Baozi Xishi's Struggle

After the meal, Shen Yu ate two buns, Yutao ate two and a half buns, Li ate three buns, but the youngest Yucheng ate five and a half. Everyone was very satisfied.

Li saw Yucheng sitting there with his hands on his stomach, his eyes almost closed, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep. She was afraid that he would fall asleep after eating and get sick, so she urged him to stand up and walk around the yard a few times to help digest the food.

Yucheng was a little full from eating so much that he just wanted to sleep. Li kept urging him, so he stood up reluctantly and walked slowly around the yard, looking here and touching there.

The three of them sat at the dinner table, and for a moment, none of them wanted to move.

Li said with approval, "Yuzhi, these buns are really delicious. I didn't expect the pork filling to be so smooth and fragrant. I want to eat another one after eating one. It would be even better if it were a little saltier. If I wasn't afraid of getting too full, I would want to eat another one."

There was sweat on Yutao's face. It was probably because she had been carrying water with Yucheng in the morning and eating hot buns, so the sweat on her forehead had not gone away.

She is two years younger than Yucheng. When she was at home, she had to give in to Yucheng, who was younger than her, so she didn't eat much. She was about the same size as Yucheng, and was thin and small. She didn't look two years older. These days, she ate much more than when she was in Dongxi Village, and a healthy blush began to appear on her face.

She also nodded: "Sister, you are so amazing. These buns are so beautiful and delicious. Can you teach me when you make buns next time? I have only made vegetable dumplings. These buns are so delicate, just like the flowers you embroidered."

Shen Yu agreed with a smile. Seeing Yu Tao mention embroidery, she hurriedly changed the subject with a guilty conscience: "Mom, I need to make some soup stock and fry some oil this afternoon, and also mix the noodles for tomorrow. Since the steamed buns taste good, let's prepare to set up the stall tomorrow."

After eating the buns, Li's confidence in Shen Yu's cooking skills increased greatly. She was no longer as worried as before. She said confidently and a little greedy: "Okay, then let's open the stall tomorrow. The earlier we open the stall, the earlier we can make money."

Shen Yu and Yu Tao looked at Li's shining eyes, as if there was a pile of silver and money waiting for her ahead, and they couldn't help but laugh along.

In the afternoon, there were some clouds in the sky and a slight breeze, and the narrow and cramped courtyard felt a little cooler. The family members divided the work and got busy.

After eating, Yucheng rushed to work, so Li asked him to chop the pile of broken furniture in the yard to use as firewood.

Shen Yu used the back of a knife to crack the pork bones, blanched the pork and chicken bones in water, and threw them into a large pot. He added enough water, some ginger slices and liquor, and asked Yutao to sit on a small stool in front of the stove while he added firewood and started to cook.

The broth takes about two hours to cook, so if you want to make cooking oil, you have to cook it on another stove.

The cooking oil is fried with a variety of spices and seasonings. Adding some when making buns will make them more oily and fragrant.

In modern times, Shen Yu only did cooking as a hobby and she felt no pressure. In the food class, the master chef taught her many family recipes. After she learned them, she would add or subtract some ingredients when cooking for herself according to her own taste.

At this time, cooking became the only skill she could rely on to survive in this world, and cooking became the only source of income for her family. She could no longer season the food according to her own taste, but had to prepare it to suit the tastes of the local people.

After working in the restaurant for a while, she paid attention to the tastes of the diners. Compared to her own preference for light food, the food here tastes good only when it is thicker in oil, salt and sugar.

Shen Yu's understanding is that the food variety is not rich enough. Many common modern ingredients, such as tomatoes, corn, potatoes and other common vegetables on modern dining tables, have not been seen here since he came here. He doesn't know if it is because it is located in a small town or if they are really not available now.

There are also some spices that are very common in modern times, but are very precious here. Some are still sold in drug stores, such as pepper, which is very expensive. She felt it painful to use it, so she thought of boiling some broth and frying some spice oil to create the common complex aroma in later generations, hoping to make her buns popular.

She asked Li to set up the newly bought stove, put up the newly bought deep-bottomed frying pan, wash some garlic, and prepare the oil for frying.

Li set up the stove, took some burning firewood from under the stove where the broth was being cooked, and picked out some small and firm wood strips from the firewood that Yucheng had just chopped. Soon, the fire in the stove became strong.

Shen Yu placed a deep flat pan on the stove, poured some vegetable oil into it, and asked Li to tend the fire, keeping it on a low heat. He then put in the prepared cinnamon, aniseed, pepper, fennel, etc., and slowly fried them.

Use a long spoon to stir constantly. The spices put in will gradually give off fragrance in the slightly boiling oil. Put the chopped celery, ginger slices, coriander roots and garlic into the oil one by one. When they are slightly browned, a unique aroma of the spices will waft out.

Li sniffed and praised, "Except for a few precious spices, the rest of these onions, garlic, and vegetable roots are common. I didn't expect that frying them together with oil would produce such a flavor. This smell is really delicious. Did the chef at the restaurant teach you this? He is such a good man. Not everyone can cook this flavor."

Shen Yu carefully took the pot off the stove and put it away before making up a story to Li: "Yes, that chef is really nice. He saw that I was eager to learn and work hard, so he taught me how to make his family's heirloom oil. He said that as long as I have this, any vegetarian dish I make will taste better than others. The diners in the restaurant welcome his cooking skills very much."

Li put her hands together with gratitude and bowed in the direction of Linxi Town. She solemnly instructed, "When we return to the village in the future, we must bring more gifts to thank the chef. He really taught you these things sincerely. I heard that many masters would teach you some cooking skills only after their apprentices worked like slaves for several years. They would even keep the best dishes to themselves and not teach you."

Shen Yu had originally made up a story to fool Li, but she didn't expect that Li became more and more serious and even planned to thank her teacher. If they really met, she wouldn't be able to keep up the lies she told, and then she wouldn't be able to explain how she learned cooking.

Shen Yu wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, and continued to make up stories in a serious tone with a look of regret: "Mom, the chef is old, and he said that after the Mid-Autumn Festival, he will resign from his employer and go live with his son. He will no longer work, hug his grandchildren, raise birds and enjoy his life as an old man."

"I heard that his son opened a restaurant in another province and his business is very good. That place is far away. He mentioned the place name, but I can't remember it. When we go back, he will definitely not be in that restaurant."

Li was somewhat disappointed after hearing this, and bowed towards Linxi Town again with gratitude before giving up.

Shen Yu heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this, thinking to himself, "I finally got through this hurdle. It's better not to use the restaurant as a shield in the future. If something goes wrong and I get caught, I'll be asking for trouble."