Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 18: Chef 17

Lin Dan rehydrated the rock fungus in a basin of coarse salt again, and also had the kitchen helpers continue to rehydrate the remaining dried goods according to her methods, only then did she turn to look at the young chef and said slowly, “Seeing that you sincerely admit your mistakes, I will teach you a signature dish.”

“Ah, what did you say?” The young chef stared at Lin Dan, looking silly, and extremely doubtful that he had heard wrong. It was already extraordinary that Shopkeeper Lin was willing to teach him some secret methods for handling ingredients. Why would she also teach him a signature dish? Wasn’t a signature dish the trump card of every chef, not to be easily shown to others?

“You didn’t hear wrong, I’ll teach you a signature dish, and you have to watch closely.” Lin Dan said as she fished a lively, jumping big carp from the bucket and stunned it on the cutting board.

Tang Jiu glanced at her, then looked at the silly young chef, and a trace of interest flashed through his eyes.

“Shopkeeper Lin, wait a moment, I’ll go get paper and a pen!” Seeing that Lin Dan’s demeanor didn’t seem like a joke, the young chef hurriedly ran to the front hall to get a stack of paper and a writing brush, and wrote down:— Selection of Huanghe big carp, three to four catties…

“Are you finished memorizing it?” Lin Dan held a kitchen knife in one hand and the big carp in the other, smiling and waiting for the young chef. She liked people who were diligent and studious; it didn’t matter if they were a bit slow.

“I’ve memorized it, I’ve memorized it, Shopkeeper Lin, please continue!” The young chef nodded and bowed, his attitude respectful. The old shopkeeper had also long admired Lin Dan, and now he had squeezed to Tang Jiu’s side, his eyes fixed on the cutting board.

Lin Dan continued, “I’ve also eaten the Squirrel Mandarin Fish newly launched by the Yan Family Restaurant, and the taste is sweet and sour and tender and smooth, indeed not bad. The dish I’m teaching you is even better than theirs, also a sweet and sour series, called Golden Lion Fish.”

One was called Squirrel, and the other was called Golden Lion; the names all had to be better than the other. Were you sure you weren’t here to challenge them? The young chef’s mind was full of random thoughts, but soon, Lin Dan’s superb knife skills made him forget everything. He only saw her quickly gutting the fish, and then slicing the fish meat on both sides into thin slices, from the tail of the fish to the head of the fish, the cuts were shallow when entering and deep when stopping, slicing eighteen cuts on each side, each cut smooth, each cut continuous, actually cutting a big carp into a lotus bud, lifting the fish tail and shaking it, the pink and white “petals” blossomed layer by layer, which was very beautiful.

The young chef originally thought that this knife skill was already very remarkable, but he didn’t expect Lin Dan to take out scissors again and cut the petal-like fish slices into strips, cutting six to seven strips each, and stacking them together again. A fish bone was covered with thread-like fish meat from head to tail, and the shape alone was already unique enough. The fish meat had been cut so finely, what should be done during cooking? Were you sure it wouldn’t break into a mushy state when touched by the spoon?

The young chef recorded while worrying in his heart, but he saw Lin Dan start to prepare the egg batter, six eggs plus half a catty of starch plus four taels of flour, and mixed in the right amount of water, making it into a thick golden paste, and you could hold a small amount with your hand, and pull out a thread.(A catty is about 500g and a tael about 50g)

“When preparing the egg batter, only use egg yolks, not egg whites, so the color looks better. The starch should only be made with water starch, not dry starch, otherwise the fish meat will become frizzy, and the water starch can ensure its texture is more delicate and smooth.” After a simple explanation, Lin Dan held the fish head in one hand, and the fish tail in the other, and put the chrysanthemum-like fish meat into the egg batter, soaking it evenly, and when she lifted it again, all the fish threads were stuck together one by one, dripping with egg liquid, the appearance was not considered beautiful, but after frying in oil, all the fish threads would scatter, standing up one by one, really like a golden lion.

