With the cafeteria on the second floor, the Xinghui employees all ate at Delicious before heading off to work.
Around nine-something, Zhan Yang and Brother Fang Chang finally showed up on the second floor.
"Did you really have hot pot lamb here at Boss Su’s yesterday?"
Zhan Yang still found it a bit hard to believe.
"Why would I lie?" Brother Fang Chang said with a proud smile. "I’ll let you in on a secret: the pork knuckle in the meat buns you’re about to eat? That’s from my shop!"
"Hiss! You really signed a contract with Delicious?"
Brother Fang Chang nodded and lowered his voice. "I thought it was just a small diner, and with the 19th-floor business being what it is, how much meat could they possibly use? I never expected this!"
At this point, he glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby before continuing, "Just the pork knuckle order for today is almost as much as my entire shop’s daily output. It’s insane!"
Zhan Yang nodded. "It might look quiet here at Boss Su’s, but he supports a lot of people. You definitely made the right move signing this contract, my man."
After walking into the cafeteria, the two of them bought ten buns and ten eggs.
They sat at a four-person table and started eating with relish.
Brother Fang Chang took a bite of a bun, then poured a little vinegar inside. "I wonder how Boss Su is doing with my hosting request. Her family is coming the day after tomorrow."
"Don’t worry. Boss Su’s skills are absolutely top-notch."
「Meanwhile, on the 19th floor.」
Su Chen had gotten up early to make breakfast, but after going back to bed for a nap, he was only just waking up now.
Ah Bao had already learned how to make the stir-fried chicken. With the help of a kitchen thermometer, even the blanching step could be completely entrusted to Ah Bao.
So, Su Chen had almost nothing to keep him busy now. He could devote himself completely to the next order.
After quickly washing up, he went to lie down on his favorite recliner.
’Braised Lion’s Head is already perfected. No need to practice that dish any more.’
Su Chen wasn’t in a hurry to practice the two Huaiyang Cuisine dishes. What truly troubled him were the few Jingzhou dishes.
Take the dish Sauteed Pork, for example. The common method is to coat pork tenderloin with cornstarch, flash-fry it in oil, and then stir-fry it.
But even for a dish this simple, there were countless variations in Jingzhou.
Sauteed Pork with potato slices, Sauteed Pork with mini flower rolls, Sauteed Pork mixed with noodles or rice, and so on.
Su Chen began experimenting in the system’s synthesis function.
[Pork Tenderloin] + [Onion]
White entry.
[Pork Tenderloin] + [Onion] + [Garlic Bolts] + [Wood Ear Mushrooms]
This combination of ingredients was a fairly standard recipe. After adding two more ingredients, it actually worked!
’Green is good enough. Adding potatoes or mini flower rolls is just a matter of personal preference, so I’d better not challenge that...’
Having finalized the Sauteed Pork recipe, Su Chen started pondering how to make youmian.
Youmian is a type of whole-grain flour from the Northwest. There are many ways to prepare it, but oddly enough, no one uses it to make noodles. The texture is too coarse for that.
However, some folk recipes involve rolling the dough into a shape called "yuyu," which is thin on the ends and thick in the middle, or into the shape of "cat ears."
Most other preparations are centered around steaming.
’But the most famous one is probably... Youmian Kaolaolao.’ Su Chen had no idea why the name was so strange.
The methods for making youmian were all quite similar, so there wasn’t much to practice there. The key to this dish was... the sauce!
The steamed youmian is served in rolls and meant to be eaten by dipping it in the sauce.
Some people prefer a lamb broth, others a vegetable broth, and some even like a pork rib broth. The possibilities were endless, with numerous ways to eat it.
’I’ll just make four different sauces!’
The second dish was decided.
The last one was the Black Pork Stew. Su Chen pinched the bridge of his nose.
It was no wonder Jingzhou’s cuisine never made it to the big leagues. If you put these dishes in a slightly more upscale restaurant, their appearance alone would be a joke...
But the Jingzhou People absolutely loved it!
When they went out to eat, other dishes might seem just so-so, no matter how they were cooked. But the moment this Black Pork Stew hit the table, everything felt right!
People would often use a large ladle to scoop a heaping portion into their own small bowls and then exclaim: "Now *this* is what I’m talking about!"
[Potato] + [Tofu] + [Pork] + [Starch Noodles] + [Cabbage]
This was the basic version of Black Pork Stew. Just by looking at the ingredients, you could tell this thing could be eaten as a main course!
When Su Chen placed all the ingredients into the synthesis box, he shot up from his chair.
"Purple? No way... How can this thing be a purple recipe!"
Staring at the shimmering purple [Grand Black Pork Stew], Su Chen’s eyes were filled with disbelief!
Purple meant the recipe had an extremely high ceiling and a very respectable floor!
"How can a simple stew be a purple recipe?"
Seeing this color, Su Chen didn’t hesitate and immediately entered the Gourmet Practice Room.
"Summon: Black pork, potato starch noodles, cabbage, potatoes, tofu!"
Laying the ingredients out on the cutting board, Su Chen still found it incredible. ’How on earth can this thing be purple?’
’A home-style dish that every family knows how to make is actually purple?’
With an attitude of disbelief, Su Chen decisively cut the potatoes into rolling chunks, the tofu into rectangular slices four by three centimeters, and used only a small amount of cabbage—just the leafy parts.
’First, I’ll make the home-style version!’
Meaning, the recipe that came from the synthesis.
The method was extremely simple. You just had to stir-fry the pork until it was half-cooked, then add the potato chunks and cabbage leaves and continue to stir-fry.