Chapter 1020: Chapter 422: Crystal-Clear Broth, Noodles Fine as Silver Threads—The Higher the Level, the Simpler the Dish!

Yin Hongbin forced a smile:

"You’ve exposed all our pastry chefs’ commercial secrets, but you can’t reveal any of this when you go review restaurants. Otherwise, if they give you a beating later, I won’t be responsible."

"I definitely won’t say anything. Even if I do, the netizens won’t believe it. Last time I went to review a Huaiyang restaurant, I mentioned that the meatballs were not relaxed enough, and should be refrigerated for about an hour to let the meat soften a bit. Then, in the bullet comments, people mocked me for not having watched ’Taste of China’, as it didn’t mention the need for relaxation."

This time it was Qiu Zhenhua’s turn to complain:

"Why do you blurt everything out? The biggest secret to making meatballs is exactly the relaxation part."

Dai Jianli, who was nearby, said:

"People like me and old Xie are honest folks. We bare our hearts to netizens, telling everything we know. I never thought you guys would keep things hidden."

Regarding the meatball issue, Lin Xu also had a question when he watched ’Taste of China’.

Why did the chef in the show, after assembling the meatballs, not directly put them in the pot but instead placed them on a plate before lowering the entire plate into the pot?

He always thought it was for the sake of making the scene appear ceremonial.

Now hearing this from his senior brother, he realized it had nothing to do with ceremony; a crucial step was cut out.

Curious, he asked:

"I remember the shot in ’Taste of China’ showing the finished meatballs on a plate. Were there other steps in between?"

Guo Weidong said:

"You saw the chef place them on the plate, but what you missed was him putting them in the refrigerator to relax for an hour. After an hour, he took them out and simmered them with low heat in the pot... This is an essential step for making meatballs that melt in your mouth, but chefs keep it a secret and don’t disclose it."

So that’s how it is.

Lin Xu felt amazed and realized he’d been fooled by the ’Taste of China’ crew for so many years.

No wonder his mother was so excited to make the meatballs while watching the TV show, and they never tasted as good as advertised. Turns out they didn’t provide all the steps.

Since ancient times, traditional industries have adhered to the principle of "rather lost than passed on."

He originally thought that in the modern society, this habit would change.

Unexpectedly, it’s still the same.

Chinese cuisine is now besieged by Western cuisine, fast food, and various pre-made dishes. At this point, if true skills aren’t taught, Chinese cuisine will eventually end up like martial arts—become a mere performance without substance.

Then, Yin Hongbin kneaded the dough, Zhao Xuesheng brought over half a pot of lard, presumably for frying noodles.

Everyone was chatting cheerfully, except for Lin Xu, who was worried about the future of Chinese cuisine.

Unfortunately, he currently has little influence, so he can only keep his thoughts to himself for now. But when he has the opportunity in the future, he must find ways to contribute to the continuation of Chinese culinary art.

One hour quickly passed, Xie Baomin scooped out the softened vegetables.

Because they hadn’t been overcooked, the stock didn’t have that sour taste or weird flavor of mushy vegetables.

However, if it continues to cook, the taste would definitely come out.

After stewing for another hour, as the stock became richer, Xie Baomin turned off the heat, scooped out all the cooked ingredients, and wrapped a large strainer with gauze, passing it through the pot several times.

Once the temperature dropped to 50-60 degrees, he poured in minced beef and started skimming the stock.

After skimming four times, the stock’s color became very light, almost just a hint of light tea color.

Xie Baomin poured in the fish mince for the final skimming of the stock.

Meanwhile, Yin Hongbin had already started pulling noodles.

He pulled notch by notch, and at this point, he had to move faster; otherwise, after thirteen pulls, the dough would dry out, and pulling further would result in breaks.

After fifteen pulls, although it was overall stretched, there were already some broken parts in the middle.

The workbench was already laid with an extra-large cutting board.

Yin Hongbin held one end of the stretched noodle, and Lin Xu pulled the other end.

Once the fifteenth pull was completed, the noodles looked thinner than hair.

Qiu Zhenhua, holding a vegetable knife used for cutting noodles, started chopping, cutting the noodles every two feet or so, then picking up one segment with the knife and putting it into the nearby pot of lard.

The lard was heated to thirty percent, and when the noodles went in, they released fine bubbles.

Xie Baomin said:

"Mind the fire, don’t let the oil temperature exceed thirty percent, or the noodles will fry and change color. They must remain white to meet the requirements."

Qiu Zhenhua wiped the sweat off his forehead:

"With so many of us, we’re still working frantically. How did the head chef do it alone back in the day?"

Lin Xu also wanted to know the answer. Perhaps it was just the master’s prowess.

At that time, he might simply have wanted a bowl of noodles.

So he made such a "simple" bowl of noodles, so simple that even a head chef of the state banquet in his middle age needed collaboration to complete it.

However, the master was only interested in eating noodles and wasn’t paying much attention to nutrition.

If he added a poached egg, wouldn’t it be even more perfect...

Lin Xu saw the leftover chicken meatball beside him and suddenly slapped his forehead:

"Right, I could add a poached egg to it!"

Thinking of this, he rolled up his sleeves, ready to add a bit of a special touch to this bowl of noodles for the master...

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A bit stuck on the writing, getting it out later than expected, this Chapter has 6400 words, over a thousand more than usual, asking for a monthly ticket, guys!