Chapter 51 - 47: Sweet and Sour Tenderloin

Chapter 51: Chapter 47: Sweet and Sour Tenderloin

Ning He hadn’t expected to witness such a masterful dissection in a setting like this.

The Rock Snake’s scales were incredibly hard; tapping them with a knife produced a crisp, metallic CLINK.

The middle-aged man simply felt around the snake’s tail for a few moments before sliding his blade beneath a scale. With a wet SQUELCH, the knife pierced through. He dragged it all the way down, slicing a perfectly straight opening across the serpent’s body.

What followed was a literal display of skinning and de-boning.

The snake’s skin was flawlessly separated from its flesh. Its fangs were extracted and lined up one by one to the side. The internal organs were fully dismantled, with the venom glands, liver, gallbladder, and intestines arranged in a neat row.

What made Ning He’s hair stand on end was that even though the snake was dead, its body continued to twitch and writhe violently. It was an absolutely stomach-churning sight.

"Do you need any further processing?" the middle-aged man asked, looking up.

Hansha’s gaze swept back and forth over the snake bones, which were still clad in a thin layer of pink flesh. Finally, he let out a sigh. "No—"

"Could I ask you to remove these two strips of meat from its back?"

Ning He suddenly stepped forward, pointing through the air at the snake’s spine. The meat there bulged slightly. The sinewy tissue wrapped in a white mucous membrane down the center had already been cut away, leaving two long strips of flesh on either side.

"Sure."

The middle-aged man stopped trying to take off his gloves. He selected a pointed razor from his kit, pinned down the snake’s tail, and pressed the blade against a specific spot. Without hesitation, he pierced it at an angle and sliced all the way to the end. In just two or three swift strokes, a strip of snake meat—about a finger wide and nearly two meters long—was completely removed.

His fluid and effortless movements made it hard not to wonder if he had previously worked in a slaughterhouse.

Once both strips of meat were detached, the already lean snake body was reduced to little more than a skeleton.

"What are you doing?" Hansha looked at Ning He in confusion.

Ning He gave a sheepish smile. "I saw that this is the only part of the snake with a decent amount of meat. I figured I’d grasp at straws and see if I can whip up something creative."

"Well... alright. I’ll leave this snake to you. I need to figure out how to prepare this fish."

"Okay, I’ll do my best," Ning He replied, though she didn’t make any absolute promises. She wasn’t sure yet if the system’s assessment was entirely accurate; she would only know once she actually cooked it.

Hansha carried several fish toward the river to clean them, while the middle-aged man picked up his small kit and walked toward Johnny, who was busy processing a goat. Taking a deep breath, Ning He put on her gloves, placed the snake meat from the table into a basin, and returned to the food truck to begin her prep work.

According to the system’s description, even though the Rock Snake’s flesh weighed less than its skin, these two strips of sinewy meat along its spine were incredibly tender and bouncy. Their texture was eighty to ninety percent identical to pork tenderloin.

Making a universally beloved sweet and sour tenderloin shouldn’t be a problem.

As for the rest of the snake’s body, snake soup was exceptionally delicious, so why let it go to waste? But before that, she had to execute a secret operation.

Ning He placed the basin of snake meat into the sink. She then discreetly pulled a small jar from her pocket and sprinkled it twice, dusting the meat with some black powder.

Bizarrely, the powder actually moved! After about two or three breaths, the tiny black specks seeped into the snake meat below and vanished without a trace.

Feigning busyness at the sink, Ning He silently counted to thirty in her head. She then grabbed the salt shaker, tossed two large handfuls of salt into the basin, and vigorously rubbed it into every nook and cranny of the meat.

About ten seconds later, numerous tiny black bugs began to surface. Once no more bugs appeared, she quickly flooded the basin with water.

The little black bugs all floated to the surface. Their size seemed to have increased significantly, and their faint outlines were now vaguely discernible.

Fighting back a scalp-prickling sense of revulsion, Ning He scooped the black things back into her jar and tucked it securely into her pants pocket before finally getting down to the actual cooking.

Thanks to her procedure, the toxin levels in the snake meat had dropped to the system’s permissible edible standards. It was probably even safer to eat than the Blue-scaled Fish.

Now, Ning He could proceed with complete peace of mind. She chopped up the snake’s body, blanched the pieces, and tossed them into a pressure cooker. Adding some ginger slices, pepper, and a few cuts of lean pork, she secured the lid and turned on the heat to let it stew.

The main difficulties in making sweet and sour tenderloin lay in two things: mixing the starch batter and controlling the frying temperature.

If the batter was too thin, it would slide off during frying. If it was too thick, dry flour would remain inside, causing the oil to violently splatter when it hit the pan. Ning He carefully adjusted the water in tiny increments, eventually mixing a bowl of batter that resembled a non-Newtonian fluid.

She cut the snake tenderloin into small three-centimeter segments and marinated them in scallion-ginger water. She also added a splash of a secret weapon she had specifically brought along: rice wine. The marinated meat was then folded into the batter and stirred vigorously until it grew thick and sticky, ensuring every single piece was evenly coated.

