Daddy's Gourmet Shop-Chapter 230 - 222: A Rising Sense of Pride

"Boss Huang, is there a new dish this morning?"

The customers, who had already smelled a different aroma, asked Huang Tao in unison as soon as they entered the shop.

"Wow, everyone’s noses are really sharp! You could smell that, huh!"

Huang Tao chuckled and continued, "There is indeed a new dish, but it’s not for this morning, it’s for lunchtime."

Preparing it so early, yet only serving it at noon.

Looks like this new dish is quite a piece of work!

Many customers couldn’t help but show a hint of anticipation in their eyes.

Curiously, they asked, "Boss Huang, what’s the new dish?"

Old Qin sniffed and couldn’t help but ask, "I smell a hint of Jinhua Ham and a bit of sweetness. Could it be Honeyed Ham?"

"Old Qin, your nose is really sharp. You figured it out."

Huang Tao nodded with a smile, "It is Honeyed Ham, but we will also have West Lake Vinegar Fish at noon. You can come by around noon to try it, but there aren’t many, just 50 servings, only available at noon."

"Just a few servings! That’s definitely not enough!"

"Oh man! That’s so few! I don’t think I can even get one, Boss Huang, can’t you make more?"

"Make more West Lake Vinegar Fish, Boss Huang!"

"Yes, make more West Lake Vinegar Fish, and more Honeyed Ham too, so everyone can have a share."

Listening to the customers’ pleas, Huang Tao smiled helplessly, "Making more West Lake Vinegar Fish and more Honeyed Ham would delay the preparation of other dishes. Both dishes take a lot of time and effort, plus the West Lake Vinegar Fish has to be made fresh..."

They could help Huang Tao with cleaning and preparing the fish.

But then they wouldn’t get to enjoy the other delicious foods in the shop...

"Oh! It’s tough, Boss Huang, why does everything you make taste so good? It’s so hard to decide!"

"We’ll just have to line up early at noon!"

"That’s the only way, I better start queuing at 10 o’clock."

"I’ll come at 9:30! I refuse to believe I won’t get it!"

"..."

The atmosphere in the shop was lively.

Regulars eating fried buns, drinking congee with preserved egg and lean pork, chatting away.

Huang Tao frying buns, steaming the ham, listening to the customers chat, feeling quite happy.

Xuanxuan, happily munching on fried buns, listened to the elders praise her dad’s cooking and felt a surge of pride.

Proud to have such a father.

Huang Tao saw that it was almost time.

Then asked Xu Hao to keep an eye on the buns in the pan.

And he went back to the steaming pot again.

As he lifted the lid, the aroma burst forth, wafting into the nostrils.

This time, the aroma was noticeably richer than the first time he opened the lid.

Not only the scent of pork but also the umami of chicken soup, and amidst these aromas, there was a hint of sweetness!

It smelled especially pleasant!

The noses of the customers in the shop couldn’t help but twitch.

Obviously, they were tempted!

Huang Tao checked the condition of the ham in the basin, and the heat was just right.

Just as before, he poured out the broth from the basin.

Then added the pre-soaked lotus seeds and honey dates.

Skimmed off the surface oil from the broth he just poured out.

Poured the broth back into the basin, just enough to cover the ham.

Seeing Zifeng had already added enough water to the steamer, he put the basin back on to continue the third steaming.

It would take about an hour and a half.

After finishing these tasks, Huang Tao went back to finish frying the last two batches of buns.

"Xu Hao, I’m leaving this to you and Zifeng. Keep the heat as it is now, and I’ll handle the rest when I get back from dropping off Xuanxuan."

He instructed, grabbing a few buns, walking over to Xuanxuan’s table while eating, and gently asked, "Xuanxuan, are you full? If you’re not, dad has more here."

"Papa, I’m full, look..."

Xuanxuan puffed out her little belly, trying to show her dad her round tummy.

Unfortunately, she was wearing too many clothes, so it wasn’t visible!

"No need to look, daddy knows you’re full."

Huang Tao smiled, grabbed a few napkins, and wiped Xuanxuan’s mouth clean, saying, "Alright, let’s go, daddy will take you to kindergarten."

Xuanxuan hesitantly asked, "Papa, can I eat West Lake Vinegar Fish and Honeyed Ham at noon and then go to school?"

Oh dear!

My little gourmet is also thinking about these two dishes.

"No, you can’t!"

He said, "But when you come home from school, daddy will make them for you, okay?"

"Okay!"

