Chapter 40: The Food Factory

Yun Suji looked at the figures of delayed deliveries and couldn’t help but sigh.

The insufficient delivery of soybeans not only affected the production of soy sauce but also involved the production of tofu, fermented soybeans, and soybean paste. These were all the food factory’s flagship products. Although fava beans could be used as a substitute in some places, it was not the same thing.

On the factory’s railway tracks, workers were pushing flatbed carts towards the cleaning workshop. The carts were filled with wicker baskets full of white radishes. On another track, dried shredded radish was being transported from the drying workshop to be packaged.

As Yun Suji was watching intently, his secretary knocked on the door to report, “Chief Xi Yazhou is here.”

“Please have him wait downstairs for a moment. I’ll be right down,” Yun Suji said.

Accompanying the new Army Chief of Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the South China Army was Chen Sigen. The fitness coach and nutritionist had retired from his position as a squad leader in the special reconnaissance team. He now worked at the Ministry of People’s Livelihood and Labor, specifically responsible for national fitness and nutrition.

Their grand visit to the food factory was primarily for the logistical food support for the upcoming mainland campaign.

It had been six years since the Senate first established its army, and the army’s logistical supply had undergone several changes. However, the basic daily supply standard was still based on the standard set by Chen Sigen when the security battalion was established. The specific supply standard was: 850 grams of rice, 350 grams of vegetables, 50 grams of soy products, 50 grams of meat or aquatic products, 20 grams of oil, and 10 grams of salt. This standard was not high, but it basically met the needs of soldiers for daily training and camp duties. When it came to collective labor, field training, and expeditions, the supply standard would be adjusted according to the situation.

As Chen Sigen had pointed out many times, the supply standard of the Fubo Army only met the needs for calories and vitamins, with a serious deficiency in protein and fat supply. Therefore, the physical fitness level of the soldiers was low—muscles need a large amount of protein to synthesize. Training alone could not truly solve this problem.

The established supply principle for the mainland campaign was to rely on “local procurement” for staple foods. However, the supply of non-staple foods had to rely on the Senate’s food industry. Although the prosperous Pearl River Delta would not lack chickens, ducks, freshwater fish, and pigs, the health department remained cautious about procuring animal-based foods locally.

The logistics headquarters had sent several official letters to the food factory, requesting them to develop military food that was “easy to carry,” “easy to eat,” “not easily perishable,” and “rich in protein and fat.” Reading this letter, Yun Suji could only smile wryly.

The only thing that best met these requirements was canned food. You yourselves rejected the glass jar cans, so what’s left but salted and dried meat? Not to mention whether these things are “healthy,” they don’t even meet the “easy to eat” requirement. These types of food are mostly either tough or extremely salty and are difficult to eat without secondary cooking.

Xi Yazhou and Chen Sigen were both soldiers who had served overseas for a long time, so they both had the image of tanned, muscular men. Seeing Yun Suji, Xi Yazhou extended his hand and grinned widely. “Factory Manager Yun, long time no see! The dried sausage you sent for trial last time was excellent! It’s delicious even eaten directly.”

Yun Suji shook his hand. “Unfortunately, the raw materials for dried sausage are too scarce. We can’t process more.” He had wanted to add, “even the scraps are not enough,” but he swallowed the words.

“We came this time to see if we can find more substitutes,” Chen Sigen said. “The soldiers’ protein and fat intake is insufficient. I estimate that during the mainland campaign, the soldiers will need no less than 5,000 calories per day. Just eating rice is not enough.”

“We have already considered this.” Although Yun Suji had been in the countryside for half a month and also had work to do for the Heaven and Earth Society, he had never let go of the new product development at the food factory. In recent years, as long as the supply conditions permitted, he would conduct small-scale trial production of various foods, even if they could not be mass-produced, just to see if it was possible. As a result, a considerable number of products that could be put into production had accumulated. Some products were manufactured in small batches and supplied to the Senate’s special supply stores and the Zi Ji brand in Guangzhou for sale.

“Let’s go, let’s go to the workshop,” Yun Suji said. “I’ll introduce them as we go. You can see which products are suitable. As long as the raw materials can be supplied, we can adjust the production line.”

“That’s great,” Xi Yazhou’s eyes lit up.

Yun Suji led them to the production area and entered the first workshop.

“This is the poultry and egg curing workshop,” Yun Suji introduced. “Watch your step.”

The most striking feature of the workshop was a series of large, tile-lined pools. Wooden racks were built over the pools, from which hung rows of large bamboo baskets, submerged in the water.

This was the first time Xi Yazhou and Chen Sigen had been to a food factory workshop. Although the smell was unpleasant and the floor was wet, they were still very curious.

