The Quiet Joy of a Home-Cooked Meal

The rice goes into the pot first. Press the cook button, the indicator light blinks once, and the kitchen has an unhurried background sound.

The tap runs for a while. The vegetable basket gains napa cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and a handful of soaked wood ear mushrooms. The firm tofu sits by the cutting board, still damp. The rice cakes are sliced white and stacked. The shrimp have been deveined and set in a bowl with a pinch of white pepper. Three cooked salted egg yolks lie on a small plate. Pressed with a spoon, they break into fine, reddish-gold crumbs.

Today’s meal: salted egg yolk and shrimp stir-fried rice cakes, braised tofu with mixed vegetables, and a small plate of sliced Chinese sausage. Not many dishes, but each has its place. After cooking for a long time, you learn that a table of food does not have to be complicated. Take care of texture and flavor, and it eats comfortably.

First, put the rice cakes into boiling water and cook until soft and easily bent, then scoop them out. This part needs attention. Undercooked, they will be hard when stir-fried later. Overcooked, they soak up water and stick together in the pan. The drained rice cakes wait while the skillet heats with a little oil. Fry the shrimp until they change color. They curl in the pan, their edges turning faintly pink. Remove the shrimp. Leave a little oil in the pan, turn the heat low, and add the crushed salted egg yolks.

This is the most patient step. Salted egg yolk cannot be rushed. Too high heat and it burns. Too low and it will not break apart. Push it slowly with the spatula. The yolk crumbs spread in the oil and raise fine little bubbles. The fragrance thickens bit by bit. It is sandy and soft, a little salty, a little rich. Add the rice cakes and toss gently so every slice is coated with yolk. If the pan gets too dry, add a spoonful or two of hot water along the edge. As the steam rises, the yolk clings more easily to the rice cakes. Finally return the shrimp and stir to combine. Salted egg yolk is already salty, so no salt is added.

While hot, pick up a slice of rice cake. Its surface is coated with fine salted egg yolk. The first taste is salty and savory. As you chew, it is soft and sticky with a little bite. The shrimp are sweet and springy, and they pair well with the soft rice cakes. Even the bit of yolk crumb left at the bottom of the plate is too good to waste. Someone always scrapes it up with a spoon and mixes it into the rice.

The second dish is braised tofu with mixed vegetables. Cut the firm tofu into triangular pieces, wipe the surface dry, and put them in a skillet. Pan-fry both sides until golden. The fried tofu has a slightly chewy outside while still tender inside. It will not break apart when braised and will hold the sauce better. Separate the napa cabbage stems from the leaves. Slice the carrots and shiitake mushrooms. Wash the wood ear mushrooms and tear them into small pieces. Heat a little oil in the pan, add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, then add the carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and cabbage stems first and stir-fry. Then add the wood ear mushrooms and fried tofu. Add a little light soy sauce and about half a small bowl of hot water, cover, and simmer for a few minutes. When the ingredients are cooked through, add the cabbage leaves and stir until soft. Taste and add a little salt if needed. Drizzle in a little cornstarch slurry and reduce to a light glaze.

This plate has a mix of textures. The wood ear mushrooms are crisp, the shiitake mushrooms savory, the cabbage sweet and clean, and the tofu full of sauce. Pick up a piece with rice and it works. It is milder than the salted egg yolk rice cakes, and that is its job. It gives the palate a break between richer bites.

Steam the Chinese sausage according to the package instructions. Let it cool slightly, then slice it diagonally into thin pieces. Put it in a nonstick pan and fry briefly over low heat to bring out the aroma. No extra oil is needed. The sausage is strongly flavored, so a small plate is enough. Everyone can take a few slices and taste it.

The order of cooking matters. Start the rice first. Then wash and cut the vegetables, and steam the sausage. Take the mixed vegetable tofu out first. Leave the salted egg yolk rice cakes for last so they arrive at the table still hot. In the kitchen, the tofu bubbles away on one side, the salted egg yolk slowly raises fine bubbles in the pan on the other, and the aroma of rice drifts from the rice cooker.

On the table is a bottle of flowers. Nothing expensive, just a few stems bought on a whim, stuck in a glass bottle, pale in color. The family sits down and serves rice. For the first bite, someone reaches for the rice cakes first. Someone pushes the rice cake plate toward the middle and says, “The egg yolk is coated evenly today.” A child scoops up a spoonful of tofu, mixes the sauce into the rice, and adds another half bowl. Two slices of sausage are taken. The rest stay at the edge of the plate. There is not much talk, but the chopsticks do not stop. Outside the window, the sky slowly darkens. The kitchen light falls on the plates, and the colors of the food look warm.

When the meal is over, the plates are empty. Only a little egg yolk crumb is left on the rice cake plate. Some sauce remains in the tofu bowl. The bowls are stacked by the sink. Someone opens the window. Someone puts the leftovers into a storage container. The refrigerator door closes with a muffled sound. The bottle of flowers on the table is still quietly blooming. In the kitchen lingers a little salted egg yolk fragrance, mixed with the warmth of the rice, slowly dispersing.

The rice cooker cools on the counter. The flowers stay in the bottle. Tomorrow the cook button will be pressed again.