“No need, you’re a guest, how can I let you help! Just sit here, it’ll be ready soon.” Liu Yifeng said, then went to the kitchen.
Xu Muqing still followed him in, “Let me help, otherwise I’ll be bored sitting here alone!”
Seeing this, Liu Yifeng found it difficult to refuse, so he nodded, “Alright, you help me wash the rice. I’ll use it to cook preserved egg and lean pork congee. You and Yao Yao don’t have any dietary restrictions, right?”
Xu Muqing shook her head, “My daughter and I are not picky eaters!”
“Okay, for breakfast I’ll prepare preserved egg and lean pork congee, steam a basket of meat buns, and squeeze some soy milk. We’ll just make do with this for breakfast!”
“This is already very abundant,” Xu Muqing said, then went to help wash the rice. Liu Yifeng’s home did not have running water, they used well water.
This was also the first time she had encountered such a thing. After trying for a while, she couldn’t get any water out, and felt a bit embarrassed!
But she was too embarrassed to ask Liu Yifeng, otherwise he would think she was the type who expected everything to be done for her!
At this moment, Tongtong walked over with Yao Yao.
“Auntie Xu, do you need to pump water?” Tongtong asked.
Xu Muqing nodded with a blush, “Yes, but why isn’t any water coming out?”
She had exerted a lot of force just now, but no water came out.
Tongtong didn’t say anything. He directly went into the kitchen, scooped a ladle of water, and poured it into the water pump.
“Auntie Xu, you need to pour some water in first to draw the water out. You can pump water now.”
After hearing this, Xu Muqing pressed down hard a few times, and indeed, water came out, “Tongtong, it’s actually coming out! You’re so smart!”
“My dad taught me that!” As soon as Tongtong finished speaking, Liu Yifeng hurried out of the kitchen, “Ms. Xu, I forgot to remind you that the water pump needs water to be poured in to draw water.”
Seeing that Xu Muqing hadn’t come in for so long, he remembered that the water pump needed water to be poured in.
And Xu Muqing, being a city dweller, would certainly not know this.
“It’s already out, Tongtong taught me,” Xu Muqing said, while pumping water into the basin for washing rice.
She rubbed it several times before she finally washed the rice clean.
“Mr. Liu, the rice is washed. Should we cook it now?” Xu Muqing asked, holding the washed rice with both hands as she walked into the kitchen.
Liu Yifeng took the rice from her hands and said, “Leave it to me. Preserved egg and lean pork congee is best cooked in a clay pot.
Do you prefer it thinner or thicker?”
“Thicker, please!” Xu Muqing liked her congee thick, otherwise, if it was too thin, it would be like drinking water.
Liu Yifeng also liked it thick, so he poured the rice into the clay pot, then sliced two preserved eggs and put them in. He plugged in the power and started cooking.
“Don’t you need to add lean pork and vegetables?” Xu Muqing asked curiously.
“I’ll add that later. I’ll go knead the dough first.” Liu Yifeng knew from her question that she probably rarely cooked, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked such a basic question.
After saying that, he started kneading the dough. After kneading, it needed to rest for about ten minutes, so the steamed buns would be fluffy and soft.
During this time, he sliced the lean pork into thin strips and chopped some ginger to remove the smell.
“Could you please wash these small greens for me? I still need to mince the meat filling,” Liu Yifeng handed the greens to Xu Muqing.
Xu Muqing went to the water pump to wash the greens, while Liu Yifeng was not idle. He took out a piece of meat that was three parts fat and seven parts lean, first cut it into pieces of moderate size, and then vigorously minced it.
Steamed buns should not be made with entirely lean meat; a little fat makes them tastier.
After mincing the meat filling, he poured the pre-soaked ginger water into the bowl of meat filling one by one, then began to season it.
Finally, he chopped some fresh scallions to enhance the flavor. The color looked very enticing.
Xu Muqing looked at the person working skillfully and couldn’t help but say, “I rarely see men working so skillfully in the kitchen. It looks like you must have cooked a lot!”
Liu Yifeng smiled and said, “When I was young, my family’s conditions were not good. My father often went out to farm, and he wouldn’t get back until one or two o’clock at noon.
I started learning to cook so that my father wouldn’t have to work so hard to cook for me when he came back. That’s how I learned my cooking skills.”
“They say children from poor families grow up faster. Unlike me, the food I cook is still very ordinary. As soon as I cook, my daughter makes a face, and people would think I, her own mother, poisoned her,” Xu Muqing said embarrassedly.
