Chapter 24 - Flattering (1/2)

The Yu Family’s meals had always lacked oil. There were only two occasions when the family could eat meat; the first was during the New Year, and the second was when Yu Bo, the hope of the entire family, came home. Stewed fatty meat and cabbage [1] was Yu Bo’s favorite dish during his childhood.

Yu Bo was already accustomed to eating stir-fried dishes in town, so his taste in food had changed a long time ago. However, he was unable to refuse his mother who wholeheartedly cared for him.

Madam Zhao glanced at him, then entered the west room indifferently. Zhao Meilan, who was the only daughter of a county scholar-official, held contempt for the whole Yu Family. Her mother-in-law was stingy, while her eldest sister-in-law was vulgar and lazy. Her second sister-in-law was cowardly and incompetent. Moreover, none of the children in the family were presentable.

If she had a choice, she seriously didn’t want to stay in the Yu Family’s house at all. However, they were her husband’s family, so she still needed to give her husband some face.

By the time Madam Zhang returned from the butcher’s in the neighboring village with half a catty of fat meat, Madam Liu also came back after washing the laundry. Without giving her a chance to take a break, Madam Zhang had ordered Madam Li, who was aimlessly wandering around the courtyard with a broom, “You go dry the clothes. Second daughter-in-law, you go cook!”

The entire family had unanimous approval for Madam Liu’s culinary skills.

Madam Zhang personally washed the meat and cut it up on the cutting board. After that, she counted the pieces and instructed Madam Liu, “Third Son likes the dishes that you cook the most, so cook well and don’t slack off. You guys help with the preparations!”

Even if Madam Zhang didn’t say it, Yu Xiaocao and her sister wouldn’t have let their mother do all the work alone. After she left, Xiaocao smiled and said, “I doubt Younger Uncle and Aunt like to eat ‘stewed fatty meat and cabbage’. Mother, why don’t I try making a couple of dishes? I have a lot of recipes in my mind that I haven’t had the chance to try out!”

“You can cook, but you’re not allowed to touch the meat. Your grandmother knows very clearly how many pieces there are!” When they had good ingredients, Madam Zhang would always take a count because she was afraid that people would steal some while cooking.

‘Big pot mixed stew’ [2] was very popular in most villages in the north. However, not all ingredients were suitable for the mixed stew. Yu Xiaocao had been craving stir-fried dishes, but she didn’t have any oil. Madam Zhang was so stingy that she wasn’t even willing to purchase vegetable oil.

Xiaocao looked at the fatty meat and tried to persuade her mother to make some lard with a portion of the meat. The meat can be stewed with cabbage, and she could cook with the lard.

Liu Muyun briefly pondered the idea. The meat would slightly shrink after extracting some lard, but as long as she cooked it carefully, it wouldn’t look too unsightly when stewed. Today, Third Younger Brother and Third Sister-in-law came home, so one meat dish really wasn’t enough. Moreover, all the other dishes were bland and tasteless. Thus, she decided to use the meat to make a small bowl of lard.

There were a lot of people in the Yu Family, so they usually used two stoves to cook. One was used to cook the bean porridge, while the other was used to make stewed vegetables and millet pancakes. Madam Zhang was very happy today, so with great mercy, she ‘allowed’ the pancakes to be partially made with wheat flour.

She would rather be a miser and suffer herself, than let her youngest son suffer a little. She was even more unwilling to be looked down on by her youngest daughter-in-law, who was the daughter of a county scholar-official. She was still waiting for her youngest son to earn a noble title for her so that she could enjoy old age with her son’s success!

Yu Xiaocao saw her mother using the usual method to stew the pork slices and cabbages, which was just throwing them together in one big pot. Afraid that the meat dish would be ruined, she quickly stopped her, “Mother, let me cook this dish. I promise it will be even tastier than the one Mother makes!”

Madam Liu was afraid that the old lady would scold Xiaocao, so she rejected the idea at first. In the end, she couldn’t help giving in to Xiaocao and Xiaolian’s constant pleading. However, she insisted on supervising on the side.

Xiaocao had already instructed her younger brother to borrow some chili peppers from the Zhao Family. Without a tinge of spiciness, the stewed pork and cabbage [3] would definitely taste bland.

After deciding not to use the usual method to stew the dishes, she used an oiled pan to stir-fry ginger, scallion, chili pepper, and Sichuan peppercorn. After that, she put the meat into the pan to stir-fry, while also adding some salt and soy sauce. Next, she placed the cabbage millet pancakes in the pan, and after a short deliberation, she also added some mystic-stone water inside. Xiaocao noticed that the mystic-stone water had the ability to enhance freshness! It was still the same dish, but with different cooking methods, the tastes were naturally as different as day and night.