Food Intelligence King

Chapter 39 Rice Milk, the Patina of Time
Riding his electric scooter, Chen Zhou carefully held the casserole dish between his legs.

While admiring Grandpa Feng's experiences and thanking him for his knowledge and gifts was one thing, Chen Zhou couldn't help but happily complain about the clay pot in front of him:
"Hmph, it won't work if there's no direction!"

"How did I, a steamed bun seller, get information about a clay pot?"

"I don't need this either."

After returning home, he carefully cleaned the clay pot.

Finally, I can take a good look at it.

This old clay pot gives off a solid and heavy feeling.

The commercial version is also quite large and heavy to carry.

Its surface is dark red and covered with tiny pores. You can also vaguely see some small white spots, which should be the snail shell mentioned in the manufacturing process.

Looking at the pot again, Chen Zhou couldn't clean the accumulated soot on the outside, and the bottom of the pot was completely black.

It's hard to imagine how many bowls of porridge this pot has cooked.

Judging from its appearance, it can only be described as an old and ordinary clay pot, with a few small chips on the rim.

However, after cleaning the casserole, Chen Zhou discovered that there was a layer of warm and jade-like glaze inside.

It feels smooth to the touch, creating a strong contrast with its rough appearance.

"This must be the patina that comes with age."

After getting his hands on the old clay pot, Chen Zhou was eager to try it out.

However, we didn't have any millet or cornmeal at home, so we could only cook a pot of the most basic white porridge for now.

Chen Zhou remembered Old Feng's secret.

Rice needs to be washed, but not as many times as you would when steaming rice.

One wash is enough to remove surface dust.

This is how you make porridge that is thick enough.

Upon closer examination, this is not only based on Grandpa Feng's experience, but also has a certain scientific basis.

There is also some starch on the surface of rice grains, which can be seen by looking at the rice water – it is whitish in color and there will be sediment at the bottom of the basin.

If you wash everything out, the steamed rice will be grainy and separate, which is not suitable for rice porridge that requires a thick texture.

Chen Zhou thought of the seafood porridge he made a few days ago, and guessed that Ms. Lin had carefully rinsed the rice very clean.

Besides rinsing the rice, there are also specific techniques for cooking it.

Rinse the rice and put it directly into the pot. The rice grains will be more intact and have a slightly chewy texture.

If the rice is soaked before cooking, the grains will burst open and split open.

Ms. Lin did indeed soak the porridge last time.

Finally, regarding cooking white porridge, Fengji Porridge Shop has a trick that you "don't need to do at home"—remove the rice and keep the porridge.

Add a large amount of rice and cook it into a rice paste, making the rice porridge as thick as possible while keeping the rice grains intact.

Then you have to take the rice out again, keeping the water-to-rice ratio at 10:1.

Chen Zhou did indeed do it at home.
But he didn't listen to Old Feng and directly followed the advanced technique of "it's unnecessary to make it at home".

Bring to a boil over high heat, then remove the excess rice and simmer over low heat.

Watching the bubbles slowly rise and swirl in the pot is a pleasant experience in itself.

Twenty minutes later, the congee was ready.

Chen Zhou had already prepared two steamed buns (one meat and one vegetable), a salted duck egg, and a small dish of cucumbers.

He lives alone.

We can only afford to have a simple meal.

It has to be said that porridge carefully cooked in a clay pot is definitely different from porridge that is simply thrown into a rice cooker.

Scoop out a spoonful of the top layer of rice milk; it's not the kind of thin, watery stuff that's almost like rice water.

It has a warm, milky white color, thick but not viscous, smooth but not greasy.

If you get close enough to smell it, you can smell a particularly comforting aroma of grain, which inexplicably reminds you of the side room in your old home where grain was stored.

Take a bite of rice and porridge together. The subtle, almost imperceptible grains of rice feel like fine sand gently caressing you in a warm current, bringing a wonderful sense of satisfaction.

Then, the pure aroma of rice filled my mouth. The starch transformed into an almost refreshing sweetness. Warm and comforting, it flowed from my mouth all the way to my stomach.

"I don't need positive reviews from diners, I'll give myself a positive review."

Under Chen Taotao's tutelage, Fa Cai learned to stand guard by the dining table. Seeing Chen Zhou enjoying his meal, its soft fur brushed against Chen Zhou's calf.

Chen Zhou also gave it a little bit.

But the cat wasn't interested; it licked the food twice and then left.

Chen Zhou looked at the casserole dish in the kitchen:

"We won't need to make steamed buns now, but they'll come in handy someday."

As mentioned in the customer's post, Chen Zhou's business wasn't as busy today.

He reduced the amount of ingredients and returned it to the previous level.

Old Zhang was slow to realize that Chen Zhou's steamed bun stall had become a hit, and it wasn't until today that he discovered it.

He asked Chen Zhou why he bought less pork today.

Chen Zhou replied, "You just don't understand the basic principles of trending topics."

Old Zhang didn't understand the principles behind pork futures either.

Besides Lao Zhang, Zhao Yilin, the HR representative from his former company, also chatted with Chen Zhou for a while.

It was almost payday at my previous company, but if it fell on a weekend, it would be postponed to the next workday.

So Chen Zhou will have to wait until Monday to go to the design institute to collect his last month's salary.

This is the agreement that Junior Sister Niu Ma made with Chen Zhou:

"Come to my place next Monday to collect your salary and then complete the resignation procedures."

Also, I have to remind you, senior, that this is considered voluntary resignation, so you won't receive any compensation.

Finally, please, absolutely, and without fail, don't forget my steamed buns.

This time, she followed Chen Zhou's advice and learned how to use segments correctly.

Then they sent a photo.

Looking at the picture, Chen Zhou immediately recognized it as his steamed bun stall.

Puzzled, I asked:
"You've been here? I don't remember, there have been so many people these past few days [facepalm]"

Zhao Yilin:
"No, I found this online. You're quite popular, senior."

Chen Zhou remembered that she and her colleagues had run a pointless betting pool about whether their business could survive.

So he replied:
"Then you'll definitely win if you bet with them."

Zhao Yilin:
"Thanks to you, I've been drinking milk tea for a whole week now! [smug]"

It's a pity you didn't see the expressions on the faces of those people in the office; it was a classic scene of showing off and getting slapped in the face.

Old Song is really showing off.

Having been away from his old environment for a month, Chen Zhou needed to go through their old chat logs to understand the ins and outs of things.

It was probably Lao Song, the colleague whom his junior colleague had labeled as having a "greasy, fatherly" vibe.

Although she didn't have a high opinion of Chen Zhou's idea of ​​starting a business by setting up a stall, she still stood on the moral high ground and, along with her junior sister, expressed her hope that Chen Zhou would succeed.

This trip to a popular local steamed bun stall resulted in a win-win situation for both of them.

I bet Old Song will say, against his will but with a touch of smugness, "I knew my little brother could do it!"

Although Chen Zhou didn't see it, he could imagine it.

In the workplace, friendships often develop through shared experiences rather than genuine connections, but Chen Zhou was genuinely grateful to his junior colleague for her help.

"Thank you for your hard work in handling the resignation. Don't worry, Baozi, your senior brother will treat you to another meal later."

Zhao Yilin:
"OR"

"K"

(End of this chapter)