Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 25 The system's braised pork recipe is really overbearing
[Daily Intelligence ①: Dong Xuan already knows that her ex-boyfriend Yan Li has returned to the capital, and believes that her overtures will be noticed by Yan Li. As long as Yan Li goes along with her and makes a small gesture, the two can reconcile.]

Daily Intelligence ②: The first day Yan Li left Hengdian, Qin Lan missed him terribly.

Daily Intelligence ③: Lin Jiachuan is dreaming that Dong Xuan and Yan Li will reunite, and then they will be in a relationship with Dong Xuan's friend XXX. In the future, he and Yan Li will become both brothers and brothers-in-law.

【…】

When Yan Li woke up in the morning, he saw the information on the system and silently made a note of it for Lin Jiachuan.

After putting on his clothes and washing up in the bathroom, Yan Li walked around the whole house and called Zhou Yiwei.

"You happen to have a car, come with me to buy some things."

"What to buy?"

"Refrigerator, TV, solar water heater, cabinets, pots and pans..."

Yan Li actually doesn’t have high requirements for living conditions. He grew up in the village. At that time, his family didn’t have much money, but he was still happy living in the old earthen house.

Later, my parents opened a shop. To prevent thieves, they usually had someone stay in the shop to watch over it at night.

Two tables put together become a bed. When Yan Li grew older, it became his "treasure bed" whenever school was on vacation.

When going to school, he lived in a dormitory, and when filming, he lived in a cheap hotel. If he had no money, he could rent a basement like those who moved to Beijing. Yan Li could afford it.

However, if conditions permit, Yan Li naturally hopes to live more comfortably.

That's why he arranged for a few roommates to share the rent, and since he had enough money, he planned to buy some home appliances to facilitate daily life.

Yan Li called the landlord to seek his consent, and then Zhou Yiwei took him to the flea market and wholesale market, and then to the home appliance city.

Just buy a second-hand TV. The refrigerator needs to be used to store food. Who knows what the original owner put in it? Yan Li personally thinks it is safer to buy new ones. The same goes for pots and pans.

The solar water heater and cabinet can be new or old, the main thing is whether they are easy to use.

Yan Li didn’t find anything satisfactory at the second-hand market, so he just bought all new ones.

During the trip, he found some useful things and bought some other miscellaneous items. After all, Yan Li's wallet, which was not thick to begin with, became even thinner.

I took everything I could back home and made an appointment with the installer to come and install the water heater tomorrow. It was already afternoon.

Yan Li and his friend had not had lunch yet. Although they had just bought a bunch of kitchen supplies, they had no vegetables at home, so they had to go downstairs to find a noodle shop.

Two large bowls of noodles with soybean paste and a platter of cold dishes, which the two of them ate up in no time with the Laba garlic.

They were all young men in their early twenties with big appetites. After finishing a big bowl of noodles with cold dishes, they still felt a little unsatisfied. Zhou Yiwei wanted to have another small bowl, but was stopped by Yan Li.

"Save some space for me. I'll prepare something delicious for dinner."

After asking Zhou Yiwei to clean up at home, Yan Li walked to the vegetable market to buy vegetables.

He can drive. His family's restaurant has a second-hand van for buying groceries and delivering meals. Yan Li often tinkers with it at home and drives it very well.

However, because I don’t have a car, I have never taken a driver’s license test.

The supervision in my hometown is lax, but it’s different in Beijing. If the traffic police check Zhou Yiwei’s father’s Passat on the road, it would be a big deal.

Fortunately, the vegetable market is not far away. Although the vegetables and meat in the afternoon are not as good as those in the morning, we are all eating together and don’t care about it.

After buying some fresh pork, beef, pig's trotters, offal, chicken legs and so on, Yan Li ran to the seasoning store to pick and choose and got a big bag of seasoning, then symbolically bought some vegetables and returned to the community.

After arriving home, Yan Li rolled up his sleeves and started preparing the ingredients.

The braised pork recipe he had obtained from the monthly intelligence was described as miraculous, which made him itchy.

