Li Xiufen, afraid of her daughter-in-law going hungry, returned home, poured the loaches and yellow eels into a large wooden bucket to keep them alive, and then hurried into the kitchen.
The crushed noodles that Gu Chunmiao gave her in the morning were cooked first. Then, the leftover corn porridge was added, along with chopped shepherd's purse, crushed peanuts and white sesame seeds from their own home, and finally, two spoonfuls of lard were added. A large pot of hutun noodles was ready.
"Miaomiao, go call your Second Great Aunt and Uncle Baoguo over for a meal!"
Li Xiufen covered the pot, turned around, took out three preserved eggs, made a cold preserved egg dish, and also brought out the fermented bean paste and pickled melon she had prepared. By the time Gu Chunmiao returned after calling the neighbors, the food was already laid out on the table.
Gu Chunmiao truly admired her mother-in-law's spirit. She was the younger one, yet when it came to work ethic, ten of her combined couldn't match her mother-in-law alone.
Her mother-in-law woke up early in the morning, first tidied up the house and yard, then checked on the hatching chicks, and fed the few chickens at home.
Next, she made breakfast, and after breakfast, she took food to her Second Great Aunt, then went to the riverbank to dig for loaches. Upon returning, she had to prepare the noon meal again... Gu Chunmiao felt that if she only had to reach the stage of "finishing breakfast," she would probably be exhausted.
The older generation truly had boundless energy!!!
However, her mother-in-law's cooking was truly delicious. The pot of shepherd's purse hutun noodles was full of flavor. The shepherd's purse was fresh and tender, the hutun noodles were soft and sticky. With careful chewing, one could taste the fragrant crushed peanuts and sesame seeds, which made her utterly delighted.
If it were before, when she was still in the Military Compound, she couldn't have finished such a large bowl of hutun noodles by herself.
But now? Gu Chunmiao slurped down a large bowl and, without waiting for her mother-in-law to call her, proactively refilled her bowl.
Her mother-in-law's fermented bean paste was also delicious, with a slight hint of spice. A chopstickful placed on the hutun noodles and stirred a bit, immediately gave the noodles a savory aroma from the fermented bean paste, making it a perfect accompaniment to any meal!
Gu Chunmiao couldn't help but eat until she was completely full.
Li Xiufen felt both proud and amused.
"Miaomiao, next time you want to eat something, just tell Mom. Mom will make it for you every meal. You have such a small appetite, you can't eat too much, it'll hurt your stomach!"
Saying this, she went next door to ask Li Xiulan for some of her dried hawthorn, and brought it back to boil water for Gu Chunmiao to drink.
In the Afternoon, Gu Chunmiao sat in the courtyard, sorting bean seeds while watching her mother-in-law prepare the loaches and yellow eels.
Gu Chunmiao had eaten eel shredded by a state banquet chef with her adoptive mother before. However, after marrying He Zhanjun, she hadn't truly lived in Henan Province yet, and didn't know how the eel was cooked here.
Li Xiufen had already finished preparing the loaches and yellow eels. Pointing to several plates on the ground, she said to Gu Chunmiao, "I don't know how the yellow eels in your Beijing City are made. Tonight, I'll make a few dishes with our local flavors."
"Oh, Miaomiao, we had hutun noodles for lunch. Do you want to have steamed rice for dinner?"
The people here loved noodles, eating them for all three meals without getting tired of them. However, Li Xiufen thought of her daughter-in-law being from Beijing City and perhaps preferring rice, so she specifically asked.
To her surprise, Gu Chunmiao also deeply loved noodles.
"Mom, on my way back earlier, I heard Second Great Aunt say that the yellow eel braised noodles you make are among the top three in the surrounding ten villages. Can we have braised noodles tonight?"
"If it's too much trouble, then forget it. I like steamed rice too."
Gu Chunmiao was a terrible cook; she liked anything that wasn't made by her.
