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Chapter 15.2
Su Ying didn’t forget that today was the day to welcome the Kitchen God. She placed candies, sunflower seeds, and peanuts at the Kitchen God’s altar.
The hotpot ingredients were all ready, and the family started eating the New Year’s Eve dinner a little after four in the afternoon.
Hotpot is always something you enjoy slowly.
She started with two fried meatballs, freshly fried that afternoon. Although they had cooled, they were still very fragrant. She dropped a few into the pot, letting them soak up the broth — they tasted even better that way.
The chilled pork skin jelly, dipped in garlic sauce, was incredibly bouncy and full of gelatin. The pork was raised locally, fed with grains, so the meat had none of the gamey smell common elsewhere.
Likewise, the pork skin, when boiled, carried only its natural aroma, with no other unpleasant odors.
Pork skin jelly was once considered a village delicacy, served only during banquets or on holidays. Now that life was better, they could make it anytime they wanted, but it still held a place of honor at the New Year’s table.
The slices of lamb were thin. Once they were dropped into the hotpot, they cooked instantly. She first tasted the mushroom broth version without dipping it in any sauce. The lamb had no gamy smell.
Then came the sesame sauce dip — because lamb with sesame sauce is truly unbeatable.
Even without dry spice dips, it was delicious. The sesame oil dip was even better, the rich aroma of sesame oil filling the mouth.
The family chatted and laughed while eating the hotpot together. “You give me some meat, I’ll give you some meatballs.”
They turned on the TV to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Su Ying remembered the classic comedy sketches from past years, filled with iconic lines:
Every time she saw those sketches, she couldn’t help but laugh, and many became timeless classics. They were even used in spy-hunting dramas back then.
Though today’s programs weren’t as good as before, the Spring Festival Gala was still a must-watch for every household during the New Year.
Su Ying sipped her familiar Zhenzhen lychee soda, the bubbles still strong and fizzy. Her father drank small sips of baijiu, while her mother joined Su Ying in drinking soda.
By the time the hotpot was finished, it was already eight in the evening.
As pop stars were singing on TV, they cleaned up the table and brought out flour to start making dumplings.
To make dumplings, you must use boiling water to knead the dough, known as “scalding the dough.” This makes the dough more elastic, though it is, of course, hot.
Boiling water was poured into the flour. First, Su Ying stirred it with chopsticks until it formed shaggy clumps, then let it cool slightly before kneading it into a dough.
She placed it in a bowl to rest for a while.
The minced meat prepared earlier in the afternoon was mixed with vegetables, and they could start making dumplings. On New Year’s Eve, every household wrapped dumplings together at night, eating them at midnight before going to bed. This was called Shousui (staying up for the New Year).
Her father was in charge of chopping vegetables. The washed cabbage was cut into small cubes, then minced, and salted in a bowl.
After a while, the salt had drawn out the cabbage juice, which was squeezed out before mixing the cabbage with the minced meat.
On the side, Su Ying scrambled eggs, breaking them into small pieces and setting them aside to cool.
The soaked vermicelli noodles were chopped up, and the chives were cut into sections. These three ingredients were mixed together with oyster sauce and a bit of dried shrimp, making a chive, egg, and vermicelli filling.
Then there was the most troublesome filling: Spanish mackerel.
The mackerel bought at the market had been caught on a fishing rod and was enormous, weighing more than ten jin (5+ kg).
Using a knife, they sliced along the fish’s back and removed the large central bone.
The skin was peeled away, and the small bones were carefully plucked out one by one with tweezers. Once cleaned, the two fillets were completely boneless.
The fish meat was then scraped into a fine paste with a metal spoon, which made it taste better than chopping with a knife.
The fish paste was white and fresh. The scallions and ginger were crushed with the back of a knife and soaked in boiling water…