First, blanch the pig intestines and lungs in cold water to remove the foam.

Next, heat the wok and add water. Add star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, green onion, fragrant leaves, yellow wine, tangerine peel, soy sauce, dried chili peppers, and other ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat to create a stew for the pig intestines.

Fry the doubanjiang¹ in another wok until fragrant, then return the stew broth to the wok. Season with salt, soy sauce, vinegar, rock sugar, yellow wine, clear water, and a little fermented bean curd juice. Then add pig intestines, liver, tofu puffs, and other ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat.

Here, this pot of stewed food had taken on a preliminary form, and it was simmering slowly over a low flame. When eating, add a day-old shāobǐng and let it cook for a few minutes. Serve the shāobǐng accompanied by a few pieces of retrieved pig intestines and lungs, cut into small pieces, and served in a bowl with the stew’s soup.

If eaten while hot, it tastes very delicious.

The pot of stew in front of them was cooked to perfection by Zheng Mingyuan, exuding a tantalizing aroma that carried the unique and delicious flavor of the stew within the rising steam.

After Zheng Mingyuan tasted it, he seemed quite satisfied and nodded repeatedly, “It’s much more delicious than the one I made last time. Come and have a try too.”

Amid the conversation, Zheng Mingyuan ladled out some pig intestines and lungs into Su Yujin’s bowl.

He took out a shāobǐng, chopped it all into pieces, and put it into a bowl.

“You guys come and eat too.” Zeng Dayong greeted Ai Cao and Qing Kui.

They were both initially hesitant to eat, especially considering that offal, particularly pig intestines, were quite fishy and foul-smelling when just cleaned. Even though they had been thoroughly washed and now smelled fragrant, there was still a lingering aversion in their hearts, recalling the original appearance of the pig intestines and lungs.

But when they saw that Su Yujin ate so deliciously and was full of praise for the taste of the stewed food, and even told them to hurry up and taste some, the two of them gritted their teeth and finally took the bowl handed over by Zeng Dayong, fished out a piece of shāobǐng in the bowl.

The shāobǐng were simmered slowly in a stewed pot, soaking up the flavor of the stewed broth. When you take one bite, your mouth will be filled with aroma. Moreover, because the shāobǐngs were baked yesterday, they were left for a long enough time, and they had become cold and hard. But now they tasted particularly chewy, and the more you chew it, the more delicious it became.

And among them, the pig intestines, having been cleaned of their fat, left only the incredibly chewy texture of the intestines, providing a satisfying mouthfeel. The thinly sliced pig lungs were tender and delicious, while the tofu puffs soaked up the flavorful broth with each bite, filling their mouths with savory goodness.

“This braised pork is so delicious.”

“Uncle Zheng’s craftsmanship is so good!”

Ai Cao and Qing Kui praised the food one after another and even wolfed down the braised pork in the bowl clean.

Zheng Mingyuan smiled and added another bowl to the two of them.

The two of them were big eaters, so now that the food was delicious and the portions were sufficient, they naturally ate to their heart’s content without being overly polite. They ate two bowls in a row before belching and putting down their bowls and chopsticks.

Su Yujin was also satisfied with her meal and chatted with Zheng Mingyuan for a while.

Zheng Mingyuan was not originally from Qinghe County but from Luozhou Prefecture in the west. He lost his parents when he was young, and he lived with his second uncle who was a widower. The uncle and nephew had to make ends meet, worked as coolies, and worked as tenants. They didn’t settle until they arrived in the capital.

At that time, Uncle Zheng was suffering from tuberculosis. Doctors were unable to save him and Uncle Zheng passed away. Zheng Mingyuan was devastated. However, he had no money to pay for the funeral of Uncle Zheng, or the medical expenses of the hospital. So he sold himself to a wealthy family to work as a servant.

Because Zheng Mingyuan was clever and had also helped Uncle Zheng set up a snack stall, where he learned to make noodles and wontons. He was then assigned to work in the kitchen, where he learned many skills from the chef. His talent in cooking gradually became apparent, especially when using Shi San Xiang, in his dishes.

