I'm the Culinary God

To some extent, Soy Sauce Meat and salted meat are the same, except one uses salt and the other uses soy sauce.

When filming began, Shen Guofu saw Tan Yajun off and was playing games with Geng Lele in the living room. To avoid disturbing the shoot, he even turned on mute.

Now that the filming was done, he immediately picked up the TV remote:

"Turn on the sound, turn on the sound, it’s really awkward to play without sound."

Not far away, in front of another set of sofas, Han Shuzhen, who was chatting with Dou Wenjing and Xiao Qing, said:

"Old Shen, don’t just focus on playing games, remember to go upstairs to skip rope. Eating so much meat, what if the three highs come to see you?"

Shen Guofu chuckled:

"I’ll start after this round, I really need to exercise, or how else am I going to eat the Soy Sauce Meat made by little Xu?"

Thinking about slicing the steamed Soy Sauce Meat into thin pieces, he couldn’t help but swallow.

This time when the Soy Sauce Meat is done, I must thoroughly indulge myself. After eating Soy Sauce Meat, I’ll go to Yinzhou for salted meat, making up for all the meat debts from when I was young.

For the next two days, Lin Xu was busy at the shop during the day and turned the meat over at night at home.

When the Soy Sauce Meat was marinated and ready to hang up to dry, Shen Guofu couldn’t wait anymore.

"Little Xu, hanging it for seven or eight days before it’s ready, isn’t that a bit long? Is there a quicker way to get it into my mouth? I’m really craving this meat."

A faster way to eat?

Lin Xu thought for a moment and said:

"Sure, I’ll use the drying box to make some later, and hang the rest for drying."

The pork belly in the basin was already colored, slightly hard compared to before, and seemed to have shrunk. It’s this kind of meat that has the firm and chewy texture and strong aroma.

Almost all marinated meat aims for this texture.

Lin Xu scooped out about ten pounds of pork belly from the basin, carried it to the downstairs kitchen, opened the food drying box, and put the meat on the drying rack.

A tray to catch the oil was placed at the bottom, the temperature was set to fifty, and the drying began.

After setting this up, he went upstairs again, scooped out the meat from the basin, and wiped off as much soy sauce from the surface as possible to prevent it from dripping.

Then he used scissors to poke a hole at one end of the meat and threaded a hemp rope soaked in Erguotou through it.

Once threaded, he hung the meat on the newly installed electric drying rack in the room.

Mm, to improve the drying effect, Old Shen specially had two sets of electric drying racks installed in the room, positioned right by the window to allow the Soy Sauce Meat to dry better and faster.

Once all the meat was hung, he also hung up the two fully marinated Soy Sauce Ducks and finally took out the salted duck that had been marinating for several days, washed off the surface salt and spices, and hung it up as well.

Unlike the soy-colored Soy Sauce Meat, the salted duck remained white and tender, and even whiter after marinating, looking quite attractive.

It’s the same color as the South Wind Meat and South Wind Chicken popular in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Downstairs near the drying box, Old Shen leaned close to the air outlet and sniffed the aroma wafting out, couldn’t help but swallow:

"That’s the smell, salty and fresh mixed with the fragrance of pork, once it’s done I must taste it."

Shen Jiayue said with a chuckle:

"Just a bit of Soy Sauce Meat can make you crave like this, tomorrow when Xu Bao makes Red stewed Pork Hock, won’t you be overjoyed?"

Red stewed Pork Hock?

Shen Guofu looked pleasantly surprised:

"Little Xu is making Pork Hock tomorrow?"

"Yes, I watched a video with Yan Bao, it said Tangshan’s Hongyan Pork Hock is one of Hebei’s top ten dishes, and we asked Xu Bao if he could make it. He said he’d make it for us tomorrow and promised it wouldn’t be inferior to Hongyan Pork Hock."

Shen Guofu: "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

If you’re talking about this, then tomorrow no matter what, I have to try it.

A couple of years ago, he went to Tangshan specially to eat Hongyan Pork Hock, tender and flavorful, a slight cut with chopsticks would cause it to melt. The Pork Hock is more like drinking it straight than eating.

Tender with a strong aroma, it truly melts in your mouth.

Especially the fatty meat, the tongue melts it upon pressing it, unforgettable.

I was just musing a few days ago whether the family should drive to have some fun, little did I expect little Xu could actually make it, I must tell him to make more tomorrow, just in case it’s not enough.

These pork hocks are not big, people with big appetites can eat a portion each comfortably.

If there’s not enough to eat tomorrow, that would be imperfect.

Lin Xu hung all the meat, raised the rack, laid a layer of plastic on the ground to prevent soy sauce and oil drips, then opened the windows on both sides for airflow.

The windows weren’t opened too wide to avoid the cold night air freezing the meat.

The meat was kept around four or five degrees so the surface could dry while retaining moisture, making it tenderer.

After all this, he poured the basin’s soy sauce marinade back into the bucket, ready to take it to the shop tomorrow to make some more.

Compared to home, making Soy Sauce Meat at the shop was easier, directly marinating it in the cold storeroom, then drying it using the commercial oven, straightforward and effortless.

Downstairs, he put the lid on the bucket, then cleaned the basin and other kitchen utensils thoroughly.

Just as he finished, Shen Guofu brought up the topic of Red stewed Pork Hock:

"Little Xu, Yueyue said you’re making Hongyan Pork Hock tomorrow?"

"Yes, I’m planning to try it, was going to make it today, but the pork hock Old Hu sent was too little, what’s left was used for Crystal Sugar Pork Hock at the shop, he’ll deliver thirty more tomorrow, once I’m done I’ll start making."