Novel Bin Chapter 15 - Braised Meat Noodles and Soy Milk
After sleeping for 4 hours, Ruan Tang went to take a bath and saw his reflection in the mirror. He nodded his head in satisfaction.
After several days of nursing his body with good food and sleep, his previously thin as a match body has improved to some extent. Although he was still very thin, there was now some meat on his bones. He no longer looked like a living skeleton and his complexion had turned rosy. He was sure he would no longer scare the living daylights out of the examiner once he goes to take the chef’s examination ten days later.
After checking on the soaking soy beans and the boiling bone broth, he confirmed that both were almost ready and started the broadcast.
“Good Evening, everyone. I am your anchor, Ruan Tang. Tonight we will be making braised meat noodles and soy milk.”
[Miao Miao loves to eat crepes: The broadcast’s starting! The broadcast’s starting! I’m first!]
[Can’t stop hugging trees: I’ve been camping here the entire afternoon!]
[Mo family’s jade: The crepes were extremely delicious! Thank you, anchor!]
Because during this morning’s broadcast, Ruan Tang had told them in advance what he would be cooking for the evening, these chow hounds all have been entrenched here the entire time. No sooner had he opened the broadcast than the entire live chat buzzed with activity.
“Now, let’s take a look at the soy beans that we soaked this morning. Ruan Tang carried the big basin filled with soaking soy beans, giving the audience in front of the camera a look. “The beans have soaked up a lot of water and have grown bigger. These look to be ready. Everyone can try pinching some to see how they’ve become softer.”
[Seven treasures: It’s true, they feel soft when you pinch them.]
[Small transparent: They really have changed a lot from this morning!]
“We can now make soy milk. It’s really simple. We can use a blender to make this.” Ruan Tang poured out the water used to soak the beans. After the soy beans have dripped dry he put them in the blender together with a big cup of clear water. He blended it a couple of times until it was thick.
[The scenery from my hometown: I never knew you could also get juice from soy beans. I thought you could only press juice out of fruits...]
“That’s right. You can also extract juice from all sorts of vegetables, like cucumbers and carrots for example. Both of them are good for your body.”
There were still a lot of impurities in the soy milk and it seemed to be very dense. Ruan Tang tipped the blended soy beans onto a white cotton cloth that he had washed and disinfected in advance. He squeezed it hard, leaving the soy bean dregs inside the cloth while squeezing out the filtered soy milk into the pot. Ruan Tang didn’t have enough strength in his hands so he had let the smart butler, Xiao Bai, finish this step. He was very efficient and in just a short time he had already squeezed out half a pot’s worth of soy milk.
[The April turtledove flicks its feathers: It feels so-so and it has a bit of a strange smell.]
[Hidden Moon: That’s right. I took a taste and it’s really sour. So disappointed!]
“Everyone, please don’t be impatient. This isn’t done yet. Raw soy milk has the bad smell from the beans. We will need to boil this first and then this will quickly turn fragrant.” Ruan Tang placed the pot of soy milk on top of the stove and set the heat to high.
The soy milk quickly started to boil and started to give off a pure and mellow fragrance. Ruan Tang added a couple spoonful of sugar and then lowered the heat to let it boil slowly while constantly stirring. He then increased the heat again. He repeated this process four to five times and finally the soy milk has been boiled well.
Ruan Tang poured out a cup of steaming hot soy milk, considerately stirring with the ladle. “Okay, now everyone can have a taste. Remember to blow on it before drinking so as not to burn your tongue.”
The boiled soy milk has now transformed into a dense and fragrant drink. It was no longer astringent. The amount of sugar Ruan Tang added wasn’t a lot. Because of the dense fragrance and faint sweetness of the soy milk, drinking a glass of this in the morning would make stomach feel comfortable.
[Hidden Moon: I take back what I said. Anchor, you are simply wonderful! Should one desire to sing, one would amaze the world with his first song. This crystal flower symbolizes my deep love for you!]
[The April turtledove flicks its feathers: At first I couldn’t get the proper way to drink this...the taste is really good.]
[Treasure Firefly: Smells so good! Tastes so good! And it’s so easy to make!]
“Right, making soy milk is very easy and convenient. Drink a glass in the morning, it’s both healthy and nutritious. Everyone can learn for themselves. Soak a batch in the evening and in the morning you can make your soy milk.]
Ruan Tang waited until everyone had a taste and then said, “Next, let’s check the bones we started boiling this morning to make soup.”
Ruan Tang opened the lid and the heavy meaty smell began to spread, making everyone’s mouths salivate.
“You mustn’t drink the soup yet, ok? I haven’t added any seasonings yet!” Ruan Tang reminded them, seeming to know that some certain viewers wouldn’t be able to hold back from impatiently sneaking a taste.
[Miao Miao loves to eat crepes: My claws were already hovering over it!]
[Can’t stop hugging trees: I am completely useless (￣△￣) sigh sigh]
Ruan Tang used a ladle to scoop out the foam that was floating on top and once again covered the pot.
He took out the small half piece of white gourd that he purchased that morning and used water to wash it clean. He used his agile knife skills to peel and chop it into small pieces.
He added the chopped white gourd into the pot along with half a scoop of sugar and a small scoop of vinegar before he let it continue stewing.
Adding the white gourd with the soup would definitely be delicious. Once the white gourd has been boiled transparent it will turn very soft and tender and will taste very fresh. Combined with meat, it can absorb the greasy smell from the meat soup. Delicious and nutritious, it was one of Ruan Tang’s favorite soups.
He then took out the flour, added some water and after kneading the dough well placed it in a preservation box and set it aside.
