I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 524 - 260: Please tell Lucy I miss her! The secret to delicious Sweet and Sour Pork! [Subscribe please]_3
Dundun flopped into Lin Xu’s arms.
To heck with it, this cat is tired...
"Those are Dundun’s snacks. If you want some, I can make them especially for you."
Lin Xu grabbed a handful of fish slices and carried Dundun down to the lobby.
He placed the little fellow on the service counter, then took out its small eating bowl, tore the fish slices into strips, and put them inside.
The previously lethargic chubby kitty suddenly scrambled up, wiggled its plump little butt over to sniff, and then began to gobble down the food.
"Is that enough? I still have more here."
Stepmother Shen stood by, watching Dundun devour the food as if starved, and felt somewhat embarrassed.
Lin Xu said, "When I’m free, I’ll bake you some more—sweet and savory, spicy, Cumin, barbecue, and tomato flavors..."
As he was speaking, Shen Baobao rushed over. "Stop, stop! I’m drooling just thinking about it! Thank you, Xu Bao! I really want to pin you down on the bed and kiss you fiercely."
While the young couple was being affectionate, Dundun looked at them with dissatisfaction.
What am I eating today, cat food or dog food? 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
After Dundun had eaten and drunk its fill, Lin Xu petted its head and silently chanted in his mind, "Lottery!"
After a series of actions, the system prompt quickly sounded in his mind, "Congratulations to the host for obtaining Perfect Level dishes—Sichuan-style Saliva Chicken, Salted Fish Eggplant Stew, Milk Yellow Mooncake."
Oh? Is this because the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching? Why did I even get a Milk Yellow Mooncake? But this is good; I won’t have to worry about what gifts to bring relatives for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
After the lottery finished, Dundun licked its paw and then crawled into the little house on the service counter, falling into a deep sleep.
Right, after a busy morning, the little kitty can finally take a break.
Heading back upstairs, Lin Xu curiously asked Shen Baobao, "Why aren’t you eating upstairs? Weren’t you looking forward to this meal for a long time?"
"I have no appetite without you."
Is it because you ate too much fish jerky? Lin Xu thought.
He then said, "If you don’t have an appetite, I’ll make you an appetizing dish. It’ll also be a chance for the elders to taste my cooking."
Now that he had acquired the technique for Sweet and Sour Pork, there was no need to hide it. Taking advantage of the large gathering today, he could make it and let Old Madam Shen taste the dish from their Northeast homeland, to see if it matched the one in her memory.
Since his master had gone to the Northeast today, it was only right and proper to make a Northeast dish.
"What dish are you planning to make, Xu Bao?"
"Sweet and Sour Pork!"
"That’s great, that’s great! I love this kind of sweet and sour dish. Hurry up and make it. I’ll wait at the door to keep Yan Bao from snatching it."
Lin Xu was speechless.
My sister-in-law is probably either battling the roasted suckling pig or wrestling with the lamb leg right now; she wouldn’t have time to care about what new dishes are being made in the kitchen.
He entered the kitchen and asked Wei Qian, "Do you have any potato starch that’s been soaked?"
"We do. The restaurant now prepares some before every meal. This is just in case we suddenly need to make batter-coated dishes, as it would be too late to prepare it then. Judging by your question, are you planning to make a new dish?"
Lin Xu said smilingly, "It’s not really a new dish, just making some Sweet and Sour Pork."
Sweet and Sour Pork required potato starch, and specifically, potato starch that had been thoroughly soaked. After the potato starch was soaked in water and allowed to settle, the excess clear water on top was poured out. What remained was the best starch slurry for Sweet and Sour Pork.
Lin Xu went to the cold storage and brought back some pork tenderloin. Since he was introducing a new dish, he would definitely serve a portion to each private room for everyone to try.
A standard plate of Sweet and Sour Pork requires eighteen slices of meat. These slices also need to be sufficiently large, and making one portion uses about a pound of tenderloin. The amount of meat used showed how the boldness and generosity of Northeasterners were ingrained in their very being.
Swiftly removing the silverskin from the tenderloin, Lin Xu laid it flat on the cutting board and cut it against the grain into six to seven-millimeter-thick slices. The pork for Sweet and Sour Pork must be thick enough to achieve a crispy exterior and tender interior. If the slices were too thin, they would easily overcook during frying and become dry and hard.
