Free Web NovelChapter 1134: Chapter 460: Is It Possible That the Meatballs You’ve Eaten Were Just Ordinary Meatballs? [Subscription Request]
"Yan Bao, I can’t finish this bowl of rice. How about I give you some?"
Chen Yan didn’t fall for it at all:
"Don’t even try. You’re definitely saving room for meatballs... No way, I need to save room too. It would be a shame to stare at the meatballs later but not be able to eat them."
Hmph, trying to trick me into eating my fill first? Not a chance!
After dinner, everyone began to busy themselves preparing for the live stream.
Lin Xu also took a screenshot of the comment questioning him and posted it to his personal page:
"Since there’s skepticism, let me respond by simply making a high-end dish. At 17:00 this afternoon, I will formally make Clear Stewed Crab Meat Meatballs in the live stream, explaining the preparation, consumption, and several key points of savoring meatballs, so everyone doesn’t get fooled by unscrupulous merchants using regular meatballs."
He also attached the link to the live streaming room.
As soon as it was posted, many netizens began replying under the post:
"The response is here, hahaha!"
"It seems Lin is teaching too many home-cooked dishes recently, causing some misunderstandings."
"Today’s biggest joke: a Dining Department director at a Yanjing hotel can only make home-cooked dishes."
"Perhaps White Jade Lotus Root Strips, Steamed Rice Flour Silver Strips, Qingshui Furong, Clear Soup Noodles, Snowflake Chicken Nao, Silver Shrimp Soup, Braised Goose Feet, Braised Sea Cucumber, Stewed Catfish Head are all home-cooked dishes. Anyway, we don’t get these at my home."
"What a coincidence, we don’t get them at my home either."
"Seems like Lin should maintain some distance from fans, or else he’ll be seen as a kitchen rookie."
"Hurry up and start, we can’t wait!"
For better effect on the live stream, Lin Xu specially changed into a new chef’s uniform.
Once Qiu Zhenhua drove to the store, the live stream officially began.
Today’s live stream was handled by a professional team, so there was no issue with clarity. They even used several close and distant camera angles, perfectly switching through the broadcast desk to showcase the meatball preparation.
Xie Baomin, Qiu Zhenhua, and Dai Jianli also changed into work uniforms, assisting with explanations and evaluations.
The State Banquet Head Chef personally analyzed all steps and ingredients for the dish. Such specifications don’t have a second in the entire live streaming circle.
"Hello everyone, I’m Lin Xu. Welcome to my live stream. Due to widely known reasons, today I’ll be teaching you how to make the classic Huaiyang dish—Clear Stewed Crab Meat Meatballs."
After a simple opening line, Xie Baomin and others also greeted the camera.
Zeng Xiaoqi, with nothing to do after eating, even changed into formal wear to play host.
Just listening to everyone discuss made her crave it terribly. By helping out, she could be the first to taste it once it’s done.
In front of delicious food, everyone has their little tricks.
With time running short, Lin Ji briefly introduced the ingredients and started working with the kitchen knife.
He skillfully removed the pork skin from the pork belly, then placed the meat flat on the chopping board. Using the knife, he slowly sliced a piece of meat off, put the sliced meat aside, then turned the knife sideways and began layering the meat using a slicing technique.
Qiu Zhenhua looked at the camera and said:
"Do you know what this step means? It’s called testing the knife, using the sensation of cutting meat to judge the tenderness. If the meat is old, the pieces need to be smaller later, or else it’ll be gritty when eating. If the meat is tender, the pieces should be appropriately larger, otherwise they’ll melt too easily when cooked."
The big difference between this dish and regular meatballs is that it cannot be minced; it must be sliced with a knife throughout.
The term Thousand Knife Meat refers to this dish.
And during the slicing, fatty and lean meat need to be separated.
The fatty meat is cut to roughly the size of soybeans, and lean meat to the size of mung beans. Both are sliced separately into pieces, preliminarily processed separately, and then combined for pounding to get the right texture.
Seeing Lin Xu skillfully separate the fatty and lean parts with a flat slicing technique, Qiu Zhenhua recalled the days when he was an apprentice:
"Back then, my uncle was still young and passionate about playing bridge. After assigning me the task of making meatballs, he went to play cards. Thinking no one was watching, I cleverly minced the meat..."
Dai Jianli laughed and asked:
"Did your hands swell from getting smacked?"
"They did, it hurt like hell. My uncle seriously said that for the ordinary house, you can mince for meatballs. But as a Huaiyang cuisine master, using mincing for meatballs is disrespectful to the founding masters."
After separating the fatty and lean meat, Lin Xu started cutting lean meat into cubes.
As he cut, he explained:
"Why use pork belly for making meatballs? Because the lean meat in it is only a thin layer with barely any sinew, and grows attached to fat, making the flavor rich. Only such meat can achieve melt-in-your-mouth tenderness."
For other meat dishes, melt-in-your-mouth usually describes the fat.
But for meatballs, it refers to the lean meat. The lean part has a rich aroma and a tender texture, melts in the mouth, and is a key judging criterion for the entire dish.
Cutting meat cubes seems simple, but once you actually do it, you realize the difficulty.
Because the meat not only needs to be cut into cubes but also cut to uniform sizes, and when placing sliced lean meat on the chopping board, the meat’s grain needs consideration too. Only then do the cubes become uniform, absorbing flavors more readily.
While Lin Xu cut the meat, Xie Baomin and the others chatted about the dish, surprisingly harmoniously.
The live streaming room’s viewers sent a barrage of comments, all astonished by such detailed techniques:
