Chapter 412: Chapter 324: Ultimate Bounce and Ultimate Softness

Finally!

Nagishiro Sho gazed at the perfect sphere nestled in the crook of his thumb, his inner excitement almost exploding from his eyes.

It worked!!

After carefully placing the meatball into the pot, he let out a long sigh of relief.

For how many years, he felt like it’s been ages since he experienced such a surge of excitement.

It was as if the emotions and passions suppressed within him burst forth from the depths of his heart along with the squid meat being squeezed out.

One ball...

Two balls...

Three balls...

His movements became faster and his fingers more adept, each meatball he squeezed out was nearly perfect.

"Impressive, worthy of being the Head Chef."

"Mastering this in two or three minutes? I’m glad I didn’t say I wanted to try, I feel like I might take half an hour to make it round."

John and Magna were stunned, promptly clapping and cheering, their emotions soaring.

Since it was a test batch, Lin Chen hadn’t prepared a large quantity.

When the last mini squid ball dropped into the water, the entire pot was perfectly filled with floating meatballs.

Roughly estimated, there were just about twenty or so.

The first few meatballs Lin Chen made had been floating on the surface for a while, their color transformed from grayish-white to pure white, and their size clearly increased.

"You just let them simmer slowly with medium-low heat?"

Nagishiro Sho, having learned a new skill, eagerly washed his hands, his gaze fixed intensely on the squid balls floating on the surface, as if looking at his own child, filled with deep care.

"At first, you have to soak them in warm water to shape them. High heat easily warps the meatballs. Once the surface is set, you can turn up the heat to boil."

Lin Chen was also observing him, not feeling surprised at all by how quickly this fellow mastered the technique.

He’s been involved in this line of work since childhood, twenty years now. If he couldn’t learn this little task, he’d have switched careers long ago.

Soaking in warm water has another advantage; it prevents excessive loss of juice within the meatball.

Letting the surface set first is similar to sealing the edges of a steak on high heat.

This wall prevents the juices inside the squid ball from escaping, leaving them within. No matter how long you cook, no worry about overcooking leading to tough meat.

Of course, the best texture is achieved when cooked just right.

Five minutes later.

The water, having just boiled for a moment, returned to calm.

Nagishiro Sho eagerly scooped up a meatball and blew on it, cautiously taking a bite, undeterred by the lack of seasoning.

"Pshh—"

A gush of hot, savory juice spurted out.

This broth was almost unseasoned, only carrying the faint salty freshness of the squid, along with a bit of water’s saltiness, nothing more.

Yet this pure seafood taste, completely unadorned by seasoning, made Nagishiro Sho close his eyes in ecstasy, his face full of enjoyment.

Biting again, feeling the bouncy meatball dancing on his tongue, with little bursts of flying fish roe, the sublime sensation was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before, an almost heavenly delight!

"To think, this is the texture of handmade meatballs?"

He’d certainly made handmade meatballs before, but those were at taverns or yakitori shops, made from mashed chicken squeezed and rolled without any pounding process.

Compared to those, the craftsmanship Lin Chen displayed in making meatballs could truly be called handmade meatballs!

He kept chewing the squid ball, relishing its spring-like tensile elasticity, full of admiration.

No doubt about it, if meatballs with this texture were served in a restaurant, diners would surely chase after them!

Seeing his blissful expression, John and Magna, already unable to wait, quickly scooped up a meatball each, stuffing them into their mouths.

With just one bite, their eyes widened in surprise, pointing at their mouths, stammering, unable to express a single word.

Yet their exchanged glances revealed exactly what they wanted to convey.

"How is it? Tasty?"

Lin Chen had just placed all the shiitake pork balls in the pot, washed his hands, and saw the three of them already eating, casually asking while he himself took a metal spoon from his sleeve, reaching into the pot.

"Delicious, super delicious. I’ve never had such perfect meatballs in my life!"

"Me too! I bet if your restaurant serves this meatball dish, it could become a global sensation! No one could resist such delicious meatballs!"

"Let’s go into business together! How about it? I’ll supply the raw materials, you handle production, and we can dominate the Western meatball market."

"Count me in, count me in, I can supply various vegetables and meats. If all types of meat can be made into meatballs, imagine how vast this market could be!"

John and Magna were dancing excitedly, already picturing themselves getting rich overnight, chuckling nonstop.

Is the evaluation that high?

Lin Chen took a bite of the steaming squid ball, and it indeed had a familiar taste, but much richer in seafood flavor than the finished products packed in supermarkets, with juicier content.

And you could immediately tell from the texture that this was freshly made, not something that’s been frozen and then thawed.

