Chapter 57: Buying Ingredients for Twice-cooked Pork
Twice-cooked pork. Li You was thrilled.
It was a traditional classic of Sichuan cuisine.
It held a very prestigious place among Sichuan dishes.
It was even called the king of Sichuan cuisine, the very embodiment of the style.
It was even more famous than Mapo Tofu.
It was both a common, everyday home-cooked dish and a famous Sichuan specialty renowned throughout the country.
It was *twice-cooked* pork, and the name was quite literal.
The "twice-cooked" part referred to its cooking process: after being cooked once, the pork was returned to the wok for a second round of stir-frying.
Twice-cooked pork could be paired with various vegetables.
The most common were garlic sprouts, green peppers, cabbage, and onions.
The choice of vegetable would slightly alter the dish’s flavor.
Li You loved twice-cooked pork. He enjoyed it with any of the typical vegetables, except for onions.
His own skill at making the dish was quite good.
But he was still a long way from a master’s level.
But now, he was about to possess the ultimate technique for it.
’Learn immediately.’
In an instant, a flood of knowledge and techniques for making twice-cooked pork filled his mind.
"Recipe: Twice-cooked Pork.
Ingredients: Two-blade Pork, garlic sprouts (or optionally green peppers, cabbage, or onion), broad bean paste, ginger, garlic, salt, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, etc."
Li You’s heart swelled with delight as he looked at the recipe.
’From now on, the restaurant will have two new dishes.’
’This main quest reward is so satisfying!’
’I can’t wait for the next main quest to trigger.’
"Boss, I’m ready to eat. One Cabbage in Supreme Broth and a small bowl of Yangchun Noodles, please," said Ye Shengge.
Li You nodded. "Alright, coming right up."
He then went into the kitchen.
After some time, he brought the Cabbage in Supreme Broth and the small bowl of Yangchun Noodles to Ye Shengge.
Ye Shengge started eating.
After a few bites, she asked, "Boss, when are you going to introduce your next new dish?"
Li You said, "Soon. I’m going to the town market tomorrow morning to look for ingredients. If I find the right ones, I can launch one or even two new dishes tomorrow."
"Really?" Ye Shengge was pleasantly surprised. "What are they?"
"Mapo Tofu and twice-cooked pork," Li You replied.
Ye Shengge grew even more excited. "Both of those are delicious! But it’s really hard to make good Mapo Tofu. I’ve had it in so many places, but I only liked it at one of them. Of course, I’m sure yours will be amazing."
Li You smiled. "It should be."
"It definitely will be," Ye Shengge said. "Oh, right, tomorrow isn’t a market day, is it? Will they still be selling ingredients?"
Li You nodded. "They will. Even on non-market days, you can still find basic ingredients. Things like meat and tofu are available, just in smaller quantities and with much less variety than on a proper market day."
’So that’s how it works.’
Ye Shengge nodded again. "In that case, Boss, let me know when you head to the market tomorrow. I’ll go with you. I’d like to see it."
Li You nodded. "Sure! I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow morning."
"Okay!"
Ye Shengge ate while chatting with Li You.
After slowly finishing her meal, she scanned the code to pay.
yuan.
"Boss, I’m heading into town. Don’t forget to call me tomorrow morning!"
"Alright. Drive safe."
"Okay!"
Ye Shengge went to the parking lot and drove away.
...
「The next day.」
At eight in the morning, Li You called Ye Shengge and said he was about to leave for town.
Ye Shengge was already up and said she was also getting ready to leave.
The two of them arranged a place to meet.
Li You got on his motorcycle and set off.
Twenty minutes later, he met Ye Shengge at the entrance to the town market.
Li You parked his motorcycle and said, "Let’s go. We’ll buy the tofu first."
Ye Shengge nodded.
Since it wasn’t a market day, there were far fewer tofu stalls than usual.
The two of them searched for quite a while before they saw the first tofu stall.
"Ingredient: Silken Tofu.
Quality: Inferior."
There were two main types of tofu.
One is silken tofu.
This kind was made using gypsum powder as a coagulant.
Thus, it was also known as gypsum tofu.
Gypsum tofu had a high water content, giving it a fine, delicate texture and a pure white color. It was exceptionally soft to the bite.
It was also known as "southern tofu."
Its counterpart was "northern tofu."
Northern tofu was made using a brine-based coagulant.
Thus, it was also called "brine tofu."
Brine tofu had a coarser texture, a slightly yellowish hue, and a firmer consistency.
For this reason, it was also called "firm tofu."
The two types had different textures and flavors, each suited for different culinary preparations.
Mapo Tofu, specifically, required silken tofu.
The tofu at this stall was the right kind—silken—but unfortunately, its quality was rated as inferior.
Li You wanted the ingredients for his restaurant to be at least medium-grade quality or higher.
’I’ll check the others.’
They scoured the entire market. In total, there were four tofu stalls, three of which sold silken tofu.
Unfortunately, the silken tofu from all three stalls was of inferior quality.
’The selection on a non-market day is just too limited.’
If it were a market day, there would be at least twenty tofu stalls.
’Maybe I should just wait until market day tomorrow and check again.’
’If I still can’t find any medium-grade tofu tomorrow, I’ll have to either wait for the system to drop some or just make it myself.’
Along with the Mapo Tofu recipe, Li You had also mastered the technique for making tofu.
As long as the soybeans weren’t too poor in quality, creating medium-grade tofu wouldn’t be a problem.
’I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.’
Unless it was a last resort, Li You didn’t plan to make it himself.
Unless he suddenly felt the inspiration to try his hand at it.
"None of the tofu we just looked at was good enough, so I’m not buying any for now. Let’s go check out the meat," Li You said to Ye Shengge.
Ye Shengge nodded.
Although she couldn’t see what was wrong with the tofu, she knew that an excellent chef could tell.
And excellent chefs often have very high standards for ingredient quality.
As a top-tier chef, Li You’s standards for ingredient quality must be even higher.
It was perfectly normal for him to find that tofu unacceptable.
’I wonder if he’ll find any meat that meets his standards?’
With this thought, Ye Shengge followed Li You to a butcher’s stall.
"What can I get for you two?" the butcher greeted them enthusiastically.
Li You said, "I’m looking for Two-blade Pork."
Many people believed that pork belly was the best cut for twice-cooked pork.
But that wasn’t actually true.
The ideal cut for twice-cooked pork was Two-blade Pork, which came from the pig’s hindquarters.
With a fat-to-lean ratio of roughly four to six, its texture was perfect for the dish.
"Two-blade Pork? Got it, right here," the butcher said, pointing to a hanging cut. "Take a look. It’s excellent meat."
"Ingredient: Two-blade Pork.
Quality: Medium."
’Medium quality. That’s great, I can use this.’
Li You nodded. "How much per catty?"
The butcher replied, "For you, 16 yuan a catty. How’s that?"
’That’s a fair price.’
Li You nodded. "Deal. I’ll take all of these cuts. Please weigh them for me."
The butcher’s face lit up.
’A big spender!’
All those cuts added up to over 50 catties.
"Young man, what are you planning to make with all this?" the butcher asked as he weighed the meat.
Li You smiled faintly. "Twice-cooked pork."
The butcher laughed. "Ah, a connoisseur! Two-blade Pork is much better for that dish than pork belly."
Li You nodded in agreement.
"It’s 52 catties, that comes to 832 yuan. Just call it 830," the butcher said.
Li You nodded. "Thanks, boss."
With that, he scanned the code and paid.
He had secured the main ingredient for his twice-cooked pork. Excellent.
...