Chapter 298: Chapter 191 Sweet and Sour Eggplant + Dry-fried Eggplant = Flavorful Eggplant! [Additional update for ’Coming and Going in Gray’]_3
After being chopped, it was placed on a plate.
Then, a bit of water was drizzled over, and a handful of dry starch was sprinkled in.
To make the fried eggplant crispy, he couldn’t use salt to draw out moisture anymore; otherwise, the eggplant would be soft and not achieve the desired crisp texture.
He stirred the mixture in the bowl by hand to evenly coat the eggplant strips with dry starch.
Once coated, he heated oil in a wok, preparing to deep-fry the eggplant.
While waiting for the oil to heat up, Lin Xu didn’t idle. He chopped dried chili into segments, peeled and sliced the garlic cloves, and added a handful of Sichuan peppercorns.
These were the aromatics for the dish.
Initially, Lin Xu was somewhat anxious, fearing that he wouldn’t do well and might mess up. By this moment, however, he had become calm. He even cared less about the rankings, only wanting to make the dish he had conceptualized and taste it, to see where it might still be lacking.
When the oil was medium-hot, Lin Xu scattered the starch-coated eggplant strips into the oil.
The eggplant strips couldn’t be stirred right after being added to the oil; otherwise, the dry starch coating would come off.
He had to fry them until the eggplant strips were lightly golden brown, then gently stir them with a ladle, separating any pieces that were stuck together.
Under the effect of the hot oil, the eggplant strips, which had been somewhat soft before, quickly hardened.
While stirring with the ladle, one could even hear the friction sound of the eggplant strips colliding.
Once they were golden brown, they were scooped out with a slotted spoon to drain the oil.
Meanwhile, he used a fine-mesh skimmer to remove any residue from the oil in the wok, preventing dislodged bits of dry starch from burning and making the oil bitter.
When the oil was seven-tenths hot, the eggplant strips were put back into the wok for a second fry.
The second fry made the surface of the eggplant strips even crispier and also made them less likely to soften again.
He refried them for fifteen seconds.
Then, he scooped the eggplant strips out of the wok and poured out the oil, leaving just a little oil in the bottom. After heating it up, he tossed in the dried Sichuan peppercorns, dried chili, and sliced garlic.
He stir-fried them over low heat to release their numbing and spicy fragrance.
Immediately, he swirled in a bit of Dark Soy Sauce to enhance the color and savory taste.
After stirring for a bit, he poured in half a ladleful of Chen Vinegar along with an equal amount of White Sugar, followed by a small spoonful of salt and a little Light Soy Sauce.
He began to stir the contents of the wok.
This step couldn’t be rushed. It had to be done like when making Crystal Sugar Pork Knuckles: the sugar syrup needed to be thoroughly melted and reduced, and the moisture in the sauce cooked off. This way, the eggplant would become even more delicious.
Soon, the sauce in the wok became thick, and a mix of sweet, tangy, spicy, and numbing aromas wafted from it.
Xie Baomin watched in astonishment. When did his Junior Brother master Flavorful Eggplant? And to such an authentic degree! He had thought this round would be tough, but now it seemed that the competition was as certain as "holding a snail with three fingers"—virtually a sure thing!
Guo Weidong remarked from the side, "The so-called dish that goes with rice must be paired with rice to be delicious. Eating the dish without rice, one may find it either too salty or too greasy, or both. This round, only Lin Xu didn’t make a dish that goes with rice. He’s bound to win."
Laymen watch the excitement; experts watch the technique.
Guo Weidong didn’t even wait for the results before he guessed the outcome of the match.
Of course, that was also his hope. Who wouldn’t want to see someone from Fishing Platform win the cooking competition held at Fishing Platform?
The sauce in the wok thickened more and more.
Once it could cling to the spoon, Lin Xu added the fried eggplant strips and also sprinkled in a handful of Roasted White Sesame.
The Roasted White Sesame seeds enhanced the fragrance and also improved the dish’s appearance.
