I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 708 - 319 Uncle: I can’t even raise chickens properly, and you want me to raise horses? Hot and sour tripe soup! [Subscribe, please]_3
Thanks to this video, attention to the Lin Ji’s Food topic skyrocketed, and its popularity significantly increased; it had just smoothly climbed to second place on the trending list.
Shen Jiayue blinked and said, "Doesn’t this mean we’re only one step away from first place?"
Zeng Xiaoqi took the phone, glanced at it, and then said, "One step is one step, but reaching the top isn’t easy. There’s still a seven or eight million popularity gap with first place. I reckon it’s a long shot."
Having been a topic host for two years, she knew the ins and outs of topic popularity very well. This kind of ranking depended not only on strength but also on luck. Sometimes, you might painstakingly orchestrate a big move, only for some celebrity’s sneeze to generate more buzz, surpassing your popularity to an extent that’s impossible to recover from.
However, Shen Baobao was very certain. "Dundun always brings good luck; maybe we really can surpass them in popularity."
That video of Dundun’s pantomime could definitely push our spot on the trending list even higher. But that video can’t be released now. We need to let the feeding video ferment a bit more.
Moreover, Lin Xu’s account always updated every other day. She’d have him update at the perfect time tomorrow to experience what it felt like to top the popularity chart.
「The next morning.」
After preparing the braised chicken in the stewing section, Lin Xu went upstairs and saw the Pork Stomach soaking in a basin.
Although Pork Stomach is considered pork offal, it’s quite expensive. This is especially true for the "maw," the thickest part of the stomach, which is firm and crunchy—an essential ingredient for the famous dish "Oil-fried Double Crispy." The "double crispy" in the name refers to the satisfying crunch of the pork maw and the crisp texture of duck gizzard. Only the choicest parts of these two ingredients can create such a superb delicacy. A single serving of Oil-fried Double Crispy requires the maws from about six or seven Pork Stomachs and seven or eight duck gizzards. This alone highlights the rarity of the dish.
However, he wasn’t making Oil-fried Double Crispy today; Lin Xu’s current culinary skills weren’t up to the task. Comparatively, making a shredded pork stomach soup was more practical.
"Is breakfast ready?"
"It’s ready. Today we have Eight Treasure Porridge made from pumpkin and sweet potato, served with beef potstickers. Boss, are you eating now?"
As he spoke, the morning shift cook was about to dish out the porridge.
Lin Xu said, "Not yet. I’m going to wake up the missus first."
With that, he glanced at the Pork Stomach soaking in the basin and headed out.
He had initially intended to clean the Pork Stomach right away, but on second thought, it seemed better to do it after breakfast. Like large intestines, Pork Stomach has a strong odor, and even after washing, the smell lingers on the hands for quite a while. Rather than eating breakfast with hands reeking of the strong smell, it was better to deal with the Pork Stomach after the meal.
Arriving upstairs, he pushed open the bedroom door. Shen Baobao was still sound asleep under the covers. Her sleeping posture was awful: one leg was stretched out from under the blanket, and the other was kicked up onto a chair beside the bed.
Lin Xu leaned over the bed and gently nudged her. "Time to eat, Baobao, eat... Mmph—"
He hadn’t expected the girl to be pretending to sleep; Lin Xu, caught completely off guard, was successfully ambushed.
"Hmph, I’ve been waiting for you for ages! You came in and didn’t call out to me immediately; instead, you were secretly observing me..."
Shen Baobao gave a sly smile, then sat up in bed and pointed to the nearby wardrobe. "Little Linzi, attend Her Majesty while she dresses!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! Which outfit would you like to wear?"
"That purple ’seduction’ lingerie set, and the jeans with the white T-shirt... WAHAHA, this is so much fun! No wonder Yan Bao is so keen on cosplaying as the head chef. However, I’m the head chef at Lin Ji’s Food; she’s, at best, the head chef’s assistant!"
Lin Xu took the clothes the girl wanted from the wardrobe and tossed them onto the bed. "Hurry up and get dressed. We’re having Eight Treasure Porridge and beef potstickers today. If you’re late, the potstickers won’t be crispy anymore."
As soon as food was mentioned, the usually imaginative Baobao immediately reined in her wandering thoughts, picked up the clothes, and started putting them on.
After washing up, the girl put on a pair of white slip-on casual shoes and went downstairs in the elevator, arm in arm with Lin Xu.
When they arrived at the restaurant, the young couple had breakfast together. The Eight Treasure Porridge was perfectly cooked, with a rich sweetness from the pumpkin and sweet potato. Paired with potstickers and a small cold dish, it was quite a good meal.
After breakfast, Shen Baobao carried a piece of beef tenderloin, steamed by the back kitchen, downstairs to mend fences with her ’son’.
Meanwhile, Lin Xu took out the soaked Pork Stomach.
Full and satisfied, it was time to tackle this premium ingredient with its strong odor.
At the slaughterhouse, when pigs are processed, ingredients like Pork Stomach and large intestines are typically turned inside out and given a preliminary wash. The Pork Stomach was currently in this inside-out state, so he could scrub it directly without needing to flip it again. He dumped the water from the basin, placed the Pork Stomach inside, and added two handfuls of salt to begin scrubbing. The surface of the Pork Stomach has a slimy membrane, the main source of its odor, which needs to be thoroughly washed away. After scrubbing with salt, he rubbed and washed it with flour several more times, continuing until the surface no longer felt sticky to the touch.
This process was similar to washing large intestines but with some differences. For example, large intestines can be cooked immediately after cleaning, but Pork Stomach must be blanched first. This is because, besides the slime, the surface of the Pork Stomach has a white film that can only be removed by blanching. Only when this film is gone can the odor be completely eradicated.
Lin Xu brought a pot of water to a boil, then placed the Pork Stomach in. As soon as it entered the pot, a white layer appeared on the maw area; this was the odorous white film. He carefully scraped it clean with a kitchen knife. Only then would the Pork Stomach be safe to eat. After this side was cleaned, he carefully flipped the Pork Stomach over, used flour and salt to rub and wash the other side twice, and also tore off any attached fat.
Once they were completely cleaned, he placed the Pork Stomachs into a pot one by one, added water to fill half the pot, then put in Scallion segments, ginger slices, a splash of Liquor, two pieces of Angelica dahurica, and a few white cardamom pods, and began to cook them.
Many video tutorials show shredded pork stomach soup being made with braised Pork Stomach, but this is incorrect. Braised Pork Stomach carries a rich aroma from the braising liquid, and if used for soup, it would fill the soup with the flavor of the braising spices, completely masking the Pork Stomach’s own fresh, savory taste. As for raw Pork Stomach, making soup directly with it would result in a strong offal taste. The best method is to parboil the Pork Stomach in plain water until it’s just cooked through. This not only eliminates its unpleasant odor but also allows the Pork Stomach to maintain a tender and smooth texture.
Once the water in the pot boiled, he carefully skimmed off the scum, then covered the pot, reduced the heat to low, and simmered for ten minutes. Reducing the heat to low was to ensure the Pork Stomach’s texture became more tender. If cooked constantly over high heat, the Pork Stomach would turn out rather tough, and the resulting shredded pork stomach soup would have a slightly inferior texture.
While the kitchen was bustling, Xie Baomin was on the North Fourth Ring Road, driving his Cayenne and speeding towards Yingchun Street with Su Peipei in the passenger seat and Su Yuchun in the back.
"Dachun, your sister and I have some errands to run. Just wait for me at Lin Ji, and don’t go saying anything inappropriate, alright?"
"Don’t worry, brother-in-law. I definitely won’t tell Lin Xu you’re going to see a doctor!"
