The Game of Life-Chapter 676 - 674: Saving Fuel

Chapter 676: Chapter 674: Saving Fuel

The reason an omnipotent assistant is called such is that they can always find what the boss wants. Mr. Han’s assistant was even able to procure the most traditional rice bran in Alan City; naturally, he could also obtain wild vegetables from the vast Beiping City within merely half a day.

Since there were too many types of wild vegetables and Jiang Feng wasn’t sure which ones were needed, without specifying, Mr. Han’s assistant sent over all the varieties he could find to Taifeng Building. Each kind weighed about two or three pounds, totaling over ten pounds, which was more than enough for Da Hua to have a meal.

Wild shepherd’s purse, dandelion, purslane, crow garlic, Chinese toon, plantain seeds, grey vegetable, and some others that even Jiang Feng couldn’t quite recognize were included. There were even dried ferns and not so fresh fishmint, making Jiang Feng think that he could not only make stir-fried and cold mixed wild vegetables but even wild herb salad and a wild vegetable platter.

“Mr. Jiang, since you didn’t specify which wild vegetables you wanted before, I gathered as many as I could find in a short time. Please see if these are satisfactory, and if the amount isn’t enough, I can arrange for more to be delivered,” Mr. Han’s assistant explained, standing beside the wild vegetables.

Jiang Feng was dazzled by the dozen or so varieties of wild vegetables. How could it not be enough? He quickly said, “It’s enough, more than enough, you’ve gone to too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all, Mr. Han said it’s my duty. By the way, Mr. Jiang, Mr. Han was curious to ask if you are intending to develop a new dish with all these wild vegetables? Mr. Han has a keen interest in wild vegetable dumplings,” the assistant began to convey Mr. Han’s thoughts.

...

Understanding the hint, Jiang Feng cooperated fully, “May I ask which wild vegetable Mr. Han prefers?”

“Before this time every year, Mr. Han’s wife would make Chinese toon omelets for him, which Mr. Han loves to eat,” the assistant intimated, not saying it outright, “Occasionally, Mr. Han also enjoys making soup with ‘grandma’s dandelions’ himself.”

‘Grandma’s dandelions’ refer to dandelion. When making soup, it’s usually the root that’s used, while for stir-frying, it’s the leaves.

“Rest assured, once the new dish is developed, I will certainly invite Mr. Han to taste it first,” Jiang Feng said with a smile.

The assistant left Taifeng Building.

Jiang Feng stared at the pile of wild vegetables, a little conflicted.

Initially, he just wanted to get his hands on some wild vegetables. One dish stir-fried, another served cold—unless meticulously prepared, it’s challenging to make wild vegetables truly delicious; they’re good enough if they aren’t bitter or astringent. Also given the strong seasonality of wild vegetables and aside from a few that are used in herbal medicine, people don’t generally grow them. So from the start, Jiang Feng didn’t believe he could perfectly recreate those two dishes of wild vegetables.

To be precise, he didn’t believe he could perfectly recreate that entire spread of dishes from back then.

Jiang Feng had some idea of the gap between his culinary skills and Cao Guixiang’s.

After Zhang Zhiyuan sent the menu to Jiang Feng, he studied the dishes carefully. Those two plates of wild vegetables were clearly just to make up the numbers in a time when wild vegetables were abundant. Sweet potatoes were the staple, peanuts were a side dish for drinking, tofu served as the vegetable dish, and stir-fried diced mushrooms and cured meat were the meat dishes. Stir-fried wild rabbit was definitely the main course, and river shrimp and eel wouldn’t have been costly during times of scant oil and seasonings, easy to catch, yet neither filling nor easy to prepare due to their strong flavors.

Jiang Feng felt that the most attention and effort should be placed on the stir-fried wild rabbit. Due to sentimental reasons, which discourage wild game consumption, he had to use farmed rabbit instead of wild. Taifeng Building sold rabbit meat dishes, so they had a stable supplier. Jiang Feng picked out a particularly plump and active rabbit, which looked like it would taste great, and instructed the others not to butcher it yet, as he wanted to save it for freshly slaughtering in the evening.

Salt-baked river shrimp wasn’t too difficult to prepare, but oil-drizzled eel was a bit more challenging. Eel has a strong earthy taste and is oily; despite people’s general craving for meat, eel wasn’t a preferred choice because of this flavor. Using too much oil was wasteful, but using too little made for an unpleasant taste, hence, it was best avoided.

Oil drizzle implied an intent to save oil, and it was indeed challenging to make a traditionally oily dish with an oil-saving method.

