My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 129: The Big Pot is Not Easy to Make
"Uncle Spoon, why did you think of asking me to help in the kitchen?"

Li Feng washed the winter melon, pumpkin, a basket of eggplants, and a bunch of peppers, shook off the water on his hands, and asked the question in his mind. Logically, the kitchen helpers and the big sister-in-law were no worse than him.

After all, Li Feng’s cooking skills are average, and he can only cut the vegetables evenly at best. It can’t be said that his knife skills are very good.

"Why are you here?"

Han Fuluo took out his pipe and tapped it against his shoe heel. He then took some tobacco leaves from his cloth bag, stuffed them into the pipe, lit it, and took a puff. "An Min told me you're so strong you can even lift a grinding bowl."

"what?"

Li Feng muttered, what kind of statement is this? He is very strong. Not to mention traveling back and forth through time and space, Li Feng's own body is almost always at its maximum repair capacity. Gradually, his body has become much stronger than that of ordinary people.

His strength increased as well. The day before yesterday, when distributing wild boar meat, he needed something to cushion his hunger. Li Feng saw the millstone right next to him, so he picked it up. Many people saw it at that time, and a group of little kids stared at their boss with admiration in their eyes.

At that time, Li Feng was still young and proud of himself. His great strength was really useful in the countryside. Big stones like stone rollers and millstones, which weighed two or three hundred pounds each, usually required several people to carry them. But Li Feng could actually lift them all by himself. It would be hard for this guy not to remember it.

"Stir-frying a big pot of food requires a lot of strength."

Han Fuluo looked at Li Feng after he finished speaking. "You are a good material, otherwise..." Han Fuluo didn't finish his words. As a cultured person, he probably wouldn't engage in this kind of business. Han Fuluo also thought of this and nodded to teach Li Feng how to cook a big pot of food.

After all, even if Li Feng learned it, it would probably have no impact on him, his son, and his grandson if he did not engage in this business.

"That's true."

Li Feng looked at the 1.2-meter iron pot. If it were filled with vegetables and soup, it would be very heavy. No wonder they asked him to help. Li Feng cut vegetables evenly, and he was quite strong. It was not difficult for Han Anmin and Han Anbing to ask him to help in the kitchen.

Li Feng thought to himself that he was still thinking it was the system's credit, but this was actually a blessing in disguise, as it happened to allow him to complete the experience of life skills in the production team.

"It's almost time, we have to clean up quickly."

Han Fuluo stood up, tapped the pipe, and brushed off the maple ash on his butt. "Cut the vegetables first."

"okay."

Li Feng wasn't the only one chopping the vegetables; Han Fuluo also wielded a kitchen knife. "You're chopping them like a woman. Just chop them bigger and more evenly. There's no need to be so particular. If you chop them like that, we won't have a meal."

Li Feng thought to himself, "Wow, you're not even cutting vegetables, you're more like chopping them." However, this was much faster, and Li Feng hurriedly followed his instructions. Not to mention that he actually gained some proficiency, which could be considered a skill for frying in a large pot.

Li Feng simply exchanged some space experience time and took advantage of the break to study hard for more than ten hours. When cutting vegetables again, Han Fuluo found that Li Feng was almost catching up with two-thirds of his speed. This kid is good.

He's quite clever, a true intellectual, learning skills much faster than the average person. His son has only been learning this for a week or so. "Okay, he's a good candidate for cooking big pot dishes," Han Fuluo said, giving Li Feng a complicated look.

Fortunately, this kid doesn't compete with his stupid son for work, otherwise he really can't compare with him.

"Uncle Spoon, what's wrong? Can't I cut it properly?"

Li Feng thought to himself, I did a pretty good job of cutting, why do they still look at me like that?

"Not bad, you cut these eggplants and I'll fry them."

Han Fuluo took a piece of meat and chuckled. "Normally, we don't get such a big piece of meat to cook. We're lucky to have one now."

Li Feng took a look and saw a piece of fat meat weighing about a pound, probably from a wild boar or something. "It's not small."

"Wait a minute, leave a small bowl for the two of us to try."

This big piece of oil can be used in a frying pan, which is a great benefit for the chef. Although the oil has been refined, there is still some left for frying. Although you can't take it home, there is no problem in grabbing a few handfuls to satisfy your craving.

"Thank you, Uncle Spoon."

Li Feng smiled. "It just so happens that I still have half a bottle of old wine at home. Let's take a sip later."

"That's OK."

When Han Furuo heard that there was wine, his eyes lit up. When he was young, he could rely on cooking big pots for others to get some wine and meat to eat, but now, in the past twenty years, although his life has been better, few people ask him to cook big pots.

It is very difficult to eat meat and drink wine by relying on cooking skills, but fortunately, we have recently divided the meat from hunting, and we have enough meat to make a big pot dish.

“There are actually some rules to follow when burning firewood.”

Han Fuluo asked Li Feng to bring the firewood over. "In the past, when cooking a big pot of food, you had to bring a firewood boy. The control of the fire is not only the responsibility of the chef, but also the firewood burner."

