Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 439: Pickles with Sweet Porridge, Fresh and Fragrant Kung Fu Dish: Braised Pork with Preserv

When they heard that the amount of money was so small, everyone had the same expression as Shen Yuchu, they simply couldn't believe it.

But after listening to Shen Yu's explanation and knowing that this is indeed what was recorded in Master Zhu's account book, they couldn't help but feel happy.

Li stood up happily and said, "I really didn't expect this. It's half the price I got from the dental shop. I really have to thank Mr. Lu and Master Zhu."

"It's a pity that we can't tell Master Zhu that this house was built for our family. We can only give him a bigger discount when he comes to order food in the future."

As she said that, she went to prepare the ingredients for cooking Laba porridge for Lu Lang.

The red beans, lotus seeds and the like in it should be soaked overnight, and they will be perfect for making porridge early the next morning.

After breakfast the next day, Li cooked sweet porridge and asked Shen Yu to make a few more dishes that Mr. Lu liked, as it was a rare occasion for Mr. Lu to come to the restaurant for dinner.

Shen Yu looked at the sweet porridge and thought about making a few salty dishes that would be more palatable.

Since the sweet porridge on Laba Day was served with pickled vegetables, it is better to use pickled vegetables to cook dishes today.

There are pickled mustard greens stored in the vegetable cellar, but I haven’t had time to eat them since they were dried and stored. Today I’m going to make a dish of braised pork with pickled mustard greens to go with sweet porridge.

There are also the pickled emerald green Chinese mustard, the yellow-green pickled sauerkraut with a sour aroma, and the dried radishes kneaded with five-spice powder and then pickled. These are all good ingredients for cooking when vegetables are scarce in winter.

Shen Yu went to the vegetable cellar and took out some pickled vegetables of various kinds, and started to get busy preparing for Lu Lang's lunch at noon.

After washing the dried plums with water and soaking them in warm water in a basin, Shen Yu went to prepare the pork belly.

Place the soup pot on a burning small stove, add enough cold water, and put the washed pork belly in the pot.

Fan the stove to turn up the heat, and when the water in the pot boils, use a spoon to skim off the foam on the surface.

Add a piece of white pork, two slices of ginger, some rice wine, a dozen peppercorns, a small spoonful of salt, and simmer on low heat for a cup of tea.

When you can easily insert a bamboo chopstick to the bottom, you can take it out.

After cooking the meat, put the broth into a soup bowl and set it aside. You will use some of it when steaming the meat later.

Use a thin bamboo stick to poke some small holes in the skin of the cooked pork belly.

Spread a thin layer of honey on the whole piece of meat, then spread some sweet soy sauce on it, and set it aside for a while to let the flavor absorb.

Put a wok on the stove, add appropriate amount of oil into the wok, turn down the heat, and fry the pork belly that has been dried with the skin facing down.

Because the pork belly has been boiled in water and coated with sweet soy sauce, the hot oil will easily splash when it meets water.

Shen Yu took the lid and covered it tightly, then wrapped the handles of the pot with a cloth and shook it slowly.

Wait until the squeaking sound of the hot oil in the pot meeting the water becomes smaller, then remove the lid.

Seeing that the meat was almost cooked, Shen Yu asked Yutao to bring in a basin of ice-cold water from the yard and place it next to the stove.

She used a colander and bamboo chopsticks to stir the pork belly until the skin turned golden brown. She then quickly took the fried pork belly out of the pot with the colander and placed it skin side down into the basin of ice water next to it.

With a "sizzling" sound of hot oil entering water, the ice water stimulated the skin of the meat to form a layer of evenly bubbled tiger skin.

After being shocked by cold water, the steamed meat has soft skin and looks delicious.

While the pork belly was soaking in ice water, Shen Yu cleaned the pickled mustard greens that had been soaking in warm water, took them out, squeezed out the water, and cut them into small pieces for later use.

By this time the pork belly has become cool and firm, making it easy to slice.

Take out the pork belly and dry it with a clean cloth. Cut it into a neat rectangle with a knife.

Cut the cut corners of meat into thin slices and set aside, and cut the trimmed pork belly into even thick slices.

Chop some green onion and minced ginger, then you can start stir-frying the pickled mustard greens.

Put the frying pan back on the stove and add appropriate amount of oil into the pan.

When the oil is hot, add the chopped porridge and minced ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, then pour the sliced ​​pork belly into the pot.

Fry until the meat slices curl up and oil comes out, then add the chopped pickled mustard greens and stir-fry.

Every time she cooked a new dish, Yutao followed Shen Yu like a loyal little tail, helping her to fetch water and light the fire, helping her to get seasonings and pass the sauce bottles, and enthusiastically following Shen Yu to learn how to cook.

She sniffed the aroma coming out of the pot and couldn't help sniffing and said with a smile, "After frying like this, the pickles become so fragrant. They are no longer the same as before."

Shen Yu was stir-frying pickled mustard greens with his hands, and said with a smile: "Because the pickled mustard greens were soaked in water before frying, they will be fried with the oil from the pork belly. The pickled mustard greens will not have as much water, and will become oily and moist, and will be more fragrant when steamed."

Shen Yu kept stir-frying until the pickled mustard greens became a little dry and the oil in the pan was absorbed, then added some sweet soy sauce for seasoning.

Finally, add some salt and powdered sugar, stir-fry evenly, then remove the pot from the heat.

Pour some sweet soy sauce, appropriate amount of salt and powdered sugar on the thick slices of pork belly, then sprinkle some finely ground pepper powder and mix well.

Take a large bowl and put the meat slices one on top of the other to fill the bottom of the bowl.

The piece of meat cooked by Shen Yu was quite large, and the sliced ​​meat filled two large bowls.

Put the fried pickled mustard greens in two large bowls and press them down with a spoon.

Then put a few thin slices of ginger on the pickled mustard greens, break off a star anise, put a few grains in each large bowl, pour in an appropriate amount of meat broth, and then steam it in boiling water.

Seeing Shen Yu cover the pot, Yu Tao asked, "The pickled mustard greens and pork belly are cooked. How long do they need to be steamed?"

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Although they are all cooked, they still need to be steamed for another hour."

"The pork belly is steamed until it is soft and the pickled mustard greens are soaked in the oil and soup. The aroma of the meat and the pickled mustard greens blend together, and that's what makes it delicious."

Yu Tao was surprised when she heard this and said, "It takes so long to steam it. This is really a labor-intensive dish. It's even more difficult to make than amber meat."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Yes, it's because it takes a lot of time. I don't have time to do it on weekdays."

"So I specially selected a large piece of pork belly and steamed two portions. When it's ready, everyone can have a taste."

Yutao originally thought that her sister made it specially because Mr. Lu was coming to dinner.

I didn't expect that I could have some, and my eyes immediately turned into crescents with joy. I said diligently, "Sister, what dish are you going to make next? I'll help you cut the vegetables."

As the two sisters talked, they washed and cut the ingredients for the dishes they were going to cook, and they just had to wait until noon to cook them.