txolops Chapter 153 Ordering Ingredients
Chapter 153 Ordering Ingredients
On Wednesday morning, just as dawn was breaking, a cool breeze wafted through the alleyways of the urban village.
In the kitchen, Lin Chen was standing in front of the stove.
The water in the pot was boiling, and he grabbed a handful of noodles and put them into the pot.
With a soft "sizzle" from the frying pan next to it, three poached eggs were ready.
With chopped scallions, lard, and a touch of light soy sauce as a base, a splash of boiling water instantly fills the kitchen with the aroma of scallion oil.
"Knock knock knock".
There was a knock on the door.
Lin Chen scooped out the noodles, divided them into three bowls, topped them with poached eggs, and turned to go out and open the door.
Wang Hai was standing outside the door, holding several cups of hot soy milk he had just bought, and he peeked into the house to sniff around.
"Good morning, Chen-ge! I could smell the delicious aroma in the hallway. What are we having for dinner today?"
Wang Hai changed his shoes and went into the house with a smile.
"Eat your plain noodles, then go wash your hands."
Lin Chen took the soy milk, placed it on the dining table, and turned to walk into the bedroom.
Tangtang was still fast asleep on the bed, clutching her plush bear tightly in her arms.
Lin Chen walked to the bedside and gently rubbed his daughter's head.
"Tangtang, wake up."
Lin Chen's voice was gentle.
Tangtang rubbed her sleepy eyes, looked at Lin Chen, and said in a soft, drawn-out voice, "Daddy, good morning..."
Good morning, get dressed and have breakfast.
Ten minutes later, the father and daughter, having finished washing up, arrived at the restaurant.
Wang Hai was already seated at the table, chopsticks in hand, calling out, "Tangtang, come and try the noodles your dad made! Uncle Fatty has been craving them for ages!"
Tangtang obediently climbed onto her own little chair.
Lin Chen brought over her small bowl, and deliberately broke the noodles in half with chopsticks so that the little girl could chew them more easily.
"Thank you, Daddy!"
Tangtang picked up her little fork and started eating heartily.
The little girl slurped the noodles, coated in rich scallion oil, into her mouth, her big eyes squinting with satisfaction. "Daddy's noodles are the best!"
The three of them sat around the dining table and finished their breakfast.
……
At 7:30 a.m., at the entrance of Qiming Bilingual Kindergarten.
It's peak season for sending children to kindergarten.
Wang Hai parked the bread truck on the side of the road, Lin Chen opened the car door, picked up Tangtang, and led her to the pick-up and drop-off area at the gate.
Teacher Liu is standing inside the door to greet the children.
Good morning, Teacher Liu.
Lin Chen greeted him and handed over the small schoolbag in his hand.
Good morning, Mr. Lin. Good morning, Mr. Wang.
Good morning, Tangtang!
Teacher Liu smiled and took Tangtang's hand.
Tangtang turned around and waved her little hand vigorously at the two of them.
"Goodbye, Daddy! Goodbye, Fatty Uncle!"
"Listen to your teacher at kindergarten and drink plenty of water."
Lin Chen gave a word of advice.
Watching Tangtang follow the teacher into the teaching building, Lin Chen turned around, got back into the car, and closed the door.
"Let's go to the farmers' market."
Lin Chenyu spoke.
"Let's go!"
Wang Hai stepped on the gas, and the van merged into the morning rush hour traffic, heading straight for the Nancheng Agricultural Wholesale Market.
……
At eight o'clock in the morning, the farmers' market was bustling with activity.
The two did not wander around, but went straight to their usual stalls.
Today's procurement process was efficient and straightforward.
Two old hens for making soup, five trays of fresh free-range eggs, fifty catties of Wuchang rice, and regular side dishes such as crisp radishes and scallions.
In less than half an hour, the two had bought all the ingredients they needed for their stall that night and neatly stacked them in the trunk of their bread truck.
"Brother Chen, all the ingredients for tonight's meal are ready."
Wang Hai patted the dust off his hands.
Lin Chen nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the meat wholesale area deep within the market.
"Go to Old Zhang's butcher shop."
Lin Chen said in a deep voice, "Make the order for tomorrow's pork belly."
"Yes! That's the real big deal today!"
Wang Hai immediately followed in Lin Chen's footsteps.
The two made their way through the crowded streets to the largest pork wholesale stall in the market.
The stall owner, Lao Zhang, was using a boning knife to debone half a pork carcass.
