"When you sll the aroma, and the base oil appears in the pot, start adding the spices. The main ones are star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves. The proportions must be controlled properly, so they don’t overpower the dish."
"izhou also likes spicy foods, and with the current humid weather, you can add a few more dried chilies, then so brown sugar to stir-fry. You want to bring out the caral aroma and gelatinous texture of the sugar."
Ever since mastering the ancient dry-frying thod for Beef River, Wang Fan has elevated his use of brown sugar to join this stew dish as well.
Cheng Dong and the others couldn’t help but nod repeatedly as they listened, feeling as if a new world had just opened up to them.
Previously, when they made stew, they would just dump all the spices and seasonings in after adding water, without distinguishing them so ticulously.
Wang Fan continued to stir-fry the pork belly in the pot, which had now turned slightly amber on both sides, releasing a rich, aty fragrance that wafted through the air. Jia Fengyue and the other aunties washing cabbage nearby couldn’t help but twitch their noses.
Wang Fan scooped out so of the rendered pork lard from the pot and transferred it to another pot before continuing, "After you reach this amber color, you can add the scallions and ginger. Fry them until you can sll their aroma, then add huadiao wine."
"The key is that each ti you add an ingredient, you must wait until you can sll the aroma it releases before proceeding to the next step."
As Wang Fan cooked, he explained, with Cheng Dong and the others listening intently, observing with their eyes and committing it to mory.
"When you get a faint aroma of wine, add the light soy sauce. When you sll the aroma of fernted black beans, add hot water."
Cheng Dong compared Wang Fan’s cooking steps to the ones in his mind, thinking Wang Fan might have forgotten to add dark soy sauce?
"Shouldn’t we add a little dark soy sauce for color?"
Wang Fan shook his head, "The color from the brown sugar is enough; dark soy sauce would make the cabbage a bit sour."
"Oh...is that so?"
"I always thought the slight sourness in the stew was from the cabbage, but could it have been from too much dark soy sauce?"
"This young brother Wang really has top-notch skills for soone so young, and I’ve learned impressive knowledge from him."
At this point, the clean and drained cabbage was brought over by Zhong Pingi and other half-grown kids. The children put down the basin, still casting longing glances at the at in the pot as they walked, and so even started to salivate.
Wang Fan chuckled, saying, "It’s not cooked yet, so you can’t eat it. Just be patient a bit longer."
The children’s faces reddened, and they quickly scurried back to the spot where they were washing vegetables.
Wang Fan picked up the cabbage and poured it into another pot, sprinkling a handful of salt. This pot’s heat had been just recently turned on, and the fragrance of pork lard was starting to waft out.
As the cabbage hit the pot, the sound of sizzling oil burst forth, accompanied by a fresh vegetable aroma.
Cheng Dong couldn’t make sense of it—does the cabbage need to be stir-fried separately? Shouldn’t it just go straight into the pot to stew?
"Brother Wang, what’s this step for? Shouldn’t it be added directly to the stew?"
Wang Fan replied, "The main purpose of this step is to remove excess moisture in the vegetables so that the stewed cabbage will be more flavorful."
He had realized this while previously making stir-fried cabbage hearts.
Wang Fan deeply admired the ancestors now, realizing that each step, though seemingly tedious, had its own significance, with none being superfluous. This skill was honed to the utmost, making it very challenging for the younger generation to innovate.
Starting at the peak!
It’s like the Chinese characters, which haven’t substantially evolved for thousands of years, remaining in their original form from the first generation.
It’s not because later generations lacked the spirit to evolve them; it’s that the ancestors laid such a solid foundation that there’s no need for further evolution.
Essentially, the Chinese language can effortlessly convey any expression humans can think of, sothing the neighbors across can’t achieve. Don’t believe ? Ask them to translate "the eighth day of the thirteenth month"?
The sa goes for culinary skills; the ancestors mastered this so thoroughly that there’s little room for further developnt by the later generations.
Cheng Dong and the others felt as if their skulls had windows opened after hearing Wang Fan’s words, realizing that these details had never crossed their minds before when cooking.
Yesterday, their thod of making stew was just stir-frying the ingredients, adding water, and then dumping all the at and vegetables in to stew, finishing it off. Now they felt like they had been like Zhu Bajie eating Ginseng Fruit!
The most important thing is that despite the multiple steps, the actions were not slow at all; each step was carried out thodically and pleasingly.
What was put into the pot were all cabbage leaves. When arranging for Jia Fengyue to wash the vegetables, they had specially instructed to separate the cabbage leaves and stems, which wasn’t a difficult task for the aunties.
"Another benefit of this step is that it allows the at and cabbage to be stewed separately, making the at softer and more tender more quickly."
Cheng Dong couldn’t help but grin, unsure now who was the true master chef in the fire brigade.
The taste being good was already enough, but considering ti efficiency as well?!
This is extraordinarily amazing, isn’t it?!
After the water content in the cabbage was stir-fried out, the amount of cabbage decreased significantly. Wang Fan took a large skimr and scooped out the cabbage, transferring it all into the pot cooking the at.
"Brother Cheng, you can scoop out the vermicelli and add it to the pot now."
Cheng Dong quickly scooped the vermicelli from the water into the pot, and once everything was settled, Wang Fan covered the pot with a lid.
"Next, let it stew for another 15 minutes."
Wang Fan said, then waved to Zhuo Qianqian, who was counting supplies in the distance. She nodded and said to a few elderly n, "Uncles, we’re ready for the al now. Please inform the neighbors, and I’ll get the tables and bowls ready."
She was now covered in steam, with both sweat and rain. Her bangs were sticking to her forehead, her face sullied with mud spots, and her sportswear rumpled, a far cry from her usual self.
But to the elderly n, if this young lady were their granddaughter, they would light a fire at the ancestral grave if it didn’t spontaneously erupt with green smoke.
"Alright, we’re on it. Let the young ones eat first. We’re still hale and hearty."
"Exactly, nowadays the young ones are not as strong as before, not even as vigorous as us old guys."
A group of n in their fifties and sixties strutted toward the tent where many were resting after a hard day’s work.
Zhuo Qianqian dragged out the table and placed it next to Wang Fan, carefully wiping the mud off her hands and face—the serving of food couldn’t be done in a ssy manner.
Cheng Dong and his colleagues watched, equally filled with admiration and comfort, thinking if today’s university students and young people were like this, how could the nation not prosper?
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