Chapter 480 - 314: Can Sliced Steak Be Delicious?

Chapter 480: Chapter 314: Can Sliced Steak Be Delicious?

"No need to rush," Lin Chen said with a smile, picking up a glass jar and twisting it open. "The dipping sauce for beef hot pot is a little different from the one for the tallow hot pot you had last time. Of course, you can still use the kind you like, but first, let me show everyone the local favorite dipping sauce."

After twisting open the lid, he unexpectedly screwed it shut again and began to mince garlic.

At the same time, he poured a large amount of oil into a small saucepan, as if he were about to deep-fry something.

"This sauce I was just holding is a special kind you can only find in Great Xia. The inspiration came from Southeast Asian satay sauce, but it was adapted and made into a type of seafood sauce."

"A seafood sauce?" Erica immediately picked up on the keyword.

"That’s right. It’s a sauce made from seafood. The ingredients aren’t fixed, and every family has their own version, but the main ingredient is dried flounder. This specific brand also lists dried scallops and dried shrimp. Those three are the main sources of its umami flavor."

"Besides the seafood, the other main ingredients are peanuts and sesame seeds. Everything is ground into a powder. The peanuts and sesame seeds are put in a high-speed blender with oil and turned into a paste. Spices like cinnamon bark and fennel are also ground up. Finally, you deep-fry minced garlic and shallots, then add all the other ingredients and let it simmer. Add a little salt, fish sauce, and rock sugar, and you’re good to go."

"So it’s really a sauce made from seafood. That sounds fascinating."

Erica casually picked up the jar of Shacha sauce and twisted it open. Before she even brought it close to her nose, a rich seafood aroma wafted over, mingled with the faint but distinct fragrance of peanuts and sesame.

Compared to sesame paste, this sauce was incredibly fragrant. The aroma alone was enough to make her mouth water uncontrollably.

"What’s that smell? Let me have a sniff."

Beef Dad leaned in curiously, took the glass jar from her, and sniffed it. Then, he dipped his finger right in and popped it into his mouth.

The moment the savory-sweet sauce touched his tongue, his thick eyebrows shot up, and his rugged features seemed to soften.

"Wow, so this is the flavor. It’s sweet... and pretty tasty."

Sweet flavors are a mainstream preference in North America, and since this was a port city, the combination of seafood and sweetness hit them right in their comfort zone.

The other two guests also tried the Shacha sauce and, unsurprisingly, expressions of amazement appeared on their faces.

"I have a feeling this sauce would be delicious with those noodles from this morning, too."

"Yes, exactly!"

Lin Chen gave a thumbs-up. "Noodles with Shacha sauce is definitely a local specialty. Of course, that’s also the final stage when you eat hot pot. You use the beef broth with fresh beef and noodles, then coat everything in this sauce. The flavor... just you wait. One bite and you’ll be too stunned to speak."

The oil heated up quickly, and soon it began to smoke.

He squeezed the excess water from the minced garlic with a paper towel, then deep-fried it until golden brown and crispy before scooping it out.

He took a plastic bowl and ladled in three scoops of Shacha sauce. Then he added a scoop of the crispy garlic, a scoop of garlic oil, and a scoop of clear beef bone broth, stirring until smooth.

Activated by the hot oil and broth, the mixture in the bowl quickly became thick and smooth, taking on a texture similar to dark sesame paste.

"This is the classic, basic version of the dipping sauce. You can build on this by adding your own favorite flavors. The one I’m making now is how I think Erica would like it."

He held the bowl of sauce up to the camera, then added a spoonful of raw garlic paste, two spoonfuls of cilantro, a spoonful of chopped scallions, a dash of oyster sauce, half a spoonful of chopped chilis, and half a spoonful of sesame seeds and crushed peanuts.

With so many ingredients added, the sauce that had filled half the bowl now came up to about three-quarters full. The emerald green of the scallions and cilantro, paired with the bright red chilis and white sesame seeds, made it look even more appetizing.

Erica, ever perceptive, brought over four more bowls. She handed three to Beef Dad and the two other guests, then demonstrated for them how to mix the sauce.

Just as the three of them finished copying her and mixing their own sauces, they saw Erica pass a bowl to Lin Chen—one she had mixed herself, nearly identical to the others, but with several extra spoonfuls of chili.

"Here," she said. "I remembered right, didn’t I?"

"Thanks."

Lin Chen hadn’t expected her to make a bowl for him. A warm feeling spread through his chest, and he smiled, nodding as he accepted it.

The moment their hands brushed, the gazes of the three onlookers snapped to them in unison, the corners of their mouths lifting in knowing smiles.

Even Beef Dad, the newcomer, could sense the romantic tension blossoming between the two of them.

Both of them were experts at noticing details, and they instantly caught the teasing stares from the sidelines.

Lin Chen blushed, his cheeks burning. He wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the awkward moment.

Erica, in contrast, seemed completely unfazed. Not only was she unaffected, but she even looked a little smug.

Luckily, Lin Chen quickly found a way to change the subject. He put the sauce down, picked up a plate of fresh brisket deckle, and showed it to the camera before dumping the entire plate into the bubbling beef bone broth on the induction cooker.

