Lin Xu woke up from his sleep, once again feeling refreshed and full of strength. Every time after a good night’s sleep, he regained peak levels of energy and strength, which felt wonderful.
Having the system is truly great!
After washing up, he carried Dundun into the store. First, he drove to buy groceries, then sorted and prepped the ingredients. After finishing these tasks, he began preparing today’s breakfast. Today was the last day, and the workload would be bigger, so he needed to ensure everyone had a hearty meal.
Lin Xu thought for a moment and used some yeast to ferment the flour. He then finely chopped pork from the foreleg and minced it. He added Light Soy Sauce, Dark Soy Sauce, oyster sauce, pepper powder, and Scallion and Ginger juice, then stirred the meat filling energetically. After preparing these, he placed the meat filling in the refrigerator to marinate and cool. Chilling would help the moisture integrate into the meat filling, making it more convenient to use later.
Today, Lin Xu was making a flour-based delicacy called Meat Dragon. This was a common snack in the Northern Region. The preparation wasn’t complicated, but the taste was fresh and delicious, making it the best choice for a high-carbohydrate meal.
After preparing the meat filling, Lin Xu took out some eggs.
Well, not only the meat filling, but I also need to prepare a vegetarian filling to give everyone more choices.
He cracked the eggs into a bowl, added salt, and beat them with chopsticks. Then he heated oil in a pan and started frying the eggs.
There were three ways to prepare the egg filling. One method was to add the eggs to the pan before the oil heated up, then stir with chopsticks to mix the eggs and oil. This way, as the oil temperature rose, the egg mixture would turn into fine pieces of scrambled egg. The second method was to wait until the oil was hot before pouring in the egg mixture. Once the eggs started to set, he would quickly chop them up with a spatula while they were still hot. The third method was to pour the eggs into hot oil for deep frying. By using high-temperature oil, the eggs would puff up completely, then they would be chopped up on the chopping board.
The textures of the egg filling prepared by the three methods varied: the first method yielded the tenderest eggs, the third had a crispy texture, and the second method combined the characteristics of the other two.
Today, Lin Xu chose the second method. After frying the eggs into chunks, instead of chopping them up immediately with the spatula, he grabbed a handful of dried shrimp and let the residual heat in the pan bring out their flavor. He then chopped up the eggs with the spatula while mixing, allowing the dried shrimp and egg pieces to blend thoroughly. Once all the eggs were chopped up, he set them aside to cool.
For the egg and Chives filling, it was essential to let the eggs cool completely before use. Otherwise, the heat from the eggs would draw out moisture from the Chives, causing them to lose their fresh and tender texture.
After preparing the eggs, Lin Xu selected and washed the Chives he bought in the morning and set them aside for later use. The Chives could not be cut at this time; it was better to wait until the dough had risen and been kneaded once before chopping the Chives for the Filling, as cutting too early would cause the Chives to lose moisture.
At six o’clock, the dough was ready. Lin Xu sprinkled some dry flour on the worktop, then dumped the risen dough onto it, kneading it first to push out any air bubbles. After that, he divided the dough into four pieces. Having divided it, he started preparing the fillings.
Holding the base of the Chives, he vigorously shook them to remove any water droplets clinging to the leaves, then chopped them finely. He promptly drizzled some cooking oil over the chopped Chives in a bowl to lock in the moisture, preserving their fresh and tender flavor. Then he added the chopped eggs and shrimp bits, and cracked a few raw eggs into it to help the fillings cling together. Next, he added some salt and Sichuan peppercorns, drizzled some Sesame Oil, and mixed it. The egg and Chives Filling was then ready.
Lin Xu took a rolling pin and rolled out a piece of dough into a rectangular sheet. He then poured the egg and Chives Filling on top, spread it evenly, and started rolling from one edge, creating an over a meter-long roll filled with stuffing. After rolling it up, he pinched the ends and carefully placed it on a steaming tray to rest.