He glanced at Nagishiro Sho, a questioning look in his eyes.

The latter pondered for a moment and nodded.

"I think it’s feasible. We both know how much Western diners love meatballs; tomato meatballs are almost a staple on every restaurant’s menu."

"If you can mass-produce this type of meatball, you could absolutely dominate this market, and there’s almost no competition, unless it’s from your own internal competition."

"But there’s a problem, and it’s quite a serious one."

Nagishiro Sho paused for a few seconds before continuing, "The cost of labor would be significantly high."

"Labor in the West is too expensive, and if you want to make money, hiring white people is out of the question. Black people are cheaper, but they’re often hot-tempered and unstable, which can lead to issues."

"If you’re going to do this, it’s best to hire Asians, especially those from Indu or Pilipino Maids — they’re cheap and can work hard, and generally lack the business acumen, plus a confidentiality agreement would safely prevent any recipe leaks."

"That’s right."

Both Magna and John nodded in agreement, clearly endorsing his point of view.

"Many employees at my place are also Pilipino Maids. They have quite a presence internationally since they can’t earn much in their own country and choose to work abroad."

"As long as you offer the minimum wage, there are plenty of people willing to fight for the job, thanks to the exchange rate; it’s obviously better than finding a job back home."

"Wow... I didn’t realize you three are harsher than me?"

Lin Chen swallowed the squid ball in his mouth, playfully teasing them with feigned surprise.

"At least I always give my employees a raise and offer room and board. You guys just cut down to minimum wage?"

"Not me, my restaurant also provides dorms and food."

Nagishiro Sho quickly waved his hand in denial, "We Sakura People might be competitive at work, but we never skimp on the benefits. That’s the basic quality of a good boss."

"If you can’t guarantee the basic benefits for your employees, who would work for you, right?"

Magna and John also shook their heads quickly. If this rumor accidentally spread, who knows if someone might report them in reprisal.

"No, no, the wages at my place are pretty high. Since the work hours are long and the workload heavy, no one would take the job without high pay."

"Same here. Our fishing boats make enough money in one outing to cover a week or two worth of wages. So many people want to work with us, we’ve reached the point of receiving a hundred resumes to hire just one or two people."

"My recommendation of Pilipino Maids and Indu people is purely because your project can be divided into two parts."

"One part involves technical work, shaping the meatballs, and the other part is pure labor, requiring only repetitive pounding, with no experience or technical requirements needed, so paying a high wage isn’t necessary."

As they discussed the feasibility of commercializing handmade meatballs, Jonathan quietly sneaked over without being noticed, aimed a toothpick at a meatball, stabbed it, and popped it into his mouth.

"Hiss... hot, hot, hot..." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Oh!! Damn, why is this meatball so bouncy? This isn’t natural!"

"Lin, is that pork meatball the same kind of texture?!"

He had hardly taken a few steps before being utterly stunned by the extreme springiness of the squid ball, turning back to stare at the mushroom pork meatballs bobbing in the other pot.

If the pork ones could achieve this texture too, he’d pay any price to get the recipe from Lin Chen!

"It can be made with such texture, but it’s a bit more troublesome. What I made here is a different method."

Just as the meatballs were boiling for a few minutes and seemed to be cooked, Lin Chen reached out to turn off the heat.

Before he could make a move, four other hands eagerly reached into the pot.

This pork meatball was completely different in texture compared to the squid ball. You could clearly see the granules of lean and fatty pork.

But it’s precisely the meat-granule texture of these meatballs that intrigued them even more.

If it were similar to tomato meatballs, Lin Chen certainly wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of making them.

With the shock of the squid balls still fresh in their mind, the four of them were now fully expecting something extraordinary from the pork meatballs.

Jonathan didn’t rush to eat; the freshly cooked meatball was bound to burn his mouth.

He pinched the meatball with his forefinger and thumb, gently squeezing it. Contrary to his expectations of elasticity, it instantaneously squished and split in two with light resistance, prompting him to quickly catch the falling halves.

"So soft??"

Nagishiro Sho raised an intrigued eyebrow, feeling a pleasant surprise.

Initially, there was extreme springiness, but now it’s turned into extreme softness. That’s pork, known to be a relatively tough texture, yet a gentle pinch had it crumbling so easily?

And this "crumbly" wasn’t the disintegrating, falling-apart kind; the meatball retained its shape, proving that the texture wouldn’t resemble a mushy cooked meat paste, but has some bounciness to it.

He had a hunch that the texture of this pork meatball might quite resemble the Japanese chicken meatballs he had in mind, but there must be some unique qualities left undiscovered!