Hotpot Restaurant 23
Fish maw and chicken-stuffed pork tripe made for an extremely nutritious hot pot base.
Naturally, among the various hot pot bases, it was relatively more expensive.
After all, it was made with an entire pig’s stomach stuffed with a whole chicken. What’s more, there was fish maw as well.
If there was a cheap fish maw and chicken-stuffed pork tripe, it must be chopped into small pieces and of little quantity.
Meng Xiaoni carefully cleaned the pork belly three or four times with salt to remove the porky smell. Then, she rinsed the chicken, added dangshen and fish maw into it, along with spices such as white pepper and Sichuan pepper, then stuffed the entire chicken in.
The pig’s stomach’s entrance had been cut a little too big, so she had to seal it with toothpicks.
After sealing the opening, she added the same amount of pepper into the soup, then started cooking it in the pressure cooker.
It cooks quickly in the pressure cooker. After boiling the soup on high heat, cook it on low heat for a while. Finally, take out the stuffed pork tripe and cut the tripe into slices and the chicken into pieces, then put them back in the pot again.
When the huge pot is done cooking, a delicious aroma suffused all around.
The fragrance of the white pepper is a tad choking, but the rich aroma of the soup was truly alluring. The entire pot of soup was filled with the meaty aroma of pork tripe and chicken, and after a little stirring, you could also see the pieces of fish maw.
Pork tripe and fish maw had an elastic and bouncy texture, and because the chicken had been cooked within the pork tripe, the meat was tender and not overcooked.
Take a spoonful of slightly spicy and numbing soup along with a bite of meat, chew it twice in your mouth, and the heat of the food could spread from your throat all the way down the oesophagus to the stomach.
You could have it with rice, or with steamed buns.
Those who don’t want either could blanch other ingredients in the pot when the pork tripe and chicken were finished.
Compared with spicy hot pot, this hot pot presented a different flavour and experience.
After Meng Xiaoni finished making this pot soup from the kitchen she borrowed, she called Zhang Xiaoxiao and Lao Lu over to eat together.
Three people and a bird polished the entire pot, adding in a few plates of meat in the process.
Meng Xiaoni chewed on a piece of fish maw, drank the last mouthful of soup, and sighed with satisfaction. “Delicious.”
Zhang Xiaoxiao, who thought he wouldn’t be getting anything in return for his work, also sighed, “I thought after this trip to Fengdu, I would definitely have to visit the anorectal department. I didn’t expect my first meal to be so delicious, nourishing for the stomach, and good for the skin.”
Fish maw did indeed have beautifying properties.
Also… Fengdu’s Anorectal Department was just so-so, but not far in the next city, there was indeed an anorectal department that was indeed among the best in the country.
Meng Xiaoni broke into a meaningful smile.
At the other end, Lao Lu smacked his lips, also wearing a satisfied expression. “It really does taste good. As expected of one whose family owns an eatery. Heh, that son of mine is no good, after his exams, I don’t know what he does all day.”
Zhang Xiaoxiao said, “I also didn’t know what I did all day after I finished my college entrance examinations.”
Meng Xiaoni thought about herself, and it also seemed like she too, didn’t do anything worth talking about.
At the only bowl on the table that wasn’t empty, Guifeng was still working hard pecking at a large chicken drumstick.
He had eaten a chicken wing, a large piece of chicken breast, a quarter of the pork tripe, and two bowls of soup. This was the third bowl. After eating so much, his body shape had not changed in the slightest.
When he finished eating the third bowl, Zhang Xiaoxiao applauded him rather excitedly, “You can really eat, awesome.”
Guifeng cast him a glance, then fluttered his wings and flew towards the second floor, ready to go upstairs to digest this nourishing meal.
After treating Zhang Xiaoxiao to this meal, Meng Xiaoni didn’t have any food left that was worth very much at home anymore.
Having heard Lao Lu’s introduction of Meng Xiaoni, Zhang Xiaoxiao understood that this meal was a luxurious one for Meng Xiaoni. He pondered for a moment and said, “Can I make a request?”
Meng Xiaoni and Lao Lu looked at him.
Zhang Xiaoxiao chuckled, “It’s just, I will prepare the ingredients, can I bring them here in exchange for a bite to eat? A meal like today is fine.”
Lao Lu clicked his tongue, “Why don’t you just hire a chef? Like a Michelin chef or something.”
Zhang Xiaoxiao also wished he could.
“After a chef gets to a certain level, the taste of the food they make will be different from the flavour of small eateries,” Zhang Xiaoxiao, a person used to eating good things, explained. “The food in the small eateries have local characteristics and the taste of home. I’m fine with paying for the meals too.”
Meng Xiaoni could understand a little when he put it like that.
When it comes down to it, she was the one who had gained an extravagant mural for nothing, “You don’t need to pay for the meals. Bring the ingredients, I’ll cook. After all, I have to feed my parrot too. But I don’t actually have that much experience in the kitchen…”
Lao Lu and Zhang Xiaoxiao were puzzled.
