Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country

Chapter 619 - 579: Daocheng Yading’s Super Tibetan Fragrant Pork Twice-Cooked Pork (Part 2)

For office workers who are accustomed to sitting all day, endless walking can be very unfriendly.

Zhuo Qianqian wanted to come here mainly because she was influenced by a film from a few years ago. The movie, adapted from the novel "Passing Through Your World," made countless people fond of this mysterious and romantic place, wishing to bring their special someone to walk and explore here.

Daocheng Yading, Yading in Tibetan means "Sunlit Land," and here it signifies "Holy Land."

This area comprises the three sacred mountains "Xian Nairi, Yang Maiyong, and Shanodoji" along with the surrounding rivers, lakes, and alpine meadows.

The landscape here retains a purity that is almost extinct on Earth, and its unique geographical position and pristine natural scenery earn it the title of "The Soul of Huaxia’s Shangri-La." It’s also referred to as the "Last Pure Land on Earth."

With a loved one, you can watch the blue sky, the white snow-capped mountains, the golden grasslands, and the fairytale world of autumn here.

Wang Fan felt that if you truly love a girl, it’s necessary to bring her here to experience it.

"I hope to meet someone like you, as fresh as the mountain breeze, as warm as the lights of the Ancient City..."

Saying this at Daocheng Yading, one can truly feel that refreshing breeze and bask in the warm light of the Ancient City, as love becomes tangible at this moment.

However, one must bring an oxygen tank here because the altitude is indeed very high.

The best part of Wang Fan’s travels is that he doesn’t worry about accommodation and food, which are often criticized in any tourist spot, and Daocheng Yading is no exception.

But excluding these external factors, Wang Fan thinks the environment here can only be described as a fairyland.

The two had meandered to Luorong Ranch.

September and October at Luorong Ranch are definitely the most beautiful months of the year; the extensive alpine meadows have turned yellow, and the aquatic plants around the alpine lakes transition from eye-catching green to charming gold.

In the distance, the snow mountains are majestic and vast, the azure sky is dotted with white clouds, and underfoot, the grass feels like a golden avenue, while lazy old cows languidly lay on the grass watching the scenery.

Occasionally they chew a mouthful of dry grass, then moo a couple of times, adding more life to the place.

"Since we’re already here."

"Since we’re already here!"

"Since we’re already here!"

This phrase echoed endlessly around Wang Fan’s ear, like a mantra.

It wasn’t hallucination; rather, it was the sound of breathless tourists motivating themselves.

The high-altitude environment easily causes shortness of breath, and everyone carries oxygen tanks, taking occasional puffs to calm their rapidly beating hearts.

Wang Fan felt that the phrase "the eyes in Heaven, feet in Hell" perfectly described their state.

The long trekking route at Daocheng Yading is 11 kilometers, taking 5 to 7 hours for a round trip, with the main attractions further on being Milk Sea and Five-Colored Sea. However, Wang Fan and Zhuo Qianqian didn’t keep going; they strolled hand in hand across the golden grasslands of Luorong Ranch.

The purpose of traveling is to find the poetry and the distant lands one yearns for in their heart. This grassland had met both their requirements, and the mantra "since we’re already here" had no effect on them.

The main reason was having just visited Jiuzhaigou and Sayram Lake previously. In the face of "The Last Tear of the Atlantic Ocean," the lake environment in the Earth’s last pure land pales in comparison, so there was no need for the two of them to risk altitude sickness by continuing to climb.

After leaving the ranch at noon, they naturally started on today’s street vendor task back in their RV.

Today, they decided to make something simple: Twice-Cooked Pork.

In the hearts of Sichuan people, if forced to choose a dish to rival Mapo Tofu, the majority would definitely choose Twice-Cooked Pork.

To them, it’s a kind of delicacy that feels absent if not eaten every two days.

Can’t not eat hot pot, can’t not play mahjong, can’t not eat Twice-Cooked Pork.

In Sichuan, making this dish requires courage because every household can cook it, and every family’s taste is different, making it nearly impossible to please everyone.

However, Wang Fan was very excited; the joy of improving his culinary skills couldn’t be hindered by one or two failures.