“We will now make braised meat.” Ruan Tang took out his previously purchased pork belly. After carefully washing it, he placed it inside a separate pot and added clear water, using high heat to boil it. He took it out after two minutes.
He once again rinsed the just boiled piece of meat. This way, you can remove most of the blood and impurities from the meat. It was an essential first step to get rid of the stench.
Once the pork belly had been completely rinsed and it had cooled down, Ruan Tang sliced it into thin, flat strips. He put them into a small pot, added the washed onions and ginger, together with a combination of light and dark soy sauce and a scoop of sugar. He used high temperature to boil it after adding clear water.
After it started boiling, he turned down the heat and continued to let it braise.
“We only need to let this boil for around 20 minutes.”
While the pork was cooking, Ruan Tang took the dough and started making pulled noodles. This time he made the noodles even thinner. Even though the audience had already seen this once before, it still didn’t lessen their astonishment. There were even some of them, after having seen the anchor make it so easily, tried it out for themselves and consequently found that it was actually really difficult. The dough was so soft, one pull would cause it to drop and moreover, it was very easy to break.
After making the noodles, he set about boiling them in a clean pot.
Because these noodles were thin and very quickly cooked, after only boiling it for a bit, Ruan Tang already scooped it out.
He placed the noodles in a previously prepared porcelain bowl. He carefully ladled unto it some of the bone broth with white gourd. A few pieces of glistening, jade green pieces of white gourd also tumbled out. Even before he had added the meat, the rich smell had already started to waft about.
Ruan Tang opened the pot with the braised meat. The pork belly had already turned into a reddish brown color, glossy and shiny with fat, looking very beautiful. He poked it with his chopstick to ensure doneness before taking them out.
He placed two strips over the top of the noodles and then sprinkled over it some green onions. A bowl of savory and steaming hot braised meat noodles was now done.
The white porcelain bowl held the thick soup made from big meat bones. Inside the bowl were thin noodles with pieces of pale green white gourd dotted around and two big slices of reddish brown pork belly covering the top of the noodles. The top layer of the entire bowl floated with a thin layer of glittering oil. Only at the very top was sprinkled a handful of chopped green onions like the finishing touches to a painting, making the entire bowl look vivid and lively. No need to even mention that sweet aroma assailing their nostrils. It was good enough to make people sin.
This time they didn’t need Ruan Tang’s signal, the viewers already couldn’t hold back from rushing in to eat.
[Following broadcasts to learn cooking: It’s sooooo delicious...the soup is so tasty, the meat so tender, the noodles so supple. I still want to it eat!]
[Miao Miao loves to eat crepes: delicious! Delicious! Delicious!/(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
[Can’t stop hugging trees: QAQ Anchor, you really won’t open a shop? I’d be willing to pay a thousand GM coins for a bowl of this noodles.]
[Seven treasures: I’m crying while eating this...]
[Small transparent: Boo hoo, boo hoo. After eating these noodles, how can I continue drinking nutrient solutions!
[Small ginger: Anchor, anchor, are you also going to have a lottery this time?]
“Yes, today three lucky viewers will get a bowl of my hand made braised meat noodles.” Ruan Tang smiled while replying.
[Honey Summer: Praying to win a prize.]
[A galaxy far far away: Praying to win a prize +1]
[Miao Miao loves to eat crepes: Praying to win a prize +2]
......
The viewers in the live broadcast began to send out their daily prayers.
“User ‘HE’ gave the anchor a meteor shower.”
[HE: Praying.]
[Can’t stop hugging trees: I never expected that even the local tyrant would send out prayers...]
Unfortunately, He Yun Chen’s prayers would have no effect. As before, the final list of winners didn’t contain his name. Ruan Tang suppressed his laughter, and said in all seriousness, “Congratulations Bronze, Qi Jiu Mo Ran and a Galaxy far far away. I will be sending out your prizes in a bit. Please make sure to check and receive.”
Three out of several tens of thousands, the odds really were low. The many viewers who didn’t win began their anguished wailing.
[Can’t stop hugging trees: Aaaaaaaaa!!! I didn’t win again! I’m so unhappy!]
[Miao Miao loves to eat crepes: huhuhu! I also didn’t get a share!]
[Seven treasures: Three portions are so few...Isn’t there still a pot of soup? No more noodles...Drinking just the soup is also good enough! QAQ]
There was indeed still quite a lot of soup. However, Ruan Tang primarily made the soup for the noodles and didn’t specifically set out to make just soup. Therefore, it had mostly meat bones and even the white gourd pieces weren’t that many. There was a lot of soup but few vegetables, it looked really pitiful.
However, looking at the barrage of crying comments, Ruan Tang helplessly said, “Then let’s draw three more names for the bone soup with white gourd.”
His voice was quiet and the live room suddenly burst in cheer.
[Small transparent: Long live the anchor!]
[Drinking plain boiled water in the middle of the night: The anchor is absolutely wonderful!]
Ruan Tang smiled and shook his head. He once again opened the lottery function and picked three viewers. “Congratulations to A’Cheng, Following broadcasts to learn cooking, as well as HE. I will be sending out your prizes in a bit. Please make sure to check and receive.”
Bribing had been of no use, this time his room manager had relied on luck to win a prize. Although it was only plain soup, it was still much better than nothing.
Ruan Tang couldn’t help but smile a little while reaching out to close the broadcast. “The broadcast ends here today, see you all tomorrow.”
The author has something to say: Small theater:
He Yun Chen: While others eat noodles, I’m drinking soup. When can I take the anchor home as my wife?
He Yun Yi: In your next life