Siheyuan: Started in 1950, third-level cook

I don’t know when the Jia family became a bottomless pit.

This family of three has one employed worker. Logically they should be able to live a prosperous life, but now their life is a mess.

The family is extremely poor and they have to pay for their daughter-in-law to go to the hospital to give birth.

Although the aunt understands the importance of elderly care, she cannot provide support in this way!

They paid for the birth of the child, and if they also have to pay for the child's medical treatment, they might as well change the child's name to Yi.

As if he could hear the complaints and worries in the aunt's words, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but sigh.

"Don't worry, I'll think of a way to deal with this."

It would be fine if this guy only stayed in the hospital for a day or two, but Yi Zhonghai would feel bad if it lasted for a long time.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but secretly curse Chen Jun a few words. If he hadn't made trouble before, he could have mobilized everyone in the hospital to donate money to the Jia family.

Hey!

Donate?

Yi Zhonghai's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had thought of a solution.

"There is a way. We can ask the people in the courtyard to pay money to help the Jia family overcome this hurdle. This way, we don't have to pay, and the Jia family will be grateful to us."

The aunt was stunned when she heard this and quickly asked, "What method?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled mysteriously: "Don't worry, you will know when the time comes."

"Could it be that they are asking people in the hospital to donate money?" An old lady was worried that Yi Zhonghai might make a mistake, so she reminded him, "We can't touch the donation issue, otherwise Director Wang might punish us."

"Don't worry, even if they don't donate, I can still get people in the hospital to pay!" Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, looking confident of winning.

Seeing how confident he was, the aunt stopped asking questions and went back to the kitchen to start cooking.

.......

At around nine o'clock in the morning, Chen Jun finished his work in the cafeteria and set off for Director Song's father-in-law's house.

When Chen Jun arrived at the destination according to the address, he found that there was someone standing guard in the family compound.

Wow, Director Song’s father-in-law is indeed extraordinary.

After registering at the door, someone went inside to notify us.

After a while, Director Song came to the door to pick someone up.

Time was tight and the task was heavy, so Chen Jun went straight to the kitchen without much greetings.

I took a quick look as I walked in and discovered that quite a lot of ingredients were prepared for today.

"Director Song, how many tables are there today?" Chen Jun asked with a frown.

If there are too many people, the dishes have to be adjusted, otherwise it will not be enough time.

"There are three tables in total. The old man doesn't like to show off, so he only invited his family and a few old friends." Director Song said.

You prepared so many ingredients for three tables?

Chen Jun breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that. It would be much easier if there were only three tables.

He used to set up a stall to sell stir-fried dishes, and there would be hundreds of customers coming to eat, so this workload was no problem at all.

What's more, some of the ingredients in the kitchen had been processed in advance, and as expected, Director Song had also considered the time issue in advance.

"No problem, I'll take care of the arrangements."

Since it was a birthday banquet, Chen Jun planned to make it richer, with nineteen dishes, which would have better meaning.

These dishes should include both hot and cold dishes, a combination of meat and vegetables, sufficient soup, and should be appetizing and refreshing.

I plan to make six cold dishes, three meat dishes and three vegetable dishes as appetizers, and ten hot dishes, plus a few soups.

"Okay, I trust you to do the job. I'll find you two more helpers." Director Song nodded with a smile, turned and left the kitchen.

Chen Jun rolled up his sleeves, put on an apron and started working.

Stewing the time-consuming dishes first can save a lot of time.

With the experience gained from setting up stalls before, Chen Jun can manage several stoves by himself.

First make a pot of fermented bean curd meat.

If this dish is made according to the standard process, the meat must be stewed last night. After being slowly simmered over low heat all night, the aroma of the meat is so delicious that it will kill you.

But now I have to adjust the method. Cut the meat into small pieces, stew it over high heat first, and then simmer it over low heat. Although the effect is not as good as that of braising it all night, the taste is similar.

This dish is probably the most time-consuming one today.

The method is complicated, and you have to be extra careful when choosing the meat. First of all, you have to choose pork belly with alternating fat and lean meat, and it has to be 50-50. If the ratio of fat and lean meat is off, the taste will also be off.

And before stewing, you must skim off the blood foam so that you can pour it into the casserole and cook it.

Put the lid on and don’t open it before putting the meat into the pot.

You know what, the fermented bean curd prepared by Director Song is of very good quality. The surface is red and you can smell the aroma of the fermented bean curd if you smell it carefully. It is very suitable for stewing meat.

Tsk tsk, although Director Song drinks tea and reads newspapers in the cafeteria every day, he is still quite knowledgeable about food ingredients.

After stewing the meat with fermented bean curd, Chen Jun began to prepare other dishes.

Before I knew it, it was already past eleven o'clock.

"Wow, it smells so good. I was just feeling hungry."

Director Song walked into the kitchen and found that the fragrance became stronger. After smelling it carefully, he found that the main fragrance came from the big casserole.

"What's stewed in here? Why does it smell so good?" Director Song swallowed and couldn't help asking.

"Fermented bean curd pork, also known as fermented bean curd braised pork, is the most time-consuming dish." Chen Jun replied while shaking the wok.

"Tsk, is the meat ready?"

Chen Jun turned his head and took a look: "Okay, you can take it down and pose for photos."

Director Song didn't waste any time. He put the gauze used for steaming buns on his hands and took down the big casserole.

When the lid was opened, a burst of hot air came out with a fragrant aroma.

Looking down at the meat in the pot, the color is needless to say, and the taste is a mixture of the aroma of fermented bean curd and some sauces. Just looking at it makes my saliva flow uncontrollably.

In addition, the casserole is still hot, and steam is bubbling up from the bottom of the pot, making it even more tempting.

"The old man has bad teeth, let me try it for him first."

Director Song grinned, made up an excuse, and picked up the dishes and chopsticks from the table.

This smells so good. It seems that I have underestimated Chen Jun’s craftsmanship.

A small piece of meat was picked up from the casserole. The meat was still emitting white hot steam, and sticky, sauce-colored juice was sliding down from it. Director Song almost licked it with his tongue.

Fortunately, he was a respectable man and put the meat into the bowl before starting to eat.

I first picked it up with chopsticks, and with a little force, the piece of meat was actually separated.

Wow, how is this done?

All in all, the meat was only stewed for two hours, how could it be so soft and glutinous?

I blew on it and put it into my mouth. I didn't even need to use my teeth. Just lick it with my tongue and the meat would melt in my mouth.

"This... this meat is amazing!"

After taking a bite, Director Song's eyes lit up. He looked at other people in the kitchen excitedly, trying to describe in words how delicious the meat was.

But I couldn't find the right words for a while.

After holding it in for several seconds, I finally uttered the words: "Great!"