A Vegetable Python roll filled with greens was thus prepared. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel·fire.net
In the past, Chen Meijuan often made Vegetable Python at home, but she used unleavened dough instead of fermented dough. The finished Vegetable Python had a thin, nearly transparent crust with fillings including scrambled eggs, Chives, dried tofu, and glass noodles inside, offering a delicious and aromatic flavor. Lin Xu could eat two or three in one go.
Today, with plenty of fillings prepared, Lin Xu made two rolls of fermented dough Vegetable Python.
After finishing that, he brought out the meat filling, added a bowl of finely chopped Scallion, poured in some Seasoning Oil, mixed it evenly, and started making the Meat Dragon.
Hmm, although these dishes look similar on the surface—both being long, steamed, flour-based foods—they have different names due to their different fillings.
Just as he was about to start making them, Che Zai and his group arrived. Today was busy, so they had deliberately gotten up early.
"Wow, such a long piece! What’s this food, boss?" Che Zai looked at the resting Vegetable Python with some curiosity.
"Vegetable Python. It’s filled with egg and Chives Filling. Haven’t you tried it back home?"
Che Zai shook his head. "Never had Vegetable Python, but I’ve been called a ’vegetable dog’ plenty of times while playing games."
He rolled out another piece of dough, spread the meat filling on it evenly, and then rolled it up from one end before placing it back on the steaming tray to rest further.
Fifteen minutes later, he put all the Vegetable Pythons and Meat Dragons into the steam-filled steamer to start the steaming process.
During this time, Lin Xu cooked some salty soup. He was sweating a lot, so he needed to eat salty soup to effectively replenish the lost salt from his body.
Twenty minutes later, the steaming time was up. He turned off the steamer and let the Vegetable Pythons and Meat Dragons continue to steam with the residual heat for a few minutes. This passive steaming helps prevent the steamed items from shrinking due to sudden drops in temperature, making the finished rolls and buns more uniform and firm.
A few minutes later, Lin Xu put on heat-resistant gloves, opened the steamer, and took out all the steamed Vegetable Pythons and Meat Dragons. After steaming, both types of flour-based food had expanded significantly. Coiled on the tray, at first glance, they really did resemble pythons.
Lin Xu took a photo and sent it to Shen Jiayue: "Made Vegetable Python and Meat Dragon this morning. Ask your in-laws if they want some. If they do, I’ll keep it warm in the steamer."
After sending the photo, he grabbed a cleaver and chopped all the Vegetable Pythons and Meat Dragons into sections.
Once cut, the rich aroma of pork and the fresh scent of egg and Chives wafted out.
"This smells so good!"
"I wasn’t that hungry before, but this smell is hard to resist."
"Our boss’s skills are really something else."
"Can we eat now, boss?"
Just as he had cut them open, Niu Chuan and the others gathered around.
Lin Xu said, "Go ahead, just be careful not to spill the Filling."
He then picked up a section of Meat Dragon and took a bite.
Mmm, the dough wrapper was soft and fluffy, enveloping layers of rich, fragrant meat filling. Taking a bite, the soft dough and the rich stuffing combined deliciously in his mouth—it was simply divine!
「In the West Fourth Ring Villa.」
Having just woken up, Shen Jiayue instantly became alert after seeing the photo Lin Xu sent. She climbed out of bed, still in her pajamas, and pitter-pattered to knock on the main bedroom door on the third floor. "Dad, Mom, are you up yet? Xu Bao made something delicious today, do you guys want to go eat?"
While she was calling out, Han Shuzhen opened the door. "It’s definitely busy at Xiaoxu’s place today, we better not go and add to the chaos. We have breakfast at home too, don’t we, Guofu?"
Shen Guofu, who was brushing his teeth in the master bedroom bathroom, agreed immediately. Spitting out his toothpaste foam, he added, "Exactly, we wouldn’t be of any help, just adding to the chaos. Besides, we have everything we need at home, no need to..."
As he was speaking, Shen Jiayue, at the doorway, clicked open the photo Lin Xu had sent and showed it to her mom.
Director Han immediately said, "It’s definitely busy at Xiaoxu’s place today, but let’s go over anyway. We might be able to lend a hand if they need any help..."
Shen Guofu in the bathroom: ???????
The change in attitude was so fast! Something’s up!!!!