To the amazement of the young chef and the old shopkeeper, Lin Dan explained slowly: “When all the fish threads are immersed in the oil, you have to shake it three times with force, to let the fish threads scatter one by one, after shaking it, lower the fish head, lift the fish tail slightly, and let the fish threads gather towards the head, forming the shape of a golden lion, this is the key to the shape. After the fish is put in the pot, the oil temperature will drop, when it drops to 60% hot, you have to change to a high flame and quickly fry it with hot oil, so that the fish meat can be shaped, and then you can let go, and fry the fish head and fish tail as well, turn it over with a slotted spoon, and continue to fry for a while and you can take it out and pour the sauce.”

Don’t look at how easy Lin Dan made it sound, it was actually very difficult to do. Just cutting the fish meat into slices and then changing it into threads was already very testing of the knife skills, not to mention the battering and deep-frying that followed, seasoning actually became the simplest procedure. When frying, the chef’s hands had to firmly hold the fish head and fish tail, and closely stick to the boiling oil surface, so that the thread-like fish meat could all be immersed in the hot oil and fried until cooked and shaped, this high temperature could burn off a layer of skin from a person’s hand. If the fish threads weren’t fried well and the whole fish was thrown into the pot, this dish would be ruined.

The young chef carefully looked at Shopkeeper Lin’s hand, and indeed found a thick layer of calluses on her fingertips, this was the real skill that had been honed by enduring countless times of high-temperature frying! She gently shook the fish threads, and her face was not at all painful, but rather full of patience and concentration.

After throwing the whole fish into the pot, she explained to the young chef while taking out a clean pot and pouring in a little cooking oil, “When the fish is fried to a golden color, you can take it out, and put it on the plate with the fish belly facing down, and I will prepare the sauce.” As she spoke, the oil in the pot was already hot, and she casually crushed an orange and a tomato, ground it into a paste with a large spoon, then added sugar, vinegar, and water, and boiled it into a thick sweet and sour sauce, after thickening it, she poured it evenly over the fluffy and crispy fish threads, and a Golden Lion Fish was made.

The sweet and sour aroma instantly rushed into the nostrils, making people involuntarily secrete a lot of saliva. This dish was not only overbearing in aroma, but even in appearance, it was extremely overbearing, like a lion with disheveled mane, and it had a feeling of gnashing its teeth.

“Good, so fragrant!” The young chef swallowed his saliva.

“Can I have a taste?” Tang Jiu stared at Lin Dan with burning eyes. He had always been very restrained, and only when he saw delicious food would he reveal a bit of his strong and greedy nature.

“Have a taste.” Lin Dan picked up a towel to wipe her sweat.

The young chef and Tang Jiu immediately picked up chopsticks, preparing to attack the Golden Lion Fish, and saw that the old shopkeeper, who had run out to who knows where, ran in again in a hurry, and urgently said, “Can’t eat it, can’t eat it! The Prince Cheng has arrived and specifically requested to eat this dish you just made! Hurry, hurry, Xiaodouzi, quickly take this plate of dishes out, don’t keep the prince waiting!”

The waiter squeezed from under Tang Jiu’s arm, and ran away with the plate.

Lin Dan was immersed in cooking and didn’t know that the taste of her sauce had already spread to the streets through the windows. This Prince Cheng, like the Marquis Yongding, was a famous gourmand in the capital, whose greatest hobby was tasting food. He was originally a regular customer of Qiaoyuan Restaurant, but later, the young chef’s father died, so he came less often.

That day he originally planned to go to the Yan Family Restaurant for lunch, and when he passed by Qiaoyuan Restaurant, his long-time attendant accepted a benefit from the old shopkeeper, and casually mentioned that Qiaoyuan Restaurant had just received a batch of top-grade seafood, and that he could go and taste it.

Prince Cheng had a good relationship with the young chef’s father, and thought, “If that’s the case, then I’ll give it a face and go and eat it.” But he didn’t expect another carriage to come, and the head of Prince Gong poked out from the window, and laughed, “Royal brother, don’t be fooled, I was also tricked in like that yesterday, and the skills of that little Qiu is really not good, he really can’t make the taste of top-grade seafood, and is far inferior to the Yan Family Restaurant!”

