Chapter 248: Chapter 174: This Soup is Too Delicious! Xiao Xu, could you invite your parents to Beijing? [Seeking Monthly Ticket]
"Huh? You guys finished so quickly?"
In the small living room on the second floor, Chen Yan, who was sitting on the sofa playing with her phone, looked at her sister and brother-in-law walking out of the room with an astonished expression.
It hadn’t even been three minutes. That was way too fast, wasn’t it?
"Stinky Yan, what nonsense are you spouting?"
Shen Jiayue, a mix of shyness and fury, grabbed a cushion from the sofa and smacked Chen Yan with it.
"Lin Xu’s going to the kitchen to make Grandma some crucian carp tofu stew. Are you coming or not?"
Chen Yan had no intention of enduring their public displays of affection.
These two were so clingy now. If their feelings deepened and they started cuddling and nuzzling like a pair of seals, wouldn’t that be another devastating blow to her single self?
She shook her head and said, "You two go on. I’ll just stay here in the small living room."
The main living room downstairs was off-limits. All the relatives were there chatting. Now that her sister and brother-in-law weren’t around, the moment she showed her face, she’d definitely be hounded about marriage. Going to the kitchen, on the other hand, meant enduring their public displays of affection. The small living room on the second floor was much better.
She kicked off her high heels and blissfully sprawled on the sofa.
Later, when dinner was ready, she’d just go downstairs, find a corner to sit in, grab some food and drink, eat her fill, and then quickly leave. She had no intention of listening to the adults’ chatter.
「Downstairs.」
Guided by Shen Jiayue, Lin Xu arrived at the kitchen on the first floor.
The kitchen was spacious, almost as large as an average family’s living room.
Currently, Aunt Liu and two other maids were busy preparing lunch.
There were many guests at home today, making it a rather grand occasion, so a large quantity of dishes needed to be prepared: various kinds of fresh seafood, imported ingredients, and relatively rare mountain delicacies, a spread that rather dazzled Lin Xu.
Upon seeing Shen Jiayue and the new son-in-law arrive, Aunt Liu greeted them with a smile, saying, "Yueyue, is this your boyfriend? He’s so handsome, even more handsome than a movie star."
"Hehe, thank you for the compliment, Aunt Liu. Where are the crucian carp and tofu? My boyfriend wants to show Grandma his skills, so just let him handle this dish."
As soon as Aunt Liu heard this, she promptly said, "How can we let the new son-in-law cook on his first visit? If word got out, wouldn’t people make fun of us?"
"Don’t worry, Aunt Liu. He’s a specially-hired chef from the Fishing Platform; his culinary skills are top-notch."
Upon hearing his skills were "top-notch," Aunt Liu no longer objected.
Instead, she brought over the still lively crucian carp and a block of tofu, saying, "Then we’ll have to trouble the new son-in-law... This crucian carp, shall I clean it for you?"
Lin Xu smiled and took them. "No need, I can do it."
He washed his hands and boiled a pot of water on the stove.
Then, taking a kitchen knife, he deftly cut the tofu into strips about four to five centimeters long and two centimeters square.
If making braised tofu, cutting it into triangles is more suitable. This not only helps it absorb flavors more easily but also allows the tofu to hold more sauce, making it tastier. For general soups, tofu is usually cut into slices about four centimeters square; this way, it cooks through easily and is more delicious to eat. But for stewed tofu, it has to be tofu cubes or strips. Tofu cut in other ways tends to fall apart easily during the stewing process.
After cutting the tofu, Lin Xu waited a bit longer for the water on the stove to boil.
He poured the cut tofu strips into the pot to blanch them, simmering for a few minutes to remove the tofu’s inherent bitterness and beany taste, ensuring it would be full of pure bean aroma when eaten.
A few minutes later, he turned off the stove and then scooped the tofu out of the pot, setting it aside to drain.
After being blanched, the tofu’s fragrance began to waft out, and the tofu itself became even whiter and more tender.
Having blanched the tofu, he took the few crucian carp to the sink and deftly descaled, degilled, and gutted them, carefully cleaning the black membrane from inside their bellies as well.
For other cooking methods, these crucian carp would need to be killed and marinated beforehand.
But crucian carp and tofu stew didn’t require this. It was best prepared with freshly killed fish.
This way, the fish meat would be fresh, and the resulting broth would be rich and flavorful.
After the crucian carp were cleaned, Lin Xu placed the pan back on the stove.
Once the pan was hot, he drizzled some lard onto the bottom and then sprinkled some salt.
The fish meat had a rich umami flavor but lacked aroma; lard was needed to enhance its fragrance. Sprinkling salt was to prevent the fish skin from breaking during frying and also to give the fish a base seasoning as it cooked.
Once the oil was hot, Lin Xu laid the crucian carp side by side in the pan to begin frying.
When the fish were first placed in the pan, it shouldn’t be moved. They needed to be fried slowly and gently to keep the fish skin intact.
Judging when they were ready to flip was also quite easy. When he held the panhandle and gently shook it, if the fish inside also moved with the pan, it meant the underside was fried and ready to be flipped.
However, the heat from a home stove was relatively low, and it felt like a long time before the fish budged at all.
On a professional stove in a restaurant kitchen, both sides would have already been fried to an enticing golden brown by now.
Finally, when he shook the pan and the fish moved with it, Lin Xu immediately executed a large pan-flip. The crucian carp in the pan somersaulted in the air before landing, perfectly arranged, back into the pan.
"Wow, that’s so cool! Can I learn that?"
Even Shen Jiayue, who knew nothing about cooking, could tell this large pan-flip was no simple feat.
Because the crucian carp varied in size and were not uniform, controlling the force during the flip had to be even more precise; otherwise, they definitely wouldn’t have landed so neatly arranged.
"A young lady like you, why would you learn that?"
Lin Xu quickly quashed the unrealistic notion forming in Shen Baobao’s mind.