Chapter 100 Crispy Pork Belly
After putting down his camera, the cameraman started eating the stir-fried beef noodles. He'd been drooling over the aroma while filming, and watching the owner stir-fry the noodles over high heat had him completely mesmerized. Now that he could finally eat it, the cameraman devoured it in a mad dash.
Mmm, it smells so good!
The stir-fried beef rice noodles were coated in a rich sauce, soft and flavorful, yet still retaining the wok hei (wok aroma) from the high-heat stir-fry, with a hint of charred fragrance at the edges. The beef was tender, and the kale (Chinese broccoli) cut through the richness—a perfect combination.
Yang Fang ordered herself a stir-fried beef noodles. Seeing that Boss Yu hadn't opened for business yet, she sat down and chatted with him. "The food festival is during the New Year's Day holiday. Thank you for your hard work, Boss Yu. But don't worry about anything else. We'll take care of everything. You just need to focus on cooking."
Yu Miaoyin nodded and smiled, "It's no trouble at all. I'm happy to be able to help Yuncheng."
"Mr. Yu, have you decided what you want to make? We hope you can make something simple, easy to preserve, and preferably something you can take away," Yang Fang suggested. They would provide packaging bags, which could serve as advertising. If it were food that could be taken away, that would be even better.
Yu Miaoyin shook her head; she really hadn't decided yet. The food festival was mainly about giving everyone a chance to sample Yuncheng's cuisine; anything too complicated wouldn't do.
She thought for a moment and said, "I plan to make chicken biscuits and red bean paste."
“That’s good. We can also reimburse the food ingredients.” Yang Fang nodded. “If it’s confirmed, we can also provide the packaging materials.”
"It's confirmed, thank you, Sister Fang. I'll go cook now, you can eat slowly." Yu Miaoyin got up and went back to the kitchen.
"Okay." Yang Fang said before starting to eat the stir-fried beef noodles. She took a big bite, and a third of the plate was gone in an instant. She was so hungry. After that big bite of stir-fried beef noodles, she felt alive again. It washed away the fatigue of the past few days of work, and her mind was filled with thoughts of how amazing the stir-fried beef noodles were. They were dry and fragrant with the aroma of a wok, and the bean sprouts on top were still crisp and juicy. They were oily but not greasy.
Little Tangbao looked at Sister Yang Fang and saw how happily she was eating the food her older sister had made. She felt happy too, thinking how amazing her older sister was.
After dinner, Yang Fang had to go back to work, and the photographer was also busy editing the promotional video. This time, they needed to warm things up in advance to give everyone time to make travel plans and arrange accommodations.
"You've all worked hard. I'll treat everyone to Yu's Little Restaurant tomorrow. Let's keep up the good work!" Yang Fang encouraged everyone. She didn't leave; she stayed and worked alongside them.
Everyone nodded. Hearing that Sister Fang was treating everyone, and that it was to Yu's Little Restaurant, they were all very motivated.
The next morning around 10 a.m., Yang Fang checked the promotional video again to make sure there were no problems before uploading it to the internet.
The promotional video focuses on the food of Yuncheng. Yu Miaoyin doesn't have a large role, but her appearance in the first scene immediately grabs viewers' attention. The video includes scenes of Qin Zaiyang and Chen Fugui's son making bamboo-pressed noodles; every scene looks delicious…
The promotional video received a great response online, and Yang Fang smiled as she scrolled through the comments.
Since I didn't know where to go for fun, I decided to go to Yuncheng. I hope it won't disappoint me.
[There's a restaurant called Yu Ji on the upper floor, it definitely won't disappoint you!!]
[There will definitely be lots of delicious food at the food festival! I want to come! I want to eat all the delicious food that Boss Yu makes. I'm so hungry watching his food videos every day!]
Yang Fang replied to them using her official account, saying, "The food festival isn't just about Boss Yu's delicious food; there are many other delicious and fun things to do too. Welcome to Yuncheng!"
After replying, Yang Fang pinned a comment, which read, "Welcome everyone to Yuncheng to eat delicious food, play fun games, and see beautiful scenery. Now, shoot videos or post pictures and text related to Yuncheng on the designated platform and add the official hashtag..."
This time, the Culture and Tourism Bureau also launched a new media video talent program, where participants can earn prize money by shooting videos related to Yuncheng and meeting the corresponding conditions.
—
In a small restaurant.
"Boss Yu, put the things here." Two people came in and put the things down. Yu Miaoyin nodded, "Okay."
"Wow, so many red beans! Sister Ayin, are you going to make red bean paste?" The bright red beans were incredibly tempting. Jiajia imagined the hot red bean paste, then recalled the cool mung bean paste she drank in the summer, and then she was so excited by her own imagination that she cried.
