Chapter 364 - 153: Boss Su, Wanted by the Entire City

Chapter 364: Chapter 153: Boss Su, Wanted by the Entire City

As a seasoned foodie, breaking down a crab was child’s play for Su Chen.

In no time, Su Chen had broken down the hefty, eight-liang crab, separating its parts into two small bowls.

The bowl on the left held the enticingly colored crab roe.

The bowl on the right contained crab meat that looked incredibly fresh and tender.

He heated another pan over a low flame and added a small amount of lard. Once the lard had just melted, he tossed in all the crab meat.

’This is probably the step that most tests a chef’s heat control.’

If the flame was even a little too high, the lard would immediately scorch the crab meat!

But if the heat was too low, the lard would slowly seep into the crab meat, making the incredibly tender flesh greasy and cloying. That would ruin it completely.

Su Chen focused all his energy on this step. He kept the flame consistently low until he noticed the clear lard gradually turning yellow. After rendering it for a few more minutes, the yellow deepened into an orange hue.

Only then did he quickly pour the entire contents of the pan into the mixing bowl.

’The amount of crab oil you can render from crab meat is always very limited. To get this much is pretty much my limit.’

If he had used the crab roe to render the oil, the color would have been more vibrant and the flavor even richer.

This was Su Chen’s core concept behind his original creation: the Cthulhu Soup Dumplings.

’The aspic is already savory enough, and that flavor will infuse the crab meat during steaming. So why waste the crab roe on rendering oil?’

This was Su Chen’s rationale. Just how savory is savory enough?

Wasting no time, he placed the pork skin broth, which had been simmered into a thick liquid, into the refrigerator to chill quickly.

He cut the chilled pork skin aspic into strips, then minced it with a cleaver until it was extremely fine. After that, he added the aspic to the mixing bowl.

And just like that, the seasoned ground pork, the rendered crab meat and oil, and the pork skin aspic made from a Lu Cuisine clear stock were all mixed together, forming a bowl of filling.

’With such luxurious ingredients, how could it not be delicious!’

Just looking at the filling made Su Chen’s mouth water. But then again, considering the cost of a single dumpling like this, the richness was only logical.

Finally, it was time to make the dumpling wrappers.

Unlike the dough for large meat buns, the wrappers for these crab soup dumplings didn’t require leavening.

He mixed high-gluten flour and water into a dough. He wasn’t making a large batch, so he pinched off a small piece and flattened it in his palm, forming a disc that was thick in the center and thin at the edges.

Then he used a rolling pin, rotating the dough as he went, to roll it out into a thin sheet.

’Wrapping these dumplings really is a skill...’

After all, crab soup dumplings were different from large meat buns; the key was a thin wrapper. The thinner the better, but it absolutely could not break after cooking.

This placed extremely high demands on the creator’s skill.

He rested the wrapper in his left palm and used a bamboo scraper with his right hand to scoop the prepared filling into its center. Now came the most important part!

The reason Su Chen hadn’t used the crab roe when rendering the oil was for this very moment!

Through the wrapper, he rotated the filling in his palm several times, then used his right thumb to press a round indentation into the center of the filling. He immediately placed all the crab roe he had set aside into this small hollow!

’A single bite full of pure, untouched crab roe... who could possibly resist that?’

Then, he pleated the edge of the wrapper into exactly 24 folds, taking care not to disturb the shape of the filling inside.

The top of the finished dumpling looked like the mouth of a small crucian carp. It was surprisingly, unusually beautiful.

Su Chen gazed at the dumpling, which looked like a work of art.

’I bet only Aunt Fang could learn how to do this. As for anyone else...’

If Chen the Eighth were still here, he could probably help, but he was already gone.

He brought the water in the steamer to a rolling boil over a high flame, gently placed the dumpling in the basket, and steamed it for seven minutes. Afterward, Su Chen stood before the steamer, rubbing his hands together.

’This is the moment of truth!’

Turn off the heat, open the lid!

After seven minutes of steaming, the once-puffy dumpling had now flattened, the aspic inside having melted completely!

Moreover, as the steam dissipated after the heat was cut, the dumpling wobbled precariously in the steamer basket. It seemed as if with every jiggle, the soup inside threatened to burst through the paper-thin skin!

It was a heart-stopping sight!

Su Chen had a plate ready right next to the steamer. He gently lifted the dumpling with one hand, and the instant it was free, he slid the plate underneath to support it.

"Whoa!"

After placing the finished dumpling on the cutting board, Su Chen clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut. Whether or not this dumpling could reach S Level all came down to this moment!

After taking a moment to calm his nerves, he slowly opened his eyes. Golden text floated in the air before him, and a surprised yet joyous smile spread across Su Chen’s face!

...

"So, Boss, what are we making today besides the braised pork belly? If you ask me, you could totally just take orders now. There’s no need to run a street stall anymore. It’s tiring and doesn’t even make money."

Su Chen left the Gourmet Practice Room, looked at Zhang Heping, and chuckled.

"You don’t understand. The purpose of running a stall isn’t to make money."

"Then what is it for?"

Hmm... That was a hard question to answer. Su Chen couldn’t exactly say, ’It’s to complete my system tasks.’

So he could only feign profundity. "You’ll find out eventually."

With that, Su Chen stood up and stretched lazily.

His creation session in the practice room this time hadn’t been long, and he had barely consumed any energy.