Chapter 295: Chapter 190: The Cost Explosion of Yangzhou Fried Rice! A Good Chef Understands How to Tailor Dishes to the Customer! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]_3
All the ingredients were blanched, and then the duck gizzards were added. Duck gizzards have a distinct gamey smell, so they were added last.
After all the ingredients were blanched, Lin Xu began to prepare them. Sea cucumbers were cut into vertical strips, then into small cubes about four to five millimeters square. Sea Scallops needed to be hand-torn into fine threads; this allowed the flavorful compounds inside to fully release into the rice.
The so-called Sea Scallops are actually dried products made from the firmer, fleshy parts of various shellfish. They have a delicious taste and a dense texture, making them a well-known dried seafood product. For Yangzhou Fried Rice, it’s essential to choose high-quality Sea Scallops larger than eight millimeters. This ensures a richer umami flavor and a denser texture when mixed with the rice.
Next, besides the green peas, other ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, fresh bamboo shoots, Jinhua Ham, Chicken Thigh, and duck gizzards were all diced into small cubes about four to five millimeters. Green onions were also chopped and set aside.
After preparing these ingredients, Lin Xu cracked two whole Eggs into a bowl, then added four more egg yolks. Only with an abundance of egg yolks could the Eggs produce delicious, silky threads, and the umami flavor would also be richer. He used chopsticks to thoroughly whisk the two whole Eggs and four yolks together. After that, he strained the mixture through a fine sieve to filter out any chalaza or membrane-like substances, ensuring the Egg wouldn’t clump during frying.
Having strained the egg liquid, Lin Xu set his wok on the heat. He added a spoonful of cold oil, swirled it to coat the wok, then poured it out. He then refilled the wok with about half a small pot’s worth of cooking oil. He turned the heat to high to get the oil hot. When the oil reached a temperature of around ninety degrees Celsius, he turned the heat to its lowest setting.
Then, the most critical step in making Yangzhou Fried Rice commenced—frying the egg threads. Egg threads are a crucial feature distinguishing Yangzhou Fried Rice from ordinary egg fried rice. A delicious portion of Yangzhou Fried Rice must be made with these egg threads.
Lin Xu held the strained egg liquid in his left hand and a ladle in his right, stirring the oil in the wok. He raised the bowl high, like the legendary oil vendor, slightly tilting its rim to let the egg liquid fall into the hot oil in fine threads. As soon as the egg liquid hit the oil, it rapidly formed into fine threads with the help of his stirring. Then, under the heat of the oil, their surface moisture evaporated, and the egg threads set into shape.
"Damn! I had no idea Yangzhou Fried Rice was this complicated."
"I’ve learned it, and I’m already giving up! I’m giving up!"
"I’ll just stick to simple egg fried rice. This is way beyond my cooking level."
"I wonder if Lin Ji’s restaurant will serve Yangzhou Fried Rice when it opens. If they do, I definitely have to go try it and see just how delicious it is."
"Just have your money ready. Manager Lin won’t disappoint his customers."
"Right, when it comes to business, Manager Lin is truly impeccable."
The fans in the live stream chat had originally wanted to learn how to make Yangzhou Fried Rice from Lin Xu, so they could show off their cooking skills during holidays. The earlier steps had seemed manageable. But after seeing the step for frying the egg threads, they immediately lost all interest in showing off. Given this level of difficulty, it was probably better to just spend money and eat at Lin Ji’s restaurant.
As the egg liquid in the bowl diminished, the egg threads in the wok increased, resembling a ball of golden yarn. Finally, when all the egg liquid had been poured out, Lin Xu continued to stir. He then placed a large spider strainer over an oil pot and poured all the oil and egg threads from the wok into it. After the egg threads were in the strainer, he pressed down on them with the back of his ladle a few times to squeeze out the excess oil, making the egg threads drier and more delicious.
Once the egg threads were done, he moved on to the fried rice itself. Indeed, all the previous steps had just been preparation.
He placed the wok on the stove and added a bit of vegetable oil and a little pork lard. Not too much oil was necessary, just enough to prevent the dish from being greasy. A perfect Yangzhou Fried Rice should have a texture that is dry yet fluffy and distinct. If a layer of oil settled on the plate after eating, it would definitely be substandard.
Once the oil was hot, Lin Xu tossed in the Jinhua Ham, sea cucumbers, Sea Scallops, shiitake mushrooms, fresh bamboo shoots, Chicken Thigh, and duck gizzards. He stir-fried them until they became aromatic, then added the leftover rice and began to stir-fry.
Leftover rice tended to clump, so he had to use his ladle to pat it down while stir-frying. Patting the rice grains in this way helped to separate them, making them more springy and the dish tastier.