Next came the true test of her skills. She heated the oil and dropped the tenderloin strips in one by one. During the frying process, the pieces naturally clumped together, requiring her to constantly scoop them out, break them apart, and drop them back in. This cycle continued as the outer crust of the tenderloin changed colors. Once the batter transitioned from pale yellow to golden brown, and finally to a rich reddish-brown, the frying stage was complete.

After tossing the meat in a freshly made sweet and sour glaze in the wok, the dish was officially prepped. Taking advantage of the downtime, Ning He checked on the pressure cooker holding the snake soup.

The moment she popped the lid open, a steaming wave of umami rushed straight to her head. Even Hansha, standing nearby, caught a whiff and shot her a look of surprise. If he hadn’t been in the middle of frying fish fillets, he definitely would have come over to take a look.

Swallowing hard, Ning He grabbed two calabashes from her vegetable basket, chopped them into chunks, and tossed them into the pot to continue simmering.

With half an hour left before lunch, the other guests had temporarily halted their activities and were sitting under the tents, waiting for their meal.

Macken and his team had returned at some point and were currently patrolling and inspecting the outer perimeter of the safe zone.

There seemed to have been some commotion outside earlier. Ning He had been too busy cooking to notice, but upon closer observation now, she could spot a few clues.

For example, the long cannon on the mecha tank had been reoriented to face southeast. Two magazines were missing from Johnny’s waist. Furthermore, a corner of the woods to the rear right was far messier than before, with claw marks from an unknown creature left on the tree trunks.

It seemed things had been far from peaceful around here just moments ago. Yet, throughout it all, there had been no loss of control, no panic, and no screams. These dangers came quickly and vanished just as fast, dealt with silently and efficiently.

This was the true strength of a professional security company. No wonder they charged such exorbitant fees—it truly was high-risk work.

"Little girl, try this fish fillet. I’m not sure how it tastes."

Ning He walked over to Hansha. In front of him sat a golden-fried fish fillet that looked quite decent. Taking a bite, she instantly understood where the uncertainty on his face came from.

This wasn’t a fillet fried from whole cuts of fish; instead, it was made by blending the fish into a paste, adding a small amount of flour, and then frying it. Naturally, its texture fell somewhat short.

Furthermore, in his attempt to mask the fishy odor, Hansha had added heavy amounts of scallions and ginger. The aroma was overwhelmingly pungent. Aside from the pleasant crunch of the crispy exterior, the fish paste acting as the core ingredient was entirely lackluster. It was even difficult to taste the actual flavor of the fish.

Hansha tried a piece himself. Without Ning He needing to say a word, he already knew that the clients would never be satisfied with this level of quality.

"Do you want to try the snake meat I made?" Ning He offered.

"Sigh, bring it over. Let’s give it a try." Though he knew the chances were slim, Hansha could only pin his hopes on Ning He bringing him a pleasant surprise.

Ning He scooped a small spoonful of sweet and sour sauce into a little pan. Once heated, she quickly tossed a few pieces of the fried tenderloin in it and served them to him.

When Hansha saw the small plate presented to him, the rich, tangy aroma and beautiful caramelized color instantly lifted his spirits. The moment he picked up a piece with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth, the way he looked at Ning He changed entirely.

If Hansha had been able to calmly assess her earlier cream of mushroom soup—since it was a staple in fine dining restaurants—this snake dish shattered his preconceptions.

This was an ingredient that even Grandpa Miao couldn’t handle properly. How had this young girl managed to work such miracles?

"What do you think? Can we serve it?"

Her question left Hansha momentarily at a loss for words. If this couldn’t be served, then what did that make the dish he had just cooked? Trash bound for the dumpster?

He coughed lightly, masking his internal turmoil, and nodded. "It should be fine. Let’s serve it as the third course. Will you have enough time?"

"Time isn’t an issue, but I’m worried the portions won’t be enough."

The fried tenderloin from this single Rock Snake amounted to only one plate. Splitting it among this many people really wouldn’t stretch far enough.

"What should we do then?" Beads of sweat began to form on Hansha’s forehead. With less than twenty minutes until the meal began, there was no time left to come up with any remedial measures.

Ning He looked at the tray of golden fish fillets. Her mind raced, and an idea quickly sparked. "We can serve the fish fillets and the snake meat together. Your cooking method for the fish is perfectly fine; it’s just lacking a bit in flavor. I’ll whip up a sauce for you. Paired together, it should make up for the shortcomings."

Ning He instructed Hansha to continue prepping the main lamb dish while she pulled out a few eggs and tossed them into a pot to boil. She then finely diced some onions and sliced a lemon.

She took a portion of the boiled eggs, added oil, and used a blender to emulsify them into mayonnaise. She mashed the remaining eggs, thoroughly mixed all the ingredients together, and seasoned the blend with black pepper, salt, and sugar. Just like that, a bowl of tartar sauce—a classic modern Western condiment for fried fish—was complete.

Ning He had Hansha taste it. He remained silent for a moment before finally patting her on the shoulder.

"We’ll do everything your way."

The two of them rushed to finish all the preparations at the very last minute.

At twelve-thirty sharp, lunch was served.