"The brisket deckle needs to cook a little longer, but it doesn’t get tough. Cooking it first adds a creamy, fatty aroma to the light bone broth. Next, I’m going to cook a plate of snowflake beef. This cut has the firmness of lean meat and the rich flavor of fat. It’s juicy and incredibly tender. If you like steak, you’ll absolutely love this."

He grabbed a mesh skimmer from a nearby rack and rested it over the pot. Then, he scraped all the thin slices of beef, which clung to the plate and showed off their snowflake-like marbling, into the skimmer.

He submerged the skimmer into the pot with his left hand, stirring the contents quickly with his chopsticks in his right.

After the brisket deckle was added, the beef bone broth stopped boiling and was now just simmering, with bubbles constantly rising to the surface.

This temperature was perfect for cooking the meat, much like searing a steak. If the heat is too high, the moisture evaporates too quickly, making the meat tough.

Water at this temperature, around eighty or ninety degrees Celsius, could cook the beef quickly while retaining most of its moisture.

In just five or six seconds, the beef slices went from the bright red of raw meat to an alluring pink.

WHOOSH—

The skimmer rose from the broth and was once again set on the rim of the pot.

"Go on, have a taste."

"Huh? It’s ready already?"

Beef Dad’s jaw dropped in shock. He clearly had no idea this was how you ate hot pot.

’No wonder the meat was sliced so thin,’ he thought. ’It’s to speed up the cooking.’

’He’d been wondering earlier, during the prep, why anyone would slice up a perfectly good steak like this. Now it all made sense.’

’To be honest, he’d never had sliced steak before. In his several decades on this earth, the idea that you *could* slice a steak thin had never even crossed his mind.’

Three forks and Erica’s chopsticks descended on the skimmer simultaneously.

When they lifted back up, each fork had managed to spear a slice or two of beef. The chopsticks, however, held a massive pile, having scooped up nearly all the meat in the skimmer.

"?"

Beef Dad stared in disbelief at the pathetic single slice of beef on his fork, then glanced over at the mountain of meat piled high in Erica’s bowl.

’Those two wooden sticks that looked so clumsy were actually that useful?’

’Well, it’s a good thing Lin bought half a cow,’ he reasoned. ’There are so many different cuts to try, so it’ll still be plenty of food.’

’That girl is clearly on Lin’s team, so she has no qualms about taking his food. We’re just here to taste, so it’s fine if we eat a little less.’

’Besides, his family sells beef. If it’s good, he can just grab some from the shop, slice it up, and cook it himself. Or figure out where to buy the sauce and make it at home.’

He pressed the faintly pink beef on his fork deep into the Shacha sauce, instantly coating its surface in the silky, rich, reddish-brown liquid.

The steam from the meat instantly released the fragrance of the scallions, cilantro, and garlic in the sauce.

Even fully cooked, the marbling of fat on the snowflake beef was still clearly visible.

He didn’t hesitate for a second, popping the whole thing in his mouth.

The sweet, savory flavor of the Shacha sauce, with its hint of salty umami, exploded on his tongue, melding perfectly with the beef’s own natural sweetness.

Before he could even process the taste, his teeth sank into the slice of beef.

With the slightest pressure, the meat fibers broke apart instantly. A rich, beefy flavor burst out, immediately followed by the mellow aroma of the fat.

As he continued to chew, the aromas of the sesame seeds, peanuts, crispy garlic, garlic paste, cilantro, and scallions all mingled in his mouth. Far from overshadowing the beef, they actually elevated the overall flavor to an even higher level.

The melt-in-your-mouth texture of the beef alone was enough to make it a winner.

"Damn it!"

He cursed under his breath.

"You lose the satisfying chew of a thick-cut steak, but slicing it thin creates a completely new texture. I never thought I’d experience something that ’melts in your mouth’ with beef!"

After that one bite of beef, his stomach, which he hadn’t even realized was hungry, let out a loud growl.

’Regrets! I have regrets!’

’I should have speared more meat!’

’A couple of slices... who is that supposed to feed?!’

Don’t be fooled by how it looks spread out on the plate; once cooked, it’s barely a few mouthfuls. Split between four people, it really was just a single taste each.

Lin Chen shot Erica an amused glare. There was really nothing he could do about the little glutton. He immediately picked up a plate of the frozen-sliced snowflake beef.

"Now I’ll cook the frozen batch. You’re the professional here—have a taste and see if there’s any difference in texture or flavor."

Five seconds later, another batch of beef was ready.

Erica, her mouth still stuffed, subconsciously started to reach for it, but then she remembered her manners and realized she had been a bit rude earlier.

"You guys go first," she said. "Take plenty. If it’s not enough, we’ll just make him cut more later."

The words had barely left her mouth before the three forks shot out.

The two other guests didn’t say a word, but their actions spoke for themselves.

Their reaction this time was completely different. Once their forks were in the meat, they showed no signs of pulling back, jabbing them up and down repeatedly as if terrified someone else would snatch it all away.

They only finally retracted their forks when they were packed so tightly with meat that not even half another slice could fit.

Erica finally swallowed the meat in her mouth and eagerly reached out, only to discover nothing was left for her but a few pathetic, shredded scraps.

"It’s gone!?"