Li Xiufen waved her hand, "Trouble? Not at all! While the Production Team doesn't have much heavy work these days, Mom will make more delicious food to nourish you."
"Once the autumn harvest gets busy, even if you want to eat it, Mom won't have time to make it for you."
Saying this, she picked up the prepared loaches and yellow eels and bustled into the kitchen.
Seeing her mother-in-law constantly busy, with her lips dry and peeling, and no time to stop for a drink, Gu Chunmiao picked the largest and reddest apple, peeled and cut it into pieces, broke off a thin sliver from the firewood pile to use as a toothpick, and fed her mother-in-law apple pieces one by one.
Li Xiufen ate the sweet apple, her heart filled with sweetness, and said, "Mom doesn't like apples. I'll just taste it. You eat it yourself!"
Gu Chunmiao pretended not to hear and continued to feed her.
Who doesn't like apples?
It was just that apples were too expensive, and her mother-in-law was reluctant to eat them, so she always said she didn't like them, wanting to save the good food for her children.
Li Xiufen continued to eat piece after piece, finishing a whole apple by herself.
When Gu Chunmiao went out to wash dishes, Li Xiulan came in.
Li Xiufen's eyes were red, and she wiped away her tears.
She suddenly sighed to her old sister, "Xiulan, this is the first time in my life I've eaten a whole apple."
Li Xiulan immediately became envious and asked her sister with a sour tone, "Was the apple fed to you by your daughter-in-law sweet?"
Li Xiufen nodded heavily, "Sweet! I've lived for more than half my life, and this is the first time I've tasted such a sweet apple!"
Perhaps this apple truly had some magical enchantment, because after eating it, Li Xiufen wielded the wok shovel with incredible speed.
The yellow eel braised noodles that her daughter-in-law wanted to eat was Li Xiufen's specialty. First, the yellow eels were cut into sections and braised in soy sauce, leaving a rich broth. Then, the hand-pulled noodles made in advance were added, allowing the noodles to fully absorb the umami of the eel. The resulting yellow eel braised noodles had chewy, flavorful noodles and a rich, delicious broth.
Especially those wild old yellow eels, as thick as a thumb, had firm flesh, and the braised eel broth was also very nourishing.
Li Xiufen also made a special local dish for Gu Chunmiao – Coiled Dragon Eel.
This was a "hearty dish" for entertaining distinguished guests in the countryside!
To make Coiled Dragon Eel, small live yellow eels were selected, with bones and guts intact. Oil was heated in a pot until it was boiling hot, and the washed eels were directly put in. The eels immediately coiled up into a spiral shape upon hitting the oil, resembling a coiled little dragon, which is how the dish got its name.
The fried eels were then stir-fried and braised with ingredients like scallions, ginger, garlic, dried chili peppers, and a little Sichuan peppercorn and star anise. The resulting Coiled Dragon Eel was crispy and fragrant. Eaten by tearing it apart with hands, the eel meat was dry, fragrant, and spicy, a favorite local dish to accompany drinks.
There was also a plate of large loaches. Li Xiufen also made a large plate of braised loaches. Unfortunately, time was tight; otherwise, if they went to the Commune's food store, they could have gotten some soft tofu and made loach stew with tofu.
Li Xiufen still felt a bit regretful because there weren't enough ingredients to do it justice.
But for Gu Chunmiao, who was clumsy with cooking and a kitchen disaster, such a large table of delicious dishes was already a "river delicacy feast."
Gu Chunmiao, who had drunk hawthorn water to aid digestion in the afternoon, was once again stuffed to the brim in the evening.
This time, Li Xiufen didn't even bother to nag. She skillfully picked up the small clay pot used to boil hawthorn water that afternoon.
Sigh~ I wonder how Commander Gu and his wife raised their child, to make the child so hungry!
After the autumn harvest is over and this year's fresh hawthorns are available, she would also dry more hawthorn.
Her daughter-in-law kept overeating; she couldn't go borrow hawthorns from Xiulan's house every time, could she?
✦✦✦