Chapter 259: Chapter 89: Rice Porridge Hotpot
Du Xixi is a person who keeps her word. She promised to make rice porridge hotpot yesterday and got up early today to prepare it.
"The porridge-base hotpot uses a special fragrant rice. It is gently pounded so that each grain is broken into two or three pieces, then rinsed, mixed with oil and salt, marinated briefly, and finally put into a large clay pot to cook..." Du Xixi recalled the knowledge she learned while on Blue Star, her eyes softening.
Rice porridge hotpot, also known as porridge-base hotpot or porridge soup hotpot, was a method Du Xixi learned from an elder in her family. It requires top-quality fragrant rice to be finely ground, then soaked in warm water for half an hour, followed by a period of slow and careful boiling.
During the boiling process, various seasonings can be added according to individual preference. However, to preserve the original taste of the rice porridge, Du Xixi wasn’t willing to add too much, at most just some fine salt, a few jujube pieces, and maybe slices of ginger and chicken bones to remove the fishy smell and enhance the flavor.
Knowing there was rice porridge hotpot for lunch, both Ke Lian and Ke Xing deliberately didn’t eat much breakfast, just enough to settle their stomachs. They were all eagerly waiting for the much-anticipated hotpot lunch!
When Du Xixi asked 2569 to help place the already boiled rice porridge hotpot base on the table, Ke Xing and Ke Lian had already conscientiously picked up their bowls and chopsticks, waiting for Du Xixi to start the meal.
Apart from the different base, the rest of the dipping sauces and ingredients were actually not much different from yesterday. Ke Lian and Ke Xing carefully scanned the table full of ingredients and realized that while yesterday featured mainly beef and lamb, today there were unexpectedly more seafood and freshwater fish.
Large shrimp, fresh fish slices, plump sea cucumbers...
They looked delicious!
"Eat quickly; these ingredients are fresh and surely taste excellent," Du Xixi smiled and urged Ke Lian and Ke Xing to start eating, while she unhesitatingly used public chopsticks to pick a slice of fish no thicker than a pinky finger, gently swishing it in the hotpot base.
Amid the swirling steam of the porridge, the tender fish slice turned into an enticing milky white, still unable to hide its deliciousness even when placed in a well-prepared dipping sauce.
The beef and lamb were from the same two cows and sheep as yesterday, preserved in the fridge and naturally still considered fresh, and the newly added freshwater and seafood were also specially procured by Du Xixi, sending 2569 to find them.
Thanks to 2569’s hard work of fishing shrimp from the river and traveling all the way to the seaside to acquire fresh ingredients, most of the table’s ingredients were secured.
If yesterday’s dual-flavor hotpot, a mix of spicy and sweet, made the taste extraordinary, today’s rice porridge hotpot reached an extreme of lightness, but instead made the flavor unique, infused with a rich aroma of rice and various flavors.
In any case, everyone was eating happily.
After the ingredients on the table were finished, this unique rice porridge hotpot was not done. Du Xixi stood up and served each person a bowl of the already extremely thick rice porridge.
The rice porridge had a glossy milky yellow on top. Upon closer inspection, it was still dotted with bits of meat and fish left from dipping, making it even more enticing and visually appealing.
Ke Lian reached out to take his bowl, and before he could eat, he saw Ke Xing impatiently starting to eat, grimacing as he was scalded, yet still eating despite the heat, making Ke Lian laugh helplessly.
Scooping up a spoonful of rice porridge, the thick porridge, like a broken lotus root slice, still had fine threads of stickiness between the grains, but it didn’t feel sticky to the teeth upon entering the mouth. It was rather a scalding sensation going in, then down the throat, surprisingly smooth.
The aromas of meat, fish, and vegetables intermingled, continually blending with the rich fragrance of rice into Ke Lian’s mouth, making him blissfully relax his brows, apparently enjoying his meal very much.
Du Xixi was also happily eating. Having somewhat filled herself, she initially only served herself half a bowl of rice porridge, intending to taste the flavor and then stop, but unexpectedly, the taste was so deliciously appetizing that she couldn’t help but serve herself another bowl.
As a result, of course, she ended up stuffed.
***
Nowadays, Du Xixi’s livestreaming isn’t just about teaching people how to cook. Guided by numerous fans and the trend on the Star Network, Du Xixi opens a holographic mode in her livestream room every few days, randomly streaming with a few viewers together.
This holographic mode is actually a newly released streaming model. As long as conditions allow, even those on opposite ends of the interstellar region can livestream face-to-face with the help of holographic mode.