THE GAME OF LIFE

Chapter 677: Chapter 675: Eel Drenched in Oil

Oil drizzling over eel is different from that on fish heads. Jiang Feng knew very well how the final drizzling should be done on chopped chili fish heads, after all, he had prepared hundreds, if not thousands, of chopped chili fish heads himself. However, eel and fish heads are ultimately different; not to mention their shapes, for starters, the cooking methods differ.

Jiang Jiankang had told him more than once when Jiang Feng was a child that, although they were greedy for meat (maybe Jiang family’s kids were not as greedy), in some sense, they did not lack meat. Z city had reservoirs as well as rivers and streams; even if they couldn’t get pork, beef, lamb, or chicken, fish and river shrimp were always in abundance. Even an average family could manage to get a bucket or two of fish without much hassle.

But why did everyone still crave meat? Because fish and river delicacies were fishy.

In that era of scarcity, other than the state-run restaurant where Jiang Weiguo worked, it was almost impossible to find a complete set of seasoning anywhere else. Some families were so thrifty with oil when cooking that they would have preferred to eat boiled vegetables in plain water with a bit of salt—having even a tiny bit of oil glistening on the vegetables was considered indulgent, let alone having spices, soy sauce, cooking wine, and other seasonings.

Without seasonings, without oil, ingredients like fish and shrimp were a nightmare.

That was the case during Jiang Jiankang’s childhood, and one could only imagine when Cao Guixiang and Zhang Chu got married. Jiang Feng could guess why Cao Guixiang opted to make salt-baked river shrimp instead of spicy river shrimp or stir-fried river shrimp—she probably only had salt as her seasoning, so that’s all she could make.

After the lunch service ended, Jiang Feng began to attempt making oil drizzled eel.

Originally, he thought that making oil drizzled eel would be quite difficult, since it was his first attempt. A flop was expected. To his surprise, he succeeded on his first try and it went very smoothly. When the eel came out of the pan, Jiang Feng could hardly believe it himself.

With the least amount of oil, he drizzled over the most fragrant eel.

The eel, cut into segments, had hardly any juice because Jiang Feng added nothing beyond salt for seasoning, except a touch of both dark and light soy sauce, which resulted in the eel’s color looking not so great. But before taking it out of the pan, a pour of hot oil brought out a full aroma, and the surface of the eel, coated with the hot oil, looked very tempting.

Jiang Feng took a bite; it was okay, hardly any earthy taste thanks to the abundance of green onions, ginger, and garlic used to counteract it. Without sufficient seasonings, it wasn’t particularly delicious, but it wasn’t bad either—just a simple homestyle flavor.

It was a rare success on the first try, and Jiang Feng couldn’t wait to bring the freshly cooked eel outside to find his grandfather.

At this time of day, both old gentlemen would usually be bragging at the teahouse, but today, Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Weiming were worried about Jiang Feng and concerned he might flop while cooking at night and lose face for Taifeng Building in front of Peng Changping. They had deliberately changed their tea drinking spot to the lobby of Taifeng Building, ready to offer support to their hapless grandson in the kitchen at any moment.

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Holding a cup of tea, Jiang Weiguo saw Jiang Feng carrying a plate of food from the kitchen and braced himself with some words of comfort.

“Grandpa, Granduncle Weiming, come and try this, I think what I’ve made now has got the right taste,” Jiang Feng said, beaming with joy.

Sir put down his tea cup: “I knew it… Eh?”

Sir: ?

“It seems that Feng has been very successful with cooking today, the practice he’s done during this time hasn’t gone to waste,” Jiang Weiming commented with a smile, taking the chopsticks from Jiang Feng’s hand, picking up a segment of eel and savoring it carefully in his mouth.

“Not bad, the meat is very tender,” Jiang Weiming praised the texture, though that was all he could praise.

Jiang Weiguo tried a piece and frowned slightly, asking, “You didn’t use cooking wine?”

Jiang Feng nodded.

“Didn’t marinate it?”

Jiang Feng nodded.

“Didn’t add any pepper?”

Jiang Feng nodded.

“And no other spices either?”

Jiang Feng continued to nod.

