Chapter 241: Chapter 171: The Lotus Flower Rises from the Clear Water! So Beautiful! Use the Cooking Learning Card! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]
Xie Baomin carefully poured the Chicken Meatball from the spoon into the pot. While pouring, he slowly moved the spoon, turning the Chicken Meatball into long, strip-shaped slices. After pouring them in, there was no need to tend to them. Once the surface set, the chicken slices would slowly float up from the bottom of the pot.
"Frying with lukewarm oil maximizes the tenderness and smoothness of the chicken slices," he explained. "It also ensures that the cooked chicken slices maintain a pale and tender appearance without dehydrating or changing color."
Although this demonstration was intended to broaden Qiu Zhenhua’s horizons, Xie Baomin still felt the need to explain the key points since his junior brother was present. Otherwise, if his junior brother watched for a long time without understanding, all of today’s efforts would be wasted.
Qiu Zhenhua added from the side, "Although lukewarm oil frying isn’t a conventional cooking method, it’s necessary in many cases. For example, dried tofu skin can be fried in warm oil before soaking to improve its texture and flavor."
As soon as dried tofu skin was mentioned, Lin Xu immediately remembered the minced meat with dried tofu skin that Cheng JianShe had made a few days ago.
It tasted really good; I’ll have to try making it when I get the chance.
Hmm, even though I don’t have the related Technique, I should still try.
Besides, triggering the related Skill is quite simple. I just have to persuade my dear Shen Baobao to say she wants to eat it.
This is also a good opportunity to test the actual effectiveness of fleecing the System.
After Xie Baomin had filled the bottom of the pot with the Chicken Meatball mixture, he stopped and waited patiently for it to take shape and turn into several slices.
Soon, the first of the Chicken Meatball to enter the pot floated to the surface. It hadn’t seemed like much when it went into the pot, but now that it had set, it looked snow-white, like a cloud bobbing up and down in the oil.
"So beautiful!" Lin Xu couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. He had never imagined that ordinary chicken could be made to look so exquisite.
Before long, the other chicken slices in the pot had also set and floated up.
Qiu Zhenhua asked, "Old Xie, should we start taking them out now?"
He had learned how to make Furong Chicken Slices and thought it might be time to remove them from the pot.
But Xie Baomin shook his head gently. "If we were making Furong Chicken Slices, we should indeed take them out now. But for Qingshui Furong, these chicken slices need to stand up in the serving dish, so they need to be fried a little longer."
Stand up? Lin Xu looked at the chicken slices, which were as soft as Lactone Tofu. He found the dish increasingly fascinating. They’re so tender and soft. To make them stand up, wouldn’t you need half a box of toothpicks to support them?
He had wanted to ask, but then a thought struck him. Since this is Master’s original creation, and one he made to impress his first Master’s wife, he definitely wouldn’t resort to such a clumsy method as using toothpicks.
Well, I’ll just keep watching. Let’s see how Master managed to win over his first wife.
After frying for a while longer, when the chicken slices no longer felt quite so delicate, Xie Baomin brought over a basin of hot water. He then carefully fished the chicken slices out of the pot with a strainer and placed them directly into the hot water.
As soon as they were submerged, shimmering oil blossoms appeared on the surface of the hot water.
Lin Xu suddenly understood. No wonder Senior Brother wasn’t worried about the lard making the dish greasy; there’s a de-greasing step! Soaking them like this will draw out even the heaviest grease.
Soon, Xie Baomin started frying another batch.
After all the chicken slices were fried, he fished out the ones soaking in hot water, drained them lightly, and placed them in a bamboo basket. Then he said, "Next is the test of Knife Skills. Keep your eyes peeled, Junior Brother. This dish isn’t something one can make often."
With that, he gingerly picked up a chicken slice and placed it on the chopping board. First, he cut off a superfluous piece at one end to create a straight edge. Then, using the tip of his knife, he drew a slightly curved line along this straight edge, extending it to the middle of the opposite end.
This is... Lin Xu was still wondering when he saw his Senior Brother make a similar cut on the other side. When the trimmed pieces were removed, the snow-white chicken slice now resembled a petal.
