Free Web NovelChapter 1144: Chapter 463: Caring Egg-Stuffed Pancake! The TV Station Makes Eight Treasure Gourd Duck? Then So Will We!
This is pretty good timing. I was just about to kick off the Huaiyang cuisine branch mission with Braised Whole Pig’s Head, and with Geng Lishan’s blessing, the cultural cuisine tone is basically locked in.
As he was thinking that, Zeng Xiaoqi went on:
"We’re also planning to take advantage of the run‑up to New Year to film videos about how people around the country prepare for the holiday and cut them into a New Year special documentary, but we’ll need platform support for that. President Chen is in talks with the platform side right now."
Documentary?
Zeng Xiaoqi’s ambitions were indeed big enough.
Still, that worked out too. They’d signed so many executive head chefs; you had to open up a few more fronts to get everyone slotted in.
He asked curiously:
"The first episode of Human Flavors is pretty important. What are we planning to shoot?"
Zeng Xiaoqi didn’t answer that, but instead brought up her old employer:
"The TV station has already put out a teaser. Flavors of Humanity is officially landing on Yanjing Satellite TV. They even invited a head chef, supposedly a ’new‑style Beijing cuisine’ guy, to cook on camera. Word is that master has overseas experience."
Ha, sure enough, they couldn’t let go of that Flavors of Humanity cake.
But overseas experience doesn’t really have much to do with a chef’s level, does it?
If it were some other industry, fine, go overseas if you want. But in Chinese cooking, what the hell is the use of going overseas?
Are you going to learn Chinese food from a bunch of people who don’t understand Chinese food?
Lin Xu probed:
"Don’t tell me he’s one of those tire‑factory‑certified chefs?"
"You actually guessed it. A Michelin three‑star chef, good at new‑style Chinese cuisine."
All right then. New‑style Chinese cuisine—just hearing it, you know it’s dishes made to cater to foreigners.
Zeng Xiaoqi was quite unhappy, because Food Flavors of the Human World was like her child. She’d written the proposal again and again, gone to her bosses again and again, and only then did she finally get the chance to try it.
Now that it was popular, the show had been altered into something neither fish nor fowl.
At a time like this, nobody could be happy.
Chen Yan shook her phone at Lin Xu:
"Their teasers are everywhere. They even posted the dish they’re going to make: Eight Treasure Gourd Duck, first broadcast Sunday at five in the afternoon... Brother‑in‑law, what should we do for our first episode?"
Lin Xu said with a smile:
"Then let’s just do Eight Treasure Gourd Duck too, and we’ll also release it on Sunday afternoon."
Little Wei and Little Sui, who’d been waiting to hear about the new dish, asked:
"Isn’t that kind of not very nice?"
Chen Yan waved her hand:
"Who cares if it’s nice or not? Let’s help Xiaoqi vent first... Brother‑in‑law, are you going to cook it or is Head Chef Xie?"
"If my senior brother makes a move, that’d be bullying them too much. I’ll do it myself."
Lin Xu felt he couldn’t keep lying around feeling smug about the Techniques the system gave him. He needed to challenge himself when it was time to challenge himself.
Eight Treasure Gourd Duck was a great dish for honing Knife Skills, the perfect thing to practice with.
At ten‑thirty, Lin Xu drove back to the shop and happened to bump into Shen Jiayue and Chen Meijuan, just back from the high‑speed rail station. The mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law were laughing and chatting; if you didn’t know better, you’d think they were mother and daughter.
"Son, I saw that bird’s‑eye view you sent and got a rough idea. You were right—the walking paths inside need to be adjusted, and we also have to add facilities like public toilets, streetlights, signage and so on."
As soon as she got out of the car, Chen Meijuan skipped the pleasantries and went straight into talking about Ginkgo Garden.
The three of them walked into the shop, and Lin Xu said:
"How about this afternoon Yueyue drives you over to Ginkgo Garden? You can walk around and take a look in person."
"Sure, that’s what I was planning anyway. If Yueyue’s busy, I can drive myself or grab a cab."
