Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 240 The Greasiness of Pork Cauldron, Xia Ming's Lightning-Fast "Golden Partner" for Shumai (Second Update)
"At the competition venue, by Xia Ming's stove."

Having retrieved all the ingredients, Xia Ming quickly finished dealing with the rest of the tasks at hand.

Then, after all the ingredients that were supposed to be steamed were served, he took out the white "pig caul fat" from the side.

As the pig calyx was unfolded, young netizens watching on the screen were full of praise for its natural structure.

"Holy crap, what is this thing? It looks like a spider web!"

[The person upstairs must have never even seen "lard netting" before!]

[That's quite normal. Compulsory education these days doesn't teach about butchering pigs; there are plenty of things kids haven't seen before.]

I know this; they put this in our spring rolls, and it's always so delicious!

I think I've seen this in the manga "Food Wars!".

[“Pig lard netting” is actually quite common. In many places, it's used to make beggar's chicken. After steaming, it completely melts, leaving only the aroma of pork fat.]

[The greater omentum, I think it's the peritoneum of a pig; I think it was mentioned in an old book on pig farming.]

[It seems there's a lesser-known traditional dish in Changzhou that uses this as the main ingredient. Does anyone in the comments know what it's called?]

[Upstairs, you're probably referring to "egg white and mutton soup," but this is also available in the East Third District, where it's called "snow-white bean paste" or "snow-white bean paste."]

[I remember now, that's what it is! Thanks to the science popularizer!!!]

Just as netizens have said, it is the so-called "pig caul fat".

It is actually the reticular adipose tissue inside the pig's abdominal cavity that surrounds the internal organs. It is a transparent mesh composed of elastic fiber bundles and fat cells. When picked up separately, the pattern resembles a spider web, which is quite beautiful.

Along with back fat (fat around the kidneys) and subcutaneous fat, it is one of the three major fatty tissues of pigs and was a good material for rendering lard in the old days.

However, in recent years, some so-called experts have claimed that consuming lard is harmful to cardiovascular health.

This has caused the price of this ingredient to drop again and again, and now it's considered a scrap or offal.

Aside from restaurants rendering lard for stir-frying and some older restaurants using it for traditional dishes, it's rarely seen in regular household meals anymore.

But for Xia Ming, this part of the pig was an absolute delicacy.

"According to the city, this stuff has a fat content as high as 90%."

"But according to the concept of the Nine Provinces Continent, this thing is full of spiritual energy and is crispy and delicious after being deep-fried."

Of course, the approach taken on the continent of Kyushu would be extremely difficult to implement in urban areas.

Putting everything else aside, the breeds of pigs on these two sides are different. Just take the spirit pigs of the Nine Provinces Continent for example; their calyx is very thick.

But the pig caul fat in the city is just like transparent plastic sheet covered with a network of fat.
Of course, as long as you have a thorough understanding of oil temperature and the properties of ingredients, you can certainly fry them.

For Xia Ming, using "pig caul fat" instead of shumai wrappers has several excellent advantages.

"This stuff is essentially lard, so from the perspective of its ingredients, it's definitely relevant."

"Furthermore, very few people can handle this properly. Many of the veteran chefs here may know about it, but they probably rarely make it."

"Because they don't do it often enough, they don't have a complete understanding of its characteristics; they focus more on the oil-refining aspect!"

According to the urban calculation method.

"Pig caul fat" will release a lot of oil when it is above 120°C, will quickly caramelize when it is above 160°C, and will reach its smoke point (start to smoke) when it is above 190°C.

When the frying temperature is perfectly controlled at 160°C, it exhibits a dual nature.

On one hand, under high temperatures, white, blood vessel-like fats release a large amount of oil, increasing the overall aroma of fried food.

On one side, its transparent membrane begins to show a crispy texture, and as the white fat on it melts with heat, it begins to shrink.

Taking advantage of this property, the "pork caul fat" that is only deep-fried will eventually have a beautiful light golden color.

If food is wrapped inside, the food will be encased in a shrinking membrane, locking in its freshness while remaining transparent on the outside.

Of course, if the ingredients are not properly prepared, or if they are difficult to fry thoroughly, then pork caul fat is not suitable.

The longer it's fried, the greater the chance it will melt.
Of course, all of the temperature controls mentioned above are only applicable to other chefs in the city.

Xia Ming has many ways to solve the temperature problem caused by the ingredients.

While he was cleaning the pig caul fat, the seven judges could clearly see his operation through the tablet.

Yin Shengjiang saw the online friend and smiled as he looked at Cheng Xieyun beside him.

"Teacher Cheng, I remember you are extremely familiar with web grease."

Cheng Xieyun smiled gently and then nodded.

