What about something quick and easy to digest?
Liu Yan returned the vegetables to the refrigerator, took a look at the chubby girl with short legs dangling by the chair, and decided to make home-cooked fried sauce noodles with a salt and pepper seasoned stir-fried cauliflower as a condiment.
It should be able to be eaten with a spoon because the little guy couldn't use chopsticks proficiently yet.
First, Liu Yan worked with the noodles.
The first step in making hand-pulled noodles was to perfectly balance the flour and water.
If the room was cold, you would need to add more water. Oppositely, on a rather hot day, you didn't need to add too much water.
There was no exact measurement. It was mostly based on experience gained through touch.
This was what was captivating about cooking; even with the same ingredients and the same recipe, the end product would differ depending on who cooked it and how it was cooked.
After finishing mixing the dough, Liu Yan wrapped it in plastic and let it rest for a moment. In the meantime, she started to work on other ingredients.
One of the souls of the fried sauce was the fat of the pork belly, so the raw materials should be 60% fatty meat and 40% lean meat.
After cutting the meat into small pieces, Liu Yan placed it in the frying pan, and it simmered pretty nicely on a small fire.
Not long after, the original white marble and fatty part were dyed a beautiful golden color, showing a slight amber skin.
In this way, the fried pork granules will have a slight burnt fragrance and crispiness. Even people who don't like fatty meat will love it.
The washed carrots and shiitake mushrooms were cut into thick matchsticks, and she stir-fried them lightly with the cauliflower that was already diced. Under the even heating, the colour gradually becomes more vibrant.
Liu Yan took out a clay pot, carefully scooped a large spoon out of something inside of it, splurged it into the pan with pork meat, and stirred it.
When she lowered her head, she saw a little girl running over at some point, looking at the stove, standing on tiptoe.
"It's not fun to have hot oil on your face," Liu Yan reminded.
Baobao obediently took a long step back, swallowed her saliva, and asked, "What is this? It's so fragrant!"
"Soybean paste."
Liu Yan mixed soybean paste and some sweet noodle sauce so that the combined taste would be more layered.
She loved to create her own flavours. For example, these two kinds of sauces were made by her.
The young chef specially selected the authentic northeast soybeans so that the finished products would be far more mellow than those commonly found on the market.
The large soybeans were soft, glutinous, and sweet. They were also delicious when they were directly steamed with other vegetables.
When the sauce was almost boiled, the water on the other stove also boiled.
There was also a small bowl of water on the upper layer of the water pot where a soft-boiled egg was cooked for precisely 5 minutes. Liu Yan first put the sauce pan off the fire and then took out the soft-boiled egg and let it cool.
Then she picked up the initially fermented dough and worked on it.
To be honest, pulling the noodles out of the dough was one of the favourite moments for Liu Yan.
She stretched the dough from one hand's end to another, but not hard enough to break it. Then she raised her hands while twisting the elongated dough into a braid and threw it onto the table, and then stretched it again, twisted it, and threw it onto the table once more, rinse and repeat.
The purpose of twisting and hurling it into the wooden board was to enhance its elasticity further.
After that, Liu Yan cut it into several smaller parts and then picked one of them and started pulling it.
From one layer, folded into two, two into four, and so on until the thin and long noodles were formed.
Baobao watched the whole process agape. It was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen.
Because she was still a child, she didn't have many words to describe what she felt and just looked at her auntie like she was the coolest person in the world.
Auntie is awesome!
After she was done with the noodles, she quickly ran them through the cold water.
In this way, it wouldn't burn the mouth but also maintain the strength, and the heat inside the noodles would slowly leak out, which was most suitable for summer.
He scooped up half a bowl of noodles, poured two spoons of fried sauce into it, and placed some fried stirred vegetables along the side of the bowl, with half a soft-boiled egg on top of it.
The soft golden yolk melted like a layer of snow on top of a mountain in early spring on the brown and thick fried sauce.
She washed another cucumber, cut it into filaments with a quick knife, and piled it into the mounts.
In the hot summer, eating meat sauce alone might be a little greasy, and it was best to clean your mouth with shredded cucumber.
The moment it was served in front of Baobao, Liu Yan heard the prompt sound as clear as a bell.
[Satisfaction value +10]
Liu Yan was stunned for a moment.
It wasn't even eaten yet!
As if knowing what she thought, the system added, "Chinese food is all about color, fragrance, and texture. The chef's sincere treatment is also an important plus point." The voice in her mind reminded her at the right time, "Remaining lifespan: 1 year, 5 months, and 3 hours."
Liu Yan instantly understood.
No wonder the system reminded her to "go deep into the diners," because only in this case could the chef and the diners truly connect.
[Remind the host again, given that your life is constantly passing...]
Before he finished speaking, Liu Yan completed the sentence by herself, "So you must earn at least 24 satisfaction points every day to make the meet end."
Otherwise, it wasn't going to change anything.
The other party returned to silence.
Recalling the satisfaction points she got, she couldn't help but glance at Baobao and feel that this little guy was too easy to satisfy, right?
"Really? I can have this?" Baobao picked up the spoon and looked at Liu Yan, then at the dish, and back at Liu Yan repeatedly.
"Wait a second."
The little girl froze on the spot, as if the pause button had been pressed.
Liu Yan washed Baobao's hands, took apart her increasingly messy braids, tidied them up with a comb, and then quickly tied two small braids on each side.
The orphanages' conditions were not good in small cities. Generally, older children were required to take care of the younger ones. Liu Yan was very familiar with these things. Although she had not done it for many years, the whole set of actions seemed to be carved into her bones, and her body seemed to remember it with just a little cue.
Baobao fiddled with the newly braided pigtails, delighted.
The nephew and the auntie were eating when they saw two heads peeking out from the door. They were the two high school students they had just met in Aunt Zhao's supermarket.
"Boss, do you have something to eat?" The one with slightly tanned skin scratched his head and smiled, "Is this a restaurant? Do you still sell food?"
They stared at the bowl of noodles on the table intently, eager to write a big "want to eat" words on their foreheads with a marker.
Liu Yan might be one of the top ranks in appearance, might be on par with those big-name female celebrities, but in front of these steamy fried sauce noodles, she seemed to lose her charm.
Those boys' eyes refused to move.
The hand-made noodles had a yellowish lustre that was unique to wheat flour.
Brown shiitake mushrooms, orange shredded carrots, crunchy looking cauliflower, and a rich reddish-brown meat sauce cover the distinct meat...
The smoke slowly rises in the air-conditioned room, filling the air with a mouth-watering fragrance... Even cauliflower, which should be low-key and dull, seems to be full of fatal charm.
Damn, the more I look, the hungrier I get!
The little girl bit the end of the green vegetable in her mouth, and her oily lips kept squirming, like a little rabbit, chomping the remaining long one into her mouth.
Aware of their gaze, the little girl felt pity, hesitated, and gently pushed the bowl out.
High school student: "..."
Were they being pitied by a child?
"Lady Boss, just sell us a bowl! There are kids starving to death here." Another boy with fair skin said with a sullen face, "I'm going to go to self-study at night later. What can I do with an empty stomach? listening to my grumbling stomach's orchestra?"
The wheat-skinned teenager next to him started scratching the wall.
Liu Yan was amused, "Come in, please have a bowl."
The two high school students were a little embarrassed, "Hey, how does this work?"
Having said that, they came in quickly and sat down.
The fair-skinned high school students looked around with their eyes open while pulling the collars of their T-shirts to cool off, preparing to secretly give money.
Liu Yan, who was kneading the dough, glanced at it, "Don't look for it, the QR code hasn't been posted yet."
Seeing that his trick didn't work, the young man smiled, "Lady Boss, let us give you the money!"
"That's right. How embarrassing is it to eat other people's things for no reason?" Another said.
"If you're really embarrassed, just go back and promote it for me." Liu Yan said.
"But, of course! Consider it done," The two teenagers suddenly felt a sense of mission and patted their chests.
