I am a Big Villain

Chapter 131: The Stallion Male Who Had Seized The Opportunity 3

part 1

To buy the ingredients for Qi Fangzi, Yan Chu not only went to several spice shops but also went to a Chinese pharmacy.

It was not rare for medicinal herbs to be added to dishes, especially for braised food. It was very typical to put traditional Chinese medicine in the marinade. On the one hand, it could nourish the braised food, and on the other hand, it could make the flavor of the braised food richer. For example, herbs such as lemon grass, agarwood, female ginseng, and other herbs often appear in braised spice packets.

But the ingredients Yan Chu chose this time were more complex, and there were more than 40 kinds of spices and herbs, which was the most simple proportion in the braised recipe he knew now.

At first, he thought his 300 yuan would be enough, but who knew that just buying all these spices would have gone far beyond his budget? Fortunately, his mother gave him 200 yuan before he went out. Otherwise, it would not be enough to buy braised food ingredients.

There were many types of these herbs and spices, but the actual amount of each serving was minuscule. It was a pity to buy too few kinds of each serving. The employees of the spice store and the herb store were not willing to help you scale. Yan Chu looked at the large bags and small bags he had. These ingredients were enough for him to make four or five meals of braised food.

In particular, the older the marinade, the better. It absorbed the essence of the food after being stewed several times, and the braised food was more fragrant. On the contrary, when stewing the same amount of food ingredients, the spices that need to be added again would be reduced a lot.

"Buying so many things?"

Jin Xiujuan looked at the big and small bags in her son's hand and felt a little distressed about the money.

"Did you buy the pig trotters from Old Wang's pork shop? We bought the meat from him, and the price can be discounted." She asked while looking at some pig trotters and pork heads bought by her son.

The Yan family's breakfast shop mainly sells steamed buns and rice balls. The husband and wife were still very conscientious. They had not learned from some unscrupulous vendors to go to the wholesale market to buy bad pork without the quarantine certificates. The fillings used in the meat buns were all real fresh pork. The price of fresh pork in the vegetable market was rising day by day, and it would increase the cost too.

The couple picked up the goods from Wang's pork shop every day. As a long-term customer, they had a small discount. If they could save, they would save money. Just before Yan Chu went out, Jin Xiujuan told him that if he wanted to buy pork, he would go to Wang's shop to buy it and report her name.

"I bought it from Uncle Wang. Dad likes to eat pig ears, but you weren't willing to buy them for my dad when the braised pork shop was expensive. This time, I asked Uncle Wang specifically for some of his unsold pig ears, pig tongue, and pig cheek meat. Today, let Dad eat to satisfy his craving."

Yan Chu pointed to some of the ingredients he bought.

"Zhonghua, listen to me. Your son's heart is all about you as a father. He even thought about the dish that goes well with alcoholic drinks for you in the evening."

When Yan Chu returned, the couple kneaded the dough, cut them into pieces, and prepared the steamed buns to be sold tomorrow morning. Their muscles and bones were relaxed after hearing their son's filial and considerate words, and no matter how tired they were, they felt it was nothing.

"Of course, this is my son."

Yan Zhonghua used to be a quiet man, but now he could not help smiling, and his smile lines were stretched out.

"So many things. How about Mom helping you?"

Jin Xiujuan looked at the things in the bags her son was carrying. She had never seen many spices before. However, when she was a child in the countryside, her family killed the pigs and cooked braised food once a year, so she had some experience. Jin Xiujuan thought she should be better than her son's sudden whim.

So many things, she did not know how much they cost. She would feel distressed if it really got wasted.

"Mom, I can do it myself. Don't worry. The recipe is very detailed. You and Dad can merely wait and try my craft." Yan Chu spoke positively. He thought he was following and watching the braising master, who made an untold number of braised foods. For the first time, even if he could not reach his level, the braised food was much better than that sold in ordinary braised food shops.

"Then watch the ignition. If it doesn't work, tell Mom."

Jin Xiujuan looked at her son's determined appearance and was embarrassed to persuade her son again.

There were two kitchens in the house. One was inside the house, and the other was in a temporary shed in the yard. On weekdays, the couple would choose to be outside when they prepare breakfast for sale the next day, such as deep-fried breadsticks. Those things had a lot of smoke, and cooking them in the house would make the ceiling yellow.

This building was old public housing. The Yan family had no money to renovate, so all the installations were timeworn. The kitchen smoke exhaust was the most outdated smoke pipe, not the current range hood. The house was smoky and terribly hot when cooking some food that needed oil and fire.

