The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 529: Chapter 527: Teaching Relies Entirely on a Loud Voice

Jiang Feng entered the kitchen, and immediately Tian Lin and Mrs. Jiang fell silent. Not only did they stop talking, but there was also an awkward expression on Tian Lin’s face.

She didn’t know how much of her conversation with Mrs. Jiang he had overheard, and she was afraid that Jiang Feng might have heard something inappropriate.

“Auntie, you want to learn how to make braised meat with bamboo shoots, right?” Jiang Feng didn’t have as many thoughts as Tian Lin, and he asked directly.

Relieved by Jiang Feng’s question, Tian Lin immediately exhaled a sigh of relief, “Yes, you see, Meimei has been having a poor appetite these days? I wanted to learn some new dishes to see if she could stomach them, she hasn’t eaten meat for several days now. How can she keep up with nutrition like this?”

“If it’s just braised meat with bamboo shoots, I can teach you. That dish isn’t difficult, and I believe you’ll be able to handle it quite soon,” Jiang Feng said with a smile, “Besides, our families live close by. If you don’t get the hang of it today, I can also come over in a couple of days and teach you.”

Before Tian Lin could reply, Mrs. Jiang eagerly interjected, “That’s right, your strong daughter-in-law can let Feng teach you. Weiguo has a bad temper, Feng is more suited. Besides, Feng also has experience in teaching others how to cook. This year he even took on an apprentice, and he taught him so well that now he can even make fried sauce noodles after only half a year. Isn’t that right, Feng?”

Mrs. Jiang didn’t forget to cue Jiang Feng.

With the microphone practically in his mouth, Jiang Feng nodded his head repeatedly, “Yes, yes.”

Tian Lin was still a bit stunned, already convinced in her heart that Jiang Feng and Mrs. Jiang’s idea was good, but she still felt obliged to be modest, “That doesn’t seem right. Feng, you are already working, and now during the rare holiday break, you still have to teach me how to cook. It’s too much for you.”

“What are you talking about, Auntie? How can teaching you to cook be called a hardship?” exclaimed Jiang Feng enthusiastically.

Could doing a mission possibly be called hardship?

“Back when Meimei was a child, she was always so good to me, giving me anything tasty to eat, and during braised meat meals always putting the fatty pieces into my bowl,” Jiang Feng began to shamelessly embellish, “When Meimei can’t eat well, we’re anxious too. Teaching you to cook is just helping Meimei. There’s nothing hard about that, it’s only right!”

Tears almost fell from Tian Lin’s eyes as she inwardly cursed herself for her blindness to seeing what a warm-hearted kid Jiang Feng was before.

“Feng, I won’t say anything else, but let me thank you on behalf of your Meimei first. Oh, and there’s still some braised meat in the pot, I’ll serve you a bowl of that,” said Tian Lin, moving to grab a bowl.

Jiang Feng quickly stopped her, “No need, Auntie, I’ve just had some glutinous rice balls and really can’t eat any more.”

Seeing that she was no longer needed in the kitchen, Mrs. Jiang put down the vegetables she had just picked out into a basin and said to Jiang Feng, “Feng, you stay here and help your aunt, I’m going out for a walk.”

“Okay, grandma,” Jiang Feng said with a smile.

After Mrs. Jiang left the kitchen, only Jiang Feng and Tian Lin remained.

Since Mrs. Jiang had asked Jiang Feng to stay and help, it naturally fell upon him to do so for today’s lunch. Jiang Feng surveyed the kitchen and found no shortage of ingredients; they seemed to have nearly all the vegetables available at the winter market, plenty of meat, and even live poultry in the yard if needed.

“Auntie, what are you planning to make for lunch today?” inquired Jiang Feng.

Tian Lin chuckled, “You know I’m not the best cook, I was just going to make some scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried shredded potatoes, stir-fried pork with hot peppers, and braised pork. There’s already some braised meat in the pot that’s ready.”

Every year when Mrs. Jiang led the Jiang family members over to the Zhao family to celebrate the new year, these were the dishes that Tian Lin typically prepared.

Jiang Feng nodded, as if reclaiming the feeling he had when he was first teaching patient’s relatives how to cook in the small canteen at the Benevolent Doctor. Teaching one dish was teaching, and teaching several was the same effort. Jiang Feng felt that teaching only braised meat with bamboo shoots wouldn’t ensure Zhao Mei’s nutrition before childbirth, so he decided to teach Tian Lin more of the home-cooked dishes she was good at making all at once, comprehensively improving the Zhao family’s meals.

“Here’s what we’ll do, Auntie. You’ll make today’s lunch dishes except for the braised pork. I’ll watch over and let you know if there’s an issue, and also teach you some tricks in the process. We’ll hold off on the braised pork for now. I’ll cook it this afternoon along with the braised meat with bamboo shoots. When I’m cooking, pay close attention by my side. If there are important steps, I’ll emphasize them, so don’t worry about not being able to learn,” Jiang Feng suggested.

“Then I’m troubling you,” Tian Lin, aware of her own average cooking skills and also knowing the renowned culinary standard of the Jiang family, had previously heard from Mrs. Jiang that Jiang Feng was now working daily in the restaurant just like Jiang Jiankang.

Tian Lin had no clear concept of the culinary profession and felt that since Jiang Feng was already employed, it implied he was a chef. With a chef teaching her cooking, she naturally had no objections.

Tian Lin began cutting vegetables in front of Jiang Feng.

Regarding knife skills, Tian Lin wasn’t bad – her proficiency was typical of a regular homemaker. When Jiang Feng first started doing missions in the small canteen at the Benevolent Doctor, he’d seen many whose knife skills were far worse than Tian Lin’s.

