Chapter 1348 - 531: Is This Wedding Pastry? It’s So Delicious! Rich or Poor, Go Home for the New Year!

Chapter 1348: Chapter 531: Is This Wedding Pastry? It’s So Delicious! Rich or Poor, Go Home for the New Year!

Chen Meide, standing by, took a bite of one and said with a smile:

"In the past, people were idle, and resources were scarce. Every day, we would think of ways to figure out what to eat, and often couldn’t eat our fill. Unlike now, many families don’t have time to cook meals; they just grab food at street stalls or order takeout once they get home."

While life is prosperous, the pressure of living has also increased steeply.

Especially for those carrying a mortgage, they are always racing against time, desperately earning money, often at the expense of their health.

In contrast, people in the past were poor but quite leisurely.

When someone had a joyous occasion, others would go help out two days in advance and wouldn’t leave on the wedding day. After the banquet, they’d enjoy wedding pastries and then party till late at night during the bridal chamber antics before dispersing.

But now, the so-called bridal chamber antics are just going through the motions, or even skipped entirely, letting the groom and bride off the hook.

Everyone knows how exhausting weddings are, and with added busyness, the bridal chamber antics have been canceled.

In the kitchen, Lin Xu found the electric griddle too slow, making at most seven or eight at a time, so he placed a frying pan on the gas stove.

He first heated the pan and then placed the pancakes in one by one, covering them with the lid to start cooking.

Three or four minutes later, he flipped the pancakes and continued cooking.

Soon, these stuffed wedding pancakes were done. After taking them outside, everyone tasted them and finally agreed that the ones filled with red bean paste and jujube paste were the tastiest.

As they were busy, indeed someone came to visit.

Brother Qiang, Qi Panpan, Yue Liyue, Panda, Wu Kexin, and other old customers came to see Lin Xu, partly to visit and partly to bid him farewell. They were each going back to their hometowns for the New Year.

Every New Year, the originally bustling streets and alleys of Beijing would become deserted.

Many who work in Beijing are just waiting for the few days of Chinese New Year to return home, see their wives and children, spend time with parents and elders, and have a family reunion dinner.

After a few days of rest, they return to Beijing to continue working hard.

Lin Xu wiped his hands, took a bite of a pumpkin-filled wedding pancake:

"We’re heading back tomorrow as well. My father-in-law chartered a business bus; we’ll leave early in the morning, probably arrive in Yinzhou by afternoon, take a break, and the day after we’ll slaughter pigs at the scenic spot."

Upon hearing about pig slaughtering, Brother Qiang laughed and said:

"Talking about slaughtering pigs makes me crave some pork dishes. This year, Panpan will be celebrating the New Year at my house. My mom bought a hundred pounds of meat, slaughtered several big roosters, and plans to butcher a sheep when we get back, eating lamb dishes instead of pork dishes."

The daughter-in-law was visiting, and Brother Qiang’s family already prepared the warm welcome well ahead of time.

Jin Province is inland; although they can’t get decent seafood, beef, lamb, and poultry are plentiful.

Qi Panpan gently kicked Brother Qiang:

"All because of you, you told your mom I could eat a whole big pork knuckle in one sitting. That got her to prepare so much meat; anyone who didn’t know might think you found yourself a sumo wrestler."

Brother Qiang grinned:

"There’s more than just meat; every kind of vegetable is available too. Tomorrow morning, my mom plans to learn how to make Datong’s famous salt-fried lamb from my uncle, and we’ll make it for you when we slaughter the lamb."

The Jinbei Region is close to Inner Mongolia, so lamb is abundant.

Plus, it’s all high-quality lamb, and various cooking methods can be found locally.

Shen Jiayue curiously asked:

"What kind of dish is salt-fried lamb? Is it like Sichuan cuisine’s salt-fried meat?"

Everyone looked at Lin Xu, who promptly replied:

"No, they’re completely different things. Salt-fried lamb involves cutting freshly slaughtered lamb into large chunks, directly adding salt and water to the pot to cook. It’s about one bowl of water for half a lamb, half a bowl for a whole lamb, and it’s quite a unique cooking method."

Thanks to the system, otherwise Lin Xu wouldn’t have been able to obtain the cooking method for salt-fried lamb and couldn’t have answered everyone’s questions.

Chen Yan was somewhat surprised:

"One bowl of water for half a lamb, half a bowl for a whole lamb? Shouldn’t having more meat require more water? Why does it get halved?"

Brother Qiang was familiar with this dish, and he explained with a smile:

"Because this dish uses lamb meat, which is relatively tender. When cooking, the moisture inside comes out, so the more meat, the less additional water needed. The lamb cooks in its own water, and the flavor is excellent."

Upon hearing this, Shen Jiayue immediately looked at Lin Xu:

"Xu Bao, when we get to Yinzhou, can we try making this dish?"

"We’ll have to check the lamb quality first; this dish requires high-quality lamb. It’s not guaranteed we can make it, only high-end lamb will do."

This caught Shen Guofu’s attention:

"No problem, I’ll have Boss Huang ship a lamb over. If spending money solves the problem, it’s not an issue."

Alright, since the father-in-law has spoken, naturally there will be no problems.

In the afternoon, quite a few people came by, mostly having heard about the wedding pancakes being made at home and came specifically to sample the taste.

But after trying them, they found the wedding pancakes quite tasty, and many even wanted to take some on their way out.

Chen Meijuan said:

"Xiao Xu, you could consider selling wedding pancakes in the store. After all, these pancakes taste even better when cooled, and they keep for days without spoiling. For those city white-collar workers, eating these mild-flavored pancakes while working overtime is better than having those heavy, oily, salty dishes. At least they won’t hurt the stomach; they might even be good for digestion."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan immediately chimed in:

"I think Aunt Chen’s suggestion is great. We can pack them like the Shaolin Temple’s vegetarian pancakes, using small containers that are both exquisite and easy to store."

In many areas of Shandong, wedding pancakes have indeed become everyday food that one can buy almost anywhere.