Free Web NovelChapter 1135: Chapter 460: Is It Possible That the "Meatballs" You’ve Eaten Were Just Regular Meatballs? [Subscription Request]
"Oh my, are all the meatballs I’ve eaten since childhood fake?"
"Not fake, maybe just ordinary meatballs."
"How much does this kind of meatball cost? Tell me, so I can give up?"
"I need to get a phone that can actually smell when I have money."
"We’re just in the meat cutting stage, but my mouth is already watering uncontrollably."
"Me too, just listening to these state banquet chefs chat makes me hungry."
After cutting the lean meat, Lin Xu started cutting the fatty meat.
Fatty meat diced to the size of soybeans is theoretically easier than lean meat diced to the size of green beans, but in reality, the fatty meat is softer, and slicing it thinly is rather challenging.
Lin Xu said while working:
"If you want to try making this at home, you can freeze the skinless pork belly in the fridge for half an hour. That way, the fatty meat is easier to cut. My knife skills are decent, and since I’m in a hurry, I didn’t freeze it, just went ahead."
As soon as he said this, the word "decent" floated across the screen of comments, obviously.
Everyone still remembers the last cooking competition when Lin Xu carved two fish out of lactone tofu.
Such exquisite knife skills, and you’re calling it decent?
"When Boss Lin says his knife skills are decent, it’s like Liu Guoliang saying he’s barely decent at playing ping pong."
"Jordan: I’m decent at basketball!"
"Shu Mahe: I’m decent at driving."
"Messi: I’m decent at soccer."
"..."
Lin Xu finished cutting the fat and lean meat, took the kitchen scale, and weighed the lean and fatty meat separately, saying:
"The fat to lean ratio for meatballs is between 7:3 and 6:4. If there’s too much fat, it’ll be greasy. Too little fat, and it won’t achieve that tender texture with no fibers. If you want to be precise, you can control the ratio strictly at 6.18:3.82, which is theoretically the best ratio."
Soon, an audience member calculated the resulting ratio:
"Wow, it’s actually 0.618, the golden ratio."
"Gosh! I just want to learn cooking, but it’s actually involving math and aesthetics; I never expected this."
"Indeed, golden ratio points are everywhere in life."
Lin Xu weighed again, then took some hard fat from the pig’s haunch and chopped some.
This time he didn’t weigh it, just started making it directly.
"The weighing was for you to see; for a professional chef, the hand is the scale."
As he spoke, he held the chopped meat drizzle and said:
"For example, this clump of meat weighs 13 grams."
He placed it on the electronic scale, and sure enough, it displayed 13.
He casually mentioned several numbers, all correct, not only surprising the audience but also receiving admiration from Qiu Zhenhua and the others, acknowledging this weighing skill is truly impressive.
Lin Xu smiled without saying much, putting the fatty meat in a basin, adding some salt, mixing evenly, and letting it marinate.
Salt has a strong water-extracting effect when dissolving.
Lean meat is most afraid of direct contact with salt grains, so seasoning must be done in the fatty meat, letting salt dissolve, and using its water-extracting effect to draw out water from fatty meat, making it easier to form adhesive during slapping.
Then he brought over the diced lean meat, adding finely chopped scallion and sesame-sized ginger, pouring in some scallion and ginger water, starting to add water to the meat filling.
To make lean meat tender, you must add water so the meat fibers absorb moisture, achieving a melt-in-the-mouth texture.
"Scallion and ginger enhance the fragrance of the lean meat and remove odor, while water is for the lean meat to absorb; both have no effect on the fatty meat drizzle, actually affecting its adhesion, so the lean meat must be mixed first, and then combined and slapped."
Lin Xu stirred the lean meat in one direction, adding water for absorption.
Once the lean meat feels moist, soft, and even elastic, the mixing is complete.
Then he brought over the fatty meat, combining it with the prepared crab meat, egg white, and crushed shrimp roe, mixing evenly for slapping.
