The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Shen Yu'an looked at Wei Siyu, who looked embarrassed. This guy was as dumbfounded as a goose. If he didn't teach him a lesson today, he would still go to other people's houses empty-handed in the future.

Fortunately, I had a sudden inspiration today and thought of the various seasonings that are essential in the kitchen, which saved him from the situation.

Looking at the brand-new, bright kitchen in front of her, Shen Cao's culinary urges were awakened. She wanted to cook some delicious food to express her gratitude and celebrate her first meal in her new home.

She recalled the custom in her hometown that the first meal in a new home had to be hot pot, symbolizing a prosperous and thriving future.

It just so happens that I still have a lot of dried chili peppers that I bought a while ago, and I also have some dried bamboo shoots that I didn't finish eating.

Shen Cao took her younger siblings to the market to buy meat.

When she went to the market, she was surprised to find mutton, and it was even Tan sheep transported from Ningxia Province. She couldn't miss it, so she immediately bought half a lamb.

She went to Uncle Li's place where she had bought meat before, wanting to see what kind of meat he had left.

"Uncle Li, I've come to buy meat again today. I wasn't setting up my stall today, so I didn't bring you any vegetable dumplings."

"By the way, Uncle Li, my family has moved. We'll be living in the county town from now on. I'm planning to open a restaurant. Just let me know what you'd like to eat, and I'll have my brother bring it to you."

Uncle Li sells meat here year-round. When he's busy, he doesn't even have time to eat properly and just grabs whatever he can find. Recently, his wife gave birth to a big, healthy baby boy, so he has no time to take care of him.

He was made to buy his own food every day. He ate Shen Cao's vegetable dumplings for a few days. The food from other places was just enough to keep him from going hungry, but it wasn't tasty at all.

He was overjoyed when he heard Shen Cao say that he would open a restaurant in the future, as he now knew he would have food to eat.

"Hey little grass girl, what kind of meat do you want today?"

Shen Cao was very happy to see the piece of pork neck left on the pork stall.

People here prefer to buy fatty meat; meats like pork neck, which have almost no fat, are not bought at all.

But Shencao is different. This pork neck is the best. It's crisp and tender when used in hot pot, which is perfect.

She pointed to the piece of pork neck and asked Uncle Li to wrap it up for her.

On her way back, she encountered local fishermen coming ashore to catch their catch. Seeing the fresh fish, she couldn't resist stopping.

In the past, Shitou Village was far from the county town, and the seafood she bought would not be fresh after she got home and would not taste good, so she rarely bought seafood.

Now that she lives in the county town, things are much more convenient. In her previous life, she was also very interested in seafood.

She went around and bought several pounds of shrimp, two squid, and a grouper.

I was thinking it would be a waste to cook grouper in hot pot, but such a big grouper only costs ten coins, who can resist that?

She immediately waved her hand and bought one. She originally wanted to buy them all, but unfortunately, the ice cellar at home wasn't ready yet, and she didn't know how to explain it when she bought them.

On the way back, I came across a vendor selling pea shoots and bought more than a pound to make hot pot.

It's a bit of a shame I couldn't buy beef, but beef tallow hot pot is delicious.

If there's a chance in the future, I'll ask Shen Yu'an if we can develop the breeding industry. If she wants to start a hot pot business, fatty beef and tripe are essential.

As soon as she got home, she chased everyone out of the kitchen, took out a bag of garlic, and asked them to help her peel the garlic while she secretly hid in the kitchen to work on it herself.

She had to take many ingredients from the storage space, and she absolutely couldn't let anyone see them.

It's not fair to blame Shen Cao for cheating; the main problem is that she hasn't been able to find many of the ingredients, so she simply can't make it. It's better to just use what's readily available, since the storage space can automatically replenish the supplies after she eats it.

She has discovered that no matter how much she takes out, how much she uses, or how much junk she creates, the storage space will return to its original state the next day.

This discovery delighted her, as it meant she would never have to worry about running out of supplies again.

Shen Cao took out a large bag of clear oil hot pot base and three-delicacy hot pot base from the refrigerator.

Shen Yu'an was indeed meticulous; the kitchen not only had a large wood-fired pot but also some small woks, making it much more convenient to use than before.

After lighting the fire and adding firewood to the wok, she took a piece of pigskin that she had gotten from Uncle Li and started cooking the wok.

After washing the pot, I heated the oil again, poured in the hot pot base, added some of my own secret seasonings, and stir-fried it again. The stir-fried hot pot base smelled delicious.

Outside, the people helping to peel garlic craned their necks high, desperately inhaling the air; the scene was hilarious.

After preparing the hot pot broth, Shen Cao suddenly realized a problem: how were they going to eat hot pot later?

She rummaged through the kitchen and surprisingly found several small earthen stoves, a few matching small pots, and a small bag of charcoal, which she assumed were left behind by the previous owner.

She quickly washed the small pot and poured in the stir-fried hot pot base.

Then she started preparing the ingredients. She reserved some of the prawns to cook directly, and the shrimp paste was also delicious.

Shen Cao took out most of the shrimp and taught everyone how to peel and devein them. Just as Wei Siyu was about to ask what was so delicious tonight, Shen Cao had already turned around and gone back to the kitchen.

Shen Yu'an glanced at him and said, "Just wait and see. Miss Cao'er will definitely not let you down."

Shen Cao continued processing the squid, peeling off the outer skin and removing the cuttlebone and teeth.

Keep the squid tentacles, and cut the squid body into squid flowers using decorative cuts.

The squid was so fresh that Shen Cao could almost imagine how crisp and sweet it would be when it was cooked in the hot pot.

After she finished washing the vegetables, she also prepared the garlic and shrimp.

Shen Cao took two kitchen knives and two cutting boards out and asked them to chop the washed garlic into minced pieces.

She took the prawns into the kitchen and prepared them herself.

She placed the prawns on the cutting board and then used a knife to forcefully pound them into a paste. She chopped them a couple of times, and that was it. Shrimp paste tastes better when it has a slightly grainy texture.

Add a little sweet potato starch, egg white, and pepper to the shrimp paste, and knead vigorously until it becomes elastic. The shrimp paste is now ready.

She took some time to steam the grouper again, because steaming is the best way to bring out the quality of such a high-end ingredient.

Seeing that it was almost ready, she helped prepare the condiments for everyone, as there were some things that were difficult to take out.

Two bowls were prepared for each person, one with oil and the other with sesame paste.

Wei Siyu looked at the uncooked ingredients in front of her, then at Shen Yu'an and then at Shen Cao, unsure how to ask.

After all, that would make me look stupid.

However, he knew the fish was definitely cooked, so he reached for it with his chopsticks.

Upon tasting it, he initially thought the fish would be very fishy because of its bland appearance, but it was not only not fishy, ​​but also incredibly tender and delicious.

As expected of Shen Cao, even a fish that's been cooked so blandly tastes delicious.

He was even more looking forward to the bubbling pot in front of him.

Like him, everyone else, not wanting to look foolish, reached for the steamed fish with their chopsticks.

The fish was quickly devoured.

"Sister, these are all raw, how are we going to eat them?" Shen Qing asked on behalf of everyone.