The General's Delicious Wife Chapter 044: Sauced Braised Fish
It was naturally impossible for Xia Yue Chu to seek scolding, so she went directly back to the house, instructed Qin Zheng to fire up the stove and started to prepare for cooking.
The fish in the bucket were first rinsed with water, and then stirred and scrubbed with a handful of flour, so that the sticky residue on the fish could be quickly removed, making the fish cleaner.
Firstly, picking out the three baby carps and putting them in a small pot, filling with enough water, adding only onion and garlic, and bringing the pot to a boil, then reducing the heat to cook it slowly.
She selected a huge bowl of larger sized fish from the remaining, added oil to the pot, added scallion and ginger and dry fried it in the pot, and then she took out a large scoop of fermented sauce from a storage jar and mixed it into the wok. Stir frying it continuously over low heat.
A strong scent of fragrant sauce soon filled the whole room.
After having transmigrated for so long, if she had to point out a single good discovery about Madam Sheng, then the only thing she could say would be the farmer's style sauce that Madam Sheng made which was sincerity delicious.
Almost every family in the northeast countryside made their own sauce, and the flavor profile differed from family to family. Majority of them had a faint fermented smell that many people could not get used to eating.
However, the base sauce made by Madam Sheng, did not have any pungent smell, not only that, it had an extra rich and mellow fragrance. It was already delicious eaten as a dip. Now that it was sizzling in the wok, the fragrance was enough to make people drool.
Qin Zheng swallowed his saliva while he tended the fire, even Xia Yue Chu could not help but licked off the sauce from the spoon she scooped with.
After the sauce was fried until the fragrant released, a ladle of water was added to the pot, after it boiled, she added the fish in, bringing it again to a boil over a big flame then turning the fire down, to cook it slowly.
"Ah Zheng, keep an eye on the fire, don't let the broth dry out." Xia Yue Chu instructed Qin Zheng and covered the wok. She went on to prepare deep frying the fish on her own.
When the sauced braised fish was about to be done, another layer of steamer was added on top of the wok, with a few maize buns placed inside to be heated up.
On the other side, the little fishes coated with batter were slipped into another wok. With the split and splattering sound, another kind of fragrance that belonged to the fried fish was also being diffused.
The baby carp soup has already turned milky white, and the fish that was originally small was about to disintegrate into the soup any moment.
She first served up a bowl of fish soup, added a little salt, sprinkled some green onion, and carried it to the main room.
Madam Sheng's face sank when she saw Xia Yue Chu, she glared at her and said, "And who did I think it was? Isn't this the busiest person in our family, haven't seen you all morning, only coming back home now that it is mealtime?"
Xia Yue Chu was not annoyed when she heard this, she placed down the bowl that she was holding onto the table and replied, "Mother, hasn't it been my intention to find something nourishing for Da Zhuang and Da Ping. I went river fishing early in the morning. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to catch three small baby carps, so I brewed some fish soup for Da Ping to replenish her nutrients. When she wakes up, Mother can persuade her to drink more of it."
Madam Sheng's punch landed on soft cotton (meaning: her attack had no damage), furthermore, she was countered back, making her almost choked till her eyes rolled (meaning: choked to the point of losing conscious), but she couldn't find any reason to fault Xia Yue Chu.
She could only dampen her spirits in response, "Okay, it's rare that you are still thinking for Da Ping, just put it aside here."
Xue Ping's eyes swelled from crying all morning. When she heard Xia Yue Chu coming in, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep because she did not want others to view her as a joke.
Never did she expect that Xia Yue Chu came over to deliver some fish soup. Her heart couldn't help but be touched a tiny bit, then upon smelling the fragrance of the fish soup, her stomach which was empty since the morning began stirring. She could only pretend to have just woken up, opening her eyes, and speaking weakly: "Thank you, Sister-in-law."
"Now that Da Ping is awake, drink it while its hot, get a good sleep after finishing it, no matter if it's for you or for Zhi Jun, it's better to take care of your health."
When Xia Yue Chu came back from delivering the fish soup, the sauced braised fish was perfectly cooked, ready to be removed from the wok. The small fish that had went through a round of oil were thrown back into the wok to be fried again and scooped out by a slotted ladle and to drip off the excess oil.
She did not dare to waste the oil in the wok, so she took it out and stored it in clay jar.