There were no conditions in Hengdian, but after returning to Beijing, Yan Li had his own kitchen, so he naturally couldn't wait to try the quality of this braised meat recipe.

Zhou Yiwei also came to help, his face full of anticipation.

He had eaten food cooked by Yan Li before. About two or three months ago, Yan Li bribed the chef in the Beijing Film Academy cafeteria and borrowed a stove to stir-fry or prepare several dishes for his brothers to taste.

It would be an exaggeration to say that the taste is amazing, but it is definitely a delicious dish.

At least it tastes better than most restaurants, and is far better than the big pot dishes in their cafeteria.

It’s a pity that although Yan Li is a good cook, he doesn’t seem to like cooking very much.

Apart from that whim that allowed them to enjoy a few days of delicious food, no matter how their brothers begged, they ignored them. It was not until Zhang Songwen's birthday in May that they broke the rules at the urging of their brothers.

Unexpectedly, Yan Li started cooking as soon as he returned to the capital, and bought so much meat, which was obviously a big dish.

Zhou Yiwei figured that the boxed lunches in Hengdian were terrible, and Yan Li had let it go, so he came back to satisfy his craving for something oily and juicy.

Yan Li was carefully cleaning the pig's trotters after plucking the hair, completely unaware of Zhou Yiwei's imagination, otherwise he would definitely have vindicated the Hengdian lunch boxes.

Yes, the boxed lunches in Hengdian are quite unpalatable!

I don’t know if there’s something wrong with the lunch box contractor hired by the crew, but the taste is not as good as the cafeteria at Beijing Film Academy. From time to time, the system gives him a diarrhea warning because the ingredients are not fresh.

Yan Li often went out to socialize in Hengdian, to get food recommendations from the system, and to ask Qin Lan to have dinner with him, perhaps with the intention of improving the food.

As for Zhou Yiwei's opinion that he doesn't like cooking, it is actually a bit one-sided.

Yan Li grew up in a restaurant and worked in the kitchen many times, so he has acquired good cooking skills. He is neither keen on nor resistant to cooking.

The reason why he did not agree to the brothers' request was that it was too troublesome to borrow the cafeteria kitchen. If he had not been testing the recipes obtained from the intelligence at that time, he would not have gone through the trouble.

In addition, Yan Li learned a trick from his father - scarcity makes things valuable.

No matter how good your cooking skills are, and you cook every day, in the eyes of others you are just an ordinary cook. Cooking is something you should do, but you won't get any rewards or recognition, and you will even be blamed if you occasionally perform poorly.

But if you do it occasionally, keeping others wanting, you'll be a "kitchen god" who's being pampered, with a high status and the occasional bonus. Learning and applying Yan Li's techniques can be quite effective.

He was delighted to be pampered, and he not only cherished the delicious food that others had to ask for a long time to get, but also felt happy and satisfied when eating it. With the added emotion, even the taste of the food seemed to be even better.

For example, now, Zhou Yiwei was helping Yan Li while praising him, so Yan Li didn't find cooking boring.

Yan Li is no stranger to braised meat.

Their restaurant has a signature cold dish, which is cold-mixed pig's head, which is braised in-house.

Other ingredients such as pig's trotters, beef, large intestines, and tripe were also braised in advance before being processed into dishes. Yan Li helped with the braising process at home.

There are three key points to making a good braised meat: ingredients, heat, and seasoning.

Although the ingredients Yan Li bought today were not the freshest in the morning, they were fresh meat of the day and of good quality. The operating steps related to the heat and the proportion of seasonings were basically based on the braised meat recipe obtained from the system.

At first, this pot of braised meat seemed ordinary and nothing special.

But as time went by, the strength of the [Century-Old Secret Recipe] certified by the system gradually emerged.

Zhou Yiwei, who was watching TV in the living room, smelled the strong aroma of meat coming from the kitchen and felt a little uneasy.

"Brother, I'm not well yet."

Yan Li was actually a little surprised by the overbearing aroma of the braised meat. It went straight into his nose, making his saliva secrete uncontrollably, and the glutton in his stomach kept rebelling.

