Chapter 431: Chapter 395: One Extra Minute Ruins It, One Less Minute Isn’t Enough

"Chop, chop, chop..."

With this rhythmic sound, the blade in Huang Jun’s hand gently descended, like fingertips lightly touching the calm surface of a lake, each touch rippling through circles, precisely slicing the water chestnuts into evenly transparent slices of moderate thickness.

As the blade flipped, Huang Jun’s movement was seamless, and the water chestnut slices quickly transformed into tiny cubes under his knife.

Jiang Shuihan was once again deeply impressed by Huang Jun’s knife skills. Watching the pile of water chestnut cubes gradually accumulate into a little mound, he couldn’t resist putting on disposable gloves, grabbing a handful, and taking a closer look: "Wow, every cut is spot-on, the cubes are uniformly shaped and sized, like carefully carved gemstones!"

Indeed!

A man who can cook is really charming; watching Chef Huang’s knife skills is akin to witnessing a culinary deity!

"Exactly! Every water chestnut cube is so precise, each one the same size, almost rivaling mechanical processing..." Lv Pengfei’s admiration for Huang Jun was almost overflowing. He exclaimed, "Chef Huang, with such knife skills, if you claim to be second, no one would dare to call themselves first!"

"Indeed, Chef Huang’s knife skills are the best I’ve seen among the younger generation."

Qian Guoxiang said proudly, even happier than if he were complimenting himself!

Frankly speaking, his knife skills were still somewhat inferior to Huang Jun’s.

He wouldn’t say such things openly,

after all, who doesn’t want to maintain a little dignity and face in front of the younger ones?

"You’re too kind, too kind..." Huang Jun smiled modestly, then slightly smiled towards the camera: "If you can’t find water chestnuts, you can also substitute with tender lotus root or winter bamboo shoots, this will add more texture to the dish."

After all the water chestnuts were chopped, he placed all the tiny cubes into an already prepared bowl of meat filling, setting it aside for later use.

He put the chopped green onions and ginger into a bowl, added an appropriate amount of water, and gently kneaded them, allowing the refreshing aroma of onion and ginger to fully release, forming onion-ginger water.

"This onion-ginger water is to remove the fishy odor. It can be added in small amounts repeatedly to let the meat absorb the moisture. Don’t use seasoned oil, as cooking wine evaporates and affects the taste."

As Huang Jun explained, he slowly poured the onion-ginger water into the meat bowl, stirring in one direction, allowing the meat filling to more evenly absorb the moisture. Under his skillful hands, the meat filling gradually became more delicate and elastic.

Then, he added salt, pepper, oyster sauce, and an egg in sequence, continuing to stir in one direction.

While stirring, he said: "When making at home, for 500 grams of meat, you need to add 8 grams of salt, 3 grams of pepper, 8 grams of oyster sauce, and one egg. Then stir in one direction until slightly elastic, as too much elasticity would result in a less pleasing texture."

"After achieving the right elasticity, add 50 grams of cornstarch, and mix well, making it easier for the lion’s head to form."

He demonstrated how to repeatedly toss the meat filling up and down, increasing its stickiness and elasticity: "Like this, tossing it up and down to form a paste, which should take about 5 minutes. When you invert the bowl, it shouldn’t fall out."

"As for the remaining onion-ginger water, add it to the starch and mix it; it’ll have a wonderful use later..."

He demonstrated as he spoke.

Once ready, he poured an appropriate amount of oil into the pan and then added the green onions, ginger, and some whole spices.

"If you like spicy food, you can add some dried chili, but since it’s not suitable for kids, you can skip this step." He kindly suggested, considering different people’s taste preferences.

Once the spices slowly released their rich aroma in the hot oil, he added oyster sauce to fry, enhancing the fragrance and flavor.

"Seasoned oil can be added to soup but not to the meat."

As he operated, he explained, adding light soy sauce along the edge of the pan to elicit a more mellow fragrance.

He then added an appropriate amount of water. Once it boiled, he added a small amount of dark soy sauce for color, thus preparing a pot of bright red, fragrant braised soup base and set it aside.

He set up another pan, pouring a large amount of oil into it.

While waiting for the oil temperature to rise, he put on disposable gloves, evenly applying the prepared starch water on the gloves, and then grabbed an appropriate amount of meat filling, rolling it into a round ball.

Repeatedly so!

"Using starch water firstly prevents sticking, secondly makes the surface smoother, and thirdly the starch water makes it easier to color when frying."

Seeing the oil temperature rise, he shared a little trick: "If you have no concept of oil at sixty percent hot, I’ll teach you a trick. Put a chopstick in the oil; if bubbles quickly rise, it’s ready."

Qian Guoxiang, upon hearing this, demonstrated by dipping a chopstick into the oil, enhancing the picture quality and helping viewers more directly experience what "sixty percent hot" oil looks like.

In the next second...

As the chopstick touched the oil, tiny, dense bubbles immediately formed around it, as if a string of pearls was dancing in the oil pot.

Huang Jun explained: "See, this is oil at sixty percent hot. The bubbles form quickly and densely, indicating the oil has reached the perfect state for frying the lion’s head."

