Bringing a baby to a street stall: The anorexic female CEO is brought to tears by her cravings at th

Chapter 157 Scallion Pancakes and Pork Belly

9:15 a.m.

Downstairs in a rental house in an urban village.

The bread truck was parked at the entrance of the building.

Wang Hai got out of the car, walked quickly to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and reached out to grab the large, thick plastic bag full of pork.

"Brother Chen, lend a hand. Old Zhang's fifty pounds of top-quality pork belly is a real weight."

Lin Chen walked over and, without saying a word, directly reached out and grabbed the other handle of the plastic bag.

The two of them worked together to carry the heavy bag of pork belly down and carried it into the rented room on the second floor, trip after trip.

As soon as he entered the door, Lin Chen carried the ingredients into the kitchen, categorizing them by type.

The two changed into aprons and first stewed the old hen they would be using for their stall that night, then chopped radish and scallions.

The two worked together seamlessly throughout the routine food preparation process, finishing everything in less than two hours.

"Phew—the ingredients for tonight are all ready."

Wang Hai washed his hands, turned around, and stared at the two large bags of pork belly on the cutting board. "Brother Chen, now it's time to deal with the main event, right?"

Lin Chen nodded slightly.

He took a clean cloth and carefully wiped the work surface.

Then, the bag was opened, and the square pieces of pork belly were taken out one by one and neatly arranged on the table.

The red and white stripes of meat gleamed freshly under the kitchen lights.

Looking at the fifty pounds of pork piled up like a small mountain, Wang Hai couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Brother Chen, this weighs a full fifty pounds, how are we going to handle it?"

Should it be cut into chunks or chopped?

Wang Hai asked.

"To make minced meat, you must dice it, about the size of a fingernail."

Lin Chen reached out and pressed the flesh, then spoke.

Upon hearing the word "diced," Wang Hai's eye twitched involuntarily.

Fifty pounds of meat had to be hand-cut into even small cubes; just thinking about the workload makes my wrists ache.

"Brother Chen, you're just cutting it by hand?"

Looking at Lin Chen's hand, Wang Hai couldn't help but offer a practical suggestion: "How about this, I'll run an errand and drive my van to the big supermarket at the end of the alley."

The butcher shop there has a commercial meat slicer. I gave the owner a pack of cigarettes, and he threw in fifty pounds of meat. It only took a few minutes to slice it into strips or cubes.

Otherwise, how will you manage to chop 50 pounds by hand at night and toss the food in the square?

"My wrist is definitely going to be ruined!"

Faced with Wang Hai's concern and suggestion, Lin Chen shook his head without any hesitation.

"Machine-cut pieces are unusable."

Lin Chen spoke up.

"Why can't it be used? That machine cuts out diced pieces too."

Wang Hai was somewhat puzzled.

Lin Chen walked to the knife rack and drew a knife.

"Commercial meat slicers cut meat essentially by the high-speed squeezing and tearing action of the blades."

Lin Chen gently ran his finger across the cross-section of the pork belly, patiently explaining to Wang Hai, "During this squeezing process, the pork muscle fibers are broken down into a pulp, and a lot of the juice is lost."

If you use this kind of meat to make minced meat sauce, the fat will turn into water as soon as it hits the pan, and the lean meat will become dry and tough, with no meaty texture at all.

Lin Chen turned his head and looked at Wang Hai, his tone firm: "The bottom line for minced meat rice is that it should be fatty but not greasy, melt in your mouth, but you must retain the chewy feeling of the minced meat between your teeth and cheeks."

Only meat cut purely by hand with a sharp knife, with clean cuts and free from compression, can retain its juices during the long simmering process.

After listening to Lin Chen's analysis, Wang Hai opened his mouth, and finally said.

"Okay! You're the head chef, so you decide how it tastes!"

Wang Hai nodded, "As long as we can make that amazing flavor, we'll hand-cut it!"

However, as you know, my knife skills are terrible. I can manage to cut radish cubes, but cutting meat cubes like these, which require extremely high precision, would be a complete disaster.