"Old Xie, your Knife Skills are impressive!" Although Jiangsu cuisine emphasized knife work and presentation, Qiu Zhenhua couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration upon seeing Xie Baomin’s craftsmanship.
It’s not easy to cut this kind of tender fried Chicken Meatball, especially into curved edges. One careless move could tear a whole piece. But Xie Baomin handled it with apparent ease, his breathing remaining steady.
This is the gap between us, Qiu Zhenhua mused as Xie Baomin continued to carve the petals. These petals were not all the same size; they became progressively smaller, and their lengths also seemed to shorten.
Hmm? Is there going to be another new development? Lin Xu wondered.
After fifteen petals were ready, Xie Baomin used his cleaver to cut some long, thin strips from the remaining chicken.
Once all the chicken pieces were processed, he brought over a ceramic cup that was wide at the mouth and narrow at the base, placing it beside the chopping board. He then picked up the largest petal and carefully placed it inside the cup, leaving about one-third of it outside. He bent this protruding end so it draped over the rim of the cup. He then placed another large petal into the cup in the same manner, again leaving one-third of it outside.
After all five of the largest petals were arranged, they formed a complete circle inside the cup.
Next, Xie Baomin began to place slightly smaller petals into the cup, inserting them into the gaps between the petals of the outermost layer, still leaving a portion of each petal outside.
After three layers of petals were thus arranged, only a small space remained in the center of the cup.
"I get it now! You’re using the cup as a mold to invert the entire flower into a bowl, and the extra one-third of the petals left outside will form the base of the flower, right, Old Xie?" Qiu Zhenhua rubbed his hands together, his voice tinged with excitement. This technique is incredible! Who else would think of using a cup-inversion method to arrange these soft chicken slices into such a shape?
Master Gao is truly formidable! No wonder he could dominate my uncle’s generation their entire lives. With such imagination, one can’t help but admire him.
Xie Baomin smiled, picked up a chopstick, and said, "As expected of an opponent who could reach the semi-finals with me. You figured it out so quickly."
Qiu Zhenhua was speechless. Master Gao has such amazing culinary skills; how did he end up with such a jerk for an apprentice? If you mention the semi-finals again, I’ll lose it!
Xie Baomin didn’t add more petals to the cup. Instead, he inserted the chopstick and gently pushed the existing petals towards the sides, slightly enlarging the space in the center. Then, he picked up the previously cut strips and began to carefully tuck them into this central space. This time, he inserted them less deeply, leaving a full half of their length protruding.
After filling the center, he used the chopstick again to gently press the strips outwards, then continued to add more until the space was tightly packed.
When he was certain there were no more gaps, he took a small white soup bowl and placed it upside down over the mouth of the cup. Then, with a quick movement, he flipped the entire assembly over. The cup was now inverted in the center of the white porcelain bowl.
He gently lifted the ceramic cup, revealing a white floral bud now standing in the white porcelain bowl.
Lin Xu watched in amazement. "What comes next? Do you pour soup over it, like with that famous boiled cabbage dish?"
Xie Baomin shook his head. "That wouldn’t work. It took so much effort to make it stand; pouring soup directly on it would make it collapse immediately."
He took a piece of cotton thread, wound it around the midpoint of the floral bud, and then gave it a gentle tug.
Lin Xu was confused. "What’s this for?"
Qiu Zhenhua speculated, "It’s probably to create a kind of notch with the cotton thread at the point where the petals should open, making it easier for them to bend downwards."
Xie Baomin looked at him in surprise. "Wow, you’re really something, Qiuqiu! To think you could figure that out. That’s why I’ve always believed your culinary skills should be better than Mr. Zhongguo’s. Don’t you agree?"
Qiu Zhenhua ignored him, feeling an urge to grab the cleaver from the cutting board and give Xie Baomin a couple of whacks. You damn dog, you’re really getting a kick out of this, aren’t you?
Meanwhile, Lin Xu couldn’t help but scoff internally. Calling him ’Dongdong’ to his face, but using a nickname behind his back. And ’Mr. Zhongguo’ is probably a nickname Senior Brother came up with himself. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Senior Brother, is it really appropriate for you to be such a scumbag?
