I'm the Culinary God

"All right!"

After giving instructions on buying chickens, Lin Xu took out all the remaining tendon jelly from the cold storage. He first cut it into strips, then into slices, and finally packed it into takeaway boxes. The tendon jelly was packed box by box, then placed into takeaway bags along with disposable utensils and a small container of specially prepared dipping sauce. These were the special small gifts prepared for the ladies.

He had originally planned to have his helper order more tendons. But after calculating the cost, he felt it wasn't quite right because, for the same effect, Pork Skin was much cheaper than Tendon. Moreover, compared to Tendon, Pork Skin could also be made into Crystal Skin Jelly, which was just as presentable as Crystal Pork Hock. So, it was better to switch to Pork Skin.

Thinking of this, he instructed his helper, "Bring in a few more boxes of Pork Skin these next few days; I'm planning to try making some Crystal Skin Jelly."

Yes, not only did he plan to make it, but Shen Baobao and his sister-in-law even wanted to learn. If these two learned, they would likely throw themselves into enjoying the cooking process, just as they did with the fruit curd last time. The demand for Pork Skin would skyrocket. So, it was better to stock up more to avoid affecting the restaurant's normal supply.

「The following evening.」

As the lamb was slowly turning in the roaster, Boss Huang also delivered the free-range chickens ordered by the restaurant.

"Boss Lin, you didn't even mention you're roasting a whole lamb! I'm going to order one later, to invite your senior brothers over for a feast here," Boss Huang exclaimed.

Boss Huang was over fifty years old. As a high-end food supplier for several hotels and restaurants in Beijing, he had his own insights into maintaining a stable customer base. For instance, now that he heard the restaurant was offering whole roast lamb, he immediately ordered one. He planned to use this roast lamb to entertain the head chefs from Fishing Platform. Doing so would support Lin Ji's business and, at the same time, help him maintain his relationships with the head chefs from Fishing Platform. It was a perfect example of killing two birds with one stone.

Lin Xu said, "No problem, I'll reserve one for you tomorrow evening."

Boss Huang brought over several free-range roosters from the mountains, about seven or eight months old. Although not particularly large, they were all sturdy. This indicated the chickens hadn't been force-fed for rapid growth. When taken out of the bag, the chickens were still warm, indicating they had been freshly slaughtered and promptly delivered.

He soaked the chickens in water to wash off the excess blood and to give an extra cleaning to parts that were harder to get thoroughly clean, like the Chicken Feet, combs, and necks.

While the chicken soaked, he also soaked some potato flour noodles in warm water. In the stews of the Northeast Region, it was common to add noodles, which could absorb the broth and make the dish richer in content.

He soaked a few too many potato flour noodles today. Song Tiantian had heard they were having chicken stew with mushrooms that afternoon, so she had even eaten one less bowl of rice at lunch and specifically asked Lin Xu to add more noodles.

In her words, "Without potato flour noodles, chicken stew with mushrooms just doesn't have that authentic Northeastern flavor!"

After the potato flour noodles were soaked, Lin Xu took out the Hazel Mushrooms that Boss Huang had personally vouched for. Hazel Mushrooms were a specialty from the Northeast. They were often eaten dried, and their dried form resembled tea tree mushrooms. But in terms of flavor, they were even more savory and delicious. In Northeastern cuisine, Hazel Mushrooms held a prestigious status. Adding them to many dishes could elevate the flavor to another level.

He put the dried Hazel Mushrooms in a bowl, added clean water, and gently rubbed them several times, trying to remove as much debris as possible from the gills beneath their caps. During washing, he had to stop if the water turned yellow, as this liquid contained the mushrooms' umami compounds. Washing it away would diminish the flavor of the stewed chicken.

After draining the Hazel Mushrooms, he put them back in a bowl and soaked them in warm water again. By the time he finished with these tasks, the chicken had also soaked sufficiently.

Lin Xu took the chicken out of the water and placed it on the cutting board to start chopping. When making chicken stew with mushrooms, the chicken pieces couldn't be too small. Otherwise, it wouldn't reflect the generosity of Northeasterners and would instead seem stingy. But they couldn't be too large either, as they wouldn't cook through properly. Typically, chopping them into walnut-sized pieces was ideal.

He first cut off the chicken neck and head, chopped them, and placed these pieces in a bowl. Then, he split the chicken body along the backbone into two even halves, finally chopping everything into uniform chunks.

After finishing the chicken, he cut some large slices of ginger and some scallion sections. He also got out a few Star Anise. With that, all the ingredients needed for the chicken stew with mushrooms were ready.

Just as he was about to start cooking, Wei Qian came over. Curious, he asked, "Lin Xu, do you absolutely have to use Hazel Mushrooms for chicken stew with mushrooms? Would regular shiitake mushrooms work?"

"That's fine. When you're cooking for yourself, there's no need to be so particular. Using shiitake mushrooms is perfectly okay."

"And if there are no potato flour noodles, can you substitute with potato chunks?"

"You can do that too... you could even replace the Scallion and Ginger with chopped green and red peppers, and you would end up with Shandong's famous braised chicken."

Nearby, Ma Zhiqiang chimed in, "If the potato chunks are bigger, and the chicken pieces too, after stewing you could boil some belt noodles with it, and you'd have the Northwest's famous Big Plate Chicken."

Wei Qian was dumbfounded. Are these two putting on a comedy act with this back-and-forth?

Lin Xu set a large iron pot on the stove, ready to start cooking this Northeastern dish. The reason for using an iron pot was that the quantity of food today was large; a regular wok simply wouldn't hold it all. Additionally, when making a Northeastern stew, it just didn't feel authentic without using a large iron pot.

He poured soybean oil, popular in the Northeast Region, into the pot. Once the oil was hot, he added the scallion, ginger, Star Anise, and garlic, frying them until aromatic. Then, he turned the stove burner to its highest heat and poured in the chopped chicken pieces.