Prince Cheng glared at the attendant and wanted to leave, but suddenly he smelled an indescribable smell, very sweet, very sour, and after a while, it actually blended into the freshness of the fish meat and the richness of the oil, it was simply fragrant to death!

“What is this smell? Smell it, quickly smell it!” Prince Cheng jumped up, his neck poked out of the carriage window, and he sniffed around like a puppy.

The joking Prince Gong couldn’t speak, quickly closed his mouth and swallowed the saliva that was flowing like a stream.

The attendant, whose thoughts were revealed, hurriedly said, “Your Highness, the fragrance is coming from Qiaoyuan Restaurant, perhaps Chef Qiu is cooking.”

“Go in and take a look!” Prince Cheng couldn’t sit still, and immediately jumped out of the carriage, and ran into the shop in three or two steps, and didn’t see the shopkeeper coming out to greet him, so he could only shout loudly, “Where are the people, where are the people, where have they all gone? What dish is being made in the kitchen? Quickly bring it to this prince!”

The waiter quickly settled the people, and then ran to the back kitchen, explained the situation to the old shopkeeper, who then saved this plate of dishes from the mouths of the young chef and Tang Jiu, and hurriedly took it to the front hall.

Prince Gong had already lost confidence in Qiu’s dishes, and originally only planned to sit in the carriage and watch the excitement, but he didn’t expect that when the dish was served, he couldn’t take it anymore, and hurriedly shrunk his head, stood up and ran out from under the carriage, but because the action was too urgent, he bumped into the top of the carriage, and couldn’t help but feel some dizziness. After finally covering his head and running to the table, and looking into the plate, he immediately gasped. Prince Cheng also opened his eyes wide, looking astonished.

They originally thought that the Squirrel Mandarin Fish of the Yan Family Restaurant was already the best of knife skills, shape, color, and seasoning. When this plate of fish came out, it immediately shattered the myth of Yan Family dishes.

The fish meat, shaped like fine threads, stood upright and gathered towards the fish head, the shape was very beautiful and unique. Piercing the crispy outer shell of the fish threads with chopsticks, revealing the pink and white fish meat inside, immediately there was shiny grease seeping out, and merging with the bright red, viscous sauce, fresh, tender, crispy, sour, and sweet, various flavors exploded on the tip of the tongue, it was simply wonderful!

Prince Cheng carefully pinched off a “lion mane,” quickly stuffed it into his mouth, and immediately his eyes narrowed, the wrinkles on his face relaxed at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if he had become several years younger.

“Is it delicious?” Prince Gong anxiously pulled his sleeve.

Prince Cheng ignored him, and again pinched off a “lion mane” and tasted it carefully, shaking his head and nodding his head, and smacking his lips, looking very provocative.

“Hey, you, speak up! Hey, this temper of mine!” Prince Gong rolled up his sleeves and cursed, “Shop assistant, are you blind? Didn’t you see this prince is here too? Why didn’t you bring another set of chopsticks and bowls? Hurry and get the chopsticks and bowls, be quick about it!” If they didn’t bring them, he wouldn’t care about royal bearing and would snatch it with his hands!

The shop assistant scrambled to deliver another set of chopsticks and bowls, and saw that these two incredibly noble princes were almost fighting at the table, two pairs of chopsticks clashing with each other, neither yielding, and they were still shouting, “Old Sixth, get the hell out of here, this is the dish I ordered, you don’t get any!”

“Elder brother, you’re not being righteous! We’re all brothers, what’s wrong with letting me eat your dish?”

“If you want to eat, why don’t you order it yourself!”

“If I order another one, won’t I have to wait half a day? The moment I smelled this fragrance, I couldn’t sit still!”

Seeing this situation, the shop assistant could only dash back to the back kitchen and tell Shopkeeper Lin to quickly make another Golden Lion Fish, or the two princes would really start fighting.

Lin Dan didn’t feel flattered or nervous either, but slowly rolled up her sleeves and said gently, “In that case, I’ll help people to the end today, and show you another skill.”