Chapter 112: Royal Court’s Buddha’s Roll
Translator: Atlas StudiosEditor: Atlas Studios
The stall owner jumped up and ran over to hug Xu Le with an exaggerated expression.
Even though they knew that he was doing this for the effect of the show, the other guests could not help but laugh. Zhou Huangya joked, “Is this what it means to fly because of the tastiness?”
The interpreter said, “The stall owner asked if you used some secret spices. Otherwise, how could it be so delicious?”
Xu Le shook his head and said, “It’s the seafood soup made from prawn heads and the onion oil. There’s nothing else.”
The interpreter translated for the stall owner, “Really” Then, he continued to explain, “The stall owner thought that his dried onions were too wet and he was about to throw it away. In the end, you used dried onions to make such a wonderful delicacy. The stall owner is probably a little.
Doubting himself.
The stall owner was stunned. He then pulled Xu Le and asked him to explain the cooking process of this dish with the help of the female interpreter.
After happily eating seafood, they retuned. When Xu Le woke up early the next morning, he saw that Bai Xiaoming had already brought food back for everyone.
He asked in surprise, “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Grass carp, crucian carp, and duck meat are all here.” Bai Xiaoming said, “We almost didn’t reach our turnover last week. Luckily, you came. In just three days, you managed to exceed our required turnover! That’s so great!”
Xu Le scratched the back of his head and smiled bashfully. “No, no. I was just lucky.”
“Don’t be modest. Go out and look outside.”
Zhang Liang pointed to the door of the restaurant and said, “We are only opening at 10am and there’s already a long line of people queuing up. It’s as though a Thai celebrity had come over for a meal and posted a tweet, so there are a lot of people who came over to visit.”
“Okay, then let’s hurry into the kitchen.”
After Xu Le washed up, he put on his chef’s hat and apron. Zhou Huangya laid on the bar counter listlessly. When she greeted him, her voice was still hoarse.
“Good morning… Don’t mention it. Yesterday, I must have blown too much cold wind at the beach so my throat suddenly went hoarse.”
Zhou Huangya sighed and looked at Xu Le. “Can you make me a lighter meat dish? I still want to eat but I have to eat something lighter.”
“Hmm…” Xu Le thought for a while.” How about stewed lion’s head meatballs?”
Zhou Huangya’s eyes lit up and immediately said, “Sure!”
Xu Le couldn’t help but think of Lu Yuxi when he saw how her eyes lit up at the sight of the delicious food. He secretly thought to himself that he would video call his sister that night. He had been too busy recently and hadn’t messaged to check up on the two of them.
“Little Master Chef, are there any new dishes today? A group of people outside are asking for more Chinese dishes…”
Xu Le flipped through the ingredients and had a rough idea of what to prepare. “There’s a royal dish, Buddha’s Roll.”
Zhang Liang opened his mouth and was about to say that the dish was too difficult to make and they would probably not be able to make it in time. But on second thought, Xu Le’s performance often made him regret what he said. Perhaps he really could make it.
Hence, he swallowed his words.
Shu Qi came in from outside to help and said half-jokingly, “You even promised us that you would make stewed lion’s head meatballs just now, and now you’re going back on your words?”
“Of course not. I’ll make both.”
“Tl be your assistant.”
Zhang Liang rushed over and prepared to secretly learn.
“Tll start with the Buddha’s Roll.”
“Water chestnuts, eggs, white onions.”
“The onions have to be cut into onion grains, not diced directly.”
Xu Le explained as he cut the scallion into slices and then into shreds. Zhang Liang looked at his orderly and skilled cutting skills and asked curiously, “The scallion is so white and sticky. No matter how you cut it, it will become minced later. What is called onion grain?”
Xu Le used the jumping knife technique to demonstrate. “Just like this, the chopped onion will become the size of a millet.”
“Wow!”
Zhang Liang saw the blade lightly touch the chopping board and immediately bounce back, as though it was bouncing on the chopping board.
“It’s the same for ginger. First, cut it into slices, then cut into shreds, and finally cut it into ginger grain.”
‘When Zhang Liang saw this, he shook his head and said in disbelief, “This is even more perfect than a machine. Normally, a chef wouldn’t be able to reach this standard without practicing for more than ten years!”
“More or less.”
Xu Le answered casually. He was not being arrogant, but he had been practicing in the system for more than ten years.
Xu Le picked a piece of lean meat and put it into the meat grinder. After the meat was evenly minced, he took it out.
“Water chestnuts are called differently everywhere. After adding them in, you can adjust the texture of the meat filling.”
He used the side of the knife to smash the water chests and then began to chop them up. Only after ensuring that they were extremely crushed did he add them into the meat.
“This royal dish was passed down from the historical recipes. In order to restore it as much as possible, I didn’t add anything like MSG into it.”
“Tonly added salt and sesame oil. The salt enhances the flavor, and the sesame oil enhances the fragrance.”
After the condiments were put in, he put on gloves and began to grab and mix evenly. Then, he stirred in one direction, hit, and waited until he got the hang of it.
Xu Le raised his hand and showed it to the camera. “The meat filling should reach about the same state as this. Now add water, starch and com starch into it. Add the liquid egg into it. After mixing it, add the soul of this dish.”
“Ladded the chopped onions and ginger grains into the bow! and continued to use my hands to grab it. Now, the meat stuffing will be pale pink and the surface will be smoother.”
“Take out a few eggs and beat them. The essence of the egg skin is to completely crack open the whole egg and add a little water and starch. This way, the egg skin won’t break easily.”
“Add salt at the end, and it will make the egg skin more elastic.”
‘When everything was ready, Xu Le said, “Many families are using non-stick pots now. Even if you don’t, you can pour it in directly. This is a steel pot, so you just need to coat it with hot oil once.”
He heated the pot until it was smoking and poured a spoonful of cold oil into it. After it was heated, he poured it out and dried the oil.
Xu Le poured a spoonful of beaten egg inside and turned the handle of the pot, letting the egg spread out evenly.
“It will form its shape under the fire, and not stick to the pan. Once the egg has solidified, you can pour it out.”
It was a thin layer of omelet, light but chewy.
After making a few egg pancakes, he poured them into the plate. Xu Le reminded, “Eggs are easily crushed when it’s hot. It’ll be more elastic if it’s cold. Add water to the flour and mix it into a paste. Apply it to the side of the pot.”
Zhang Liang said, “Is there a need to be particular about where to apply it?”
“No, the surface here is smooth and beautiful. The surface on the side of the pot is a little wrinkled and doesn’t look good enough.”
Zhang Liang’s smile froze as he said dryly, “Haha, what a cold joke.”
“The meat stuffing will follow this side of the straight line. You will pinch it into a semi-circle long strip and then roll it up. You must hold on to it tightly. Don’t poke the egg skin, but you must wrap it tightly.”
Zhang Liang commented, “The way I see it, just the step of chopping the onion grain and ginger grain alone makes it not a common dish anymore. It’s really discouraging the audience to try, haha.”
“This dish is a royal dish to begin with and is meant to be served at the national banquet. Everyone should practise more and take it slow.”
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