“These few pools are mainly for producing salted eggs. The eggs are in the baskets. The production process for salted eggs is simple, and they can be preserved for a considerable time if the shell is not broken,” Yun Suji said. “Poultry eggs are one of our more abundant sources of protein right now. The high salt content can also supplement the salt in the soldiers’ bodies.”

Xi Yazhou was intrigued. “Why do I remember that salted eggs are cured with yellow mud paste?”

“Yellow mud is also possible. But the brine curing process is simpler. We just need to test the salt’s Baume concentration in the pool water every day. If it’s not enough, we just add more salt. If it’s mud paste, you need a lot of stirring after adding salt. Besides, the fluidity of brine is better. You can just soak them directly, no need for manual mud coating.”

“What’s in those big cloth bags?” Xi Yazhou pointed to several cloth bags half-submerged on the surface of the pool.

“Those are red chili peppers. They help the salted egg yolks become crumbly and oily,” Yun Suji said. “I’ve also thought about transportation. We’ll use egg cartons for packaging, the common kind you see in supermarkets, a dozen in a set, made of concrete pulp. They’ll be paired with a thicker cardboard box and then placed in a standard packing case, which can withstand long-distance transportation…”

Chen Sigen shook his head. “Salted eggs won’t work. The shelf life is too short. Even if we’re fighting in the spring when the temperature is not high, the shelf life of raw eggs is only about a month. And with your brine curing method, they probably won’t last a month once they’re out of the brine.”

Now Xi Yazhou also shook his head. He knew the efficiency of the logistics headquarters’ transport. From Lingao to Hong Kong, then from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, and then distributed to the front lines—this process would indeed not exceed thirty days, but the salted eggs would become “fresh produce.” They couldn’t be stored in warehouses at any level and had to be distributed as soon as they arrived. This was obviously somewhat unrealistic.

“If we were to distribute salted eggs, the ones cured with the yellow mud method would be more feasible. But they would also have to be transported in sealed baskets. If packaged individually, the yellow mud would dry out and it wouldn’t work,” Chen Sigen said, looking at the baskets of salted eggs in the pool. “For supplying eggs to the army, egg powder is the best.”

Xi Yazhou asked, “Can you produce egg powder?”

“There’s no technical difficulty, but the production quality is very unstable,” Yun Suji had long thought about this. “We don’t have the ability to do spray drying, only hot steam mixed drying.”

Next, they entered the second workshop. Since this was where cooked food was produced, Yun Suji had a naturalized citizen bring three white cotton coats, hats, masks, and oilcloth high-top waterproof boots.

“The clothes have all been cleaned and disinfected,” Yun Suji said. “The main thing is not to touch any equipment.”

As soon as the workshop door opened, the rumbling sound of machinery filled the air. Xi Yazhou noticed the power transmission shaft on the ceiling; this was mechanized production.

“This is the meat products workshop,” Yun Suji’s voice was muffled by the mask.

“Is this where the dried sausages are made?”

“Yes, but we only make sausages here. To make dried sausages, they have to go through a process of air-drying and smoking,” Yun Suji said.

The workshop was filled with steam. Xi Yazhou didn’t smell any fragrance, but rather an indescribable odor.

“This is where the sausage meat filling is mixed,” Yun Suji said, pointing to a device that resembled a cement mixer in both appearance and size. It was driven by a belt from the overhead shaft and was rumbling as it mixed. “The raw materials are processed into different specifications in the grinding workshop: there’s minced meat and diced meat. Then they are mixed here. Of course, starch is added as a filler. Then salt, spices, and various seasonings are added, and finally, a small amount of sodium nitrite.”

“Sodium nitrite?” Xi Yazhou was startled. “That’s poisonous.”

“That’s right, this stuff is indeed toxic, so the amount must be controlled. But it’s an important additive in processed meat products. Besides being used for coloring, it also has a flavoring effect—the fact that you find sausages delicious is largely due to this stuff. Of course, its more important use is as a preservative.”

A worker threw a large bucket of green plant fragments into the mixer.

“That’s basil. This batch is for Italian-style herb sausages,” Yun Suji said. “We can make sausages of different flavors by adding different spices and seasonings.”

As they were talking, a worker pulled the gearshift and stopped the machine. He opened the discharge port.

Chen Sigen looked at the meat filling being discharged from the port and felt a little uncomfortable. “To be honest, I really don’t want to know what kind of meat this is made of…”

“Sausages, commonly known as emulsified offal tubes,” Yun Suji joked. “When the Germans slaughter a pig, nothing is left—it’s all chopped up and made into sausages.”

“The ones sold in the South China Sea store,” Xi Yazhou asked quickly, “they should be good meat, right?” His stomach felt a little queasy.

“Of course. Starch is still added, and some chicken or duck meat is added as filler. But you can rest assured that whatever meat is used, it’s good meat, especially the diced fat, which is proper hard fat,” Yun Suji said.

“What about these?” Chen Sigen asked, looking at the meat filling in front of them.