Chapter 229: Pan-seared Pork Collar
The pork is edible!
The first ones who couldn’t sit still were Aksim General Manager and Chief Steward An Jing, who were watching Xiang Chuan’s actual operation outside the kitchen. The two charged toward the kitchen… locker room with the momentum of professional rugby runners, pushing aside the other cadres behind them!
After all, entering the kitchen prohibits mixed mushrooms from entering.
While the two were busy changing and sterilizing, the Class Eight Grade One crowd had already gathered around.
This group of guys revealed their gluttony nature as soon as they heard the pork was edible. They all pulled out chopsticks from who-knows-where and divided up the few pan-fried pork chops on the plate, you grabbing one and me grabbing one. Looking closely, almost every class cadre had a piece.
Is Class Eight Grade One’s class cadre election about who can grab food the fastest? The class cadres from other classes watching the light screen live stream muttered in their hearts.
Those who grabbed the pan-fried pork chops didn’t hesitate at all and immediately stuffed the meat from the chopsticks into their mouths.
The soft texture not inferior to beef and the savory meat juice instantly captured the picky tongues of this group of gluttons. Although a few students with sensitive taste buds noticed the texture difference between the pork chop and steak, the current taste was enough to prove the possibility of this pork being usable for consumption.
“Xiang Chuan! We haven’t eaten yet! Make another serving, I’ll help you cut the meat!”
“Xiang Chuan! Make more, I, I’ll assist you!”
“Xiang Chuan! I want to try other methods. Can this thing be used to make buns? I, I can learn to make buns!”
The other Class 8 Members who didn’t grab pan-fried pork chops immediately unleashed reaction speeds they normally couldn’t muster, quickly gathering around Xiang Chuan, setting aside their pride and begging her to make a few more servings or more varieties.
Mainly because the kitchen AI here has no recipe for pan-fried beef, and only Xiang Chuan knows the general operation data for the heat control when pan-frying the pork chop just now. For now, they could only beg Xiang Chuan to make a few more servings.
“I have other things to do… Ainuo! Yating! Liang Gong!”
Xiang Chuan, annoyed by the noise, clapped her hands directly and called over her own club members, then sent them the operation data from just now.
Meaning: you guys make it.
This pan-fried pork chop was originally just made to confirm if this castrated pig’s taste was acceptable, and it was only three pork chops, not using much meat. Their purpose was just to satisfy Xiang Chuan’s own curiosity and the curiosity of modern youths about pork without gamey smell. Oh, not just modern youths, but also some animal husbandry fervor enthusiasts.
While Ouyang Yating and the other two took over the light screen information and began marinating the pork chops, Aksim General Manager and Chief Steward An Jing had already rushed into the canteen in a flurry.
“Classmate Xiang Chuan!” Chief Steward An Jing rushed straight to Xiang Chuan, grabbed her shoulders with both hands, and said excitedly: “That one, no, this pig! Its taste, it’s really so…!”
Due to excessive excitement, Chief Steward An Jing was already somewhat incoherent. He swept his hot gaze full of expectation and curiosity over the pork chops in Ouyang Yating and the others’ hands, then glanced at the raw meat in the glass container on the cabinet behind, and gulped hard.
“Chief Steward An Jing, just in case, let me explain first: even ancient people don’t eat pork raw.” Xiang Chuan was startled by his appearance and couldn’t help but remind him softly.
“I know this, I know!” Chief Steward An Jing nodded repeatedly, then looked at her with an even hotter gaze. “Classmate Xiang Chuan, this pig, the castrated pig you mentioned, do you have detailed information on it, like from when to remove the reproductive organs is best? Is it better to use a boar or a sow for castrated pig? The ancient gourmet food experts must have records!”
“Yes, yes, calm down. We’ll talk after I finish making dinner!” Xiang Chuan felt the hands gripping her shoulders tightening and quickly made a verbal agreement to calm Chief Steward An Jing down.
