Pei Ji tilted his head in confusion and asked, "Mother, can't we tell you anything?"
Min Yueqing pondered for a moment, then, just to be on the safe side, said, "You can't say anything that makes you think your mother is amazing." She then looked at Shi Tou, "Understood?"
Pei Ji and Shi Tou both nodded as if they understood.
Looking at their bewildered expressions, Min Yueqing was slightly worried. "What will you do if your father or teacher asks?"
The two children looked at each other, unable to answer.
Min Yueqing sighed and put her hand to her forehead. What could she do with her child who was so honest?
She could only offer a somewhat wooden answer: "If someone asks about our little secrets, can you just say you don't know or have forgotten?"
This time, the two children nodded with much more conviction.
Min Yueqing finally used her trump card, "Come on, let's pinky swear. Once we pinky swear, we have to keep our promise, otherwise I won't play with you guys next time."
This threat was serious. Pei Ji and Shi Tou immediately nodded like chickens pecking at rice, and solemnly made a pinky promise as Min Yueqing had taught them.
Min Yueqing was finally relieved.
In the afternoon, Min Yueqing leisurely lay on the tatami mat flipping through various books. The little boy first lay down beside her for a nap, and after waking up, he began to write large characters on his own.
Pei Han wrote a calligraphy model for each of his two children and had them practice writing large characters every day. After more than a month, Pei Ji's large characters were indeed quite impressive.
In the late afternoon, Amei walked in with a smile and reported to Min Yueqing: "Miss, someone brought over a lot of fresh wild boar meat. Wu Sanniang doesn't know how to cook it, so she asked me to ask you for your opinion!"
As soon as the cook at the patrol station finished processing the wild boar meat, he immediately picked out all the best parts, put them separately into a clean wooden basin, and had his two apprentices deliver them to the courtyard.
Upon hearing that the meat had been delivered, Min Yueqing immediately stood up and said, "Let's go take a look together."
Amei and Azhu followed Min Yueqing with smiles on their faces. Based on their experience, as long as Min Yueqing was in a good mood, it meant that everyone was in for a treat.
As soon as the three entered the kitchen, Wu San Niang and her daughter came to greet them, first acknowledging Min Yueqing.
Min Yueqing smiled and waved as she walked inside. As soon as she entered the kitchen, two large basins of cleaned wild boar meat came into view.
Min Yueqing walked closer for a closer look, and wow, the essence of the wild boar was probably all here.
Two large wooden basins were filled with tenderloin, pork shoulder, pork belly, and the finest spare ribs, and even two pig's trotters were included.
"It's a pity there's no pig intestines," Min Yueqing thought with some regret.
Whether braised or stir-fried with chili peppers or pickled cabbage, pig intestines have a unique flavor, which Min Yueqing really likes. Unfortunately, to maintain her public image, Min Yueqing can't voice this small wish.
After looking at it, Min Yueqing pointed to the different parts of the wild boar meat and said to Wu Sanniang one by one: "The pork belly and ribs are braised, the tenderloin is the most tender, so you can slice or shred it and stir-fry it. The pork shoulder is a good mix of fat and lean meat, so it's tender. You can chop it up and make a wild vegetable and meatball soup. The pig's trotters can be stewed directly."
Wu San Niang and Wu Yan Yan wrote down Min Yue Qing's words one by one. After Min Yue Qing finished giving her instructions, Wu San Niang asked with difficulty, "Madam, what is braising?"
Wu San Niang could figure out how to make stir-fried pork, meatballs, and stews on her own, but this was the first time she had ever heard the word "braised".
Since Min Yueqing had nothing else to do, she said to Wu Sanniang, "I'll tell you, just follow these steps. They're very simple, you'll get it after doing it once."
When Wu San Niang heard that Min Yueqing was going to teach her how to make a new dish, she was very willing and immediately listened attentively to Min Yueqing's instructions.
Min Yueqing asked first, "Is there any hot water available?"
Wu San Niang hurriedly replied, "Yes, there is always hot water in the small pot next to the big pot."
Min Yueqing nodded and said, "Then first cut the pork belly and ribs into slightly larger pieces, put them in a pot of cold water, blanch them, and once the water boils, skim off the foam, take them out and wash them with hot water."
While the blanching was in progress, Min Yueqing said, "Slice the ginger, and take out some cinnamon, bay leaves, and eight ounces for later use."
I was originally going to add scallions, but there aren't any left.
Spices keep well, so they prepared plenty before they arrived. Old Jiang and Min Yueqing also bought a lot and stored them in their space. After arriving, she put many useful spices in the kitchen.
Having cooked here for so long, Wu San Niang and her daughter could easily identify the commonly used spices. When Wu Yan Yan saw Wu San Niang cutting ginger, she found the spices according to Min Yue Qing's instructions.
After blanching and rinsing the meat and ribs, Min Yueqing said, "Now you can pour out the water in the pot and wash the pot clean. Then heat the oil in the pot, stir-fry the pork belly until golden brown, then add ginger slices and soy sauce and stir-fry for a while. Next, add hot water to cover the meat."
Caramelizing sugar is too difficult for beginners, so Min Yueqing simply skipped this step.
Wu San Niang did as instructed. After adding hot water, Min Yueqing said, "Now add some spices and sugar, bring to a boil, cover the pot, turn to a simmer and cook for a little over 15 minutes. Add some salt before reducing the sauce."
After putting the lid on the pot, Wu San Niang turned to Min Yueqing and asked, "Madam, is this braised pork ribs made the same way?"
Min Yueqing nodded with a smile and said, "Yes."
Having just tried it once, Wu San Niang felt it wasn't too difficult, so she confidently said, "Madam, I'll use another large pot to make braised pork ribs. Do you think that's correct?"
Min Yueqing nodded slightly, and Wu San Niang immediately walked to the large pot on the other side and began to cook braised pork ribs.
After Wu San Niang successfully repeated the previous steps, Min Yueqing smiled and said, "Well done. You can do most braised pork dishes this way from now on."
Upon receiving Min Yueqing's personal praise, Wu San Niang smiled broadly and said, "Thank you for teaching me, Madam!"
After that, there was nothing else that required Min Yueqing's presence. Min Yueqing said, "Then you two go ahead with your work," and then took Amei and Azhu back.
That evening, the intense aroma of meat wafted from the kitchen and filled the entire courtyard.
Not to mention Shi Tou, even Pei Ji was captivated by the alluring fragrance that permeated every nook and cranny. He came out of the study and jogged over to Min Yueqing.
Pei Ji was not surprised to find that Xiao Wei had already gotten there first. Xiao Wei was lying on Min Yueqing's lap, whimpering softly, and occasionally rubbing its fluffy tiger head against Min Yueqing's chest, making Min Yueqing's face full of smiles.
Pei Ji felt a pang of sadness at the sight. He scrambled onto the bed, wrapped one arm around Min Yueqing's neck and the other around her arm, and pressed his face against her shoulder.
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