Chapter 301: Chapter 192: Huo Yifan Wants to Make White Robed Shrimp? What are you waiting for, learn! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]_3
It wasn’t because the dish was famous, but mainly because Lin Xu’s grandmother was particularly fond of Shrimp. With his return home coinciding with his grandmother’s seventieth birthday, it was the perfect opportunity to let the old lady taste the dish.
When he was in school, his grandmother had often secretly given him money.
Now it was time to repay her kindness.
After deciding to learn White Robed Shrimp, he strolled over to Huo Yifan with his hands behind his back. The moment Huo Yifan, who was squeezing out Shrimp, noticed him, his hand trembled, and a piece of Shrimp the size of a fingertip dropped to the ground.
Lin Xu paused. Do I look that scary?
"What are you doing here?"
Just thinking about how his father got rebuked by Lin Xu’s master in the group chat made Huo Yifan very annoyed.
Today he had originally planned on shining at the Fishing Platform and fiercely making a statement.
Yet Lin Xu turned out to be even more skillful.
This left Huo Yifan with a bellyful of anger. So, you won and now you’re here to show off? What a petty victor!
Lin Xu spoke honestly, "I’ve never seen White Robed Shrimp before; I came to learn... Can this be done with other kinds of Shrimp?"
Learn? I don’t believe you could learn by just watching once!
As the saying goes, one shouldn’t hit a smiling face. Additionally, Wu Kexin was walking over with the live streaming equipment, so Huo Yifan reined in his temper and honestly explained, "You can use giant river prawns too, but the best choice would be the Qing Shrimp from Taihu... This dish has high requirements; you must use live Shrimp, dead Shrimp won’t do."
He said all this to discourage Lin Xu.
Huo Yifan listed a bunch of points to pay attention to when making White Robed Shrimp.
For instance, Shrimp just caught could not be used. They needed to be kept in clean water for one or two more days so the Shrimp could purge any sand and silt. This would result in a more tender and fresh taste.
Moreover, only the plumper section of the Shrimp was used for the dish, with the tail tips being discarded.
Therefore, the Shrimp had to be squeezed out. This method extracted the tastiest part from where the Shrimp’s tail and body met, making the individual pieces look more symmetrical and attractive.
During the squeezing process, the Shrimp shell would leave scratch marks on the Shrimp meat.
These scratches would help in the subsequent battering.
If the Shrimp were simply peeled, their surfaces would be too smooth, causing the batter to slide off easily during cooking.
While Huo Yifan was explaining, Lin Xu took out his phone, opened his notes app, and rapidly typed down what was being said, while requesting, "Speak slower, let me take this down."
He needed to jot down the steps clearly. That way, even if the Cooking Learning Card malfunctioned, he would still have a reference when cooking at home and wouldn’t be completely in the dark.
Huo Yifan was speechless. I just mentioned it casually, are you really planning on learning it? This dish isn’t easy; without a year or more, don’t even think about mastering it.
Originally, he wanted to scoff at Lin Xu’s naivety, but then he thought about how Lin Xu didn’t miss any learning opportunity, even at a competition. Did he really have the right to mock him?
No wonder he was always first every round. Such an opponent with high talent and a love for learning was indeed formidable.
While he was contemplating, Huo Yifan heard Lin Xu’s urging voice, "Don’t stop, keep going. Is there anything else I need to pay attention to?"
Huo Yifan gave a wry smile. "I really admire you..."
Just then, he had finished squeezing out all the Shrimp needed.
He held a bowl filled with Shrimp and poured in half a bowl of water, carefully rinsing the Shrimp.
The biggest challenge with the White Robed Shrimp dish wasn’t actually preparing the Shrimp, but keeping them a pristine white color during cooking.
The prepared Shrimp had to be as white as snow.
Any discoloration meant the dish was a failure.
To achieve this, the Shrimp had to be rinsed repeatedly. Sometimes, flour was even used for scrubbing, as its absorbent properties helped wash away any dirt from the Shrimp’s surface.
"And then?"
"Then comes the marination... The ’white robe’ in White Robed Shrimp refers to whipping egg white until it’s just about to foam. Then, some Potato Starch is mixed in until uniform, and this mixture is used to coat the Shrimp before cooking. Since it looks like they’re wearing a white robe, that’s how the name White Robed Shrimp came about."
