sbdcsierra Chapter 133: Killing Pigs in Advance
Chapter 133: Killing Pigs in Advance
Another aunt also stepped forward in a flattering manner, "Young lady, try our cooking today. I know you eat well in the city, but these are our home-cooked dishes, which are very nutritious."
Her sister-in-law worked in a soap factory, and she also got the job of cooking. A few piglets had just been born in the family, and they were hoping that Anqiao could take them in as well, so naturally she was more attentive.
"Thank you, aunties." An Qiao shouted outside, "Jingzhe, Dahan, come in quickly and catch the rabbit."
Then he said to Aunt Tong, "Aunt, when Uncle Tong comes back, ask him to make a tight rabbit pen. Rabbits love to dig holes, so they must be kept in a cage. But rabbits are easy to raise. You just need to feed them some unwanted vegetables or wild vegetables. The rabbits will grow strong and can have several litters a year."
Aunt Tong took the rabbit, and the aunt next to her was a little worried, "My dear, this rabbit is not very delicious. You must have spent a lot of energy to raise it so fat."
"I don't know, my aunts, but all the rabbits I cook are delicious. I'll ask you to expand the breeding next year. You may have to slaughter dozens of rabbits a day." An Qiao said with a smile.
"Oh, this young lady is really someone who can do great things." The aunt didn't know what to say for a moment and could only sigh.
An Qiao smiled and said, "Aunt Tong, the weather is unusually cold this year. I asked the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple and he said there might be a natural disaster. I brought this rabbit here because I thought it would be good meat if you raise it well."
Aunt Tong immediately became serious, "The head of the family also said that the weather is unusual."
"Yes, yes, many people in our village think that many people will die of cold this winter." The aunt next to her interrupted.
An Qiao thought for a moment and said, "Yes, so everyone still needs to be prepared."
Because she had to be on guard against others, An Qiao did not say anything in front of her aunt. She even brought up the Dali Temple Shaoqing specifically, just in case people lost their minds in the face of natural disasters.
There were only a few dogs on the farm that were brought back by Tongshan. They were basically all Chinese pastoral dogs, with only one horse dog that looked a bit majestic. If they got into any dispute, it would be hard to say.
After Tong Shan came back, An Qiao pulled him aside and said, "Uncle Tong, if there is any natural disaster or man-made disaster, please take care of yourself. Life is the most important thing, and it doesn't matter if other things are destroyed. If there is no food, you can kill pigs, chickens, and ducks, but you must save their lives. Except for these aunties who cook, the villagers don't have much contact with this place. You often ask people to deliver goods to the store. If they covet your food, you can just push everything onto the restaurant. The food is hidden. I guess... this heavy snow may block the road."
Tong Shan immediately said, "I've thought of these things too. If it doesn't work, we can kill all the pigs, transport some to the restaurant, and keep some for ourselves. If someone comes to the restaurant, we can just say we don't have any."
An Qiao's eyes lit up. "How about this? They don't know how many pigs there are in the pigpen. Why don't we just kill two today and announce that we've killed them all. I'll take them back, and you can keep one in the cellar to eat later."
Tong Shan said, "Why should we stay? Take all the young ladies with you."
"Don't be polite to me. As long as I'm alive, you will have to raise more pigs for me in the future." An Qiao made the decision with a smile.
Tong Shan immediately separated the pigs, pulled out the two larger ones and killed them, and hid the smaller ones in the pigpen. As long as you didn't get close, they would not be easy to find as they were just half-grown piglets.
"I'll go to the village and ask someone to come and kill a pig. Let's have a lively pig-killing dinner tonight." Tong Shan said to An Qiao. An Qiao nodded and said, "Uncle Tong, please go after you eat. It's time for lunch now."
Tong Shan immediately stopped and ate the pig-slaughtering meal. It was so exciting that he almost went to his head.
Originally, she thought it was not the right time to kill these pigs, but since they were going to be killed, An Qiao had already thought about what kind of pickled meat and food to make from the pigs.
The two returned to the courtyard, and An Qiao specifically told the aunties who were cooking, "We still have two pigs here. The rest have been killed. Let's kill both pigs today. We will have a lively pig-killing dinner tonight. Can any of you cook meat dishes?"
When they heard that there would be pork to eat, several aunts nodded excitedly.
One of them even said, "Young lady, you are so generous. You can kill all the pigs right away."
"The weather is cold this year, and I'm afraid I won't have time to prepare the pig-killing dinner next month. I happen to be free today, so I'll kill the pork and bring it back, and sell the pig-killing dishes in the restaurant." An Qiao said it lightly without revealing any flaws.
Aunt Tong also reacted quickly after being reminded by Tong Shan, "Then we can have a lively pig-killing dinner today."
After lunch, Tongshan went to the village to call a few experienced pig butchers. For fear of arousing suspicion from others, he drove the pigs back to the pig shed and drove the other piglets that were not to be slaughtered to the back mountain.
Tongshan used to raise free-range chickens in a fenced area on the back hill, so the pigs cannot be kept in there every day, but it is okay once or twice occasionally.
The villagers had brought over at least ten piglets before, so they couldn't help but be curious at this moment.
Some villagers who have been to the big restaurants in Kyoto Prefecture said with disdain, "People in the city love to eat suckling pigs, but they are not like us, who think it would be a loss if we don't raise them big enough."
Tong Shan did not refute.
Soon, the two pigs were killed, and the blood, pork, and offal were taken out.
In fact, for the pig-killing feast, families with better lives would slaughter some pigs from every part of the body and cook and eat such things as ribs, fat, lean meat, and pork belly.
Those who live in hard times can only make some soups and fry some fried dough.
But no matter which one it is, everyone feels happy, as ordinary people can only eat meat a few times a year.
An Qiao has already ordered the main meat dishes, pig blood and pickled vegetable soup, braised pork offal, stir-fried pork kidney, deep-fried pork, and steamed black bean oil residue.
This is already a very good menu. Half of the dishes are meat, so it can be said that it is good.
Make some vegetarian dishes and steam enough rice.
Hearing that there were so many dishes and they had to steam white rice, an aunt who was cooking said distressedly, "Young lady, there is no need to prepare so many dishes. It's fine if there are so many dishes, but you still have to steam white rice for them. We can just steam some coarse grains. Although I know that the young lady is a good person and brought so many delicious dishes and meat, we really have no way to repay her."
An Qiao was stunned. She remembered that the aunt who was in charge of the family also came to slaughter pigs. Shouldn't she think that there would be more delicious dishes and meat?
Seeing An Qiao in a daze, the aunt took the rice washing basin away and mixed in a lot of corn bran and coarse grains, "It tastes good this way too. The young lady gave me so much white rice, everything I cook will taste good."
Only then did An Qiao realize that her aunt was serious.
This time, not only were the workers invited to the pig-killing dinner, but two people from every family in the village were also invited. An Qiao thought that if a disaster really happened, she would have a safety net so that she would not be isolated by the whole village.