Xuanxuan obediently nodded.

Huang Tao took her little backpack and water bottle, got on the electric bike with her, and they headed to the kindergarten together.

At the kindergarten gate, as he was helping Xuanxuan with her backpack and water bottle, he softly reminded her, "Make sure to listen to Teacher Ye and Teacher Xu at school. Also, it’s getting cold now, so when you eat lunch at school, eat a bit quicker because eating cold food isn’t good for the stomach, understand? And remember to fix your blanket when sleeping..."

Xuanxuan’s eyes crinkled as she said, "Daddy, I know, don’t worry!"

"Alright, Daddy won’t worry. Off you go!"

Huang Tao watched Xuanxuan enter the kindergarten, saw her turn her head to look at him and wave.

He smiled and waved back, only leaving once she entered the teaching building, and then he rode the electric bike back to the store.

By this time, Ding Suqin and the others were busy moving the ingredients delivered by various vendors.

Even the fish required for the West Lake Vinegar Fish had been delivered.

After checking the quality, which met his standards, Huang Tao joined in the teamwork, helping them move the ingredients into the kitchen.

Huang Tao glanced at the steamed Honeyed Ham; it needed some more time.

He decided to take this time to prepare the Dongpo Pork and other dishes.

"Suqin, please clean the pork belly thoroughly, and then give it to Haozi for cutting. I’d like to prepare the Dongpo Pork first."

"Okay, Boss."

Upon receiving the instructions, Ding Suqin swiftly started cleaning the pork belly.

Once it was clean, Xu Hao took over and began cutting, trimming the lean meat.

The meat was cut into four-centimeter square chunks.

Lin Zifeng added half a pot of water to a large pot, following Huang Tao’s instructions, adding scallion segments, ginger slices, and cooking wine.

He placed the rinsed meat chunks into the pot and turned on high heat.

"Zifeng, lay those scallion segments on the bottom of the casserole, evenly place the ginger slices on the scallions. Haozi, once it boils, skim off the foam, then take out the meat chunks and place them skin-side down in the large casserole..."

He instructed.

Then he went over to the steamer and saw the Honeyed Ham was almost ready, with ten minutes left to go.

He placed a wok on the stove, starting to add lard to it.

Preparing to fry pine nuts.

When the oil was hot enough, about forty to fifty percent, he poured the pine nuts into the wok to fry.

Pine nuts shouldn’t be fried for too long.

Too long, and the oil from the pine nuts would come out, diminishing the taste and aroma when eaten.

About two minutes of frying would suffice.

Seeing that it was about right, he fished out the pine nuts.

Poured out the oil from the wok, leaving just a little at the bottom for later use.

After all that, the Honeyed Ham in the steamer was ready to come out.

He turned off the heat.

Lifted the lid, and the fragrance wafted out with the rising white mist.

This aroma, compared to the second steaming, was less intense but had an added fragrance of lotus seeds and honey dates.

Especially the honey date aroma, which blended harmoniously with the upper layer’s scent without a hint of discord, complementing it unexpectedly well.

Huang Tao brought out those bowls once more.

At this point, the broth inside the bowls had turned slightly red, and the top layer had become more radiant and appealing.

He poured out the broth again.

Placed them onto plates, neatly surrounding the sides with honey dates and lotus seeds.

The plating of this dish was considered complete.

Next was preparing the sauce.

He placed the wok with the remaining oil on the stove and lit the fire.

Once heated, he poured in the stock that had just been skimmed off.

Turned up the heat to bring it to a boil.

He picked up a nearby spoon and skimmed off the foam on the surface.

Then poured in honey.

Once the pot boiled again and the sauce turned red, he took the water starch mixed earlier from Zifeng’s hand and, while stirring in circles, added it to the pot.

Quickly.

The stock turned thick, and the color became even more red and vibrant.

This indicated that the sauce was ready.

However, one more ingredient was needed.

Sweet-scented osmanthus syrup.

To enhance the aroma and taste of the dish.

He added half a spoon of sweet-scented osmanthus syrup to the pot, immediately turned off the heat, and stirred it with a spoon, using the residual heat to melt the syrup while releasing its fragrance.

He picked up the wok with one hand, scooped up the sauce infused with osmanthus aroma with a spoon, and evenly drizzled it over the steamed top and lotus seeds.

Then, with a swift hand, he took a handful of fried pine nuts and evenly sprinkled them over the meat.

This delicious-looking and aromatic Honeyed Ham was thus ready.