Jia Zhijun knew that Chen Mo often left a trap for him to fall into with his words.

Now, if he explained how oil frying could enhance the flavor of food, Chen Mo probably had another twisted logic waiting for him.

So Jia Zhijun chose not to speak.

Seeing that the steamed meat slices had mostly cooled down, Chen Mo didn't bother to chat with Teacher Jia about irrelevant things.

Oil frying, huh.

The principle is mostly the same—using the instant high temperature of the oil to cook the surface of the ingredients, thereby sealing in the internal flavors.

That's why Chen Mo said that Lu the Second's restaurant's Lantern Shadow Beef was a scam.

They slice the meat thin, marinate it for flavor, dry and roast it, place a lamp in the middle, and when the dish is served, customers see: wow, it really is translucent and casts a shadow!

But when you taste it... it's just ordinary spicy dried beef.

What Chen Mo was making now was different.

The dried beef, after being steamed, reabsorbs some moisture, reactivating the beef flavor within the thin slices, but this moisture isn't from the beef itself.

Then Chen Mo heated oil, using canola oil, and after heating it added Old Jiang, turned off the heat to let the oil cool, then restarted the fire before slowly adding the beef slices.

With a gentle stir from a black ladle, the beef slices sizzled in the pot, gradually becoming slightly translucent.

He then moved the pot off the heat, straining most of the canola oil out with a skimmer, leaving just a little at the bottom.

"There's another step?" Lu the Second curiously came over, "Is there final processing too?"

"Of course, right now the beef doesn't have much flavor, just saltiness."

To the pot, Chen Mo added something Lu the Second could never have imagined: glutinous rice wine sauce!

After mixing it evenly with the canola oil and beef slices, he quickly added pepper powder, premium Sichuan pepper powder, white sugar, MSG, and five-spice powder, stirring everything together swiftly with the black ladle.

The residual heat from the oil in the pot allowed the spices to release their aromas when stirred, and when these mixed with the beef aroma enhanced by heating, the eyes of everyone busy in Lu Fang's started turning dreamy.

Chen Mo took the thoroughly mixed beef out to cool in a bamboo sieve.

Jia Zhijun stared at the full bamboo sieve, swallowing constantly.

Only now did Lu the Second realize that Xiaochen's choice to use this dish to open sales was incredibly wise!

How much is a pound of beef? Not even the size of an adult's fist.

A pound of beef can make about half a pound of Lantern Shadow Beef.

But after Xiaochen fried it and performed the final step, it was much more than half a pound, at least seven liang!

That's not the point, though.

The point is, with beef cut into such small slices and appearing hard and crispy after frying, when scooped into a bag, it looks like a lot but doesn't weigh much. Customers might think they're buying beef and feel like they didn't spend much money.

But when they eat it, they'll find out, damn! It's gone before I even tasted it properly?

Everyone had their thoughts, but Chen Mo's Lantern Shadow Beef made everyone crave the same thing: why hasn't Xiaochen said we can eat it? Just looking without tasting, isn't this pure torture?

Of course, after frying, there's still a waiting period; it must cool before eating.

While making it, time seemed to fly, but at the final step, everyone felt like time dragged slowly.

After waiting and waiting, Chen Mo finally picked up a piece from the sieve, but instead of eating it, he closed one eye and held the piece up to the other, turned it halfway around, and exclaimed with delight, "Hey, I can really see your shadows through the meat! Nice, nice."

Seizing the opportunity, Jia Zhijun boasted his knowledge before others could speak, "A true master's Lantern Shadow Beef combines spicy, numbing, sweet, and savory flavors. The meat is tender, richly colored, thin and translucent, casting shadows like shadow puppetry, hence the name Lantern Shadow Beef."

"Huh? I always thought you could see the shadow by placing a lamp," Lu the Second was puzzled.

He wasn't fond of learning culinary skills since childhood but liked doing business, so the dish Lantern Shadow Beef wasn't in his memory.

"Alright, everyone, taste it and see if today's price of fifty yuan for a couple of ounces is worth it?"

Saying that, Chen Mo brought the beef to his mouth.

The others couldn't wait to grab some beef and start eating.

Suddenly, at the entrance of Lu Fang's, the sound of smacking lips echoed loudly.

...

The sun had fully risen. It wasn't market day in Hanyang Town, and there weren't many people on the street.

At nine in the morning, a young man walked down the bluestone street with one hand in his pocket, whistling, and carrying a food bag in his other hand.

He Ziheng was delighted today because his girlfriend's sister would be visiting their village market at noon, and she specifically told He Ziheng: don't be stubborn or argue with her, seize the opportunity to perform well, and you'll gain an ally at home!

Since the market was his turf, He Ziheng didn't hesitate to know where's the best and fanciest food, which teahouse serves the best tea with the nicest view.

However, before entertaining his sister-in-law, He Ziheng had something important to do: eat breakfast!

Strolling to another street and nearing the alley's end, He Ziheng's eyes lit up.

That yellow food truck was indeed parked there!

He quickened his pace, walked up to the truck, and smugly tossed the food bag onto the window display counter, "Come on, boss, give me a serving of twice-cooked pork fried rice. I brought my ingredients! Look, leftover twice-cooked pork, leftover rice."

He Ziheng thought he was truly a clever guy, for thinking of such a brilliant plan the day before.

This time, how could this young boss have any reason to refuse to make him a delicious twice-cooked pork fried rice?

Chen Mo checked the time; there was still a while before opening hours.

Then he looked down the street, and apart from He Ziheng, no other customers seemed to be rushing over.

He quickly heated up the pot, directly poured He Ziheng's leftover twice-cooked pork into the dark wok, and with his superb cooking skills, frying up a serving of twice-cooked pork fried rice was a piece of cake.

In just a few minutes, the fried rice was ready.

He Ziheng excitedly watched the oily fried rice exuding the aroma of pork lard. The rice grains were fried into a golden-red color, and the overnight twice-cooked pork didn't seem greasy. Although the green garlic turned limp after a night, just looking at it suggested its flavors had thoroughly set in.

"Take a bite; it'll surely hit the spot!"

For this breakfast, He Ziheng hadn't eaten dinner the night before, frequently checking the fridge for his twice-cooked pork, holding out the entire night.

Now, he could finally dig in!

"Who says I'm stubborn! I can be clever too, can't I!"

He Ziheng reached out to take his fried rice, but Chen Mo didn't seem to put it in his hand.

Instead...

"Little boss, what are you doing?"

He Ziheng saw Chen Mo turn around and take something dark red and semi-transparent from the basin behind him, placing it on top of his fried rice.

"Since you're the first here today, I'll add something nice for you."

He Ziheng, half believing, half doubting, took the fried rice and inspected it closely.

What is this thing?

Why does it look somewhat like meat jerky?

Since he didn't recognize it, he didn't care.

Just took a bite! Starting with the freebie!

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