Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Living Creatures
Translator: 549690339
“The meat needs to be boiled for half an hour.”
As the meat boiled in the pot, Qin Lang began to prepare the other ingredients while fondling Dan Bao.
He smashed the green garlic with the side of the knife and sliced it at an angle, then cut the capsicum frutescens in half, setting them aside for later.
After preparing the ingredients, Qin Lang leaned against the side table. He propped his chin with one hand, quietly watching the occasional steam rising from the pot, smelling the faint fragrance of the meat drifting with the steam.
“This scene is so familiar.”
He suddenly sighed with a smile, as if he had gone back a long time ago.
Back then, he would also support his chin like this, watching the pot while waiting for the meat to cook.
At this moment, Qin Lang felt a sudden urge to find someone to share his thoughts with.
Thankfully, he had Dan Bao.
“Do you know why 1 chose twice-cooked pork as a theme?” Qin Lang asked softly.
Dan Bao shook its little head, its small face filled with confusion and curiosity.
It also wanted to know what the connection was between this dish called twice-cooked pork and the abstract theme of “home.”
“Because when 1 was young, my mother used to love making this dish for me.” Qin Lang’s gaze passed the stove and rested on the jar of Doubanjiang on the other side of the table. And then he began to speak freely.
“I have been tutored by many skilled and respected culinary experts in my journey as a chef.”
“But this Doubanjiang, this is not something they taught me.”
“This is the recipe my mother taught me. The Doubanjiang we make tastes different than others.”
“My mother isn’t a chef, her cooking skills are pretty ordinary.”
“But the twice-cooked pork, that’s something she made really tasty.”
“Whenever I did something praiseworthy as a child, my mother would reward me with a large plate of twice-cooked pork.” Qin Lang laughed, “I could finish an entire half-jin of meat with some rice.”
“As 1 grew up, I became a chef.”
“To improve my cooking skills, I traveled everywhere, visiting renowned chefs and exchanging culinary experiences.”
“The frequency of my home visits thus reduced.”
“Each time I went home, my mother would cook a large plate of twice-cooked pork for me, just like when 1 was a child.”
“I still remember…”
As Qin Lang rambled on about his memories, Dan Bao quietly leaned in, listening attentively.
Time ticked away, and half an hour quickly passed.
As the kitchen timer ran out, Qin Lang stopped talking.
He quickly approached the stove and opened the lid. As he fished out the large piece of pork belly that had been cooked until it turned grey-white, a strong meaty aroma drifted towards him.
After the meat cooled down, he chopped it into thin slices the thickness of a coin.
Next, he heated a wok and added some oil. As he added the sliced pork belly, he sprinkled in some Sichuan peppercorns and stirred, then spoke again rather abruptly.
“Dan Bao, do you know why twice-cooked pork is called twice-cooked pork?” Dan Bao took a glance at the pork belly in the wok that had gradually turned brown and was releasing a strong meaty aroma, and couldn’t help but swallow. It pondered for a bit, and then its small eyes lit up.
“Gudu Gudu Lulu-”
Is it because the meat is boiled and pulled out to be cut into slices, and then sent back into the wok for stir-frying?
“That’s right, exactly.” Qin Lang nodded. He added Doubanjiang, slices of ginger, and fermented black beans to the wok once the pork fat had been fried out. As he continued to stir-fry, he quietly resumed his story.
“Once, 1 hadn’t been home for over two years, wandering around in other places.”
“When 1 returned home, my mother made me a plate of twice-cooked pork. As I ate, she scolded me. She said…”
He paused for a second.
“She said even the meat knew to go back to the wok, why didn’t I know to go home?”
His voice deepened.
“I later found out, she had been diagnosed with a serious illness at that time.”
“But by the time I came to know, it was too late.”
“Glug…”
A look of sadness involuntarily appeared on Dan Bao’s little face.
It felt its Spirit Chef’s low mood at this moment, so it could only rub against him to comfort him.
Qin Lang squeezed Dan Bao with his free hand to signal that he was okay.
After expressing his suppressed emotions, Qin Lang stopped talking and continued his cooking work in silence.
He sauteed the pork belly until the flavors had thoroughly penetrated the meat, then added cooking wine, a spoonful of white sugar, and capsicum frutescens.
After bringing out the savoury aroma, he added chopped green garlic and stir-fried it until it was just right, then he added a bit of rice vinegar on the edge of the wok.
These familiar steps made him inexplicably feel as if he wasn’t in the Competitive Standard Kitchen of the City-Level Cooking Competition in the Dongxia Arena of the Food Spirit World, but was in the familiar kitchen at his home on Earth.
Gradually, as the cooking process was nearing its end, a gentle light began to emerge around Qin Lang.
The soft and subtle light enveloped him as if he was draped in a radiant veil, and the brightest part of this veil was his recently manifested Tianxuan Star Vein at the center of his forehead.
Qin Lang was completely oblivious to all of this.
Standing beside him, Dan Bao’s eyes widened in shock at the sight.
Could a Food Spirit be about to be born?
It wanted to alert Qin Lang, but it was afraid that it might have guessed wrongly and would unnecessarily distract Qin Lang from his cooking. Or, if it had guessed correctly, it could disrupt the process of the new companion’s birth. Thus, it could only continue watching anxiously from the side.
Finally, Qin Lang served the Twice-Cooked Pork, after adding the rice vinegar and stir-frying, onto a dish.
Twice-Cooked Pork, serving time!
Just as he put down his spatula, the Twice-Cooked Pork on the dish suddenly burst into a dazzling light.
This…
Stunned, Qin Lang felt a familiar feeling of power drain, and his face changed slightly.
Food Spirit, being born?
At this time?!
Before he could react, the power drain from the Twice-Cooked Pork intensified.
After opening the Second Star Vein, the physical strength of a Spirit Chef would have been replenished and nourished by spiritual power. Normally, he would not pass out like when he had gathered his first Food Spirit.
But the previous night, Qin Lang had tried several times to cook with full concentration. Coupled with the emotional ups and downs due to his earlier reminiscing, his mental state was not stable.
In the end, he barely managed to see the light rise from the Twice-Cooked
Pork, taking a form gradually. The next moment, everything went black before his eyes, and he passed out again.
“Glug!”
Crying out in surprise, Dan Bao quickly used thought waves to support Qin Lang’s falling body, letting him lay flat on the ground.
After confirming that their Spirit Chef had only passed out due to the effort of gathering a Food Spirit, Dan Bao breathed a sigh of relief and turned toward the existence that was gradually taking shape in the air.
It was a round and brown Food Spirit, with a tail like a meatbail behind it.
There were one red and one green chili-like elongated ears on its head, and a pair of big eyes that were similarly red and green respectively.
Above the Food Spirit’s head hovered a transparent bubble, inside which, a light green light gathered into the shape of a little chili.
The Second Food Spirit gnashed its sharp little tiger teeth, turning its attention to the Twice-Cooked Pork on the table for the first time.
That was its Origin Cuisine. Feeling unprecedentedly hungry just after being born, it had only one thought.
And that was to have a feast!
“Cha-ka-bam!”
It cheered and rushed towards the Twice-Cooked Pork, but bumped into an invisible wall.
“Thump-”
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The bonus content at the end of this chapter:
[Twice-Cooked Pork]
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