C8 Food Ingredient Processing

"Hey you, come over here!"

Huang Youwei was on his way to the hotel kitchen, foam box in hand, when a stylish city beauty flagged him down.

"What's in the box?" she inquired.

Huang Youwei let out a forced chuckle, "Some kid came by earlier peddling fish balls, claiming they were crafted with some special technique, completely additive-free. He really talked them up, so I had him leave some here to see if they're as impressive as he boasted."

The woman's frown deepened as she let out a huff, lowering her voice to scold, "Fatty Huang, you're taking advantage again. If our hotel isn't interested in his product, why keep the samples? It just gives people something to talk about!"

Scolded, Huang Youwei didn't dare talk back, his small eyes blinking as he said, "I tried them, and honestly, these fish balls aren't half bad."

"Not bad?" The woman paused, then her face broke into a charming smile. "For something to get high praise from you, Fatty Huang, is quite the rarity. Let's head to the kitchen and give them a try—I'm famished!"

"Sure thing, Miss Zhao, after you!" Huang Youwei squinted his eyes and extended his plump hand, bowing slightly in a welcoming gesture.

Without any hesitation, the woman made her way to the hotel kitchen. She was Zhao Xueying, the general manager of Star Moon Bay Hotel. The chubby man, Huang Youwei, was the son of the head chef at Star Moon Bay Hotel. Despite his sharp and somewhat severe appearance, he wasn't all that bad.

Now past mealtime, the kitchen was quiet. Huang Youwei took the lead, using the fish balls as the star ingredient to whip up three dishes.

A soup with green veggies and fish balls, red-braised fish balls, and deep-fried fish balls—simple home cooking, yet elevated by Fatty Huang's culinary prowess.

"Not bad at all. Have your skills improved again, Fatty Huang?" Zhao Xueying was the first to try the red-braised fish balls, her eyes lighting up as she complimented him with a smile.

"Really?" Huang Youwei, whose girth was a testament to his love of food, was also a talented cook. Zhao Xueying, as the third daughter of the Zhao family and the manager of Star Moon Bay Hotel, had tasted her fair share of gourmet dishes. Her palate was refined, so her praise meant the dish was a hit.

Huang Youwei savored a fish ball, eyes closed, then picked up another with his chopsticks and continued to chew thoughtfully.

"These fish balls are something else, Manager. I think they're quite good, and I couldn't have made them myself." After polishing off more than half of the three dishes, he finally wiped his mouth.

Zhao Xueying nodded in agreement, "They are good. The fish balls retain their natural flavor almost perfectly, even without fancy ingredients. Imagine if we used higher-end products—the taste would be even better. How much do these processed fish balls go for?"

"Six hundred a pound."

Zhao Xueying's brow furrowed, "Six hundred? That's steep, considering the basic fresh fish used. The production costs can't be that high."

"Indeed."

Both Zhao Xueying and Huang Youwei knew quality when they tasted it—one a connoisseur of fine dining, the other a top-notch chef. They had both formed their opinions on the fish balls Lee Zhi had brought.

"Do we want to pick some up?" Huang Youwei squinted and inquired.

Zhao Xueying pondered for a moment before responding, "Why don't you give him a call and see if he can do the processing for us? We'll supply the ingredients and have him handle the rest."

"Got it!"

When Huang Youwei rang up Lee Zhi, Lee Zhi was eyeing a freezer in a supermarket, a purchase he needed to make that very night to store the 100-plus kilograms of fish balls back at home.

"Is this Manager Lee?"

Recognizing Huang Youwei's voice, Lee Zhi chuckled, "Yes, this is Lee Zhi. Chef Huang, right? So, how do you like the taste of my fish balls?"

Glancing at Zhao Xueying, Huang Youwei smirked and replied, "They're alright. The fish isn't top-notch, and the ingredients are just so-so. However, I'm rather intrigued by your fish ball processing technique. Is it for sale?"

Fish ball processing technique?

Lee Zhi let out a wry laugh, "Brother Huang, you must be pulling my leg. I rely on this little skill to make a living."

Without consulting Zhao Xueying, Huang Youwei blurted out, "One million!" He could easily afford the sum himself, so there was no need to check with Zhao Xueying.

Both knew the truth: Lee Zhi's fish balls weren't the valuable part—it was the technology behind making them that held worth.

"Eighty million. If you're truly interested, Brother Huang, I'll sell you a set of equipment for eighty million," Lee Zhi offered with a grin, cleverly sidestepping the mention of his technique. Having been a spendthrift in his past life, he had no qualms about driving a hard bargain. If Huang Youwei was serious about purchasing the fish ball-making equipment, he'd let it go for eighty million and not feel a pinch.

"Eighty million?" Huang Youwei's eyes nearly popped out of his head, barely holding back a tirade. He silently cursed Lee Zhi's ancestors, thinking that not even someone fresh from Africa would be so ruthless.

"Yes, eighty million. As a connoisseur, you know the adage 'you get what you pay for.' My technology is worth that much," Lee Zhi maintained with a grin.

Huang Youwei turned to Zhao Xueying, who subtly shook her head, prompting him to say, "I can't come up with eighty million. How about this instead? On behalf of Star Moon Bay Hotel, I'd like to commission you to process a batch of fish balls. We'll cover all the ingredients. Does that work for you?"

Star Moon Bay Hotel providing the ingredients? They must think his own supplies weren't up to par.

Lee Zhi wasn't about to turn away business. He smiled and said, "Of course, that's perfectly fine. The job is straightforward. For processing, I'll charge 300 dollars per kilogram of fish balls, with 200 grams of fish yielding one kilogram of product. The minimum order is 100 kilograms. If you want to maintain the original flavor of the raw materials, there's a 20-kilogram allowance for machine calibration. If you're not too strict, you can skip the 20-kilogram loss. Honestly, aside from the most discerning food critics, most people wouldn't notice a difference."

Lee Zhi had fabricated the bit about flavor mixing. Even the most elite food critics couldn't detect other fish remnants in the fish balls—unless they were exceptionally gifted, a rarity Lee Zhi had yet to encounter.

Huang Youwei frowned, muffling the phone's mouthpiece, and turned to Zhao Xueying, "Manager, this guy's pretty slick. He's asking for 300 dollars per kilogram of processed fish balls, and we need to supply 20 kilograms of ingredients just for machine cleanup."

Zhao Xueying pondered for a moment before responding, "No problem. Tell him to go ahead and process 200 kilograms to start with!"

"Got it!"

Lee Zhi hadn't expected Fatty Huang to agree so readily. He mulled it over briefly, then placed an order for 200 kilograms of fish balls and provided the factory address. The other party said they would bring the ingredients to the factory the next day before hanging up.

Processing 200 kilograms of fish balls would cost 60,000 dollars just for the processing fee. Moreover, for every kilogram of ingredients processed, Lee Zhi's factory would retain a third of the product.

Theoretically, one kilogram of fresh fish could yield 375 grams of fish balls—that's the optimal outcome. But if there's too much waste, the actual output could be less. Lee Zhi didn't see an issue with this arrangement. After all, his factory was doing the production; it was only fair to keep some samples for taste testing.

Whether there were unwritten industry standards before, Lee Zhi couldn't say. But one thing was clear: in his factory, he set the rules!