"There's nothing good here. Comrade Chen, Xiangxiang, please don't be polite. You must eat your fill."
Sister Zhang kept picking up food for Chen Mo and Bao Xiangxiang, especially putting the plump chicken leg into Chen Mo's bowl.
"That's enough, Sister Zhang, it's too much, you can eat it yourself!" Shen Mo looked at the mountain of vegetables in the bowl, her heart warm, and she felt a little guilty.
She imitated the way people behaved, scooping a bowl of soup, blowing on it, and taking a sip. She immediately felt relaxed all over, and the sweet taste made her exclaim in admiration: "Sister Zhang, this soup is really delicious."
Sister Zhang was so happy that she smiled copiously: "If it's good, drink more bowls."
At the dinner table, Sister Zhang and Lao Li expressed their gratitude in broken Mandarin mixed with Cantonese, and asked about Shen Mo's medical studies at school. Their words were full of admiration for knowledge and education.
Their little son also blinked and looked at Shen Mo with admiration.
"Aunt Shen, you are so amazing. I want to become a doctor like you and save lives in the future."
"You just have to study hard."
"Well, I'll listen to Auntie."
Chen Mo savored the lotus root, peanut and pork bone soup in her bowl again. She was amazed by its rich aroma and mellow taste.
The flavor of this soup is rich and layered. It has both the warmth and solidity of everyday life, and the ultimate deliciousness released by the ingredients themselves after being refined over time. It is completely different from the flavor of northern stews, and is a more delicate and exquisite flavor.
She put down the spoon, looked at Sister Zhang with sparkling eyes, and her tone was filled with sincere admiration and inquiry:
"Sister Zhang, this soup is so delicious. It's cooked perfectly and has a fresh flavor. We in the north rarely get to drink such exquisite soups. Can I ask how you make it? What ingredients are in it?"
I'll tell you the truth, Qingyang and I are opening a small restaurant in the north. If we can learn your cooking skills, we'll try adding a soup dish to our restaurant. It's sure to be popular!"
When Sister Zhang heard Shen Mo praising her soup so much and even wanted to learn how to do business, she immediately felt very proud and extremely happy, and she started talking immediately:
"Oh, Comrade Shen, I'm glad you like it! We Cantonese people, the most important thing is to know how to drink and eat. A bowl of delicious soup is worth all the hard work! This soup is very simple, nothing fancy."
She enthusiastically began to teach: "First, the pork bones need to be blanched to remove the blood foam so that the soup will be clear. For lotus roots, choose pink lotus roots so that they will be sticky when cooked. As for peanuts, soaking them beforehand will make them easier to cook."
"The most important things are these few things." Sister Zhang lowered her voice a little, as if sharing some secret.
"Put a candied date in the soup for a natural sweetness. You can also use sugar. Also add a small piece of dried tangerine peel. Don't use too much, just a small piece will do. It removes the fishy smell and adds flavor. It's very soothing to the throat. Of course, a few slices of ginger are not enough."
"Use a slow fire and simmer it patiently for at least two hours to allow all the essence to come out. Salt must be added last, otherwise the meat will be tender."
Sister Zhang explained in detail, and Chen Mo listened carefully, silently noting down the key points in her notebook: blanch the pork bones, add pink lotus root, soak the peanuts, add candied dates, dried tangerine peel, old ginger, simmer over low heat, and add salt at the end.
"So they use candied dates and dried tangerine peel. That's why the flavor is so unique, with a sweet aftertaste and a refreshing fragrance."
Shen Mo suddenly realized that these were indeed the combinations that she, a northerner, had thought of before. "Thank you, Sister Zhang, you really taught me all your skills."
"What kind of secret skill is that? All the neighbors are doing it this way."
Sister Zhang smiled cheerfully, "If you're willing to learn and know how to make more, when you return to the north, make it for Director Lu. He'll definitely praise it. If I can add a dish to your restaurant, that would be even better. Remember to let me know then."
After dinner, they chatted about family matters for a while. Seeing that it was getting early, Chen Mo and Bao Xiangxiang got up to say goodbye.
Sister Zhang and Lao Li sent them to the door. Sister Zhang still held Shen Mo's hand tightly, tears welling up in her eyes again:
"Comrade Shen, today's meal is really neglectful. There is nothing good to treat you. Your life-saving grace will be remembered by our family!"
As she spoke, she seemed to suddenly remember something, turned around and walked quickly into the house. After a while, she took out a net bag with a lot of things in it:
A few pieces of shriveled but uniquely fragrant dried tangerine peel, a small bag of dried longan, a few candied dates, and even a small bundle of dried vegetables she had dried herself.
"Here, take these!" Sister Zhang stuffed the net bag into Shen Mo's body without hesitation.
"They're just some homemade stuff, they're worth a lot of money. Take them home and add a little to your drinks or soups. Just follow the instructions I told you. It's a nice touch after all... Don't be disgusted."
Shen Mo quickly refused: "Sister Zhang, how can this be done? How can you eat and take at the same time?"
"You must take it, or you will feel guilty."
At this moment, Old Li, who had been smiling innocently, slapped his head suddenly, as if he remembered something extremely important:
"Wait! Afen, wait a minute."
He turned and walked quickly into the inner room, rummaging in an old wooden box, making rustling sounds.
After a while, he came out with something tightly wrapped in oil paper.
He carefully peeled back the layers of oil paper, revealing an old booklet with yellowed pages, frayed edges, and bound with cotton thread, written in vertical traditional Chinese characters. On the cover was written the words "Guangfu Home Cooking Record" with a brush.
"Comrade Shen, this cookbook was passed down from my grandfather's generation. It records the cooking methods of the older generation here. My father used to be a kitchen helper in a restaurant, and he also added some things to it.
We are all rough and unsophisticated people, and none of us can really make anything famous by following the recipe, so it's useless to keep it.
You saved my wife today, and we don't have anything valuable to thank you for. If you don't like it, just take this. You are an educated person and you run a restaurant. I'm sure... I'm sure it can be used."
These actions and words completely stunned Shen Mo.
Looking at the old cookbook that had obviously been carefully preserved, I immediately realized that this was definitely not an ordinary thing.
"Oh, Comrade Shen, just accept it!" Sister Zhang also chimed in, "Old Li is right, this thing is just a pile of waste paper to us, and we can recognize many of the words on it.
Take it. If you can really learn something from it and use it in your restaurant, so that more people can taste our flavor, wouldn't that be much better than just letting it get moldy in the bottom of our box? This would be a good place for it to go!"
Old Li held the recipe in his hands, his eyes earnest. "Yes, yes. Saving my life is more important than anything else. We really want to thank you in other ways... This is just a small token of our gratitude. If you accept it, we will never be at peace for the rest of our lives."
The couple sang in unison and were sincere in their attitude.
Bao Xiangxiang watched from the side, gently touched Shen Mo's arm, and whispered: "Xiao Mo, Sister Zhang and Brother Li are really sincere. If you accept it, they might really fall asleep."
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