Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 94 The Househusband

Xiao Wei went into the kitchen, took the arm sleeves handed to him by Xia Maosheng, put them on, and stood in front of the stove.

This was his first time cooking in his life. He hadn't felt nervous while the others were busy preparing the food and frying it, but suddenly the atmosphere seemed much more tense. He took a deep breath and picked up the ladle.

Xia Maosheng chuckled and pointed to the stove, saying, "You light the fire first."

Back then, there were no automatic ignition devices, and stoves had to be lit manually with matches or lighters.

Xiao Wei smiled, put down the ladle, took out a lighter to light the stove, then picked up the ladle again, placed the large ladle on the stove, and asked, "What should we stir-fry first?"

Xia Maosheng looked at the prepared dishes and said, "Anything is fine. You're not slow at all. Let's stir-fry the side dishes first, and the fish last, followed by the sweet and sour pork." He picked up a green pepper and handed it to Xiao Wei, saying, "This hasn't been fried yet, let's stir-fry this first."

Xiao Wei added a little oil to the wok, sautéed the scallions and garlic, then added the meat and stir-fried it. He then added some soy sauce, stirred the wok, added some bone broth he had made that afternoon, and after it boiled, he added the green peppers and stir-fried them.

Xia Maosheng said, "It's a bit early, but it's not a big problem. Wait a little longer and let the meat cook through. That way, you'll only need to stir-fry the green peppers for a short time. If you take the green peppers out now, they'll be ruined and won't be crisp."

Xiao Wei nodded, scooped some gravy into the pot, flipped it over, and poured the dish onto a plate. Xia Maosheng moved the dish to the side and placed it by the sink, then brought over the dried tofu.

Xiao Wei wiped the pot with a new towel, added oil to the bottom of the pot, sautéed the meat slices, added soy sauce, added broth, and then poured in the dried tofu.

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Okay, you have a good memory. I remember you just said it once, right? There's no mistake. You're suited for this job."

Once the pot boiled, Xiaowei stirred it with a ladle, then added shredded green peppers and salt after a few minutes of simmering. He then added MSG to thicken the sauce, drizzled some oil, and served.

As Xia Maosheng brought over the eggplant strips, he said, "You can stew the dried tofu a little longer, and don't reduce the broth too much. Use a little bit of oil, and it will be very tender. Yours is a little dry. Add a little minced garlic when it's done to enhance the flavor."

Xiao Wei wiped the wok with oil, heated it, added soy sauce and broth, and once it boiled, he pushed the neatly arranged eggplant strips from the plate into the wok. The broth just covered the eggplant, so he added more broth. Once it boiled again, he put in the sliced ​​meat, spreading it evenly over the eggplant strips, then shook the wok and tossed it over.

This dish requires skillful flipping; the sides must be flipped completely without falling apart.

Once the soup boils again, add salt and MSG. Then, gently shake the ladle to prevent sticking, continuing until the broth thickens. Add minced garlic, thicken the sauce, drizzle with oil, then flip the dish over and plate it. The eggplant strips should be tender, and the meat slices slightly browned. Sprinkle with chopped scallions, and you're done. Throughout the dish, the eggplant strips should maintain the shape they were initially arranged on the plate; they shouldn't be scattered.

I've made braised green beans several times, and I'm quite skilled at it.

One by one, they stir-fried the three delicacies of the earth, sliced ​​pork, and spare ribs. There was no room to put them all. Xia Maosheng poked his head out of the kitchen door and said, "You guys go play on the coffee table. The food is ready." Xiao Hong stood up and said, "No more playing. Let's clean up and serve the food."

Chen Xiao grabbed her and said, "I told you you're not going to help today. Come here, put the note up, don't even think about running away." He pulled and dragged Xiao Hong to the chair, lifted the tape recorder from the coffee table to the ground, and the group continued playing around the coffee table.

Xia Maosheng and Xiao Wei brought out the stir-fried dishes and placed them on the dining table before returning to the kitchen.

Sweet and sour pork is made by cooking the pork in a sauce, which is the quickest step and should be left until last. First, cook the ribbonfish.

Heat oil in a pan, sauté scallions, add a little fatty pork, stir-fry briefly, then add chicken broth. Bring the broth to a boil, then add half a spoonful of soy sauce, a little sugar, dried chili pepper pieces, ginger slices, garlic slices, salt, and MSG. Add the pan-fried ribbonfish to the pot and simmer, constantly shaking the wok to prevent sticking. Continue simmering until the sauce thickens, then toss and shake again to reduce the sauce until it's completely thickened and caramelized. Thicken the sauce, add a drizzle of oil, toss thoroughly, and remove from heat. Garnish with chopped cilantro before plating.

Wipe the pot clean with a towel, add oil, sauté scallions, ginger, and garlic, add a little soy sauce, add broth, half a bowl of dried chili peppers, half a spoonful of sugar, half a spoonful of white vinegar, salt, and MSG. After bringing to a boil, add the fried kingfish, press it down with a ladle to soften it and let it soak into the soup, and simmer over high heat.

Once the broth has thickened and the fish is exposed, flip it over in the pan, reduce the heat to low, and continue to shake the pan to keep the fish moving around in the pan to prevent it from sticking.

When the sugar started to caramelize at the bottom of the spoon, Xiao Wei couldn't keep up. There was too much sugar, and it was easy to burn the pot. He wasn't very skilled at it. Xia Maosheng prepared the water and poured it into the pot. Xiao Wei added a small spoonful of oil, shook it, and then flipped the pot over a big, slightly too forceful, causing some soup to spray out, covering Xiao Wei's face and shirt.

Xiao Wei, disregarding his own needs, flipped the fish in the ladle and then gently shook it to place it on a serving plate. He added a little more broth to the ladle, as the broth would become sticky once it boiled due to the sugar and cornstarch in the pot. He added half a ladle of sesame oil, then poured in diced green and red bell peppers and thinly shredded carrots. After stirring a few times, he poured the mixture evenly over the fish on the plate, sprinkled it with chopped cilantro, and the braised kingfish was ready. This dish was a variation, with a strong flavor profile of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy—very satisfying to eat.

Xia Maosheng took the fish out, while Xiao Wei wiped the pot with a towel.

Xia Maosheng walked back and said, "Let's rinse it with water, otherwise the next dish will have a fishy smell." In restaurants, you have to change the spoon after cooking fish.

Xiao Wei nodded, picked up the large ladle, walked to the water, put the ladle in, squeezed some dish soap, turned on the tap, used a pot scrubber to clean the large ladle and hand ladle, rinsed them with clean water, turned off the tap, picked up the large ladle and went back to the stove, and put the large ladle on the fire to heat.

Xiao Wei waited until the large ladle was smoking before taking a dry ladle and scooping a large spoonful of oil into it. He then swirled the ladle to coat it completely with oil, poured the oil back into the drainer, put the ladle back on the fire, added some oil, and sautéed scallions and garlic.

Add the chopped carrots and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the fried pork slices and stir-fry to mix the carrots evenly with the pork. Pour in the prepared sweet and sour sauce. The bright red sweet and sour sauce will thicken immediately upon entering the pot. At this point, you need to keep stirring to ensure the sauce evenly coats the pork slices. Then you can remove it from the pot and plate it. This dish is troublesome to prepare, but it is super quick to make.

Plate it up, sprinkle with some shredded green onions and chopped cilantro, and you're done. The rich, sweet and sour aroma fills the kitchen. Back then, there weren't any range hoods, just a small exhaust fan on the window; most homes didn't even have an exhaust fan.