Jiang Feng sorted through the wild vegetables that Mr. Han’s assistant had brought, picking the freshest and tenderest of them without regard to the variety, enough for two dishes. He cleaned them and set them aside, instructing others not to touch them and then went back to work.

Jiang Jiankang had been quietly observing his son for quite some time.

At first, he thought Jiang Feng was slacking off.

But then he realized that Jiang Feng seemed to be busy with something, picking out rabbits and sweet potatoes, and having someone bring in several large bags of wild vegetables. It looked as though they were preparing for a farm-style restaurant.

Jiang Jiankang was greatly interested in this. When farm-style restaurants first emerged, he enjoyed them quite a bit, with the meat fried on clay stoves and the stir-fried free-range chicken and pork tasting delicious no matter what.

Unfortunately, farm-style restaurants later declined in quality, and the chickens were no longer authentic free-range.

Jiang Jiankang felt a deep sense of regret at this thought.

During a break from drinking water, Jiang Jiankang walked over to Jiang Feng and asked curiously, “Son, what have you been busying yourself with all morning?”

“Sir Zhang ordered a table of dishes from me yesterday. He’s coming over with Master Peng to eat tonight, so I’m getting ready,” said Jiang Feng.

“You’re just serving them wild vegetables?” Jiang Jiankang suddenly felt that Zhang Chu was being really stingy. The news of Peng Changping preparing a Swallow-wing Feast the day before had already spread, and the Jiang Family members, being closest to the center of the event, almost all knew about it as soon as Jiang Feng did. Everyone except the two elders regretted it.

Those of slightly higher seniority like Jiang Jiankang managed a little better, while those of the same generation as Jiang Zaidi had tears of regret enough to raise fish.

In the past few days, Jiang Zaidi and Jiang Shoucheng practically spent their time drooling over the Swallow-wing Feast information and ate several more bowls of rice than usual.

If they had known that learning to cook properly would lead to such a day, what reason would there have been not to learn cooking with diligence?

After all, it was the Swallow-wing Feast, the legendary feast that was said to have vanished into oblivion!

Jiang Jiankang felt deeply that this time Zhang Chu was being a bit too miserly. Peng Changping had treated him to the Swallow-wing Feast, yet he was only inviting Peng Changping to eat a few bags of wild vegetables.

What’s so tasty about that stuff? Even if you pour broth over it, it’s just so-so. Anyway, he never liked toona scrambled eggs since he was a kid, though scrambled eggs on their own were not bad.

“It’s not just wild vegetables. There’s also rabbit, eel, and river shrimp. It’s a ‘bittersweet remembrance meal.’ People like to reminisce about the hard times. You wouldn’t understand, remembering the tough years,” Jiang Feng explained.

Jiang Jiankang: ?

These days a ‘bittersweet remembrance meal’ is this fancy? With rabbit, eel, and river shrimp, it can still be called a remembrance meal? Shouldn’t a bit of wild vegetable porridge suffice for remembering the hard times?

“By the way, Dad, do you know how to make scalded eel with less oil, the kind that saves oil? The more it saves, the better,” Jiang Feng inquired, for he had been pondering over this while marinating the meat.

“Save oil?” Jiang Jiankang paused, “How can you make eel with oil saving? This dish is supposed to be oily. With less oil, it won’t be fragrant or tasty.”

“Hmph.” Sir, having appeared at some point, stood beside Jiang Feng and Jiang Jiankang. Jiang Jiankang thought his own drinking break had been too long and, not wanting his father to mistake him for slacking off, quickly slipped away.

“Grandpa.”

“You don’t even know how to save oil? Your Granduncle Weiming taught you to make chopped chili fish head for nothing,” Sir said with a look of displeasure, not sure if it was because Jiang Feng hadn’t come up with the idea or because he had asked Jiang Jiankang instead of him.

“Chopped chili fish head?” Jiang Feng didn’t quite catch on at once.

“When I taught you to make chopped chili fish head, didn’t the last step involve pouring hot oil over the fish starting from the mouth? Feng, if you want to make scalded eel with less oil, you can do the same thing,” Jiang Weiming said with a smile, having clearly overheard Jiang Feng’s question to Jiang Jiankang.

Jiang Feng suddenly understood.

“However, eel is much more difficult than a fish head, but the pouring technique is broadly the same. You can try it. It’s just that time is a bit tight. With more practice and your perceptiveness, you shouldn’t have any problems,” Jiang Weiming added.

Read 𝓁atest chapters at fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm Only.

“Since it’s for Master Peng, do it well. Even the wild vegetables, prepare them with care, got it?” Sir said sternly.

“Understood!”