Meng Xiaoni scratched her face, “Maybe it’s… talent? Actually, this is my first time making chicken-stuffed pork tripe.”
Lao Lu and Zhang Xiaoxiao: “……”
Zhang Xiaoxiao felt a lump in his heart, and he suddenly wanted to take back what he had just said.
……
Everyone dispersed after having their fill.
Zhang Xiaoxiao continued to paint, and Lao Lu continued to help.
Meng Xiaoni cleared away the remnants, washed the dishes, then went upstairs to see Guifeng.
Guifeng had eaten too much at one go just now. This meal was the biggest one he had in the past few days.
Meng Xiaoni was a little worried.
She ran upstairs and pushed the door open.
For some reason, the curtains were drawn.
Guifeng was striding up and down the dark tabletop; wave after wave of blazing fire like the scorching sun radiated continuously from his body.
Meng Xiaoni immediately closed the door behind her, her heart beating in her throat.
“Guifeng?”
She panicked, fearing that Guifeng was having problems from having eaten too much.
Guifeng was the only one who ate what she made every day, and he had eaten so much today.
Guifeng stopped in his tracks and tilted his head at Meng Xiaoni.
His small red eyes were abnormally moist.
Meng Xiaoni was even more flustered. “Guifeng?”
With Guifeng at the centre, a sudden wind blew violently in all directions, causing countless flames to leap up.
This wind was warm, so warm that Meng Xiaoni’s were red with fire. Those countless flames licked everything around, like a heavenly fire sweeping through, trying to burn down everything that was known to exist. The fire had a golden glow, and it shone brilliantly.
A fire should represent destruction, but this fire strangely gave one a boiling sensation that was full of life.
The fire of Nirvana rebirth1 was probably something like that.
Meng Xiaoni reached out unthinkingly, wanting to touch it, but when she stretched out her hand, she realised that everything in front of her was not something she could touch.
This was no wind nor fire that should exist in the human realm; it was different from the fire that had appeared last time.
She shouldn’t have felt any heat from it, but she did, and experienced something she shouldn’t have.
After the flames faded, a faint human form appeared.
Long hair that hung down loosely; a slender body; dressed in long robes.
“Meng Xiaoni.” That person spoke with a magnetic voice; it was slightly deep, and tugged one’s heart downwards with it.
Meng Xiaoni’s eyes widened, and she instinctively took a step back.
She watched as the person before her stepped out of the fire.
Long black hair; slightly reddish eyes; skin flushed with a light pink.
There was a touch of red at the corners of his eyes. This red outlined the contours of his eyes, making the corners of his eyes tilt slightly upward. The face was sharp and angular, and the lips were thin and slightly pursed. Handsome as a picture, and a rarity in this world.
Bold red robes; a black belt at the waist; a black inner shirt. Gold thread ran along the contours of the long robes, and one could faintly make out a pattern of auspicious clouds and a singing phoenix.
At one glance, one could tell from the man’s appearance that he wasn’t human.
It was impossible for a human to have such alarming and enchanting looks that were capable of making others unconsciously hold their breaths.
With a wave of his hand, the fire dissipated; only the two were left, staring at each other in this space.
Not a demon.
It was a divine beast.
So, apart from ghosts, there were also such existences in this world.
Meng Xiaoni marvelled at Guifeng’s appearance, and was soberly aware that Guifeng was truly something else.
After witnessing this unexpected, supernatural scene, all the panic she felt just now settled, and calm returned.
He was only changing into a human form.
There was nothing wrong with Guifeng.
She hadn’t harmed the one and only phoenix with her pampering.
Meng Xiaoni looked at Guifeng, with a million questions in her head and a million words she wanted to say. In the end, however, she did not say anything about Guifeng himself, but asked another question that was true to her nature, “This way, you can work in our hot pot restaurant, right?”
Guifeng: “……?”
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Footnotes:
1 Nirvana rebirth: 涅槃重生means that the phoenix has experienced the torment of fire and the painful test, gained rebirth, and achieved sublimation in the rebirth. Also known as “Phoenix Nirvana”. In the legend of Phoenix Nirvana, the phoenix is the messenger of happiness in the world. Every five hundred years, it will bear all the unhappiness, hatred and grievances accumulated in the world, throw itself into the raging fire, and use its life and beautiful ending to exchange for the peace and happiness of the world. They can only be reborn in a better body after the body has undergone tremendous pain and grind. This story and its figurative significance are called “Nirvana” in the Buddhist scriptures. This phrase can also be used as an allusion to imply the perseverance of not fearing pain, never turning back, continuous pursuit, and self-improvement.
2 white pepper chicken-stuffed pork tripe hot pot: 胡椒猪肚包鸡火锅; it exists more commonly as a soup on its own, but also as a hot pot base, which is what Meng Xiaoni is intending. This dish will be described more in detail in the next chapter!