"Yes, I did use this ingredient during the competition back then. I have to say, using pork caul fat to replace shumai wrappers is indeed a good method."

Cao Fujun, who was standing to the side, snorted.

"From the perspective of the characteristics of the ingredients, this is certainly fine, but the requirements for the preparation method are very high!"

Ding Yongxing glanced at Cao Fujun, feeling that the guy was targeting Xia Ming.

Tan Zhifeng shared the same feeling.

However, unlike Ding Yongxing, who had a relatively small voice within the Chefs Association, Tan Zhifeng could speak freely.

"Yes, it is indeed quite difficult to operate, but the difficulty of operating the previous round of chicken soup is probably even greater."

"Although frying and boiling are different methods, Xia Ming must be confident that he can handle this ingredient perfectly if he dares to choose it!"

Cao Fujun gave Tan Zhifeng a meaningful look.
The two were originally in the same cohort to enter the "Hua 7th grade" program. Later, Tan Zhifeng went overseas to develop his career, while he stayed in the Culinary Association to seek a breakthrough.

Years have passed, circumstances have changed, and a rift has developed between the two.

Tan Zhifeng didn't seem to care much, but judging from Cao Fujun's behavior, he didn't seem like a magnanimous person.

Seeing that the two were getting a little heated, Tong Song smiled and smoothed things over.

"The ingredients still depend on the contestants' performance, and the final dish will be the standard. There's no point in making wild guesses now."

Seeing that someone was trying to smooth things over, Cao Fujun didn't want to make things too complicated, so he just snorted and said nothing more.

Just as the judges were having a brief discussion about Xia Ming's ingredients, some of the contestants present felt a sudden tightness in their chests.

After seeing that Xia Ming had chosen "pig caul fat", Jiang Chuanhong pondered for a moment.

He didn't know much about this ingredient, but he did know its basic properties.

"This stuff is very oily. Theoretically, if it's handled properly, it will be very fragrant; if it's not handled properly, it will just leave your mouth feeling greasy."

He didn't think Xia Ming would make a mistake. Despite his age, Jiang Chuanhong still really enjoys watching short videos.

He had no intention of underestimating his opponent and had learned about Xia Ming from various sources, so he knew that Xia Ming was good at using the "food nature counteraction" strategy.

"With so much oil on the outer shell, the inside definitely needs ingredients to cut through the richness. Judging from the steamer over there, it's probably made with glutinous rice."

"No, that's not right. The glutinous rice probably won't be cooked through in an hour!"

The question that puzzled Jiang Chuanhong was exactly the same one that puzzled Luo Hui beside him. "No wonder he's a once-in-a-century genius chef, the wielder of the divine kitchen utensil (referring to the Blood-Mixed Knife, which became famous on Douyin and is hailed as the modern-day Eternal Spirit Knife). How could he solve a problem in such a way?"

"Even if you're a master chef, if you want to cook a dish by hand, it has to follow basic logic!"

"Oily foods always need something refreshing to counteract their greasiness, just like my 'Golden Ratio Shumai,' which requires a proper combination of ingredients to resolve any issues."

"So, the ingredient that can absorb oil and fits the characteristics of shumai is obviously glutinous rice!"

Luo Hui knew that not all shumai needed glutinous rice, but generally speaking, shumai without glutinous rice were filled with various kinds of meat.

No matter how lean or how little fat a meat is, it's still meat.

To achieve the same refreshing taste as vegetables is simply wishful thinking.

Luo Hui didn't believe Xia Ming would dare to wrap pure pork in caul fat. In his opinion, the best choice was to imitate "Wu Han Heavy Oil Shaomai" and use black pepper as a base flavor to enhance the overall taste of the dish.

The defining characteristic of "Wu Han Heavy Oil Shaomai" is that it's all about carbohydrates paired with carbohydrates!

"For the best texture, glutinous rice is essential. Cooking unsoaked glutinous rice directly in a pressure cooker takes about 40 minutes!"

"It will probably take an hour to steam."

Luo Hui frowned slightly; this timing clearly did not meet the requirements of this exam question.

In his view, his previous logic was sound, but the current situation didn't add up, so there was only one explanation.
"The rice being steamed in the pot isn't glutinous rice!"

The instant he reached this conclusion, Xia Ming, having cut the pork caul fat to size, opened the steamer at the right time and took out several cooked yams.

With his arms slightly red, Xia Ming used his Blood Soul to block the heat and mashed the yam into a paste using a pre-prepared spoon.

The viewers in the live stream were amazed as they watched that merciless iron hand.
Xia Ming didn't care about these things. He was now timing all his steps perfectly, proceeding quickly according to the original plan.

"Regardless of the cooking methods used, all other contestants need to solve three problems."

