the matter go.
Cao's mother told Su Zhihan everything she knew, and then comforted her, "I would say that the stir-fried mutton you made is very delicious. I don't think those little rascals will have anything to say about it."
"That's what I think, but I don't know..."
Sure enough, the next day, even though Su Zhihan put the stir-fried mutton on the menu, the maid still said she was not satisfied and complained again about wanting to eat braised mutton with scallions.
This time, Su Zhihan was certain that she was there to cause trouble.
Later that evening, Yinghong came running back and told her the answer: "Han-jie, you guessed right! I followed that person all the way to Chang-ge'er's courtyard."
“I asked my sister about it.”
"That person is called Yulu. She is close to Xiuhe and they often hang out together."
“Ah, no wonder.” Cao Daya’s eyes widened upon hearing this: “That Xiuhe is so annoying. Just because she’s in Chang’er’s courtyard, she’s always showing off in front of my mother.”
"It made my mom scold me several times..."
"..." Yinghong understood Cao Daya's resentment. Before she reconciled with her sister Zhenzhu, she was often troubled and hated it when others would compare her with her sister.
"Han-jie, what should we do next?"
"No need to do anything, just whet their appetite first." Su Zhihan explained, then handed the food she had left for Yinghong and Cao Daya to them: "Nao, go eat it, it'll get cold if you leave it any longer."
Yinghong and Cao Daya happily agreed, but just as they were about to leave, Yinghong remembered something else. She glanced at Qiuyue and Sulan and whispered, "By the way, my sister said someone saw a strange-looking maid from the kitchen frequently talking to Xiuhe lately. I was wondering if she might be from our main kitchen?"
Unlike the servants and maids in other parts of the mansion, the servants and maids working in the kitchen were dressed in a particularly simple and capable manner because of the heavy grease and grime, making them easily recognizable as kitchen staff from afar.
If Yinghong were to say it was either Qiuyue or Sulan, or perhaps two men who were just doing odd jobs, or even strangers, then connecting it to Xiuhe's matter would inevitably raise suspicions.
Su Zhihan nodded and made a note of it. She was relieved to know that someone had secretly informed her. In the following days, she continued to cook various dishes as usual, and later secretly bought mutton to try cooking the dishes, occasionally teaching a few people to come and taste them.
Su Lan was among them, pretending to help and tasting the dishes several times. Later, she told Wu Mama and Xiu He about it: "Han Jie'er has been thinking about mutton dishes at home every day. The two dishes that have been added to the recipe recently are the ones she just came up with."
"That girl is so amazing? She can come up with new dishes so quickly?" Xiuhe was shocked. She had a mother who was a head cook in the kitchen, so she knew how difficult it was to research new dishes. Only four or five days had passed, and Han'er had already come up with two mutton dishes.
This level of skill... Xiuhe was quite apprehensive.
Seeing that her expression had changed, Su Lan quickly explained, "Sister, you don't know, the two dishes that Han Jie'er made were originally made with pork, and they were not newly created recipes."
"Yesterday she also made boiled mutton and prepared sauce, probably to imitate your braised mutton with scallions, Mom."
"How does the sauce taste?"
"It has a strange smell, like a mixture of scallion oil and fermented black beans." Su Lan curled her lip and smiled at Wu's mother, "It's nowhere near as good as what you make. I heard it's also a sauce for a pork dish."
"Cao Daya and the others are so ignorant, yet they keep praising it."
Only then did Mrs. Wu feel relieved: "Thanks to you."
After this incident, she now likes Su Lan very much.
Madam Wu knew she had been foolish in the past. Although she had accepted money from Qiuyue and Sulan's families and promised to teach them their skills, she actually treated them as lowly maids and never bothered to teach them cooking. She was also not close to the two maids.
Now, she has finally come to terms with it.
No wonder other mothers love to take in goddaughters; they can come in handy when something happens!
Seeing that her daughter was stubborn and wouldn't listen to advice, and was determined to sneak into Chang Ge'er's room, Wu's mother had no choice but to give up.
Besides trying her best to support her, she also wanted to prepare some helpers for her daughter so that they could help her in the future.
She exchanged a glance with Xiuhe, then smiled at Sulan and patted her hand: "Sulan, would you like to be my goddaughter? You know, I only have one daughter, Xiuhe. If you are willing, then recognize me as your godmother, and the three of us can live together from now on."
"Sister Sulan, my mother is so kind."
“You know I don’t like kitchen work, and she won’t have anywhere else to learn her skills. If you come with my mother, she can teach you all her skills.” Xiuhe understood Wu Mama’s intentions and spoke up for her.
Su Lan had racked her brains to do everything she could, just waiting for these words from Mama Wu. Upon hearing Mama Wu's words, her eyes reddened, and she choked out, "Yes, yes, Mama Wu, of course I'm willing."
"Why call her Mama Wu anymore?"
"Yes, godmother, sister!"
The three of them became godparents and had a long conversation.
Logically, when people recognize each other as godparents, they should prepare a feast and invite close relatives to talk. However, both of them knew that now was not a good time, so they planned to wait until Wu Mama took back the job from Su Zhihan before making the arrangements.
Having realized that she had all the initiative in her own hands, Xiuhe returned to Changge'er's courtyard and found the maid, urging her to cause trouble in the kitchen again.
"My dear sister, please help me one more time." Despite the fact that Xiuhe and Zhenzhu don't get along and she looks down on Qiuyue and Sulan, she can still be humble and say sweet words when she really needs to please someone.
She first took a banknote from her bag and stuffed it into the maid's hand, then added, "Tomorrow I'll ask my mother to make you a dish of braised mutton with scallions and a dish of braised mutton in soy sauce, how about that?"
"Sister Xiuhe, it's not that I don't want to help you, but my godmother scolded me for your sake." The maid was craving braised mutton with scallions, but she didn't want to offend anyone again.
The first two times, she saw that Xiuhe was pretty and had even been rewarded by Chang Ge'er, so she developed a desire to get closer to her and helped to speak to the head kitchen twice.
But if Han Jie'er doesn't do it, there's nothing she can do.
In addition, news of her clamoring for mutton in the main kitchen reached the courtyard, which made her godmother very angry. Yesterday, her godmother even pinched her ear and scolded her, saying that if she caused trouble outside again, she would abandon her as her daughter.
Seeing the maid's troubled expression, Xiuhe gritted her teeth and took out the jasmine powder that Sulan had given her last time, stuffing it into the maid's hand along with the money: "Good sister, I just bought this box of powder from outside, and I haven't even used it yet, please help me this time!"
"Oh dear... wait?" The maid was about to put the face powder back when she saw the shop name on the face powder box and her eyes lit up. This face powder was expensive, and a lowly maid like her, whose money was all taken by her maid, could only watch longingly, and could only afford to buy it when she received her year-end bonus.
"Really for me?"
"Here you go." Xiuhe felt a pang of heartache, but pretended to be generous on the surface.
"Alright, then I'll help you one more time." The maid was overjoyed and quickly tucked the powder box into her sleeve. But after thinking for a moment, she added, "This really is the last time."
“Okay.” Xiuhe readily agreed, thinking that if there was no other way, she would have to do it herself.
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