Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Ziyan made a decision in her heart and called her sister to help her. First, she had to scale and clean the Carp she caught in the morning.
Such a large fish was of course cut in half into fillets. She found some bamboo sticks of suitable thickness, sharpened one end, and skewered the fish fillets from head to tail, setting them aside for later use.
Next, she asked Ling Yuxuan to carve many thin bamboo skewers. They threaded on various ingredients like mushrooms, White Fungus, Black Fungus, Cucumber Slices, Snail Meat, River Clam, Smoked Pork Intestines, Chives Knot, and other assorted vegetables.
Remembering that they had some Small Potatoes growing in their field, Ziyan ran over to the right side of the yard's vegetable garden and pulled out a few Small Potatoes, which were slightly larger than her thumb—those southern Small Potatoes.
She washed the Small Potatoes directly without peeling them and skewered them onto the bamboo sticks, looking quite adorable like Wild Bird Eggs.
After finishing with the Small Potatoes, Ziyan took some fresh wild boar meat left over from yesterday, removed the skin (since the skin of wild boar is thick and hard to chew when grilled), and cut it into small pieces to skewer onto the bamboo sticks.
Once all this was done, Ziyan looked at the two baskets in front of her filled with a variety of ingredients.
Ziyan wasn't completely satisfied; after thinking for a moment, she finally focused her attention on a hanging basket nearby. It contained the lard she had cut from the wild boar yesterday.
Zhou had worried it would spoil and placed it directly in the basket. During early spring in March or April, dew would fall at night, so keeping it like this for three to five days generally wouldn’t cause it to spoil.
Thus, Ziyan walked over to take down the hanging basket and called Ziying and Ling Yuxuan to join her in the kitchen.
The three divided their tasks: Ziyan kneaded the dough while Ziying cut the lard. Ziyan instructed Ziying to cut it even finer and thinner than usual.
As for Ling Yuxuan? Naturally, she took on the role of firekeeper.
Things progressed in this order. The work continued smoothly; soon enough, while Ziyan finished kneading the dough, Ziying had also cut up two or three pieces of pork lard.
Ziyan set the dough aside to rest. When she saw that the pot on the stove was hot enough, she poured all the chopped lard into it to start rendering fat.
Ling Yuxuan watched as a large pot of greasy pork lard sizzled and crackled due to the heat.
Unable to help but frown, I asked, "My Chef, are you sure that this pork lard and noodles can be mixed together to create a delicacy?"
Ziying, who had been silent until now, finally couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. What could possibly come from mixing pork lard with noodles?
So she followed Ling Yuxuan and spoke up, "Sister? Are you really planning to fry the noodle pancakes in lard?"
"Yes—but also no!"
Ziyan answered ambiguously, thinking to herself that she wanted them to guess and worry.
Once the dish was completed, she would surprise them. When they tasted it, they would have to praise her profusely.
Feeling quite pleased with herself, Ziyan's lips curled into a smug smile.
"Cut it out with the theatrics!" Ziying murmured, looking at her sister's expression with a hint of defiance.
"You just don't understand, do you? Just wait and see, and learn from me."
Feeling a bit frustrated and at a loss for words, Ziying could only respond with an "Oh." She thought about it; her sister was becoming more and more capable while she herself had many areas where she fell short compared to her sister.
Deep down, she honestly decided that she should learn more from her sister in the future.
Before long, the oil had been mostly refined. Ziyan instructed Ling Yuxuan to reduce the firewood so that the flame would be smaller and slower.
After a while, when the lard was just right, Ziyan scooped it out first and then poured all the oil into a jar, moving the pot aside to prevent any residual heat from burning the bottom of the pot.
After removing the pot, she mixed the finely chopped scallions that her sister had prepared with the lard, adding some salt, seasoning sauce, and a sprinkle of pepper before stirring everything together. Then she rolled out the rested dough until it was neither too thick nor too thin.
Then, the prepared lard filling was placed in the center of the dough and wrapped up. Using her palm, she pressed it into a round shape, making four or five round cakes in total before finally handing over the task of making the cakes to Ziying.
Ziying, who had been dumbfounded nearby, obediently accepted the task from her sister's hands and began to busy herself.
Meanwhile, Ziyan had already moved the pot back to the stove and reminded Ling the Handsome to add firewood and start heating it up again.
Calmly, she poured vegetable oil into the pot and waited until the oil was about 80-90% hot before placing the round cakes into the hot oil one by one, occasionally flipping them with bamboo chopsticks.
Once both sides were golden brown and fragrant, she scooped out the crispy golden oil cakes and prepared to make the next batch.
After about three or four cups of tea worth of time, all the oil cakes were fried. Unable to hold back any longer, Ziying hurriedly took a piece for herself.
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from the kitchen: "Ah—hiss—ah!"
Not knowing what was happening, Zhou rushed into the kitchen and saw his eldest daughter repeatedly exclaiming "ah ah" while trying to blow on her fingers that had been burned by the hot oil cakes.
Ziyan stood nearby, laughing gleefully while holding her stomach. After laughing enough, she patted Ling Yuxuan, who was sitting innocently on a small stool.
Then she pointed at Ziying and said with a smirk, "See? This is what happens when you steal a taste."
Afterward, she walked closer to Ziying and continued teasingly, "Sister, my dear elder sister, haste makes waste."
Shaking her head, she continued, "You see, if you had just taken the oil cakes outside to cool as your sister suggested, everyone could have enjoyed them together. But you just had to taste them early? Hehe, don’t be so greedy next time."
With her hands hurting and her heart burning with anger, Ziying was too annoyed to respond to her sister's relentless teasing.
She simply huffed in frustration and turned to leave with the tray of oil cakes.
Zhou felt helpless as she watched Ziyan talk endlessly about her sister. Knowing this was just playful banter between the two sisters, she decided not to interrupt.
Shaking her head, she turned and smiled at Ling Yuxuan, saying, "Gu Young Master, I apologize for making you accompany my Yan'er during this time. It's truly embarrassing."
"Come on, Mother, he—he's not the one working hard; your daughter is the one who has it the hardest."
As she spoke, Ziyan pretended to be jealous.
"You little brat, with no manners at all! Just wait until all the guests leave; I'll deal with you then."
With that, Zhou turned and walked out of the kitchen.
"No way! Mother, I'm your own daughter! Oh heavens!"
Hearing that she might be in trouble, Ziyan pouted and stretched her neck to look at Zhou's retreating figure.
"Enough already. Your mother has left; stop pretending. Do you still want to learn martial arts? Hurry up and finish serving all the food so they can continue enjoying the delicacies. Then we can make our escape."
Ling Yuxuan could hardly bear to watch and couldn't help but urge her on.
"Good idea."
Glancing at the still calm Ling Yuxuan, Ziyan reluctantly praised him, "You're really smart. Let's go—help out!"
Comment 0 Comment Count