Chapter 185 - Stirring Soup Second Time (1/2)

The soup could be filtered after the dredge from the ingredients had fused with the soup. This was the soup after only a day.

After being busy, the sky had already darkened.

Xu Le said, “Let’s stew the second pot of soup and rest after that. It should be ready after eight hours.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yuxi lifted her hand to rub her eyes. She was yawning too much from fatigue.

“Cut the ginger and stir-fry with oil. After scooping them out, add aniseed, orange peel and fragrant leaves in to stir-fry. After the fragrance has been released, it will be able to fuse with the soup taste better. Many people says that their Buddha Jumps Over Wall is sour. That is because they have missed out one thing, which is the huadiao wine and yellow wine added should be boiled for some time first.”

“After the yellow wine was added into the clean pot that had no oil or water, it was allowed to simmer over low heat. Until the blue flames at the top were completely extinguished, it would mean that the wine inside had evaporated.”

The processing of simmering the wine was long. Lu Yuxi and Xu Le waited for slightly longer than 30 minutes before the blue flames were extinguished. Only then could they add the wine into the soup.

“We still have to add the yellow rock sugar like this to enhance the taste and freshness.”

“Lay the mushrooms at the bottom. Now, add the abalone, sea cucumber, scallop and other seafood that had been soaked in the pot. Pour the first pot of filtered soup in, then use a dried lotus leaf to cover the pot opening. This way, when cooking, the fragrance of the lotus leaf would gradually seep into the pot and the ingredients.”

Xu Le sealed the pot and placed it on the charcoal stove again.

The fire continued to crackle as the fragrance spread to the nose and the house. In order not to disrupt his sleep, Xu Le opened the windows in the kitchen, closed the door and went to sleep after washing up.

He had just closed his eyes when there was a series of knocks on the door outside. Shen Hui asked in a draggy tone, “Who is it? It’s so late already.”

Ever since they moved in here, because there were only a unit on each floor, they hardly met their neighbours. They would occasionally meet in the lift, but they had never greeted each other as they did not know which level the neighbours stayed on.

Shen Hui opened the door and saw an old woman holding a walking stick and standing outside. Behind her were a few young men and middle-aged women, some of whom were still carrying their children. She was stunned.

“What’s wrong?”

What did they do to suddenly offend so many neighbours?

Shen Hui placed her hand on the door frame to block them. Xu Zhexian, who was putting on his coat, hurried over to the door. He adjusted his glasses on his rose and asked, “Why is everyone here to look for us instead of sleeping at this hour?”

“Haha.”

“There’s nothing much.”

“What is your family making?”

The neighbours stuttered to form their words. In the end, it was the old woman who had no teeth who asked, “Actually, it’s because the weather is getting hot and we had opened the windows for cool air to enter. The smell from your house is so strong that it entered my house. What are you guys eating?”

It turned out to be due to the fragrance of the “Buddha Jumps Over Wall”. Shen Hui finally felt relieved and said with a smile, “My son is stewing a soup overnight. If it is affecting you, we can close the window immediately.”

As she spoke, the neighbours hurried waved their hands and said, “We don’t mean that. What soup are you guys making? It smells so good. My child can’t sleep at all after smelling it and is wanting to eat.”

“That’s right. I also smelled the fragrance. What soup can be so fragrant? Please teach us how to make it.”

“I remember smelling this when I was attending my friend’s wedding, but it was not as fragrant as your family’s soup. May I know what soup it is?”

The neighbours started speaking one after another. Xu Zhexian curled his lips into a smile and his eyes were obviously filled with relief.

He nodded his head and said, “Do you guys want to come in to sit for a while? This soup has to be stewed for a few days. When it’s ready, we will distribute some to everyone.”