I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 528 - 262 Shen Guofu: This fish fillet looks undercooked, I need to disinfect it with Wuliangye! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]
It seems Father-in-law didn’t quite satisfy his craving for Sweet and Sour Pork.
Lin Xu muttered to himself, planning to make another batch after seeing the guests off so the staff and his family could all indulge, achieving ’Sweet and Sour Pork freedom.’
As for Shen Baobao, she was currently fantasizing about her fish fillets and had even started a debate with Geng Lele and Chen Yan about their taste.
When it was about time, Lin Xu stood up and followed his dad, Lin Hongqi, and his father-in-law, Shen Guofu, to toast the guests.
"President Liu, thank you for attending the opening ceremony. I’ll drink this one; you drink as you please."
"Uncle Tan, thank you for your continued support. I’ll drink this one; you drink as you please."
"Director Liao, thank you for your care at the Fishing Platform. I’ll drink this one; you drink as you please."
"..."
Lin Xu, as if possessed by the god of wine, drank left and right with the guests, occasionally even downing two cups at once, much to their admiration:
"Little Xu is truly a straightforward person."
"Stop drinking, kid. What would we do if you got drunk? You have such a big restaurant to manage."
"It’s the thought that counts; no need to drink so much."
"I can’t just watch you drink. Uncle will drink this one with you."
"..."
After completing a round of toasts and leaving the private room, Shu Yun, who was in charge of pouring Lin Xu’s drinks, said with a smile,
"Great acting, Boss."
Lin Xu replied,
"Impressive technique, Manager Shu!"
Before the toasting began, Shu Yun had found two empty bottles and filled them with Sprite. The reason Lin Xu couldn’t stop drinking was simply that the small cups of Sprite weren’t satisfying enough.
Several times, he almost snatched the Wuliangye bottle from Shu Yun’s hands to chug it directly.
After this exchange of commercial flattery, they pushed open the door to the next private room, and then it was another round of thanks and toasts. Lin Xu, again as if possessed by the god of wine, gulped down Sprite from the Wuliangye bottle, showing no signs of drunkenness at all.
Coming out of the private room, Shu Yun handed the empty Wuliangye bottle to a waiter at the door and casually took another one from a different waiter standing by.
Twisting off the cap, she first sniffed it to make sure it was Sprite and not actual Wuliangye.
Otherwise, if the boss got drunk, there wouldn’t be any sweet and tangy Sweet and Sour Pork to eat later that afternoon.
After a full round of toasting, Lin Xu had drunk nearly three bottles of Sprite. However, Lin Hongqi and Shen Guofu, who were with him, found drinking Sprite unsatisfying. Halfway through, they switched to real Wuliangye, and each ended up drinking more than half a jin.
Well, it wasn’t often they had a chance to drink to their heart’s content. Today, having finally secured an opportunity for ’sanctioned drinking,’ they certainly weren’t going to miss it.
「Back in the private room」
Han Shuzhen hurriedly said, "Quick, eat some food. Drinking too much on an empty stomach will hurt you."
Lin Xu smiled wryly and waved his hand. He was about to speak but let out a loud burp first. "I’ve drunk three bottles of Sprite. I’m so full I can’t eat a thing right now."
"Three bottles?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Baobao immediately pouted. "If I’d known, I would’ve gone with you to help you finish one bottle!"
She just wanted to drink Sprite, didn’t she? Last time people drank red wine and she drank Coke; this time they’re drinking liquor and she wants Sprite. Is this how she plans to ’train’ her alcohol tolerance?
Since Lin Xu couldn’t eat or drink anything more, he decided to head to the back kitchen to make Fish Jerky. He couldn’t let everyone keep sneaking Dundun’s food. He needed to separate what was meant for people from what was for the cat.
"You all continue eating," Lin Xu said. "I’m going to the kitchen to make Fish Jerky. I’ll also see what else can be roasted in the oven and try to make a few different things."
Upon hearing this, Shen Baobao immediately raised both hands in agreement. "I’ve been craving Fish Jerky for ages! Make sure to make plenty!"
She had originally intended to keep most of it for herself. However, as soon as she finished speaking, Chen Yan, who was beside her filming a ’devour-a-pig-in-three-bites’ video with a roasted suckling pig’s head, immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, make lots! I was just wondering what snacks to have tonight. Thanks for your hard work, brother-in-law."
Shen Baobao looked helplessly at her cousin, who was bursting with the desire to film. "Yan Bao, listen to your little cousin for once. Stop filming these kinds of videos. The more you film, the harder it will be for you to find a boyfriend."
Chen Yan paused, then asked, taken aback, "Why? Isn’t this supposed to make me look humorous and witty?"
"No, it just makes you look goofy... Goofiness only attracts other goofy people; it doesn’t attract the opposite sex..."
Chen Yan: "!!!!!!!!!!!"
Why didn’t you tell me earlier?
「Arriving in the kitchen」
Lin Xu said to the attendant, "Have someone send over some crucian carp. They don’t need to be too big, but they must be fresh."
The Mackerel in the cold storage was reserved for Dundun. Since he was making this for Shen Baobao, there was no need to use Mackerel; other types of fish would also work. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
While the attendant went to call the seafood supplier, Lin Xu went downstairs. From the fish tank, he scooped out several Grass Carp, each weighing over ten jin.
Using only crucian carp would make the taste too monotonous, and people would quickly tire of it. Relatively speaking, it’s better to have more variety.
For instance, with these large Grass Carp, if he filleted the fish to make Fish Jerky—similar to how pork jerky is made—wouldn’t that be much better than them stealing Dundun’s unseasoned, tasteless dried fish?
Back upstairs, he deftly slaughtered and cleaned the fish.
He kept the Fish Scales to make spicy Fish Scales or Fish Scale Jelly. The fish guts would be braised in sauce for dinner tonight. The fish head and bones would be simmered with tofu to make fish head tofu soup. As for the Fish Skin, it would be turned into Pickled Pepper Fish Skin.
Soon, every part of the several fish had been clearly designated for a purpose.
Setting aside the scraps like the Fish Skin, bones, and guts, Lin Xu prepared to process the fish meat first.
He used a kitchen knife to cut the fish meat into small chunks. Then, he used an Iron Mace, the kind used for pounding beef balls, to mash it into a paste.
For this type of delicacy, just like when making Fish Balls or meat balls, one could take a shortcut and simply put it into a food processor to blend. If one felt the texture from the food processor wasn’t good enough, they could also chop it finely, as one would for minced meat filling.