Zheng Mingyuan had remarkable cooking talent and skills, but later, due to some circumstances, he had to move to Qinghe County. At this time, having just moved here and not yet figured out what livelihood to pursue, he happened to have a batch of seasoning ingredients on hand. Zheng Mingyuan decided to use the Shi San Xiang and had Zeng Dayong take it out to sell.

So that was the whole story.

After understanding the general situation, Su Yujin nodded slightly and then talked about the dishes that Zheng Mingyuan was good at.

Taking a closer look, Zheng Mingyuan could cook a lot of dishes, and after listening to the cooking methods, she understood that he was quite accomplished.

Based on this, Su Yujin was thinking about what signature dishes the restaurant should serve in the future. Once the words were spoken, it was often difficult to hold them back.

At this time, night fell and the moon was already hung on the branches.

Seeing this, Su Yujin stood up and said, “I will bring the promissory note tomorrow. Uncle Zheng, you can’t go back on your words.”

“It’s 30% of the wages. I won’t run away even if you ask me.” Zheng Mingyuan said, slapping his thin body.

Not to mention that Su Yujin gave him such a large space for free expression.

Furthermore, there were many cooks in the world, but most of them just followed the recipes. There were only a few who could make the recipes as good as they appeared, not to mention people like Su Yujin who had their own ideas about cooking.

Zheng Mingyuan also felt that Su Yujin was a colleague and confidant, and felt sympathy for each other.

“That’s right.” Su Yujin pursed her lips and smiled, “It’s getting late today. Uncle Zheng, you should rest early. I’ll fix the shop as soon as possible in the next few days.”

“Dayong, I’m going to see the shopkeeper off.” Zheng Mingyuan lit a few lanterns, handed one to Zeng Dayong, and gave the rest to Su Yujin, the master and the servant.

When Su Yujin heard the words “the shopkeeper”, she smiled and said, “Uncle Zheng, stay here.”

Zeng Dayong carried a lantern and sent Su Yujin and her servant out.

All the way along Fuyun Lane to the main street.

It was early winter, and the moon was shining brightly at night. It was not too cold at this time. The restaurants and shops on the street were quite lively, and the vendors on the street were still shouting loudly.

Not far from such a big road was Shuanggui Lane.

“Brother Zeng, go back. We’ll be home in two steps.” Su Yujin said.

It was okay to send guests off to the alley, but there was no reason to send them home, not to mention the road was safe to walk.

“Got it,” Zeng Dayong nodded. “Just call me Dayong, that’s what the Master calls me.”

She called his Master “Uncle Zheng”, and so as an apprentice, he couldn’t afford the title of “Brother Zheng”.

“Yes.” Su Yujin pursed her lips and smiled, urging him to go back and look after Zheng Mingyuan, while she led Qingkui and Mugwort along the road to the corner of the street and turned into Shuanggui Lane.

The reason why Shuanggui Alley was called Shuanggui Alley was because there were many sweet-scented osmanthus planted at the door of every household. There was one tree on each side of the door. Every seventh lunar month, the sweet-scented osmanthus was fragrant. The whole alley smelled wonderful.

The residence where Su Yujin lived was located near the end of the alley. At this time, as the night grew darker, the alley was quite serene. With the dense branches of osmanthus trees on both sides of the alley, there was no romantic charm typically associated with moonlit flowers; instead, it appeared somewhat eerie under the moonlight.

Seeing this, the three of them couldn’t help but quicken their pace while holding the lanterns in their hands.

Suddenly, a black shadow came out.

Then, a sack fell from the sky.

Author’s Note Tip: The place names are all purely fictitious. In addition, as for braised pork, a lot of information is said to be only available during the Qing Dynasty. This article is fictitious and has many private assumptions. I don’t pay too much attention to the dynasty, so don’t be too particular about it~

( End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Fermented chilly bean paste. Called the “soul of Sichuan cuisine”. Read more about it here.

I really went down the rabbit hole while looking for the braised food recipe mentioned here. Found quite a many, but most didn’t follow this exact recipe. Most I found was Hong Shou Rou made with pork belly. Then I found this Wiki page and learned that it was not same as the recipe mentioned here (lǔ zhǔ). So here is one recipe that was somewhat near the recipe mentioned here.