Southern Zongzi

How many zongzi could a family of two possibly eat? But Zheng Yuan was just the kind of person who loved making her own food and giving it to the neighbors.

In his past life, Zheng Yuan had actually given some to Lin Mo too. However, back then, all the zongzi she made contained shiitake mushrooms, which Lin Mo couldn't eat at all, so they ended up sitting in the fridge forever.

Boss Li handed over a large bag of meat.

"Sure thing, who doesn't know about your great cooking skills, Ah Yuan?"

Boss Li glanced at Lin Mo and asked with a smile, "Is this your son? Why do I remember you having a daughter?"

"He's my tenant, goes to the same school as my daughter. But you could say he's half a son to me."

Isn't a son-in-law basically half a son, after all?

Boss Li looked Lin Mo up and down. He was about 1.75 or 1.76 meters tall, with quite a handsome face.

He didn't say anything more.

Lin Mo reached out and took the large bag of pork belly. Weighing it in his hands, he figured it had to be at least ten or so pounds.

The bag of pork belly was mostly fat, because once the glutinous rice absorbed the oil, its texture and flavor would be elevated to a whole new level.

Therefore, when making zongzi, people always tried to choose pork belly with more fat and less lean meat.

Zheng Yuan led Lin Mo toward the dry goods store, asking as they walked, "Lin Mo, do you know how to make zongzi?"

Lin Mo nodded. "I used to help my mom make them. My grandmother's zongzi are also delicious. She always leaves a few in the fridge for me to eat when I go back for summer vacation."

"What kind of fillings does your family use?" Zheng Yuan asked curiously as she picked out plump mung beans.

She knew that every family had its own recipe for zongzi, with no unified standard.

"Because I don't eat shiitake mushrooms and I'm not very fond of salted duck eggs, my family's savory zongzi are mainly filled with pork belly and mung beans."

Lin Mo stayed by her side, looking at the various ingredients on the stall as he continued.

"Later, my mom felt it tasted a bit plain, so she added dried scallops and dried shrimp. The umami flavor instantly came out."

"Dried scallops and dried shrimp?"

Zheng Yuan's hand paused in picking the beans. She suddenly looked up, her eyes lighting up.

She slapped her thigh. "Oh! That's a great idea to bring out the flavor! Why didn't I think of that? Isn't that how the Tanka people of Nansha make it!"

Nansha was near the sea, and the fishermen sourced their ingredients locally, excelling at using seafood to draw out the savory essence of the food.

Following the idea of adapting to local conditions, adding dried scallops, dried shrimp, or even dried oysters to zongzi was a very common practice.

"Boss!" Zheng Yuan immediately perked up, her voice growing a bit louder. "Give me a pound of dried scallops, the big ones! And weigh out a pound of dried shrimp too, also the big ones!"

She winked at Lin Mo. "That girl Yu Ling loves eating shrimp the most. She'll definitely love this."

Zongzi made with these ingredients were indeed very delicious.

At least they were much better than the luosifen zongzi or stinky tofu zongzi that came out later.

So Zheng Yuan decisively picked out some dried scallops and large dried shrimp.

After all, Xie Yuling really did love eating shrimp.

At this point, Zheng Yuan couldn't help but say, "Then let's skip the salted egg yolks and shiitake mushrooms this time."

Lin Mo quickly shook his head, his expression turning a bit more serious. "How can we do that, Auntie Zheng? These zongzi aren't just for me and Yu Ling to eat. Don't we have to give some to the neighbors, relatives, and friends? Just make them the way you normally would."

Zheng Yuan sighed. "You're such a considerate child."

With that, Zheng Yuan finished selecting all the ingredients she needed.

Glutinous rice from Thailand, hulled soybeans, as well as shiitake mushrooms, salted duck eggs, dried scallops, and dried shrimp.

And, of course, the most important item: the bamboo leaves for wrapping.

