After Renye returned home from buying groceries, his Shadow Clone had already cleaned the kitchen.
“Body, mission complete!”
Before he finished speaking, the three Shadow Clones instantly dispersed into smoke.
Renye didn’t notice anything unusual, tied on a blue apron, and began to prepare the ingredients.
After spending so much time on the battlefield, he finally returned to the Village.
No matter what, he had to have a good meal today!
The freshly bought pork ribs were a fresh pink color.
He chopped the ribs into small pieces and soaked them twice in clear water to remove surface blood.
He put the ribs into cold water, added cooking wine, green onion, ginger, and garlic to remove the fishy smell.
The ribs tumbled in the boiling water, and the surface foam formed a dense cloud.
Renye used a spatula to skim off the foam, took out the ribs, and rinsed them clean with warm water.
Then, he started another pot and added a little oil to it.
When the oil was 70% hot, he added rock sugar and stir-fried it over low heat until it melted and turned amber.
He quickly poured in the ribs and stir-fried them, ensuring each piece of meat was evenly coated with the sugar color, and stir-fried until the surface was slightly golden-brown.
He added green onion, ginger, garlic, dried chili, cinnamon, star anise, and other ingredients to stir-fry until fragrant.
Then he drizzled in a spoonful of dark soy sauce and two spoonfuls of light soy sauce for color and flavor.
He added boiling water to cover the ribs, brought it to a boil over high heat, then turned to low heat, covered, and simmered for forty minutes until the ribs were tender.
Renye didn’t stay idle during this time and began to prepare the crucian carp he had bought.
“Let’s make crucian carp tofu soup!”
As he spoke, the back of the knife scraped off the black membrane from the fish’s belly, and his fingertips wiped away any remaining fish scales.
After cleaning, he dried the surface moisture with a paper towel.
He used chopsticks to hold ginger slices and placed them on the edge of the pot to prevent the fish from sticking when frying.
When the oil was 60% hot, he put in the crucian carp; a sizzling sound was heard as the fish slid into the pot, and the golden fish skin slowly tightened in the oil.
Eventually, both sides turned golden.
After frying the crucian carp, he added ginger slices and green onion sections to sauté until fragrant, then drizzled in cooking wine to remove the fishy smell.
Then he poured hot water into it, brought it to a boil over high heat, then turned to medium heat and simmered slowly.
The soup gradually turned milky white.
Renye put the chopped tofu cubes into it, turned to low heat, and simmered for ten minutes, gently pushing the tofu during this time to prevent it from breaking and affecting its appearance.
Finally, he added salt and white pepper for seasoning, and a few drops of sesame oil.
By the time the crucian carp tofu soup was ready, the braised pork ribs could also be taken out of the pot.
The two dishes were laid out on the table, and their aroma filled the air.
Renye couldn’t help but swallow, and to prevent himself from eating all the food like last time, he simply packed it all up and went to the Hokage Office to eat with Senju Tobirama.
The food on the battlefield was simply incomparable to his cooking skills.
Under harsh conditions, it was already good enough to make food tastier than soldier pills.
Sometimes, Renye even preferred to eat soldier pills.
— — — — — — — —
As dusk spread over the Hokage Rock, Renye’s wooden clogs echoed in the corridor of the Hokage Building, and his ink-colored furisode kimono fluttered with his steps.
After finally getting two days of rest, of course, he would wear his loungewear.
He carried two food boxes in his hands, and the overflowing aroma made the patrolling Ninja frequently turn their heads.
After Renye left, a Ninja couldn’t help but say, “Renye Jonin is here to deliver food to Hokage-sama again.”
These patrolling Ninja often saw Renye coming to deliver food.
“I really want to eat too…”
“Don’t even think about it. Treat me to yakiniku after work.”
…
Hokage Office.
Before Renye arrived, Senju Tobirama had already placed the documents on his desk onto the floor.
The desk was empty, already prepared for eating.
He didn’t want to waste his eating time on trivial matters like tidying the desk.
After eating soldier pills for three months, he could finally have a good meal.
Senju Tobirama placed high importance on eating.
After all, once Renye went to the battlefield, it would be a long time again before he could taste Renye’s cooking.
…
“Uncle, I’ve brought you food.”
Renye pushed open the office door and was slightly surprised by the scene on the desk.
This Old Man was quite meticulous in his work.
He even knew to clean the office before eating…
In the past, when he delivered food, the office desk was piled with documents, with no space even to place the food.
Sometimes he even had to clean it up himself.
Renye placed the two food boxes on the table and took out the braised pork ribs and crucian carp tofu soup from them.
Senju Tobirama looked at the two dishes on the table and couldn’t help but swallow.
Just smelling the aroma made his mouth water.
His gaze fell on the other food box, and a hint of anticipation flashed in his eyes.
“What’s in here?”
“This is my dinner.” Renye opened the food box, and inside were indeed braised pork ribs and crucian carp tofu soup.
He gave Senju Tobirama an exasperated look; this Old Man even wanted two portions.
“You’re going to eat in the office?” Senju Tobirama was a bit surprised.
He knew that Renye usually left after eating and had never eaten in the office before.
Why was he suddenly staying to eat this time?
Renye saw through the Old Man’s thoughts and explained:
“The crucian carp tofu soup won’t taste good if it gets cold, and reheating it isn’t an option. So I just brought it here to eat.”
He couldn’t possibly tell the other party that he was just afraid of eating all the dishes, which was why he delivered them early, could he?
Senju Tobirama understood immediately upon hearing this.
This kid was worried that if he delivered the soup after eating, the crucian carp tofu soup’s taste would change.
To ensure he could taste it with the same flavor, he brought it over first.
Looking at the two steaming dishes on the table, he felt very gratified.
This kid was quite grateful; no wonder his elder brother particularly liked him back then.
Thinking of his elder brother, a fleeting sadness appeared on Tobirama’s face.
If his elder brother were still alive, he would surely want to eat Renye’s cooking, wouldn’t he?
After all, he used to pester Renye to cook at his house quite often.
…
Seeing Renye pull out a chair and sit down, Senju Tobirama came back to his senses and pretended as if nothing had happened.
His gaze fell on the appetizing ribs, and he couldn’t help but swallow.
After eating soldier pills until he almost vomited for the past few months, where had he seen such a delicacy?
He quickly picked up a piece of rib and put it into his mouth; with one bite, the rich sauce exploded in his mouth.
The tender meat had a unique texture.
It fell off the bone with a gentle suck, and the soft cartilage was stewed like jelly.
When chewed, it would even ooze out meat juice with the aroma of cinnamon and bay leaves.
Senju Tobirama savored the aroma between his lips and teeth, and couldn’t help but scoop up two mouthfuls of rice.
This would taste even better with rice!
Renye was the same, one bite of ribs, one bite of rice.
Both of them ate like hungry ghosts reincarnated, without any table manners.
Of course, strictly speaking, Senju Tobirama was still a bit more elegant.
It just wasn’t much better.
One was eating unpalatable food on the battlefield, while the other was eating soldier pills in the office.
After three months of seeing no good food, how could one expect good table manners?
It was already good enough that they didn’t use their hands to grab the food.
“Uncle, this soup tastes incredibly fresh and delicious; it’s even better when poured over rice!”
Saying that, he poured the milky white fish soup over the rice in his bowl.
Senju Tobirama then realized that his chewing speed was like a hungry ghost and quickly slowed down.
Watching Renye wolf down his food, a smile he couldn’t suppress appeared at the corner of his mouth.
This kid was really starving.
P.S. From now on, there will be three updates daily until all chapters are caught up. Currently, there are still eight chapters.