“Ms. Xu is a successful career woman. Those hands are meant for making money, not for scrubbing rags. It’s normal not to know how to cook.
Besides, now that you have the means, you can hire a nanny to cook. There’s no need to tire yourself out by cooking,” Liu Yifeng comforted her.
Xu Muqing smiled faintly, “Don’t comfort me. I’m just lazy and don’t want to learn these things.
However, seeing you busy in the kitchen today, you seem to be enjoying it, looking very happy. It seems you really like cooking!”
Liu Yifeng explained, “It’s not that I like cooking. It’s just that when I think about how my family loves the dishes I make, I get a sense of accomplishment.
Today is the first time you’ll taste my cooking. Please don’t be offended if it’s not good!”
“Of course not. This meat filling is seasoned. Are you going to make buns?” Xu Muqing asked, looking at the appetizing meat filling.
Liu Yifeng nodded, “Yes. The dough has also rested. We can start wrapping the buns.
But before we start wrapping, I need to go check on the congee.” He said, and then walked to the other side of the stove. The congee in the clay pot was bubbling.
Liu Yifeng put on gloves, opened the lid, and saw the congee boiling.
He immediately added the lean pork, then the minced ginger, then a little light soy sauce and salt.
As for the greens, they would be added at the end.
From afar, Xu Muqing could smell the aroma of the congee. Although she wasn’t very hungry before, her stomach immediately rumbled.
If it weren’t for her womanly dignity, she would have loved to scoop out a bowl to satisfy her hunger.
Liu Yifeng didn’t know Xu Muqing was hungry. He returned to the stove with the meat filling, divided the dough into pieces of similar size.
Then he used a rolling pin to flatten them.
“Are steamed buns easy to make? I want to try too later!” Xu Muqing looked eager to try.
Liu Yifeng could tell from her expression that she had never wrapped buns before. Her first attempt would probably be a disaster.
However, he didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm, so he said, “Wrapping buns is not difficult. I’ll teach you!”
As he spoke, he guided her hand by hand.
Soon, under his kneading and shaping, a bun that looked like it was bought from outside appeared.
Seeing how easily Liu Yifeng had wrapped a bun, Xu Muqing suddenly felt that wrapping buns wasn’t that difficult. She picked up a dough wrapper and began to wrap it in a professional manner.
However, after putting in the meat filling, no matter how she kneaded and shaped it, the bun wouldn’t take form and looked incredibly ugly.
This made her a little anxious, as she didn’t want Liu Yifeng to look down on her.
But the more anxious she became, the worse the bun turned out. Liu Yifeng had already wrapped four or five buns, and she was still working on her first one.
Seeing that she was really struggling, Liu Yifeng patiently taught her again, “You need to pinch here first, then slowly make the pleats and seal it.”
Xu Muqing followed his hand-guided demonstration and slowly wrapped another one. This time, she finally managed to wrap it.
Although it still looked ugly, at least the meat filling wouldn’t leak out.
This gave her a sense of accomplishment, as it was her first bun.
For the next few buns, she gained experience, and each one looked a little better than the last.
However, if shown to outsiders, one could still distinguish between the buns made by the two of them.
In about fifteen minutes, all the buns were wrapped, a total of twenty buns.
The buns were about the size of Liu Yifeng’s fist, likely more than they could eat in one meal.
After wrapping the buns, he quickly added the vegetables to the clay pot and stirred them with a spoon a few times.
Then he unplugged the power. The congee was cooked. Now all that was left was to steam the buns and squeeze soy milk.
By the time breakfast was ready, it was already around eight o’clock.
“Dad, isn’t breakfast ready yet? I’m hungry.” At this moment, Tongtong and Yao Yao walked into the kitchen.
Liu Yifeng had just taken the steamed buns out of the steamer and placed seven or eight on a large round plate.
“Breakfast is ready. Quickly take Yao Yao to wash her hands. We’ll eat now.”
As soon as they heard they could eat, Tongtong was overjoyed, “Yay! We have big meat buns today! Yao Yao, my dad’s steamed buns are delicious. I promise you’ll eat three today!”
“I want to eat five!” Unexpectedly, Yao Yao’s appetite was even bigger. As soon as she entered, she smelled the aroma of the meat buns.
Xu Muqing heard her daughter’s bold declaration and immediately felt a little helpless, “This child is already exaggerating at such a young age.”