Little Fat Ding sat unceremoniously in Zhang Tong's hotel with his schoolbag on his back and became the first guest of the hotel at night. He said in a male voice that was changing his voice during his development: "Uncle Zhang, I'm hungry." ”

As soon as Zhang Tong sent Jiang Hua away, he saw Little Fat Ding come in, and he smiled: "Yo, it's so punctual." I told you yesterday, and you're here today. ”

Little Fat Ding nodded and said: "Entrusted by people to be loyal to people, the food of the king bears the worries of the king." I, Niu Ben, have always been a man of his word. Yesterday, Uncle Zhang, since you said that you are willing to exchange information about modern society with me for dinner, and ask me to help you make up for the class, then I will naturally implement it as soon as possible. ”

"Didn't we already negotiate the terms? When my mother works overtime and doesn't have time to cook at night, I'll come to your place for dinner. You provide the food, I provide the information. We exchange equivalently. Little Fat Ding put his schoolbag aside, listening to the sound of the schoolbag falling on the stool, Zhang Tong expected it to be quite heavy.

"Your mother works overtime every night?" Zhang Tong asked, standing at the kitchen door, to Chubby Ding.

Little Fat Ding spread his hands: "That's not it, but the manpower of the homecoming office in the sub-district office has always been insufficient." There are a lot of things that can't be handled without overtime. You have to work overtime at least three days a week. ”

Zhang Tong asked again: "Before that, your mother worked overtime, what should you do with dinner?"

Little Fat Ding shook his head: "What else can I do? Give me fifteen yuan and twenty yuan, let me eat outside." ”

Niu Xiaoli, the mother of Niu Ben, is a single mother. When Niu Ben was eight years old, his father died, and the cause of death was a heart attack and he didn't have time to take the Baoxin pill. He was brain dead when he was taken to the hospital.

Since then, it has been Niu Xiaoli, Sister Niu, who is responsible for taking care of the children. However, it is very hard for a single mother to take care of her children, especially in this place of Huaihai.

This is the most expensive city in China, and Niu Xiaoli's job has always been to work in the street office. This kind of grassroots work is still very hard, because there are many disputes between neighbors in the streets and alleys. It is a very patient job, but at the same time, it does not require high other skills.

Therefore, the salary of the street office is not high, and in Huaihai City, where prices are expensive, Niu Xiaoli can only get a salary of more than 4,000 yuan a month. That's really not a lot of money. The only advantage is that the neighborhood office is also a well-established unit, at least it can ensure income during drought and flood, and it does not worry about sudden layoffs.

This is not bad in Huaihai City, at least let Niu Xiaoli raise Niu Ben without any fear.

But the feeling of not enough money to spend has always existed, Niu Ben has good academic performance and is now studying in the city's key junior high school, Niu Xiaoli hopes that Niu Ben can continue to study in key high schools in the future, and then go to key universities in Huaihai.

Now everyone knows that the investment in education is terrible. Junior high school is fine, but when it comes to high school and college, the cost of each stage is a ladder upward.

Niu Xiaoli wanted to make more money and save it, so she usually took the initiative to take on things like overtime at night in the street office.

Most people who work in the neighborhood office really don't look down on this overtime pay, because many people come to work in the neighborhood office with an attitude of pension. If you can do less, you will do less.

After work, eat old wine, rub the little mahjong, this is the attitude of their little citizens. Three times a week to work overtime until half past eight in the evening, forget it, after returning from work, even "The New Bride" is finished, what is the meaning of this day?

So Niu Xiaoli is willing to work overtime to make more money, everyone lets her, anyway, everyone doesn't want to work overtime, and she is single with children, and if she sends all the work on duty every night to Niu Xiaoli instead of everyone sharing it equally, Niu Xiaoli can make more than 1,000 quick money a month. This is a big subsidy for Niu Xiaoli.

But in this way, Niu Ben didn't have dinner when Niu Xiaoli was working overtime at night. Because there is no time period for the night duty time, let Niu Xiaoli go home to cook. Niu Ben could only eat out with a dozen yuan.

"Then if you come to eat with me now, you can save your mother a lot in a month. Zhang Tong smiled at Little Fat Ding.

Little Fat Ding raised his head and said, "I will save the money my mother left me." ”

"Save it for?"

"Secret!"

Well, the twelve-year-old boy is also beginning to have secrets.

Zhang Tong pointed to today's supply on the menu and said, "I have Yangchun noodles sold here every day. But what about the rest, it depends on what I want to do today, and I can sell whatever I do. What is sold today is lamb soup and peppercorns. How?"

