Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 214 - 156: Assembly-Line Slaughtering Technique, Perfect Coordination (Part 2)

"Thud"

The flash of the knife accompanied by a crisp sound, a turtle's bloodied head rolled onto the ground, splattering a large stain of blood.

"Ahhhh!!!!!!!"

All the women except Elsa screamed at this moment, even Dais was no exception.

Her face turned pale, shaking as she held the western knife stained with blood, but quickly adjusted herself.

Having witnessed three bloody scenes now, including the two pigeons earlier, her ability to psychologically adapt had been honed; it's just that she didn't expect the turtle head to fly off, which startled her into screaming.

"After bleeding out the turtle, scald it with boiling water for a few seconds, both sides, not for too long, then peel off the thin membrane on the surface and cut along the edge to remove the back shell, exposing the internal organs."

He took over the turtle processing procedure, casually recounting it to Dais and Elsa, unsure if they would remember.

As for Lucas... he'll just be waiting to exert effort.

This method of slaughtering is the simplest for beginners; for those experienced in slaughter, numb to the process, the quickest method is to press down on the shell and slice down just above the head.

"Since you can chop off the head, do the same for the snake, chop it along with the net, don't let it out, to avoid accidents."

"Yes, chef!"

Upon hearing they'd be chopping off heads again, Helena and Lucinda quickly stepped back a few meters, and the four women at the dining table weren't much better, all screaming and running away.

The ongoing screams almost made Lu Xiaohei jump, but he was held tightly by the quick-reacting Jiang Shuqi.

"Thud—"

Another dull sound echoed.

The dust settled.

Chu Yueyue glared at her man with an ugly expression, angrily shouting, "Wang Ziqin! It's all your damn fault, how is this fun!? What if you scare the kids!!"

"Exactly, I dolled up so nicely, even did my hair and showered, and you give me a live demonstration of blood splattering in five steps? Are you trying to intimidate us? I'll chop you to pieces, believe it or not!!"

"No, no, I really didn't mean that, ow, don't, don't hit me, mercy, let's talk this out!!"

Dreya and Anna stood by with keen interest watching them playfight, never having thought a big businessman could have such a personality, completely unlike a Westerner.

Suddenly, Anna's expression slightly changed.

"D-Dreya, didn't the internet say that the higher the status, the more they care about their image, especially in public."

"Now that we've seen him like this, will we be blacklisted? Or pressured by our boss, forcing the entire modeling industry to the brink, and we'll end up as his slaves..."

Dreya nonchalantly took a few steps back.

"What are you doing? Don't I make sense?"

"Being brain-dead is an illness, I don't want to catch it, here's a tip: watch fewer dark movies."

"Tch, just joking around to liven up the atmosphere, boring woman."

The bloodstains on the ground and the turtle and snake heads had already been cleaned up by the idle Lucas.

Though they were scared, the most bloody and brutal part had passed, and the remaining skinning and gutting still piqued their interest.

Especially those with kids at home, or those about to become moms, quickly adjusted their mindsets and came forward to observe.

After all, cooking is a survival skill, learning more doesn't hurt.

Elsa had already plucked the two pigeons clean and was using scissors to gut them, the air filled with the stench of scorched feathers.

Lin Chen had also removed the entire turtle shell, revealing the colorful internal organs and yellow fat within.

Unlike other domestic livestock, turtle fat must be completely removed, as it's the smelliest part.

The larger pieces can be directly cut off, while smaller ones are easier to handle after a hot water soak.

The freshly boiled water should be cooled for a few minutes, or some cold water added to lower the temperature before soaking the turtle, similar to soaking poultry in hot water, but it shouldn't be freshly boiled.

The soaking time needn't be long, ten seconds or so are enough.

By gently rubbing your fingers on the turtle shell and belly, you can easily rub off a layer of membrane.

Cut away the edges, chop off the limb and tail tips, remove all internal organs, and what's left is tender turtle meat.

The body of the flower snake, held by Dais, headless, still occasionally writhing, looked a bit spooky.

Without Lin Chen's instructions, she instinctively soaked the snake body in the turtle's scalding water, then poured some hot water over it, soaking it for ten seconds before starting to rub the scales.

The method for preparing snake meat is identical to that of eel, so it's not particularly difficult.

After observing the entire slaughtering and processing procedure of this group, Helena and Lucinda's gazes fell simultaneously on Jonathan.

"I say, chef, shouldn't you be starting too?"

"Gulp"

Jonathan swallowed hard, nodding with difficulty, "I was just thinking that, but you see, their group has four people dividing the work, all collectively slaughtering, while we only have three people, shouldn't we..."

"I can't do it, I faint at the sight of blood."

"Don't look at me, I don't cook."

"...Alright then."

With a sigh, he picked up the nets containing the turtle and snake and walked to an empty table nearby.

Compared to the pigeons, these two are slightly better, at least their blood isn't warm, which reduces the psychological guilt somewhat.

No matter how well-prepared mentally, when actually holding the knife, it's still hard to bring oneself to do it.

While he was caught in this dilemma, Lin Chen had already finished processing all the meat, cutting it to the appropriate sizes according to recipe requirements.

The turtle was chopped into pieces, the pigeon gutted, and the snake meat was deboned and cut into snake steaks.

The remaining sea sausages, sea squirts, and sea urchins were no more challenging, and after demonstrating once, he left the rest to the three of them to handle.

Originally, he thought of making Cantonese crispy roast pigeon but gave up after reviewing the recipe, as it was too time-consuming.

The essence of crispy roast pigeon lies in its crispy skin, and the traditional method requires at least a day's preparation, including marinating, scalding the skin, applying syrup, and air drying.

Given the limited time, he decided to try a quick version to see if a similar crispy texture could be achieved.

The so-called quick version is essentially the technique for making crispy pork belly, something he had attempted at home during a boring holiday, which turned out quite legitimate.

First, parboil the pigeon, not for too long, thirty seconds suffices, to enhance the skin's firmness.

Next, coat the pigeon with a basic marinade made from garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, sugar, and smoked paprika before poking a few holes on the surface with a meat tenderizer, and glazing with a mixture of white vinegar and maltose syrup, before placing it in the cooler to chill.

The low temperature accelerates the marinade's flavor penetration, while the cooler's fan provides a drying effect, letting the pigeon's skin quickly lose moisture.

After handling the pigeon, he moved on to stew the turtle.

There's not much to say about it, as it's made like braised pork belly, by first scalding, then caramelizing the sugar, tossing in the meat chunks to stir-fry, adding light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, ginger slices, scallions, and just enough water to cover, finishing with a splash of high-proof liquor, bringing it to a boil before simmering with the lid on for over an hour.

Then there are the snake steaks.

Just coat with a mix of white pepper and salt and let marinate for fifteen minutes.

Lucas had already started the rice, while Dais and Elsa had just finished processing all the sea squirts, sea sausages, and sea urchins, leaving the actual cooking as the final step.

Once the dish preparation starts, the gaps between each dish mustn't be too long, making the timing control crucial for such bespoke meals.

The turtle still needed over fifty minutes, the pigeon required further air drying before frying, similarly timed to the turtle, the snake steaks cooked quickly, needing no worries, and the sea sausage rice could be served in a minute.

After timing everything out, starting the final preparations in about half an hour seemed perfect.

He tossed the western knife casually onto the chopping board, washed his hands, and found a chair nearby to sit and take a break.