Although it was close to the Mid-Autumn Festival, the temperature was still quite high, and mooncakes couldn’t last long at room temperature.
"Okay, boss... These mooncakes are really delicious."
"The presentation is simply perfect. Don’t sell them too cheaply, brother-in-law, or it wouldn’t do justice to their good looks."
"Don’t worry, Manager Chen. These are handmade by our boss, one by one. We definitely won’t sell them at a low price; otherwise, it wouldn’t do justice to the boss’s efforts."
"It’s these kinds of mooncakes that satisfy cravings. Even if I gain two pounds, I accept it!"
"Three pounds is okay too. As long as it’s in the right places, I don’t mind gaining a little more weight."
"..."
Lin Xu and Shen Baobao shared the mooncake they had broken apart and ate it.
These mooncakes, both in appearance and taste, were impeccable. The salted egg yolk in the middle added a unique savory taste to the otherwise sweet flavor.
Not bad at all.
Apart from the high calories that could lead to weight gain, they were flawless.
After finishing the mooncakes, just as Lin Xu was about to go inside to continue baking the remaining ones, Shen Baobao suddenly said, "Xu Baobao, we haven’t had dinner yet. What’s there to eat now?"
Haven’t had dinner yet? That’s easy to fix. Being in a restaurant, especially during alti, no one should go hungry.
Lin Xu asked, "Tell , what do you want to eat? I’ll go inside and get it ready right now."
"Hmm... I ate too many sweets this morning, and my mouth feels cloyed from all the sweetness. I want to eat sothing spicy and refreshing, preferably sothing that goes well with rice."
This request...
Lin Xu said, "All right, then you and Sister Yan just wait. I’ll go inside and prepare it now."
For other requests, he would have had to give it so serious thought. But since she just wanted sothing spicy that went well with rice to counteract all the sweet desserts, the kitchen happened to have the perfect ingredients.
Returning to the kitchen, he took out so of the Ham left over from making flower Ham mooncakes the day before.
These pieces were the off-cuts of the Ham, either with too much fat or too salty to be used in the mooncakes, but they were perfect for cooking.
Unlike Jinhua Ham, Xuanwei Ham can be used directly for cooking. Even the greasier and saltier parts that dripped oil, which are located at the bottom of the hanging Ham, were only a bit more intensely salty. In terms of taste, it was on par with regular salted pork and ideal for stir-frying with chilies.
He sliced the Ham and prepared so thin-skinned chilies suitable for stir-frying. After cutting everything, he was ready to cook.
He heated the pan and coated it with cold oil. There was no need to add more oil; he just poured the cut Ham into the pan to dry-fry it. The high heat rendered the excess fat from the at, so the Ham wouldn’t be greasy. This process also allowed the fernted flavors within the at to volatilize, making the aroma purer.
In Xuanwei, stir-frying chilies with Ham is a very common dish and one of the most gratifying ways to eat Xuanwei Ham. Moreover, the cooking thod was super simple, requiring no seasoning, not even oil. He simply dry-fried the sliced Ham in the pan until the fat beca slightly translucent, then added the cleaned and cut green chilies to stir-fry. He cooked the chilies until they were just tender-crisp and then plated the dish. Nothing else needed to be added, and the taste would be delicious.
The Ham was savory and spicy, while the chilies offered a rich texture. The spicy flavor was enhanced by the distinct freshness of the green chili peppers—a dish that was impossible to stop eating without at least three bowls of rice.
Originally, Lin Xu hadn’t planned to make this dish because everyone had eaten quite a lot these past few days. Continuing to eat like this might lead to indigestion. But since his darling Baobao had requested it, what was he waiting for?
Let’s get it done!
Soon, the fat from the at slices started to render out. When the Ham turned translucent, he used a spoon to scoop out the excess fat from the pan. This Ham fat was perfect for stir-frying vegetables and couldn’t go to waste.
After scooping out the fat, he poured the chili peppers in and began to stir-fry them. To improve the flavor and make it closer to Northern tastes, Lin Xu drizzled so Light Soy Sauce around the edge of the pan, adding a touch of soy aroma to the dish. He then drizzled a little Dark Soy Sauce to improve the color of the at.
Once the green chilies in the pan were cooked until just tender-crisp, he added a bit of White Sugar to enhance the flavor, stir-fried them evenly, and then the dish was ready to be plated.
Very soon, the plate of Xuanwei Ham stir-fried with spicy peppers, filled with an aromatic spiciness, was brought out.
Shen Baobao, who was drinking tea to cut through the greasiness, was imdiately captivated by the spicy aroma.
"Wow, after eating so many sweets, this spicy aroma is truly satisfying!" she exclaid.
She and Chen Yan each grabbed a large bowl of rice and started eating with the dish. Both had tasted a bowl of runny filling earlier in the morning and hadn’t refrained from sampling while making Sticky Rice Cake. Coupled with the Milk Yellow Mooncakes they had just eaten, they felt their mouths and stomachs were full of that cloying sweetness.
Now, eating the spicy and savory Ham slices, that sweet sensation was instantly swept away. Eating it with rice was just too wonderful.
"I never thought Ham could be eaten like this! It’s craving-satisfying without being greasy, and it goes so well with rice... Brother-in-law, next ti Mr. Huang delivers Ham, get two pieces. I’ll have my maid make it at ho. This Ham stir-fried with chili peppers is just exceptional."
"Okay, I’ll need to buy several pieces anyway for the mooncakes this ti, so I’ll order them all together," he replied.
Having said that, Lin Xu headed back to the kitchen to continue baking mooncakes.
After finishing all the Milk Yellow Mooncakes, he started making today’s portion of fresh flower Ham mooncakes and runny filling.
In the morning, Mr. Huang had delivered another Ham and a drum of top-tier flower paste shipped through logistics. The ingredients were more than sufficient; now it all depended on the sales of the mooncakes.
In the afternoon, while making them, he innovated a bit. Besides the hard-shell fresh flower Ham mooncakes, he also made flaky-crust flower pastries and Ham Cakes. Since there was plenty of raw material, why not make several types for everyone to try sothing new?
The mont these new items were placed into the gift boxes, a system notification chid in his mind:
"Host has created five new gift boxes, completing the side quest ’New Gift Box Launch’ and earned one Perfect Level palace delicacy lottery draw. Do you wish to draw now?"
Palace delicacies?
Lin Xu had forgotten about this task; he hadn’t expected his unintentional actions to complete it as well.
Taking advantage of the quiet evening, he went downstairs to play with Dundun for a while and also took the little guy to the Ziqiang Shengjian store near the subway entrance for a visit.
After coming back, he began the lottery draw.
A series of operations later, the system’s voice rang in his mind:
"Congratulations, Host has obtained the Perfect Level palace delicacy – Lotus Cake!"
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