Coconut Chicken

The storm raged all night. By dawn, the rain had slowed to a drizzle, and the temperature dropped instantly.

Xiaoguo woke up early in the morning and found some thicker clothes for Zhuang Zhuang. Adults have stronger constitutions and wouldn’t be affected by the change in temperature. Children are weaker in comparison, so it was better to wear warmer clothes.

No matter how hard she tried to look through the wardrobe, there were only a few pieces of clothes in there. After rummaging harder, she finally found some thicker clothes. Zhuang Zhuang could dress himself, so she laid down the clothes and went out to prepare breakfast.

In this rainy weather, it was best to have some porridge in the morning. Xiaoguo started cooking porridge in the casserole and kneaded some dough in a basin. She let the dough sit above some hot water to speed up the proofing process. Then, she used the ring to transmigrate and pick up some pork belly from the other space. Back in her current kitchen, she minced the meat and added spring onions. This would be the filling for her spring onion pork buns. When the dough had risen to twice its size, Xiaoguo started kneading it. The dough was then cut into small equal pieces and flattened into the size of a palm. In a short while, a row of identical buns were ready and placed neatly on the steamer. After covering the pot, Xiaoguo allowed the buns to proof for 15 minutes. Once that was done, she lit the stove and steamed the buns for another 15 minutes.

As soon as the steamer lid was lifted, steam gushed out immediately. Xiaoguo gathered the fat white buns onto a rack and set the table for dinner.

Xiaoguo called out to Zhuang Zhuang, asking him to wake up and have his breakfast. The first thing that came to Zhuang Zhuang’s mind when he woke up were the little cows. He got dressed and ran to the kitchen to feed the cows. When he was done, he dashed to the dining room and was going to reach for the buns when Xiaoguo stopped him. “Go wash your hands.”

Zhuang Zhuang was disappointed, but he still did what he was told by his mother. He suppressed his desire to eat the buns and ran outside to wash his hands. When he returned a few seconds later, Xiaoguo handed him the buns. “Be careful, they’re hot. Eat slowly.”

Zhuang Zhuang acknowledged Xiaoguo’s words and asked her curiously while chewing on a bun, “Mom, that fish is still swimming. How are we going to eat it?” When he was washing his hands earlier on, the fish had jumped and given him a fright.

“How about we have a hot pot for lunch today? We can make a soup base with the coconuts and pheasant. The fish can be made into fish balls, and we can scald them in the soup.”

Zhuang Zhuang was already drooling at the thought of it, although he did not understand how a hard coconut could be made into soup and the fish into fish balls.

Zhuang Zhuang rushed to wash the dishes after breakfast. The rain was still pouring outside. The weather was perfect for making fish balls. During the process of making fish balls, ice cubes were usually added while stirring the fish paste. This was to keep the paste cool. If the temperature rises during the stirring process, the paste would get cooked. Now, under such weather conditions, they could just add water without any ice as room temperature water was cool enough.

Pheasant meat takes some time to cook, so Xiaoguo had to start stewing it earlier. When she came to the kitchen, Zhuang Zhuang had already washed the dishes. He saw that Xiaoguo was getting ready to prepare the pheasant, so he walked to her side and was about to sit down when he was stopped by her. Xiaoguo did not want Zhuang Zhuang to see the gory process of her plucking the feathers and draining blood from the carcass. She sent him away, asking him to see if the cows were eating properly. She went out with a basin and the pheasant, trying to get out of Zhuang Zhuang’s sight.

The water boiled quickly, and Xiaoguo began to clean up the pheasant. She carefully checked that the feathers were plucked clean. When that was done, she took it back to the kitchen. There wasn’t a lot of blood left in the carcass. Xiaoguo stored the blood in a basin and placed it in the fridge at the ‘other space’. When the blood was frozen, they could cook it in the soup later. It was a pity that she couldn’t take out the refrigerator and generator from the ‘other space’. It would be completely out of place here. Xiaoguo didn’t have the courage to do that. There would be no way to explain herself if someone found out.

Xiaoguo washed the pheasant a few more times and chopped it into pieces with a chopper. Then, she put the meat into a bigger casserole without blanching them first. It was now time to prepare the coconuts. Xiaoguo called Zhuang Zhuang to come to the kitchen. The boy had been curious about how to eat the coconuts before. With the machete in her hand, Xiaoguo was going to show him how it was done.

Zhuang Zhuang stood beside the table excitedly. Coconuts cannot be cut randomly with brute strength, or the coconut juice inside would spill out. Xiaoguo slowly carved a slit around the top, then she slowly shaved off the husk. Zhuang Zhuang watched as his mother shaved off the layers, until the green coconut became a white one. “Mother, is this the coconut that can be eaten?”

“No, not yet. There’s still a shell on the outside. What’s edible is inside.” With that, Xiaoguo chopped at the top with controlled strength. There is a visible gap on the shell now.She chopped again on the other side and the top came off. Xiaoguo poured some coconut juice into a spoon for Zhuang Zhuang.