Seeing this, Qiu Zhenhua said:
"When Old Dai called me, he said to come and oversee Lin’s work, but seeing this, I found I’m not qualified to oversee, more like learning and exchanging...Many Huaiyang chefs don’t know that during meatball preparation, shrimp roe needs to be crushed, which is my uncle’s secret, but unexpectedly mastered by Lin."
Adding shrimp roe to meatballs increases its fragrance, but the whole stewing process is done slowly, with shrimp roe sealed in the meat, insufficient heat, unable to release its flavors.
So during preparation, use a rolling pin to crush the shrimp roe’s shell for perfect flavor release.
Lin Xu, like playing with clay as a child, constantly lifted the mixed meat drizzle from the basin and slapped it back.
This method ensures the fatty meat forms adhesion and bonds the meat drizzle together.
It’s a labor-intensive task, and those lacking in strength can’t persist, so chefs appearing in demonstrations, especially old chefs, simplify the steps.
This is not just for shooting convenience but also to save energy.
After ten minutes of slapping, all meat drizzle becomes jelly-like, full of adhesive, trembling across the basin.
The fatty meat drizzle, due to released adhesive, looks semi-transparent.
Seeing this, the netizens have given up on learning:
"The meat’s ready, originally waiting to follow Lin’s lead, but it seems better to make braised pork belly, which I can’t handle."
"That Huaiyang restaurant, come take a beating, originally learning bits from Lin, but your provocation made learning impossible."
"Exactly, come take a beating!"
With many comments, Xie Baomin interacted with the audience using his phone.
He read a comment:
"Why not add chicken powder, flavoring, and rice wine... My friend, standard meatballs are seasoned with only salt. If you add chicken powder, then chicken soup is laziness. If adding flavoring, then crab meat and shrimp roe are cutting corners. If adding rice wine, it means the meat isn’t fresh..."
With a few words, he disclosed the core techniques of the dish.
Qiu Zhenhua helplessly smiled:
"Old Xie, you’re ruining these restaurants’ jobs, be careful of getting hit outside."
Xie Baomin nonchalantly waved his hand:
"Doing catering can pursue profit, but without conscience, like me spending hundreds for meatballs, can I feel at ease?"
While speaking, Carnival’s special effects drifted by.
Xie Baomin glanced at the donor’s name:
"Die Lianhua... Thanks to the mentor’s wife for rewarding the Carnival, on behalf of my apprentice brother, thank you. He’s taking wedding photos tomorrow; I’ll send you some previews to check."
Grandpa Gao, resting at Xi’an hotel, laughed and scolded:
"This rascal, all about money."
Luo Shan was pleased with Xie Baomin calling her mentor’s wife, casually rewarding dozens of Carnivals.
The live broadcast turned crazy.
"Stone hammered, Gao Xiaoshuai is Grandpa Gao!"
"Grandpa Gao, how do you find Lin’s meatballs? Comment on them."
"They’re provoking your apprentice here, saying Lin only cooks home-style dishes, extremely discontent with Chef Xie, aren’t you speaking up?"
"Grandpa Gao, Lin’s bullied here, you should appear to back him up!"
"..."
Previously filled with praise for Lin Xu’s cooking, now it’s a mess due to Xie Baomin calling mentor’s wife, with lots of ruckus-loving netizens requesting Grandpa Gao to appear.
Disciple’s squeezed, as a mentor, appearing is normal, right?
Seeing these comments, Grandpa Gao couldn’t help but laugh:
"This group of kids, stirring drama with no fear. Okay, for my apprentice, I’ll bravely show my old face!"
After speaking, he switched to Gao Xiaoshuai’s account...
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After carb cut-off, the brain’s notably slower, struggling with focus. Fortunately, blood sugar stabilized, dropping from over twenty to about eight fasting; a little more decrease, then slightly replenishing carbs, or else two updates really fails subscribers and monthly tickets... This Chapter’s 5700 words, monthly tickets please, brothers!
