Chapter 272: Chapter 182: Wherever Mom and Dad Are, That’s Home! Helping Mom Pays Off! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]_3
"Son, come and give me a hand. Chop this foreleg pork into mince."
At Chen Meijuan’s command, Lin Xu—dietary consultant at the Fishing Platform State Guesthouse, special chef of Building No. 2, and a food blogger with hundreds of thousands of online followers—obediently put on an apron and began chopping the meat with a kitchen knife.
Yeah, no matter how many titles or identities one holds, in front of Mom, you just have to listen and do as told.
While Lin Xu was chopping the meat, Chen Meijuan was cleaning a three-pound Carp.
"Why didn’t you let the vendor clean it?"
"We can’t do that; it wouldn’t be fresh by the time we brought it home... It’s a shame the market doesn’t sell Yellow River Carp. I don’t even know if the braised Carp will taste good."
Lin Xu quickly offered a flattering comment, "It will definitely taste good! I’ve never had enough of it in my entire life. Yueyue will love it the moment she tries it."
While the mother and son were busy in the kitchen, Lin Hongqi took out his laptop from his bag, connected to the internet, and logged into various group-buying platforms to check the ticket sales for the scenic spots. Summer vacation was the golden period for tourism. If they didn’t seize the opportunity, this year would be an almost complete waste of effort. After checking, he also looked up the approval progress for a 4A-level scenic area, which was still under review. He wondered when it would be approved. If it could be approved before the end of summer vacation, there would still be time to promote it.
Unfortunately... Such proceedings are incredibly slow and cannot be rushed; one can only wait patiently.
After handling the online tasks, he picked up his phone and contacted the person in charge of the scenic area to ask about the status of its different sections.
Hmm, even though he was in Beijing now, he couldn’t just ignore the scenic spot.
Now that it was finally showing signs of improvement, he had to be wholeheartedly responsible and ensure every tourist had a great time.
「In the kitchen.」
After Lin Xu finished chopping the meat, Chen Meijuan had already cleaned the Carp thoroughly, scored it, and marinated it with scallion, ginger, and cooking wine. She put the fish in the fridge. Then, she took the minced meat Lin Xu had chopped, seasoned it with scallion and ginger water, ginger juice, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and salt, then vigorously worked the mixture until it became springy and elastic.
Next, she cut some cabbage leaves and blanched them in water. After blanching, she immersed them in cold water to cool. After squeezing out the excess water, she laid the cabbage leaves out on the cutting board, placed some of the meat mixture on them, rolled the leaves up, and neatly arranged them in a dish to steam.
Once out of the steamer, they could be eaten directly. Alternatively, the steaming liquid from the dish could be discarded, a little Steamed Fish Sauce poured over, then sprinkled with scallion and ginger shreds, and finally drizzled with sizzling hot oil. Such cabbage rolls had a rich, savory soy flavor that was very appetizing. The Lin Family made this dish almost every Chinese New Year.
After finishing the cabbage rolls, Chen Meijuan sliced some lotus root using continuous cuts, stuffed it with more of the minced meat, and planned to later coat it in batter and fry it to make her son’s favorite crispy stuffed lotus root.
Once these two dishes were prepared, Chen Meijuan beat a few eggs and then made some paper-thin omelets in the frying pan. After cooling them slightly, she placed them on the cutting board, wrapped the remaining meat mixture inside, shaped them into long rolls, and then steamed them for an hour. Whether eaten hot or cold, they were extremely delicious.
Once all the minced meat was used, Chen Meijuan took out the soaked pork ribs, seasoned them with oyster sauce, minced garlic, scallion, and ginger, and prepared to fry some garlic-flavored pork ribs later.
"Last time, I saw an online discussion about a girl who traveled thousands of miles to her boyfriend’s parents’ home for the New Year, only to find they had prepared just a few cold dishes. It sparked a huge debate online. At that time, I told your dad that when you bring a girlfriend home, no matter how busy or tired we are, we must personally prepare a huge feast. We can’t let our future daughter-in-law feel slighted."
TSK... Mom, if only you’d said this when Yueyue was here. She would have been absolutely moved to tears.
Lin Xu smiled and said, "Your daughter-in-law isn’t that fussy. As long as it tastes good, she’ll be happy."
Seeing his mom pick up a white radish, he curiously asked, "What dish are you preparing with that?"
"Steamed Shredded Radish with Rice Flour. Isn’t this your favorite dish? It’s a perfect chance for Yueyue to try it too."
Upon hearing it was this dish, Lin Xu took the white radish and said, "I’ve been wanting to learn how to make this. Let me do the cutting. How fine should it be?"
"The finer, the better."
The finer, the better? Upon hearing this, Lin Xu immediately put his Wensi Tofu slicing skills to the test. He quickly peeled the white radish, sliced it diagonally into nearly transparent slices, then arranged the slices and evenly cut them into extremely fine shreds.
As he was almost finished, Chen Meijuan, who was nearby preparing to boil some pork belly, saw his work and exclaimed in shock, "Are you showing off your knife skills here, son? Why did you cut them as fine as hair?"
Didn’t you say the finer, the better? After finishing the rest of the radish, Lin Xu curiously asked, "Can’t these be used?"
"They’ll break easily when you salt them to draw out the water."
"Then tell me the method, and I’ll give it a try. If it works, we’ll continue steaming; if not, we’ll fry them into radish balls."
Chen Meijuan hadn’t expected her son to be so eager to learn nowadays, so she said, "First, rinse them. Then, use salt to draw out their moisture. Rinse them twice more and squeeze out the excess water. Blow-dry them with a fan, drizzle with a little cooked oil, and mix evenly. Finally, sprinkle with some dry starch and steam them. Give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll do it after I finish boiling the meat."
With the steps his mother taught him, Lin Xu put the radish shreds into a basin. He first rinsed them with clean water and drained them. Then, he sprinkled some salt over the shreds and gently tossed them, letting the salt’s strong dehydrating properties draw out the moisture.
Soon, the radish shreds in the basin softened and wilted, and a good amount of radish water accumulated at the bottom. Lin Xu pinched a shred to test. Though the radish shreds had become somewhat transparent, they hadn’t broken. It seemed they were still intact enough for steaming.
When the salting was almost done, he scooped out the radish shreds, rinsed them twice with clean water to wash away the excess salt, placed them in a clean white cloth, and squeezed out the remaining moisture. After squeezing out the water, he spread them out in a basket and used a fan to completely dry them.
Then he poured them into a basin, drizzled a little cooking oil, and mixed them evenly, ensuring every shred of radish was coated with oil. After that, he sprinkled some cornstarch on them. After mixing everything evenly again, he shook off the excess starch.
It was then ready to be steamed.
Chen Meijuan, who was nearby, watched him and said in amazement, "It really worked? Son, your skills are improving remarkably."
Once the steamer was free, he began the steaming process. This kind of radish shred didn’t need to be steamed for too long, just five to six minutes after the steam built up.
When the time was about right, Lin Xu lifted the pot lid. He carefully carried the steamer basket with the radish shreds out, then poured the shreds onto a tray, spreading them out to let the surface steam dissipate quickly. This would ensure the texture was perfectly dry and delicious when eaten.
While he was busy with this, a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind:
"Host has inadvertently created an Excellent Level lost dish—Steamed Rice Flour Silver Strips—under the guidance of your mother. Awarded the Superior General Cooking Technique: Powder-Steaming. Congratulations, Host."
HUH?????
I was just helping out, and I somehow managed to create a lost dish? This happiness came too suddenly!
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Sorry for the delay, this Chapter is 5,300 words. I need Monthly Tickets, everyone!!!