Free Web NovelChapter 1129: Chapter 458: Surprises at the New Job! Dundun Is a Filial Kid, But Not Very!
And since the other head chefs also had to get back to work, everyone split up downstairs at the company.
When Lin Xu was leaving, Zeng Xiaoqi and the show crew bought some fruit and other little gifts, planning to grab a taxi to Geng Lishan’s place and kick off today’s Noodles With Black Bean Sauce team-building event.
"Boss Lin, you’re not coming?"
"Nah, after lunch I’ve got to shoot a cooking tutorial with Yueyue."
Hearing "cooking tutorial," Xiao Wei asked curiously:
"What tutorial? What are you making?"
Lin Xu said:
"Air-fryer sugar-roasted chestnuts."
"What? An air fryer? Then you’d better film it in detail."
Xiao Sui chimed in:
"Yeah yeah yeah, make it detailed, I’m waiting to learn."
Well damn, just hearing "air fryer" gets everyone this hyped.
Alright then, today we’ll shoot it in detail.
Though honestly there’s no need to go crazy with detail, because the air-fryer version is stupidly simple—basically if you have hands, you can do it.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Lin Xu drove back to the shop with Wei Qian.
Lunch at the shop today was pretty simple: braised noodles with green beans plus Egg sour soup. That’s a pretty traditional North China dish, very filling, especially suitable for people doing heavy physical work.
"Xu-bao, what do we need for sugar-roasted chestnuts? I’ll prep it in advance."
Shen Jiayue was already a little impatient.
Lin Xu said:
"This is really simple, just get some chestnuts ready. As for seasonings, we only need sugar, Honey, and cooking oil. I’ll teach you when we make it later, don’t rush."
"Okayyy! Then take your time eating, I’ll go downstairs with Sis Yun and clip Dundun’s nails. The little guy scratched up my tablet this morning, and I was just about to use his little private stash to buy a new one."
Lin Xu was in the middle of drinking Egg soup; when he heard that, he almost choked.
Do all moms love scheming for their kids’ secret stash?
He remembered when he was a kid, whenever he got New Year’s money, his mom would pounce on it, saying she’d "save it for him" and give it back when he needed it.
But all these years later, those red-envelope funds have vanished without a trace.
He’d thought this habit wouldn’t carry on into his own generation, but who knew Shen Baobao would somehow master it all on her own.
Turns out once you become a mom, you’re all the same.
Lin Xu polished off a big bowl of braised noodles and a big bowl of Egg sour soup, then went downstairs and saw Dundun lying on the little rooftop sulking, ignoring them no matter how they coaxed him.
Shu Yun was waving a little dried fish in front of him, and he puffed up and turned his head away, full of backbone.
"What’s up with him?"
"We clipped his nails, now he’s big mad."
As soon as he saw Lin Xu, Dundun immediately jumped into his arms and let out a pitiful:
"Meoooow~~~~~~"
He even rubbed his head hard against Lin Xu’s shoulder, aggrieved like a thirteen-pound baby.
"If we don’t clip your nails, they’ll just keep growing and eventually poke into your paw pads. Then it’ll be trouble—not only will you need medicine, you might even need surgery."
When Dundun heard that, he was still very wronged, but his mood clearly improved a lot, and his eyes started sneaking looks at the dried fish in Shu Yun’s hand.
Obviously, once the anger faded, the backbone disappeared with it.
"If you want to eat, just eat. Consider it forgiving your mommy and your godmom."
Hearing that, Dundun finally jumped out of his arms and started eating the dried fish, letting out little hums from time to time, looking like "I’m only forgiving you because of Dad."
Lin Xu rubbed his little head and said:
"Hurry up and eat, Baobei. Tomorrow your mommy and I are going to shoot our wedding photos. How about you come take a few pictures too?"
"Meowwwww!!!!!!!"
The little guy wagged his tail with excitement and even pushed the half-eaten dried fish toward Lin Xu, lowering his head to eat another whole one himself.
Lin Xu looked at that half piece of dried fish, half exasperated, half amused.
This kid does have filial piety—but not much.
"Since we’re not busy right now, should we just start, Xu-bao?"
"Sure, let’s start."
The little couple went upstairs, set up the filming gear, and started shooting the air-fryer sugar-roasted chestnuts tutorial.
This method is actually very similar to the usual home method: you score a cross on the surface of each chestnut with a knife. That not only helps them cook through, but more importantly prevents them from exploding.
Every winter, there are cases of chestnuts exploding and hurting people, all because the shells weren’t cut open and trapped a lot of steam inside. If you bite into them like that, it’s easy for them to shoot into your eyes or face.
The solution is actually pretty simple: just cut an opening on the shell.
They use a cross cut because a cross-shaped slit makes it easier for the shell to curl back.
"There are two ways to deal with the cut chestnuts. First, you can soak them in clean water for twenty minutes to let them fully absorb water, then put them straight into the air fryer. If you’re in a hurry, you can also boil them in a pot for eight minutes."
The soaking method takes longer, and the air-frying time also has to be more than twenty minutes.
If you give them a quick boil, it not only saves the soaking time, but also shortens the air-frying time down to about fifteen minutes.
To save time, Lin Xu directly chose the boiling method.
While they were boiling, he grabbed a small bowl and added Honey, white sugar, and vegetable oil in a 1:1:1 ratio.
He stirred until the sugar dissolved. Once the chestnuts were boiled and drained, he scooped them into the bowl and mixed them thoroughly with the sugar-oil mixture, coating the surface of each chestnut in the syrup.
Then he laid them evenly in the air fryer, set the temperature to 170 degrees, and the time to fifteen minutes.
"That’s it?"
Shen Jiayue hadn’t expected it to be this easy and was a bit surprised.
"It really isn’t hard. Even using a wok isn’t that much trouble."
"Once we’re done filming, I’m going to try it myself. If it’s good, those sugar-roasted chestnut shops can forget about making another cent off me!"
Lin Xu pointed at the pot of stones beside them and said:
"Even if you don’t learn it, those shops still won’t be making money off you... I’ll just make it for you. It’s not a hassle."
"Hehe, thanks, Xu-bao."
When there were only a few minutes left on the timer, they turned the camera back on.
Lin Xu held the camera and shot a close-up of the air fryer’s timer knob.
Soon, the time ran out and the fryer let out a "ding."
Shen Jiayue couldn’t wait to pull open the fryer drawer. A wave of delicious chestnut aroma drifted out, with even a hint of caramel in it, really pleasing to the nose.
"This smells different—so good!"
Lin Xu nodded, poured the chestnuts onto a plate, shot a close-up, then picked one up. He cracked open the shell, which had been dried crisp by the hot air, and fed the chestnut to Shen Jiayue:
"Well? How is it?"
Shen Jiayue’s eyes curved like crescents:
"So good. Fragrant and glutinous, way better than boiled... I originally wanted to study hard and become an air-fryer immortal, but turns out that’s you."
Lin Xu flicked her perky little nose:
"If you can’t become an air-fryer immortal, you can become an air-bangs immortal... When we’ve got time, pick out an extra-large air fryer. I’ll teach you how to fry a whole chicken."
That instantly triggered a certain Baobao’s desire to learn:
"Whoa, that sounds so badass. I’m ordering one right now, hahaha, I can’t wait to see Yan Bao and the others’ shocked faces—it’s going to be epic!"
Watching how excited she was, Lin Xu couldn’t help worrying this might trigger an air-fryer arms race in their circle.
Sigh, the sisterhood circle is even more brutal than the fishing guys’ circle!
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This Chapter is 5,400 words. End of the month—asking for a Monthly Ticket, brothers!
