The day before the Dragon Boat Festival, all three Wang siblings returned home. Wang Yan had specifically asked for leave, and Wang Xing and Wang Ying, who had nothing to do in the courtyard, also returned easily.
Fatty Wang excitedly brought back a large bowl of salted egg yolks from the main kitchen, saying he wanted to give them a different way of wrapping zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
The recipe was passed down from my great-uncle, who was working in the south. The rice dumplings contained meat and salted egg yolk.
I chose pork belly with a good balance of fat and lean meat, and marinated it with three tablespoons each of salt, sugar, light soy sauce, and white wine for half an hour.
The rice for making zongzi also needs to be marinated. Add half a spoonful of sugar, half a spoonful of salt, and a spoonful of light soy sauce and mix well.
Choose wide, flat bamboo leaves, scoop a spoonful of rice into them, add two large pieces of pork belly and two salted egg yolks, then cover with another layer of rice. Wrap it up and boil it in water for an hour, then simmer for half an hour.
Wang Ying and Wang Yan took one bite and didn't really like the taste.
Wang Xing, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of them. He loved this savory dish. The glutinous rice was soft, sticky, and savory, the pork belly was fatty but not greasy, and the egg yolk was sandy, sticky, and oily. He ate three of them in one go before stopping.
"Is it really that delicious?" Wang Ying looked at Wang Xing with wide, curious eyes. His eating manners were truly unrestrained; he devoured a zongzi in just two or three bites.
Wang Xing couldn't help but chuckle and nodded.
Fatty Wang watched and laughed from the side. After laughing, he rolled up his sleeves and went to make plain white rice dumplings for his two daughters, without any other ingredients.
They both love eating it like this, dipped in some white sugar, it tastes sweet and fragrant.
To make them enjoy their meal more, after steaming the white rice dumplings, Fatty Wang went to the main kitchen and asked for some fine white sugar.
Wang Yan ate very happily. After finishing, Wang Xing carried her on his back and they ran around playing in the yard. Then they played beanbag toss with their friends from the back street.
"You shameless brat, how old are you? You'll be ten in two months, and you're still running around like this."
Xiang'er's mother brought back a few red bean rice dumplings and happened to see them. She secretly spat and then swayed her fat body as she walked home.
"Mom, didn't I pay you to go and get some millet and sweet potato dumplings? Why did you only bring back a few red bean dumplings?"
Xiang'er's mother clicked her tongue twice, "You're such a good eater. What's the difference between eating and eating? This bean zongzi is sweet too. Come and eat."
Liu Xiang'er stomped her foot in anger, pulled a long face, flung open the curtain, and went back into her room.
The door slammed shut, startling her two younger sisters so much that they shrank back and didn't dare to utter a sound.
Xiang'er's mother didn't care much. She didn't care whether she ate or not. She would eat whatever she wanted when she got hungry in the afternoon.
When Xiang'er's younger brother came back and saw that there were only sweet rice dumplings, he was unhappy. He threw a tantrum on the ground, rolling around and yelling.
"Everyone in the courtyard has eaten savory pork dumplings, so why don't we have any? I don't care, go and get me a few salted egg yolk dumplings!"
He rolled around on the ground, covered in dirt, which broke Xiang'er's mother's heart. She held him, wiping his face and washing his hands, repeatedly responding to his pleas.
"Okay, okay, I'll go buy it for you right away. Salted egg yolk filling rice dumplings? You didn't mishear me?"
When they arrived at the main kitchen, they found out that they did indeed have this filling, but it was all prepared for the masters to eat during the Dragon Boat Festival the next day.
The kitchen maid gave her a quick glance and said, "Want some? Come back after the Dragon Boat Festival with your money. The kitchen can't provide enough for you today."
After hearing this, Xiang'er's mother sheepishly returned to the back street. After inquiring, she learned that only the dozen or so children in their courtyard and next door had eaten.
It was distributed by Fatty Wang's family; three children were to share one. But they deliberately missed it for his son.
Xiang'er's mother gritted her teeth and secretly resented it. She went to find Fatty Wang and asked him with a half-smile, half-sarcasm, "Brother Wang, are you getting senile?"
