Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 990 Beijingers Have Never Had Good Food (23)

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Huang Lei suddenly asked, "You ordered the chopped chili fish head?"

"Ok!"

"Steamed fish head with chopped chili requires a large fish..."

Shen Yan said, "I just saw a river over there... I'll go fishing, and we'll cook whatever fish we can catch!"

"Okay," Huang Lei asked again, "Did you order Peking duck?"

Yang Mi countered, "...Don't you have an oven?"

"There aren't any ducks either!"

Shen Yan pointed to the colorful lights outside the door and said, "Aren't those Muscovy ducks...?"

I also shared a bit of background information: "Muscovy ducks are known as the most fragrant ducks in the world, with an excellent taste... The meat is thick, mainly lean, and has a springy and chewy texture with almost no gamey smell, making it a true culinary delicacy. I've had ginger duck in Xiamen, which is Muscovy duck stewed with ginger. After stewing, the duck meat becomes thick and tender, and full of juicy flavor, making every bite incredibly satisfying."

Upon hearing this, Teacher Huang immediately became interested: "Ginger duck?"

"right…"

"Big fire or small fire?"

Shen Yan: "First stir-fry over high heat until it's about 60% cooked, then simmer over low heat... I can do it!"

"Those are colored lights!"

Teacher He quickly said, "They're family, they can't eat them!"

"What a pity..." Shen Yan sighed, emphasizing again, "It was really delicious!"

"Anything else is fine!" Yang Mi interjected, "Why is it called Muscovy duck?"

"The Muscovy duck... is not a native species; I've heard it originated in Central and South America. Like other crops with 'foreign' in their names, such as tomatoes and sweet potatoes, it belongs to the same family and is an introduced species that spread from Central and South America..."

……

Do you go fishing often?

Watching Shen Yan's skillful swing, Yang Mi couldn't help but ask a question.

Shen Yan nodded: "After winning the Palme d'Or a while ago, I felt my mindset was a bit too restless... so I chartered a boat and went sea fishing for three days..."

"Can it temper one's mindset?"

"Of course, I'm telling you, fishing is a really great thing... When you're fishing, you can forget about your other identities in this society, and at that moment you are just yourself."

"That doesn't necessarily mean you have to go sea fishing, does it?"

"The feeling of catching big fish is different from catching small fish..."

Yang Mi then asked, "Have you ever caught a big fish?"

"You can check my WeChat Moments... On June 18, 2018, I caught a bighead carp, weighing 54 jin (6 catties)..."

Yang Mi took out her phone, scrolled through her WeChat Moments, and casually asked, "Where's the fish?"

"It didn't taste good... I gave it to the fishing boat owner!"

"What do they mean by 'air force'?"

Shen Yan's face darkened: "I don't know, I've never been in the Air Force!"

Okay, the truth is... nine out of ten times you fish, you come away empty-handed...

For anglers, being out of the game is the norm!
But... I was lucky today, I only chatted for a few minutes and I actually caught a fish!

A mandarin fish weighing about one pound...

Shen Yan quickly put it away: "See that? That's real strength!"

"...Can this fish be used to make steamed fish head with chopped chili?"

Shen Yan cast his line with full confidence: "...I'm going to catch another big one!"

And that was it...

I've never caught a fish again!
"It's time to go back!"

"Hmm..." Shen Yan put away his rod and then said, "Mainly because I didn't bait the area!"

"Make a nest?"

"It means that when fishing, you should scatter bait in the water beforehand, that is, at your fishing spot. The purpose is to gather the fish together, making it easier to catch them once they enter the fishing area," Shen Yan explained, adding, "As the saying goes, if you don't bait the water, you won't catch many fish!" Yang Mi: "So it's because you didn't bait the water?"

Shen Yan replied matter-of-factly, "Of course, my skills are flawless!"

"My dad also likes fishing..."

"When are you free? We can invite Uncle to go together..."

"But my dad basically always misses the test..."

"fine…"

Yang Mi rolled her eyes: "What I mean is, how about we go to the market and buy a big fish?"

"No need, let's just eat this mandarin fish." After a pause, Shen Yan added, "Mandarin fish, also known as mandarin perch, is one of my country's 'Four Famous Freshwater Fish'!"

"The Four Famous Freshwater Fish?"

"The Songjiang perch, Yellow River carp, Xingkai Lake bream, and Songhua River mandarin fish—although we're not in the Songhua River area, we have the same types of mandarin fish!"

"You know so much..."

"For screenwriters, this is common sense..."

In the end, no fish was bought...

Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing!

……

Actually, Yan and his friend were very lucky; the farm work was already finished…

Even the rapeseed has been harvested!
So, there wasn't much of a work-related storyline...

Dinner was a simple home-cooked meal…

The main dishes were braised pork ribs, steamed mandarin fish, and braised prawns...

There's no Peking duck, but there is a dish called Ginger Duck—the preparation is similar to Ginger Duck, except it doesn't require long simmering…

Huang Lei explained somewhat embarrassedly, "It's mainly because I just couldn't get an oven!"

"Actually, the ducks used for Peking duck are Beijing-style force-fed ducks, which are different from regular ducks..."

"Is it different?"

"BJ force-fed ducks are grown by force-feeding. The ducklings are force-fed from one and a half months old, and the fattening process takes about half a month, with the fattening cycle typically lasting around 14 days... Then they can be sold... Our regular ducks are not force-fed..."

Huang Lei nodded: "Forced duck meat is plump and tender, with a delicious taste, making it a favorite ingredient for many restaurants and families. Regular duck meat is relatively lean and has a more ordinary taste, making it suitable for home cooking."

Yang Mi looked at Shen Yan: "Didn't you say you didn't like Peking duck?"

Shen Yan nodded: "I've seen 'The Best Restaurant Under Heaven' and 'The Flames of War in Beiping.' The people in the show ate Peking duck at Quanjude with such gusto, their mouths were practically dripping with oil... The first time I went to Beijing, I went straight to Quanjude, but it was full and I couldn't make a reservation, so I went to Bianyifang instead."

The first thing you notice when it arrives is that the duck is huge and very shiny.

Watching the chef carve the duck, so calm and composed, filled me with anticipation.

The duck slices are ready. Pick up a slice of duck meat with the skin on and eat it plain. It's so oily!

Extremely oily!
Not believing it, I added cucumber dipped in sugar and sauce, wrapped around a small pancake, and it was still a bit oily!

He Jiong nodded: "We Changsha people aren't used to it!"

Huang Lei interjected: "Most aromatic substances are fat-soluble...chocolate, foie gras..."

Shen Yan and He Jiong exchanged a glance: "I'm not eating any of them!"

"No, I'll eat it!" Shen Yan suddenly remembered something: "I'll eat Dove chocolate..."

A group of people looked at him, and Shen Yan explained, "I was the spokesperson for a year... I had a good feeling about the brand, and they didn't ask me to attend any events or anything, I just filmed an advertisement..."

"But you eat stinky tofu!"

Shen Yan: "You Beijingers also drink douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), eat braised pork offal, stir-fried liver, and guanchang (a type of sausage)... and we don't eat Wang Zhihe stinky tofu!"

He Jiong: "Yes, Wang Zhihe stinky tofu is also from Beijing!"

Changsha's stinky tofu differs from Beijing's; the former is deep-fried and fresh, while the latter retains its original flavor, remaining unchanged for over a century…

Shen Yan just couldn't stand that smell!
"I've lived in Beijing for several years, and I've always felt that Beijing is a food wasteland!"

(End of this chapter)