Chapter 1405 - 550: Haven’t Settled Lunch Yet? Shen Jiayue: No Problem, I’ll Handle It!

Chapter 1405: Chapter 550: Haven’t Settled Lunch Yet? Shen Jiayue: No Problem, I’ll Handle It!

"Xu Bao, are you planning to make Salt Water Duck?"

After leaving the high-speed railway station, Shen Jiayue was searching for fun places in Yinzhou City from the passenger seat. Hearing Lin Xu mention making Salt Water Duck instantly piqued her interest.

She was no stranger to Salt Water Duck; she had eaten it during a visit to burn incense at Confucius Temple before her college entrance exams. It wasn’t satisfying enough at the time, so she packed one in vacuum packaging and brought it to Beijing.

Even though she’s eaten it a few times in Beijing, made by Jinling chefs, she always felt it was not as satisfying as when eaten locally in Jinling.

Lin Xu said:

"Yuanyuan Jie has gone to work, so we can’t just idle at home. We need to explore new dishes. If the taste is good, we’ll launch them simultaneously in the store and scenic area."

The method for Salt Water Duck is a bit tedious but not complicated.

The only refined part is the salt brine. As long as the brine is well-made, my second uncle Shi Wenming can easily make this dish. By then, we’ll be one step closer to launching ten Perfect Level dishes.

In these few days, Lin Xu plans to teach Shi Wenming dishes like Fish Head Bread, Flame Drunken Goose, and Salt-fried Lamb through training and teaching.

As for other dishes, those can be discussed later.

You can’t become a master chef overnight, nor in two to three days.

One can only take one step at a time. After all, this spring there might be several visits needed, such as horse farm acceptance assessment, horse farm environment evaluation, and Travel Association registration, all requiring Lin Xu’s participation as a well-known figure.

As for future horse introductions and such, participation will be needed as it’s a family asset; he must be present for it.

He didn’t go to the farmer’s market because there weren’t many vendors out at this time, and many ingredients, especially frozen ones, were accumulated before the New Year.

They parked the car at the entrance of a large supermarket, ready to do a shopping sweep.

Shen Jiayue grabbed a shopping cart at the entrance and followed Lin Xu into the supermarket, exclaiming as soon as they entered:

"Wow, so many people! Is there a promotion?"

Lin Xu replied:

"Not necessarily, mainly because many people find the New Year boring. Besides visiting relatives, they either take their kids to the movies or just visit malls and supermarkets. In small cities, there aren’t many places to visit."

If it were a big city, there are more cultural and entertainment options, but in small cities, it’s mostly mall shopping or going to the suburbs for some hiking.

More and more people find the New Year dull, that’s how it is.

Fireworks are banned in urban areas, there aren’t many playing options, the TV is full of ads with nothing worth watching, and mall shopping becomes the only choice.

Plus, the temperature inside malls and supermarkets is quite high, so it’s not cold, and you can stroll to exercise, much better than staying home playing on your phone.

Many young children develop nearsightedness before starting school, caused by long hours of playing on phones and tablets.

The supermarket indeed has New Year promotions, with various drink, juice, and snack discounts going crazy. Shen Jiayue placed a large pack of joined Sprite and Cola into the cart, chuckling:

"I plan to cook Cola Chicken Wings again to redeem the poisoned version!"

"Alright, this time I’ll look over it and ensure it turns out well."

Lin Xu loaded a case of discounted beer into the cart, picked several juices and sodas his aunt and cousins like, and casually added two bundles of Pepsi.

After buying drinks, Shen Jiayue pushed the cart further to buy a pile of snacks.

At the fresh produce section, Lin Xu picked two high-quality durians and one oversized jackfruit, also buying several pineapples and premium cherries.

After selecting these, the cart was almost full, so he went back to grab another.

Entering the chilled section, they started selecting meat.

"Are there boxes of the white feather ducks?"

"Yes, how many do you want? I’ll go fetch them from the warehouse."

"Two boxes, please."

Each box contains about ten ducks. Lin Xu figured since they were making it, he might as well do more for the relatives to taste.

The Salt Water Duck preparation is quite slow, requiring one whole day and night to marinate with fried salt and pepper, followed by three rounds of brining and sun-drying to ensure the duck meat is firm and delicious, turning the duck bones a beautiful emerald green.

If marinated for too short a time, the bones won’t turn color, making it less tasty.

After pricing two boxes of ducks and placing them in the cart, Lin Xu helped Shen Jiayue select several pounds of high-quality chicken wings.

Once finished, Lin Xu intended to leave but noticed an uncommon pork type being sold in the pork section, pushing the cart over, asking curiously:

"Is the leg kernel available?"

Shen Jiayue was quite curious:

"Xu Bao, what’s a leg kernel?"

"It’s the shank meat from the pig’s front leg, only two pieces per pig, very rare, hard to find normally."

The shank meat from the pig’s front leg is all tender lean meat, mixed with quite a bit of fascia, similar to beef shank but much less. Since pigs only have it at the front leg area, considered the pig’s biceps."

Each piece weighs about two taels; with two pieces per pig, making it very rare and usually hard to come by.

The stock clerk said:

"There’s a good 10 to 20 pounds; how much would you like?"

"I’ll take it all!"

This shank meat is an essential ingredient for making leg flowers. Now that he’s come across it, he certainly wants to make the missed New Year leg flowers and let everyone have a taste.