"However, you can turn off the heat or reduce it to the smallest flame at this point. The main purpose is to shape the balls, allowing the lion’s head to initially shape in the oil but not fully cook."

"Removing it from the heat prevents sticking or burning. You can try adding one or two first, then after shaping, take them out and continue with others."

He said as he lowered each lion’s head into the oil pot.

Jiang Shuihan zoomed in for a close-up of the whole frying process.

As the lion’s head slowly sank into the oil, it made a sizzling sound, and the surface gradually turned golden brown.

He gently pushed with a spatula, ensuring that each lion’s head was evenly heated, frying them to a golden color.

After about two to three minutes...

He took them all out and set them aside to let the oil drain off.

This step is to remove excess fat, making the lion’s head meatballs taste lighter and not too greasy.

"Once the freshly fried lion’s head meatballs are drained of oil, they must be immediately placed into the boiling broth," Huang Jun reminded. "Because the lion’s head meatballs are not fully cooked, if they’re left out too long, they can easily crack, so you should have the broth ready in advance."

As he spoke, he added a small amount of salt and rock sugar into the pot, using these basic seasonings to adjust the flavor of the broth and enhance its taste.

He covered the pot, turned the heat to low, and simmered for 50 minutes, allowing the lion’s head meatballs to stew slowly in the broth, fully absorbing its essence.

During this time, Huang Jun didn’t sit idle; he continued preparing two more dishes.

While cooking, he explained the cooking techniques and points of attention for each dish in detail, sharing his professional knowledge and culinary experience selflessly.

Jiang Shuihan continued filming by his side, her camera closely following Huang Jun’s every move, capturing every detail of the cooking process.

But as the aroma of the dishes grew stronger...

She and Lv Pengfei found it increasingly hard to resist the tempting flavors.

During filming, both of them frequently sniffed the air, swallowed, and their stomachs began to growl uncontrollably.

It’s so hard to endure...

For the first time in their lives, they found that filming a food show was a sweet torment; watching dish after dish full of color, aroma, and taste come to life in front of them but unable to indulge immediately was truly a test of patience.

Huang Jun noticed their greedy looks and awkwardness, feeling amused while also gratified.

The stronger their desire to eat, the more it proved the success of his cooking this time.

He could have let them try the dishes that were ready first, but fearing it might disrupt the filming schedule, he decided against it.

He reassured them, saying, "Soon, soon, once all the dishes are done, we can taste them together."

"Oh well, that’s all we can do..." The two understood their current work responsibilities, so they could only temporarily suppress the hunger stirring in their stomachs.

As time went by...

The red-braised lion’s head meatballs slowly simmered in the broth, the meat becoming tender and the soup’s flavor gradually rich and aromatic.

Huang Jun frequently checked the heat and stewing condition of the lion’s head meatballs, ensuring each step was just right.

After all, the heat and time spent stewing are crucial to crafting a perfect dish; too much or too little would spoil it.

When the time was up...

Huang Jun adjusted the heat, turning it up to thicken the sauce, concentrating the broth’s essence to make the flavor even richer.

He occasionally stirred with a spoon, ensuring the sauce evenly coated the lion’s head meatballs, making their color more enticing with the unique gloss of braised dishes.

He reminded them, "If the color isn’t deep enough, you can add some dark soy sauce later, but don’t add too much at the start."

After reducing the sauce...

Huang Jun fished out the red-braised lion’s head meatballs one by one, placing them on a large stainless-steel platter. Each meatball was golden and shiny, emitting a rich, enticing meat aroma.

"Wow, Chef Huang, it smells amazing..." Jiang Shuihan couldn’t help but sniff, deeply attracted by the tantalizing aroma.

"Chef Huang, can we eat them now?" Lv Pengfei looked at the lion’s head meatballs, irresistibly full of color, aroma, and taste, his throat moving eagerly, ready to taste.

"Not yet! They still need a bit of thickening. Once the sauce is ready and poured over the lion’s head meatballs, they can be served!"

Huang Jun replied with a smile.

He filtered the broth to remove any impurities, then added cornstarch slurry, thickening the sauce slightly so that it coated the lion’s head meatballs better.

While thickening, he added a bit of dark soy sauce for color, ensuring the sauce and the lion’s head meatballs complemented each other’s hues.

He also added a small amount of scallion oil, enhancing the dish’s sheen with an enticing lustre.

"Here we go..."

Huang Jun evenly drizzled the thickened sauce over the red-braised lion’s head meatballs, bathing each one in the rich sauce, emitting an even more enticing fragrance.

"Chef Huang, is it done now?" Lv Pengfei’s eyes were glued to the mouthwatering lion’s head meatballs.

"Yes, Chef Huang, these lion’s head meatballs should be finished, right? Can we eat them?" Jiang Shuihan’s tongue gently licked her lips.

Huang Jun smiled slightly, "There’s one more step!"

"No way, one more step..." Lv Pengfei drooped like a frosted eggplant, "I’ve been waiting anxiously."

"Almost, almost there!"

Huang Jun chuckled, grabbed a handful of bright green scallions, and with a gentle flick of his hand, spread them like snowflakes beautifully over the red-braised lion’s head meatballs.

With the final garnish of scallions, the preparation of the red-braised lion’s head meatballs was finally complete...