Yang Yunxi rolled her eyes at Nangong An and said confidently, “Heh, smelly? Just wait until I’m done. It’ll be so delicious you’ll want to swallow your tongue.”
Nangong An didn’t really believe her. This was something no one around here had ever eaten before.
Every time the butchers slaughtered a pig, these parts were thrown away immediately.
After quite a bit of effort, Yunxi finally cleaned the entire set of pig intestines thoroughly, inside and out.
The intestines were now tender and completely free of any foul smell.
She picked up the wooden basin, stood up, and slowly walked toward the thatched hut.
Nangong An had disappeared long ago, and Yunxi didn’t bother looking for him.
When she arrived at the hut, the auntie had already cleaned the pig’s head and set it aside neatly.
Since there were still other preparations to do, Yunxi called out to the auntie who was cutting thatch grass, “Auntie, could you help light the fire?”
As soon as she said that, Yunxi squatted down and took advantage of the moment to pull out a small boning knife she had taken from the supermarket.
The pigskin and bones needed to be separated. The pigskin would be braised, and the bones would be used to make Chinese yam soup.
The yam they had eaten the night before was so delicious that she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
After lighting the fire, the auntie called out, “Nangong’s wife, the fire’s ready. I’ll go back to cutting thatch grass!”
“Alright, thank you, Auntie,” Yunxi replied. She then put all the prepared meat and pig offal into the pot to blanch them.
This step was necessary because wild boar meat had a strong gamey smell. Blanching helped remove some of it.
After about half a stick of incense worth of time, Yunxi fished out the blanched pig head meat and offal, rinsed them thoroughly with clean water, and drained them.
She added a little oil to the pot, then tossed in a small handful of rock sugar she had taken from the supermarket.
Caramelizing the sugar—this was an essential step in braising.
It was like magic, adding a unique flavor and rich color to the dish.
She first cooked the sugar until it turned a deep caramel color. The rich caramel aroma instantly filled the air, making the auntie cutting grass nearby swallow hard.
Next, she poured in boiling water, allowing the caramelized sugar to blend perfectly with the water and form a rich braising liquid.
Then she added all kinds of spices she had prepared in advance.
All of these spices had come from the supermarket.
While no one was paying attention, she carefully added them to the pot like a little thief.
There were star anise, cinnamon bark, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and more. Their unique aromas slowly released in the hot liquid, intertwining and laying a rich flavor foundation for the braise.
She added an appropriate amount of soy sauce to deepen the color and enhance the savory flavor.
Of course, she didn’t forget the salt—the key seasoning that made the taste fuller and more balanced.
Finally, she added a few slices of ginger to remove any remaining odor and boost the aroma.
Once everything was ready, she turned up the heat to bring the pot to a boil, allowing all the flavors to meld together.
Then, in order, she added the pigskin, pig liver, pig lungs, and both large and small intestines into the pot, letting them roll and simmer in the braising liquid.
Because wild boar meat was tougher, Yunxi cooked it over high heat for one stick of incense, then lowered the heat to let it slowly simmer and soak.
As the ingredients soaked in the braising liquid, they gradually absorbed the flavors of the spices.
“Mm, it smells so good! Am I hallucinating? Why does this aroma make my appetite explode?” a man said, sniffing the air like crazy.
At the same time, those working up the mountain also smelled it. They couldn’t wait to finish their tasks and rush down to see what could possibly smell so amazing.
Near noon, everyone finished their work and followed the scent to the cooking area.
They saw a pig head soaking in the pot, along with pig lungs and pig intestines—things they normally never ate.
They were astonished that items they usually discarded could produce such an incredible aroma.
They had to admit—Nangong’s wife was truly amazing.
Yunxi sliced the pigskin, pig lungs, and intestines, placed them into a large serving basin, ladled in a scoop of braising liquid, and mixed everything well.
So fragrant! It smelled so good she almost couldn’t move.
Besides the braised dishes, she also made wild vegetable buns.
Naturally, in addition to their usual coarse black flour, she secretly added some white flour from her space supermarket, making the buns softer.
If only she could pair it with rice—it would be perfect!
She had piles of rice in her space, but she didn’t dare cook it. There was no rice at all in this place. If she suddenly produced rice out of nowhere, everyone would definitely think she was a monster.
So for now, she had to wrong her stomach a little.
“Alright, everyone, it’s time to eat!”
As Yunxi announced the meal, everyone picked up their bowls and lined up in an orderly fashion, like well-trained soldiers.
Yunxi couldn’t help but sigh, “Lin Hai really knows how to manage people. He’s like a natural-born leader.”
The auntie who had helped process the pig head desperately wanted to slap herself twice. She truly hadn’t known that these discarded parts could become so delicious when cooked by Nangong’s wife.
This cooking skill was simply incredible.
After everyone had received their food, the only sounds left were praise and chewing.
“If you ask me, Brother Nangong is really blessed—to marry a wife with such amazing cooking skills. It’s enough to make anyone jealous,” a man said, only to have his ear twisted by his wife before he could finish.
“Oh? So the food I cook isn’t good enough, huh? Fine then—don’t eat it anymore. Cook for yourself!”
“Wife, wife, the food you make is the best—real home-style cooking. What Nangong’s wife makes is restaurant-level food. You can’t compare the two!”
“Hmph! Nangong’s wife really does cook amazingly. I love it too,” the woman said sincerely.
The auntie who had helped clean the pig head walked up to Yunxi and asked humbly, “Nangong’s wife, how did you clean those pig intestines so well? Please teach us. That way we’ll have another meat dish in the future.”
“It’s actually very simple,” Yunxi said. “Just use the plant ash left over from cooking with firewood. It absorbs the impurities inside the intestines.”
After a short pause, she continued, “The method is easy too. After adding the ash, rub and knead it hard. Once the outside is clean, turn it inside out and keep washing. Rinse several times until all the ash is completely washed away.”
As they listened, everyone thought to themselves how simple it was—and yet none of them had known this before.
Sigh… reading really was useful, but they were illiterate.
In the end, everyone thanked Yunxi in unison, “Alright, we remember it now. Thank you, Nangong’s wife!”
Yunxi smiled brightly and said, “No need to be polite!”