Fortunately, this was used by their own household. After deep frying things with it once, it could be kept aside to stir fry other dishes, so it's still below the standards of multiple reused cooking*, otherwise it's going to be really unhealthy.
Xue Zhuang was in the house, sniffing at the fragrance that kept wafting in from the kitchen, he tried hard to discipline his mind and forced himself to focus on the work in his hands, but he kept salivating uncontrollably, making him swallow frequently.
He waited until his stomach was growling wildly, then finally, he heard Xia Yue Chu's heavenly voice: "Let's start dinner!"
Qin Zheng went back and forth, bringing in the food and bowls and chopsticks and setting them on the table.
Xia Yue Chu carried in a water basin to Xue Zhuang so that he could wash his hands. After pouring out the water, she served up a bowl of milky white fish soup, which was placed solely in front of Xue Zhuang. "The doctor said we have to make up for your nutrients, so the fish soup was specially brewed for you."
Qin Zheng was already settled down, sitting cross-legged on the brick bed, but he still waited for Xia Yue Chu to sit on the edge of the bed with her legs slanted, then he grabbed his chopsticks and called out, "Brother, Sister-in-law, let's eat!" Immediately after that, he picked up a sauced braised fish with his chopsticks into his own bowl.
This fish was braised to perfection, the flavor was marinated into the meat, but the fish was not overcooked, the entire fish retained its form.
Lifting the fish up by its head and putting the tail inside the mouth, with a slight pressure on the lips and lightly pulling the fish head outwards with the chopsticks, the flesh of the fish detached itself from its bones, only leaving a complete set of fish bones in the aftermath.
The maw of the fish was full of fish roe. Taking a single bite, the meat was tender, and the roe were tightly packed, and the mouth was filled with its fragrance.
The fish was so fresh that Qin Zheng seemed to have swallowed his own tongue. After eating three fishes in a row, he sighed with satisfaction and gave a thumbs up, saying "Sister-in-law, this craftsmanship of yours is really amazing!"
Xia Yue Chu ate a piece of sauced fish together with a maize bun, it was so delicious that her eyes curled up in satisfaction.
The fresh and tender fish from the first fishing season together with that tasty sauce, this was even more delicious compared to what her master from her previous life had made. This could be considered as a form of surpassing the mastery of her master.
She lifted her head.
As she was picking another portion of the fish, she saw Xue Zhuang with his chopsticks unmoved, staring at the fish soup in front of him with a bitter face and hatred.
Xia Yue Chu stretched out her hand to touch the side of the bowl, seeing that it was still warm, she urged him, "Drink it quickly, it won't be nice when it turns cold."
Xue Zhuang was particularly distressed. This pale and pastel white color, just from the appearance alone, it did not look like something a man should be consuming.
But this was specially made by Xia Yue Chu for him, and it felt like he would fail her kind intentions if he did not drink it.
Seeing Xia Yue Chu's eyes which was full in expectation, Xue Zhuang gritted his teeth and lifted the bowl up, as if drinking some medication, he straightened his neck and poured it directly into his belly.
"Is it delicious?"
Xue Zhuang did not taste it carefully at all. When he heard her asked, then he smacked his lips together and nodded, exclaiming, "It's delicious!"
Xia Yue Chu laughed again and curling her eyes up in response, "If you like it, I could brew it for you every day."
Xue Zhuang's mood suddenly turned a little dark, thinking to himself that, just now, he might as well had said that it was not good to drink without considering his conscience!
"Hahaha!" Xia Yue Chu laughed till she could no longer hold onto her chopsticks, "Okay, I know you don't like to drink that, next time if we catch the baby carps again, I'll just brew it and give it to Da Ping."
Knowing that he was drinking the same nourishment soup that a woman who miscarriage was drinking, Xue Zhuang's body stiffened.
"Try the sauced fish, this one is delicious." Xia Yue Chu quickly picked out the biggest river loach and put it in Xue Zhuang's bowl.
Although it's fun to tease people, there was wisdom in knowing the boundaries, when it was time to stop. If people become anxious from it, it won't be fun anymore.
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Translator Notes:
*Multiple reused cooking, oil that is reused multiple time in cooking is highly disapproved of because its unhealthy and unhygienic.
Translated by YellowBean.