Chapter 1463 - 569: Smoked Delicacies, Truly a Unique Taste! Northeast Sashimi! [Happy Lunar New Year’s Eve]

Chapter 1463: Chapter 569: Smoked Delicacies, Truly a Unique Taste! Northeast Sashimi! [Happy Lunar New Year’s Eve]

"Old Yuan, I’m here to pay you a New Year visit!"

Dai Jianli shouted as he walked towards the kitchen.

As the saying goes, it’s still New Year until the end of the first lunar month. If I said I’m here to learn some cooking tricks, I’d likely be kicked out. But if it’s a New Year visit, even if Yuan Debiao isn’t thrilled, he has to welcome us with a smile.

Every time Lin Xu tags along with Old Dai to visit others, he feels that thrill of dancing on the edge of a knife.

This head chef is different from Lin Xu’s senior brother, who likes to swipe goodies and only takes what he finds worthwhile. If he doesn’t find it appealing, he wouldn’t bother.

But Dai Jianli is a typical fun-seeker.

Everything he does is basically for enjoyment.

Like that one time during the engagement party, he turned off the smoke machine while making Boiling Fish in building number ten, causing the whole kitchen to feel like it was hit by a gas bomb.

It’s a miracle he hasn’t been beaten up, thanks to the law.

Lin Xu whispered:

"Brother Dai, isn’t this a bit much?"

Dai Jianli chuckled:

"Don’t worry, don’t worry, Old Yuan is a straightforward guy, he won’t mind."

As they walked into the back kitchen area, they saw Old Huang busy weighing ingredients and the towering figure of Yuan Debiao.

Dai Jianli approached with a smile:

"Old Yuan, Happy New Year! Lin and I are here to pay you a visit. Look, Lin even brought Wuliangye and snacks for you."

Yuan Debiao smiled at Lin Xu:

"Welcome Lin, the supervisor, to our building number eight for inspection."

Then he said to Old Dai:

"Since Supervisor Lin is here, there’s nothing for you here. Off you go, every time you come to building number eight, it spells trouble, and today is no exception."

Old Dai chuckled:

"Why are you chasing people away? Old Huang said you’re making smoked chicken today. Just so happens Lin hasn’t tried Northeast smoked chicken yet, so I brought him over to have a taste... there’s nothing we can’t watch, is there?"

Old Huang shivered all over.

Damn it, it’s one thing to sell me out, but to do it in front of me?

If it wasn’t illegal, I’d dump you in Shichahai to feed the fish.

Yuan Debiao glanced at Old Huang and then said:

"Nothing you can’t see, let’s have a little cooking showdown later."

Lin Xu struggled to hold back his laughter.

Old Dai’s phrase "there’s nothing we can’t watch" was dripping with sarcasm. With this kind of rhetoric, he could survive two more episodes even if he time-traveled into a Qing dynasty drama as a concubine.

Once Old Huang finished verifying the data for all the ingredients, he packed up the paperwork, kicked Old Dai, and quickly took his leave.

Yuan Debiao led the two of them further inside.

"You caught us at a good time. I was just about to teach the kitchen staff how to make smoked meat. You two can give me some feedback."

"Don’t worry, Old Yuan, with my experience from visiting restaurants, I can definitely help you keep things in check."

As they walked into the kitchen, Lin Xu saw several kitchen helpers handling white-striped chickens. These chickens were small, but their chicken feet were quite large, clearly free-range chickens with firm meat.

These chickens had been gutted and were soaking in clean water, both to remove the blood and to clean off small bits.

Feathers on the tips of chicken wings, outer membranes on chicken feet, root hairs in chicken rear pores, and so on, all needed thorough cleaning.

Especially around the chicken’s rear, it was necessary to press hard to squeeze out the hair roots and leftover blood clots, so the finished chicken wouldn’t have a strange taste.

Besides the chickens, others were preparing pork knuckles, large intestines, pork belly, and several other ingredients.

You know, today we really struck it lucky.

Whether we’ll learn any techniques is one thing, but at least we can enjoy eating.

Especially with smoked sausages and smoked pork knuckles, just thinking about the taste is mouthwatering.

After a turn around, Yuan Debiao said:

"Nothing much to see in the first half, just regular braising. Once the ingredients are braised, we’ll come back after they’re almost ready."

The key to smoked meats is the smoking process, without it, they’re just regular braised dishes.

At Yuan Debiao’s level as a chef, he rarely does specific tasks. He’ll surface only when the meats need to be smoked after braising.

Building number eight may not be as famous as others, but it’s still full of talent, so he rarely needs to personally handle things.

Lin Xu followed Yuan Debiao to the tea room next to the kitchen.

The three of them brewed some hot tea, sipping and chatting.

Before long, Xie Baomin came over to discuss resuming their restaurant review show with Dai Jianli. Although the show had been updated regularly, all the updates were pre-recorded.

The stockpile had run out, and with the Lantern Festival around the corner, it was time to resume looking for new restaurants to review.

"Let’s just notify the photographers and start working. Old Yuan, would you like to join? If you want to shoot a review, you can first observe, then try some Northeast restaurants and practice a bit to get started."

There are countless restaurants in Beijing for every regional cuisine and local specialty.

As a top-tier Northeast cuisine chef, it would make sense for Yuan Debiao to help ensure the quality of his hometown dishes.

Dai Jianli really wanted to involve him:

"Old Yuan, you’re more familiar with Northeast cuisine. It’s time to purify the Northeast dishes in Beijing. With your build, the average restaurant wouldn’t dare mess with you. It’s very safe."

Yuan Debiao was certainly tempted.

He had previously cooked for the "Worldly Flavors" show, but he wasn’t comfortable with the detailed tutorial format.