However, the dignity of being a chef allowed Yan Li to calm down and look at the time calmly.

"Wait five more minutes."

"what."

Zhou Yiwei wailed in pain. It was so uncomfortable to smell such delicious food but not be able to eat it.

During the rest of the time, the aroma became stronger and stronger. Zhou Yiwei couldn't wait to set the table and looked towards the kitchen frequently.

Yan Li was getting a little impatient, so he pretended to see how the meat was being stewed and walked into the kitchen.

As soon as the lid of the pot was opened, the mellow and rich aroma was no longer blocked and spread rapidly and wantonly. Yan Li, who was the first to be affected, was almost knocked over by the aroma.

This is too delicious!
The aroma spread outside, and Zhou Yiwei ran over like a dog smelling a bone, staring at the meat in the pot.

"Brother, are you okay?"

"Wait five more minutes."

Yan Li covered the pot with great self-control and pulled Zhou Yiwei back to the living room to continue waiting.

Finally, 15 minutes passed. Without Zhou Yiwei saying anything, Yan Li quickly walked into the kitchen, took out two pieces of braised meat and pig's trotters, and brought them to the living room.

Zhou Yiwei was already waiting, drooling at the bright red braised meat on the plate.

The two of them didn't say anything, but tacitly picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

As soon as Yan Li put the braised meat in his mouth, his eyes suddenly lit up. He knew from the overbearing aroma that the braised meat must be delicious, but he didn't expect it to be so delicious.

The braised meat is a blend of many spices and stewed for several hours. It has a soft and tender texture yet is tough. The meat is rich and mellow yet delicious. The fat melts in your mouth, and the lean meat becomes more fragrant the more you chew it.

I tried the pig's trotters again. Although they came from the same pot, the taste was slightly different. The texture was more chewy, the skin was glutinous and the meat was fragrant, leaving a long aftertaste.

Yan Li and Zhou Yiwei became quieter as they ate, silently finishing half the pot of braised meat in one breath.

Zhou Yiwei loosened his tight belt and sighed sincerely without even wiping the grease off his mouth.

"Brother, you being an actor is definitely a great pity for the culinary world."

Yan Li himself is somewhat knowledgeable. The deliciousness of the braised meat is mostly attributed to the secret recipe. His own cooking skills can only be described as good, far from being a regret for the culinary world.

Then again, even if it was a pity, Yan Li would not choose to be a chef.

Let’s put aside how much money you make. Being a chef is a job of serving people. It’s not as easy, decent and popular as being an actor.

After savoring the taste of the braised meat, Yan Li felt that there was still room for improvement.

After all, it’s my first time making it, so I’m not very familiar with some steps yet. Also, the recipe says it’s best to use the old soup. I don’t have time today, so I’ll go back and stew it a few more times to bring out the old soup. The taste should be even better.

In addition, he also discovered a shortcoming of this braised meat.

It tastes good, but it is meat after all. No matter how you prepare it, you will get tired of it if you keep eating it. You still have to pair it with some vegetarian stews, side dishes, seasonings, etc. to relieve the greasiness.

Yan Li was thinking about all kinds of things in his mind, and he took out a notebook to take notes seriously.

He was originally just curious about the taste of the braised meat recipe, but after experiencing the overwhelming deliciousness of the braised meat, Yan Li began to wonder if he could make some money from it.

For example, you can open a restaurant that mainly serves braised meat, or at least set up a cooked food stall. It can also provide a source of income in your spare time, which is better than living off the fat of the land.

Just as he was lost in thought, there was a knock on the door. Yan Li glanced at Zhou Yiwei, who was slumped over from overeating, and got up to open the door.

Outside the door was a woman in her thirties, followed by a little kid with red eyes and nose.

"I'm sorry."

The woman was a little embarrassed: "I'm your neighbor across the street. Your stew smells so good that my child is crying for it. Can you share some with me? You can even buy it for me."

Yan Li: “…”

This braised meat business is doing well. It's making money before it even opens...

(End of this chapter)