This eager‑to‑perform daughter‑in‑law, Shen Jiayue, rushed to say:
"I’m not busy, not busy. I was just thinking of taking Dundun out to relax a bit. I’ll go with Mom."
Chen Meijuan had just stepped through the door and was about to continue talking Ginkgo Garden when a little gray‑blue figure shot over from the front desk:
"Miaoo!!!!!!!"
Clearly, Dundun had spotted his grandma.
Chen Meijuan forgot all about chatting, bent down, and scooped the little guy into her arms:
"My good grandson, did you miss Grandma?"
Dundun immediately rubbed his head against her chest.
"Haha, my grandson is so good. I watched your livestream last time. Your grandpa was guessing everything you said from start to finish, and he even installed several cat‑language translation apps on his phone..."
Lin Xu had never imagined his dad had this side to him.
Later on, when they had a child with Yueyue, who knew what kind of spoiling the grandparents on both sides would get up to.
After playing with the little guy for a bit, Chen Meijuan went upstairs with Lin Xu, washed her hands, and got ready to make the Glass Noodles Meatballs her daughter‑in‑law had been craving for days.
"Got any meat broth, Lin?"
Glass Noodles Meatballs were meant to stand in for meat to satisfy cravings, so it was best to use some meat broth when making them. That way the noodles would taste more fragrant and the flavor richer.
Lin Xu said:
"Yeah, we’ve got plenty of stock. Use as much as you want."
Shen Jiayue asked curiously:
"Mom, what are you using the meat broth for?"
"To cook the glass noodles. Only when they’re boiled in meat broth will the noodles be fragrant and have that meat‑like texture."
Cooking the glass noodles in meat broth?
Shen Jiayue immediately thought of Pork Braised with Glass Noodles. If you used that kind of noodles to fry Meatballs, the taste would definitely... No, no, no, can’t start drooling.
In front of her mother‑in‑law she had to be more reserved; that’s how you came off as virtuous.
The big kitchen was in the middle of final prep work for lunch. To avoid getting in everyone’s way, Lin Xu and Chen Meijuan went to the small kitchen. Seeing that, Shen Jiayue followed along.
My mother‑in‑law’s making something delicious for me; of course I should learn how to make it, right?
Xu‑baby said these Meatballs were fried. Would they work in an air fryer? If they did, wouldn’t that mean I’d mastered another new dish?
Instead of using stock directly, Chen Meijuan first heated half a pot of water to about seventy degrees and soaked the glass noodles in it.
"These glass noodles were made by hanging ropes from the trees on both sides of the road at the village entrance and drying them right there. The surface picks up dust, so you need to soak them in hot water first. Once they’re soft, rinse them again to wash off the dust on the surface."
Lin Xu nodded, indicating he’d taken note.
Once the glass noodles had softened, they rinsed them once. Then she poured stock into the pot, added the noodles, and simmered them over low heat so the glass noodles could absorb as much of the stock’s aroma as possible.
While that was going, Chen Meijuan started preparing the ingredients needed for Glass Noodles Meatballs.
Things like minced scallions, minced ginger, Five-Spice Powder, sweet potato starch, and so on.
Once everything was ready, the noodles had been cooked to the point where they snapped with a light pinch between the fingers.
She fished the noodles out of the pot and shocked them in cold water. This not only rinsed off the surface oil so the seasonings could cling better, it also cooled the noodles down and kept them from getting too hot and losing that chewy, slippery texture.
After cooling, she laid them on the board and cut them into pieces about half an inch long. Then she transferred them to a bowl, officially starting on this Central Plains delicacy known as the poor man’s version of Meatballs—Glass Noodles Meatballs!
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This Chapter is 5,200 characters. Last hour of the month—brothers, I’m begging for Monthly Tickets! There were 30 days this month, and I wrote nearly 340,000 characters. The amount of updates wasn’t as much as last month—sorry about that, everyone. I’ll try to put out more next month and push the word count before Spring Festival hits!
