Heartbroken Rice and Exploding-juice Beef Balls
"I don't want anything, just give me two pounds of the most authentic local pork tenderloin, and a few chicken wings."
"And two pounds of beef hind leg, too." Sing Sing pinched the piece of water-injected meat, scraped his water-stained fingertips on the edge of the cutting board a couple of times, and handed over a hundred-yuan bill.
The stall owner exhaled the breath he had been holding in, and with a swift motion, chopped off two pounds of pork tenderloin.
When weighing the food, he gritted his teeth and cut off an extra piece, then grabbed two scallions from a nearby vegetable stall and threw them into a plastic bag.
Sing Sing leaned over to take a look at the electronic scale; it was overweight.
This guy has good judgment.
"Why all this fuss about buying groceries? If you went to be a stand-up comedian, you'd starve Guo Degang to death." Polaris, standing to the side, pulled down his sunglasses.
"This is called the price anchoring and psychological defense breaking tactic in market economics. Let's go back and cook!"
A clattering and clanging sound came from the kitchen.
Sing Sing lined up the ingredients on the counter, took off his suit jacket, and rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows.
He took two solid wood rolling pins out of the cupboard and twirled them halfway in his hand.
"Drink!"
The rolling pin flew up and down, subjecting the beef hind leg on the cutting board to a barrage of hammer blows.
Soft Serve, returning home from work, peeked into the kitchen and asked, "Brother Zhou, what are you doing? What's wrong with this piece of meat?"
"This is called 'forging a thousand times,' beef that has been pounded 26,800 times must possess the elasticity to send a person flying!"
Sing Sing flipped his wrist, and the frequency of the wooden stick's strikes was so fast that it left afterimages. The meat fibers were completely broken down, turning into a sticky meat paste.
Polaris was playing video games on the living room sofa, wearing headphones, while gunfire sounds emanated from the TV speakers.
"Keep your voice down! I can't even hear the enemy's footsteps!"
"If you want to eat good food, you have to pay the price. If you can't hear footsteps, throw a grenade and clear the area!" Sing Sing yelled back.
He gathered the minced meat into a large bowl, sprinkled in salt and pepper, and stirred it vigorously clockwise.
"This is a closely guarded secret I learned from Two-Knife Turkey. You're in luck today!"
He grabbed a handful of mantis shrimp paste and stuffed it into the beef balls, then quickly squeezed the paste with both hands in front of the boiling water, causing the beef balls to fall into the boiling water one by one.
After adding the beef balls, he used a long-handled strainer to stir the boiling water.
Spread the sliced pork belly with the secret sauce and put it in the oven to warm.
Place a frying pan on the stove, heat the oil, crack three eggs with one hand, and fry until the edges are crispy and the yolks are runny.
Before long, Sing Sing turned the white rice upside down into a large bowl, topped it with sizzling char siu, covered it with a fried egg, and garnished it with a few blanched greens.
"The soul of this bowl of rice lies in this secret sauce."
After saying something to the Soft Serve watching nearby, Sing Sing picked up a porcelain spoon and evenly poured the special sauce over the char siu.
"All done, serve the food."
"What is this thing? It looks dark and murky." Polaris picked up a piece of char siu and examined it closely.
"This is called the Heartbroken Rice.' One bite and you'll forget your past suffering; two bites and you'll forget the capitalists' exploitation." Sing Sing took off his apron, sat down opposite him, and picked up a braised chicken wing to tear into.
Polaris put the char siu into his mouth.
She chewed twice, her chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and her eyes widened.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"What's wrong? Why am I crying?" Polaris put down her chopsticks and reached up to touch the tears on her cheeks.
A rare look of panic appeared on her usually cold face.
"It's onion, I added onion!" Sing Sing spat out a chicken bone.
I took a bite of the Soft Serve, and tears streamed down my face and fell into the bowl.
"It's so delicious! I've never eaten such delicious meat before!" Xiao Ruan cried as she shoveled rice into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's.
"Don't just eat rice! Try this Exploding-juice Beef Balls soup!"
Polaris wiped away her tears, picked up a beef ball, put it in her mouth, and bit down hard.
The broth gushed out of the beef balls, flying across the table and heading straight for Sing Sing.
The quick-witted Sing Sing was prepared and turned his head to dodge.
But he didn't notice that Xiao Ruan had also picked up a beef ball, and before she could even smile, "whoosh," another bowl of soup splattered all over his face.
"How come the broth is oozing out of the meatball? Did you install a water pump?" Polaris carefully sipped the broth.
Sing Sing pulled out a tissue to wipe the oily soup from his face, gritting his teeth. "Mix them together and make 'Exploding-juice Beef Balls,' you idiot! This is a quick version. Otherwise, these beef balls could be used as ping-pong balls!"
!
After the meal, only chicken bones and empty bowls remained on the table. The two leaned back on the sofa, rubbing their bellies.
After clearing away the dishes, Sing Sing took out two follow-up visit record forms.
"Now that we've eaten and drunk our fill, it's time to get down to business."
"Isn't this follow-up form just a formality? You can fill it out casually."
"I have to fill out the forms even if it's just a formality, otherwise Wang Pangzi will find another excuse to deduct my travel expenses. I didn't even get reimbursed for the foot massage I paid for this trip."
"The first item: Sleep quality and mental state?"
He sleeps like a log, doesn't even dream.
"Great, it seems the pink Pikachu sheets have a calming effect on your mental state." Sing Sing wrote on the form, "Comfortable bedding, excellent sleep quality, and refreshed."
"The second item is changes in appetite and gastrointestinal function." Sing Sing looked at Xiao Ruan.
"I can eat three large bowls of rice every day, not counting snacks."
Being able to eat is a blessing, a good thing.
"Do you get along well with the masses? Have you been ostracized?"
"Are you blind?" Polaris rolled her eyes.
Sing Sing remained unfazed and wrote on the form, "He blends in seamlessly with the people and is deeply loved by them."
Is the work pressure too high? Or are you experiencing discrimination?
"No, no, everyone is so nice to me. People bring me snacks every day, and a guy with glasses even fixed the wheels on my ice cream cart for me." Xiao Ruan waved her hands repeatedly.
"Does he/she have any tendency to develop antisocial personality disorder?"
"I want to hang the old man who plays the suona downstairs at six o'clock every morning from the streetlight," Polaris said with a straight face.
Sing Sing wrote on the form, "Emotionally stable, with a simple awareness of environmental protection and quietness."
"Do you ever feel nostalgic for the decadent lifestyle of capitalism?"
"Capitalism doesn't even have a proper braised chicken wing, what's there to miss?"
"Very good, high level of ideological awareness. Wang Pangzi will give you a big red flower for this answer." Sing Sing nodded.
"That's good. It seems you're doing very well, so I don't need to worry about you." Sing Sing folded the form and stuffed it into his briefcase.
"Are you leaving after you finish filling out this form?" Soft Serve watched him pack his things and stood up from the sofa.
"What, you can't bear to part with my handsome face?" Sing Sing locked his suitcase, stood up, and straightened his suit and tie.
"Who's going to make pissing beef balls if you leave?" Polaris stood up as well.
Sing Sing picked up his suitcase, turned around, and walked towards the door.
"If you want to eat it, make it yourself. I've written the recipe on a sticky note in the Fridge. Don't expect me to be your free cook every day!"
He opened the door and stepped halfway outside.
"So, is there any kind and pretty lady willing to drive me to the station?"