Lin Xu immediately rejoiced. It seemed his senior brother had been watching a lot of cooking videos online lately. He picked up the kitchen scale to measure the seasonings and poured them into a small basin. After weighing everything, he began to mix the dry ingredients. "So many ingredients, is it for one suckling pig?"

Guo Weidong shook his head. "One suckling pig only needs about three hundred grams; these ingredients are for five pigs."

Wow! No wonder it's 750 grams of salt; it's not just for one pig.

After mixing the dry ingredients evenly, Lin Xu started on the sauce under Guo Weidong's guidance. "oyster sauce, 250 grams; seafood sauce, 500 grams; hoisin sauce, 500 grams; Sesame Sauce, 125 grams; Peanut Butter, 250 grams; minced garlic, 200 grams; Aged Tangerine Peel paste, 100 grams... This is the amount for ten suckling pigs."

Upon hearing "Aged Tangerine Peel paste," Xie Baomin, who was waiting to eat, couldn't help but praise, "It looks like Weidong is really bringing out his top techniques this time, not holding anything back."

Aged Tangerine Peel is known as the secret weapon of master chefs in Cantonese cuisine. Many dishes require it to enhance the flavor, yet many Cantonese chefs don't mention this step at all when teaching how to cook the dishes. As the executive chef of Fishing Platform, Xie Baomin was very clear about this. Therefore, upon hearing about the 100 grams of Aged Tangerine Peel paste, he immediately gave a thumbs-up, marveling at Guo Weidong's generous teaching approach.

"When we make Qingshui Furong later, I hope you won't hold back either."

"Don't worry, I definitely won't. With our relationship, I'd scam anyone but you."

Xie Baomin would have been better off not saying that. As soon as he did, Guo Weidong immediately turned to Lin Xu and said, "Master Lin, why don't you make the Qingshui Furong later? I don't really trust your senior brother."

"Okay, Chef Guo."

Lin Xu took the cleaver and chopped the garlic while listening to the two middle-aged men bicker. After chopping the garlic, he took the Aged Tangerine Peel. Just as he started cutting, Guo Weidong reminded him, "Aged Tangerine Peel is useful, but it shouldn't be overused. You must use this aged New Hui Chenpi with plenty of years on it. If you just randomly peel a couple of oranges and use the peel, it will backfire."

Lin Xu asked, "How old is considered good?"

"Anything over ten years is fine. Aged Tangerine Peel of this age virtually melts when heated, leaving no residue at all, so you don't have to worry about biting into it."

After cutting the Aged Tangerine Peel, Lin Xu put all the ingredients into the basin and mixed them evenly with a small spoon. Next up was the Crispy Skin Water. This was also one of the most important ingredients for roasting suckling pigs, as its quality directly affected the final appearance of the dish.

"Dark Zhejiang vinegar, 200 grams; White Vinegar, 1,000 grams; Liquor, 200 grams; Rose Wine, 200 grams; Maltose, 100 grams; one lemon; baking soda, 30 grams."

When roasting a whole lamb, Crispy Skin Water is also used, but for that, Dark Zhejiang vinegar alone is sufficient; it is the absolute centerpiece of Crispy Skin Water. To Lin Xu's surprise, in the preparation for roast suckling pig, Dark Zhejiang vinegar became merely one of the ingredients.

Lin Xu asked curiously, wanting to know the reason.

Xie Baomin explained, "Roasting a whole lamb involves peeling, so the coloration is slow, which is why more Dark Zhejiang vinegar is needed. But suckling pig is roasted with the skin, coloring quickly. If there's too much Dark Zhejiang vinegar, the color of the roasted pig will be too dark, so we use White Vinegar to balance it."

Guo Weidong added, "Not only should the amount of Dark Zhejiang vinegar be limited, but the quantity of Maltose also can't be too much; otherwise, the Pork Skin will blacken, and the presentation will be poor."

This was all advice born out of experience! Lin Xu took mental notes.

He planned to get a few small suckling pigs when he got back and try roasting them with fruitwood charcoal in the yard of the West Fourth Ring Villa to see if he could replicate the method. If it worked out, he would be able to improve their meals again tonight.

Hmm, after the new store opened, he wouldn't be able to live in the villa anymore. So, he had to take advantage of these less busy days to improve life for his family as much as possible. Otherwise, his father-in-law, who was dieting with his diet-addicted mother-in-law, might turn from the happy Old Shen into the depressed Old Shen because of the diet meals.

Once the Crispy Skin Water was ready, all the seasonings needed for roasting the suckling pig were prepared. Guo Weidong brought out a cleanly slaughtered suckling pig from the cold storage and placed it on a tray on the workbench, then said to Lin Xu, "Since you know how to roast a whole lamb, you can do the modification cuts for the suckling pig too."

Lin Xu didn't refuse; he wanted to see the differences between the modification cuts for a suckling pig and those for a whole roasted lamb.

"First, split the pig's head from the chin and dig out the brains. This prevents them from leaking everywhere during roasting, which would ruin the suckling pig's presentation."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xu immediately placed the pig on the tray with its belly facing up. Grabbing the cleaver, he chopped open the suckling pig's chin along the incision in the abdominal cavity. He possessed the Technique for butchering a whole pig, so he was precise with his cuts, careful not to damage the skin—after all, a suckling pig was mostly about its crispy skin.

After cracking open the skull, he carefully scooped out the brain with a spoon. The brain of a suckling pig is very tender. With an Egg, sprinkled with chopped green onions and steamed, it becomes extremely delicious simply drizzled with Light Soy Sauce. Unfortunately, he couldn't attend to that now.

Lin Xu grabbed the cleaver and chopped down along the suckling pig's cervical vertebrae, all the way to the coccyx. Just like with roasting a whole lamb, the suckling pig's spine needed to be severed from end to end. This served not only to cut the nerves and prevent twitching during roasting but, more importantly, it allowed the meat to cook quickly and enabled the suckling pig to be arranged in a more appealing posture.

Hmm, unlike a whole lamb that lies flat on the roasting rack, a suckling pig needed its skin to be fully stretched and puffed up, ideally into a plump, cylindrical shape.

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