Yunniang is a local of Suijin, and her specialty is various kinds of soup noodles and other noodle dishes.
If she wanted to cook fish or meat, she was no match for Song Liyun, who had consulted the recipes.
She needs to cook these two fish herself.
Since Commander Xiao wanted spicy food, Song Liyun decided to make boiled fish.
This is a dish that everyone drools over when they see it in the recipe, but unfortunately, the ingredients are always incomplete.
The common seasonings used by the Wu Dynasty included chili peppers, black pepper, and cumin, but not Sichuan peppercorns.
Song Liyun only discovered this problem when she ate roasted lamb chops for the second time in Qili County.
She remembered that Sichuan peppercorns were not only a food, but also a medicine.
So she went to the pharmacies in Qili County and not only bought the Sichuan peppercorns she had been dreaming of, but also the medicinal herb "kelp".
Sichuan pepper has many benefits. It warms the middle and dispels cold, and can relieve symptoms such as abdominal pain relieved by pressure, aversion to cold, cold limbs, poor appetite, and loose stools caused by insufficient Yang Qi and invasion of cold pathogens.
If used externally, it can also repel insects.
Song Liyun wasn't using it for medical purposes; she needed the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns to make the spicy and flavorful boiled fish.
In addition, she has a killer weapon.
That is "kelp", which is a marine plant belonging to the same genus as kelp.
Before the apocalypse, the most popular seasoning in every household was probably MSG, a magical substance that could turn plain water into flavorful soup.
The earliest form of MSG was seaweed powder.
Kelp contains water-soluble amino acids; grinding it into powder and adding it to soup can enhance its flavor.
Using kelp powder to enhance the flavor was merely a superficial need for Song Liyun.
Kelp also has another important function: it contains trace elements such as iodine.
Yunzhou is located inland, and people there have no habit or opportunity to eat seafood. The salt they eat is mostly well salt.
Song Liyun is worried that Xiao An's poor physical and intellectual development may be caused by hypothyroidism.
Since we can't do testing here and can't eat seafood, we can only use iodine-containing kelp for seasoning, so everyone can get iodine, killing two birds with one stone.
With the "help" of Xiao An and Hei Jin, Song Liyun scraped off the scales of the three fish, cut them into fish bones and fillets, and then seasoned them.
When the fish bones were being fried, Yunniang watched from the side and felt heartbroken.
Frying was not a cooking method found in the recipes of the Wu Dynasty.
This method is far too fuel-consuming.
Once the fish bones in the pot have released their aroma, add various side dishes to the pot, and finally add the fish fillets coated with starch evenly.
As the snow-white fish slices floated up and down in the pot, the aroma of spiciness made Xiao An and Hei Jin's mouths water.
Seeing that the two guys were really craving it, Song Liyun picked out some boneless slices of meat, and then added some chives, bean sprouts, acorns and tofu as a base, so that they could eat first.
He then put the fish slices, along with the soup and vegetables, into the large rice bucket that Zhou Xiaoqi had brought over.
Then add chili powder, Sichuan peppercorns, scallion segments, and garlic cloves to the rice container. Finally, heat oil in a wok again and pour the hot oil over the seasonings on the meat slices.
With a sizzling sound, a unique fragrance shot into the sky. Before the smoke could dissipate, Song Liyun quickly covered the rice bucket.
I sighed to myself: What a pity, the point of boiled fish is that satisfying feeling of being freshly drizzled with oil.
It smells quite nice now, but I wonder what it will be like inside the sanatorium when it's sent there later.
Zhou Xiaoqi sent two people to wait in the front yard. As soon as Song Liyun finished cooking, she took the rice bucket out and told them to take it away as quickly as possible.
The two men took the food bucket, mounted their horses, and galloped back to camp.
Looking at this somewhat familiar scene, Song Liyun blinked.
She seemed to recall a profession that was now a blur in her memory, where she would wait outside someone's shop and deliver food to those in need.
The only difference is that one rides a motorcycle and the other rides a horse.