"The fire is too big, it will easily burn the bottom of the pot."

"The fire is too small, the heat is not enough, and the food is slow to cook. That's not good. We can't be slow when cooking a big pot of food, otherwise a whole group of people will be delayed." Han Fuluo said. "As for the taste, it's not that important."

“Of course it tastes better.”

When Han Furuo said this, Li Feng muttered that it was only in these days that people did not care about the taste when they were hungry. In later times, many people would not want to eat in canteens. I am afraid that you old chefs did not teach them properly and taught them according to the methods of today.

"That's pretty much it."

Han Fuluo set up the firewood and said to Li Feng, "You can take care of the fire for a while."

"Don't worry, Uncle Spoon."

Li Feng roughly took note. Not to mention that he gained some experience, his experience skill had reached 3/20, he had gained two points in cutting vegetables, and his proficiency level was probably around three or four points. He had just gained one point in making fire, and it was estimated that he would have three or four points to complete it.

The most important thing is cooking. Li Feng watched the fire while remembering how Han Furuo cooked. Of course, he asked a few questions from time to time.

"When frying a large pot of food, strength is very important. To fry it evenly, you need to stir frequently. Lack of strength will not work."

Han Fuluo poured some of the chopped meat into the pot and quickly stir-fried it a few times. "The meat is a little harder to cook, and you need to put it in the pot first to squeeze out some oil."

"You can't just stir-fry the eggplant and pumpkin, you have to stew them."

Well, Li Feng originally thought that frying a big pot of food was quite skillful, so this guy just started to fiddle with it a few times, fearing that Han Furuo was lazy and just added water. The pumpkin and eggplant were stewed with basically no oil. He added a little oil at the beginning and then a few pieces of meat.

Li Feng thought to himself that this guy was overthinking it. It was a little oily now, but it was stewed very well and smelled quite fragrant. "Try it."

"okay."

After adding the firewood, Li Feng wiped his hands and took a pair of chopsticks that he had prepared at the beginning. This made Han Fuluo look at Li Feng more. He thought that this was really a cultured person. He even brought a pair of chopsticks. It would be better to just start eating. It wouldn't make you sick if the food was not clean.

Just as I was about to cook the second pot of stewed winter melon, several grandsons and granddaughters of Han Fuluo's family came running. Besides them, there were also children from my sister-in-law's family, Han Anchun's family, and Erya also came along.

"Dada."

Li Feng waved at Erya, asking her why she was so dirty. "Wipe your hands quickly."

On the other side, the grandchildren of the Han Fuluo family were happily eating the oil residue given to them by their grandfather, making the group of little kids who followed them envious.

"Come."

Seeing this, Li Feng beckoned Erya to share the handful of oil residue in his hand with the group of children. Erya was not reluctant to share, as her family's life had improved recently. Of course, she didn't give too much, just a piece to each child to taste.

A small amount of the extra food was left, and he planned to take it back to Daya and Sister Susu. Li Feng didn't say anything. He was generous but not so generous that he didn't care about anything. As for Han Fuluo, he only cared about his grandchildren. In addition to the oil residue, he also made some stewed pumpkin for his grandchildren. Seeing Li Feng looking at him, he grinned. "That's the only benefit of being a chef."

"Go and play."

Han Furo waved to the kids, saying that everyone would be back soon and it was time for the staple food, sweet potato and multi-grain rice. There was no rice, not even sorghum rice. Just sweet potatoes with some sorghum rice or something.

Li Feng actually gained some proficiency in cooking rice. He never thought that the temperature required for cooking rice was even higher than that for frying vegetables. But that was true. For such a big pot of sweet potato and multi-grain rice, if the temperature was not well controlled, it would not only be undercooked but also very likely to be burnt.

Look, Han Fuluo didn't dare to let Li Feng do it, and did it all by himself. Li Feng watched and took notes, and of course asked Han Fuluo a lot of questions. Han Fuluo didn't hide anything and answered almost every question.

"You are still the cultured ones."

Han Furuo sighed. When his son first started learning, he was very taciturn and didn't ask any questions. Unlike Li Feng, he asked everything and the questions he asked were all very important things. He really studied hard.

"No, Uncle Spoon, if you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have known it was so difficult to cook a big pot of rice."

"Of course not. This skill could have been used to make a living in the past."

Technology, how can it be easy? If it were really easy, not everyone would be able to do it. It would take a lot of hard work. Not to mention anything else, just mastering the temperature will take more than a day or two. The amount of firewood burned for cooking in winter is different from that in summer. This all requires experience.

Let alone frying or boiling, which one is not hard? Li Feng nodded as he listened. Being a chef is not an easy job. Let alone cooking a large pot of food, frying so many dishes at once, just carrying a 1.2 meter large pot is not something that people with weak physical strength can do.