Tossing the cotton thread aside, Xie Baomin brought over the Clear Soup he had prepared earlier. First, he removed the Chicken Meatball that was suspended by a string to clarify the soup and set it aside. Then, he reheated the soup pot, but not to a boil, stopping when it reached about seventy degrees Celsius.
He carefully ladled the crystal-clear broth, as clear as boiled water, into a teapot. Then, holding the teapot, he said to Lin Xu, Qin Wei, and Qiu Zhenhua, "If you want to shoot a short video, get ready now! The most spectacular moment of this dish is about to arrive!"
"You know, I actually was planning to film it," Qiu Zhenhua said, taking out his phone.
Qin Wei also obediently took out his phone, opened the camera app, and aimed it at the white porcelain bowl on the table.
Only Lin Xu didn’t move. Although he also wanted to film it, activating the Cooking Learning Card was more important.
Yes, this is such a great learning opportunity. And with two Perfect Level Cooking Learning Cards in hand, I absolutely have to learn this dish!
"Aren’t you going to film, Junior Brother?"
Lin Xu replied coolly, "I plan to learn this dish and then film myself making it."
"Quite confident, aren’t you, Junior Brother? This isn’t White Jade Lotus Root Strips; you can’t necessarily learn it just by watching once."
As he spoke, Xie Baomin lifted the teapot he was holding. He aimed the spout towards the edge of the porcelain bowl and began to gently pour the broth into it. The clear liquid flowed slowly from the teapot into the bowl, looking as if he were merely pouring warm water. However, the rich, savory aroma that wafted up hinted that this Clear Soup was anything but simple.
The pouring was very slow, and the liquid level in the bowl gradually rose.
Activate the Cooking Learning Card! Lin Xu silently made the command in his mind.
The System’s prompt quickly sounded in his head.
"Learning target: Xie Baomin. Current Skill: Pouring Water. Do you wish to learn?"
?????
Is the System joking with me?
He tried again. It was still the Pouring Water Skill.
Oh, come on! If I had known, I would have learned the Clear Soup Technique or Furong Chicken Slices earlier! Learning either of those Skills would have been far better than learning a ’Pouring Water’ Skill, right? I’ve made a dogmatic error!
The liquid level in the bowl slowly crept up. When it reached the indentation mark left by the cotton thread, Xie Baomin stopped pouring.
Lin Xu tried one more time.
"Learning target: Xie Baomin. Current Skill: Placing Teapot. Do you wish to learn?"
Learn my foot! Why is the System so mischievous today? Lin Xu was starting to lose it.
At this moment, Qiu Zhenhua curiously asked, "What’s going on, Old Xie? Is that it?"
Qin Wei also quietly paused his video recording. We’ve been filming all this time just to capture him pouring water? What’s so great about that?
Xie Baomin just smiled. With a casual tap on the rim of the bowl.
The floral bud in the center of the bowl quivered gently. Then, the outermost petal slowly unfurled, gracefully draping itself onto the surface of the water. Following this first petal, the others also began to open, one by one, in a slow, deliberate sequence.
The first layer of petals came to rest on the water’s surface. The second layer of petals unfurled about halfway, their bases supported by the first layer, allowing only their tips to dip elegantly downwards. The third layer, resting against the second, drooped even less.
After all three layers of petals had opened, the strip-like stamens within the flower became faintly visible. The sight of the flower, set against the clear broth and the white porcelain bowl, left everyone present utterly stunned.
"Holy crap! What an incredible Qingshui Furong! Your master is truly like a celestial being!" Qiu Zhenhua was almost stuttering, completely astounded that a dish could possess such breathtaking beauty.
As Lin Xu marveled at the exquisite dish, a sudden inspiration struck him.
Activate the Cooking Learning Card!
The System’s prompt quickly sounded:
"Learning target: Xie Baomin. Current Skill: Qingshui Furong. Do you wish to learn?"
Haha! My bet paid off! A dish this beautiful, I absolutely have to learn it!
Learn!
"Host has consumed one Perfect Level Cooking Learning Card and obtained Master Gao Peisheng’s original dish—Qingshui Furong. Congratulations, Host."