Chen Lan sat in the co-pilot seat next to Xiang Xi, constantly using the system to search for scenery within a 500-meter radius, typing "water" into the search bar. The RV continued to bump along for over an hour, with no suitable stopping point found. It was already past lunchtime, and everyone must have been hungry.
Chen Lan checked the system time. Indeed, it was already 1:30 PM.
Chen Lan asked Xiang Xi to pull the RV over to the side of the road. She then suggested to Xiang Xi, "Little Watermelon, this isn't working. It's already mealtime, and everyone is probably hungry. Why don't you stop the car for a while so everyone can eat something to tide them over? We can continue driving afterward."
Xiang Xi hummed in agreement and nodded, pulling the RV over to the side of the road. The vehicles behind saw the leading RV stop and also pulled over.
Xiang Xi got out of the car to ask the drivers of the four vehicles behind to send someone to collect their lunch of toast, cakes, bread, milk, yogurt, and orange juice. If they had boiled water in their cars, they could also have coffee and black tea.
The drivers of the four vehicles behind quickly sent people to collect all the lunch food. Those in Chen Lan's RV also began preparing to eat.
Xiang Xi and Wen Kai, along with his two younger brothers, all chose to drink orange juice. Chen Lan had never expected this. She truly didn't think boys would like something sweet and sour.
Chen Lan chose to drink yogurt, while Wen Rou Niang opted for milk. Among them, some ate bread, some ate toast, and some ate cake.
After more than half an hour, with everyone fed and watered, they sat in the RV and continued their bumpy journey. As they left the mountain pass, the road became increasingly bumpy and harder to navigate!
The RV continued to bump along for less than an hour when Chen Lan finally found a place with water in the system. It wasn't directly ahead of them on the road, but about 400 meters to their left, there was a large pond. Chen Lan pointed to a relatively open area and asked Xiang Xi to park the RV there.
After telling Xiang Xi, Chen Lan stopped paying attention to him because she planned to treat everyone to a good dinner tonight, a grand feast! After all, lunch had been too simple! Chen Lan was someone who wanted both efficiency and satisfaction.
Chen Lan didn't begrudge the money at all. Without hesitation, she quickly opened the purchase system with her mind and bought a lot: twenty jin of fatty pork, twenty-five jin of Northeast pickled cabbage, twelve jin of Northeast blood sausage, and six jin of sweet potato noodles.
Oil, salt, soy sauce, scallions, ginger, star anise, chicken essence, light soy sauce, and so on were all purchased.
She also bought the largest cast-iron pot. A spatula and a knife were not needed as the RV's kitchen was already equipped, to avoid waste.
While no one was watching, Chen Lan waited until everyone had gotten out of the car. As soon as Xiang Xi parked, she opened the car door and quickly scrambled out. She went around to the other side of the RV and quickly took out all the recently purchased items. She also brought out the table and chairs used for yesterday's barbecue, and disposable bowls and chopsticks, placing them all together.
When Xiang Xi, full of curiosity, came to look, he saw a pile of supplies spread all over the ground beside the RV.
Xiang Xi asked Chen Lan curiously, "Little Basket, what are we having for dinner tonight? What are you going to cook in such a big pot?"
Chen Lan replied, "We're having a grand feast tonight to properly thank you all. You've all worked hard driving!"
Xiang Xi asked curiously, "What kind of grand feast requires such a big pot?"
Chen Lan smiled and said, "We've already entered Northeast territory. Tonight, we'll be making a famous Northeast dish, 'Shazhu Cai' (Killing Pig Stew), to celebrate!" Haha... Chen Lan burst into laughter as she spoke.
Xiang Xi happily chimed in, "Little Basket, is that true? That's great, we're having Shazhu Cai!"
Chen Lan stopped dallying and immediately instructed, "Little Watermelon, hurry up! Go and call all the young people over to help. The women will be responsible for washing and cutting the vegetables, and the men will build the stove and gather firewood."
Xiang Xi heard this and quickly ran off to call people. In no time, a large group of people arrived.
