"Host, host, wake up!"
Early the next morning, Qi Han was woken up by the loli alarm clock.
After rubbing his eyes and fully waking up, he quickly washed up and, after greeting Pururu who was also awakened by his movements, he directly entered the training space for Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat.
Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat originates from the Qing Dynasty, created by an imperial chef from Shandong named Zhao Guibao (the name Zhao Guibao is purely fictional based on records of a Shandong-born Zhao chef from the Qing Palace kitchen. Please do not take it as fact).
This imperial chef showcased his skills at Empress Dowager Cixi's 60th birthday, presenting a dish that amazed everyone.
The dish went through five cooking methods: steaming, boiling, frying, stewing, and braising, turning a simple piece of pork belly into a juicy, tender, non-greasy delicacy.
Because this dish could be eaten regularly without causing weight gain, it was highly favored by Empress Dowager Cixi and the concubines in the palace and was bestowed the name "Blessed Pork Meat."
As the tall, elderly figure of Zhao Guibao's lingering soul appeared in the training space, the cooking of Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat commenced.
Unlike Huang Jinglin's fiery temperament, this Shandong-born culinary predecessor always had a smile of encouragement on his face and gave very detailed explanations during the cooking process.
The primary ingredient for Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat is a piece of pork belly, but not just any pork belly will do.
Only certain pork bellies are suitable for this dish.
Pork belly can be divided into upper belly and lower belly.
The upper belly is located near the ribs and has a thicker layer of fat, with the fat and lean meat separated.
This part is usually used for dumplings or twice-cooked pork for better texture.
The lower belly, from the abdomen of the pig, has more layers of fat and lean meat.
Typically, you can see four or five layers of fat and lean meat alternating along the cut surface.
This meat is fatty but not greasy and is more suitable for cooking Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat.
The interleaved fat and lean layers ensure that the meat doesn't turn out mushy, making it easier to shape into a flower-like form, which is ideal for both taste and appearance.
Lower belly meat is not only fatty but not greasy but also occupies a small proportion of the pork belly.
Being rare, it is often called premium pork belly in some places to distinguish it from regular fatty and lean pork belly.
The pork belly chosen for Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat is not from Qi Han's old friends, the Badger Pig and Gui Xiang Pig.
Badger Pig & Gui Xiang Pig: Who the hell is your old friend!
The ingredient used is from the Millennium Rare Pig.
The Rare Pig is a unique pig species in the system's small world, or rather the most top-tier breed obtained through countless generations of crossbreeding and cultivation.
These pigs are nurtured with various earthly treasures filled with the essence of heaven and earth from birth.
Their innate talents allow them to absorb these essences entirely, storing them within their bodies, making the meat of Rare Pigs an earthly treasure brimming with vast essence.
As Zhao Guibao's lingering soul cut a roughly ten-centimeter wide strip of lower belly from a large piece of pork belly, removing the extraneous meat to reveal the densely layered fat and lean meat, Qi Han couldn't help but widen his eyes.
This lower belly of the Rare Pig had nine layers of fat and lean meat.
Such meat could almost be compared to the finest snowflake beef and even surpass it.
In Zhao Guibao's hands, this piece of pork belly seemed to come alive.
Despite slowing down his actions to accommodate Qi Han, the complex cooking process left Qi Han feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
The finest pork, prepared with the most intricate cooking steps, creates such a top-tier dish.
Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat is recognized as the pinnacle of pork belly dishes, and learning it clearly isn't easy.
Though Zhao Guibao always wore a kindly smile, his seriousness and dedication to the dish were unquestionable.
After demonstrating, Zhao Guibao's voice frequently echoed through the training space as Qi Han began his attempts.
The Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat involves five processes: boiling, frying, stewing, braising, and steaming, each with extremely strict requirements.
In a morning, which felt like 20 days in the training space, Qi Han only managed to roughly familiarize himself with the steps, not reaching Zhao Guibao's standards in any of the five stages.
A 3 Star recipe is truly terrifying.
Luckily, Qi Han was prepared for a long battle and didn't feel discouraged.
After 20 days, Zhao Guibao's lingering soul was nearly exhausted, and his figure gradually dimmed, though his face retained a smile. "Qi Han, keep practicing diligently after I'm gone. When you reach my level, you will have truly mastered it."
"Master Zhao, I will remember your words."
Though Zhao Guibao and Huang Jinglin had completely different personalities, their careful guidance made Qi Han deeply respectful.
Seeing Zhao Guibao's lingering soul about to dissipate, Qi Han's expression became solemn.
Zhao Guibao smiled and waved, disappearing from the training space in the next instant.
Qi Han stood in silence for a moment, then left the training space.
The dissipation of the lingering soul meant returning to the cycle of reincarnation, which was good for the lingering soul itself.
Qi Han need not feel too sad.
However, with the lingering soul gone, the chances of meeting his teachers again in the future were slim.
"When you become a god-level chef, you might follow their paths and find them again." Ru Yi's voice gently comforted him in his mind.
"A god-level chef?" Qi Han laughed. "That's still a long way off. It seems I have to keep working hard."
He hadn't yet reached any of the prerequisites for advancing to an intermediate chef.
Putting aside his myriad thoughts, Qi Han picked up Pururu and went downstairs.
Now, Pururu could skillfully get its own cat food and even place the dish in the dishwasher after eating.
That's not the most surprising part—it had also memorized the table numbers on the two floors of the small restaurant.
Now, it no longer needed to follow the Qin sisters to deliver dishes.
A simple pat on its head and a table number would prompt it to deliver the dish to the corresponding table.
Pururu had become a formal employee of Small Shop, and in the eyes of many diners, its popularity even surpassed that of the Qin sisters.
Many diners came specifically to order light dishes suitable for Pururu to carry, just to see it deliver the plates.
Qi Han had long since moved from initial surprise to acceptance.
After all, it was a spirit beast cat, eating a thousand-year-old dragon scale fish every day. It was normal for it to become smart.
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