Oh? So that’s the origin of the dish’s name. I thought it was made using some Pao method.
Today, Huo Yifan was using the highest quality Qing Shrimp from Taihu. They were so clean and translucent that they didn’t need to be scrubbed with flour.
He rinsed them twice and drained the water.
Then he placed them on a tray lined with paper towels, covered them with another paper towel, and patted their surfaces dry of excess water.
After that, he put the Shrimp back into the bowl and began the marination process.
"How should I marinate these Shrimp?"
"Just use Scallion and Ginger brine."
After saying this, Huo Yifan brought over the prepared Scallion and Ginger water, added some salt to it, gently stirred until the salt dissolved, and then poured it over the Shrimp.
Then he mixed the Shrimp to thoroughly coat them with the Scallion and Ginger water.
After that, he put the Shrimp into the refrigerator’s chiller.
"When the Shrimp are chilled, their water content contracts, which enhances the marinating effect. If you’re in a hurry to cook, you can also put them in the freezer for a quick six to seven minutes, and that will achieve the same effect."
TSK TSK, good thing I had the nerve to come here. Otherwise, where would I go to learn all these tips? Although sometimes you can get them through system tasks, no matter how many the system gives, it’s not as satisfying as learning on my own.
Lin Xu took careful notes.
Seeing Huo Yifan start working with egg whites, he asked, "Are you getting ready to coat the Shrimp with batter?"
"Right, add Potato Starch to the egg whites and stop beating when they’re about to but not quite frothy... Do you need to learn this too? Isn’t an egg white batter the most basic kind?"
Is that so?
Lin Xu said with a smile, "I was just asking to see if you knew... Go ahead with your work; I’ll check on how my dish is marinating."
Out of curiosity, Huo Yifan asked, "What are you cooking?"
"Steamed radish shreds with powder."
Upon hearing the name, Huo Yifan thought of the steamed vegetables his elders loved to make.
It involved coating radish shreds or vegetable leaves with a thick layer of dry starch and then steaming them. After coming out of the steamer, they would be shaken loose and tossed with aromatic oil and Garlic Paste before serving.
No way? This is the semi-final competition, and you’re making just this one dish? Are you planning to forfeit?
Huo Yifan felt he understood the genius before him less and less.
Lin Xu returned to his own stove. He lifted out the radish shreds. They had released their water due to the brine and, when removed, looked almost like a handful of transparent hair.
He carefully rinsed the radish shreds twice in clean water.
To get rid of the excess brine.
Then he dried their surface with paper towels and laid them out in a bamboo basket, positioning a fan to blow them dry.
Meanwhile, Huo Yifan placed the egg whites he took out into a bowl, added two handfuls of dry starch, and a small spoonful of salt.
He then grabbed three chopsticks in his hand and started to beat the egg whites.
The more he thought about it, the less he understood Lin Xu’s motivation and reason for making the radish shreds.
Should he go have a look at his stove? The moment this thought formed in his mind, it couldn’t be easily shaken off. He was eager to see what Lin Xu was actually cooking.
He just came to see my station, so it should be fine for me to check out his, right?
With this thought, he carried the bowl, continually beating the egg whites as he walked over to Lin Xu’s stove.
When he arrived, he happened to see Lin Xu spreading out the radish shreds in the bamboo basket.
My goodness! So finely cut. Are these really radish shreds? I almost thought he’d ripped off someone’s wig.
A genius’s words truly can’t be trusted.
Initially, he thought that by making White Robed Shrimp, he could beat Lin Xu by a narrow margin. After all, the dish was great in appearance, name, and flavor.
But after seeing the radish shreds in the bamboo basket, he abandoned that thought.
No contest, no contest. Just those Knife Skills alone could deter countless chefs. How on earth did this freak manage such fine cuts? It’s utterly demoralizing...
Lin Xu finished spreading out the radish shreds and, seeing Huo Yifan come over, quickly asked, "Good timing, I have a question for you. What should I do if the squeezed Shrimp still aren’t clean even after washing with flour?"
Huo Yifan was dumbstruck. Don’t ask me, I don’t know! I’m such an idiot, really. I only knew Lin Xu was a great cook who loved to learn, but I didn’t realize he was also an expert at playing possum... Damn it, he’s fooled me again!