Chapter 265: Chapter 179: Super Simple Sugarcane Juice! Fish Scales Can Actually Be Made into Snacks? [Monthly Ticket 1500 Bonus Chapter]_3
Drinking it made one feel completely refreshed. Delicious! Xie Baomin poured himself a large bowl and started patrolling the kitchen with it.
Just as Lin Xu was about to drink some more, the kitchen helper who had slaughtered the carp came over with a small basin, "Chef Lin, here are the Fish Scales you requested. I didn’t dare to disturb you earlier when the head chef was teaching you how to make sugar syrup. They’re all here. Do you want me to help you wash them?"
"No need, no need, I can wash them myself. Thank you for your trouble."
"If you say that, it makes me feel like an outsider, Chef Lin. You’re our hero in Building Two after all."
Lin Xu, representing Building Two, had won the championship in this cooking competition, giving everyone in Building Two a reason to hold their heads high. The staff in the back kitchen practically considered him their hero.
After the kitchen helper left, Lin Xu went to the sink, carefully washing the Fish Scales twice in the basin.
Concerned about any fishy smell, he grabbed some flour and, like washing Fatty Intestines, he scrubbed and washed the Fish Scales as well.
After rinsing them clean again, he dried the Fish Scales, poured in some Cooking Wine and Scallion and Ginger water to remove the fishy smell, sprinkled some salt, and set them aside to marinate.
He had never tasted the spicy Fish Scales Song Dahai talked about; he hadn’t even seen them. Therefore, he could only use his experience from cooking other dishes to experiment with the preparation, step by step.
After marinating for about ten minutes, he sprinkled some dry starch onto the Fish Scales, mixing them well so the starch evenly coated their surfaces.
After finishing these tasks, he set up a wok, heated the oil to medium temperature, and then started to deep-fry. He grabbed a handful of starch-coated Fish Scales and scattered them into the wok. Then, he stirred them with a spoon a few times to spread them out. When they turned golden brown and curled, he took them out and started frying the next batch.
By now, the previously fried Fish Scales had cooled down sufficiently, so he picked up a piece to taste.
Hmm, surprisingly crispy. None of the anticipated issues, like being prickly or fishy, were present; they were just fragrant and crispy.
As he was enjoying the taste, the system’s notification sound rang in his mind again: "Host has successfully made ’Excellent Level’ crispy fried Fish Scales snack based on the introduction by a State Banquet master, and has thus acquired the ’Excellent Level’ basic aquatic Technique — Peeling Fish Skin. Congratulations to the host."
What? There are rewards, too?
Lin Xu had originally intended to try making a small snack for Shen Baobao. He didn’t expect to actually trigger a system reward, and to receive a Technique for Peeling Fish Skin at that.
Although this Technique might end up neglected in a corner like the Pig Slaughtering Technique, every little bit helps—it’s better than nothing.
At this moment, the Fish Scales in the wok were ready again. Lin Xu scooped them out with a slotted spoon and continued frying.
After all the Fish Scales were fried, he raised the oil temperature and poured the fried Fish Scales back into the wok for a second fry. Since the Fish Scales were thin and fried quickly, the refrying process was very short. They had to be scooped out almost as soon as they were poured in.
Just as he was taking the Fish Scales out, Xie Baomin sauntered over.
"Fish Scales? Did Old Song teach you this?"
Lin Xu nodded, then asked, "How did you know?"
"Old Song is the best at preparing fish in Fishing Platform; we used to call him Fatty Carp, and it made him turn against us several times."
Lin Xu: "..."
You’re really quite the joker.
Xie Baomin tasted the Fish Scales, then opened a nearby cabinet, rummaged out a cardboard box, pulled out a sealed bag of chili powder, and handed it over, "Sprinkle some of this; it’ll taste even better."
Lin Xu looked at it and saw no difference from the chili powder usually used in the kitchen. He opened it and sprinkled a little into the basin. He then pinched a piece of Fish Scales covered in chili powder and tasted it.
The flavor was not only crispy and fragrant but also had an added numbing spiciness. This numbing taste wasn’t overpowering at all. Instead, it had a pleasant aroma. It produced a dry fragrance in the mouth, making the Fish Scales even more delicious.
"Why is this chili powder so tasty, senior brother? After adding it, the texture and taste of the Fish Scales have jumped up a level."
Lin Xu was quite surprised. He didn’t expect this ordinary-looking chili powder to be so delicious.
"It contains soybean powder, so it tastes more fragrant. Next time you eat barbecue or use a dry dip for hot pot, you could try it too; it’s pretty good."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xu said jokingly, "Since it’s so good, I’ll just take this cardboard box away then."
Who knew that Xie Baomin would wave his hand and say, "Take it, we don’t need it anyway, and it just takes up space."
Don’t need it? If you don’t need it, why make this stuff at all?
Seeing the look of disdain on his senior brother’s face, Lin Xu suddenly thought of a possibility, "Who made this?"
"It was Chef Dai from Building Eighteen. They specialize in Sichuan cuisine, and dry dish dipping sauces are a piece of cake for them."
As expected... This stuff was acquired from another building.
"Why did Chef Dai make so much chili powder for you?" Lin Xu was somewhat curious. If you’re not running a barbecue restaurant, you don’t need a lot of this stuff. Making a whole cardboard box would last for months, right?
"I won it from a bet with him last time. We were at a head chef meeting, and he said I wouldn’t dare to touch Old Song’s head. So I pretended there was a fly and swatted Old Song, and this box of chili powder became mine."
Lin Xu: "..."
He had never imagined that the little Fishing Platform actually housed two such characters as his senior brother and Chef Dai. He’d originally thought only idiocy was contagious. Who knew that being a joker could also be spread from person to person?
「At seven in the evening.」
After finishing up his work, Lin Xu packed the fried crispy Fish Scales into a takeaway bag, then loaded the box of chili powder into his car, carried Dundun out, and headed home from work.
Before leaving though, he had to go to Building Fifteen. The taste of the sugarcane and pear soup was pretty refreshing, so he planned to "borrow" a couple of sugarcanes to take home and make some sweet soup for Shen Baobao.
He drove away from Building Two. Following the main road of Fishing Platform, he headed towards the rockery area.
While driving, he spotted the figure of Qiu Zhenhua, the head chef of Building Six. This head chef, with an air of scholarly elegance and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, was carrying several muddy sugarcanes, striding along like a warrior returning from target practice, his shadow elongated by the setting sun.
Lin Xu stopped the car, rolled down the window, and greeted Qiu Zhenhua, "Chef Qiu, what’s going on here?"
"Eh? Chef Lin, what are you doing driving over here? Are you planning to go to Building Fifteen to snatch some sugarcanes? Don’t bother; the other head chefs have already grabbed them all. I had to use all my powers of persuasion to get Old Dai from Building Eighteen to spare a few..."
Lin Xu: ??????
Are you guys playing ’Confiscate the Landlords’ Wealth and Distribute it to the Peasants’ here? If you’ve taken them all, what about the sugarcane and pear soup for my Shen Baobao?
Seeing the sugarcanes on Qiu Zhenhua’s shoulder, Lin Xu suddenly had an idea...