The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 553 Three Servings of Fish Soup
"Hello."

Walking through the largest vegetable market in Guanling City, Qin Lang quickly arrived at the seafood section. Looking at the dozens of kinds of fish ingredients for sale there, he smiled and asked the seafood section owner.

"I'm planning to buy a fish to make soup. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Kid, you've come to the right person." The boss laughed and walked to one of the aquatic tanks, grabbed one of the fish, and scooped it out of the water.

Suddenly pulled out of the water, the fish struggled and thrashed about, the splashing water droplets proving its vitality.

"This is Dongran fish, a type of fish that lives in coastal waters," the owner casually introduced. "It has very little fishy smell and not many bones, making it perfect for stewing in soup."

"How about it? Want to buy it and try it out?"

Qin Lang didn't answer directly, but immediately followed up by asking, "Are there any other types of fish suitable for making soup?"

"Other fish?" The shopkeeper scratched his head. "No, we don't have any."

"Anyway, we always use smelt for soup at home."

"Understood." Qin Lang nodded, stepped forward to the seafood box, and quickly picked out ten of the better-quality Dongran fish.

"That's all. Please weigh it for me."

"Wow!" The boss's eyes lit up.

He had initially thought Qin Lang was a complete novice at cooking because he didn't even know what kind of fish to use for soup, but now he realized that Qin Lang was an expert!

"It seems I misjudged him." He casually tossed the fish he had caught back, then smiled and weighed the fish Qin Lang had chosen.

After paying, Qin Lang carried the fish away from the seafood area, shaking his head and smiling wryly, "It seems I have indeed lost some reverence for food lately."

Dai Lan mentioned learning about the local cuisine by visiting a local market, something Qin Lang had done in his previous life when he was an apprentice.

But as his cooking skills improved, he stopped having to deal with chores like grocery shopping, and gradually neglected these tasks.

Once he arrived in this world, aside from the necessary grocery shopping, he rarely took the initiative to visit the market for research.

In cooking, the worst thing you can do is work in isolation and make assumptions.

This failure served as a wake-up call for him.

He then went to the tofu stall, looked around for a while, and finally chose the most popular and inexpensive type of tofu.

After making all these choices, Qin Lang returned to the hotel.

Inside the room, Du Ziyan and Dai Lan seemed to be arguing about something, while Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian stood beside them with expressions of watching the drama unfold.

Upon seeing Qin Lang return, Du Ziyan looked at Qin Lang with a resentful expression.

"You've come back just in time. Come and be the judge."

“Even though we both had the same number of signatures during the Indulgence Moment, Dylan insisted that she was better than me.”

“I’m not just making this up,” Dylan said calmly. “Although we both have the same number of signatures, I’ve calculated it carefully. The number of diners who have tasted my food is less than the number who have tasted yours.”

"That means my customers have a higher signing rate."

"But we both have stalls in the same place, how could there be a difference in customer traffic?" Du Ziyan rolled his eyes. "Why don't you look for the reason why you get fewer customers?"

"Isn't it because my food is more appealing?"

Neither of them could argue with the other, so they both looked at Qin Lang in the end.

"What do you think?" "I think..." Qin Lang's lips twitched slightly, and he waved the bag of ingredients in his hand, "The ingredients are back, let's try cooking first."

"Tch!" Du Ziyan curled his lip. "Let's change the subject."

"How about the three of us each make a tofu and fish soup?" Qin Lang suggested. "This has a slightly special requirement, so you all should participate as well."

"This is good." Du Ziyan's eyes lit up, and he quickly forgot about Qin Lang's attempt to change the subject.

Dylan, who was standing to the side, nodded slightly, looking somewhat interested.

The hotel room has a large kitchen, so even if three people are cooking together, it won't feel crowded. Since it was Qin Lang's first time cooking Dongran fish, he tried to cook it according to the recipe for crucian carp and tofu soup, and intentionally reduced some of the steps to remove the fishy smell.

By the time a pot of milky white fish soup was ready and served, the other two had almost simultaneously finished their own cooking.

Three fish soups that looked pretty much the same were placed on the table.

"Let me try it!" Cao Dongdong volunteered to be the first taster, excitedly scooping a small bowl from each of the three soup pots, and then began to taste it.

He first tasted the fish soup Qin Lang had made, and after drinking it, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "Delicious!"

"Want to try mine?" Du Ziyan couldn't help but ask.

"Okay." Cao Dongdong picked up the second bowl of fish soup, took a big gulp, and nodded repeatedly. "The taste is a little different, but this one is also very delicious!"

He then picked up Dylan's portion, tasted it, and nodded again.

"This is delicious too!"

Qin Lang: “…”

Du Ziyan: "..."

Dylan: "..."

Can't this guy say anything other than that the drinks are good?
"Let's taste it ourselves." Dylan shook her head, then ladled out three bowls of fish soup and carefully began to savor it.

Qin Lang followed suit. He first drank the fish soup he had made. A warm and fresh flavor instantly melted in his mouth. The flavor was a little less fresh than that of crucian carp and tofu soup, but it had a unique flavor that belonged to seafood.

Upon closer tasting, Qin Lang could also detect a subtle, deeply hidden fishy smell in the soup, but mixed with the umami flavor, it was probably only noticeable to a very few people.

Nodding slightly, Qin Lang then picked up the fish soup that Du Ziyan had cooked. Compared to his own fish soup, Du Ziyan's fish soup looked different at first glance.

This fish soup has a thicker and more murky texture.

This thick consistency is not achieved by thickening with cornstarch, but by making the fish into a paste and adding it to the soup in small amounts several times, allowing it to blend with the soup through simmering.

Therefore, in Du Ziyan's fish soup, there is no whole fish, only pieces of fish cut into chunks, and tofu cut into chunks as well.

Qin Lang took a small sip, the warm fish soup sliding from his mouth into his throat. Its viscous texture left a little residue in his mouth, giving him a lingering aftertaste.

In terms of taste, it may be inferior to the fish soup I make myself, but in terms of the richness of its umami flavor, this fish soup is superior.

After tasting it, Qin Lang immediately picked up the fish soup that Dai Lan had made.

In terms of appearance, this fish soup is very similar to the fish soup he makes himself. It is also a milky white soup with a whole fish and tofu cut into chunks.

Qin Lang tried taking a sip, and then his eyebrows involuntarily rose.

this smell...

Despite their almost identical appearance, this tofu and fish soup tasted completely different from the one he made!
(End of this chapter)