Xiang Xi led the men away, dividing his group into two teams: one to gather stones to build the stove, and the other to gather firewood.
Chen Lan led the women's group, which was also divided into two teams. One group took the items to be washed to the nearby pond, and the other group would quickly shred the pickled cabbage. Northeast pickled cabbage needs to be soaked for two to three hours before eating, otherwise, it's too sour and salty, affecting the flavor of Shazhu Cai.
Chen Lan saw that only one person was cutting vegetables, which was too slow and might not be enough time. Since the pickled cabbage needed to be soaked in water for two to three hours, she asked Hu Yuzhen and Cui Qiao to get the knives and cutting boards from the other four cars so they could cut together and speed things up.
All the preparatory work was proceeding smoothly and methodically. Chen Lan suddenly remembered something that hadn't been arranged: making rice. Shazhu Cai is best enjoyed with rice, so this glorious and arduous task was assigned to her mother-in-law and Wen Rou Niang and the others.
Although making rice for so many people sounded arduous, they had a modern cooking artifact in the RV: an electric rice cooker! Five electric rice cookers cooking at the same time should be enough for this many people, right? Each electric rice cooker had a 5-liter capacity, which could cook enough rice for at least five or six people. Theoretically, five electric rice cookers should be enough for at least thirty people. Su Dan Novel Network.
Chen Lan stopped worrying about it. If it wasn't enough, they could just eat more vegetables and less rice.
When all the preparations were completed, Chen Lan invited the head chef for this dinner, her mother-in-law, and the assistant chefs, Wen Rou Niang, Liu Mama, and Cui Mama.
At this point, the head chef mother-in-law instructed, "Chun Mei (Cui Mama) and Hong Xiu (Liu Mama), follow my steps for making Shazhu Cai, and you'll get the most authentic 'Shazhu Cai'."
First, shred the Northeast pickled cabbage and soak it in water for three hours, changing the water frequently and squeezing out the excess moisture.
"Is that how you prepare the pickled cabbage?" Cui Qiao quickly replied, "Yes, that's how it's prepared."
Second, boil the fatty pork in clear water, let it cool, and then slice it. Clean the blood sausage and cut it into thick slices. Clean the vermicelli and soak it in water.
"Hmm! These are all well-prepared!"
The mother-in-law continued to instruct, "Chun Mei, first slice the scallions and ginger."
"Hong Xiu, heat oil in a pot, and sauté the scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise in the oil until fragrant. Then add a few slices of fatty pork and stir-fry until fragrant."
The mother-in-law watched them operate and guided the next step.
"Chun Mei, add the shredded pickled cabbage to the pot and stir-fry. Then add salt and light soy sauce and stir-fry until fragrant."
"Hmm! The aroma is coming out!"
"Hong Xiu, add the broth from cooking the meat, then add the vermicelli. Bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium heat and simmer."
After simmering for about half an hour, the rich aroma of pork and the unique sweet and sour scent of pickled cabbage permeated the air.
At this time, the mother-in-law lifted the lid of the pot, looked at the food inside, and instructed again.
"Chun Mei, place the sliced fatty pork, blood sausage, and soaked vermicelli on top of the pickled cabbage, cover the pot, and continue to simmer for a few more minutes!"
Amidst everyone's anticipation, the Shazhu Cai was finally served! The unique aroma of Shazhu Cai was even more intense, filling the surroundings, making mouths water just by smelling it.
Three tables were lined up. The mother-in-law was responsible for serving. Each table was filled with a basin-sized portion of Shazhu Cai, accompanied by a rice cooker of rice. More would be added if needed.
Everyone eagerly ran to their respective tables. Chen Lan watched as everyone ate the Shazhu Cai with looks of satisfaction. She also picked up a piece of fatty pork and took a bite. It was rich but not greasy, melting in her mouth. She then picked up a chopstickful of pickled cabbage, which was unique with the flavor of meat.
Seeing everyone's happy and satisfied faces, Chen Lan felt the taste of happiness!