However, it was also a wonder of the old public housing. Usually, at mealtime, the smoke pipes of every household began to emit white smoke. Standing outside the window, one could smell what food someone had cooked. If someone had cooked fish or meat, one could merely take the bowl, take a plate of pickles, and eat with fragrance. But such intriguing things hardly exist now.

In addition to some old neighbors who had not moved out, there were more tenants from other places. They worked hard for life, ate uncertain meals, and fell asleep when they returned. It was inevitable that people were indifferent.

When the Yan family started to sell breakfast, they still sold white congee. Later, fewer people bought congee, so it was no longer profitable. The stainless steel barrel initially used to make congee got put away. Now it seemed that it was ideal to be used to make gravy.

The recipe was essential to make a good pot of braised food and whether the soup stock was delicious was equally important.

If one followed the recipe strictly, it would take a day to boil the soup stock, and the raw materials needed for the soup stock were definitely not the chicken, pig, and cow bones Yan Chu bought from the vegetable market. It was just an unusual treatment under unique circumstances. Kitchen God's Space asked him to complete the production of braised food today and received sincere praise from ten people, so he could only temporarily cut corners.

At noon, when it was time for lunch, Yan Chu began to put onion, ginger, garlic, and various seasonings in the soup stock and began to stew the marinade.

"This soup is really fresh."

While boiling marinade in soup stock, Yan Chu especially left a small pot to continue cooking. Yan Chu felt the recipe was unusual when he cooked the soup stock. He hardly needed to add too much seasoning. The thick white broth was so fresh and made people speechless.

Jin Xiujuan felt that her son was really amazing. She had never tasted such fresh soup without any meat smell at her age, including the soup she drank when the children of former relatives and friends got married in the grand. I was not as good as the bowl she had now.

"Gulp gulp"

Yan Zhonghua did not speak but sped up his swallowing. After drinking the soup in the bowl, Yan Chu served him another bowl.

"I think it's amazing. I've cooked soup before, but it's never tasted as good as today. I follow the recipe in every step. Mom and Dad, do you think this is a secret recipe? I got it by accident."

The white soup was rich, salty, and fresh, without any smell of mutton or a greasy taste. No matter how much one drank, it would not be too much. Yan Chu finally understood why people dare to call themselves master chefs. This cut corners version could make such delicious food. He could not imagine how delicious and magical the food produced by other more complicated recipes, which were perfectly still according to the requirements and proportions of those recipes.

Yan Chu thought, maybe as 007 said, he really made a profit this time. He should learn more skills like this. No matter which world he went to, he would not starve to death anyway.

"Where did you get this recipe?"

Jin Xiujuan hurriedly asked her son. At first, she thought her son wanted to make braised food excitedly after seeing a recipe in a book. Now, listening to her son's tone, it was not like that.

"Mom, Dad, look at this."

Yan Chu returned to the house and took out an ancient book that he used as a simple way to make old things. The pages were yellowed and a little brittle. The pages were densely packed, brush-written ancient characters that made them feel headaches. The ingredients and recipes vaguely could be seen recorded on it.

"I bought this from an old book stand before. I thought it was all about recipes. Don't you sell breakfast at home? Maybe I could find some delicious and easy-to-cook breakfast and buy it for ten yuan. However, the texts on it are ancient characters. I also read a lot of books to understand the current braised recipe. I want to try the recipe in this book. Today I went to buy ingredients to make it."

The original self only knew some ordinary home-cooked dishes. It was definitely problematic if his cooking skills suddenly improved, so Yan Chu made a reasonable excuse for his future changes.

The original, worn ancient books could be comprehended by those who know a little about antiques at a glance, but the Yan couple did not understand these, especially the densely packed old characters on them. They could only understand some parts of it by guessing.

In this way, they would only think that Yan Chu learned from this ancient book and would not doubt anything else in every new cooking skill Yan Chu learned and showed to his parents.

"Zhonghua, do you think our son has found treasure?"

The couple had a small range of knowledge and did not think about making money. They only thought their son was impressive and that he could buy good things just by purchasing a broken book.

"Hide this book well, don't lose it."

Jin Xiujuan did not dare to touch the tattered book because she was afraid of breaking it. Besides, she could not understand it. It was useless to read it. She just told her son that the book looked great. Keeping it well might become their family's heirloom.

After drinking the soup in the bowl, Jin Xiujuan suddenly looked forward to the pot of braised food in the kitchen.