"What seasonings are needed for Sweet and Sour Pork? Do we use orange juice and tomato sauce?" Wei Qian asked curiously, leaning over.
Lin Xu replied with a smile, "No need. I’m using the traditional method—just White Vinegar and sugar, with no orange juice or tomato sauce."
There are several schools of thought when it comes to Sweet and Sour Pork. The Binjiang cuisine of Heilongjiang is considered the most authentic. It uses only White Vinegar and sugar, without adding anything for color. The resulting Sweet and Sour Pork has a predominantly sour and sweet natural flavor. In the Liao Ning region, cooks are more innovative and like to add orange juice or tomato sauce. Sweet and Sour Pork made with orange juice is known as "Yellow Sauce Sweet and Sour Pork," while the version with tomato sauce is often referred to as "Red Sauce Sweet and Sour Pork."
In Chifeng, a city in Inner Mongolia near the Northeast Region, Soy Sauce is used. This produces a salty Sweet and Sour Pork, quite different from the sweet and sour variety found in the Northeast Region. It’s said that in the Yanbian area, there’s a method that uses neither Scallion and Ginger; it’s just pure meat slices coated in a sweet and sour sauce.
Beyond these major variations, there are also some localized practices, such as adding fruit or canned goods, all of which are evolutions of the traditional Sweet and Sour Pork recipe.
Lin Xu could understand this kind of evolution. After all, each region has its own tastes. In the Central Plains, they even make Oil Braised Large Shrimp with tomato sauce regularly. Could you say their way of eating is wrong?
After cutting all the meat, Lin Xu placed the slices in a bowl and rinsed them with clear water. This step helped wash away any blood and also made the meat more tender.
After rinsing, he removed the meat slices, squeezed out the excess water with his hands, and began seasoning. With the larger amount of meat today, Lin Xu added three small spoons of salt, two small spoons of pepper powder, and a touch of Light Soy Sauce for extra base flavor. He mixed everything well before covering it with plastic wrap to marinate.
Authentic Sweet and Sour Pork is tangy at first, sweet when chewed, and a slight saltiness is tasted only at the end. The dish uses little salt; apart from marinating the meat, no more salt is added in other steps. Therefore, the meat slices should be marinated for as long as possible to allow the salt to penetrate deeply.
While the meat was marinating, Lin Xu prepared some julienned ginger, scallions, and carrots, as well as some cilantro stems. These aromatics would be added to the wok with the fried pork slices later when coating them with sauce. In addition to these ingredients, he also sliced some garlic to be stir-fried for fragrance when making the sweet and sour sauce.
While Lin Xu was busy in the kitchen preparing Sweet and Sour Pork, downstairs at the service desk, staff from the finance department of Shen Group approached, greeting Dou Wenjing, who was checking the accounts. "Hello, Ms. Dou," one of them said with a smile. "Mr. Shen sent us to add funds to the membership card. From now on, Shen Group’s business dinners will be held at Lin Ji. We’ll be counting on your excellent service!"
When Dou Wenjing left Shen Group, many people were surprised, and some were even secretly pleased by her misfortune. However, they hadn’t expected her to become the general manager at Mr. Shen’s son-in-law’s restaurant. This made those who had previously gloated feel a pang of regret.
If only we had known, we would have tried harder to make a good impression on Mr. Shen.
Seeing her former colleagues, Dou Wenjing greeted them with a smile and then asked, "How much would you like to add?"
"Five million!"
Mr. Shen truly spares no effort in supporting his son-in-law’s business... Just as Dou Wenjing was about to call Song Tiantian to handle the transaction, Yuan Fei from the Audit Bureau also approached.
"Can we make a large deposit now?" he asked. "Tianpeng Audit Firm would like to deposit five hundred thousand. And while we’re at it, we’d like to extend our corporate dining contract until next year."
His lead was followed by a swarm of representatives from other cooperative and well-connected enterprises, all coming forward to add funds to their accounts.
Upstairs, while julienning ginger, Lin Xu watched his System Points continuously rise in the display and nearly cut his hand.
Holy shit! he thought. Before I even finished this one piece of ginger, my System Points have soared to seven or eight million! If it’s like this every day, forget buying a regular house; acquiring a courtyard house within the Second Ring Road wouldn’t be just a dream!
After finishing the ginger, he remembered he hadn’t redeemed the special item yet. He entered the system, ready to exchange for the useful Eye of Discrimination, and also to see what special item the next refresh would bring.
