Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 186 - 151 Master Qin is really a good person! _2

Chapter 186: Chapter 151 Master Qin is really a good person! _2

Braised Pig’s Head.

This is the dish Huang Jia has mastered and performs best at, and it’s currently the top signature dish at Huang Ji, especially with Huang Shengli unable to cook as usual.

As a signature dish, the Braised Pig’s Head cannot be ordered on the spot; it must be reserved in advance.

It’s not that Huang Ji is being pretentious; the main reason is that this dish can’t be made on the spot due to its complex preparation process. Besides, given its price, it’s impossible to have it prepared in advance just waiting for someone to order.

This dish, clearly for entertaining important guests, is generally reserved by private room customers for dinner. It’s rare for someone to order it during a weekday lunch, so yesterday morning, Qin Huai didn’t see Huang Jia preparing it.

Now, suddenly seeing Huang Jia holding a blowtorch to a large pig’s head, scorching it from white to charcoal black, Qin Huai couldn’t help but stretch out his neck to look at Huang Jia, his eyes all on the pig’s head, kneading dough purely by muscle memory.

Huang An Yao, who was about to slip away after breakfast, hurriedly checked today’s reservation list on his phone when he saw Huang Jia pull out the pig’s head. Realizing no one ordered the Braised Pig’s Head for lunch, he immediately knew who it was for and decided to stay for the morning, waiting to have staff lunch at noon.

Seeing Qin Huai craning his neck to look, Huang An Yao kindly moved closer to explain.

"Huang Jia is making Braised Pig’s Head, his signature dish, priced at 2888. It must be booked in advance. Near the New Year, especially on New Year’s Eve, it’s fully booked."

Qin Huai was shocked: "So expensive!"

"This is still considered cheap. My dad can make this dish too. More than ten years ago, when Huang Jia’s skills were not perfected, this dish already cost this much when my dad made it. If he were to make it now, it would surely cost more than this."

Suddenly, Qin Huai had a clear understanding of the revenue during Huang Ji’s glorious early days.

It’s truly profitable; these top-tier meat cooking restaurants really rake in the money.

No wonder Zheng Da felt that the pastry division had no future and couldn’t make money, and switched to business.

"Is this dish very complex?" Qin Huai glanced at the dough’s status, found it suitable, and stopped. The assistant chef immediately replaced it with a new batch of flour and provided several bowls of clean water.

"Complex." Huang An Yao pointed to Huang Jia, who was scraping the black film off the pig’s head, "This is the first step. Later, the pig’s face will be boiled with yellow wine, spring onions, and ginger for half an hour to remove the gamey taste."

Huang An Yao counted each step on his fingers: "The second step is to caramelize sugar, add rice wine for coloring; this step is crucial. It must be colored this way to end up with a glazed red and shiny pig’s face."

"Then the spices are added for braising."

"First it’s on high heat, then after coloring for 10 minutes, it’s simmered on low heat for 3–4 hours, making the pig’s head meat as soft as tofu."

"Normally, it should be simmered for 6 hours, but with a pressure cooker now, the time can be greatly reduced."

"The final step is difficult, deboning the pig’s head. I remember my dad said it’s best to debone the pig’s head while it’s hot right out of the pot, otherwise, it’s hard to debone once it cools. The deboned pig face should still resemble a pig’s face, then pour the braising sauce over it and steam for an hour."

"Finally, thickening the braising sauce and pouring it over the pig face once out of the pot. Arrange a circle of blanched greens and carving vegetables like carrots around it. With the sauce poured over them, even the greens taste good!"

As he spoke, Huang An Yao smacked his lips in anticipation.

"I haven’t had it in over six months. The last time I ate it was during the New Year when my dad made it."

Qin Huai: ...

Why have you, as the Young Master, never tasted anything?

Do you have no semblance of a Young Master’s lifestyle?

Qin Huai continued kneading the dough by muscle memory, glancing at the already processed and boiling pig’s head. He roughly calculated the time and found something seemed off.

"According to what you just said, from preparation to serving, a Braised Pig’s Head takes at least five or six hours. Huang Jia started around 8 o’clock, so normally it would be finished by noon, around one or two. Isn’t it that Huang Ji’s kitchen closes at one and they have lunch?"

Huang An Yao: ...

Why is your focus so peculiar?

Why are you so precise at finding flaws?

Huang An Yao stammered for a while, then said, "I’m not really sure. I don’t deal much with the restaurant’s daily operations."

This convinced Qin Huai. The pig’s head was now in the pot and there was nothing else to watch. Huang Jia had also moved on to handling other ingredients, so Qin Huai continued earnestly kneading the dough.

While cooking Longevity Noodles in the morning, Dong Shi had already gossiped with him. Qin Huai left before the late-night service started yesterday, so he didn’t see or hear the mourning of customers who came in droves for the snacks.

There are not many customers during a weekday lunch who have time to dine at Huang Ji, and even if there are, they’re usually like Qian Zhongheng, retired individuals.

But retirees have limited pensions and can’t eat out every meal, usually indulging only once or twice a month.

Those who can afford it are often busy and cannot drop their work to come to Huang Ji for Zheng Da’s snacks in the middle of the day.

Of course, if Huang Shengli suddenly gave everyone a surprise, offering a full Three Heads Banquet on a weekday lunch, unlimited in number and available to anyone who comes, there would still be plenty of busy bosses willing to abandon less important tasks to come for a meal.

Many people come in the evening.

And then they hear the most dreaded news.

The evening pastry chef isn’t on duty.

The Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns, Five Fillings Bun, Crab Shell Cake, Four Happiness Dumplings, and Dream Come True Sesame Bun, all of which sell explosively at noon, are not available at night.

Not even the Dried Tangerine Peel Tea is available.

All 1314 portions were sold out by noon.

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