Braised Spare Ribs

The following is an account from one of my friends.

In 2009, I was serving in a military unit in Jiaohe, Jilin, China.

It was winter, and winters in Northeast China are extremely cold. As a province in Northeast China, Jilin is particularly frigid during this season. Just how cold was it? The snow in our barracks could pile up to knee - high overnight. The story I'm going to tell is related to the weather.

Due to the extreme cold, the tap - water pipes in the city where our military unit was located burst. After bursting, water gushed out and formed a huge icicle. Once the water supply was cut off, the local residents had no water to drink. Therefore, rushing to repair the tap - water supply became an urgent task. The water company hired construction workers. Looking at the weather, which was over 30 degrees below zero, and then at the frozen ground mixed with water, the construction workers were completely at a loss.

The water company turned to the local armed forces department, and the armed forces department assigned the task to our military unit. Our unit then gave the mission to our company. Our company commander held a short meeting, selected 15 young men from the whole company, and asked the platoon leader to lead the team. We were told to gather at the entrance of the barracks with shovels and pickaxes. And I was among them.

At that time, we were all wondering what kind of task could gather these 15 people together. These 15 people came from all over the country. There were sergeants, veterans, and new recruits. But the only thing these 15 people had in common was that when it came to work, you couldn't stop them. It was the kind of situation where once they got a shovel in their hands, their eyes would light up with eagerness. As soon as they picked up a pickaxe, they would get so excited that they almost drooled.

We waited for a while at the entrance of the barracks, and then the vehicles arrived. They were from the local armed forces department, including big trucks and small cars. We got on the vehicles and set off, heading towards the "battlefield".

When we arrived at the location, the deputy head of the armed forces department gave a brief mobilization speech on the spot. The main idea was that we should keep up the good work, as it was the time when the common people needed us, and we just had to go for it.

However, we really didn't have much confidence. Because it was so cold. In Northeast China, when the soil gets mixed with water and then freezes, it's actually harder than concrete. It would be better if there was no soil. If it was pure ice, at least it would be in chunks. But with the soil mixed in, every strike of the pickaxe would only make a small hole.

Among the 15 of us, except for the platoon leader who was directing from the side, we were divided into two groups. The tools wouldn't stop even if the people did. One group would work for 5 minutes. We would work as hard as we could during the time when we were full of energy. Once we started to get tired, we would step down and the next group would take over.

Just like this, in the weather of over 30 degrees below zero, using pickaxes, we managed to dig nearly 5 meters deep. We started at around 9 a.m. and kept going until around 7 p.m. After we dug to the pipeline, the leader of the armed forces department waved his hand and said, "Stop. No more work. It's time for dinner." The rest would be handed over to the water company. We gathered our tools, assembled, and then left.

Considering that the soldiers were all very tired, the leader found a small restaurant nearby, one with about five or six dining tables. After entering, he directly told the restaurant owner to serve meat dishes, saying that we wouldn't have any vegetarian dishes.

We were divided into two tables, with about ten people at each table. After waiting for about ten minutes, the dishes started to be served.

In many restaurants in Northeast China, a lot of ingredients are in a semi - processed state. For example, for stir - fried pig intestines, the intestines are pre - cooked and refrigerated in the fridge. When there's an order, they can be cut and used directly.

At our table, there were all soldiers. At the other table, there were some soldiers, the platoon leader, and people from the armed forces department.

I remember the scene of serving dishes very clearly. One dish was served at a time, divided into two plates, one for each table. At our table, after each person took a bite, the plate was empty. Then we waited. The waiter would take away the empty plate and serve the next dish.

Just like this, we ate about a dozen plates of dishes. There were braised pork, deep - fried and stir - fried pork cubes, scrambled eggs with wood ear and shredded pork, stir - fried pork slices, braised spareribs, stir - fried pig intestines, and so on.

The people at the other table were chatting and drinking merrily, paying no attention to our table. When most of the dishes had been served, the leader of the armed forces department stood up, picked up his glass, and toasted everyone in one smooth motion.

Then, the leader of the armed forces department refilled his glass and came to our table to propose a toast. When he lowered his head, he was completely stunned. He asked the waiter what was going on. We burst into laughter, and the waiter couldn't help laughing either.

The leader of the armed forces department said to the restaurant owner, "Well, what else do you have in the fridge?" The restaurant owner replied, "We have everything, but it takes time to cook. I can't keep up with their eating speed." The leader of the armed forces department walked over to take a look, then pointed at a basin of ribs and said, "We'll take this whole basin. Just heat it up in the kitchen."

The owner rushed over to carry the basin of ribs, worried that the leader might change his mind.

It was a whole basin of ribs, semi - processed ones. They were already steamed and flavorful. Usually, if you add some potatoes, it becomes a dish of ribs stewed with potatoes; if you add some green beans, it turns into ribs stewed with green beans. But this time, we ate the ribs without adding anything else.

It was a full basin, almost as big as my washbasin. I swear, in the more than 30 years since I was born until now, I've never had such delicious stewed ribs. Most of them were big meaty ribs, with only a few being backbone ribs. They were rich in the flavors of soy sauce and spices. When gnawing on the ribs, scooping the soup into a bowl and mixing it with rice was incredibly delicious.

As soon as the topic of rice came up, haha, when each of us had eaten about the fourth bowl, the restaurant owner came over and said, "Guys, there's no more rice left. How much more do you think you can eat? I'll cook some for you right now."

When the leader of the armed forces department heard this, he came over to ask about the situation. The expression on the landlady's face was so funny. She said, "You guys can really eat! I had two rice cookers full of rice, and it's all gone." The leader of the armed forces department asked, "How long will it take to cook the rice now?" The landlady glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "It'll take more than 20 minutes." When the leader heard this, he thought, "Can we wait for 20 minutes?" Then he said, "Make noodles instead." The landlady quickly went to the kitchen, and after a while, she brought out another big basin of noodles in meat soup.

Originally, when digging the water pipeline, our clothes, pants, and shoes were all wet, even our cotton - padded trousers were soaked through. After being frozen outdoors all day, we were almost half - frozen. But after this big meal, we felt really comfortable.

When we comrades - in - arms talk about this meal, we still can't forget it. Whenever we mention finishing that basin of ribs and all the rice, we all talk enthusiastically, saying that we didn't perform well enough that day.

Rather than saying that I can't forget that basin of ribs, it would be more accurate to say that I miss those people more, and I cherish that period of my youth even more.