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

While stewing the braised pork, Shen Cao quickly prepared the flounder stew and put it into a clay pot to simmer.

During this time, she made another impressive dish: boiled sliced ​​pork. She loved this dish in her previous life because it was delicious and easy to make.

She couldn't buy pork, so she substituted pork tenderloin.

I took out the small pork tenderloin I bought from Uncle Li before. The temperature in the ice cellar had frozen the tenderloin slightly, making it easier to slice.

Cut the tenderloin into even slices, then gently pound it with a knife to break up the tendons, making the meat more tender.

After pounding the meat slices, add pepper, a little salt, sweet potato starch, egg white, and a little soy sauce. Then, start mixing by hand until all the moisture is absorbed into the meat.

Then pour in an appropriate amount of oil and stir well. This will help lock in the moisture of the meat and make it more tender.

This method of processing also applies to beef.

Shen Cao generally likes garlic-flavored food. She once ate at a restaurant that served boiled sliced ​​pork. The restaurant added minced garlic when marinating the pork, which gave the sliced ​​pork a subtle garlic flavor that was very delicious.

Therefore, she added some minced garlic when pouring the oil.

The meat is marinated and set aside.

She heated the oil in the pot again, added an appropriate amount of hot pot base, which she had taken out of her storage space.

Add scallions, ginger, and garlic, stir-fry until fragrant, and fully bring out the aroma of the hot pot base. Then pour in enough water, cover the pot, and wait for it to boil.

When a lot of steam comes out, the broth in the pot has boiled.

Don't lift the lid yet. Let it simmer for a while longer to fully bring out the flavor of the hot pot broth.

Shen Cao took a few pieces of firewood from the stove and controlled the fire to a medium-low flame.

After simmering for about five minutes, the lid was opened, and the flavor of the hot pot broth was fully released.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop out all the solids from the pot, then add soy sauce, oyster sauce, and other seasonings.

For the vegetarian dish, Shen Cao prepares bamboo shoots and tofu skin.

First, blanch the vegetables and place them at the bottom of the bowl containing the boiled meat slices.

Then, she gently placed the slices of meat into the pot one by one with chopsticks. She remembered that her grandfather had reminded her not to stir it at this time, otherwise the sweet potato starch on the surface of the meat slices would not solidify and the soup would turn into a paste.

After all the meat slices were in the pot, she added a few more pieces of firewood and threw them into the stove, which turned the fire into a raging blaze.

That's the downside of ancient times; it required human intervention to control the heat.

Once the pot boils again, gently separate the meat slices with a spoon. When the meat slices float to the surface, the meat is cooked.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat slices and place them on top of the vegetables.

Then use a spoon to pour an appropriate amount of broth into the bowl, just enough to slightly cover the meat slices.

Sprinkle some minced garlic and Sichuan peppercorn powder on the sliced ​​meat.

Heat another spoonful of oil until it smokes, then add the chili pieces. Once the aroma of the chili is released, pour the oil over the minced garlic and Sichuan peppercorn powder.

At this moment, the pungent aroma of chili peppers, minced garlic, and the numbing fragrance of Sichuan peppercorns blend together and enter the nasal cavity, stimulating the taste buds and greatly increasing appetite.

Sprinkle with cilantro, and a delicious boiled pork slice dish is ready.

After the last dish was finished, Shen Yu'an and Wei Siyu arrived.

As soon as she entered the room, she smelled the aroma of the last hot oil drizzle from Shen Cao. Wei Siyu ran to the kitchen to see what delicious food Shen Cao had made.

Shen Cao pointed to the boiled pork slices and asked him to help carry them to the dining table in the main room.

Next, she asked Mr. and Mrs. Shen to bring out the flounder stew and braised pork with abalone. Then she put the cooked and marinated seafood that she had prepared the night before into a plate and brought it in as well.

As Wei Siyu carried the boiled pork slices to the door of the main room, she saw Shen Yu'an standing there, hesitant to go in.

"Brother, why did you decide to go here? If you're not going in, don't block the way."

"I'm still holding the dishes in my hands."

Without waiting for Shen Yu'an, he walked past him and prepared to go inside.

Just as he stepped across the threshold, he looked up and was stunned to see the table full of dishes in the main hall.

Unlike Shen Yu'an, he only hesitated for a second before the weight of the boiled pork slices in his hand pulled him back to his senses.

He grinned from ear to ear as he walked happily to the dining table, placed the boiled pork slices on it, and then turned to look at Shen Yu'an, pointing to the dishes on the table.

"These...the dishes are really made!" He stammered, gesturing excitedly.

He thought that the dishes Shen Cao mentioned before were just something she made up to fool them.

Unexpectedly, Shen Cao actually cooked all the dishes she had told them about before.

Not only did they make it, but they made it look and smell delicious. As for the taste, you can tell it's good just by smelling it.

Shen Yu'an was also very surprised. He had always known that Shen Cao was a good cook, but at most he was only a little better than an ordinary chef, because Shen Cao's dishes were mostly home-style.

It was only when he saw the table full of dishes today, which were so exquisite in terms of color and presentation, that he realized how good Shen Cao's cooking skills were.

He often accompanied his parents to various banquets, and the dishes on her table were much more exquisite than those he had seen at banquets before.

It was even more exquisite than the dishes served at palace banquets.

Shen Cao once again surprised him with her culinary skills.

Just then, Shen's mother came in carrying a stew of flounder. The residual heat of the clay pot made the ingredients inside still simmering.

Both of them were curious when they heard the gurgling sound and were looking for the source of the sound. When they saw the flounder stew in Shen's mother's hand, their faces lit up with joy.

The aroma of the dish wafted out with the sound, and they sniffed. It smelled so good! They definitely wanted to try this dish later.

Mother Shen invited the two to sit in the main seats, and she looked at them with a smile.

Cao'er's two friends are really nice people, but they also really love to eat. They can't move away from this delicious food.

After they sat down, the two began scanning the dishes on the table, each secretly calculating which dish they should eat first.

Before they could even decide, Mr. Shen came in carrying braised pork. The two quickly moved the dishes on the table, and Mr. Shen placed the braised pork in the middle of the table.

As soon as they put it down, the two began to communicate silently.

"I didn't see wrong, did I? This is meat, right? How can meat have this texture, all bouncy?" It turned out that when Mr. Shen put the braised pork in the pot, he accidentally bumped it, and the meat in the pot wobbled like jelly.

"You read that right, I've eaten this meat before, it's delicious."

"Then I'll eat this first."

"I'll eat this first."

When Shen Cao walked in carrying cooked marinated seafood, she saw the two exchanging glances.

"Brother Shen and Brother Wei, what's wrong? Are your eyes uncomfortable?" Shen Chen asked as he followed Shen Cao in.

Today, their family is hosting a dinner for the two of them, so they absolutely cannot let anything happen to them.

Shen Cao chuckled lightly, not exposing the two of them.

If outsiders saw what these two looked like now, they probably wouldn't recognize them at all.

The way these two people reacted to the delicious food was completely different from how they usually acted.

"Alright, the last dish is served, let's eat."