But Chief Steward An Jing’s brain was now exploding with countless doubts; how could he think that far? He opened his mouth to continue asking when finally someone dragged him away.
“Enough, we’ll talk about any issues after tasting the pork processed by these classmates here. Can’t you see Classmate Xiang Chuan wants to make some other pork gourmet food?” Aksim General Manager dragged Chief Steward An Jing away from Xiang Chuan while muttering to her. But before moving to the control panel where Ouyang Yating and the others were, Aksim General Manager didn’t forget to leave a sentence: “I’m really looking forward to your new dishes, Classmate Xiang Chuan.”
This gave Xiang Chuan a bit of pressure in her heart.
——
Since they were making pork dishes, the first ingredients to handle were definitely the time-consuming ones.
Chinese cuisine has complex varieties, but if asked which dish takes the most time, home cooks would definitely answer: simmering soup.
Xiang Chuan took bone marrow bones from the rack, then had the kitchen AI send over salt, ginger, and Chinese cabbage.
Before simmering bone marrow bones for soup, they must be blanched first to wash off the outer blood and foam. Then take out the bone marrow bones, let them cool slightly, and cut into three sections. Xiang Chuan originally intended to cut them in half to keep the bone marrow intact without leaking, but since this pig was huge and the bones were long, she could only choose a compromise of three sections.
After cutting the bone marrow bones, slice the ginger and add it to the pot with clean water, then start simmering on low heat.
This simmer would take an hour and a half, so Xiang Chuan could use the remaining time to think about how to prepare the other meats.
Although this pig was large, it was still just one pig. Full count, it would only be enough for Class Eight Gluttons to eat normally two meals. But considering this group of energetic young people had just worked so hard to help break down the pork, dinner might require double portions. Not to mention the cadres from the animal husbandry management department eyeing it covetously… Whatever, as long as it fills up the class gluttons.
Xiang Chuan sighed. Filling them up wasn’t hard; making dumplings or buns would do. But after months (longer for modern people) without pork, just eating minced meat with chopped scallions filling seemed a bit stingy.
If eating, then eat the good stuff! Xiang Chuan made up her mind and decisively picked up the pork collar from the rack.
Pork collar is a good choice for steaming or blanching, but considering the need to fill up Class Eight people, the demand for rice-pairing dishes also needed consideration.
Xiang Chuan placed the pork collar on the cutting board and used the compressed laser cutter to slice the whole piece into thick slices over one centimeter, put them in a basin, sprinkled with salt, and marinated for ten minutes. After ten minutes, she took out the frying pan, heated it to medium, and directly placed the marinated pork collar into the pan.
Pork collar has fat like marble patterns, meaning it has its own oil, so no need to add oil beforehand redundantly. Just like bacon, as long as heated in the pan, it will release oil itself. Fry each side for about two minutes to get a golden brown surface.
The aroma of lard-fried pork is overwhelmingly dominant even in the 21st century full of gourmet food; in the modern food desert, it’s shockingly impactful like a satellite cannon.
Class President Lu Daiqing and others, who had just tasted the pan-fried pork chop, were now beside Xiang Chuan, watching her simply put this nicely patterned pork into the pan to fry and produce such a dominant aroma—it really made people… want to sneak a bite!
Xiang Chuan seemed to read their little intentions; she looked up expressionlessly and said:
“Anyone who sneaks a bite is banned from A Bite of China Club consumption for the next week.”
This sentence immediately made all the restless Class Eight Gluttons back off.
“N-No problem, just wait a bit. We can eat when dinner time comes.” Class President Lu Daiqing comforted the others, but his shifty-eyed look lacked much persuasiveness.
But since Xiang Chuan said so, they could only endure. After all, finished dishes could be kept warm in the kitchen cabinets, hot and steaming at dinner time. But being banned from the A Bite of China Club small canteen… then they’d have nowhere to get their missing fruit milk, desserts, and the fun of sneaking bites of the four A Bite of China Club members’ test dishes in the canteen!