The two of them had never seen anyone make noodles closely. After staring at Liu Yan for a while, they couldn't help but sigh loudly.
"Why did I always feel awkward about cooking before..."
The fair-skinned man sneered, "Do you know why some people play golf like hoeing, while others think it's elegant to dig a shit hole?"
The companion was stunned for a moment, then looked at Liu Yan a few times, and finally realized.
He actually ignored that the boss was a pretty lady!
Wow, the food seemed to become more delicious all of a sudden.
After a while, the fried sauce noodles were ready, and the two young men didn't bother to talk anymore.
After they finished half of the bowl, they slowed down, straightened up their backs, and let out a sigh of awe, "It's so good!"
"Wow, big sister how did you do this shit? It's absolutely amazing! The diced meat is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Each bite melted in my tongue."
"That's right, our cafeteria also has fried noodles or something, but the meat is like gummy candy, not tasty at all, it's either a potato disguise or just downright fat. Eating a few bites will make people sick, it's just like pig food..."
Even the seemingly unremarkable noodles were surprising.
Wrapped in the soup, it was vigorous and flickering, not to mention more enjoyable.
[Satisfaction value +10!]
[Satisfaction value +10!]
Net profit of six hours, not in vain today. Liu Yan thought.
She didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but Liu Yan vaguely felt a lot lighter.
She slowly exhaled and put several emotional fruits harvested today into glass jars.
There were a total of five orange-red sweet and sour fruits and six bright red sweet fruits. The harvest was quite good.
"Remind the host kindly that people are prone to losing their judgement when they are hungry and get something free," the voice sounded again, "Criticism is the normal state of the world."
So what?
Liu Yan raised her eyebrows. What mattered was that it was a good start.
He took out an orange-red fruit slice, soaked it in hot water for a while, and then put it into the refrigerator to freeze.
The two boys emptied a big bowl of noodles in the blink of an eye.
The two licked their lips and looked at each other, obviously not satisfied yet.
They actually still wanted to continue eating but were a bit embarrassed because they got the food for free.
Liu Yan, who was already prepared, brought out the second serving, "Go to school when you're full."
In her childhood, she often felt famished and she knew that children of this age had an unimaginable appetite. Studying was an extremely energy-intensive thing. How could you do it well if you didn't have enough to eat?
Both high school students were a little embarrassed.
It's already embarrassing to eat for free, how can you still have a second bowl?
But...
It was delicious!
They were so delighted that they quickly threw their reservation out the window!
I'm the most shameless person in the world, alright? Now shut the fuck up and let me eat!
When they finished eating, the emotional fruit water just brought a slight coolness. It could not only quench the heat and quench their thirst but would not irritate the stomach.
After coming into contact with the hot and dry air outside, the outer wall of the glass pot quickly condensed a layer of fine water droplets and faintly released cool icy air.
Liu Yan first put a cup in front of Baobao, and then said to the two high school students, "Clear your mouth."
The teenagers sighed in unison and exaggerated, "Boss, it's too sweet!"
Baobao held the big cup and took a sip carefully. Her eyes brightened, just like an old connoisseur, "Delicious!"
Liu Yan patted her little head and drank a cup herself.
Well, sweet and sour, in addition to the fruity aroma similar to lemon, there is a refreshing feeling that is indescribable in words.
It was better than any drink he'd ever had.
"Boss, your lemonade is too good," the fair-faced high school student exclaimed, smashing his lips, "It's like, it's as if the whole person is refreshed! It's very happy, you know?"
It was the kind of joy that comes from the heart, unbelievable.
His companion was obviously more expressive. After drinking half a cup in one breath, he gave a thumbs up and said concisely, "Boss, you are awesome!"
Sure enough, the upper limit per person per day is 10. Liu Yan tutted a little regretfully.
I couldn't get more points...
The two lads left contentedly, chasing and making trouble as they walked. One jumped in the middle to make an air shot, and the second was full.
Carefree laughter fills the road, and the shadows are drawn for a long time by the street lamps that light up in sequence.
Gee, it's nice to be young.