Free Web NovelChapter 1111: Chapter 452: The Secret to Delicious Fish Head Stew with Flatbread! How Many Steps Does It Take to Turn Dundun into an Arab Prince?
Grandma Sun tried to make one and felt it wasn’t difficult to handle.
"Little Xu really has amazing skills, just casually shaping these meatballs and they look so good."
Lin Xu smiled and said:
"This is one of Chef Zhu Yong’s specialty dishes in our kitchen. He’s from Hubei and is good at cooking such dishes. If you don’t like pork, you can replace the front leg meat with fish."
The meatballs were placed one by one into the steamer basket, set aside to relax.
It’s best not to steam freshly made meatballs immediately; letting them relax a bit before steaming improves their texture.
During that time, Lin Xu took the newly prepared mince, added salt, Light Soy Sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper powder, stirred until it firmed up, and then added tender corn kernels, minced lotus root, diced carrots, and corn starch, continuing to mix vigorously, even slapping the mixture a few times.
Once done, he grabbed a plate, brushed oil on the bottom, placed the minced meat on it, spread it into a patty shape, and finally created a hole in the middle to crack open a raw salted duck egg.
Steaming the salted duck egg enriches the dish’s texture and flavor, and once steamed, mashing the egg yolk can elevate the taste of the lotus root meat patty.
After finishing these preparations, he placed the steamer on the stove, brought it to a boil, put the steamer basket on top, and finally the plate of meat patties, steaming with high heat.
"Sister Mi Lan, if you’re planning to entertain tourists here, the kitchen equipment needs an upgrade; at least get a steamer cabinet — it makes preparing steamed dishes much more convenient."
Upon hearing this, Mi Lan said:
"I was just about to ask you, what else does our kitchen need? How about you draft a plan for me later? I’m not sure about these things, but I’ll share some shares with you, how does that sound?"
When dealing with someone with fame, traffic, and culinary skill, you naturally want to stick by them.
After all, this Ginkgo Garden is barely alive; besides selling some ginkgo saplings in spring, it’s idle during other times. If it can thrive through Lin Xu, giving him a share is reasonable.
Mi Lan just mentioned casually, but the more she thought, the more reliable this sounded.
The Fishing Platform and Yanjing Hotel have hired this handsome guy as the leader of their Dining Department, and our small garden has nothing, only shares to offer.
Lin Xu said:
"There’s no need for that. I’ll make a list for you, and you can just follow it to buy the items."
"No way, I can’t let you help for free... Is the Dundun Food Management Company the parent company of your business? Later on, I’ll do a stock transfer to let Dundun become a shareholder in Ginkgo Garden."
The best way to keep close is by getting them on board.
Once the equity procedures are settled...
"Brother, you wouldn’t want our Ginkgo Garden to keep losing money, right?"
Lin Xu didn’t expect Sister Mi Lan to be so straightforward; if he truly took over, this garden would need to be redesigned and planned, tailored to an eco-park standard.
As for how to do it specifically... that requires the essential skill of modern young people doing chores:
Calling! My! Mom!
When the time comes, I’ll let my mom — skilled in managing tourist spots — come and organize the place well, ensuring it’s engaging while not impeding the growth of ginkgo trees.
Once the place is set, there wouldn’t be any worries about tourists.
Let Dundun stay here for a while; maybe not becoming a hot spot, but at least not being so deserted as now.
When Lin Xu started cooking, Grandma Sun began making pancakes.
Beijing’s aunties almost all have the knack for making pancakes.
Grandma Sun was no exception; she roasted Fennel and Sichuan peppercorn in a dry pan and then crushed them with a rolling pin, sifted, mixed with salt to make Sichuan peppercorn salt.
Using this Sichuan peppercorn salt for pancakes gives them a rich aroma.
Even without any side dishes, an entire pancake can be easily eaten by one person.
When Lin Xu had almost finished cooking, he took down the glutinous rice lotus root that had been simmering on the stove, leaving the red date soup to further simmer—this way, the flavor is better.
Normally, glutinous rice lotus root is ’Cold Eating’, but now it’s chilly, so Lin Xu planned to eat it warm.
Later on, take it out, slice it, then simmer brown sugar into a caramel sauce to drizzle over—the soft, sticky, warm taste would definitely be unique.
As the fish head neared completion, Lin Xu lifted the lid, and a rich and fresh aroma drifted from the pot.
The fish head in the pot trembled like tofu; the broth had reduced significantly, becoming thick and bubbling, making one crave just by looking at it.
With chopsticks, he picked out the easily selectable ingredients like dried chili, Star Anise, and green onions, and reduced the broth on high heat.
When making ’Fish Head with Pancake’, the broth shouldn’t be too reduced; otherwise, you can’t dip pancake in it.
But it shouldn’t be left too much either; otherwise, it won’t have the thick, gooey feeling essential to the dish’s essence.
Once the broth had simmered down some more, Lin Xu drizzled some lard along the pot’s edge, picked up the pot, shook it gently, letting the fat mix with the broth.
Soon after, he lifted it, carefully sliding the fish head into a specially prepared oversized round plate.
The plate is custom-made, somewhat deep, with plate holders underneath that can house solid alcohol for heating.
With the fish out of the pot, Lin Xu shouted toward the outside:
"Food is ready!"
Today the sun was nice, and there was no wind. Everyone simply chose to eat lunch basking in the sun in the yard.
Su Peipei’s colleagues and Mi Lan’s girlfriends couldn’t help but wipe the drool from their mouths looking at the table filled with dishes. After all, this was made by Boss Lin—certainly taking a couple of photos later to show off.
Lin Xu fished the glutinous rice lotus root out of the pot, removed the toothpicks, sliced them into rolling knife chunks, plated them and drizzled the thick caramel sauce over. The sweet aroma filled the air.
When he came out with the dish, he noticed the ladies were already seated, while the three fishermen weren’t back yet.
Tch, from mentor’s wife to mother-in-law, and even grandma Sun, seeing food, everyone became "husband-forgetful".
Lin Xu turned to Shen Jiayue, who was fiddling with her phone, and asked:
"Yueyue, call Dad for us and let them know lunch’s ready—it’s not good once it gets cold."
"I’ve already called; they said they won’t come till they catch fish... Lele, stop stealing bites! I’ve been eyeing this glutinous rice lotus root for ages. You’ve stolen one piece already, and yet continue to eat?"
Geng Lele smiled awkwardly:
"I was just trying it for Brother Xu... Here’s the last piece!"
Not coming back till they catch the fish?
Lin Xu glanced toward the pond, reached over, and scratched Dundun’s chin.
Come on, buddy, why don’t you give the iceberg... oh no, the lunch a little push?
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I’m not eating staple food now, two servings of cold dishes a day, craving Fish Head with Pancake, but unfortunately, won’t have it anytime soon... This Chapter is 5200 words; brothers, please vote for your monthly tickets!