"Outer skin, filling, processing time~"

"Of course, there are also those like Zheng Zeqian who take a different approach, but his method is more time-consuming than others!"

While pressing the yam into a paste, Xia Ming recalled how to make "pork liver shumai".

"Pork liver shumai" is known as shumai without a wrapper.

"Many people think that this thing is just a pig liver and a meatball, which is completely different from what people think of shumai."

“Indeed, according to the development logic of shumai, this thing has nothing to do with it, but Zheng Zeqian exploited a bug.”

"For people in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen area and Taiwan area, 'pork liver siu mai' is the authentic siu mai, belonging to the category of morning tea, and it can no longer be found in many parts of the city."

"But it's completely different from shumai. If I had to describe it, it's more like 'foie gras sushi,' only with meatballs instead of rice."

"This dish falls on the borderline between 'shumai' and 'non-shumai,' being both traditional and unfamiliar to most netizens."

"It's definitely on point, and the flavors are much more harmonious than many combinations that are made on the spot!"

Xia Ming knew this was much more complicated than he had imagined, and Zheng Zeqian's choice of this dish was partly motivated by a desire to show off his skills.

"Those of his are the kind of people who look like they're going to take a full hour to prepare, so they're usually the last ones to be served."

"By then, the judges had eaten most of their food. There were risks and crises, and what they were really looking at was quality."

He knew perfectly well that it had been no more than three hours since the judges finished eating the chicken frames.

The food in my stomach hasn't been fully digested yet.
In this situation, making trade-offs is very important!

"Submitting it too early or too late may lead to some errors in the evaluation."

"Therefore, many contestants will deliberately time their matches in a way that is relatively comfortable for them."

"For example, Jing Ran had almost finished preparing the ingredients, but instead of making shumai immediately, he was trying to mix the sauce."

“He knew that his dishes were more like grilled meat, which would result in a deduction of points if the judges were already full, so he did this on purpose.”

"Yang Yanbin also noticed this. He tried to use dried bean curd skin instead of shumai skin. The most difficult part was that the texture was too hard."

"So to solve this problem, he decided to first boil the bean curd sheets, which was risky and risked them breaking, but it would improve the texture to a whole new level."

"There's also Kang Xincheng's scallop shumai, which requires a perfect match between the filling and the sauce. Making shumai isn't difficult, but the sauce takes at least 20 minutes."

Thinking of this, Xia Ming quickened his pace again.

"These people all felt that their best option was to start presenting their dishes 40 minutes after the start of the competition."

"But that's exactly what I admire about you guys~"

Xia Ming revealed a sly smile.
In his view, the continuous matches were simply an opportunity for him to make plays.

One hour to prepare the food, 64 servings of shumai (a type of steamed dumpling) that most likely served as a main course, and seven judges who hadn't fully digested their food yet.
All of this, like a spider web, is presented in his dishes.

In the end, what was produced was an unparalleled culinary combination.

"A perfect pairing that you can eat without any problems, but after eating it, all other dishes will have problems."

"Consider this my small gift to the current situation."

After thinking it over, he quickly grabbed the steamed potatoes from the side, having already mashed the yams.

After mashing the potatoes into a puree, he turned on both stoves and put the prepared ingredients into different pots at the same time.

Then, to the astonishment of everyone in the live stream, he immediately began to "use two pots"!
[What is that? A binary star explosion?]

[Has the person upstairs been playing too much Fantasy Westward Journey? They've even got their inner cores showing up! This is clearly "double-edged sword"!]

[Stop bragging. I think this is called the "Xi Bei" Special Secret Technique, but it only allows you to control two woks. It only qualifies you as a two-star chef. Xia Ming isn't good enough for that either (doge)!]

Still criticizing "Xibei"? That's outdated, bro! Now it's time to talk about the 8888 banquet! Looking at it this way, the Shanghai area is truly wealthy!

I know that pre-made food king who charges 8888 yuan per table but only earns 8800 yuan with tears in his eyes!

[Upstairs, there's not that little!]

Netizens think fast, even faster than Xia Ming's double-dip strategy; just a few messages and the discussion has veered off course.

The others were also somewhat surprised when they smelled the aroma of the filling Xia Ming was making.

They never expected that Xia Ming, who presented his dish last in the previous round, would be so quick this time.

Some people remembered the previous rumors and sped up their operations.

But how could they possibly outrun Xia Ming, who had prepared well in advance?

The process of making the filling, wrapping the outer skin, frying, and steaming is all done in one go.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the other contestants, Xia Ming pressed the button in front of him in just 18 minutes.

The host, who came out, was also completely bewildered when he saw the "shumai combo" presented in front of him.

"No, 18 minutes to make? That's... a bit too fast."

(End of this chapter)