After adding them, he tossed the wok to mix the sauce and eggplant strips together, ensuring each strip was coated with the sauce and white sesame seeds.
Having done all this, he took the dish out of the wok and plated it.
Just as he plated the dish, a system prompt echoed in his mind:
"Host has boldly innovated using existing cooking experience to create the Perfect Level dish, Flavorful Eggplant. Reward: Superior dish—Chopped Pepper Fish Head."
Wuhu! He had bet correctly! It was totally unexpected; round after round of the serial quest hadn’t awarded any significant rewards, and then trying a new dish actually earned him the Chopped Pepper Fish Head. What a pleasant surprise!
By this time, all the chefs had finished preparing their dishes.
The judges left their seats and began the evaluation.
「In the audience seats below.」
Lu Lu turned to Zhu Yong, who was sitting beside her, and asked, "Can Boss Lin win this round?"
As a top-three contestant from the last Fishing Platform competition, Zhu Yong had a clear understanding of this round. He smiled and said, "Whether Boss Lin can win depends on whether the judges have rice. If each of them gets a bowl of rice, he’s definitely going to lose. But if there’s no rice, then this round is his for sure."
Rice? Isn’t this a cooking competition? What does it have to do with rice? Lu Lu didn’t quite understand what Zhu Yong was saying for a moment.
However, contestants like Guo Xinghai on stage realized this point. They looked at the dishes they had made, then at Lin Xu’s dish...
They had been too careless. They should have carefully considered the theme before starting. No wonder Lin Xu hesitated for so long before beginning. He must have been considering what dish to make.
After Liu Zhengyu and the others came down, they exclaimed after tasting each dish, "If only we had a bowl of rice!"
All of these dishes, without exception, were perfect with rice. But unfortunately, this was a cooking competition; no rice was prepared for the judges, so they could only taste and lament.
Finally, they came to Lin Xu’s dish.
Liu Zhengyu adjusted his glasses and asked with a smile, "Lin Xu, everyone else made dishes that pair well with rice. Why didn’t you?"
Lin Xu honestly replied, "I don’t know how."
Liu Zhengyu immediately burst out laughing, "Look at how modest this young man is."
The other judges also laughed and chimed in, praising Lin Xu for not having the arrogance typical of young people and for being a role model for others.
Lin Xu: "..."
I was just telling the truth; I really don’t know how to make eggplant dishes that go with rice.
After the judges finished speaking, they began tasting the Flavorful Eggplant under Liu Zhengyu’s lead.
The first taste was sweet, sour, numbingly spicy, and carried a hint of sesame aroma.
With a bite, the crisp eggplant strips were enveloped by a rich sauce. The sour, sweet, numbing, and spicy flavors, along with the eggplant’s own fresh taste, converged in the mouth.
It tasted absolutely fantastic.
And the seasoning of the eggplant strips was just right.
Finally, they could stop thinking about the absence of rice.
"Delicious! Lin Xu, your cooking skills are truly incredible—superb!"
"Indeed, it’s changed my perception of eggplant."
"Looking forward to your performance in the next round!"
"I can’t help but take another bite; these eggplant strips are just perfect."
"..."
After the judges finished eating, they returned to their seats to score.
Lin Xu took the opportunity to taste the Salted Fish Eggplant Stew made by Guo Xinghai and the Minced Pork Eggplant made by Wei Qian.
Their flavors were perfect. The only pity was the lack of a bowl of rice.
Soon, the scores were out. Lin Xu once again received first place.
The system’s notification sounded in his mind:
"Congratulations to the host for achieving first place in this round of the competition, completing the fourth stage of the ’Overcoming Challenges’ serial quest, and receiving one Superior Cooking Learning Card."
Eureka! Finally, something useful as a reward. Too bad it came a little late. If it had arrived earlier, he might have learned a dish that goes with rice just now. But no matter. He could continue to covertly learn in the next round. For instance, Huo Yifan had glared at him several times at the start of the contest—it wouldn’t be too much to secretly learn a dish from him later, would it?
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