"Brother Chen, you'll have to work hard to get this mountain of flesh."

"Okay, I'll cut it."

Without saying a word, Lin Chen took the knife, walked to the sink, and picked up the whetstone.

"Strike! Strike! Strike!"

Lin Chen quickly pushed and pulled the blade on the whetstone.

After a few strokes, the blade gleamed with a cold light.

After rinsing it clean with water, Lin Chen returned to the workbench.

He picked up a piece of pork belly and placed it flat on the cutting board.

"Knock!"

The first cut was swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of meat being chopped came from the kitchen.

"Tap tap tap tap tap..."

Lin Chen's knife skills were extremely steady.

First, cut the meat into evenly thick slices, stack them up and cut them into long strips, and finally, with a flick of the wrist, quickly cut them into small cubes of the same size.

Every cut is clean and thorough, with no cuts left connecting.

Looking at the diced pork belly that quickly piled up on the table, looking like it had been carved from a mold, Wang Hai couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

"Brother Chen's knife skills are absolutely amazing."

Wang Hai sighed, then immediately turned around, picked up the red net bag full of shallots from the corner, and said, "Okay!"

The head chef is working incredibly hard, so I can't just sit idly by!

Wang Hai moved a small stool over, took an empty basin, and sat down to start peeling shallots.

These shallots are extremely small, only about the size of a thumb, and covered with a dry, purplish-red outer skin.

"Brother Chen, I've always wanted to ask, why do you have to buy these small red shallots to make minced meat sauce?"

While painstakingly peeling the scallion skins, Wang Hai chatted idly, "These are so hard to peel. Wouldn't it be better to just use scallions or onions?"

Lin Chen's knife didn't stop as he replied, "To make authentic minced meat sauce, shallots are an essential ingredient."

After the diced meat has rendered its fat, finely chop the shallots and add them to the oil. Fry them over low heat until they are dry. This is called "Scallion Oil Pastry".

"Scallion pancakes?"

"Yes. Shallots have a richer aroma than onions and a unique sweetness."

Without the crispy fried shallots, the pork belly is just a bland, lifeless stew, lacking the complex aroma of minced meat.

"I see, that's the finishing touch!"

Wang Hai suddenly realized, "Okay!"

Since it's so important, I'll peel these shallots clean for you, even if it means peeling my own fingers!

Wang Haiqian was full of energy and quickened his peeling speed.

However, it took less than five minutes.

"Hiss—" Wang Hai suddenly gasped and abruptly closed his eyes.

"Holy crap... Brother Chen, these shallots are even more irritating to the eyes than onions!"

Wang Hai kept his eyes tightly closed, tears streaming uncontrollably down his cheeks.

He dared not rub his eyes with his hands covered in onion juice, and could only awkwardly rub his face with the clothes on his shoulders.

"It's so spicy, I can't stop crying!"

Wang Hai continued to groan and groan as he tried to peel back the layers of the elephant, like a blind man touching an elephant.

Lin Chen stopped wielding his knife, turned to look at Wang Hai, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and spoke with a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Go and get a basin of clean water.

Lin Chen said.

"Why are you getting water? To wash your face?"

Wang Hai squinted at one of his red and swollen eyes and asked.

Soak the shallots in water before peeling.

Lin Chen said, "The gases released when shallots are cut or peeled are volatile and irritating to the eyes."

Water can block this gas, so peeling your face in water won't sting your eyes.

"There's that trick too?!"

Wang Hai felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He immediately dropped the scallions he was holding, quickly walked to the sink, filled a basin with water, and brought it back.

He poured the remaining shallots into the basin of water, then reached under the water and tentatively peeled two.

"Huh? It really is!"

After a short while, Wang Hai exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Chen, that's amazing!"

It's not exciting at all anymore!

"Then speed things up."

Lin Chen turned his head and gripped the knife hilt tightly again.

"Alright! Watch me!"

Having mastered the technique, Wang Hai instantly regained his energy and began processing shallots in the basin of water.

The kitchen has returned to its busy rhythm.