Food Intelligence King

Chapter 103 Appreciating Minced Meat Pancakes: The Joy of Food
I came back from the workers' new village just in time to pick up my child from kindergarten.

This time, Chen Zhou helped Tao Tao get her little helmet, and the father and daughter rode their electric bike around for a bit.

Chen Taotao hugged her elderly father's lower back and sniffed the air with her little nose:

"Dad, you smell bad."

Chen Zhou hadn't had time to shower yet. He laughed and said, "If you hug me so tightly, you'll turn into a stinky little girl in a bit."

"I'm not a brat! Hehehe."

The little guy said that, but hugged her even tighter.

When Chen Zhou got home, he was indeed a little tired.

He took a shower and chatted with the kids for a while. He didn't prepare dinner. He texted his wife, asking her to bring something back from the road.

Then I opened the refrigerator, found some fruit, and ate it with my daughter.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lin, who was slacking off at work, saw the message and still replied with a stolen little emoji.

She was quite understanding of her husband's hardships.

From leaving home in the morning until returning at noon, there's practically no time to rest.

Although I've made some money recently, life isn't easy.

Just then, my colleague Sister Hou came over and used the company printer to photocopy her son's study materials. She chatted casually with Lin Yifan, who was standing not far away:
"Xiaolin, has your daughter's Go lessons been finalized yet?"

“My boyfriend’s shop has a customer who said he could help with some early education.”

“It’s good to cultivate an interest. After learning Go, we haven’t had to worry about our child’s math in elementary school, but we still need to focus on academic subjects in the future.”

Mothers are like this: they can't stop talking about their children in three sentences.

However, since the person Hou Jie had introduced was her son's senior, she was a little curious about who Lin Yifan had found.

The other party asked first, so Ms. Lin did not hide anything.

"Who? Teacher Wei?" Sister Hou's eyes widened, then she adjusted her words:

"Then you'll have to nurture your daughter properly. You can't waste this precious opportunity!"

"Let's take it one step at a time," Ms. Lin replied calmly.

I was actually a little proud of myself.

After get off work, Ms. Lin bought some preserved meats and roast duck, and got home a little later than usual.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw her husband and child crying for milk.

"Mom, you're finally back!"

Ms. Lin put her arm around Tao Tao and handed the things to her husband. She smiled faintly and said, "Let's eat."

The father and son unpacked the plastic bags and boxes, and Ms. Lin went to the kitchen alone, intending to further refine the housewife salad.

Although she's not a picky eater, she can still tell the difference between good and bad food.

The innovative dishes I tried this morning were just so-so.

It simply won't work without salad dressing.

But when she finished admiring the fridge magnets and opened the fridge, she found that all the oranges and cherry tomatoes inside were gone.

There was only half a bunch of purple cabbage and a few leafy greens left.

Ms. Lin looked towards the living room and asked, "Where are my cherry tomatoes and oranges?"

Chen Taotao confessed honestly:
“We ate it all, me, my dad, and the cat.”

The little girl pointed to Chen Facai in the corner and said.

Chen Zhou testified that the cat was indeed fed some oranges, but it didn't eat them.

"Um"

As a result, Ms. Lin's plan to get a perfect score has fallen through again.

The next day.

Chen Zhou experimented with the [Minced Meat Pancake] he had obtained yesterday in his shop.

The ingredients are:
The pork cracklings were leftover scraps from rendering pork fat at the shop. However, the recipe also mentioned adding some pieces with tendons and fascia, so Chen Zhou added some in.

For the dough, you can use the same dough used for soup dumplings.

The dried plum vegetables were a small jar that Aunt Zheng had to buy separately. After soaking them in warm water until soft, she washed and chopped them. She then mixed them with pork cracklings, soy sauce, and lard, stirring well. The secret ingredients were white rice porridge and osmanthus honey. These were almost all readily available at the shop.

The tools used for making it were originally tin buckets and charcoal grilling.

But both of these things are hard to find now, and their safety is also hard to guarantee.

Following Lao Han's suggestions for improvement, Chen Zhou replaced it with an electric griddle.

The dough is stretched into an oval shape. A layer of rice batter is brushed on top, followed by a filling of preserved mustard greens and pork lard, leaving a finger's width around the edge, and a few drops of salt are sprinkled on top.

This is the prototype of the minced meat flatbread.

Place directly onto the griddle. Dry-bake on one side.

At this point, you can see that under high temperature, fine oil bubbles rise in the filling, and the oil slowly seeps into the preserved mustard greens.

The crust tightens slightly, releasing a baked wheat aroma.

Continue until the edges curl up. Then, place the meat filling side onto the griddle.

Oil and a little moisture dripped onto the surface of the griddle.

There was a soft "sizzling" sound.

"Flip it three times and rotate it six times"—use this method flexibly to ensure even heating.

When the pasta is almost done baking, brush a ring of honey water around the edge of the pasta.

The residual heat is used to caramelize the honey into an amber-colored rim.

Pick it out, and that's it.

Chen Zhou was focused on the minced meat pancakes when he looked up and noticed a small group of people gathered in front of the kitchen.

Needless to say, there's Junior Sister, Aunt Zheng, and Brother Meng from the tobacco and liquor store next door.

Chen Zhou laughed and said, "You've come at the perfect time, saves me the trouble of calling you."

A while ago, Lao Meng bought the shop and invited Chen Zhou and his family, along with the shop's employees, to a restaurant for a meal.

My brother has now been promoted to new product appraiser at the community canteen.

He had a sense of responsibility, so he asked Chen Zhou about the origin of this new dish.

"Minced meat pancakes. I worked with an old master yesterday, and he taught me how to make them. Twenty or thirty years ago, there was an old man selling them on the street near the chemical plant, and I heard that his business was quite good back then."

"Hiss, I see. It smells pretty good."

The tasters had to resist drooling for a while to learn more about it.

The two employees tasted it.

I gave them all positive reviews.

Meng Da, having watched Breakfast in China several times, took the minced meat flatbread, ate it slowly, and offered a few comments:
"The crispy fried pork cracklings and chewy pastry create a delightful combination of salty, sweet, and caramelized flavors on the palate. Although the tin buckets and charcoal fires of the last century are gone, you can still vaguely sense the taste of that era."

Chen Zhou couldn't help but give him a thumbs up: "Professional."

The steamed buns at the community canteen are quite well-known locally, and customers naturally order them as their main dish.

But Meng Da's evaluation is quite intriguing.

So much so that the few customers left in the store at that moment all expressed:
"Boss, we'd like to try some too."

Chen Zhou: "We didn't make many, so let's each have one."

The store currently offers several types of dry and several types of liquid dishes, which is just right for both food preparation and customer dining.

Adding more might not be appropriate.

However, when rendering lard, some cracklings are usually left over.

Like the stewed flatbread, this minced meat flatbread is not made in large quantities; it's about making the most of the ingredients.

This unleavened flatbread might be a bit hard when it cools down, so you have to eat it while it's hot.

Use a semi-fermented dough instead, and put it in a breathable paper bag for easy takeout.

If you wrap the pork cracklings in steamed buns, they'll lose their crispness when they come into contact with moisture, becoming soggy and greasy. You'll need to adjust the amount and add some meat filling.

Find inspiration in traditional local snacks.

Making appropriate adjustments based on different needs—that's Chen Zhou's joy in cooking.

(End of this chapter)