Chapter 1373 - 539: Dad, Is This the "Seafood" You Bought? Farewell to the Old, Welcome the New—New Year’s Eve Dinner!

Chapter 1373: Chapter 539: Dad, Is This the "Seafood" You Bought? Farewell to the Old, Welcome the New—New Year’s Eve Dinner!

Chen Meide laughed and said:

"This thing looks quite magical, but will it turn out greasy and oily?"

Lin Xu shook his head:

"If it’s all tendons and membranes inside, then it shouldn’t be greasy. I’ll start by peeling the camel hump and soaking it to remove some of the smell."

While speaking, he looked up the method for preparing camel hump.

Believe it or not, there’s actually a dish called steamed camel hump, and it’s said to be as famous as steamed bear paw.

Since it’s New Year’s, let’s make this dish properly.

Lin Xu carefully used a kitchen knife to trim the fur from the surface of the camel hump, revealing the white hump inside.

Logically, the hump should be soaked in water for twenty-four hours, changing the water several times to thoroughly soak it, then processed for hair removal, and cooked with the skin.

But with New Year’s Eve around the corner, Lin Xu couldn’t wait that long, so he went with a simpler, more direct method.

The peeled camel hump really looked like a massive lump of fat, and it emitted a rich milky fragrance, giving off a greasy impression.

Lin Xu intended to soak it in clean water, but once it was in, it just kept floating.

Clearly, the fat content was too high, making it impossible to soak the humps; even in water, they would float.

"Is this thing impossible to soak?"

"It’s all fat, soaking it won’t make a difference."

"It looks pretty clean, wonder what it’ll taste like when it’s done."

Lin Xu washed off the surface camel hairs and dirt, took it out, and placed it in a basket, planning to handle it after finishing other tasks.

There are many dishes you can make with camel hump; you can skewer it like lamb kebabs to grill over charcoal, slice it into fine strips, and stir-fry it together with peppers.

Additionally, it can be made into dry stir-fried, boiled, fried crispy, steamed, abalone sauce, dry pan-fried, and other types of dishes.

The deliciousness of camel hump isn’t from the fat, but rather the web-like structure of the tendons, which give it a unique texture.

Combined with the fragrance from the fat, the camel hump delivers both the rich greasiness of eating big fatty meat and also the chewy texture akin to beef tendon.

Overall, it’s just delicious.

Since ancient times, countless gourmets have been captivated by this ingredient, creating one delicacy after another.

Lin Xu didn’t cook camel hump first; he started with other dishes.

After arranging the steamed dishes, it was time for stews and braised dishes, as well as casserole baked and dry pot dishes that needed preparation.

As for dry-fried and dry pan-fried dishes, they were left till last to prevent them from getting cold and inedible when dinner begins.

Once he finished these, he placed the camel hump on the chopping board, ready for slicing.

This thing looked like a lump of fat, but when cutting it, you’d find that it’s very difficult to slice through, with the tendon structure being both tough and resilient.

Lin Xu swapped out his chopping knife for a thinner, sharper slicing knife.

First, he sliced the camel hump into thick pieces, then cut them diagonally into half-centimeter-thick slices, arranged them on a plate, drizzled some stock, and put them in a steamer to steam.

The reason for not using the steam cabinet was to avoid the camel hump mixing flavors with the other dishes inside.

While the camel hump steamed, he sliced a piece off the larger hump, cutting it into thin strips the size of potato strips, intending to stir-fry.

He then cut another piece, slicing it into thicker small bits to skewer them, planning to grill them over charcoal later, letting the oil drip out and sprinkling roasting spices on top to make a delicious roasted camel hump.

Next, Lin Xu sliced some thin pieces ready for deep-frying.

While he was busy, Shen Jiayue wandered into the kitchen out of boredom. She originally intended to sneak some food, but seeing Lin Xu slicing a big lump of white something, she curiously asked:

"What’s this? Taro?"

Shen Guofu proudly said:

"Camel hump, darling, try it out later. Little Xu said it’s first-rate taste. If it’s good, we could add some new items at the Beijing shop, let those who’ve never tried camel hump have a taste."

Camel hump?

Shen Jiayue looked at the lump of meat, curious and asked:

"Doesn’t the book say camel humps are full of water? Why is it so greasy?"

Lin Xu explained:

"It’s not water, it’s fat. This is like people, when they gain weight, they store some subcutaneous fat for emergencies, in case they face physical issues or starvation disasters, that’s when the fats become useful."

Shen Jiayue finally understood and laughed:

"I know that, just like my dad, he stores all his fat in his belly."

Shen Guofu: "..."

Darling, you can refrain from using examples.

Just then, the fireworks delivery truck arrived.

A large cargo truck, it drove through the scenic area’s main gate, and Shen Guofu drove it with the park’s shuttle straight to the reservoir side.

Opening the truck door, inside were various large and small firecrackers.

The large ones were about the size of a washing machine box, and the small ones were comparable to an old-fashioned TV.

Since old Shen bought so many, these people even helped set them up and used a disposable single switch assembly so that during nighttime, you could activate the switch from afar to enjoy safely, avoiding any hazardous scenarios.

Their enthusiasm made Shen Guofu really happy, so much that he handed each of them a New Year red packet.

Then he earnestly sought advice on the specific operation and asked about emergency contingency measures.

Once he understood everything, he sent the crowd on their way.

"During New Year’s, I won’t keep you here for dinner, take care on the road."

Shen Guofu tossed a pack of cigarettes into the driver’s cabin, waved goodbye to the group.