The table was laden with dishes made from ingredients they had eaten before, but the taste was unlike anything they had ever experienced before.
Ye Ren'an took only one bite of the sweet and sour pork ribs closest to him, and he knew that the exaggerated praise he heard from his mother and the others outside the kitchen earlier was not a pretense to please Tianxuan.
For someone his age, he doesn't usually like sweet and sour pork ribs, but his son Tianxuan made them perfectly. The sweetness and sourness were just right, and the ribs were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. He had never eaten such delicious sweet and sour pork ribs before.
"Fourth brother, when you went shopping today, you only bought this pork rib. Is there something special about it?" Seeing his father eat two pieces of sweet and sour pork ribs, Ye Liangcheng remembered to ask.
"Yes, because the middle ribs have tender meat and a good balance of fat and lean meat, making them the best for sweet and sour pork ribs. Using ribs from this part to make soup results in a rich and flavorful broth."
The front row, which is close to the pig's neck, has more cartilage. Although the meat is tender, it is only suitable for short-term stewing or braising. It is not as flavorful as the back row when used for making soup.
The bones in the back row are large and have a high bone marrow content. The meat layer is thin, so it can be stewed for a long time without becoming tough, and the soup is milky white and delicious. The calcium extracted from the bone marrow is very beneficial for patients with calcium deficiency or bone injuries. However, it needs to be stewed for a long time, otherwise the effect will not be good.” Tianxuan put down her chopsticks and gave her second brother a very detailed explanation.
Then, he saw his family members at the table looking at him in surprise.
"Am I being too long-winded?" Tianxuan said a little embarrassed.
"Fourth brother, please don't misunderstand. Everyone is just surprised. They didn't expect there to be so many intricacies to pork ribs, and they didn't expect you to know so much about them," Ye Liangwen quickly explained.
"I just looked at a lot of recipes and tried making each part a few times according to what they said before I was sure it was true." Tianxuan told a little lie, not daring to say that it was the mysterious master who told her.
"Tianxuan, this braised pork with preserved mustard greens is so fragrant and perfect for people our age." The old lady tasted a piece and her face was full of satisfaction.
"I'm glad Grandma likes it. Tomorrow, Tianxuan will try a few more dishes for you to try. Is there anything you particularly like?" Tianxuan said obediently.
Upon hearing this, the old lady's face lit up with a smile: "Tianxuan, it's fine to make it for us occasionally to satisfy our cravings, but don't make it every day. It's too tiring and exhausting. Don't you also like practicing martial arts? Spend more time practicing martial arts."
"I'll teach Chef Cai how to do it. He's already quite skilled at cooking, so he'll grasp the key points after I explain them to him. From now on, we'll have Chef Cai do it," Tianxuan said, outlining her plan.
The people at the table unanimously agreed that this was the best approach.
"Tianxuan, when you really want to cook for yourself, just cook a few dishes in the small kitchen in your yard to satisfy your craving," Xia Shi said.
Tianxuan looked at her mother and smiled.
"Oh, right, let me tell you, today my fourth brother and I went to the market to buy meat..." Ye Liangcheng suddenly remembered the unpleasant thing that happened when he was buying meat.
...
The Ye family has eight members, young and old. The person who prepared this meal must feel very accomplished.
People who eat these dishes feel a great sense of happiness and satisfaction!
At the dining table in Lan Zechen's courtyard, the younger children's food was rather bland and tasteless.
Tasteless, literally.
When Tianxuan returned to the Ye residence, Tianji immediately took on the task of cooking. She bossed her older brother around to chop vegetables and her younger brother to tend the fire, while she tied on an apron, rolled up her sleeves, and started stirring and frying the food by the pot. Her actions were as fierce as a tiger, but when the dish was served, it tasted bland, as if salt had been forgotten.
The meat was tough and stuck in my teeth, the steamed egg was only half-cooked, and the cabbage was overcooked and burnt!
The braised fish was too red, almost black. The color wasn't appealing, but it tasted good. Tianquan picked up a piece with his chopsticks and noticed that the fish's belly was bulging as if there was something inside.
"Third Brother, did you put too much ginger in the fish's belly? Or what did you put in? Holy crap, Third Brother, you didn't gut the fish, the intestines and internal organs are still there!"
"Huh? Maybe I was too nervous and forgot to pack," Tianji said, sounding unsure.
"What do you mean you forgot to clean up? You even know how to scrape off the fish scales. Are you even capable? If not, let your eldest brother take charge of the cooking. I think that although your eldest brother's cooking skills can't compare to your second brother's, he's definitely more reliable than you." Yuheng sighed and spoke up.
Tianji's head was practically buried under the table; it was so embarrassing! "How about we all just stop eating and go eat outside instead?"
If he doesn't eat at fancy restaurants, but just at ordinary eateries, his savings should last until his cooking skills become passable.
"Alright, let's stop talking about your third brother. Your second brother's cooking wasn't much better than your third brother's in the beginning."
It was only after he cooked more and put in the effort that his cooking skills gradually improved.
"Give your third brother some time, he'll improve with each step." Hong Xiaoduo quickly said, seeing the atmosphere on the table gradually getting out of control.
While verbally reassuring everyone, she also had to set an example by picking up food and actually eating it. She had eaten even worse food before, and for quite some time now, so why couldn't she eat it now?
In her mind, she was furiously complaining: This food is absolutely awful! She didn't want to eat it either; she missed the days when Tianxuan was by her side!
Fei Yan and Quan Jinghuai suppressed their laughter, holding their half-cooked rice and forcing themselves to eat the terrible food on the table.
They naturally understood what Hong Xiaoduo meant: they would inevitably have to camp and rest in places with no people or restaurants in the future, and they would still have to cook for themselves.
Whether it tastes good or not doesn't matter, as long as I don't go hungry.
"How about I try cooking dinner?" Fei Yan suggested.
When Tianxuan was around, she never let anyone else cook. No one expected that they would be separated one day, so no one thought about learning to cook from Tianxuan as soon as possible.
After finding out the truth at the last minute, Tianji explicitly asked Tianxuan to teach him how to cook. However, Tianxuan seemed to be in a bad mood and had no intention of teaching him at all.
"If Tianji wants to do it, let him do it. As long as he's good at it, that's fine," Hong Xiaoduo said.
If Feiyan were to cook, Tianji would probably be depressed for a long time! After all, the reason he took on this responsibility after Tianxuan left wasn't because he particularly liked cooking, but simply because he wanted to do something useful for everyone.
Including Hong Xiaoduo herself, only Tianxuan truly enjoys cooking.
So, forget it, as long as he can eat and doesn't go hungry, that's fine. She didn't want to have too high expectations of Tianji.
"Mother, doesn't Second Brother miss us? Or is it because his parents are too strict and won't let him come to see us?" Yao Guang asked Hong Xiaoduo with a sob in her voice and red eyes after eating a few bites of the unpalatable food...
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