Seeing Lin Chen and Wang Hai approaching, he immediately put down the knife in his hand and greeted them.
"Hey, Boss Lin, Brother Wang, you're here so early today!"
What would you like to order? Or perhaps take some pork ribs home to make soup for the kids?
Lin Chen often came to buy pork bones, and Old Zhang had a deep impression of this young boss.
"Boss Zhang, I'm not buying spare ribs today."
Lin Chen walked to the meat counter, looked at the pork on the table, and said, "Tomorrow morning, save me fifty catties of pork belly."
"Fifty pounds of pork belly?"
After hearing this, Old Zhang nodded and spoke.
"No problem, Mr. Lin. Which part do you want?"
Or is it the regular pork belly or the middle cut?
Old Zhang picked up the sharpening rod and casually sharpened the blade a couple of times.
"Boss Zhang, this time we're not looking for ordinary stuff."
Wang Hai chimed in with a chuckle, "We want the best quality pork belly."
Lin Chen looked at Old Zhang and directly stated his requirements: "Fifty catties, all of them must be top-grade pork belly."
It must be a mixture of lean and fatty meat, with distinct layers of fat and lean meat.
Too much fat will make it greasy, and too little fat will make it dry.
"This is for our new signature dish; we can't afford to be careless."
Upon hearing this request, Old Zhang immediately stopped sharpening his knife.
He looked up and, somewhat surprised, took another look at Lin Chen in front of him.
I was not surprised by the quantity, but by the demand.
"Boss Lin, you're speaking like an expert."
Old Zhang put down his knife and said, "Fifty catties of pork is easy to get, but fifty catties of top-quality pork belly with three layers of fat and lean meat is a real challenge."
The most perfect offal from a big fat pig is only about ten kilograms.
"If you want to collect fifty jin of this top-quality stuff, I'll have to go to the slaughterhouse and pick out three or four good pigs for you."
"Is it possible?"
Lin Chen didn't waste any words and stared directly at him.
Old Zhang looked at Lin Chen.
"Sure! We've been doing business together for a while now. Since Boss Lin is going to cook something special, I, Zhang, will take care of it for you!"
Old Zhang patted his chest and promised, "Tomorrow morning, I will personally go and pick out the best local pork for you!"
We'll specially pick out your fifty pounds of top-quality offal!
But this price…”
"I'll pay the market price for top-quality meat. I'll transfer the deposit to you now."
Lin Chen simply took out his phone, scanned the QR code on the stall, and paid a deposit of five hundred yuan.
"Received payment via WeChat, 500 yuan."
The small speaker on the stall emitted a crisp notification sound.
"Alright! Boss Lin, you're very agreeable!"
Old Zhang beamed, "Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, just drive your car to the back gate of the market, and I'll pack the meat for you and load it into your car!"
"Okay, then I'll trouble you to take care of it, Mr. Zhang."
"As long as the meat is good, we'll get all our big orders from you from now on."
Wang Hai smiled and handed him a cigarette.
"Don't worry, you two, you absolutely can't ruin my reputation!"
Old Zhang took the cigarette and gave a guarantee.
Having finalized the most important matter, Lin Chen and Wang Hai did not linger in the market and turned to leave the greenhouse.
"Brother Chen, the top-grade lower five-flower is ordered. Now I can finally feel completely at ease."
With such high-quality meat as a base, our minced meat rice is already halfway to success!
Wang Hai opened the driver's side door, got in, turned the key to start the engine, and his tone was full of anticipation for Friday.
"Yes, I'm going back."
Lin Chen sat in the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt.
The bread truck roared as it drove out of the farmers' market and headed towards the urban village.
……
Around 9 a.m., downstairs at the rented apartment.
The two carried the groceries from the trunk up to the second floor.
As soon as he entered the door, Lin Chen carried all the ingredients he would need for the evening into the kitchen without any delay.
"Wash your hands and get ready to prepare the food."
Lin Chen took two clean aprons from the hook behind the door.
"They're here!"
Wang Hai quickly went to the bathroom to wash his hands, then went into the kitchen to take an apron and tie it on.
Lin Chen cleaned the old hen thoroughly, blanched it to remove the blood foam, and put it into a stock pot to boil over high heat.
Wang Hai then moved a small stool over, sat down in front of the cutting board, and started chopping scallions and radish.
Flames burned under the stove, and soon the broth pot began to bubble and boil.