In some places, people also added peanuts and red beans to their zongzi.

However, Zheng Yuan had her own way of making them.

Having bought everything, the two headed back home.

Walking up the stairs, Zheng Yuan couldn't help but sigh in appreciation.

"It's a good thing you're here. Otherwise, I probably would have had to make two trips."

Lin Mo carried the large bag of glutinous rice upstairs without bending his back or panting, making it all the way to the top floor in one breath.

"It's nothing, just a small matter."

Xie Yuling had her two long, fair legs propped up ungracefully on the coffee table. With a grape dangling from her mouth, she stared unblinkingly at the idol drama on the TV, her toes twitching along with the plot.

Hearing the door open, she shouted without looking back, "Mom! Where did you go? You didn't even make me breakfast, I'm starving to death!"

Zheng Yuan felt a surge of frustration. Changing her shoes, she marched over angrily and raised her hand to rap Xie Yuling on the forehead.

With a thwack, it sounded like knocking on a ripe melon.

"Ow, that hurts!" Xie Yuling cried out in pain.

"Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating! Why don't you learn from Lin Mo? He knew I was going to make zongzi, so he accompanied me to the market and even helped me carry things."

Once again, Lin Mo became the epitome of the perfect child next door.

Clutching her head, Xie Yuling looked pitifully toward the teenager at the door, only to meet Lin Mo's smiling eyes.

His gaze clearly said: "See, you got scolded again."

Xie Yuling was so mad her teeth itched. She glared back at him fiercely, using her eyes to denounce his crimes.

Seeing this, Zheng Yuan got even angrier. "Still glaring! Keep glaring and I'll gouge your eyeballs out, believe it or not!"

Xie Yuling completely lost her temper and muttered softly, "Am I even your biological daughter..."

"I'd rather have given birth to a piece of roast pork than you."

A classic saying among Cantonese parents.

"Alright, alright, Auntie Zheng."

Lin Mo walked over with a smile to smooth things over, casually picking up the bag of pork belly. "Let's marinate the meat first. This pork belly needs to be thoroughly marinated so the zongzi will turn out fragrant."

With one sentence, he successfully shifted Zheng Yuan's attention from her daughter to the zongzi, rescuing Xie Yuling from the roast pork attack.

As he walked past Xie Yuling carrying the pork belly, she made a face at him.

Lin Mo unexpectedly reached out and pinched her cheek.

"Ah!" Xie Yuling let out a startled cry, but quickly stifled it.

Zheng Yuan turned her head to look at Xie Yuling.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Xie Yuling could only shake her head, wrinkling her nose.

Lin Mo placed the pork belly in the kitchen.

"Auntie Zheng, are you going to marinate this pork belly?"

Lin Mo took out the strips of pork belly one by one.

"Yes, first we cut it into chunks, then marinate it for a day and a night with red fermented bean curd, five-spice powder, oyster sauce... things like that."

Lin Mo nodded. "My mom does the same. She says if we don't do this, the zongzi will taste very bland."

"Exactly. If you have to add soy sauce after they're cooked just to make them edible, then making these zongzi is a failure."

As she spoke, Zheng Yuan had already tied on her apron.

"I'll handle this. Weren't you going to tutor Yu Ling? Go on."

Lin Mo thought for a moment and said, "There's no rush for that. Let me help you cut the meat first."

With that, Lin Mo picked up the cutting board, directly putting the cut meat into water to soak.

Meanwhile, Xie Yuling leaned against the kitchen doorframe, puffing her cheeks out like a goldfish in anger.

"Sigh, why don't I just go live downstairs and let Lin Mo stay in my room and be your son instead."

"Sure, let's settle on that. Tonight you'll sleep downstairs, and Lin Mo will sleep in your bed."

Zheng Yuan washed the shiitake mushrooms without even looking up.

"Oh yeah! Then I can play on the computer all night long."

"Xie Yuling! How dare you?!"