The Game of Life-Chapter 637 - 635 Chicken Bean Blossom (Part 1)

Chapter 637: Chapter 635 Chicken Bean Blossom (Part 1)

The fog dissipated quickly, perhaps in less than two seconds before Jiang Feng found himself in Jiang Yong’s home.

Yes, Jiang Yong’s home.

Where Jiang Feng stood was Jiang Yong’s living room, with items placed on the cabinet almost identical to what he remembered from his previous visits, or perhaps exactly the same. After several months, however, Feng couldn’t quite remember.

It was quietly still in the house, no human voices or footsteps, only the incessant chirping of birds outside the window, as if a flock were holding a noisy meeting.

Could this memory be from Granduncle Weiming’s visit to Jiang Yong’s home during the New Year’s celebration?

...

This thought grew even stronger when Jiang Feng noticed the familiar computer book on the sofa, the pickled radish on the dining table, and the watch by the entrance.

Just as Feng was about to enter Jiang Xiaoran’s room to see if there were two boxes of apples there, the door opened.

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Wearing pajamas, with his hair resembling a bird’s nest, in cotton slippers without socks, ankles bared to the air, Xiaoran emerged from his room, scratching his head and squinting, clearly just woken up.

Xiaoran yawned, reached for his phone out of habit, and not finding it on him, looked up at the wall clock and realized it was no longer early—a bit later and it would be time for lunch.

“Grandpa!” Xiaoran called out, “Are you there?”

Then the kitchen door swung open, and Granduncle Weiming, wearing an apron and arm covers over his thin cotton jacket, walked out with bits of minced meat on his hands.

The kitchen door at the Jiang household was quite airtight. Originally, Feng had walked around the living room without smelling anything, but once the kitchen door opened, the aroma hit him.

Chicken soup.

Rich chicken soup, which must have been simmering for hours, infused with ham and various spices, smelling incredibly tempting.

Xiaoran’s reaction was the same as Feng’s—he took a deep breath and asked, “Grandpa, are you making chicken stew?”

“Sort of, I’m preparing clear broth,” Weiming replied.

“Both my parents went to work today, so it’s just the two of us at home. Didn’t I book a ticket for you to go to Beiping tomorrow? It’s okay if I’m a couple of days late for work; I took the day off to take you to Beiping,” Xiaoran scratched his head. “It’s my fault for waking up late; I was planning to take you out for lunch today. No worries, though, I reserved a restaurant for tonight, so we can go out to eat then.”

“Why bother eating out, wasting money when it’s not even a holiday? Better to make food at home. Anyway, I’m idle, and it’s nice to watch some TV and cook every day,” Weiming said with a smile, “It took me some time to prepare the chicken this morning, so lunch will be ready in another two hours. Are you hungry, Ran? I made some siu mai this morning and put them in the fridge. If you’re hungry, I can steam some for you now.”

Xiaoran nodded, “Thank you. What’s the filling?”

“Mushroom and bamboo shoots.”

Xiaoran went to brush his teeth and wash up, Xiaoran returned to the kitchen to continue his broth, and Feng followed him in.

There were two clay pots of the same size on both stoves in the kitchen, each filled with chicken soup that must have been simmering for at least two hours, as Weiming was skimming the soup.

Skimming is a crucial step in the preparation of high-quality broth and clear soup. If one aims to achieve a clear broth as Weiming had made before, significant time and effort must be devoted to this process.

Skimming involves removing the fat and impurities from the soup. There are two methods of skimming: one using red mince made from pork loin and the other using white mince made from chicken breast.

During skimming, it’s important to control the temperature of the soup, stirring in the mince, which absorbs the impurities until it floats to the surface. It’s then removed with a skimming ladle and the soup is repeatedly filtered through cheesecloth until the desired clarity is achieved.

Typically, skimming broth only requires alternating between the red froth and white froth three to four times to complete. However, if one aims for higher quality or directly seeks to achieve the level of clarity in Jiang Weiming’s broth, the number of skimming times might need to be multiplied several folds. One could say that during the entire stewing process, the chef cannot leave the stove, needing to constantly watch and stir, which is very time-consuming and challenging, and also includes a certain level of skill.

It is not easy to control the temperature of the broth and the fire control each time you skim the soup.

Jiang Weiming was engaged in this demanding task.

The changes in the broth were quite apparent during the initial skim sessions, but as the number of skimming increased, it became difficult to determine the changes with the naked eye. Deciding when to stop depended on the individual judgment of the chef, and the same applied to the final step of repeatedly filtering through cheesecloth.

While Jiang Weiming continued to carefully skim the broth, Jiang Xiaoran, having finished washing up and changing clothes, came to the kitchen, took the shumai Jiang Weiming had just put in the refrigerator that morning, and with the steamer and shumai in arms, went outside to steam them on an induction cooker.

“Ran, I am going back to Beiping tomorrow. The dumplings and buns I made last time have already almost run out. See what flavor you’d like to eat, and when I am free in the afternoon, I will go buy some ingredients, and in the evening I’ll make buns and dumplings for you,” Jiang Weiming said.

Jiang Xiaoran was fishing for the tea eggs from the basin on the dining table that had already cooled down, since tea eggs taste good whether they’re hot or cold.

“There’s no need for that kind of trouble, I’ll be working soon and won’t eat breakfast at home. I usually just buy it from the breakfast shop downstairs. Granduncle Weiming, if you’re not too tired, you could make some buns with fresh meat and bamboo shoot filling.”

Jiang Feng: ?

With one bite, half a tea egg was gone, and with two, a whole one was finished.

While Granduncle was working hard in the kitchen, Xiaoran sat in his chair waiting for food, feeling quite guilty, but there was nothing he could do about it.

How could he resist when Granduncle’s cooking was so delicious that he even skipped going out for meals with friends during the New Year, feeling it would be sinful to miss a single bite.

“Not tired at all. What’s so tiring about making buns? Later tonight when I have some time, I’ll make you some sweet dumplings too,” Jiang Weiming said smilingly.

Xiaoran nodded vigorously.

Jiang Weiming continued skimming the soup, while Xiaoran sat in the chair waiting for the shumai to steam. Once the shumai were ready, yet Jiang Weiming was still skimming, by the time Xiaoran had finished eating the shumai, Jiang Weiming was still in the midst of his sweeping task.

Xiaoran started to get curious. He peeled another tea egg and, holding the egg, walked to the kitchen door and peered in.

“Granduncle, doesn’t this chicken soup smell like it’s about ready?” Xiaoran might not know how to cook, but he thought the soup smelled drinkable by now.

“It’s still early. This soup can’t be left unattended right now. For lunch, I’ll just stir-fry a couple of dishes for us to make do with. Tonight, I’ll cook you something delicious,” Weiming said with a cheerful tone, as if cajoling a grandson who had just started primary school and was waiting for lunch.

Although Xiaoran had long passed the age of a child just starting school and waiting for lunch, his first reaction was exactly the same.

He silently swallowed.

“What are we having tonight?” Xiaoran felt it was time to cancel the reservation he had made for a Mexican restaurant the day before.

Mexican food? Could it be better than what my granduncle cooks?

“Chicken tofu.”