Chapter 697: Farm-to-Table Cuisine
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The dish smelled so good that they wanted to eat it. However, they held back and waited for everyone to taste it together. If they ate now, they could ruin their appetite.
The family realized the dishes Su Binglan made were dishes they had never seen before. Therefore, they could not wait to eat.
After bringing the lamb leg to his sister, Su Wenzhe stayed to watch how she cooked the lamb leg and radish dish.
Su Binglan noticed Su Wenzhe watching. As she started cooking, she said,
“You must chop the leg into pieces first.”
She motioned to demonstrate, but Luo Jin’an took the cleaver from her, saying, “Let me do it.”
He knew it was taxing to chop the lamb leg and did not want his wife to strain herself. Although Su Binglan could handle it, she still handed the cleaver to Luo Jin’an when she saw the worry in his eyes.
He took the cleaver and chopped the lamb leg into pieces.
Bang!
Everyone felt Luo Jin’an had moved too quickly as he had chopped the lamb leg in a flash. While he chopped the lamb, Su Binglan sliced the ginger, and Shen Mohen heated the pot.
Su Binglan then poured vegetable oil into the pot and added the lamb and ginger slices when the oil heated up. After stir-frying the ingredients, and the lamb became tender, she added the seasoning sauce and older ingredients.
After adding water and bringing it to a boil, she began to stew it. Afterward, she could proceed with the next step.
Soon after, Su Binglan made Four Happiness Meatballs.
“Are Four Happiness Meatballs the same as the meatball dishes we usually eat?” Su Wenwu asked after returning with the pork belly. He was curious when he heard his sister say the dish’s name.
He was curious because there were meatballs in his hotpot restaurants. Moreover, the customers liked eating various kinds of meatballs. Once they cooked the meatballs in the pot, they would dip them in the sauce and then eat them. Most customers typically ate more mutton and meatballs.
“These meatballs are different from the hotpot ones,” Su Binglan explained, “The name and ingredient is better than the hotpot meatballs. Watch me make them. That way, you’ll know how to make them yourself.”
She would not avoid her family’s questions when she cooked. If they wanted to learn something, she would teach them.
Su Wenwu’s eyes lit up as she watched Su Binglan make the meatballs. She said, “Third Brother, get me a few more hard-boiled eggs, please,”
Su Wenwu went to the cabinet to get the eggs. They were the hard-boiled eggs the family had cooked in the morning.
Shen Qiuhua had a habit of cooking hard-boiled eggs in the morning so that the family could eat them whenever they wanted. Of course, the family did not always eat eggs. Even so, cooked eggs did not go rancid so quickly. The family could reheat them the following day if no one ate them.
Coincidentally, a few hard-boiled eggs were in the kitchen, so Su Wenwu took them to Su Binglan.
She looked at them and said, “That’s not enough. Could you cook a few more since we have a guest?”
Sy Binglan prepared more minced meat and added raw eggs and seasonings to the mixture before stirring them. After mixing them well, she peeled the hard-boiled eggs and wrapped them in the meat mixture.
Then, she added the sauce, sugar, ginger slices, scallions, star anise, and salt into the pot. Soon after, she added water, boiled it, and added the meatballs.
Afterward, she added more water, oil, and salt to the pot and blanched the vegetables in boiling water. She wanted to use broccoli but had none, so she could only blanch cabbage as a garnish.
She completed the dish and placed it on a large plate. Everyone looked at it and thought it looked perfect.
“So that’s what they look like.”
“No wonder you said it’s different from the hotpot meatballs.”
“Yeah, the hotpot meatballs only contain meat, but this one has an egg in the middle. I’ve never eaten such a thing.”
“The name sounds fun, too. Four Happiness Meatballs sounds interesting.”
None of them had eaten the dishes Su Binglan had made, so they were curious about what she would cook next.
However, she was not in a hurry to make other dishes. Instead, she cut the pork belly Su Wenwu had just brought and put it into cold water. Then, she added onions and ginger and cooked it in wine.
When the dish came to a boil, she let it simmer. Soon after, she drained the liquid. She added seasoning on the surface while the pork belly was still hot. The seasoning contained soy sauce and Su Binglan’s homemade sauce.
Afterward, she put oil in the pot and added the marinated pork belly to fry. When it was close to being fried, she removed it.
Everyone found the cooking process novel. Of course, the strong fragrance filled the kitchen. The family took a deep breath to savor it. The fragrance of food gave them a sense of comfort.
Then, Su Binglan made steamed pumpkin buns, fried meat, minced meat, tofu, and stir-fried meat with cabbage. She also made Eight Treasures Porridge. The sky had darkened when she finally finished cooking.
Although the others had helped Su Binglan, each dish took a specific amount of time to complete. Fortunately, she had finished cooking.
Meanwhile, Shen Qiuhui was still chatting with his sister and her husband in the hall. He told Shen Qiuhua about everything that had happened in the Shen family over the years.
Shen Qiuhua’s heart ached for her step-brother. She did not expect him to have experienced so much. Fortunately, Shen Qiuhui had taken over the family. No one dared to challenge him. Shen Qiuhua was relieved that her step-brother was the head of the family.
Shen Qiuhui smelled a fragrance as he spoke. Shen Qiuhui thought he was hallucinating, but he felt the fragrance was too strong as he sniffed. Although he was not hungry initially, the fragrance boosted his appetite.
He wondered if someone had cooked something delicious. He was in disbelief when Shen Mohen told him about the food. After all, he was in a village, not the capital.
However, Shen Qiuhui realized his son was not exaggerating when he smelled the fragrance.
Shen Qiuhua smelled the fragrance and said, “It seems Binglan and the others have almost finished cooking. We can eat in a while. Qiuhui, you should stay and try our farm-to-table dishes.”
Shen Qiuhui was stunned.
‘Is it really farm-to-table? Why does it smell better than the food I eat in the restaurants in the capital?’
At that moment, Shen Mohen came to the hall and said, “Cousin Binglan says it’s time to eat.”
“All right, let’s eat,” Shen Qiuhua said happily.
Su Fengmao got down from the brick platform and motioned to bring the table to the brick platform.
Shen Mohen stopped him and said, “I’ll do it, Uncle Fengmao. You should rest. ”
He placed the table on the brick platform as he spoke..
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