While Tian Lin was chopping the vegetables, Jiang Feng didn’t say much, occasionally just reminding her that she could cut the pieces a bit smaller – merely insignificant details.

Tian Lin’s biggest issue was seasoning.

Because the Zhao family had been poor for too many years, Tian Lin’s cooking had always been one of two extremes: either heavy on oil, salt, and sauce or completely lacking in them – the dishes were either extremely salty or entirely bland. She had become accustomed to using just a little oil and seasoning for everyday cooking while going all out during the New Year, especially with oil and salt, pushing their notion of “more oil doesn’t ruin a dish” to the limit.

Jiang Feng remembered more than 10 years ago, before he started elementary school, Tian Lin would spread oil on the pan instead of pouring it in directly. Back then, Jiang Feng was always curious why Tian Lin never seemed to use oil when cooking; he thought the rag she used was for wiping the pan before frying.

It was precisely for this reason that Jiang Feng, usually quiet while chopping vegetables, became especially talkative when he started cooking officially.

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“Auntie, you’ve added too much oil. That amount of oil could fry four eggs, and you’re only frying two. Why not crack two more eggs in?”

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“Auntie, there’s no need to put so much salt in scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Don’t add this spoonful of salt, the flavor changes when there’s too much.”

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“Eating more salt gives you the energy to work hard,” Tian Lin couldn’t help but retort. “Besides, both your great uncle and your uncle love dishes with a lot of salt.”

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A family accustomed to strong flavors.

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Jiang Feng, “… Auntie, Great Uncle is getting on in years, it’s better for him to eat less salt. Listen to me and add just a little, at most a half spoon more, really no more than that.”

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“You can’t add so much soy sauce! Auntie, why would you add soy sauce when frying tomatoes and eggs? There’s no need to add soy sauce to this dish!”

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A steaming dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, looking quite presentable and seemingly normal in flavor, was laboriously served.

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Tian Lin then started stir-frying pork with hot peppers.

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To help Tian Lin cook better and to facilitate Jiang Feng’s teaching, he had helped her prepare all the ingredients on separate plates, including re-cutting the fat she had cut improperly.

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Stir-frying pork with Wuhua meat isn’t a problem, but if the pork is 80% fat to 20% lean, there’s a big problem. A fifty-fifty ratio is more appropriate for stir-frying pork with hot peppers, and sixty-forty is acceptable if the meat is sliced thin enough.

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Jiang Feng specially re-cut a plate of thin slices of Wuhua meat for stir-frying with hot peppers.

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Then Jiang Feng watched Tian Lin heat the oil in the wok, and she turned to pick up the plate of 80-20 Wuhua meat that Jiang Feng had placed far away.

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“Auntie, wrong, wrong, not that plate, this one, the one right next to your hand!” Jiang Feng grabbed Tian Lin.

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Tian Lin was still somewhat confused, obviously not understanding the difference between the two plates of meat. Weren’t they both Wuhua meat?

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“Auntie, when stir-frying pork with hot peppers, you can’t use Wuhua meat that’s too fatty. If you want to use the fatty meat, you have to slice it thinner, otherwise it’s soft and oily, too greasy with every bite.”

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“Isn’t it good to have every bite full of oil? That way it’s juicy and delicious,” Tian Lin had her own system of cooking theory.

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Jiang Feng, “… Auntie, Great Uncle is also old, eating something so fatty isn’t good for his health. That goes for you and Uncle too, don’t always eat such fatty food, it’s not good for your health.”

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Tian Lin was somewhat convinced, but still a bit reluctant to give up the meat she had sliced, “But it tastes better with more fat.”

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“It will taste just as good if you cook it the way I taught you!”

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The Wuhua meat was finally in the wok.

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“Yes, that’s right, Auntie. You need to stir-fry the Wuhua meat a bit longer to render out the fat. When the meat changes color and curls a bit, then you can add the peppers.”

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“That’s enough, enough, no more soy sauce. Cooking wine, you need to add cooking wine, you need to add cooking wine when braising meat!”

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“Ai, that’s good now, lastly you can add a bit of sugar for color and flavor. Just a little, don’t add too much, your spoon is way too big!”

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The pork stir-fried with hot peppers was successfully served.

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By the time stir-fried shredded potato was ready, Jiang Feng felt his throat getting a bit hoarse.

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You can’t blame him for being too excited; Tian Lin’s movements were just too fast. He had to shout louder to stop her, otherwise the ingredients would probably have ended up straight in the pot.

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After three dishes, Jiang Feng felt his teaching skills had greatly improved.

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Not only had his teaching skills greatly improved, but his speaking speed had increased significantly as well; speaking slower wouldn’t have stopped Tian Lin’s actions.

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She sprinkled salt so quickly you wouldn’t think she was about to become a grandmother.

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Tian Lin also felt a significant improvement in her cooking skills. Even though she felt unnatural not being allowed to add more seasonings by Jiang Feng, the dishes definitely looked better than the ones she made before. Especially the scrambled eggs with tomatoes, which looked much brighter and more vibrant without the soy sauce.

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“Feng, don’t you think these three dishes are a bit sparse? Even with braised meat in the pot, it won’t look good on the table. With so many people eating, and seeing as we still have time, why don’t we make some red-braised pork?” Tian Lin said.

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“No need,” Jiang Feng began tying his apron, “You first put these few dishes in the pot on the side, and cover them to keep warm.”

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“The rest of the cooking, you can leave to me.”

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