I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 747 - 332: This fish can still be saved, hurry up with a bowl of rice for me to rescue! The method to cook bream! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]_3
After applying a layer to the surface, he also stuffed some into the Fish Belly. The Glutinous Rice was highly sticky. After spreading it evenly, he laid out dry straw neatly on the workbench, placed the fish on top, and wrapped it with the straw.
The preserved fish was thus prepared. Next, it would be left in a warm place to marinate for a few days.
"This marinating method looks quite traditional." Even with his extensive experience in aquatic products, Zhu Yong couldn’t guess what delicacy this might be. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Although the method was similar to that of traditional stinky Gu fish, which is fermented in wooden barrels, this was wrapped with straw instead.
Lin Xu said, "This is a lost dish that I’m trying to restore."
During the Song Dynasty, this type of preserved fish was considered a delicacy. Lu You had written several poems praising its exquisite taste.
But by the Ming Dynasty, this type of preserved fish had lost its prestigious status and no longer appeared at official banquets. Instead, it found its way into ordinary households, becoming a meal for destitute scholars.
In some Ming Dynasty storybooks and novels, references to this type of preserved fish occasionally appeared.
After the Qing Dynasty, however, the term for this type of preserved fish vanished, and Silver Shrimp Soup disappeared altogether.
The entire soup had been completely lost to history.
Though Lin Xu seemed nonchalant about this round of cooking, he was quite excited internally.
To recreate a dish from three hundred years ago is undoubtedly something to look forward to.
It has been said that a dish is lost for two reasons: either it tastes bad or it’s difficult to make.
Hopefully, this Silver Shrimp Soup isn’t the former, or it would have been a waste of effort.
After wrapping all the fish in straw, Lin Xu felt it wasn’t appropriate to keep them in the kitchen. With people coming and going, if someone knocked them over or spilled water on them, he would have to start over.
Moreover, the kitchen’s high humidity and greasy smoke weren’t suitable for the fermentation and marination of the preserved fish.
After some thought, he decided to take them up to the apartment in the residential building behind the restaurant.
The temperature inside the rooms was still quite high during the day and suitable for fermentation and marination.
With this in mind, he packed the straw-wrapped fish into large plastic bags and carried them to the kitchen in the residential building behind his.
Upon his return, there were already customers in the shop.
They were currently standing in front of the service counter, taking photos of Dundun, who looked as smug as ever.
Seeing Lin Xu, the customers asked curiously, "Boss Lin, I heard that someone offered a high price to have Dundun do a live-stream and sell products. Why didn’t you agree?"
"It’s all over the internet, saying you’re too proud and asking for too much money."
"So, did the deal fall through, or did you flat-out refuse?"
"Are those people just trying to cash in on Dundun’s popularity?"
Lin Xu approached the service counter and extended his arms. Dundun immediately got up and jumped into his embrace.
The little fellow placed his front paws on Lin Xu’s chef uniform, Lin Xu supporting his hind legs. Dundun’s face gleamed with pride, and when he saw someone taking pictures, he even purposely pressed his head against Lin Xu’s neck.
"I’ve always raised Dundun like my own child; I never intended to make money off him. As for live-streaming and selling products... You all know the relationship between Joyful Media, Xinda Commerce, and the Chubby Dundun Restaurant. Even if we were to sell products, it would be a collaboration between our three businesses. How could we possibly get involved with those people on the internet?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Dundun affectionately rubbed his big head against Lin Xu’s shoulder.
"He really does act like a child."
"So well-behaved! No wonder Boss Lin dotes on him so much."
"I wish I had a cat like that!"
"Even if you did, it wouldn’t help. Do you have Boss Lin’s culinary skills? Or the boss lady’s ’money power’? Honestly, I’ve never eaten bluefin tuna in my life."
"Me neither, and things like salmon too. Every time the boss lady posts Dundun’s meal plans online, I get the feeling that I’m worse off than a cat."
"Be confident; that’s not a feeling, that’s the truth!"
"..."
Listening to everyone’s discussion, Lin Xu rubbed Dundun’s head and then put him back on the roof of the cat house.
I can’t always play with you; Daddy still needs to go make money.
His originally comfortable and carefree life was suddenly overshadowed by the prospect of millions, or even more, in debt because of a gift his cat received.
Indeed, one should never accept gifts recklessly!
「The next morning.」
As soon as Lin Xu arrived at the store, Che Zai, who was on the early shift, said, "Boss, the steam cabinet has been installed. Niu Chuan and I tried it last night; it works great, and it produces plenty of steam."
Looks like the steamed pigeon dish can be added to the menu.
Lin Xu said, "Then notify Lao Huang to get the pigeons ready. We’ll start a trial run this morning."
"You got it!"
After setting the chicken to braise, Lin Xu went upstairs to check the steam cabinet. It looked like a normal steaming cabinet, but inside it was fitted with numerous protruding steam pipes.
The steam from the water tank below would enter the steam pot through these pipes.
He checked the water tank. It was quite large, and on all four sides, there were compartments where one could place Scallion and Ginger, spices, or even medicinal herbs, offering more options for flavoring the steam.
"What’s for breakfast this morning?" he asked curiously after checking the steam cabinet.
"Mutton soup and crispy pancakes this morning. We cooked the mutton during our shift last night and just had to heat it up this morning, so it’s pretty convenient."
The sharp drop in temperature indeed called for a bowl of mutton soup to warm up.
"Will you eat now, Boss?"
"Yes!"
Upon hearing this, the early-shift chef scooped up two large handfuls of sliced mutton and blanched them in boiling mutton broth for a minute to bring out their savory flavor.
Then he put the meat into a large bowl and ladled in the piping hot mutton broth.
"Do you want chopped green onions and cilantro, Boss?"
"I’ll add them myself."
Lin Xu took the soup, added some chopped green onions and a bit of chopped cilantro, sprinkled in a small spoonful of salt, and finally, ladled a generous dollop of Chili Oil into it.
When he came outside, hot crispy pancakes had already been served.
Stirring the mutton in his bowl, Lin Xu couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.
There was so much mutton it felt like eating dry-tossed noodles. Helplessly, he tore open a crispy pancake, stuffed it with mutton—much like how one eats ’basin lamb’—and then drizzled more Chili Oil on top.
He clamped the stuffed pancake shut and took a big bite.
The crispness of the crispy pancake, the rich aroma of the Chili Oil, and the savory flavor of the mutton all mixed together—it was absolutely satisfying.
No matter when, taking big, hearty bites of meat always brings an immense sense of happiness.
A couple of bites of crispy pancake followed by a sip of the delicious mutton soup—so gratifying!
Enjoying the delectable mutton and the savory soup, Lin Xu said to Che Zai, "Later, go to the market and buy some Lotus Root for stewing, preferably the long and thin type from Hubei. I’m planning to make Lotus Root stewed with Pork Ribs for lunch today."
Not expecting another tasty dish so soon, Che Zai’s face lit up with surprise as he said, "Right away, I’m on it!"
