Chapter 1449 - 564: Master Gao: After Years of Dominating the Jianghu, I Finally Got Taken Down—What a Sin!

Just have to wait a little longer.

The two brothers washed their hands and then began making dumplings.

While they were busy, Master Gao Daye walked in.

After he closed the sliding door, Xie Baomin stopped making dumplings and asked, looking gossipy:

"What's the matter, Master? Did we come at a bad time?"

"It's nothing, your Master's wife is being playful, quietly inviting Lucy over and passionately urging me to teach her how to make dumplings. It's driving me to depression."

Lin Xu and Xie Baomin exchanged a glance.

As expected, it was all the Master's wife's idea.

Thinking about it, this trick is pretty clever, pulling Neptune onto the shore is nothing new. Previous Master's wives have done this too, but ultimately Neptune always swims back into the ocean.

However, the Master's wife dragged Neptune ashore and then dug a small pond to toss him in.

Either live life well on the shore or splash around in the small pond; either way, don't expect to resume the feeling of swimming freely in the ocean.

To most people, it means nothing, but to Neptune, it's pretty daunting.

Xie Baomin chuckled dryly:

"Looks like Master's wife really wants to live life with you."

Master Gao sighed:

"I know, but this way... forget it, never mind, let's not talk about this. You... Lin, don't learn from my example, just have a good life with Yue girl."

Xie Baomin placed the wrapped dumplings on a tray and asked curiously:

"Master, why not advise me? That's so biased."

Master Gao glanced dismissively at his senior disciple:

"With your physique, you just don't have the conditions, better save your efforts."

Xie Baomin: "..."

I'm trying hard to work out too. Lately, I've been skipping rope ahead of old Huang, owner Shen, and owner Tan, but having a Master with an eight-pack is disheartening.

Even more disheartening is having a handsome and physically fit younger brother.

The master brother, reduced to being last in physical fitness in the sect, seems it's time to add more to the regimen.

Master Gao didn't make dumplings but started preparing dinner.

He looked at Lin Xu and Xie Baomin and asked:

"What do you both want to eat? Just say, I'll make it for you while I'm still in Beijing."

Lin Xu didn't particularly care about the food.

But it's good to learn a few things while Master cooks.

He thought about the dishes urgently needed in the shop and tentatively asked:

"Fried meatballs then. We wanted to make this at home this year but never got around to it."

Xie Baomin immediately smiled and said:

"It's a good choice for a dish. It seems simple and homely but demands great culinary skills, one mishap and you'll mess it up."

Fried meatballs are a Beijing delicacy.

As early as the Republic era, Liang Shiqiu detailed them in "Yashe Talks Eating":

"Meat chopped finely and tenderly, fried crispy outside and tender inside, melt-in-the-mouth without need for heavy biting, without spitting seeds or removing bones, dipped in Sichuan peppercorn salt, one bite is a supreme delicacy. Unfortunately, a tray has only about twenty meatballs, with many at the table, each person gets merely two or three, tantalizingly leaving cravings unfulfilled."

Just reading the text whets people's appetite.

Since then, fried meatballs became a famous Beijing dish, still popular at large traditional restaurants today.

Master Gao agreed with Lin Xu's choice:

"Not bad, when you tried fried tenderloin, I thought you'd go directly for fried meatballs, but you didn't till now. That's good, you truly are my disciple."

Fried tenderloin and fried meatballs are two different things, can't be confused;

Lin Xu certainly knows this, and coupled with Beijing people's strong sentiment and stringent standards for fried meatballs, the shop never put it on the menu.

Any dish not reaching Superior level isn't allowed as a new item in the shop, to avoid being criticized.

As Dou Wenjing mentioned, during the Spring Festival, many outside UP hosts came to explore the shop, some even livestreamed, making new dish introduction quite pressured.

If any flaws get picked out, it'd be quite a laugh.

Master Gao didn't start cooking immediately but grabbed two heads of garlic and began peeling.

He said:

"Eating fried meatballs, besides the traditional pepper salt, usually pairs with Tiger Sauce, this is something of an insider, only true old Beijingers know."

Tiger Sauce?

I only know Tiger Salad, found in Northwest, Northeast, North China and other regions, with varying local methods, but all are appetizing and whet the appetite.

Xie Baomin said aside:

"Junior brother isn't from Beijing, it's normal not to know Tiger Sauce. The name sounds domineering, but the preparation is simple, chop garlic finely, mix with thin soy sauce, and just drizzle some sesame oil."

As soon as he finished, Master Gao who was peeling garlic said:

"Since you're discussing the method, talk fully, don't hold back from your junior brother, right?"

Xie Baomin responded immediately:

"No, no, it's that I forgot junior brother doesn't understand this. Tiger Sauce should be prepared two to three hours in advance, let the garlic's pungency fully dissolve into the soy sauce, that's when it's delicious."

Compared to the previous preparation steps, this part is the real highlight.

Methods are easily found online, but most people wouldn't speak of advance marinating, after all, traditionally craftsmen always hold back a bit.

Even those teaching cooking online often have this problem too.

Ultimately, outsiders watch for fun, those who want to learn end up cooking different dishes.

Besides the chefs holding back, another issue is those making videos not understanding cooking, focused on beauty, controlling time, cutting what they deem unimportant steps, leaving online learners with mere superficial knowledge.