Li Feng poured the sweet potato and mixed grain rice into the wooden barrel. Wow, there wasn't a single piece of it burnt at all. It was amazing! The rice crust was even quite good. "Don't stare at me. Eat a piece of the rice crust." Han Fuluo was not polite and broke off two pieces and stuffed them into Li Feng's mouth.

He stuffed a few pieces into his pocket while eating. This thing was very thick. Li Feng took it and looked at the rice crust as thick as his little finger. He was amazed. This thing is yellow and orange. It's really amazing. It's cooked very well. "Eat it."

"it is good."

Li Feng thought it was too thick and would hurt his teeth, but he didn't expect it to be fragrant and crispy. It was very crispy when eaten hot. "Pack two pieces and take them back for Daya and Erya."

"Need not."

"This kid."

Han Fuluo stuffed two pieces into Li Feng's pocket. Li Feng saw that he couldn't refuse, so he just kept it. It was nothing special. This was the benefit of being the chef. He waited for a pot of soup to be stewed, but it was actually just two slices of meat and a wooden basin of vegetables.

"It's a pity there's no tofu."

Han Fuluo said with emotion. "How about beating some tofu and making tofu soup? That would be delicious."

"Yes."

Li Feng thought about the song his family taught him when he was a child: "A small square field, half a day with soybeans and half with rice seedlings. I only pray for a heavy rain, so that I can harvest both soybeans and rice seedlings, and have rice and tofu soup." "This has been the most beautiful wish for many lifetimes.

When Li Feng was a child, many people sang it, even though people could not eat rice and tofu every day at that time. It is even more so now. Tofu, as a side dish, is a very precious food in rural areas. If anyone gets one or two pieces of it, the kids next door will probably be envious.

Not to mention the countryside, even in ordinary communes, except for cadres, ordinary families cannot buy tofu every day. You have to find an acquaintance to get a piece or two of it.

"That's good."

As they were talking, Han Fuguo came over. "We have vegetables, rice, and meat. What else is there?"

"Well, there are dry and liquid ones."

Han Futian said with a smile, "Everyone, hurry up and eat. If you carry a few more buckets of water now, you'll have more food to eat tomorrow." All the production teams were scrambling for water, and several villages were coming to the Hanjiaba Reservoir for help.

After several excuses, the commune finally came down and said the floodgates had to be opened. There was no other way. Other villages were even more dry now. That was why Han Fuguo and several other cadres had set up a big pot meal, just to carry more water before releasing the water and keep more water.

This guy planned to let the hunting team go for a while. On the one hand, it was not easy to hunt prey in the mountains, and on the other hand, they were fighting for water. Of course, the water issue would only last for the next two days, and next they would have to fight for the trees and bamboos in the mountains.

Maybe people will have to fight over tree bark in the future. This is no joke. During the difficult years, it was not uncommon for people to be beaten to death while fighting over tree bark. It is not that serious now, but everyone is on edge.

"Uncle Fuguo."

Li Feng came over with a large bowl. "I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?"

"Two relatives are coming."

Li Feng sighed helplessly. "He's a relative from my previous life, sent down to Shanxi. I heard there were some policy changes in the city, so I was going to ask around. He's passing by and wanted to stay with me for a few days."

"Do you have a letter of introduction?"

"Have."

Li Feng hurriedly took out a formal letter of introduction.

Han Fuguo took a look at it and handed it to Han Futian. "Okay, but the brigade doesn't provide food."

"I brought it myself. I have relatives in the city. I have food coupons and everything. I exchanged them for food."

Li Feng said with a chuckle, "Maybe I can even get a few pounds of good rice and flour."

"You kid, you're still a relative."

"I can't help it. I don't have any extra rice or flour."

Li Feng said with a smile. "Oh, by the way, I also brought some local specialties. Uncle Fuguo, Uncle Futian, I'll make a few dishes for you to try at my house later."

"never mind."

Han Fuguo waved his hand. "I don't have time. Let's talk about it after we finish this."

"Alas, so is God."

Li Feng wiped his sweat. It was almost October, and the weather was still so hot. Most importantly, there was no rain at all. "Uncle Fuguo, um, our team has hunted a lot of prey, but why haven't we taken any of it out to sell?"

"What are you selling?"

Before Han Fuguo could say anything, Han Futian spoke up. "We're so far from the county town. Several nearby communes have already taken the wild animals there to sell. I'm afraid the county doesn't have much food to exchange for it. We can't go to the district. There are a lot of mountain people nearby. I'm afraid these wild animals will be sold at a very low price."

"That's it."

But it's also true that these days, fat meat is the best, and everyone is short of oil and water. Wild game from the mountains is only available to a few cadres and some wealthy families for a change of pace, while ordinary families buy some because it's cheap. The price was already low, and now there's so much of it.

No, Li Feng suddenly realized that he would lose money if he bought the wild game because he paid a high price. For a moment, Li Feng looked at Han Fuguo and Han Futian and their eyes changed. Damn, these two old men just cheated him of his money.

　The editor said that I will recommend it if I update steadily, hahaha, I will try to write 4,000 words a day, and write more if I have time.

(End of this chapter)