As she spent more and more time in the Wu Dynasty, without the mutated beasts and without the constant fear, the memories of the apocalyptic war in her mind became clearer and clearer.
Scenes flash through my mind: a school filled with the sound of students reading aloud, sports fields, swimming pools, cinemas, and bars; and the thought of going home on weekends to enjoy a delicious meal cooked by my mother.
That will be the true era of peace and prosperity.
Just then, Yunniang's panicked voice from the courtyard interrupted her recollection: "Xiao An, what's wrong with you? And Hei Jin, Hei Jin... Miss, Miss!"
Song Liyun snapped out of her daze, turned around, and hurriedly ran back to the courtyard.
By this time, a bowl of fish slices had been pushed far away. Xiao An stuck out her tongue, drool was dripping from her mouth, and her face was flushed.
Black Gold, meanwhile, scratched his mouth and jumped around on the spot, yelling loudly.
Yunniang was startled by their actions. She called out to Song Liyun while patting Xiao An's back and rubbing his chest.
Song Liyun was also startled and quickly hugged Xiao An: "Xiao An, what's wrong?"
Tears welled up in Xiao An's eyes as she pointed to her mouth and said, "A bug is crawling!"
Black Gold also pounced over, opening its mouth for Song Liyun to see. The usually unruly monkey was now so frightened that its eyes widened.
Song Liyun suddenly realized and burst into laughter, tears streaming down her face: "That's Sichuan peppercorns, it's numbing!"
The people of the Wu Dynasty had never eaten Sichuan peppercorns; Xiao An was only tasting the flavor of the soup base.
When he first experienced the numbing sensation, he thought there were worms crawling in his mouth.
Song Liyun made the two guys rinse their mouths with water, and the numbness quickly disappeared.
Given Xiao An and Hei Jin's reactions, Song Liyun was afraid that no one would dare to eat the pot of fish on the stove, so she could only ask Yunniang to cook another pot of green beans for later use.
As for the bucket of fish that the garrison took away... Song Liyun had just explained to them that she only hoped the adults would have stronger tolerance and not make such a fool of themselves.
Song Zhenping and Han Ming returned from the fields quickly.
After the two washed their hands and faces, before they even started eating, Song Liyun mentioned that there were Sichuan peppercorns in the fish.
"Sichuan peppercorns? You mean the kind that you boiled with chili peppers to cure frostbite?"
Looking at the dark, round particles floating on the fish slices, Song Zhenping remembered that Song Liyun had bought them from a pharmacy in Qili County and had Yunniang boil them in water to soak her hands.
Song Liyun nodded: "Yes, this stuff tastes numbing. It's also used as medicine when added to dishes to dispel cold. It tastes quite good."
After she said that, Song Zhenping hesitated to eat.
Han Ming trusted Song Liyun's words; if Miss Song said he could eat it, he would eat it.
Han Ming's eyes lit up as he put a large piece of fish into his mouth. He sucked on the fish meat and spat out the bones in a few bites, then exclaimed with delight, "This taste is just too..." He couldn't describe the spicy and savory flavor.
I just have one feeling: It's delicious!
This is a taste that makes your lips tremble and your tongue quiver.
Song Zhenping didn't have the chance to eat, and Song Liyun didn't force him. She just ate heartily, while Han Ming next to her ate with gusto.
When Yunniang served the braised pork with green beans, Song Zhenping finally couldn't resist the aroma of the boiled fish and tried eating it again.
Spicy food is addictive.
When the taste buds receive this stimulation, every bite feels like heaven.
Song Zhenping was sweating profusely from eating, but he still couldn't put down his chopsticks.
Xiao An carefully ate the fish meat that Yun Niang had deboned, tears streaming down her face.
Black Gold was eating with gusto, its eyes red from the spiciness, howling and jumping around. But when Song Liyun wouldn't let it eat, it just rolled its eyes and glared at her.
At this moment, in the mess hall of the garrison, a large bucket of fish had already been divided into several basins.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
