Twentieth Meow

He Yunzhou likes pork belly.^[1]I used ‘pancetta’ in the previous chapter, but here I used pork belly. Sorry for the inconsistencyEven today’s slightly more fashionable people are keen on more “healthy” white meat such as chicken breast or cod; no matter how close it is, steak can be reluctantly accepted. But only to avoid pork… Not to mention the pork belly with belt fat, three fat, and two lean.

However, once in a while, He Yunzhou would bring a couple of pounds of countryside native pork belly from the butcher store boss and roast it to eat for themselves.

In terms of practice, it’s also different from ordinary people’s pork belly. He Yunzhou rarely makes braised pork or Dongpo pork.^[2]Picture below

What he prefers is to put the whole pork belly into the spice oil that has been boiled beforehand and “simmer” it carefully over a very low fire for several hours.

The spice oil was also made a few days in advance; with a large number of dried scallions and knots, laurel leaf, star anise, and ginger powder… sealed in advance and soaked in a slightly heated oil for many days.

It seems to be a rather greasy practice, but in fact, it’s the opposite. The pork belly is put into such a fragrant spice oil, and it’s slowly fried over low heat without a drop of water. It can fry all the excess fat, the skin is crispy and the meat is fragrant, soft but not mushy.

Not to mention, before serving, it has shrunk by more than half, and the golden pork belly pieces are so crispy that they are incredible to be fished out, drained of fat, and then cut into thick slices with a quick knife “ka cha” “ka cha”^[3]Cutting sfxa few times. The cut pork belly slices need to be re-fried in a pan for a while. Next, the thinly snow-white garlic slices cut as thin as cicada wings, the dried and spicy chili powder, and sesame seeds are sprinkled on top of the meat. And finally, a thin layer of sour plum sauce is applied and wrapped in crisp and sweet, spherical lettuce leaves.

Although it’s only the most common ingredient, such a time-consuming and meticulous cooking process makes it glow with an amazing taste.

At first, Huo Zheng only tried a piece with his chopsticks and ate it politely. After all, pork belly rarely appeared on his menu.

But with just one bite, Huo Zheng once again revealed a look of awe.

In the pork belly, there is a surprisingly filling of gravy between the texture of the lean meat. It tastes so moist and soft, the pork skin is crispy and light, and the fat is half-melted. It’s so plump and delicious to bite.

Especially when the pork is eaten with rice, the taste becomes more and more sweet and delicious.

Not to mention, the other small dishes on the table also have their own characteristics.

The artemisia quinoa, which is quickly stir-fried over high heat with black beans and chili peppers, has a fierce mountain aroma. But this aroma, accentuated by the same thick fermented beans and chili peppers, quickly turned into a salty and spicy fragrance that makes the index finger move. 

For this dish, He Yunzhou deliberately used an extremely thin wrought iron pot. It is precisely because of this that the quinoa was still green and crisp when fried, and it has its own flavor.

The tofu stewed in chicken broth is not a special dish. But the tender, smooth, and white tofu absorbed the mellow flavor of the chicken broth. It tastes light and mild, but the aftertaste is sweet and moist, and it’s very appropriate to eat.

As for the other two dishes on the table, the cabbage stalks served with shrimp oil were chilled with ice water beforehand. So when they were eaten, they carried a refreshing air, which is just enough to offset the slight greasiness brought by other meats. The clear soup of peas and asparagus is also refreshing and relieves grease. They are made from the freshest and most tender ingredients of the season. Without any extra seasonings, there is a kind of slightly sweet and fresh plant buds, and the few bonito flakes put in at the end add a subtle taste to the soup.

……

“Oh… it seems like I ate too much…”

After the meal, He Yunzhou put down his chopsticks, and in the moment of standing up, he let out a small mutter of regret.

On the other hand, Huo Zheng, probably because of his taller physique, the man who has contributed to the main combat effectiveness of the empty plate is no different at this time. Except that his gaze is much hazier than before, and he looks particularly lazy.

It’s just like a big cat that had just eaten enough and was very satisfied in his heart.

He Yunzhou’s gaze fell on Huo Zheng, he gently rubbed the corners of his clothes with his fingers.

Always have an urge to reach out and touch that person’s head.

“Ah, wine…”

And just at this time, He Yunzhou once again saw the bottle of wine that he had placed on the side of the cupboard, so much so that he had completely forgotten about it in the back of his mind. 

“Forgot to drink it again.”

“Ah, yes.” Huo Zheng replied somewhat subtly.

In fact, before the meal started, he had noticed that the bottle of wine had been forgotten.

But out of an unexplainable mood, Huo Zheng didn’t remind He Yunzhou.

“It looks like we can only drink it next time,” Huo Zheng pretended to say as if nothing had happened. 

“En, okay, but next time you must remember to drink…” He Yunzhou was completely unaware of Huo Zheng’s careful thinking and replied naturally.

Huo Zheng was in a good mood because of He Yunzhou’s response.

While his mood was rippling, Huo Zheng had an impulse and couldn’t help staring deeply at He Yunzhou, saying in a low and dark voice:

“However, do you know that when I eat at your house, I always feel that even if I don’t drink, I feel slightly drunk.”

For someone like Huo Zheng, this one sentence could almost be considered some kind of sweet talk.

So much so that as soon as the words left his lips, Huo Zheng’s mind was taken aback, knowing that he had accidentally relaxed his spirit again and made a mistake. He didn’t want He Yunzhou to have that false delusion. After all, He Yunzhou treated him—

“Pfft, you just ate too much so you’re in a food coma, that’s all.” 

He Yunzhou didn’t catch any ambiguity at all and ended all Huo Zheng’s worries with a teasing remark.

Immediately afterwards, He Yunzhou keenly noticed that Huo Zheng seemed to be frozen for a moment because of his words.

But he also just felt that rich people like Huo Zheng probably couldn’t understand the joke he made, right?

Thinking of this, He Yunzhou quickly chuckled and explained to Huo Zheng in a relaxed tone:

“Eating too much will usually lead to an insufficient blood supply to the brain due to digestion. In addition, blood sugar will also change drastically. In this case, it’s normal for people to feel dizzy and slightly drunk… But we were all joking at the beginning, saying that this was a ‘food coma’.”

“Ah… Oh… This, this is so ah… haha, very funny words,” Huo Zheng said.

The atmosphere gradually became awkward.

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The author has something to say:

… The straight man with gold and silver is not as straight as the iron straight man He Yunzhou.

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Dongpo pork: