Chapter 176 – A Plate of “Flowers”

“What are you doing?” Lanxin was actually a kind-hearted girl, except when it came to food. She held a chicken wing in her left hand, gnawing on it, and used her right hand to block the chopsticks that the little boy stretched out. 

The little boy didn’t have the courage to argue, and he hung his head down as if he had been caught doing something wrong. He said softly, “I saw you all eating, and I wanted a piece too.”

Xixi pulled Lanxin’s hand. The little girl now looked like a big cat, a beautiful big tabby cat one, with her mouth full of food. She said, “It’s okay, Xin’er. My Papa made a lot of food, and everyone can have some!”

Lanxin reluctantly took back her hand, but she quickly picked up the second chicken wing she had been eyeing and put it in her lunch box, feeling pleased as she looked at the little boy.

However, the little boy didn’t pay attention to her. He happily picked up a chicken wing and thanked Xixi. 

That one “thank you” made the little girl so happy that her big eyes narrowed into crescents. 

… 

While Xixi and her friends were having lunch, Yang Yi and Mo Fei were enjoying their own little world. 

After returning home, Mo Fei was still a bit worried about their daughter. She turned on the TV but didn’t pay attention to what was on. Meanwhile, Yang Yi went into the kitchen, doing something mysterious.

Of course, at this point, Mo Fei didn’t have the mind to think about what Yang Yi was doing. He had said he was going to make a special lunch for her, but Mo Fei didn’t think much of it. 

Yang Yi, on the other hand, was preparing very carefully. After he came up with the idea, he had planned and secretly tried it out for a long time to ensure that everything was perfect. However, he didn’t expect the opportunity to come so quickly, and now he could finally present it!

(P.S.The following is a teaching segment. Originally, I intended to skip it, but considering that many male readers may find it useful, I will introduce it to everyone.)(Author’s note)

To start with, everything began with chopping the meat, just like making dumplings. The chopped meat was mixed with diced carrots, along with appropriate amounts of five-spice powder, salt, fresh ginger, monosodium glutamate, and sesame oil.  All the ingredients were stirred in the same direction while a little soy sauce was gradually added. This created a bowl of dumpling filling

Yang Yi did not plan to add cabbage or mushrooms because he was not actually making dumplings, and mixing them would affect the final result.

However, Yang Yi still took out a cabbage, cut off the leaves, leaving the stems, and also used carrots and cucumbers. The latter two were cut into thin, elongated slices as thin as cicada wings with a diagonal cut.

Then, he lit a fire, heated a pot of water, and when the water boiled, he put in the cabbage stems, carrot slices, and cucumber slices. The carrot and cucumber were blanched for about 30 seconds and then drained, while the cabbage stems were boiled for two minutes to ensure they were softened, and then drained as well.

Next was a test of his knife skills. With Yang Yi’s level of expertise, he could only use a diagonal cut to slice the stem of a piece of cabbage to make two thin, transparent skin-like layers, with the middle part being discarded. This thin layer of cabbage skin looked clear and translucent, and even more textured than rice paper!

Or rather, it looked more like a flower petal!

Next, Yang Yi would shape the meat filling into small strips, and then wrap them with the cabbage skin he had cut earlier, with a larger opening at the head and a slightly narrower opening at the tail.

At first glance, it was not clear what he was making, but as Yang Yi placed the “lilies” made of meat and wrapped in cabbage skin along the edge of a large white plate, the outline was revealed.

Then, he used blanched carrot and cucumber slices to wrap the meat filling in the same way. The “green roses” formed the second circle, and in the middle, he filled it with “pink roses”. To decorate it, Yang Yi also sprinkled some yellow pepper grains in the middle.

Of course, this was not the final step. The meat filling had to be steamed in a steamer. This took about 15 minutes. After steaming, it was almost ready to be eaten, but Yang Yi was someone who strive for perfection!

He also poured out the soup from the steamer, poured it into a frying pan, and heated it up. He added water starch to thicken the soup. This process is called “thickening”. After the soup boiled again, he turned off the heat and poured the thickened soup evenly over the “flowers”.

Suddenly, the colorful “flowers” seemed to have come to life, sparkling with crystal-clear droplets, and looked so lovely!

…..

“It’s time for lunch!” Yang Yi pulled Mo Fei over to the dining table, and the two of them sat down side by side.

Mo Fei also came back to her senses and looked at the table with a hemispherical lid, not sure what dish under it was. Then, there were two clean plates in front of them, along with a bowl of prepared sauce.

It was just too…simple!

Mo Fei has eaten so many meals at Yang Yi’s house, but she has never seen such a simple one before. There was no main course, just one dish of vegetables.

However, Mo Fei didn’t mind. She was curious about what kind of dish was under the big hemispherical lid. After all, Yang Yi had said that he had prepared it with great care.

“Um, did you make steak? Wait, why don’t I smell the fragrance of steak?” Mo Fei asked curiously.

It really looked like they were going to eat steak! The dining style was very western, and when eating, they needed these sauces to pour over the steak, of course, some people liked to dip them in.

However, it also didn’t seem like it, Mo Fei noticed that there were chopsticks next to the plate, instead of a knife and fork.

“It’s not steak.” Yang Yi gentlemanly pulled out a chair and helped Mo Fei to sit down, then poured freshly squeezed orange juice into a tall glass for her. It may have looked like a waste of a glass, but ever since that incident, Mo Fei didn’t want to touch alcohol again!

“Thank you!” Mo Fei saw Yang Yi being so serious and felt amused in her heart, so she also became graceful following suit.

Yang Yi slightly leaned forward, placed his right hand on the hemispherical lid, and gently  said, “Mo Fei, I specially researched today’s dish for you, I hope you’ll like it.”

After speaking, Yang Yi uncovered the lid.

There was no dazzling light, but there were vibrant colors, and a “bunch” of flowers suddenly appeared in front of Mo Fei’s eyes.

Mo Fei was stunned for a moment. At first glance, she didn’t see it clearly and thought it was really a bunch of flowers. While feeling touched, she also wondered, “Are we going to eat flowers for lunch?”

But after all, she didn’t have nearsightedness, and Mo Fei quickly recognized that these were all fake flowers. Even the flower cores were just lumps of meat filling!

“Pfft!” Mo Fei was both moved and amused. She lightly tapped Yang Yi’s arm with her hand and said, “You, how did you come up with such a trick again? Last time it was ‘A Pair of Birds Flying Close Together’, what is it this time?”

“Uh…” Yang Yi scratched his head. He really hadn’t thought about the name for this dish. ‘A Pair of Birds Flying Close Together’ had a symbolic meaning with chicken wings, but for this ‘flower’ dish, does it really need any symbolism?

Looking at Yang Yi’s embarrassed expression, Mo Fei couldn’t help but laugh again. “Okay, okay, don’t think about it. Even without a name, I really like it. Thank you for preparing these flowers so carefully!”

Yang Yi had been acting like a gentleman just now, but now he also smiled. Mo Fei’s liking was the biggest encouragement for him!

“By the way, how do we eat this?” Mo Fei asked.

“Just eat it like you would eat dumplings.” Yang Yi reached out and took Mo Fei’s chopsticks, picked up a ‘pink rose’ made of carrot slices in the middle, dipped it in soy sauce, and handed it to Mo Fei.

“Ah, don’t destroy it!” Mo Fei exclaimed anxiously. “I haven’t taken a picture yet!”