I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

Li Zhibai was speechless when he saw the message his father sent.

Dad, what do you mean? What do you mean by "poor people's money"? I have over 800,000 yuan in my account, how am I poor?

Have you ever seen a poor person with a six-figure balance in their bank account?

However, upon further reflection, he realized that he still owed Su Su over 300,000 yuan for food supplies, and he also had to pay 600,000 yuan in rent at the end of the month. After offsetting these costs, his net assets were indeed negative.

From this perspective, he can't shake off his status as a poor person for the time being.

"Dad, this is a gift from your son to show his respect, not a loan."

【hehe!】

"Your restaurant has only been open for a few days and you suddenly transferred 8,800 yuan to me? Is your restaurant some kind of shady business that makes so much money? Let me tell you, if you really need money, just say so. Don't do this kind of thing where you transfer money and then borrow more. I've seen it online; it's a new kind of trick sons use to scam their fathers. I'm not going to fall for it."

Li Zhibai: "......."

Dad, your awareness of fraud prevention is too strong!

Fine! Take it or leave it.

..............

It was 1 a.m., on the second floor of a Shaxian snack shop.

As soon as Li Zhibai turned over, the wooden bed creaked a few times. A moment later, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

Damn it, I can't sleep at all.

He has some obsessive-compulsive tendencies, or rather, he hates procrastination. If he starts something but doesn't finish it, he feels uncomfortable and uneasy.

I've heard the story of braised pork, tasted the best version available, and done all the necessary research. All that's left is to try it myself.

Grandpa Huo gave him three days, which was enough time for him to wake up and study at his own pace; there was no need to rush.

But he's just that kind of impatient person; he'll keep thinking about things until they're done well.

Li Zhibai tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep, so he got out of bed again, put on his slippers, and went downstairs.

Since I can't sleep anyway, I might as well start researching braised pork.

Because he knew in advance that he was going to make braised pork, he asked Su Su to send several large pieces of pork belly along with the ingredients, to keep as a backup.

Li Zhibai opened the door of the high-tech refrigerator and took out a piece of pork belly from inside.

This pork belly is made from black-haired native pigs, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, a standard five-layered cut, thick skin, a clean and firm white fat layer, and fine texture in the lean meat, making it of very good quality.

"Let's get started!"

Li Zhibai rolled up his sleeves, tied on an apron, and placed the pork belly on the cutting board.

With a kitchen knife in hand, I have the world at my fingertips.

First, scrape off the fine hairs on the pork skin, put it in a pot of cold water to blanch, add scallions, ginger and cooking wine to remove the fishy smell, skim off the foam after the water boils, take it out and cut it into large pieces that are about four centimeters long and less than three centimeters thick.

After cutting the meat into chunks, Li Zhibai officially began his first attempt.

For his first experiment, he decided to follow the instructions in Mr. Huo's notebook, to replicate the original first, and then analyze where the problem lay after tasting it.

The first step is to caramelize the sugar.

Heat an iron pot over low heat, add rock sugar, and once the temperature is controlled, start caramelizing the sugar. The rock sugar slowly melts in the pot, changing from white to light yellow, and then to amber...

Turn off the heat when the syrup turns a beautiful dark red color and a fine, even layer of foam appears on the surface.

The color of caramel changes very quickly. If it's not controlled properly, the color won't be right, and it will easily turn bitter. This is one of the difficulties in making braised pork.

"Perfect!" The first time I made caramelized sugar, I didn't mess it up.

Li Zhibai poured the blanched pork belly into the caramelized sugar and stir-fried it quickly, ensuring that each piece of meat was evenly coated with the caramelized sugar.

Next, add star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, ginger slices, and scallion segments, and continue to stir-fry until fragrant.

Then pour in cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and hot water to cover the meat pieces.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook slowly.

He set the slow-cooking mode to 105 degrees Celsius, which is the golden temperature for stewing meat. This temperature allows the meat to slowly soften without becoming tough due to excessive heat.

Next, we just wait.

