Free Web NovelChapter 1078: Chapter 442: Young Man, Want a Girlfriend? Learn to Cook Cherry Meat!
"Meow~~"
Dundun was lying on its roof, playing with a self-entertaining cat teaser stick with a suction cup next to it. Suddenly embraced by Lin Xu, it immediately expressed its dissatisfaction.
Obviously, the little guy was a bit unhappy.
Lin Xu rubbed its little head and whispered:
"Buddy, help Daddy draw a good snack. I’ll give you some Wagyu for lunch today."
Ever since Dundun got a chance to taste the richly fatty Wagyu while Old Huang was having beef tartare a couple of days ago, it’s been quite fond of it. Although cats shouldn’t have too much animal fat, a little now and then is fine.
After all, it’s necessary to store fat for the winter.
With fat, cats won’t feel cold.
Hearing the word "Wagyu," the initially playful Dundun immediately perked up. It stopped struggling and instead eagerly waved its paw, displaying a "hurry up" attitude.
Since the little guy was being so cooperative, Lin Xu skipped the previous procedure and just silently recited in his mind:
"Draw a prize!"
Soon, a prize wheel appeared in his mind. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Once the prize wheel started spinning and the prize button appeared, Lin Xu pressed it without hesitation.
Soon, the system’s prompt sounded in his mind:
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Perfect Level lost Beijing snack - Fortune Oil Cake."
Fortune Oil Cake? freewēbnoveℓ.com
Is this a lost Beijing snack?
As he pondered, a wealth of experience flooded into Lin Xu’s mind, all about the making of Fortune Oil Cake.
The so-called Fortune Oil Cake is actually a deep-fried cake with pork lard as the filling. It was a favorite of Emperor Guangxu, a bona fide imperial delicacy.
Since it’s an imperial delicacy, the preparation naturally involved some intricacies.
For instance, the pork lard isn’t used directly. Instead, it’s stripped of its membranes, torn into pieces, and marinated with sugar for three to five days. Then it’s mixed with sesame shreds, peanut shreds, hazelnuts, chestnuts, and roasted flour, wrapped in hot dough, and deep-fried.
After frying, the marinated pork lard melts and merges with the filling, making it aromatic but not greasy, exceptionally delicious.
After absorbing the knowledge, even though Lin Xu had seen many sweets, he still found this preparation rather complicated. No wonder it became a lost art.
But truthfully, it’s not entirely lost; the ingredients just got simplified.
The current fried sugar cake is derived from this method, though the filling has been much simplified, changing from pork lard filling to white sugar or brown sugar.
And the method of using sugar-marinated pork lard as filling isn’t lost either; Ningbo Tangyuan is made this way.
I’ll try how this Fortune Oil Cake tastes later, see if it’s better than the current method.
If it’s not tasty, then this prize draw was wasted.
Just as he was thinking, Dundun struggled a bit in his arms, jumped onto the service table, and continued lying on the roof playing with the cat teaser stick, but kept its eyes on Lin Xu, making its intent clear:
"Don’t forget the Wagyu you promised!"
Lin Xu rubbed its head and then said to Shu Yun:
"Call Old Huang and ask him to bring over a small piece of Wagyu. Today, let’s give Dundun a good meal."
Shu Yun curiously asked:
"Still raw?"
"No, today we’ll cook it a bit, render out the excess fat, and see if it prefers raw or cooked."
In a small courtyard in the nearby alley, looking at the various marinated dishes on the table, Old Man Sun said:
"I just said a few words for Xiao Ren; you didn’t need to go to all this trouble, it’s not necessary."
Chen Yan chuckled:
"We’re just here for a visit, brought some roast chicken, marinated snacks from the shop for you to try... Grandpa Sun, shall we find a place to fish this weekend?"
Although it was a visit to express gratitude, they couldn’t make it too overt, otherwise both parties would feel uncomfortable.
So Chen Yan made a few polite remarks and shifted the topic to fishing.
Indeed, for fishing enthusiasts, nothing is more interesting than a fishing invitation.
Sure enough, upon hearing about fishing, Old Man Sun got interested:
"Sure, no problem, though it’s pretty cold now with a recent snowfall. Fishing is a bit challenging, and going to a pay-to-fish pond loses the thrill of wild fishing."
Chen Yan responded with a smile:
"I know a place where you can probably still catch fish now, and the scenery’s nice too."
"Oh? Where is it?"
Beside him, Granny Sun walked over from the kitchen outside carrying a pot of hot tea, muttering as she came:
"You get all excited about fishing, always smelling of fish. Might as well sleep with the fish."
Old Man Sun laughed:
"It’s just because I’m retired and bored... Xiao Yan, Yueyue, have some tea. I picked these honeysuckles while fishing in the wild. I steamed and sun-dried them to make honeysuckle tea, great with crystal sugar for nourishing the lungs and reducing internal heat."
This made Shen Jiayue almost laugh out loud.
People online always say fishing enthusiasts can do anything but fish, and she didn’t believe it before. But seeing the honeysuckles floating in her cup, she believed it this time.
Who in the city would recognize this stuff?
Who’d have thought Old Man Sun not only knew it but could make honeysuckle tea?
She blew on the tea, took a small sip, and asked Chen Yan curiously:
"Where are you planning to fish?"
"At Mi Lan’s place. There’s a dozens-of-acre pond in her Ginkgo Forest, with lotus root planted in it, plus it’s stocked with fish that weren’t fed, mostly left to fend for themselves. I think we should be able to catch some now."
Hearing about such a place, Old Man Sun couldn’t sit still:
