Chapter 532: Chapter 530: Teaching Completed
Zhao i was stuffed.
It wasn’t strange for her to overeat, as she had been doing it more often since she got pregnant. For instance, she stuffed herself with the chicken noodle soup her husband cooked for her last night.
But this ti was different.
This ti it was a blissful kind of stuffed, a satisfied sort of stuffed, the kind of stuffed where you can’t eat another bite and you only wish you had another stomach.
Since becoming pregnant, Zhao i’s tastes had changed a lot. The snacks she used to love no longer appealed to her, sotis she craved sour things so badly that even plum pickled in vinegar wasn’t sour enough, at other tis she longed for sweets so much that rice mixed with sugar and drizzled with honey didn’t seem sweet enough.
Even her once-favorite dish made by Tian Lin, the braised chicken, had lost its charm after having it once a week for the past few months.
It had been a long ti since she had eaten at so heartily.
Ordinary people tend to feel sleepy after a full al, let alone a pregnant woman like Zhao i, who felt drowsy within minutes of finishing her al. This sleepiness was genuine, not feigned, as she sat there struggling to keep her eyelids open.
So her husband helped her into the house to sleep.
Zhao i’s joyful eating delighted Tian Lin the most, her eyebrows raised in happiness as she cleared the table, glancing at Jiang Feng now and then as if she had sothing to say to him.
Jiang Feng casually picked up a dish and followed Tian Lin into the kitchen.
“Feng, did you hear what ii said to during lunch?” Tian Lin asked, unable to contain her eagerness as soon as they entered the kitchen.
Jiang Feng didn’t dare to respond. Zhao i had said so much, with things like “Mom, I want ribs,” “Mom, give two more pieces of at,” “Mom, I want an egg.” It was endless. He was at a loss as to which comnt had touched Tian Lin’s heart—was it about the ribs, the at, or the eggs?
“When ii was eating the lion’s head atballs, she told how delicious the fatty part was. She hasn’t said that to in so many years!”
“Now I understand why she has barely touched the braised at this year, or the braised pork with bamboo shoots. It turns out she has changed her tastes and only wants to eat stewed lion’s head atballs!” Tian Lin was thrilled to have discovered the dish her daughter wanted to eat.
Jiang Feng: …
Aunt, it’s not really a matter of taste.
It’s about you.
“Yeah, who would have thought ii would now like lion’s head atballs,” Jiang Feng said, nodding earnestly in agreent.
“Feng, you don’t have to teach braised pork or pork stewed with bamboo shoots. Just teach how to make lion’s head atballs. ii loves those,” Tian Lin decided she had found the definite answer.
“Sure!”
Jiang Feng nodded, agreeing to teach just the lion’s head atballs, which was fine with him. As long as Tian Lin was willing to follow his instructions and season correctly without haphazardly adding salt and soy sauce, even if her at chopping and mixing techniques weren’t perfect and the lion’s head atballs ca out a bit loose and couldn’t retain their juices, they definitely wouldn’t taste bad.
When teaching Tian Lin to cook, he couldn’t set too high a standard. The food just needed to be edible.
Seeing Jiang Feng agree, Tian Lin asked tentatively, “Feng, your grandma and the others will probably go back soon, and we finished eating the lion’s head atballs at lunch today. Could you stay and teach this afternoon, so ii can have so to eat tonight?”
Jiang Feng laughed and said, “Aunt, you make it sound so difficult. Didn’t we agree to do it this afternoon? As long as I get back in ti for dinner, it’s fine.”
Mission is precious, but the price of a al is higher.
Tian Lin was beaming with joy and after washing the dishes, she kept thinking about giving Jiang Feng sothing to show her gratitude. After much consideration, she realized that only by offering Jiang Feng a bowl of braised at could she properly express her thanks.
“There’s still so braised at left in the pot, Aunt will serve you a bowl!” Tian Lin was all about action. While Jiang Feng was lost in thoughts, she had already served the braised at.
Caught up with thinking about the task at hand and how to teach Tian Lin to make lion’s head atballs that afternoon, Jiang Feng forgot he was actually on the most dangerous battlefield. It wasn’t until the braised at was placed in front of him that he realized the seriousness of the situation.
“Aunt, I ate too much at lunch and I really can’t eat any more,” Jiang Feng said, covering his stomach and pretending he was really full.
All Tian Lin could do was look disappointed as she took the braised at back and started eating it herself.
At lunch, she had been so focused on serving Zhao i that she hardly ate a thing.
Tian Lin devoured two bowls of the braised at before she put down her chopsticks and started learning how to make lion’s head atballs from Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng started with teaching her how to pick pork belly.
For soone like Tian Lin, who only had eyes for fatty at and had believed for years that fat represents justice, Jiang Feng had reason to believe she would select the fattiest piece she could see for the lion’s head atballs.
To ensure the safety of Zhao i’s als for the next few days, Jiang Feng emphasized repeatedly that when choosing pork belly, if she wasn’t confident, she should err on the side of lean rather than fatty. If the at was a bit lean, the worst they could expect was slightly tough lion’s head atballs. If it was too fatty, they might end up with at similar to her previous attempts at braised at—only this ti ford into atballs instead of stewed in chunks.