Even those worthless young girls got zongzi with egg yolk filling, but none of us in the family received even a tiny bit.
"Hurry up and get me three, so I can go home and give them one each."
Before Fatty Wang could refuse, Aunt Cui from next door preemptively retorted.
"What do you mean by that, Sister-in-law Liu? Xingzi's family isn't well-off, and they're not related to you at all. Why would they give you such a big meat-filled rice dumpling?"
The sound of the two arguing could be heard by the children playing nearby.
Wang Ying hurried back, saw it was Xiang'er's mother, glared at her, and shouted,
"I'm going back to the courtyard tomorrow. Sister Hanqiao, who works for Aunt Yang, asked me to pass on a message to Miss Xiang'er: those dozens of handkerchiefs have been embroidered for several days, so don't slack off. Aunt Yang is waiting to use them."
As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Xiang'er, who had just been hiding in the house pretending to be dead, quickly came out. "Good sister, what do you want to say? Come inside and say it."
Wang Ying ignored her and spoke rudely, wanting to tear off her face and trample on her.
Let's see if they can still take advantage of the Third Young Master's influence to do things that are greedy for petty gains and disgust the neighbors.
"That won't be necessary. My aunt instructed that the young lady needs to rest quietly, and that we maids should all stay away so as not to disturb her meditation!"
As soon as she said this, the maids and servants who were circling around all had their eyes darting around. Wang's eldest sister was implying something.
Seeing the whispers and murmurs around them, Xiang'er's mother raised an eyebrow and said sternly,
"What a sharp-tongued, shrewish young lady! No wonder she can talk like that. Could it be that she's jealous of our fragrant... oh dear!"
Just as she was about to utter some foul and slanderous words, a broom flew from afar and hit her squarely on the head.
It turned out that Aunt Wang had returned from her shift. Everyone sighed, and no one felt like going home to cook dinner.
They all stood there waiting to see what would happen, but surprisingly, nothing actually happened. Wang Yan and Wang Xing returned.
Wang Yan had just finished playing beanbag toss when she heard someone mention Song Sao's fish soup.
Only then did I realize that I had been back for so long and had never tasted this famous dish.
Then Wang Xing took her to buy it; there were restaurants selling it two streets away from the Marquis's residence.
Steam the fresh mandarin fish until cooked, then remove the skin and bones. Cut Jinhua ham, shiitake mushrooms, and bamboo shoots into shreds.
Heat oil in a pot, add pepper, scallions and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add prepared stock and a small spoonful of Shaoxing wine, and remove the scallions and ginger.
Add shredded ham, shredded shiitake mushrooms, shredded bamboo shoots, some pepper, and some white vinegar. Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the fish.
Finally, thicken the sauce with cornstarch, crack an egg into the pot, beat it, and pour it in. After cooking, add a splash of black vinegar.
Fish with vinegar will taste like crab, so this dish is also known as "crab soup".
Seeing her bring back a pot of soup, Wang Ying reached out to take it. Xiang'er's mother, realizing she couldn't win the argument with this family, took the opportunity to sneak away.
Aunt Wang glanced sideways and saw her run away. She snorted coldly, not wanting to make a scene on a holiday and attract the attention of the steward, who would also be punished.
Half-heartedly, she was pushed back into the house by her children. They scooped out a bowl of fish soup, took a white rice dumpling, and ate it without dipping it in sugar, just with the soup.
Then, Wang Xing handed her a meat-filled rice dumpling.
"It tastes good, though. The egg yolk and meat are so delicious and juicy."
After the meal, Aunt Wang tried another meat-filled rice dumpling. It tasted quite good, so she told Wang Xing about it.
"Aren't you supposed to send mugwort-scented rice dumplings to the Third Young Master tomorrow?"
"Have the main kitchen wrap up a few more salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings and send them over. That way, the young master will know you're thinking of him even while you're at home." Wang Xing nodded in agreement.
After the family had dinner, the three siblings did not rest at home but went back to the mansion to work.
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