Gourmet: Midnight Vending

Chapter 433 - 377: Tech Tricks Ultimately Cannot Defeat Traditional Wisdom (Part 2)

With the braised pork knuckle, there are also thin pancakes and green onions.

Authentic Shandong green onions aren’t as spicy as regular ones; they have a slight sweetness. Dip them in bean sauce and wrap with pork in a thin pancake, it’s absolutely amazing.

However...

Wang Heng quickly grabbed a piece with skin and meat, intending to shove it into his mouth and grab another piece. When he looked again, all that was left on the plate was a big bone!

"Damn, you guys are way too fast!"

Liu Jingqi still wore her lifeless smirk. "If I don’t hurry, am I supposed to let you snatch it?"

Wang Heng couldn’t win with words; since there wasn’t any extra meat on the plate, there was nothing more to say.

It was only then he had time to look closely.

The side of the pork knuckle had neat cuts, revealing a pink and white marbled texture of fat and lean. The steam carrying the aroma of the meat wafted over, making anyone staring at such a piece unable to resist!

Who could still care about the pancake and green onions?

"Awoo!"

Wang Heng directly stuffed it into his mouth.

At the instant of entry, the fried and blistered pig skin burst between the teeth, releasing grease mixed with the aroma of star anise and cinnamon. The crispy sensation was like eating roast suckling pig, with a hint of caramelized sweetness.

"Damn, it’s so satisfying! If only all the pork knuckles in the world were like this."

Like Wang Heng, others barely had time to use the pancake to wrap the meat; they just grabbed and shoved it into their mouths.

At the end of the table, Zihan’s mother truly lived up to her foresight as her carefully chosen position played a crucial role now.

Before the pork knuckle was brought to the table, she’d already chosen her target, expertly timing her chopsticks to grab the thick-skinned, less-fatty, more-meaty part right in the middle!

As she took a bite, Zihan’s mother hummed while blowing on it.

The fatty part, after more than three hours of steaming, had transformed into wobbly gelatin, melting instantly as the crispy skin was bitten through.

The lean fibers had absorbed the juices from steaming, releasing a salty, umami, slightly sweet meatiness, a texture between beef jerky and braised pork, with a hint of chewiness.

If anyone had it tough, it was Jiang Fei.

"Can’t you take care of your wife?" Zhang Yaling’s mouth was full, her eyes locked on the meat in Jiang Fei’s plate.

Jiang Fei gaped at his wife in confusion. "But... I haven’t even eaten..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Fei felt the gaze of his relatives.

All relatives on this table were from Jiang Fei’s side.

In choosing between pampering his wife or himself, Jiang Fei, a bit displeased, chose the former, "Alright, I love gnawing on bones."

He transferred the pork knuckle from his bowl, which he was just about to wrap, into Zhang Yaling’s plate, then took the big bone, left untouched in the platter on the table, into his own bowl.

But he sighed heavily in his heart.

Being a man is too hard!

No idea how Chen Mo prepared the pork knuckle, but the bone was spotless, not a shred of meat left. Jiang Fei, a bit frustrated, simply picked up the bone with his hand and gnawed at the tiny bit of membrane on its surface.

"Hmm?"

At the moment of biting down hard, Jiang Fei’s eyes suddenly lit up.

After long steaming, the tendons and connective tissue clinging to the bone had turned into a sticky gel, which, in the frying process, adhered back to the bone. When teeth tore into the membrane, these gels stretched like malt sugar strands; though nothing solid was chewed between the teeth,

the throat filled with a concentrated mix of sauce aroma and five-spice powder.

"Interesting!"

Jiang Fei gnawed from one end of the bone to the other relentlessly, scraping the bone’s surface with his teeth a few more times before stopping.

This left Zhang Yaling dumbfounded.

Was it really such a big deal that I had an extra piece of meat? Who are you gnawing the bone so hard for?

If it weren’t for all the relatives around, Zhang Yaling would have slapped him by now.

In no time at all, the pork knuckle was devoured again.

Good thing Chen Mo timed the dishes well; just as the guests had finished the pork knuckle, the helpers brought another dish to their table.

Immortal Duck!

This dish required about an hour more steaming time than the braised pork knuckle.

Once out of the pot, no additional steps needed; the chefs simply skimmed the oil floating atop the broth in the clay pot and wiped the edges clean before serving.

At the table closest to Chen Mo, Zihan’s mother had been eagerly watching. The instant the clay pot was on the table, her chopsticks went straight for the prize!

She skillfully grabbed a duck leg.

Debating where tasted best would be futile.

But the duck leg certainly has the most meat!

The duck had undergone four hours of steaming without direct water contact, resulting in perfectly soft duck meat. Zihan’s mother held the tip of the duck leg bone with her chopsticks, swiftly lifting it.

"Poof!"

Jingyi’s mother suddenly laughed, "You’re still too hasty."

Zihan’s mother’s chopsticks held only a bare duck leg bone, not a shred of meat left.

Jingyi’s mother’s chopsticks quickly lifted at the spot where Zihan’s mother had aimed.

"Heh heh." Jingyi’s mother seemed to flaunt, shaking a hefty piece of duck leg meat with her chopsticks, "Latecomer wins, sorry about that."

The greatest feature of steaming without water contact is preventing direct exposure to steam, ensuring absolute even heating.

A sealed clay pot completely locks in the duck’s aroma and juices, forming a broth full of "original taste and flavor".

This technique of slow cooking at a steady temperature softens the duck fibers while preserving their shape, reaching a state of "tender yet firm".