Free Web NovelChapter 1110: Chapter 452: The Secret to Delicious Fish Head Stew! How Many Steps to Turn Dundun into an Arab Prince?
"Oh, turns out you have to use dried soybean paste, and fry it a bit."
Mrs. Sun felt like she found the key. At home, she only used Soy Sauce when cooking and once tried using soybean paste, but since she didn’t fry it, the taste wasn’t great.
Watching Lin Xu cook now, she realized that the paste needs to be fried with lard.
No wonder the fish head pancake at the restaurant smells so good. That’s how it’s done.
Fry the paste until fragrant, letting the alcohol in it basically evaporate, then add prepared boiling water, bring to a boil with high heat, and add more than half a scoop of Dark Soy Sauce, only then do you pick up the fish head, skin side up, and place it into the pot.
Once it boils again, adjust to medium heat, cover, and start simmering.
"It’s that simple?"
"No need to fry it?"
The two helping aunties watched in astonishment; they thought the fish head for the fish head pancake needed to be fried to taste good, but hadn’t expected it to be so simple.
Lin Xu said:
"No need to fry it; frying the fish head will ruin its texture."
The fish head needs to simmer for twenty minutes, so in the meantime, he took a piece of front leg meat, prepared to chop it up, to make lotus root meatballs.
In the open space outside the kitchen, the sun had already risen high, and Shen Jiayue took out the corrugated cardboard mini sofa that Dundun usually uses to scratch and play.
The little guy lay on it, basking comfortably in the sun, occasionally flipping over to expose its belly.
When Han Shuzhen stroked it with her hand, it purred.
"Son, you’re so lucky, I’ve never had such treatment."
Shen Jiayue took out two pieces of fish jerky from the car, tore them with her hands, and fed them to Dundun, eyes full of envy.
Han Shuzhen gave her a side-eye:
"If you were half as well-behaved as Dundun when you were young, I’d be thanking the heavens. Always up to mischief like a boy, you’d dirty your newly changed clothes in no time..."
"But I got into a 985 college, and the degree is worth more than a 211 Medical College."
Han Shuzhen: ??????
Who taught my daughter to talk like this, anyway?
After finishing the fish jerky, Dundun symbolically licked a few sips of the water Shen Jiayue handed him, then flipped over and continued to bask in the sun.
Its slate-grey fur was gleaming with shine, now even more beautiful under the sun.
Shen Jiayue brushed its fur with a comb, speaking as she worked:
"Son, have you ever thought about how miserable your life might have been if Dad hadn’t picked you up..."
Dundun flicked its tail, looking disdainfully at its mom.
Did you think I just ran into them blindly?
Han Shuzhen said thankfully:
"I can’t even imagine how pitiful Dundun would look while wandering outside. Luckily, he met Xiao Xu. The little guy lives like an Arab Prince now."
"Yeah, our Dundun is just like a prince... Oh right, so many pets online are cosplaying as Arab Princes; we should try it with Dundun too. Baby, do you want to be a prince? If you do, just take a breath."
Dundun:"..."
Fine, since you’re brushing my fur, I’ll humor you.
With a mom like this, I’m helpless!
The small guy flipped up to a sitting position, sighed slightly, appearing quite resigned.
But to Shen Jiayue, it meant something entirely different:
"Wow, my son likes to cosplay so much, he even sat up willingly. Then I’ll dress you up like the most fabulous Arab Prince on the entire internet!"
She took the tripod, clamped her phone onto it, aimed at Dundun on the mini sofa, and started recording.
She took a white towel from the car, placed it on Dundun’s head, giving off a bit of the Arab Prince vibe, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Shen Jiayue thought for a moment and took off her hairband.
Then she fitted it over Dundun’s head, with the white towel, black hairband, combined with Dundun’s boss-like sitting posture, it really looked like an Arab Prince.
"Wow, son, you look so handsome!"
Dundun, seeing no signs of stopping, flipped over, impatiently shook its head, and the towel atop its head floated like a dumpling skin.
"Hahaha, that’s brilliant! I’ll edit and post this right away."
When the filming ended, Dundun promptly pawed off the towel and hairband from its head, collapsed onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.
Turns out every piece of fish jerky has a price.
In the kitchen, Lin Xu finished chopping the meat, taking out a lump of meat slightly larger than a fist, putting it aside to make a lotus root steamed meat patty for everyone to taste later.
For now, he made the meatballs.
Taking the soaked lotus leaf, he placed it into a wooden steaming basket.
This is a specially-made small basket, the kind that can be served at the table.
He folded the lotus leaf and lined the basket with it, and then brought over the unused glutinous rice, drained it and set it aside.
Mrs. Sun stood beside him, learning earnestly.
Soon it’ll be the Winter Solstice; making this dish for the family gathering might astonish everyone?
Adding salt, Light Soy Sauce, Dark Soy Sauce, pepper, scallion and ginger water, and a handful of dry starch into the meat mixture, he mixed evenly, then added lotus root bits about half the amount of the meat mixture.
After more mixing to combine the meat and lotus root thoroughly, he slapped the meat mixture a few times to make it sticky and elastic.
He stopped when it felt sticky to the touch, starting to form the meatballs.
Using the base of his thumb, he pressed out a meatball, carefully rolling it in soaked glutinous rice so its red surface was covered in white glutinous rice, then gently placing it onto the lotus leaf.
"Wow, it’s so beautiful!"
Mi Lan glanced over and thought the meatball-making technique was great, with the red meat, white glutinous rice, and the dried lotus leaf underneath, the combination truly looked appetizing.
