Chapter 161: Dongpo Tofu
After filtering the rough parts of the chestnut, Zhang Tong found a large iron pot and was about to pour it in.
Shen Hui immediately stopped him and looked at her son uncertainly. “Can you cook it in this pot?”
“Change to the copper pot,” Xu Le said. “The iron pot will have a chemical reaction, causing the color of the chestnut soup to turn black, which will affect the appearance and appetite.”
“Oh, oh.”
Zhang Tong quickly threw away the pot in his hand and found a copper pot.
After adding the chestnut soup to the pot, he poured in an appropriate amount of water and rock sugar. He turned on the heat and kept stirring.
The poria powder separated in cold water. He stirred until there was any solid inside, then filtered again and slowly poured into the pot for stirring.
“You have to keep stirring. When your arm gets tired, just change to someone else. If you stop, the pot will be burnt easily.”
Xu Le reminded him and brought over dried osmanthus. After spreading it evenly, he continued to guard it over a small fire until the osmanthus spread out in the chestnut soup and emitted a fragrance.
As he stirred, he carefully removed the froth on it and simmered it until the unique smell of chestnuts disappeared. When he smelled that it was no longer raw, he could add the osmanthus sauce.
Li Qing lost his patience. With one hand on his waist and the other slowly stirring the pot, he said, “How long will it take?”
He grumbled. After another ten minutes or so, it was ready to be served.
“It has to go through the sieve again.”
The dried osmanthus flowers in the chestnut soup were boiled and filtered out after absorbing the fragrance. It ensured that the taste of the chestnut was thick and smooth, and there would be no impurities when it was drunk.
Li Qing heaved a sigh of relief and looked at the remaining chestnuts, saying, “I’ll just cook this pot. You guys can do the rest. I really can’t stir it anymore.”
As he spoke, he helped himself to a small bowl of chestnut soup and drank it.
After drinking it, he stood rooted to the ground and was tempted to pour another bowl.
Zhang Tong said, “Come on, don’t drink so much. It’s troublesome enough to make this. You’ll finish it before the audience can taste it.”
Li Qing rebuked, “I didn’t taste anything in the first bowl. If you don’t believe me, try it. It just slides down your throat directly.”
He shamelessly filled another bowl and hid at the side to taste it carefully.
The chestnut smelled rich and sweet. The osmanthus fragrance inside was fragrant and extremely smooth.
“Well, not bad!” Zhang Tong praised, “It’s smooth and fragrant. The chestnuts give off an especially strong fragrance. The audience will definitely like it later.”
The three of them worked together to peel and cook the chestnuts… Whereas Xu Le took out the tofu and prepared to make the last dish.
As the name suggested, Dongpo Tofu was developed by the great poet, Su Dongpo. He had been demoted and lived a tough life, but he was optimistic and had developed many delicacies that had been passed down for generations.
The Dongpo Tofu could be used with the onion oil that Li Qing had fried at the beginning. The tofu was cut into large pieces and placed on a plate. A layer of salt was evenly spread on the surface, and pepper was sprinkled to marinate it.
After the fenugreek seeds were crushed, half of them were chopped into powder form, and the other half was beaten with the back of the knife, retaining some of its texture.
Then he prepared shallots and ginger by chopping them.
After pouring onion oil into the pot and heating it 60-70%, he added tofu from the side of the pot. At first, he had to ensure that the oil would submerge the tofu in the middle. After frying it to a golden color, he did not need to flip it over. He drained the oil from the pot, leaving only a little base oil.
He sprinkled chopped shallots on the tofu, poured clear chicken soup from the side of the pot, and turned to low heat to simmer.
He added some diced ginger and added a little pepper.
Then came the most crucial step—the bamboo leaves were soaked until they were soft and spread on the tofu.
As soon as the bamboo leaves were placed in the pot, one could immediately smell the faint fragrance of bamboo. Li Qing leaned over curiously and asked, “Can bamboo leaves be eaten too?”
“I don’t see you eating the dumpling leaves either.” Xu Le explained, “I was just borrowing the taste.”
“I remember that this dish didn’t need bamboo leaves in the beginning.”
“Yes. It’s modified. Adding bamboo leaves will make the taste more fragrant. Didn’t Su Dongpo say that it’s better to eat without meat than to live without bamboo? When cooking rice, add a few bamboo leaves into it, and it will taste better when it comes out.”
Xu Le took the sesame oil and dripped a few drops into it. Then, he found some yellow wine and poured five grams of it into the pot.
After completely stewing the fragrance of the bamboo leaves into the soup and tofu, he could remove the bamboo leaves and place them on a plate. A small amount of starch would be used to thicken the sauce. Then, he aded onion oil and salt to produce the flavor and evaporated the sauce over high heat.
On the plate, the dark green bamboo leaves contrasted with the snow-white tofu. The top was covered with fragrant fenugreek seeds. It was indescribably beautiful.
Xu Le ground some pine nuts and sprinkled them on it to increase the rich texture of the nuts.
Little did they know that the netizens watching from their screens were already in huge excitement when they saw this dish.
“He actually made tofu at such a grand competition venue.”
“How can fried tofu be presentable?”
“But what’s on it? That nut looks quite delicious.”
“Please stop. I’m not used to fenugreek seeds at all. I bought a packet and put it away until it’s moldy.”
“It’s not delicious at all.”
“What nonsense. I grew up eating nuts.”
“Why don’t you guys see why the Master Chef is not showing his finished product for the next few dishes?”
They did not dare to relax for a moment while cooking. The second round of the competition finally reached the plating segment. The order in which the audience saw the cut scenes was completely chaotic. It was impossible to tell which dish was made by whom.
Xu Le finally heaved a sigh of relief after pouring the hot dark red soup on the last bowl of tea noodles.
But the relief didn’t last. He started becoming tensed again.
This was because he saw from the corner of his eye that when the staff distributed the noodles, there were two servings of tea noodles and two servings of Dongpo Tofu…
He felt that something was amiss and thought to himself, “There are so many ingredients. How can he have the same four dishes as me?”
The host said, “Two dishes will be served every time. You should vote for whichever dish you think tastes better. At the end, the votes will be counted to determine the winner.”
The first dish was Dongpo Tofu. The Master Chef used egg pancakes at the bottom to plate the dish, while Xu Le used bamboo leaves. Other than the difference in the plating, the two dishes looked almost identical.
Song Deyue tasted the Dongpo Tofu made by Xu Le. The savory tofu was filled with the fragrance of bamboo leaves. One side was golden, and the other side was snow-white. It was crispy and tender, and the aftertaste was slightly sweet.
The nuts on it were the finishing touch. They were crisp and fragrant.
He looked at the ingredients in disbelief and tasted a second mouthful after confirming that it was tofu.
Mapo Tofu was salty, fresh, and spicy. Dongpo Tofu looked bland, but it was delicious. It was solid but tender.
The other Dongpo Tofu dish with fried eggs on the bottom blended the taste of the two and actually tasted like vegetarian meat. However, in comparison, it was less fragrant and more greasy.
There were too many people present. Even from listening to the sound of the system collecting gold coins, it was difficult for him to estimate the number of votes. He could only wait silently.
Li Qing looked at his heavy expression and asked curiously, “You were still lecturing me just now. Why do you suddenly lose confidence?”
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