After picking out the at, it was ti to chop it. Jiang Feng let Tian Lin do the chopping herself while he supervised.
Tian Lin, strong and detail-oriented, exhibited extraordinary patience when it ca to her daughter’s dietary matters. She sliced and chopped the at with precision and force, yielding a very sticky minced at that was definitely up to standard.
Jiang Feng didn’t personally handle the seasoning step. He said that Tian Lin did everything smoothly.
It wasn’t until it was ti to beat the at that Jiang Feng began to work. He didn’t expect Tian Lin to learn this step—as it was one most people couldn’t do well. It might look easy, just tossing and stirring, but the strength, rhythm, and technique involved required years of culinary experience and could not be learned by simply watching or listening to soone else explain.
Strength alone might make the at firm when tossed, but how to toss it, where to toss it, and what it should look like afterward was not sothing that could be solved by brute force. Prolonged beating would break down the at. Not only would your hands be covered in minced at, but the surface of the “Lion’s Head” atballs would also have a lot of snowy flotsam when braised.
Therefore, Jiang Feng could only tell Tian Lin to toss and stir as she liked, without taking too long—it was enough to just go through the motions.
It didn’t matter if the “Lion’s Head” atballs fell apart during stewing, as they would be broken up in the mouth anyway. It also didn’t matter if the juice from the at couldn’t be retained, as it would still be juicy with chicken broth poured over it.
Jiang Feng believed that Zhao i would definitely not mind these little issues when it ca to eating.
After the at beating was done, it was ti to roll the atballs. Once the atballs were shaped, they could be put in the pot to stew. There was plenty of ti to simr them slowly. To prevent Tian Lin from not controlling the heat properly, Jiang Feng specifically used a gas stove this ti and instructed her to stew them for three hours before they could be removed from the pot.
Rember to add so salt to the broth before stewing. Over such a long cooking ti, the salt within the “Lion’s Head” atballs would seep out. Without adding salt, the atballs would taste sowhat bland and insipid once served.
After going over all of this, Jiang Feng realized he seed to have nothing left to do.
The chicken broth leftover from lunch could be used once the “Lion’s Head” atballs were almost ready. Tian Lin could simply heat the broth and pour it over the atballs when they were done.
Jiang Feng looked at the atballs in the stewing pot, now covered with a lid, feeling that his teaching for the day was over.
His teaching duties had ended a bit early—Mrs. Jiang and the others had left less than half an hour ago.
Jiang Feng struggled to think if there was anything else he needed to remind Tian Lin of. After a mont, his eyes brightened, “There’s one more thing, auntie. Rember that the chicken broth you pour over after taking it out of the pot should be…”
“Skim off the oil!” Tian Lin had even learned to answer ahead.
Jiang Feng nodded in satisfaction, feeling that there was really nothing left to advise Tian Lin on this ti.
“Auntie, that’s pretty much it for the ‘Lion’s Head’ atballs. You just need to wait for them to finish stewing in three hours and then they can be taken out of the pot. I have nothing else here, so I will just…” Jiang Feng was ready to make his exit.
Staying at the Zhao Family’s ho always made him feel uneasy, as if a bowl of Braised at might suddenly appear from sowhere to invite him for a al.
“Feng, you’ve worked hard today. Go back and rest. Your aunt has learned almost everything. Tomorrow, I will make ‘Lion’s Head’ atballs myself for your ii to enjoy,” Tian Lin said with a smile.
Hearing Tian Lin say this, Jiang Feng beca sowhat worried, “Auntie, how about I co over again tomorrow morning? You can make the ‘Lion’s Head’ atballs, and I’ll just watch to see how you do.”
“How could that be okay, troubling you to co by again?” Tian Lin’s smile was radiant.
“It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. It’s not far, just a few steps away,” Jiang Feng said with a smile, well aware of the pretense in the adult world.
And so, the matter was pleasantly settled. Jiang Feng would return to his Happy Fatty abode and co back the next morning to check on the instructional work to see how Tian Lin’s ‘Lion’s Head’ atballs turned out.
But then Jiang Feng overslept the next day.
This wasn’t really his fault; he had been getting up early far too many days in a row. Since New Year’s Eve, he had been rising early, four days straight without a break, blatantly disrespecting the fundantal privilege of a holiday by not sleeping in even once.
So, on the morning of the fourth day of the New Year, without an alarm clock, Mrs. Jiang not making pancakes, and Sir not frying spring rolls on a sunny day, Jiang Feng unsurprisingly overslept.
When he woke up, his phone showed it was 10:43 am.
If he woke up half an hour later, the Zhao Family would probably already have started their al.
Realizing he had overslept, Jiang Feng hurriedly dressed, only brushed his teeth, and didn’t even have ti to wash his face before throwing on his down jacket and sprinting towards the Zhao Family’s ho.
When he arrived, Tian Lin’s dishes were nearly ready, and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of food and a rich scent of chicken broth—Tian Lin, exceptionally, did not cook Braised at.
It all slled normal.
Then Jiang Feng witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
“Auntie! Tomato and scrambled eggs don’t need chicken broth poured on top!! Really, they don’t!!!” (Note ①)
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PS:
Note ①From a chapter published by Yueye Bingyan on December 8th in the 529th chapter.
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