I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 676 - 309: A Rice Dish That Makes You Fall in Love at First Bite—Chestnut Braised Pork! Million Fans Reward! [Subscribe Please]_2

Chapter 676: Chapter 309: A Rice Dish That Makes You Fall in Love at First Bite—Chestnut Braised Pork! Million Fans Reward! [Subscribe Please]_2

After stir-frying, he added water to the pot along with a tied bunch of scallions, then salt and Light Soy Sauce for seasoning. He then covered the pot and started to braise the contents.

When the braising started, Lin Xu just happened to wander over.

Although he could cook Braised Pork Belly, he had never made chestnut braised pork. Seeing Wei Qian busy and enthusiastic, he curiously asked,

"When do you put the chestnuts in for this stew?"

"The meat stews for one hour first. After an hour, pick out the Scallion and Ginger, add the chestnuts, and stew for another half hour. Finally, finish with high heat to reduce the sauce."

Got it. Chestnuts go in after the meat is well-stewed, Lin Xu noted. He planned to try it himself sometime, but for now, he had a ton of other things to do.

Online, when the video for the old-fashioned stir-fried noodles came out, fans promptly supported it with their likes, comments, and shares, then dragged the progress bar straight to the end.

Finding no segment featuring Dundun taste-testing, they immediately expressed their dismay in the comments:

"Damn, why’s there no Dundun again?"

"I really hope to see Dundun taste-testing once more! Boss Lin, please shoot some of Dundun’s daily life. You’ve hooked fans from the pet zone, but now you neglect us. How can you do this?"

"Dundun~~ My Dundun~ Mommy misses you~~~~"

"A blood-signed petition for a Dundun video!"

"..."

After making a round in the kitchen, Lin Xu came out and ran into Shu Yun.

"Boss, a lot of people online want to see Dundun’s videos. Someone even called the front desk just now. I told them Dundun doesn’t want to make videos right now and that they should wait a bit longer."

That’s a pretty good excuse, Lin Xu mused. He realized he hadn’t filmed Dundun much recently. Since they weren’t together during the day, even their usual playful interactions were gone. It seemed like it was time to film a Dundun episode before these fans started showing up at his door.

But if he was going to film, it couldn’t be for nothing. Lin Xu took out his phone, opened the short video platform, and seeing that his followers had already surpassed nine hundred thousand, he posted an update:

"If my followers exceed one million, I’ll post a video of Dundun getting into some mischief, and it will be no less than ten minutes long."

Well, since they’re all so eager, this is a good chance to boost the follower count. I wonder if there’s a reward from the system when my followers break one million. But that’s not important. The priority now is to increase the topic’s popularity. Currently, the Lin Ji’s Food topic is lingering around fourth or fifth place. The follower count isn’t low; it just lacks that catalyst to stir up all the fans’ emotions. There haven’t been any breakthroughs in the culinary realm recently. To ignite the fans’ emotions, I’ll need to try a different angle. Hopefully, that opportunity comes quickly so the main mission can be completed and the reward obtained.

The moment the update was posted, comments from netizens flooded in:

"I just realized Boss Lin’s follower count hasn’t hit a million yet. Why do I always feel like he already has over five million fans?"

"I just realized I forgot to follow. Doing it now."

"SHOOT! Me too, my bad, my bad!"

"I’ve only subscribed to the topic, not his account. I’ll go post over there in a bit. There are probably a lot of people like me who have only subscribed to the topic and haven’t followed Boss Lin’s personal account."

"I just called and asked. The staff said Dundun doesn’t want to be filmed, so there’s no shoot. Given how Boss Lin has treated Dundun in the past, it seems like he even asks the little guy’s opinion before filming."

"Thank goodness Dundun is with Boss Lin. If Dundun were with someone who saw him as just a money-making tool, it’d be too dreadful to imagine."

"My Dundun’s so smart. How could he have chosen his owner poorly?"

"..."

Seeing the fans’ calm reactions, Lin Xu put away his phone and said to Shu Yun,

"Let’s have a staff tasting for the Stone Cooked Chrysanthemum tonight. We’ll officially launch it tomorrow and see how the sales go."

"Got it, Boss. I’ll let Manager Dou know right away."

Returning to the back kitchen, the ingredients for the stir-fried noodles were ready. Lin Xu washed his hands, set up the wok, and began cooking.

He planned to prepare the vegetables and sauce for the stir-fried noodles first, and then make the Stone Cooked Chrysanthemum so the staff could also taste this delicious dish.

That way, after its launch, the servers could describe it to customers in more detail.

「One hour later.」

Wei Qian approached the stove and lifted the pot lid. Inside, tender, reddish chunks of meat trembled in the boiling sauce.

Clearly, the Braised Pork Belly was stewed perfectly.

Using chopsticks, he picked out the Scallion and Ginger, then promptly poured the pre-fried chestnuts into the pot. He stirred them with a spoon to mix them thoroughly with the meat.

He covered the pot and continued to let it stew.

However, this time it couldn’t stew for too long.

Twenty minutes later, he lifted the lid again, turned the heat from medium to high, and began reducing the sauce.

Once added, the chestnuts, rich in starch, made the sauce noticeably thicker.

Under the high heat, the sauce in the pot grew increasingly concentrated, while the meat and chestnuts took on an even richer, more appealing color.

When the sauce had reduced until it was thick and glossy, he turned off the heat and plated the dish.

The sauce for this dish shouldn’t be completely reduced. Some should remain to be mixed with rice, as it offers an unexpectedly delicious taste.

After the Chestnut Braised Pork was dished out, Lin Xu also finished preparing several portions of the Stone Cooked Chrysanthemum.

"All ready. Shall we start eating?"

Wei Qian came over. Hearing the Chrysanthemum leaves SIZZLING as the hot stones in the pot cooked them, he couldn’t help but lick his lips.

Last time, he had only tasted one stalk, and it was hardly satisfying. Since several portions were made today, I’ll definitely have a few more chopsticks’ worth later and really savor the charm of these stone-cooked dishes! Wei Qian thought excitedly.

Lin Xu poured Brandy over the last portion of Stone Cooked Chrysanthemum and set it alight, saying,

"Let’s start. By the time it’s served at the table, the Chrysanthemum leaves should be just about ready to eat."