Culinary God in Wilderness

He cut off a small piece of beef tallow and placed it in a flat-bottomed pan. Then, he poured in the half bag of flour he had treasured for so long. Kneading it by hand, he crumbled the solid tallow and mixed it thoroughly with the flour, forming a fine, crumbly shortcrust mixture.

"This is the simplest way to make shortcrust pastry in Western desserts. You can use it for cookies, pie crusts, mousse bases, flaky pastries, and so on."

He pressed the prepared dough into a ball. Since no water was added, the flour couldn’t properly bind or develop gluten. It relied on the stickiness of the fat to hold together, which made it very easy to shape.

The only downside was its fragility; it fell apart at the slightest touch.

He grabbed a piece of birch bark he had cleaned and set aside earlier out of boredom, fashioning it into a round mold. Then, he lifted the lid of the earth oven previously used for roasting duck in the yard and tossed in some embers to preheat it.

Seeing the shape of the birch bark mold and the pastry dough, Andre seemed to have an idea of what was coming.

"Lin, are you... making a beef pie?"

"Yes, or it could be a beef tart. I can’t make the custard part because I don’t have any eggs. When you get back, you can search online for a tutorial on how to make egg tart filling. Add that to this, and you’ll have a beef and egg tart."

"A beef and egg tart?? I know what an egg tart is, and I know what a beef tart is, but a beef *and* egg tart... can you really put those two things together?"

"Are egg tarts good?"

"They are." He nodded instinctively.

"Are beef tarts good?"

"A well-made one is pretty delicious."

"Well there you go. Why would two delicious things become bad when you combine them?"

’That... kind of makes sense?’

Andre scratched his head, watching patiently as Lin Chen scooped a little more tallow onto his fingers and greased the inside of the birch bark. He then lined it with a portion of the pastry, pressing it down firmly. Finally, he used a thin twig to poke a few holes in the bottom for ventilation.

When the temperature inside the earth oven rose to the point that waves of heat rolled out, he felt it with his hand. Guessing it was around two hundred degrees Celsius, he removed the embers from the bottom, leaving only the hot coals for insulation. He then hung the pastry from a branch, lowered it inside, and put the lid on to bake.

Taking advantage of the lull, he fetched a piece of beef chuck with clear, snowflake-like marbling.

His sharp military knife danced, and with each cut, a distinct SHHH sound could be heard—the unique noise of slicing through frozen meat.

Meat at room temperature was actually harder to slice; this frozen meat was much more convenient. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Of course, it couldn’t be frozen solid like a rock. The ideal temperature for the meat was between zero and negative five degrees Celsius.

After quickly slicing about twenty pieces of meat, he lifted the lid of the earth oven to check on the pastry shell.

It was difficult to control the temperature in such a crude oven, so it had to be checked frequently to prevent burning.

"The process for making the beef tart filling is very simple. Just stir-fry the beef slices and add whatever seasonings you like. You can add onions, mushrooms, or bell peppers to enhance the texture and nutrition."

"As for seasoning, since I’m making a Great Xia style version, I’m mainly using soy sauce and cumin. You could also add chili powder and Sichuan peppercorn powder to make it numbing and spicy, but that’s not really suitable for children."

"If your daughter prefers sweeter flavors, you could make a Japanese sukiyaki-style version. Mix soy sauce, water, and sugar. If you have the ingredients, you can make a kombu broth to replace the water, then use that sauce to stir-fry the beef and onions."

"For an Indian flavor, add a curry block and masala. For a Korean style, add kimchi and sweet chili sauce. Basically, you can make it any flavor you want."

The baked pastry had taken on a distinct, cookie-like texture. Its surface was an alluring golden brown, and it gave off waves of rich, beef tallow aroma.

While it was still hot, he piled the stir-fried cumin beef slices inside until it was filled to the brim.

"If you have the egg tart filling, pour half of it in and bake it first. Once that’s cooked, you can add the other half along with the beef and its sauce. You could also add mozzarella, cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar, goat cheese, and so on."

"If you’re making a pie, you’d cover the top with another layer of pastry like this and then bake it. If you don’t want to make the pastry yourself, you can just buy it ready-made from the supermarket. The kind for egg tarts is puff pastry, and the texture will be even better."

Lin Chen explained everything in a level of detail he hadn’t shown in a long time. Andre listened with rapt attention, occasionally chiming in with a small question. In the end, he roughly recited the entire process back to ensure he had it all memorized before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Soon, a beef tart shaped like a small bowl was lifted from the earth oven. It was baked to a golden yellow all over, with slightly charred edges that only made it look more delicious and tempting.

The shortcrust made with beef tallow had a deep, rich aroma. While it lacked the strong, milky fragrance of one made with butter, it possessed a unique deliciousness characteristic of animal fat.

The overall texture of the pastry was similar to a cookie. The bottom, having absorbed the sauce from the beef slices, was a bit like a softened ladyfinger—the kind you find in tiramisu.

The surface of the pastry, however, remained crisp and crumbly. Combined with the evenly marbled slices of beef chuck and cumin seeds, every bite was a new explosion of flavor on the palate.

The aroma that burst forth when the cumin seeds popped, paired with the rich fragrance of the pastry, gave one the distinct impression of eating a Xinjiang baked bun.

While Andre was savoring the tart, Lin Chen had already cut a finger-thick fillet steak. After thawing it in warm water, he flattened it slightly by pounding it a few times with a wooden stick.

The pounding action breaks down the muscle tissue in the beef, making the texture more tender.

He dipped the steak in water, then dredged it thoroughly in flour seasoned with salt, black pepper, and chili powder.