txolops Chapter 130 Minced Meat Rice
Chapter 130 Minced Meat Rice
Eight o'clock in the morning.
The alleyways of the urban village are now bustling with life, as the cries of breakfast vendors and the ringing of bicycle bells echo through the air.
"Bang bang bang".
There was a knock on the door of Lin Chen's rented apartment.
Lin Chen went to open the door. Outside, Wang Hai stood with slightly messy hair, carrying two cups of hot soy milk.
"Good morning, Brother Chen!"
Wang Hai changed his shoes and went into the house.
Lin Chen glanced at the clock on the wall; it was exactly eight o'clock.
"Didn't we say yesterday we'd meet up around 8 o'clock?"
Lin Chen turned and walked back to the kitchen, asking as he ladled out porridge.
"Those of us in this line of work have our biological clocks set long ago."
I couldn't fall back asleep as soon as I opened my eyes at seven, so I just came straight here.
Wang Hai placed the soy milk on the dining table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Good morning, Uncle Hai!
Tangtang, sitting at the dining table, held half a peeled hard-boiled egg in her hand and greeted everyone in her sweet, childlike voice.
The little girl wasn't wearing her kindergarten uniform today; instead, she wore a light yellow pajamas outfit, and Lin Chen had tied her hair into two little buns.
Good morning, Tangtang.
Wang Hai teased her with a smile, "Having breakfast?"
"Mmm! Daddy made congee with preserved egg and lean pork, it smells so good!"
Tangtang handed over the remaining half of the hard-boiled egg, "Uncle Hai, do you want some egg?"
"If Uncle doesn't want it, Tangtang will eat it herself."
Lin Chen carried out two bowls of steaming porridge, placed them on the dining table, and handed Wang Hai a pair of chopsticks.
"Sit down and eat together."
Lin Chen pulled out a chair. "I happen to be on an empty stomach."
Wang Hai picked up his chopsticks, took a big gulp of porridge, and sighed contentedly at the delicious, soft, and glutinous texture. "Brother Chen, with your skills, you could easily set up a breakfast stall downstairs and sell porridge and it would be a hit."
"Don't bite off more than you can chew; just focus on doing one thing well."
Lin Chen spoke calmly. The three of them sat around the table and quickly finished their breakfast.
Lin Chen cleaned up the dishes, dried his hands with a towel, and changed into his shoes.
"Tangtang, grab the water bottle."
Lin Chen instructed, "Take it!"
Tangtang stood obediently at the door, a pink water bottle slung across her shoulder.
Lin Chen bent down and picked up his daughter: "Let's go to the farmers' market."
Fifteen minutes later.
Wang Hai's bread truck was parked outside the city's largest agricultural wholesale market.
On a weekend morning, the market was bustling with activity, with vendors pushing carts and shoppers coming and going in droves.
Lin Chen carried Tangtang in one arm and walked ahead, while Wang Hai followed behind, pushing a flatbed cart.
The two first went to the grain and oil section and the poultry and egg section, and purchased all the rice, free-range eggs, and old hens needed for making soup for the night's stall, and had the boss load them onto the flatbed cart.
After buying the usual ingredients, Wang Hai moved closer to Lin Chen.
"Brother Chen, the goods for tonight are all ready."
Where to go next? Shall we check out the deli section for snacks?
Wang Hai asked. Lin Chen glanced at the noisy corridor and shook his head directly.
"I won't go to the deli section."
Lin Chen spoke up, "The semi-finished products that others have prepared have too strong a seasoning flavor and are not hygienic, so they can't be sold at stalls."
Smash the signboard.
"Shall we make it ourselves?"
"Um."
Lin Chen nodded, picked up Tangtang, turned around, and walked straight towards the fresh meat wholesale area deep inside the market.
The fresh meat section was filled with the smell of raw meat and the sound of chopping meat on the cutting board.
Lin Chen walked around the rows of meat stalls, stopping and starting, scrutinizing the pork on the cutting board.
"Boss, what time was this half-pig slaughtered?"
Lin Chen stopped in front of a stall and pointed to a piece of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.
The fat boss was sharpening his knife: "It was delivered less than two hours ago."
How should I address you?
Lin Chen stretched out his finger and pressed it on the texture of the pig skin and meat, feeling the elasticity of the meat, and then glanced at the distribution of fat.
"Cut five pounds of pork leg meat, with three parts fat and seven parts lean."
Cut another three pounds of pork belly, using the distinct layers of firm rib meat.
Lin Chen gave clear requirements.
The boss knew the person knew what they were doing just by hearing how they cut the meat, and deftly chopped it and put it on the scale.
"Eight jin in total, one hundred and ten yuan."
Lin Chen scanned the QR code to pay, took the heavy bag of meat, and put it into Wang Hai's cart.
Afterwards, Lin Chen took Wang Hai to the dried goods section and picked out a large bag of high-quality shiitake mushrooms and two pounds of dried shallots.
After buying these items, Lin Chen stopped.
"Everything's ready, let's get back in the car."
Lin Chen turned around and walked back.
The two walked out of the market and loaded all the ingredients into the trunk of the bread truck.
Wang Hai closed the trunk, leaned back in the car, and looked at Lin Chen: "Brother Chen, you bought so much pork and mushrooms, have you already planned what dishes to add?"
Lin Chen opened the passenger door, put Tangtang in the child safety seat, and turned around.
"Add minced meat to the rice."
Lin Chen provided the answer.
"Minced meat rice?"
Wang Hai paused for a moment, muttered the name to himself, and his mind raced.
In less than two seconds, Wang Hai's eyes lit up instantly.
"Brother Chen, that was a brilliant move!"
Wang Hai said, "The meat sauce is stewed, so you can easily make it at home in advance."
"When we get to our stall next Friday, all we need to bring are two large buckets of white rice and a bucket of hot, cooked minced meat sauce!"
Lin Chen nodded, took out a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed it, and took a sip.
Wang Hai became more and more excited as he thought about it, and even started gesturing wildly: "This thing makes serving food so much easier!"
When a customer places an order, I take a takeout box, fill it with white rice, and scoop a spoonful of hot minced meat from the bucket and pour it over the rice.
Put the lid on, bag it, and collect the money.
The entire process takes less than ten seconds!
"right."
Lin Chen affirmed Wang Hai's idea, "You will be in charge of packing and serving the minced meat rice."
No need to heat the pan or add oil.
This way, I can handle double the customer flow without delaying my freshly fried rice.
"Incredible! This is like taking away the time spent working in the kitchen in advance."
Once we get to the site, we're basically an assembly line!
Wang Hai rubbed his hands excitedly, "This method is too reliable."
No matter how many people come next Friday, once this assembly line is up and running, we can handle it!
"Speed of serving food is one aspect, but taste is another."
Lin Chen looked at the ingredients in the trunk and said, "To make delicious minced meat rice, the cooking time and the base ingredients are just as important as those for fried rice."
If the flavor of the dish is overwhelmed by the fried rice, there's no point in adding this side dish.
"I understand! I have absolute faith in your cooking skills!"
Wang Hai yanked open the driver's side door, full of enthusiasm, "Brother Chen, let's go back now!"
I'll help you; we'll make the meat sauce by noon today, and you can taste it first!
"Let's finalize the recipe today, the quantity doesn't need to be too large."
We'll start large-scale stock preparation next Thursday.
Lin Chen turned around, got into the passenger seat, and closed the car door.
"Alright! Hold on tight, let's go home and make some minced meat!"
Wang Hai started the car and stepped on the gas.
The bread truck drove away from the farmers' market and steadily headed towards the urban village along the morning street.