After the rice was fully separated, he added a handful of chopped green onions, then poured in the egg threads. He continued to stir-fry, breaking up the egg threads and mixing them evenly with the rice. At this stage, he began seasoning.
He added a small spoonful of salt to the wok and, along the edge, drizzled in some Light Soy Sauce to add a hint of savory soy sauce flavor to the fried rice. After seasoning, he added another handful of green onions, along with the green peas. He continued to stir-fry until the flavors of salt and Light Soy Sauce had fully penetrated the rice. Once the dish was fragrant, the remaining green onions were added. After stir-frying until the green onions were just cooked through, it was time to plate and serve.
The entire stir-frying process was not long, but many details required attention. For instance, after stir-frying the aromatics, the rice was added and patted down to quickly separate the grains before the egg threads were mixed in. Also, blanched green peas weren’t suitable for prolonged stir-frying and needed to be added after seasoning. Additionally, the chopped green onions had to be added in three stages to ensure a strong onion fragrance and a delicious texture for the onions themselves.
Once the stir-frying was complete, Lin Xu plated it. And thus, the Yangzhou Fried Rice was a grand success.
Just then, the competition time also came to an end; his timing was perfect.
Guo Weidong praised, "Contests like this might seem casual, but there’s a lot of technique involved. Thirty minutes—if the rice is cooked too early, it will lose its wok hei by the time the judges taste it, and the texture and flavor will be greatly diminished."
Cantonese cuisine places particular emphasis on wok hei. A well-made dish must possess wok hei to be considered perfect.
Clearly, Lin Xu had a precise grasp of this. Calm and unhurried, he finished stir-frying and plating the dish within the last ten seconds of the competition. The fried rice still possessed its wok hei, which was definitely a plus in the judges’ eyes.
As expected, when the judges stepped down from their platform to start tasting, the first thing they tried was Lin Xu’s Yangzhou Fried Rice.
"Oh my, this fried rice is so delicious; one bite is enough to send you to heaven!"
"Indeed, absolutely perfect!"
"The egg threads are just right, exceptionally flavorful—incredible!"
"Even if you went to Yangzhou itself, you might not find Yangzhou Fried Rice as tasty as this."
"This contestant is truly skilled!"
"..."
Listening to the judges’ exclamations, Shen Guofu, sitting in the audience, involuntarily gulped. He was hungry. Unfortunately, he had no snacks with him at that moment.
Remembering that his daughter seemed to have a plate of Horse Hoof Cake before the competition started, he whispered, "Yueyue, got anything to eat? I’m suddenly starving."
"I do!" Shen Jiayue, seated in the front row, pulled out two packs of Snacks from her bag. One had been delivered by the front desk of Building One at Wei Qian’s request, and the other had been sent over by Shu Yun. Yes, the competition among the front desks of the various Fishing Platform buildings was fierce.
Shen Baobao passed the Snacks back, but not to Shen Guofu. Instead, she handed them to Lin Hongqi, saying, "Dad, you must be hungry too. Have some Snacks."
Shen Guofu: "..."
Daughter, you’re not even pretending anymore, are you!
Lin Hongqi smiled and took them, opening one pack and sharing the Snacks with Shen Guofu. Meanwhile, Chen Meijuan and Han Shuzhen shared the other pack.
On stage, after the judges had tasted the main dishes prepared by all the contestants, they moved on to the scoring phase.
Lin Xu took the opportunity to try Guo Xinghai’s Dry Fried Beef Ho Fun. Hmm, savory and delicious, with an authentic, robust wok flavor. This Ho Fun is truly genuine.
Guo Xinghai had originally wanted to try Lin Xu’s Yangzhou Fried Rice, but when he went over with a spoon, he found the judges had already eaten it all.
Tsk... First place is his again, no doubt!
Sure enough, when the scores came in, Lin Xu once again ranked first with 9.9 points. Huo Yifan’s Tomato Noodles and Guo Xinghai’s Dry Fried Beef Ho Fun both received 9.8 points, tying for second place. Zhuang Yizhou’s Egg Fried Rice scored 9.7 points, ranking third. Wei Qian’s Braised Green Beans with Noodles also scored 9.5 points, ranking sixth.
After the rankings were announced, a system prompt sounded again in Lin Xu’s mind: "Host has secured first place in this round of competition, completing the third round of the chain task [Overcoming the Challengers], and has received the Excellent Level Basic Cooking Technique—Stuffed Vinegar. Congratulations to the Host."
WTF? Stuffed Vinegar? Are you joking with me?
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A huge thank you to our top patron, ’[Ash Grey Coming and Going],’ for the generous tip of 10,000 Book Coins! This amazing patron has tipped 40,000 Book Coins in a row—words can’t express my thanks! The afternoon Chapter will be a sponsored update in their name! This Chapter is 5,700 words. Everyone, please send your Monthly Tickets my way!