"Uncle Zhang, I smelled the aroma of mutton as soon as I came in. Hurry up and have a bowl! I want four more pancakes!" Chubby Ding was not polite.

Zhang Tong walked up to Little Fat Ding and patted his stomach: "Little Fat Ding, you want to lose weight!"

"I'm growing my body!" is Chubby's defense: "Growing children always need more calories!"

"Aren't you a man?"

"Men are teenagers until they die, haven't you heard this? Uncle Zhang. ”

Zhang Tong: ............ "Call me Brother Zhang in the future, don't call me uncle!"

The mutton soup that Zhang Tong prepared today was because when he went out to the farmers' market early in the morning, he happened to see a stall selling Sunit black-headed sheep, which was still slaughtered alive on the spot. The quality of the mutton is particularly good, so Zhang Tong directly paid for a sheep to come down.

It's excellent to eat mutton soup in this weather, and there is basically no business in the store at noon, so the mutton soup can actually be cooed until the afternoon. And this is the time when the quality of the mutton soup is the best.

The advantage of Sunit black-headed sheep is that this kind of mutton is not so fat, and Zhang Tong does not need to add any seasonings when cooking this kind of mutton. Wash the mutton with clean water, remove the blood from the mutton, and then everything just needs to be left to time and heat.

The tap water in Huaihai City has a taste, and in order not to destroy this mutton soup without any spices, Zhang Tong also specially bought pure water to stew mutton.

It's a pity that the conditions are limited, otherwise Zhang Tong really wants to get a little natural soft water back. The lamb soup that is stewed that way is the best.

Divide the lamb into good parts, the ribs belong to the ribs, the stick bones belong to the stick bones, and the leg of lamb is the leg of mutton. Simmer in a large soup pot, bring to a boil over high heat, and scoop to remove the foam.

Simmer over low heat, and you don't need to add these condiments such as green onions, ginger and garlic. It's such a simple stew, fresh Sunit lamb stewed out, unlike goats and the like, which need to be treated with spices such as orange peel, ginger, garlic, and other ingredients to suppress the fishy smell.

As long as the time is up, the heat is enough, and the soup can be boiled until it is milky white. Compared with pork and chicken, lamb has a natural milky flavor.

The mutton soup that Zhang Tong cooked for Xiaopang Ding was not simply finished with a spoonful from the big soup pot, but prepared a small pot to heat. Beat a spoonful of mutton soup and pour it into a small pot to boil, tear the prepared Chinese cabbage (yellow bud white) into small pieces by hand and put it into the mutton soup and boil.

Autumn and winter are the time when Chinese cabbage is harvested, and it is also the best time for Chinese cabbage to eat. Chinese cabbage brought from the Northeast is bought from the market and has a sweet taste. It is used to stew in sheep soup to naturally release its own fresh sweetness, and this sweetness from Chinese cabbage can directly replace MSG.

In fact, adding MSG to the sheep soup will have a fake feeling. Because Zhang Tongfei has been stewed so hard, the mutton soup that has been stewed for a day has a strong taste. Although the addition of monosodium glutamate can improve the freshness, it is strange that it will pull away the mellow feeling of the mutton soup. This is something that Zhang Tong does not expect.

The sweetness in the Chinese cabbage stalk is natural monosodium glutamate, which not only provides umami for the mutton soup, but also makes the Chinese cabbage extremely delicious when it absorbs the taste of the mutton soup. The leaves are soft and the stems are crisp. Then put the sliced lamb in and cook it for a while.

Finally, add a spoonful of salt and remove from the pan. Very simple, extremely simple, but extremely real mutton soup is already done.

When the mutton soup was cooked, the pepper pancakes prepared by Zhang Tong were also ready.

If there is any staple food with sheep soup that is the best, then Zhang Tong thinks that it must be baked (baked) cakes. Whether it's XJ's sac, the northern sesame sauce fire, the northeast's gluten cake, or the hanging oven cake. It is also a sesame baked cake (sugar-free) in the south, and a pancake in the northwest and the Central Plains.

These crisp and chewy cakes are especially served with a rich lamb soup.

The biggest difference between pepper pancakes and other ordinary pancakes is that there is a lot of pepper added to them. The pepper and cake are a perfect match with the mutton soup.

The pancakes are golden on both sides, crispy on the outside but not gluten on the inside. The oil and wheat aroma complement each other in the chewing, and the black pepper and salt give the whole cake a richer texture in taste.

A simple bowl of mutton soup and four pieces of pepper pancakes were placed in front of Chubby. He's already moving his index finger and ready to feast.

Jingle bell~ The glass door was pushed open, and Zhang Tong looked at it, it was the little girl who refilled five bowls of noodles yesterday. She was standing timidly in the doorway.