Moreover... I might not fail!

The only aspect Wang Fan felt guilty about towards his diners was that today’s dish was going to be very expensive!

Daocheng Tibetan Fragrant Pig, known as the "Ginseng Pig," is dubbed a "treasure of the plateau" and is Huaxia’s only grazing-type pig breed, living at altitudes of 3000 to 4000 meters, primarily feeding on natural, wild edible plants and fruits.

An adult pig takes a year and a half to mature, with an average weight barely reaching 50 kilos, and the market price is typically around 100 yuan per kilo. Even with system support, origin purchase, and a large discount combined, Wang Fan’s pork still costs him 60 yuan per kilo.

He bought 200 kilos, which translates to 200 portions, but only 197 are available for sale.

After all, working hard all day, he had to taste it, and as for the other two portions, his girlfriend is still growing, so having an extra share is quite reasonable.

High-quality ingredients need only the simplest cooking methods, but if premium ingredients meet the most appetizing cooking methods, the result is certainly greater than the sum of its parts.

While cooking the meat, Wang Fan noticed the unique qualities of this pork.

Other pork, when boiled without wine or spices, usually has a gamey smell to varying degrees, but this Daocheng Tibetan Fragrant Pig meat not only lacks any unpleasant odor, it also has a faint fragrance.

The pork in the water was glossy, bright red, and uniform, with the fat part being milky white and slightly translucent. It visually outshined all other pork Wang Fan had dealt with before.

"Wow, using this pork, I feel like I can’t mess up the flavor."

Zhuo Qianqian and her family were not religious, so they had no tradition of avoiding pork. She had eaten plenty before, and seeing the perfect appearance of the Tibetan Fragrant Pork, she was eager to try it.

Wang Fan’s view was more extreme: "Just boiling this meat with plain water wouldn’t taste bad."

Not only did he say it, he did it. When blanching meat for Twice-Cooked Pork, one usually adds scallions, ginger, and cooking wine for an aromatic result, but Wang Fan only had plain water and pork in his pot; no spices. He even believed that with the perfection of this pork, the dish could still challenge golden level standards.

Zhuo Qianqian ultimately didn’t intervene, knowing that only in the boss’s hands could this perfect ingredient realize its value, turning into a dish, or else the pig might weep beneath the earth.

Daocheng Tibetan Fragrant Pig comes with regional certification, with rigorous demands at every step after leaving pasture. Even during cooking, Wang Fan found that there was very little blood froth.

The meat cooked for 20 minutes when Wang Fan keenly noticed a subtle change in aroma and swiftly removed it from the pot.

With swift and precise knife skills, he pressed the pork under an iron hand, moving the sharp knife downwards, and thin slices started to spread across the cutting board.

By now, the pork was perfectly cooked, and the 0.2 cm thick slices still retained a slight pink hue in the muscle traces apart from the translucent fatty parts.

"Tap-tap..."

Wang Fan was preparing lunch for both of them. After slicing the meat, he placed garlic stalks on the board, giving a few firm pats at the thick ends.

The scent from thick ends was richer and, being relatively thick, took longer to cook through, patting helped release flavor faster and made it cook evenly.

With the garlic chopsticks ready, he added oil to the cold pan and slipped in the meat slices. The fat slowly rendered out, and the slices began curling up deliciously.

The pan still needed no seasoning; only the exquisite oil of the pork, slowly turning as it was sautéed, already lent a rich aroma filling the entire RV.

Black beans and broad bean paste was added to the fragrance bomb explosion, sweet sauce enhanced the richness and removed grease, and sugar softened the dish while enhancing flavor.

The cut garlic stalks were tossed in for a quick stir, the iron wok lifted decisively, and the Twice-Cooked Pork confidently landed on the white rice Zhuo Qianqian had just prepared.

"Wow... it smells so good..."

Zhuo Qianqian took a deep breath full of rich aroma, feeling so hungry she could eat a whole cow in a flash.

Her mouth started watering uncontrollably; just a glance at the Twice-Cooked Pork seemed to draw a thread from her eyes.

A large "craving" character seemed etched on her forehead.