Chapter 210

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

"That's right, that's Lu Boss's car! Lu Boss is here!"

Someone pointed toward the parking lot, excitement in their voice.

Quite a few diners had already seen Lu Feng's new car yesterday.

Besides, on this entire Food Street, aside from the Maybach Lu Feng drives, no one else drives a luxury car of that caliber.

Lu Feng opened the car door, got out, and walked slowly toward the shop.

"Lu Boss is here!"

Someone shouted loudly, and the diners sitting at the little stalls eating instantly all lifted their heads in unison.

The next second, those eating fried skewers tossed down their sticks, those drinking lemonade casually threw their cups into the garbage bin, and the diners halfway through their ramen in the noodle shop dropped their chopsticks and ran out slurping the noodles still in their mouths.

Even the owners of the few little stall carts at the entrance, upon hearing that shout, abandoned their dumbfounded customers and bolted for the shop entrance, leaving their stalls unattended.

Those passersby who had never eaten at Lu Feng's shop all expressed amazement at the scene.

Which celebrity came to Food Street?

Such a grand turnout?

Lu Feng smiled and waved at them; the diners spontaneously made way, watching Lu Feng walk into the shop.

A few quick-acting diners had already lined up single file starting from the entrance.

"Yesterday was Red Braised Pork; wonder what today's new dish is."

"Whatever it is, getting in line early can't be wrong!"

The queue at the entrance slowly lengthened, and those originally at the snack stalls and nearby shops all hurried to join the back of the line.

…………

Lu Feng washed his hands clean in the kitchen, his gaze falling on the ingredient box just taken out of the Storage Room.

Tonight's new dish is Red Braised Lion's Head.

Speaking of it, this dish is essentially a home-style large meatball.

This is a dish with a very auspicious meaning, symbolizing reunion and completeness.

Lu Feng couldn't help recalling his childhood; every New Year, the family reunion dinner would always have this dish, symbolizing family unity.

At southern banquets, Lion's Head often appears on the table as well, symbolizing complete success.

In the north, people prefer to call it Four Joy Meatballs; it's indispensable at weddings, birthdays, and longevity feasts.

Four round meatballs, carrying blessings of fortune, prosperity, longevity, and happiness.

Red Braised Lion's Head is a delicacy that combines freshness, tenderness, and rich flavor in one, delicious without being greasy.

Therefore, this dish often appears at state banquets, earning endless praise from people from all corners of the land.

Most of the diners waiting outside are office workers who've been busy all day and nearby university students.

The rich sauce of the Red Braised Lion's Head, coating the soft, glutinous, springy meat granules — one bite down and it's pure happiness.

It should suit their tastes even better.

Lu Feng took out the pork from the ingredient box, examined it carefully, then nodded in satisfaction.

The ingredients bought from the System Mall are, as always, top-tier quality.

This pork is a different cut from the one used for Red Braised Pork, but it's still far superior to ordinary pork on the market.

For Lion's Head, the meat ratio is the soul of the dish.

If there's too much fat, it feels greasy; too much lean, the texture becomes dry and tough.

The piece of pork before him has a perfectly balanced fat-to-lean ratio, looking like a meticulously carved piece of marble.

Pressing it lightly with his hand, he could feel the firmness of the meat juices, none of the looseness of ordinary pork.

Lu Feng washed the pork clean, placed it on the chopping board, and gave it a light slice with the kitchen knife.

The moment the meat was cut open, a faint meat fragrance could be smelled — not a trace of gaminess.

Lu Feng first sliced the pork into even thin slices, then cut them into uniform meat cubes.

Then he pulled another kitchen knife from the rack, gripped it with both hands, and began chopping the filling with a rhythmic "clang-clang-dang."

Only when the filling was chopped to the size of pomegranate seeds, with meat juice faintly seeping out, did he stop his chopping motion.

The shop's kitchen does have a meat grinder; using it would greatly shorten the chopping time.

But Lu Feng has never used it; he has always insisted on slowly chopping it out by hand with a knife.

Only this way can the most original granular texture of the meat cubes be preserved; when it's done, you can clearly feel the springiness of the meat granules.

As a rigorous chef, Lu Feng never overlooks any detail that might affect the final texture.

The chopped meat granules glowed with a faint pink; the nose could already smell the meat fragrance.

No pungent gaminess at all, only that rich flavor carrying the aroma of fat.

Lu Feng pinched a small piece of meat granule with his fingertips, confirmed the granular feel was just right, and placed the chopped filling into a clean bowl nearby.

He brought over the scallion ginger water prepared in advance, stirring the filling in the bowl while adding it in several batches.

Next, he needed to season the filling; Lu Feng took salt, white sugar, and white pepper powder in turn from the seasoning rack and put them into the filling.

When seasoning, Lu Feng didn't use a spoon to measure at all.

With the System Technique's enhancement, his eyes are now the ruler, his hands the scale.

Every seasoning's amount is exactly right — not too much, not too little.

Afterwards, Lu Feng added some starch to the Filling; he used Corn Starch.

This kind of starch is even finer, able to make the Filling even more tender and smooth.

Lu Feng took out a bottle of premium Huadiao Wine from the Food Ingredient Box and poured some into the Filling.

This Huadiao Wine can add a layer of mellow wine fragrance to the Meat Fragrance, working far better than cooking wine.

After adding these things, Lu Feng began to continue stirring the Filling in the bowl.

There is technique to stirring as well; one must always stir in a single direction, which allows the Filling to quickly develop elasticity.

Accompanying his stirring, the Filling's viscosity grew stronger and stronger; when he felt it was about right, Lu Feng stopped his movements.

Picking some up with chopsticks, the Filling hung on the chopsticks without dripping or falling apart.

This showed the Filling had been stirred to the proper point; Lu Feng let out a satisfied breath.

But just this is still not enough; to make the Lion's Head tight and elastic when eaten, the slamming motion is indispensable.

Lu Feng took a lump of meat paste from the bowl and held it in his hand, letting the meat paste slam back and forth between his fingertips a few times.

"Pa! Pa! Pa!"

The meat paste collided back and forth between his two hands; with each slam, the meat paste became a degree tighter.

At first the meat paste's surface was still somewhat loose; after continuous slamming, the surface gradually became smooth.

Very quickly, a large meatball was formed.

This motion looks quite simple, but if someone else were to do it, they likely wouldn't slam a few times before the meatball fell apart.

Lu Feng's technique looked flowing like clouds and water, completed in one breath.

This kind of proficient movement, if those old masters saw it, they would all have to raise a big thumb in praise.

Lu Feng placed the formed meatball into another bowl.

That meatball stood steady and firm, not showing the slightest sign of falling apart.

No matter from which angle one looked, this meatball was a perfect sphere.

Just like this, he continued taking filling from the bowl, continuing to form meatballs.

Before long, the bowl was filled with rows of smooth meat spheres of identical size.

Each meat sphere glistened with a faint sheen of oil; leaning in to smell, Meat Fragrance, wine fragrance, and seasoning fragrance intertwined, rich yet not cloying.