The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 212 Du Ziyan's Hidden Trump Card
Add a handful of scallion whites to the pot, then add steamed ham cubes, cooked chicken leg cubes, chicken gizzard cubes, sea cucumber cubes, shiitake mushroom cubes, and bamboo shoot cubes, and stir-fry together. Once the ingredients are slightly cooked, add shrimp marinated in cooking wine.

Pour rice wine around the edge of the pot to remove any fishy or gamey smell and enhance the flavor. Add the chicken broth from cooking the chicken legs and gizzards, along with the broth from steaming the ham, to the pot. Add the soaked dried scallops along with the broth, and finally add the shrimp.

After completing the above steps in an orderly manner, Qin Lang closed the pot lid and let it simmer for about five minutes.

Five minutes later, when Qin Lang opened the pot lid again, a rich aroma of various ingredients wafted out.

The savory aroma of chicken becomes the main flavor due to the superior quality of the ingredients, but the savory aromas of ham, scallops, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and shrimp that follow are like various garnishes, adding more layers to the chicken's flavor and making it exceptionally rich and elegant.

Qin Lang used a small spoon to scoop up some soup and put it in his mouth, savoring the rich and savory flavor that surged on his tongue. A look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes. He added an appropriate amount of salt, sugar, and white pepper to finish the dish and served it.

The perfect balance of flavors and ingredients is now complete.

The standard for determining whether a Yangzhou fried rice is authentic is very clear.

First of all, authentic Yangzhou fried rice is all about using less oil. It requires precise control of the heat and skill. Those Yangzhou fried rice dishes that taste like rice soaked in oil are not authentic at all.

Secondly, and most importantly, Yangzhou fried rice is the only fried rice that incorporates soup into its broth.

That's right, the ingredients and broth that were just served will be added little by little to the fried rice during the actual cooking process of Yangzhou fried rice, so that the essence of the broth can be thoroughly infused into every grain of rice.

Qin Lang opened the rice cooker, glanced at the state of the rice, scooped it out to cool, and then picked up the premium eggs.

For any fried rice, it is best to use leftover rice, because cooked rice will re-aging and become separate grains after cooling and resting.

However, a good chef can achieve a similar result by controlling the amount of water used for cooking rice and by more precisely controlling the heat when frying rice.

Two rare eggs, one with the egg white and yolk separated in two separate bowls, the other with the egg white and yolk together.

Whisk the egg whites quickly with chopsticks to fully incorporate them with air. Then, heat a little oil in a pan and slowly pour the egg whites into the pan, stirring constantly with chopsticks until all the egg whites have solidified.

At this moment, the egg white is pure white, without any yellowing, presenting a near-perfect tender and fluffy texture.

Once served, this is what is known as "Crescent White" in Yangzhou fried rice.

The seemingly simple steps actually involve an extreme control over the heat. When Qin Lang neatly and efficiently scooped out the cooked egg whites and set them aside, and when the egg whites showed no flaws under close-up shots, countless viewers who had been watching the big screen couldn't help but applaud.

Even Du Ziyan, who was processing other ingredients while the fish soup was simmering on the other side, became more serious upon seeing this scene.

Such excellent control over the heat!
He asked himself if he were to fry egg whites like this, he probably wouldn't be able to achieve such a perfect result, and they would likely stick together and discolor.

Qin Lang's cooking was not yet completely finished.

After the "crescent moon white" comes the "broken gold" of Yangzhou fried rice!
Add a few drops of Shaoxing wine to the egg yolks to remove any fishy smell, then whisk quickly. Using a method similar to that used for "Crescent Moon White" (a type of egg white), heat a pan with a little oil, slowly add the mixture, and stir with chopsticks as you add it until it is completely set.

Following the pure white egg whites, Qin Lang finished scrambled eggs with yolks as bright as finely crushed gold, eliciting cheers from the audience.

"This technique is amazing." Cao Dongdong clicked his tongue in the stands. "I didn't realize it when I was eating it, but watching Qin Lang finish making this Yangzhou fried rice step by step is a completely different feeling." "Putting everything else aside, if I were to do this step, I would probably fry the egg yolks until they were all black, and they might even stick to the pan."

Cao Dongdong is quite aware of his talent for cooking red dishes.

"I wonder when my cooking skills will reach Qin Lang's level." Zhao Qian, who was standing next to her, also rested her chin on her hand, looking wistful.

"Hey, hey, hey, if you two are like this, then how can I, an ordinary person, not be even more desperate?" Yu Zaozao looked at the two of them helplessly, then her gaze returned to the big screen. The next moment, she suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?"

"Du Ziyan has summoned a Food Spirit!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qian and Cao Dongdong looked up at the same time, towards the direction of Du Ziyan's image. They saw that two different food spirits had appeared beside Du Ziyan at some point.

One of them was familiar to them; it was the same food spirit that Du Ziyan had encountered in previous competitions, whose food skill was [Cooking Acceleration].

As for the other one…

"Oh no, we almost forgot something important."

Zhao Qian's expression suddenly tightened, "Up until now, Du Ziyan has not used the food skills of another food spirit!"

Compared to Qin Lang, who only has one culinary skill, Du Ziyan has two, a trump card that is enough to erase Qin Lang's advantage in ingredients!
"Du Ziyan might have used another culinary technique in the previous competition," Cao Dongdong suddenly thought of something. "Is there any record of it?"

“Yes.” After interacting with the live stream chat, Yu Zaozao quickly looked up. “In the last competition, Du Ziyan used another food technique.”

"It's [Highly Concentrated]!"

"What?" Zhao Qian exclaimed in surprise, her expression changing rapidly. "If that's the case, Qin Lang is probably in danger."

"【Powerful Concentration】is a culinary technique that concentrates the essence of soup ingredients." As she said this, Zhao Qian looked at the soup pot in front of Du Ziyan.

That's fish soup made from a whole, premium sea bass, and a lot of other high-quality ingredients were added during the cooking process.

If concentrated, its deliciousness would reach an astonishing level!

Under the tense gaze of Zhao Qian and the others, the food spirit beside Du Ziyan made a move, and [Cooking Acceleration] instantly enveloped the soup pot in front of them.

In just a few minutes, the ingredients in the soup pot seemed to have been simmering for days. The ingredients dwindled while the soup became thicker and thicker, as if all the ingredients had dissolved into the soup during the simmering process.

Once the [cooking acceleration] time was over, Du Ziyan tasted the broth, made slight adjustments to the seasoning, and then added the pre-washed rice directly into the soup pot.

The culinary skills of another Food Spirit officially make their debut at this moment!
As the bright white light enveloped the pot, the broth inside began to shrink at a visible speed!

(End of this chapter)