Food: Random stalls, customers chase me all over the country

Chapter 537 - Squirrel Mandarin Fish
The kitchen and the dining room are not far from each other, so Wang Fan can hear some of the sounds from the dining room.

The cheerful atmosphere in the restaurant would have made him extremely envious in the past, but now he just had a smile on his face and did not feel any envy.

I just miss my second uncle and my foodie girlfriend, even though they just broke up not long ago.

He shook his head, picked up the mandarin fish that had been cut and powdered, and hung it above the oil pan.

A pair of hands pinched the mandarin fish's neck and tail respectively. As for why the mouth was not pinched, it was naturally because the mandarin fish was confused.

"呲呲呲..."

The moment the mandarin fish enters the oil pan, fine golden bubbles begin to surge along the edge of the fish, and a strong aroma of wheat and fish follows.

The oil bubbles gradually increased and gradually covered the entire fish body. Wang Fan used long chopsticks in his right hand to occasionally stir the fish tail to prevent it from sticking to the bottom, while his left hand picked up the fish head and began to coat it with flour.

When the flour is coated, the body of the mandarin fish in the pan has been turned over with a colander and continued to be fried. Then the fish head is also put into the pan to be fried.

Sensing a subtle change in smell, Wang Fan decisively took out the fish body and head, and when the oil temperature rose again, he put the fish body back in to fry it again.

After re-frying, the tail of the mandarin fish has been completely lifted up, and the originally white batter has turned into light gold.

In another pot, take out the fish, heat up the oil, add the scallion and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the tomato sauce and water and stir-fry continuously, then pour three or two taels of sugar into the pot.

Squirrel fish is supposed to be sweet, so you can’t eat it without adding too little sugar.

After adding salt, white vinegar, cooking wine and pepper and mixing them well, Wang Fan used a colander to scoop out all the chopped onions and ginger in the pot.

The sautéed chopped green onion and ginger will somewhat affect the aesthetics when pouring the sauce.

Put the diced winter bamboo shoots, diced shiitake mushrooms, diced carrots, and green beans into the pot and continue to stew. Then add a spoonful of water starch and pour a large spoonful of hot oil directly from the wok into the pot.

"Hey..."

The moment the hot oil and hot soup came into contact, there was a sound and dense bubbles surged.

Feeling the viscosity of the sauce, Wang Fan added another spoonful of water starch, stirred it evenly, and turned off the heat.

The fish head and body have been placed on the hot plate, and there is a small red tomato in the mouth of the fish head that is raised high.

"Squeak..."

When the bright and glossy sauce is poured over the fried fish, not only does it coat the fish body in orange-yellow, but the fish also keeps making "squeaking" sounds, just like a little squirrel calling.

Even when it was served on the table, the tiny sounds could still be clearly heard.

Seeing Wang Fan come out, Mr. Shen and the others felt a little embarrassed. After all, it had only been three minutes since they last met, and the ginger duck on the table was already gone.

Wang Fan was somewhat surprised at how quickly they ate. He expected that by the time the second dish arrived, they would have finished about one-third of the first dish, which was reasonable.

It looked like there was only old ginger left in the basin.

Maybe I'm hungry because I didn't eat breakfast.

Wang Fan didn't think much of it. He put the plate on the table and said, "Everyone, eat the squirrel mandarin fish while it's hot, but be careful with the heat."

After saying that, he quickly returned to the kitchen without waiting for anyone to speak. He had already decided to speed up the preparation of the next dishes.

The aroma of squirrel fish is not as strong as that of ginger duck, but it is sweet and sour and refreshing. The refreshing sour aroma of white vinegar and tomato sauce not only relieves greasiness, but also restarts the taste buds of several people.

As my mouth starts to water, I feel my stomach become empty again. Squirrel fish generally look the same in appearance, but the heat of frying the fish, the combination of sauces, and even the thickness can affect the texture and taste of the finished product.

Father Shen did not praise the fragrance or appearance, he was really thinking that his rebellious son was staring at him covetously.

Father Shen said angrily: "No wonder you didn't even eat breakfast this morning, it seems like this was premeditated."

Shen Teng chuckled: "Then you underestimated me. I haven't eaten a single bite since last night!"

Mr. Shen smiled and pointed at Shen Teng a few times, then slowly picked up a piece of fish.

"Click..."

A slight crisp sound was heard, and Shen's father tore off a piece of meat from the mandarin fish. The orange-yellow sauce tightly wrapped around the piece of fish meat. The sauce was not reluctantly torn off until the chopsticks were 5 centimeters away from the plate.

This sauce is absolutely amazing!
Father Shen exclaimed in his heart.

Thickening is definitely a technical job, especially when thickening squirrel fish, you need to add a lot of oil, and add oil without making it visible. This is not a skill that ordinary chefs can master.

Mr. Shen also has some chef friends and is familiar with many cooking skills.

Thickening is absolutely an indispensable part of cooking.

Sweet, sour, fragrant, salty, all kinds of flavors change imperceptibly in your mouth, and the crispy dough that remains crispy even after being poured with starch is the finishing touch.

The crispy and tender fish meat melts in your mouth, and the sweet and sour sauce makes you unable to stop eating.

It’s just that Mr. Shen thought he was very fast at picking up the food, but he was shocked to find that when he picked up the third piece, more than half of the big fish was gone!

He took a look at the people's plates and saw that there was no fish left. Only their bulging mouths told him where the fish had gone.

The sweet and sour taste has always been a favorite of women, no matter they are 10, 20, 30 or even or years old, Mother Shen and Aunt Wu simply cannot resist this taste.

The two of them were using their chopsticks so fast and chewing as fast as Shen Teng, who had been hungry for almost a day.

Mr. Shen felt that as a man, he shouldn't compete with women for this sweet and sour dish, so he said to Shen Teng: "Don't fight with your mother and your Aunt Wu for this dish, man."

After saying that, he picked up a large piece of fish with chopsticks and put it into his mouth.

Shen Teng looked at his father in confusion. He is a grown man, but you are not?

While eating fish, Mr. Shen said slowly: "You are a grown man, and I am already an old man."

……

Wang Fan cleaned the pot and was already preparing the third dish - stir-fried lobster with mint and spicy sauce.

Although lobster is the most expensive, its taste is just so-so, far inferior to smaller prawns, although the two are not the same species.

Stir-fried lobster with mint and spicy sauce doesn’t strictly belong to any cuisine, but it’s a recipe that Wang Fan came up with while researching Hunan cuisine.

The main feature of this dish is its spicy taste and the freshness of mint, which adds a touch of freshness to the spicy taste and makes the taste more layered.

This dish can be considered an innovative attempt of his, but I don’t know whether the four diners outside will buy it.

(End of this chapter)