NOVPUB51: Chapter 39 Cooking
51 -39 Cooking
After sending Chu Guodong and Zhao Rui on their way, Gu Yanzhi had no desire to go out for a stroll.
The two checked the growth of the ginger planted on the 17th floor, the seeds in the soil were sprouting, and tender yellow shoots emerged from the soil in the cultivation pots.
The hydroponically grown plants were a bit faster, already sprouting several thin, fresh green leaves.
Gu Yanzhi carefully added nutrient solutions appropriate for the different growth stages and checked that the environmental temperature was kept to ginger’s liking.
With nothing else to do,
the pair played games in the upstairs gaming room for an hour.
There was no internet connection; all the games were single-player, and soon Gu Yanzhi found them rather dull.
“I’ll cook you guys a meal,” Gu Yanzhi had a sudden inspiration and said to Song Zhao.
With an active approach, Gu Yanzhi said this and then clattered her way to the kitchen to start preparing.
After watching a few tutorial videos on the tablet, Gu Yanzhi thought with confidence that cooking didn’t seem so difficult.
Gu Yanzhi started preparing the ingredients: potatoes, green peppers, pork belly, tenderloin, tomatoes, and eggs.
“I’ll help you,” Song Zhao, who had changed into home clothes, rolled up her sleeves and prepared to help in the kitchen but was pushed out by Gu Yanzhi, shaking her head, “No, no, you go wait outside.
I’ll be quick.”
“Alright, call me if you need anything,” Song Zhao said with a helpless smile and sat on the sofa to continue reading the book she hadn’t finished the day before.
Yet, she only turned a page after a long while, as her whole attention was focused on the kitchen, ready to assist at a moment’s notice.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into strips.
Cut half of the green peppers into strips and the other half into slices.
Slice the tenderloin and marinate it with salt, cooking wine, and oyster sauce.
Chop the tomatoes, and scramble the eggs.
Cut the pork belly into chunks.
Gu Yanzhi’s knife skills were not bad at all.
The initial preparation went smoothly with the potato strips uniformly long and even in thickness.
Anyone would believe she was an experienced kitchen pro.
Then she finished chopping necessary ingredients like green onions, garlic, and cilantro for later use and began to seriously prepare for cooking.
The kitchen’s stoves were all new energy types that didn’t require gas or electricity, only special fuel or any combustible material.
They still had plenty of fuel stocked up.
Gu Yanzhi filled two burners with fuel, set a pot of clear water on one, then added the pork belly chunks with a bit of cooking wine and lit the fire to blanch the pork belly.
Up to this point, everything was still quite normal.
Gu Yanzhi turned on the other burner, poured in the oil, and once it started to smoke, added the potato strips.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!”
As soon as the potato strips hit the oil, it started to splatter all over, causing Gu Yanzhi to run around in panic.
“What’s going on, what’s happening?” Song Zhao heard the commotion and rushed to the kitchen, finding a stove splattered with oil everywhere and Gu Yanzhi hesitating in the corner, holding a spatula and not daring to approach.
“Shall I take over?” Song Zhao, eyeing the situation, tentatively asked.
“No need, no need.
You just relax and wait, I can do it,” Gu Yanzhi touched her sweat-free face, emphatically stating.
Seeing that the pot had calmed and the oil was no longer flying everywhere, Gu Yanzhi approached confidently and began to stir-fry again.
“Zhaozhao, you go wait outside.
I feel pressured with you here.
I will definitely manage; I watched the tutorial videos, it’s quite simple.
What just happened was only an accident.”
Seeing that Song Zhao seemed distrustful and was still standing at the kitchen doorway watching, Gu Yanzhi hurriedly pushed him out and closed the kitchen door.
Gu Yanzhi busied himself in the kitchen for more than two hours.
When Gu Yanlin, who had been working hard outside, entered the house, Gu Yanzhi had just finished the last dish.
“Yan Lin is back, go wash your hands and eat,” Gu Yanzhi said, carrying out the last dish while urging Gu Yanlin.
“Sis, you cooked the meal?” Smelling the burnt aroma lingering in the air, Gu Yanlin had a bad feeling.
“Yes, yes, come and try my cooking skills.”
“Oh no, I forgot to cook the rice.” After placing the dishes on the dining table, Gu Yanzhi was about to serve the rice when he realized he hadn’t cooked any.
Fortunately, with the “space” cheating tool, they had stocked up on a lot of cooked rice inside it.
Gu Yanzhi took out three bowls directly and placed them on the seats.
“Sis, this is the dish you made…” Gu Yanlin, after washing his hands and changing clothes, sat at the dining table and looked at the two dishes that were blackened beyond recognition, speechless.
Embarrassed, Gu Yanzhi scratched his head: “It’s my first time, my first time, lacking experience.”
“Why are you so picky?
We’ve still got two dishes that look decent; just eat them,” Song Zhao said defensively, pointed at the other two dishes on the table that looked normal, the green pepper and potato shreds and the tomato and scrambled eggs.
As he spoke, he took a chopstick full of potato shreds and put it in his mouth.
“How is it, how is it?” Gu Yanzhi asked expectantly, hands propping up his face as he looked at Song Zhao.
“It’s pretty good,” Song Zhao struggled to swallow the food in his mouth, keeping his expression from collapsing.
Hearing that, Gu Yanlin also hurriedly grabbed a full chopstick of potato shreds and stuffed it into his mouth.
The mask of pain on his face couldn’t be hidden as he immediately spit it out and desperately drank a mouthful of water to suppress the bitterness in his mouth.
“Really?
I’ll try some too.”
“Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey”
How should I describe this taste?
The burnt and earthy flavors of the potato shreds were intertwined, and it seemed Gu Yanzhi had overdone it with the salt; the dish was so salty it had become bitter, truly hard to swallow.
Gu Yanlin knew his brother-in-law was a tough man, but he hadn’t expected him to bear so much.
“Is it really that bad?” Gu Yanzhi couldn’t understand and asked.
Apart from some slightly burnt potato shreds, the dish looked quite presentable overall.
As he spoke, Gu Yanzhi also quickly grabbed a chopstick of it, ready to taste for himself.
Song Zhao wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.
“Agh, ptooey, ptooey, so disgusting,” Gu Yanzhi reacted just like Gu Yanlin, spitting the food out as soon as it hit his mouth and grabbing a glass of water to drink a large gulp.
“I’ll try this one.” The potato shreds were failure, leaving only the last option, the scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
Gu Yanzhi thought to himself that this simple dish surely couldn’t go wrong.
Still, to be safe and not have his brother and husband as guinea pigs, he decided to taste it himself first.
How should I describe the taste of this dish?
It was edible but not good.
The eggs and tomatoes were cooked, but it seemed she had mixed up sugar and salt.
People from Chu City liked their scrambled eggs with tomatoes to be savory, but she had replaced the salt with sugar, resulting in a cloyingly sweet taste.
“Forget it, forget it, let’s not eat this.
What do you feel like eating?
I’ll look for something,” Gu Yanzhi said, having tried the dishes and deciding to spare himself and those around him.
He quickly dumped the four dishes into the trash bin, and his consciousness entered into the “space” to adjust tonight’s menu.
