About 15 minutes later, Yu Bing added homemade red oil bean paste and stir-fried it until the bean paste inside was dry.
When the oil in the pot was clear and red, she added the green peppers and white wine. One minute later, she added sugar and rice wine to increase the freshness. After the stir-fried sugar melted, she added salt. When the salt melted, she was done!
Xiao Sheng was in charge of washing the vegetables. Jiang Chun cut the chicken, fish, potatoes, and carrots into pieces. She even took two yams, peeled them, and cut them into pieces as well. Then, she brought out a large basin of cabbage. The veggies for the hotpot were ready.
Because there was no matching table for the Sichuan hotpot, they only needed to place the saucepan on the stove. After the hotpot base was placed in the pot and the spices were stir-fried, clear water was added.
Yu Bing said regretfully, “Without soup, we can only add clear water. Otherwise, it will taste amazing! After the water boils, add whatever you want to eat. Eat it directly after it’s cooked.”
Everyone sat in a circle and sniffed the fresh and spicy taste of the Sichuan-style hotpot. It was so appetizing that everyone kept salivating. After finally scalding the veggies they had placed in, they couldn’t wait to fish them out and taste them.
The taste was delicious and spicy. It was too spicy, but they couldn’t help but continue eating. They finished all the remaining vegetables, not even leaving a single cabbage leaf!
When eating spicy hotpot in the middle of winter, everyone was sweating profusely and even the pores on their bodies relaxed.
“How satisfying! It’s so spicy!” Even Jiang Chun, who rarely ate spicy food, felt that she couldn’t stop.
The Xiao siblings liked spicy food. In addition, Yu Bing controlled the spiciness, so the few of them ate until their stomachs were full.
Xiao Sheng asked, “Can this pot base be made into bottle form?”
Yu Bing tilted her head and thought for a moment. In the future, with embalming and vacuum packaging, it could indeed increase the preservation time, but it had to be stored in the fridge. Now, they didn’t have such conditions and technology, so she replied, “No, it can’t be preserved.”
Xiao Sheng felt a little regretful. After all, rich people liked these sorts of novel things. As he was thinking, his eyes swept across a small bottle on the stove. He remembered that Yu Bing had put two spoonfuls in when she was making the hotpot base just now.
Xiao Sheng went forward and took the glass bottle. “Yu Bing, what is this?”
Yu Bing turned around and took a look, then said, “Red oil bean paste.”
Xiao Sheng took out clean chopsticks and scooped up a little to taste. “The sauce is delicious and spicy. I can taste the hotpot base!”
Yu Bing nodded. “You know your stuff. This sauce makes noodles, steamed buns, or stir-fried meat very delicious. It can even be eaten dry. It’s like chili sauce, but it tastes much better than ordinary chili sauce.”
Xiao Sheng’s eyes lit up. “Then can we sell this?”
A conflicted expression flashed across Yu Bing’s face. “I can, but this is very troublesome. A batch of finished products can only be produced once a month.”
Yu Bing explained the production process and the required materials to Xiao Sheng in detail.
Xiao Sheng thought about it carefully before saying, “Give me a can that you haven’t opened yet. I’ll try it. I’ll decide if I want to sell it after seeing how much it can be priced!”
After the Lantern Festival, the Spring Festival would be over. The village would also begin to arrange work. Because there wasn’t much work, Xiao Sheng took this opportunity to go to the county city.
Brother Qiang was preparing to nurture a successor because he was going to take over the black market in City Z. This was enough to prove that Brother Qiang had a say in the market in City Z.
Although Brother Qiang had yet to tell him about the matter, Xiao Sheng thought of how much Brother Qiang valued him and wanted to give it a try.
Because making red oil bean paste was troublesome and there were many ingredients required, it couldn’t be sold cheaply. The county city’s consumption was limited, so there definitely wouldn’t be many goods that could be sold. Xiao Sheng could only set his sights on the city, but he had only found a few people in City H to help him sell them in individual quantities. If he wanted to sell more, he had to go through Brother Qiang.
In order to be more convincing, Yu Bing specifically made steamed buns, noodles, and a few cold dishes made with bean paste and placed them in the lunch box.
Brother Qiang was indeed tempted after eating them. It was versatile, convenient to eat, and tasted good. He had yet to see something like it in the entire province. These were all selling points.
In the end, Brother Qiang asked Xiao Sheng to go back and wait for the news. He had to go to the city to let someone see the goods before he could decide if he could sell them in City Z and what the price was.
As long as Brother Qiang didn’t directly refuse, there was still hope. Xiao Sheng thanked Brother Qiang again and again.