I'm the Culinary God

Chapter 1168: Chapter 471: Seeking Smoothness Is Fine, but the Graininess Is the Soul of Black Sesame Paste! [Subscription Request]

Next comes the waiting for verification.

For this, Lin Xu specially rented a second-floor shop next to Lin Ji as the association’s headquarters.

Once the verification is passed, these fishing guys will have their own air force base.

In the next two days, both the store and the company were very calm. Chen Meijuan had already started early construction work over at Ginkgo Garden.

For example, demolishing the gate and clearing wild grass to facilitate road construction, and so on.

After shooting a video using an air fryer to make fried milk, Shen Jiayue sparked an online trend of using air fryers to cook delicacies.

Even Wu Kexin joined in during her live stream and replicated it, replacing fresh milk with yogurt to make fried yogurt, showing netizens more uses for air fryers.

"Xu Baobao, look what I’ve bought!"

On Wednesday afternoon, Lin Xu did a round at the Fishing Platform and Yanjing Hotel, and as soon as he walked into the small kitchen, he noticed something unusual on the workbench — a small electric stone mill.

Lin Xu asked curiously:

"What do you plan to do with this? Are you going to make tofu?"

"Ha ha, that’s so old-fashioned; this thing can do more than just make tofu. It can grind soy milk, glutinous rice, peanuts, sesame... whatever a stone mill can make, this small mill can do too."

This is just within the working range of a stone mill.

What Lin Xu couldn’t understand was Shen Baobao’s motivation to buy a stone mill; is she really going to follow the path of gastronomy without turning back?

"What prompted you to buy a stone mill?"

"Because it’s cute! Other stone mills are so big, but this one is small; look at the grindstone on top, it’s about the size of a plate, looks so exquisite and cute, I fell for it at first sight."

Indeed...

The thought process women have when buying things always revolves around appearance.

No matter if it’s useful or not, as long as it touches their inexplicable cute point, they will happily make the purchase.

Lin Xu noticed the manual for the stone mill and found that it is a low-speed mill which restores the effect of hand grinding to the greatest extent.

Moreover, during the grinding process, it won’t heat up due to friction, thus preserving the nutritional balance of the ingredients.

Although soy milk makers, blenders, grinders, and wall breakers are very common in modern society, they all share a common flaw — the blades heat up when processing ingredients quickly.

This heat is actually detrimental to the ingredients.

Therefore, some people who are particular about food add some ice-cold water or crushed ice to reduce the heat of the blades when grinding ingredients.

"Xu Baobao, shall we make something yummy with this?"

Shen Jiayue didn’t know what they would make, but with such a cute little mill, it seemed something delicious should definitely be made.

Lin Xu was about to say it’s too troublesome, but suddenly remembered that a few days ago, Old Yu asked him to do a tutorial on black sesame paste.

Now that there’s a stone mill, let’s get straight to it and shoot a tutorial on traditional stone-ground black sesame paste, and talk about the key points of making it.

Thinking of this, he said to Shen Jiayue:

"Let’s make black sesame paste then, tradition stone mill-made black sesame paste, so you can feel what authentic sesame paste tastes like."

Light shone in Shen Jiayue’s eyes:

"Sure! I was just planning to drink some black sesame paste. Yesterday, Yuanyuan pulled a white hair from my head, it scared me to death; I must be lacking nutrients."

Lin Xu: "..."

Why don’t you associate it with staying up late?

Making black sesame paste is simple, aside from needing black sesame, you also need crystal sugar and soaked glutinous rice.

He prepared these ingredients and planned to start filming when Shen Jiayue curiously asked:

"We need glutinous rice too?"

"Yeah, otherwise how will it be silky smooth?"

Lin Xu placed the black sesame, white glutinous rice, and crystal sugar next to the stone mill, and the shooting officially began.

"Hello everyone, I’m Lin Xu. A few days ago, a neighbor asked me to do a tutorial on making black sesame paste, and finally, today I have time to make it."

After saying that, he pointed to the electric stone mill on the workbench:

"Some newly successful UP Master has just received a payment, and couldn’t wait to buy this stone mill. I’ll take this opportunity to break it in, today teaching everyone how to make traditional stone-ground black sesame paste."

Lin Xu introduced the ingredients needed and talked about the things to keep in mind when making the dish:

"Be sure to add glutinous rice to black sesame paste for a better texture, and the amount of glutinous rice should be roughly half that of the black sesame in dry terms. If there isn’t enough, the taste is bitter and not silky; too much and it feels sticky and cloying."

After saying everything, he poured the prepared black sesame into clean water to wash:

"When using raw sesame, wash it, because they have dust and even small clay particles which could affect taste and texture when eaten."

After rinsing, drain them using a fine mesh sieve.

Then use a non-stick pan meant for desserts, add the drained black sesame in, and start stirring it over low heat.

There is a lot of surface moisture on the black sesame, but stir patiently for a while and you’ll find the black sesame in the pot slowly drying.

Lin Xu adjusted the camera above his head, stirring while filming:

"If you are doing this at home, it’s advised not to use raw black sesame because the grilling step is quite tricky; if not grilled well, it won’t produce the aromatic flavor, if grilled too much it turns bitter. It’s hard for those inexperienced to control the heat, so use cooked sesame, it’s straightforward and time-saving."

When the black sesame frying starts crackling slightly, you can turn off the heat and remove from the pan.

The freshly removed black sesame should be spread on a tray because the residual heat can make it turn bitter.

After frying the black sesame, Lin Xu fetched the glutinous rice, frying it dry and aromatic in the pan as well.

In some southern street stalls, they make black sesame paste that’s fragrant and silky mainly because the raw materials are grilled in advance.

Fried black sesame and glutinous rice each get water added, the water can be a bit more, which makes grinding easier.

If you don’t add water and directly mill, the black sesame will turn into sesame sauce.

Lin Xu first cleaned the stone mill carefully, then started grinding the black sesame. When the machine started, soon, a sticky grayish liquid slowly flowed out from the mill.

Shen Jiayue watched in amazement; it looked so fun.

I’m going to play with it later after filming; it looks so stress-relieving.

Once black sesame is milled, Lin Xu brings over the glutinous rice to mill it into a slurry as well. After both are milled, they’re poured into a milk pot to simmer.

Shen Jiayue looked surprised:

"Xu Baobao, I’ve seen online tutorials that say you should filter it to make the texture finer."

Lin Xu chuckled:

"Chasing fineness is fine, but the soul of black sesame paste lies in those subtle particles, and the aroma also comes from those tiny fragments... it’s best not to filter, otherwise you miss the essence."

He stirred with a spoon in the pot and continued to simmer when the water boiled.

This not only helps evaporate excess water but also brings out the black sesame paste’s aroma again.

"How to make it without a stone mill at home?"

"I’ll make a no-stone-mill version later, and also a no-grinder version... Making black sesame paste isn’t hard; if you want to learn, it’s something anyone can master with hands!"

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Sorry for updating late, this Chapter 5400 words, asking for monthly tickets!