"Yes, but we're not making it now, we're making it during the food festival. You can come and join us." Yu Miaoyin checked the ingredients she had ordered: red beans and syrup for making red bean paste, flour, fermented bean curd, various nuts, and so on for making chicken biscuits, as well as fatty pork.
The butcher brought over a piece of white, fatty pork, and Jiajia asked in surprise, "Sister Ayin, what are you going to do with this fatty pork?"
"We're making chicken biscuits, for the food festival." After saying that, Yu Miaoyin and the pork stall owner carried the fatty pork into the refrigerator for storage.
Seeing Jiajia's obvious shock, Yu Miaoyin teased, "There are other dishes today that don't use fatty pork. Are you that surprised?"
Jiajia smiled awkwardly. She considered herself to be able to eat anything and not picky, but fatty pork was something she really couldn't accept. She only accepted pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat, and it had to be the type that was 30% fat and 70% lean.
For example, the crispy pork belly that Sister Ayin made today.
Sister Ayin chose three-layered pork belly, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat. After blanching, she pricked countless tiny holes in the pork skin, then rubbed white vinegar on it to soften the skin. She then coated the long strips of pork belly with her own specially prepared marinade and air-dried it.
Jiajia watched as a large piece of pork was transformed in Sister Ayin's hands into evenly cut strips of pork belly, which looked especially tempting when coated with marinade and hung to air dry. Sister Ayin then put it in the oven to roast, and now it's ready to eat—
She saw Sister Ayin bend down and take out a piece of golden-brown, crispy pork belly from the oven. It was long and still intact, and the skin had puffed up after roasting. The holes she had poked in the pork had shrunk and turned into bulging oil bubbles. The whole piece was golden brown, and the hot, salty aroma wafted out.
The diners, drawn by the aroma, quickly lined up, and Liu Jiang found himself squeezed among a group of students. When Xiao Yu and Zhang Yuling arrived, they saw Liu Jiang sandwiched between two male students, with a few centimeters of space between him and them. Intimidated by the dean's imposing presence, everyone silently lowered their heads and took out their small vocabulary books to begin reciting "abandon"...
Seeing that there were no seats left in the small restaurant, the two sat down at the small noodle shop.
Finally, it was Liu Jiang's turn. Yu Miaoyin took a piece of pork belly from above and deftly began to slice it. The pork belly skin was roasted to an extremely crispy state, without a trace of fat. But as she sliced, the knife pressed down along the grain of the pork belly, and some of the crispy outer layer of pork skin peeled off, allowing the fat from the inner layer of meat to slide down with the meat juices. The glistening cross-section looked exceptionally tempting.
Yu Miaoyin used the back of her knife to transfer the crispy pork belly to a plate and handed it to Liu Jiang through the serving window.
Liu Jiang carried the crispy pork belly towards the noodle shop. If it weren't for the students around, he would have just picked it up and eaten it with his hands.
"Thank you, Dad," Xiaoyu said, then picked up her chopsticks and began to eat the crispy pork belly. It smelled amazing when it was fresh out of the pot. The outer layer of pork skin was crispy and crunchy, without any greasiness. It only had the purest dry and caramelized aroma.
"I feel that Xiaoyu has gained a lot of weight. She used to be as skinny as a monkey," Liu Jiang said. But with the small restaurant there, it's not surprising at all. The small restaurant saves all the children who don't like to eat.
Zhang Yuling picked up a piece of crispy pork belly, then turned to look at Xiaoyu, "Indeed, you look better when you're a little chubby."
The pork belly was grilled until dry, with no excess fat remaining, and the marinade had completely penetrated every inch of it. The meat inside remained tender and juicy, infused with the salty aroma of the marinade. The skin was crispy, while the inside was tender and juicy, bursting with flavor and leaving a lingering fragrance on the palate.
“You used to refuse to eat much when we offered you food, and your parents were very worried. How can a person not eat?” Liu Jiang said.
Grandma was also next to Liu Jiang. Hearing what Liu Jiang said, she felt the same way. She said with heartache, "Yi Ling used to be like that too. She didn't like to eat. It worried me so much. Luckily, Xiao Yin opened a restaurant here. Otherwise, how could you not eat properly when you were in high school, which was tiring and hard!"
Jiajia nodded vigorously, completely agreeing with what her grandmother said: "Although Grandma's cooking isn't that delicious, you can't go without eating. People need to eat well to have the motivation to study hard!"
Jiajia then touched the child's face and said, "Look how cute Xiaotangbao is, with such a round face. Sister Ayin has taken such good care of you."
Little Tangbao touched her face. Her older sister often said that her face was chubby like a glutinous rice ball or a sweet dumpling. Her face must taste delicious! Her face must smell nice too!
