49: Chapter 49: Before the New Year_1 49: Chapter 49: Before the New Year_1 Killing chickens, slaughtering fish, plucking feathers, scaling.
In the kitchen, there are two pots on the stove, emanating a faint aroma from the hot oil in the back pot.
From the cracks of the front pot’s cover, warm white smoke is billowing, the entire kitchen is in a hot and bustling state.
Two little chubby dogs wag their bodies at the entrance of the kitchen, constantly glancing inside, daring not to enter.
It was obvious that they were being overly cautious due to previous scoldings, shaking their tails pitifully at the doorway and sweeping the snow clean.
“Xu Xiaoyan, do you really know how to make a fire or not?
Can’t you stop poking everywhere?
The house is full of smoke, just sit down quietly!” Yan Xiaofei cried out irritably.
“Isn’t this helping you?
I also made fires often when I was a kid, don’t you think I can’t do it!” Xu Xiaoyan sat bored on a small stool next to the stove, waving a fire tong that had been heated until it turned red.
“Don’t wave that red-hot tong around, you’re going to set the house ablaze!” Yan Fei was startled by the red-hot tong and almost threw out the chicken in his hand.
“I heard you, Old Master Yan, just lower your voice, I’m not deaf.
I’m trying to help you here and you’re complaining?
So people are just ungrateful…” Xu Xiaoyan placed the fire tong down and began idly drawing on the ground with a stick.
“I…
sigh, your sitting down is helping …” Yanfei was truly helpless.
He initially wanted to say she didn’t need to go ho to help, but considering she wasn’t particularly welcod at ho, he decided against saying it.
The few days before New Year’s are always the busiest.
All the ingredients have to be prepped for quick als when relatives visit during the New Year.
Even less fortunate families must endeavour to prepare generously.
The big fish has to be chopped into pieces and deep-fried after being dusted with flour.
Chicken pieces also need to be deep-fried, atballs are deep-fried, tofu is deep-fried, and even the lotus vegetables are deep-fried after a dusting of flour…
Well, these atballs aren’t made yet, tofu hasn’t been purchased, and there are no lotus vegetables at ho.
Right now, it’s mainly about deep-frying parts of the fish, chicken, and large chunks of at.
Of course, there are also whole chickens being braised in the front pot.
The deep-fried items will be used to make stead dishes, like crispy at made from large at chunks floured and fried.
Actually, it’s better to use starch but most households substitute with flour.
Another item that Yan Fei has made is his favourite — puffed skin.
Puffed skin is made by drying pig skin, removing the fat, and then deep-frying it.
The puffed skin thickens after frying and looks like beeswax, transparent with a beautiful glow and countless tiny bubbles visible inside.
It tastes crisp and fragrant when eaten now, but usually, it’s dried and stored.
When ready to be cooked, it’s soaked in cool, boiled water and then cut diagonally into strips.
Stir-fried with spinach, the crispy texture is even better than a fungus.
You can’t really tell what it’s made of.
Fortunately, Yan Fei had often seen his grandfather make this and frequently assisted him.
Although this batch isn’t the best, it’s still much better than those that showed no transformation from the original pig skin.
If not done well, it’s just deep-fried pig skin, which really is a matter of personal preference.
After Yan Fei had fried several pieces of floured fish and chicken, Xu Xiaoyan finally stopped pestering him, murmuring while eating and rubbing her belly, “I couldn’t eat because the waterlon was too cold earlier, sorry for making you suffer!”
Only after eating for a while did she rember Yan Fei, “Big fish is good, less bones and more at, you’re really generous.”
“You’ve said this several tis already, just eat, eat!”
At last, soone had spoken so fair words, why did it sound so awkward coming from Xu Xiaoyan’s mouth?
Yan Fei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He brought everything he bought from the market back, and seeing the big fish he had bought, the neighbours comnted on how willing he was to spend money.
They were probably cursing him for being a spendthrift in their hearts!
When she saw the waterlon, she was quite excited.
However, she seed to know sothing beforehand and didn’t wait for Yan Fei to speak, simply saying that he bought it from the city and he did not need to explain anymore.
Eating waterlon by the stove in the bitter cold, it’s still refreshing.
However, a waterlon is a little too much for just two people, so they basically ended up just having a taste, without eating much.
Yan Fei didn’t really mind the cold, but, he wondered why anyone would choose to eat sothing almost frozen solid in sub-zero weather on the warm, comfortable island.
It felt like madness.
The hot oil in the pot sizzled away, filling the small courtyard with tantalizing aromas.
Golden, fried chunks of at were brought out, causing the two dogs at the doorway to smacking their lips nonstop.
Thank goodness Xu Xiaoyan rembered to throw her chicken bones out, else the two poor dogs would have been driven crazy with desire!
“Yan Xiaofei, you’re thirteen this year, right?” Xu Xiaoyan asked abruptly while munching away.
“Yeah, why?
Didn’t you know?” Busy to his heart’s content, Yan Fei asked her offhandedly.
“Of course, I knew!
Just asking, is that forbidden?” Xu Xiaoyan gnawed at a piece of at, grumbling, “Why do you grow up so slowly?”
“…” Yan Fei decided to ignore her.
After finishing a batch, Yan Fei added the newly coated pieces of fish into the pot.
Now he had ti to tease her: “At least I’m not like soone who will soon be in college but still can’t cook.
All she does is eat, eat, eat!”
Xu Xiaoyan, busy eating, didn’t bother to retort surprisingly.
A short while later, after scooping out the fried fish, Yan Fei turned his head and imdiately got panicked: “What’s wrong now?
I just ntioned you can’t cook, why are you crying?”
The girl was silently chewing, tears quietly streaming down her face forming two small rivers.
“Mind your own business, you little brat!
This stove is horrible to cook with, the smoke is killing …” Xu Xiaoyan fiercely work the fire tongs, stabbing around the stove.
“If there’s sothing on your mind, say it.
What’s wrong?” Yan Fei couldn’t help but ask, realizing sothing was up.
“Nothing…” She wiped her tears and started eating again.
“So you can’t cook, what’s wrong with that?
You do plenty of other chores around the house.
Maybe they just won’t let you cook, always have you preparing vegetables and washing dishes.
What’s up, did they say sothing to you?” Yan Fei thought about what he just said, and worried he might have touched a sore spot.
Typically, she was busy with school and helped with household chores, rarely cooking.
She could actually cook but the result was always just diocre.
Soon the fish and chicken at was done frying, Yan Fei found a pot, and started ladling out the hot oil spoon by spoon.
He used a blend of peanut oil and vegetable oil, which he planned to keep separately.
When very little oil was left, he added the prepared fatty pork.
Imdiately the sound of sizzling bacon rang out.
The goal was to fry the fat until all its oil was gone.
The leftover oil in the pot is lard, which makes any dish taste better.
Many households nowadays use this oil because of its flavor.
Not every family can afford to eat at daily, but using this oil made the dishes a bit more substantial.
The oil residue left after frying the fat is used to make dumplings or stead buns.
It’s even more flavorful than the at itself.
“Yan Xiaofei, do you think if I finish my third year of high school and don’t go to college, I’ll be married off?” Amid the crackling sound of frying, Xu Xiaoyan voiced her concerns, startling Yan Fei.
(Aiming for few recomndations)
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