Chapter 431: Let You Open a Food Shop, You Open for Business at 3 AM

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

If this had been any other time, Ma Wenliang definitely wouldn't have said something like this.

After all, he was just an ordinary foodie, while An Liang was a genuine food expert.

Not to mention what the Lion's Head was made of, even which part of the pig was used and what spices were in the sauce, he could describe them with near-perfect accuracy.

Normally, if he went to ask An Liang, this food expert, about food, it would be like brandishing a broadsword before Guan Yu or showing off one's axe before a master carpenter—pure self-humiliation.

But today was different.

Behind Ma Wenliang, his hand still held the Food Ingredient Introduction Manual provided by Lu Feng's shop.

Just now he had flipped through it from start to finish, and suddenly felt a lot of useful professional knowledge had been added to his mind.

He felt his spine had straightened a bit, and couldn't help but want to show off in front of An Liang, this food expert.

The chopsticks in An Liang's hand paused in midair, and he looked at Ma Wenliang, giving a slight, somewhat disdainful chuckle: "If I couldn't even tell what this Lion's Head is made of, then all these years of food criticism would have been for nothing."

Saying this, he put down his chopsticks, picked up a tissue to wipe his mouth, pointed at the Lion's Head on the plate, and spoke very professionally to introduce it: "This Lion's Head is of course made of pork. In ordinary restaurants making Lion's Head, they would choose pork belly; although the even mix of fat and lean makes the Lion's Head more fragrant, eating too much can easily make people feel greasy. Lu Boss here uses pork collar, which is the piece on the pig's neck and back. This part has evenly distributed fat with low content, so it tastes tender and delicious with a slight springiness."

An Liang, as expected of an experienced food expert, every word he said was very precise.

"Mm, what you said is indeed not wrong at all."

Ma Wenliang, this half-baked amateur, couldn't help but nod and clapped his hands to show praise.

The manual just now indeed wrote down the ingredients used for the Lion's Head, and it was pretty much the same as what An Liang introduced.

He hadn't looked at that manual, yet could say it so accurately just from the texture—truly a professional food critic.

"Then which breed of pork is used? How is it usually raised? How long does it need to be raised to achieve the best texture? Do you know these?"

A hint of smugness appeared on Ma Wenliang's face, and he asked again.

"???"

An Liang was stunned by this question.

He couldn't help but size up Ma Wenliang, with some surprise in his eyes.

This question was too tricky.

As a professional food expert, An Liang could be said to know the texture of ingredients like the back of his hand.

He also had a certain understanding of the origin of ingredients.

For example, he could taste that the pork used in this Lion's Head was a superior breed, with meat quality more delicate than the high-quality black pork on the market, and better quality.

But if specifically asked what breed it was, he really hadn't delved into it.

After all, his usual job was tasting dishes, not tracing sources.

The restaurants where he tasted dishes also rarely actively revealed the specific breed of ingredients; that was their commercial secret, and An Liang himself had never deliberately looked into it.

As for the pig's raising method and raising cycle, that touched his knowledge blind spot even more.

"How would I know? I'm a food expert, not a pig farmer, and I don't have any pig-farming friends around me."

An Liang was stunned for a while before coming back to his senses. Looking at Ma Wenliang's somewhat smug appearance, he frowned and said.

"Hehe, didn't you say it yourself? You're a food expert; knowledge related to ingredients, you should know more than us ordinary people, right? How could you not even know this?"

Ma Wenliang gave a hehe laugh, the smugness in his voice impossible to hide.

An Liang was a bit speechless from his questioning, then snorted somewhat impatiently: "I'm only responsible for judging whether food is delicious or not, not responsible for tracing sources. I'm not a chef, let alone a farm owner. Do I have to figure out the entire process from ingredient raising to cooking for all food?"

He paused, looking at Ma Wenliang's confident appearance, and couldn't help but retort in a not-so-pleasant tone: "Do you know, then?"

"Hehe, coincidentally, I really do know!"

Ma Wenliang immediately straightened his back with a proud face, slowly and secretly reaching his hand toward the manual behind him.

"You really know? Then say it and let us hear."

An Liang raised his eyebrows, with a bit more interest in his eyes.

Seeing that he was interested, Ma Wenliang couldn't help but feel smug in his heart.

He deliberately sold a Guan Zi, slowly opening his mouth to ask: "Uncle, do you know if there's a kind of pig in the south of our country called the Wuzhi Mountain Pig?"

Ma Wenliang rarely caught an opportunity to show off in front of a food expert, so naturally he wouldn't say it so readily.

As soon as he said this, An Liang couldn't help but snort: "I didn't expect you to actually know this breed; did you look it up on an online encyclopedia? Don't tell me this pork is Wuzhi Mountain Pig; if so, I can only say you're talking nonsense."

Immediately, he continued introducing with a serious face: "The Wuzhi Mountain Pig is a nationally protected endangered animal. This thing absolutely cannot be used as an ingredient. Even if Lu Boss's culinary skills are superb, he wouldn't dare use an endangered protected animal as an ingredient. If he really did that, this shop would have been shut down long ago!"

Ma Wenliang gave a hehe laugh: "Uncle, don't worry, this is of course not Wuzhi Mountain Pig meat. I just wanted to test whether your ingredient knowledge reserve is enough. Otherwise, when I introduce it later, you'll think I'm talking nonsense and pretending to understand."

"I naturally know a lot about ingredient knowledge. As long as it's an ingredient, there's nothing I don't understand. But to be honest, I already feel you're talking nonsense right now."

An Liang shook his head, picked up the water cup in front of him and took a sip, saying in a faint tone.

The confidence in his words wasn't put on.

In terms of ingredient identification, An Liang had never submitted to anyone.

Not to mention Ma Wenliang was just an ordinary diner; even if it were the executive chef of a five-star hotel, he could chat freely with the other party about various ingredient details with ease.

The back-and-forth conversation between these two immediately attracted the attention of diners at several nearby tables. Many people became interested and pricked up their ears to listen to them talk.

The two tables they sat at were also very close to the counter, so their voices were naturally heard clearly by Lu Feng in the kitchen, whose five senses were extremely sharp.

At this moment Lu Feng was cooking. When he heard the name "Wuzhi Mountain Pig," he couldn't help but be slightly surprised in his heart.

The reason was very simple.

The endangered species Wuzhi Mountain Pig they just mentioned, he had also seen in the System Mall.

However, that was also a special supply item in the mall, a limited purchase ingredient every week, with an outrageously high price. He hadn't bought it yet.

He only found out today that the thing was actually an endangered species.

Lu Feng couldn't help but mutter inwardly: So the System Mall has its pitfalls too, even endangered species are used as Ingredients; judging by the Appearance of things, from now on before Cooking he'll have to carefully read the Mall's Ingredient descriptions.