The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 287 You call this an appetizer?

“An all-fish feast?”

Upon hearing this, the anticipation in Li Yuantu's eyes intensified.

"I hope your cooking today will bring me a pleasant surprise."

"I'm sure it won't disappoint you," Qin Lang said, picking out a grass carp weighing about ten pounds from among the live fish he had selected.

"Let's use it to make an appetizer first."

As he spoke, Qin Lang's expression turned serious, and he slowly pulled a kitchen knife with ice-crack patterns on its blade from the knife rack.

Upon seeing the knife, many of the spirit chefs in the audience couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, and even Li Yuantu's face showed a hint of astonishment.

At a glance, they could tell that this kitchen knife was anything but ordinary.

And that was indeed the case. The knife Qin Lang had just taken out was one he hadn't used since his last epic duel with Du Ziyan.

This was none other than the miraculous kitchen knife from the Traveler's Book.

After removing the head of the grass carp, Qin Lang cut the fish in half along both sides of the spine. After skillfully removing the large bones and skin from the belly, he placed one piece of fish meat on the cutting board and the other aside for later use.

Next, it's time to show off your knife skills.

Amidst gasps of astonishment from the onlookers, Qin Lang wielded his knife with lightning speed, swiftly slicing diagonally into the fish meat. A large piece of fish was rapidly cut into wide, thin slices, each one glistening and translucent in the sunlight.

Soon, a whole piece of fish was sliced ​​into slices only three millimeters thick, each slice being of perfectly uniform thickness, a sight to behold.

Next up was the second piece.

A high-quality grass carp weighing ten kilograms can easily exceed sixty centimeters in length. After removing the head and tail, half of the fish can be sliced ​​into more than a hundred pieces, while a whole fish can be sliced ​​into more than two hundred pieces.

Slice the fish fillets, place them in ice water, and marinate them with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine.

This step is not only to remove the fishy smell, but also to make the fish shrink when it is cooled, increasing its elasticity and preparing it for subsequent cooking steps.

After marinating for a while, take out the fish fillets, coat both sides of each fillet with starch, and then Qin Lang takes out a rolling pin and begins to gently pound the fish fillets.

With just the right amount of force, the fish fillets become thinner and thinner. Guided by intentional force, these extended fillets become fan-shaped. Finally, the outer contours are slightly trimmed with kitchen scissors to make them more rounded.

Once one slice is processed, the next slice is processed, and then the third slice.

Watching Qin Lang carefully and quickly prepare the fish slices one by one on the cutting board, Li Yuantu's lips twitched slightly.

If he heard correctly…

Qin Lang, that kid, just said this was an appetizer, right?

If the process of making just the appetizers is this complicated and tedious, is this kid trying to get ahead of himself?
"I'm getting more and more excited for today's all-fish feast," Zhuo Hong laughed, his eyes full of anticipation. "It really came to the right place!"

As time passed, Qin Lang quickly processed all the fish slices into neat, large pieces. The fish slices laid flat on the cutting board looked like flower petals, making the onlookers wonder what Qin Lang was going to cook for the first dish.

"Do you know what kind of food Qin Lang is going to make?" Bai Qi swallowed hard and couldn't help but ask Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian, who were watching from the side.

However, both of them shook their heads at the same time.

"This guy has come up with another new dish." Cao Dongdong sighed. "It's so hard to guess what Qin Lang is going to cook."

“Yes.” Zhao Qian nodded in agreement, then suddenly smiled, “But with such complicated steps, this dish must be delicious.”

"Half done." After pounding the fish fillets, Qin Lang stretched and then started heating the oil in a wok. The other extremely tedious step in cooking this dish was deep-frying.

To fry the fish fillets into slightly curled petals, and even ensure that the degree of curl varies among different fillets for a better final appearance, Qin Lang needed to—

Slices were put into the pot one by one.

Heat oil in a wok until it reaches about 50-60% of its maximum temperature, then slowly place a piece of fish into the wok.

"Fuck-"

With a crisp sizzle, the hot oil in the pan, clinging to the fish, quickly began to bubble continuously.

As the fish meat is quickly fried until the moisture is released and it gradually becomes crispy, a rich and enticing aroma rises rapidly in the steam.

The unique, fresh aroma of the fish was instantly released by the rising steam, spreading rapidly throughout the venue as if by magic, making everyone's mouths water.

Qin Lang methodically used chopsticks to stabilize the fish slices, allowing them to curl and hold their shape in the oil before scooping them out and setting them aside. Then came the second slice, the third…

"What are we doing?" Sang Ran couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Shouldn't we be able to deep-fry everything together like this?"

“It’s not that simple.” Li Yuantu shook his head, his gaze falling on the fish fillets that Qin Lang had fried and set aside for later use. “These fish fillets are not all the same degree of curvature, and Qin Lang intentionally separated the fillets with different degrees of curvature, so there must be another purpose to it.”

As he spoke, he seemed to have thought of something, and a strange light appeared in his eyes. "Don't you guys think that these fish slices and flower petals look somewhat similar?"

Upon hearing this, both former Level 2 food recommenders widened their eyes simultaneously.

If it's flower petals, then that completely explains why fish fillets need to be fried one by one until they set and why different degrees of curvature need to be controlled.

After all, the inner and outer petals of a flower are curved differently!
only…

If what Qin Lang is about to do is really as they guessed…

"You call this an appetizer?" Zhuo Hong shook his head, both amused and exasperated.

What kind of surprise is this kid planning to give them today?
Time passed slowly, and once all the fish slices were fried until they were set, Qin Lang turned up the heat according to their degree of curvature.

Heat the oil to 70% of its maximum temperature and then fry the fish twice.

"Bah-"

With a sharp sizzle, Qin Lang dropped the shaped fish fillets into the pot to deep-fry according to their degree of curvature.

If the aroma of the previously deep-fried fish slices was like a seductive little fairy, then the rich aroma of the large quantity of fish re-fried in a short period of time was like a savage burly man rushing towards everyone present.

The rich aroma made everyone in the room sniffle, and then their mouths started watering uncontrollably.

Damn, how can it smell so good!

After counting down ten seconds, quickly scoop out the fish slices. The fish slices, which once again burst with a rich aroma, are drained of oil and then turn an even more golden color.

Use mashed potatoes as a base, and cordyceps flowers or saffron as the stamens. Insert the fish slices into the base in layers according to their degree of curvature.

Each peony flower has distinct layers of petals, making them look fresh and vibrant.

Finally, pour on the prepared abalone sauce...

The first dish Qin Lang prepared, one of the representative works of non-spicy Sichuan cuisine—Peony Fish Slices, is ready!
(End of this chapter)