Jiang Weiguo had originally intended to scold someone, but Jiang Feng’s persistent nodding suddenly made it difficult for him to lash out.

Indeed, as Jiang Weiming had said, the fire control of this drenched eel dish was handled remarkably well, resulting in delicately tender and perfectly palatable flesh. However, the seasoning—or the evident lack of it—stood in stark contrast. It’s not as if Taifeng Building had gone bankrupt, so why skimp on the seasoning?

Jiang Weiguo now felt somewhat like a parent confronting a failing child. Had the child sheepishly admitted to failing the exams, he would have confidently given him a good scolding. But the problem now was that the child was confidently and loudly proclaiming his failure, making the parent Jiang Weiguo start to question whether this ‘failure’ was not what he imagined, or if there was a hidden catch, such as the school demanding that everyone fail.

Jiang Weiguo hesitated, and with his hesitation, his momentum waned, making him seem more approachable, “Why didn’t you add them?”

Jiang Feng rambled on, explaining the background of the dish and his reasons for leaving out the spices, in a manner both logical and convincing.

Jiang Weiguo: …

What kind of problem was this, anyway? It was one thing not to add them when they weren’t available, but now that they were, he still refrained from using them.

Jiang Weiming listened to the exchange between Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Feng while smilingly consuming the steaming, and even slightly scalding, plate of eel. In the blink of an eye, half the plate had been devoured, as he seemed particularly fond of this eel dish.

“Feng.” Jiang Weiming suddenly spoke up, “I’ve suddenly got a craving for chopped chili fish head. Why don’t you head into the kitchen and cook one for Granduncle Weiming? It’s been a while since you last made that dish, hasn’t it?”

Indeed, it had been a very long time since Jiang Feng had made chopped chili fish head. The sales for the ‘marriage match’ set meal had been mediocre at best and were not very popular. These days, as Taifeng Building introduced many new chefs, the customers who enjoyed novelty quickly forgot about the chopped chili fish head and started feasting on squirrel-shaped mandarin fish instead. Moreover, Jiang Feng had been spending most of his recent time at Yonghe House learning how to make superior stock from Peng Changping. He only stuck to making the limited daily offering of six portions of sweet and sour yam. Occasionally, he would make pickled vegetables and meatballs specifically for Han Guishan, but the other set meals, including the pure meat wontons and Li Hongzhang hodgepodge, were all taken off the menu.

By the way, during this period, complaints from the art academy students nearly burst Taifeng Building’s complaint box. The inspiration of artists is fleeting and precious. To have such a miraculous tool for discovering inspiration suddenly disappear without a trace, with a tentative return date, how could it not infuriate these future artists struggling to find inspiration and losing their hair as they failed to paint?

Although Jiang Feng did not understand why Jiang Weiming suddenly wanted to eat chopped chili fish head, craving food was a good sign, especially since Jiang Weiming had lost his sense of taste and was not eating well. Naturally, Jiang Feng would not refuse.

“Certainly, Granduncle Weiming. Please wait outside for a little while, I will go and make it for you right now,” Jiang Feng readily agreed.

Once Jiang Feng had left, Jiang Weiguo looked at Jiang Weiming somewhat puzzled, “Third brother, why are you suddenly in the mood for something as strong-flavored as chopped chili fish head? I thought you’ve been eating quite light these days.”

“That’s exactly why I want to eat something with a stronger taste now,” Jiang Weiming said with a smile, “Didn’t you taste it while eating the eel just now?”

“Taste what?” Sir only tasted that Jiang Feng left out a bunch of spices, turning the dish that should have been delicious into something rather bland.

Jiang Weiming shook his head, expressing his dissatisfaction, “After learning from you for so many years, Feng really has let his talents go to waste. Such a gift, squandered until now. You really aren’t cut out for teaching disciples. The flavors that should have been recognized, you couldn’t taste, but you didn’t miss any that you shouldn’t have.”

Jiang Weiguo: ???

“Still not convinced?” Jiang Weiming saw Jiang Weiguo’s confusion and skepticism, “Let’s go inside and have a look. Then you’ll understand.”

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