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Chapter 118 - Sauce Chicken
Chapter 118 - Sauce Chicken
Chapter 118: Sauce Chicken
Translator: Atlas StudiosEditor: Atlas Studios
“Got it.”
After Xu Le finished his sentence, the atmosphere suddenly became weird. Unfortunately, it had only been two seconds before Lu Yuxi laughed out loud. “Quickly come back and cook! I’ve lost a few kilograms of weight from hunger recently.”
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“How’s Li Qing doing? I’ve taught him all the dishes in the restaurant. He shouldn’t have been complained by the customers, right?”
“He’s alright. Let me tell you, they always thought that you were the one cooking in the kitchen. They pestered me to take a photo with you, but I rejected them.”
Lu Yuxi raised her brows smugly and said, “Let’s add two more dishes when we get back. There will always be people coming over to complain that the dishes aren’t of high class and that we don’t provide takeouts.”
“Sure.”
The next day, Xu Le woke up and stretched in the cool breeze. He rubbed his hair into a messy nest and looked out of the window. The blue sea was sparkling under the sunlight.
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‘The sunrise and dusk here were exceptionally warm, just like the sun that was shyly peeking its head out a moment ago. In the blink of an eye, it had risen into the sky. As the sunlight scattered down, the air was filled with heat and vitality.
The program team came over to distribute the mission card. Xu Le looked at it. It read that someone was going to watch him cook that day.
Anyway, Xu Le was used to being filmed by cameras. He didn’t take it to heart and quickly washed up before entering the kitchen.
‘There were quite a lot of fresh chickens in the fridge. He placed a pot of cold water on the stove and heated it up.
Zhou Huangya was the second person to enter. She smacked her lips and said with a smile, “Yesterday’s stewed lion’s head, I was even dreaming about eating it. It’s too fragrant.”
“Is your throat better?”
“T’ll be fine after taking the medicine.” Zhou Huangya smiled as she placed a dozen pork trotters and bundles of ribs into the stew pot. “Are you going to stew pig trotters?”
“No, it’s sauce chicken. This is the soup.”
‘The procedures of this dish were very complicated. Xu Le had practiced it hundreds of times in the system to ensure that the ingredients were incomparably precise. Hence, he did not plan to cook it like before and let them taste it before mass-producing it.
Instead, he directly put it into the pot to stew.
More than a dozen fresh hens were placed into the warm water. He covered the lid of the stew pot, and the medium fire began.
Xu Le took out the spices that he had prepared beforehand and poured cold water into the pot. After stirring a few times, a worker suddenly whispered, “Please wait a moment. Some reporters want to come in and watch the process. Can Chef Xu explain to them later?”
Xu Le nodded. Zhang Liang walked over while yawning and said, “Why are you cooking the big ingredients?”
“If you don’t cook the big ingredients, it will be dry inside. I’ll need to let it absorb all the moisutre before I can force out the essence of the ingredients when frying later.”
‘As they were talking, a man with curly hair and sunglasses came in with a whistle. He put his hands on his hips and said to Xu Le with a smile, “Did you miss me? Look, I can still make it to interview you.”
Mmm.”
Xu Le had a calm expression as he explained the spices on the table to him and the camera. He said, “Today, I’m preparing to make sauce chicken. On the table, from left to right, are the following: Aniseed, Ginger, Angelican Root, Grass Fruit, Gardenia Fruit, Nutmeg, White Kernel, Fennel, Fish Maw,
Clove, Onion, Ginger, Rare Flour, Rock Sugar, and Salt.”
Alex took off his glasses and widened his eyes. “This is too much trouble.”
Xu Le ignored his complaints and said, “The most important ingredient of the sauce chicken is the aniseed. First, put the ingredients into the pot and cook it. Let the water seep in and it will be more beneficial for the fragrance.”
‘The camera zoomed in as Zhang Liang said, “The program team assigned me to make desserts today. Do you have any good ideas?”
“Wine-brewed riceballs? That’s pretty simple.”
After Xu Le finished his suggestion, Zhang Liang curled his lips and said unhappily, “It’s mainly because I can’t display my culinary skills. With you here, no one can surpass you. How boring.”
“Why are you so calculative with a child?”
Bai Xiaoming walked over and said, “It’s just a dessert. We’ll definitely eat it.”
He sized Alex up from head to toe and finally reached out to shake hands with him reluctantly. He warned him half-jokingly, “The little Master Chef is our treasure. The customer flow are all thanks to his dishes. Be polite.”
Alex scoffed and said arrogantly, “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, how would I know that you guys didn’t create this gimmick to promote him?”
As he said that, he looked left and right in the kitchen. He even bent down to glance under the table and said, “Could it be that some experienced chef is hiding here and will come out later to help him cook?”
Xu Le found it ridiculous and ignored him. He focused on cooking and continued, “Before you cook the grass fruit, you need to cut them open and take out the seeds inside. Otherwise, the taste will be very bitter. Angelican root, ginger, nutmeg, white nutmeg, fennel, fish maw, and cloves will be boiled in
water and then scooped out to place aside.”
Alex said, “What breed is the chicken that you are using? A rooster or a hen?”
“The standards aren’t that strict. As long as the chicken is fresh, the soup base is more important for preparing the sauce chicken. If you are making it at home, you can just braise two chicken drumsticks according to this standard.”
“With so much spices, will it taste horrible?”
Alex stood at the side and spoke like someone who was bent on finding fault.
“Til let you taste it later.” Xu Le said, “Pour some sunflower seed oil into the pot. The sunflower seed oil has its own fragrance. It will produce a unique and stronger fragrance after it has been used to stir-fry.”
“Just pour aniseeds in. Remember to flip it with a spoon from time to time until the fragrance is released.”
As he spoke, he stirred the cold oil. In less than a minute, the fragrance of the aniseed spread out. At this moment, Xu Le poured in the chopped scallions and ginger slices.
Listening to the splattering of oil in the pot, Alex took a few steps back, afraid of being scalded.
“We have to fry it until the scallions, ginger, and fragrance merge and it becomes completely dry. During this process, we can scoop up some of the froth on it.” Xu Le waited until it was completely dried, and then said, “Now, add in the spices that were just cooked, pour all of them in to fry and wait until
the fragrance is released.”
“Wow.” Shu Qi, who came in later, smelled the fragrance of spices and couldn’t help but ask him, “What do you plan on cooking? This smells too good!”
“Sauce chicken. I’m boiling the soup base. Sister, help me get the yellow sauce over there.”
Shu Qi handed it over and asked, “What kind of seasoning is this?”
Xu Le explained, “The sauce is made from stir-fried soybeans that were ground and fermented. It has a unique flavor and is salty and fresh. I’m not particular about the brand, but if the quality of the sauce is good, the oil and water will separate after the sauce has been poured in.”
“Fry it for three to five minutes and it’ll be ready.”
By the time the bright brown sauce was poured out, the room was already filled with fragrance.
Zhou Huangya was salivating as she wiped the table and watched him cook from the corner of her eye.
Xu Le took out a dozen or so Gardenia fruits and washed them before putting them into the pot. He said, “Add 50 grams of Gardenia fruits and 400 grams of water. Everyone, use only the appropriate amount. The Gardenis water is used to make the sugar color. Remember to boil it before the color can be
released.”