Stewing meat is something you can't rush; once the heat is right, the meat will naturally become tender.

An hour later.

Li Zhibai lifted the lid of the pot, and a rich aroma of soy sauce wafted out.

The broth in the pot had reduced to almost nothing, thickly coating the meat chunks in a deep reddish-brown color, which looked quite appetizing.

He picked up a piece with his chopsticks, blew on it, took a small bite, and gradually frowned.

It's not that it's bad; the quality of this braised pork is perfect. The meat is tender and juicy, not greasy at all, and has a rich, savory sauce. The ratio of sugar and soy sauce is also just right. It could be a signature dish in any high-end restaurant.

But compared to what he's pursuing—god-level—there's still a gap.

After finishing the piece of meat, Li Zhibai began to analyze where the problem lay.

First of all, the color is wrong. Mr. Huo said it was light maroon, but this is dark maroon, which is a different shade.

Secondly, the taste is actually quite good, but it doesn't have the faint floral aroma that Mr. Huo mentioned.

He then opened his phone, zoomed in on the contents of the notebook he had photographed, and looked at it again.

The steps were all correct, but there were no detailed standards for the dosage, so he could only rely on his intuition.

"Again!"

Second attempt.

Li Zhibai adjusted the amount of dark soy sauce, reducing it from one spoonful to half a spoonful, and also lightened the caramel color of the sugar slightly.

The stewing time is still about an hour, simmered over low heat.

After being cooked, the color of the meat did lighten a bit, changing from a deep reddish-brown to a lighter reddish-brown, but it still wasn't quite right.

The third attempt.

Li Zhibai added a little dried tangerine peel and hawthorn to the seasoning. These two ingredients can cut through the greasiness and enhance the aroma, perhaps bringing out a hint of floral and fruity fragrance.

After cooking, the flavor was indeed richer than the previous two times, but it still lacked that subtle floral aroma.

Furthermore, the aroma of dried tangerine peel was a bit overpowering, slightly suppressing the natural meaty and fatty flavor of the meat itself.

Three attempts, three failures.

Li Zhibai stood aloof in front of the stove, lost in thought once again.

"Too little dark soy sauce makes the color wrong, too much dark soy sauce makes the color too dark. The stewing time was enough, and the heat was just right, but there was no floral aroma. Adding special seasonings easily overpowered the flavors and disrupted the overall balance. Also, it got a little greasy after eating a few pieces."

"This dish is a bit strange."

".........."

The fourth attempt failed.

The fifth attempt failed.

The sixth time...

It was already broad daylight, and there were plates of braised pork in the kitchen. Fortunately, he made only small portions each time, so he didn't waste too much food.

Li Zhibai's eyes were also bloodshot from staying up all night. He closed his eyes again and went through the story that Grandpa Huo had told him from beginning to end in his mind, trying to find important information that he had overlooked.

A few minutes later, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at a bottle of rose-flavored fermented bean curd in the corner.

"Holy crap! How could I have forgotten about this?"

Rose-flavored fermented bean curd is made from red yeast rice and rose petals. It has the salty and savory flavor of fermented bean curd, the natural red color of red yeast rice, and the delicate floral fragrance of rose petals.

Moreover, fermented bean curd is a classic ingredient in braised pork, and many places add fermented bean curd sauce to enhance the flavor of braised pork.

However, most restaurants use ordinary red fermented bean curd, which makes the braised pork a darker color and saltier taste, without the floral aroma.

What if we use rose-flavored fermented bean curd?

Grandpa Huo said that the braised pork his wife made was a light reddish-brown, not a dark red.

The natural red pigment produced by red yeast rice results in a light, dark reddish-brown color, which is softer than the color produced by caramelizing sugar with dark soy sauce and is closer to the texture of braised pork that Mr. Huo described as having a honey-coated surface.

Add that faint floral fragrance, and it'll all match, right?

The more Li Zhibai thought about it, the more convinced he became that this line of thinking was correct, and he exclaimed excitedly:

"I'm a fucking genius!"