"Thank you, Jiajia! Your face smells wonderful too!"
Around 6 PM, Zheng Yu came out of the school and caught a glimpse of the small restaurant her teacher had mentioned. The teacher said the food was delicious and strongly recommended that she try it.
Her words were so earnest, as if she were encouraging a high school senior to make the most of their time and study hard.
Zheng Yu used to attend the same high school as Zheng Yu. She had no nostalgia for the school cafeteria or the various noodle shops and restaurants across the street, because they were all terrible! The only consolation was that the cafeteria staff were very kind and gave her generous portions, even though the food wasn't good. Zheng Yu lowered her head and scrolled through her food delivery app. Her taxi had arrived; the driver reversed and stopped next to a small restaurant.
"This shop smells so good," the driver murmured.
Zheng Yu glanced at the signboard. Wasn't this the shop recommended by her teacher? The dim lighting and the white steam rising from the pots made her heart flutter, making the small restaurant especially cozy. The aroma wafting from the cracks kept enticing her. Zheng Yu said, "I'm going downstairs to buy something. I'll be right back. Please wait a moment."
After a moment, the driver nodded, "Okay, I'll go down and buy some too."
Both of them were lucky; there was just one piece of crispy pork belly left.
After dropping Zheng Yu off at school, the driver immediately opened the crispy pork belly, worried that if it sat too long, the skin wouldn't be crispy and wouldn't taste good.
The crispy pork belly came without any dipping sauce, but the aroma of the roasted meat mixed with the juices and the salty fragrance of the marinade was enough. The fat hidden inside the lean meat slowly released with each chew. It would be even more delicious with plum sauce or salt and pepper, or even white sugar. The driver was thinking of saving a few pieces to dip in white sugar, but he couldn't stop eating them until he finished them all and realized he had eaten too fast.
Zheng Yu returned to her dorm with crispy pork belly. Her roommates were all typing away at their keyboards. Zheng Yu asked, "What are you guys having for dinner today?"
"I just received a message from my supervisor that there's a group meeting, and I don't have an appetite," said Xiaowen, who was in the bed opposite Zheng Yu.
Zheng Yu paused as she put down her bag. Even though it wasn't her turn to lead the group meeting, the words "lead the group meeting" sent a shiver down her spine.
"Hello," Xiaowen answered the phone listlessly.
“Honey, I ordered takeout for you. I came down to get it. You have a sensitive stomach, so you can’t skip meals,” Xiaowen’s boyfriend said.
Xiaowen nodded and went downstairs to get the takeout. She knew people needed to eat properly, but the thought of a group meeting made her feel terrible, like a dried-up sponge.
"Xiaowen, would you like to try the crispy pork belly I bought? It smells really good." Zheng Yu invited her. After she finished speaking, she opened the box, and the aroma of caramelized pork belly mixed with the smell of oil wafted out. Xiaowen was about to say "never mind" but she swallowed it back down.
She darted over to Zheng Yu's side, staring intently at the sliced crispy pork belly. "This smells so good! I'm getting hungry. Thanks for sharing, Xiao Yu! Quick, throw some in my mouth!"
Zheng Yu picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. The other two girls in the dormitory also ran over and started eating a piece each.
"So delicious!" Xiaowen's eyes lit up. It was crispy and fragrant, with a rich salty and meaty flavor.
"Where did you buy it? Can I order takeout?" Xiaowen's appetite was whetted, and she immediately forgot the pain of the group meeting.
Zheng Yu shook her head: "I bought this across from Yuncheng No.1 Middle School. Go check on the food delivery app to see if the owner has put it on the menu."
After talking to her boyfriend, Xiaowen immediately checked the food delivery app, but unfortunately, the restaurant owner hadn't ordered the food.
Zheng Yu said, "There will be more tomorrow. There are many delicious things in the store, but I was in a hurry, so I didn't buy anything else."
She really wanted to try the stir-fried beef noodles.
"Great!" Xiaowen said. Although there was a group meeting tomorrow, she could eat such delicious food! The happiness brought by the food would surely outweigh the pain and despair she would feel after the group meeting.
My boyfriend saw the message and replied: "I'll take you to relax during the food festival; this restaurant is there too. I've seen so many people raving about it online, saying they want to go."
Xiaowen: [Okay.]
This food festival is indeed highly anticipated. The promotional video has already attracted a large number of food lovers, and with Boss Yu involved, there's no need to worry about its popularity.
There's still some time before the food festival, but making chicken biscuits requires advance preparation. Yu Miaoyin cuts fatty pork into cubes, marinates it with white sugar and white wine, seals it, and makes it into frozen meat.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
