A Bite of Douluo Continent

You call this cutting-edge technology?

The key point is that Ruyi just described cross-border networking as a bunch of nonsense.

Isn't this even more outrageous than cross-border networking?

It's full of flaws, isn't it?!

...

In the end, Qi Han acquiesced to the plan, even though it seemed absurd just thinking about it. Ruyi successfully persuaded him.

Soul power can forcibly alter the vocal cords, allowing a Soul Master to temporarily simulate the voice of another person. Therefore, voiceprint locks pose a hidden danger and are not safe in the context of Douluo Continent.

In contrast, methods like blood oaths, which are steeped in fantasy, seem more reliable.

Fine, you're the system, so you call the shots.

Of course, Qi Han also had new requirements in response to this situation.

To minimize the sense of incongruity, Qi Han requested that Ruyi's walkie-talkie be shaped like two jade pendants, so that the blood-binding ceremony would look more normal.

After such modifications, calling it a walkie-talkie was no longer appropriate, so Qi Han very whimsically renamed it the Heart Knot.

This really really adds a touch of fantasy.

What is this called?

That's called deceiving yourself.

Two walkie-talkies... oh no, the love knots aren't expensive. The original price is 1,000 gold soul coins each, but with the addition of blood oath and form modification, the price increases by another 500 gold soul coins.

A total of three thousand gold soul coins was nothing to Qi Han.

Apart from this little incident, everything was peaceful during lunchtime. The only thing that bothered Qi Han was that Yu Lianxin didn't come to Hanshi for lunch today.

Before attending the Sea God's Fate event last night, Qi Han realized under Ruyi's soul-searching that his feelings for Yu Lianxin might be mixed with something else, and his attitude towards her also underwent some subtle changes.

He felt both relieved and disappointed when he didn't see the other person at noon today.

However, these minor emotions were quickly forgotten amidst the busyness of life.

The reason he was so busy, in a way, was his own fault.

Because Qi Han personally acknowledged the efficacy of boiled cabbage, dozens of servings of boiled cabbage were sold at noon today.

After all, who wouldn't want to improve their innate soul power?

This is just the beginning. You can imagine that this dish will become even more popular. The price of 1,000 gold soul coins per serving cannot stop everyone's enthusiasm.

After closing time and seeing off the four employees, Qi Han approached Song Qiluo and Yan Ling, who had been waiting, and took out two jade pendants, each about half the size of a fist.

"These two jade pendants are called the 'Knot of Love.' As long as you inject soul power into them, you can have a synchronous conversation even if you are thousands of miles apart." Qi Han smiled, but a strange feeling gradually crept into his heart.

Why... does this instruction manual... look so much like a soul tool?

"There's no other way. Walkie-talkies need energy to work, and you can't charge them in Douluo Continent, so we had to adapt and use soul power to provide energy." In the system space, Ruyi spread her hands, her voice full of innocence.

What a great example of adapting to local conditions!

“This…” Upon hearing Qi Han’s description of the two jade pendants, Song Qiluo and Yan Ling exchanged a glance, their faces filled with undisguised surprise.

Because of the extraordinary nature of the world, although information transmission in Douluo Continent also relies on letters, it is more efficient than the ancient letter transmission on Earth.

Whether it's an agility-based Soul Master or a speed-type Soul Beast, they far surpass ordinary horses.

But no matter how fast it is, how can it compare to the speed of light?

Therefore, the two quickly realized the value of the gift, and Song Qiluo subconsciously wanted to refuse, "Boss Qi, this gift is far too precious."

"This is nothing to me. On the contrary, your story really touched me. With this knot of hearts, you can communicate with each other more often." Qi Han smiled slightly. "All that is needed is to drip your blood on the two jade pendants, and no one else can use them."

“This…” Song Qiluo wanted to refuse, but seeing the expectant look in Yan Ling’s eyes, she hesitated for a moment and then nodded heavily, “Alright! Consider it a favor I, Song Qiluo, owe you. I will definitely come if you need me in the future.”

"You flatter me." Qi Han wanted to say there was no need for such formality, but when he met Song Qiluo's gaze, he finally smiled slightly.

"Then it's a deal."

Chapter 276 Squirrel and Mandarin Fish (Two chapters combined, one update today)

After seeing Song Qiluo and Yan Ling off, Qi Han closed the shop door and instantly entered the system space to continue the squirrel-mandarin fish training that he hadn't finished that morning.

Squirrel Mandarin Fish belongs to Jiangsu cuisine, one of the eight major cuisines of China. It is a representative dish of Su Bang cuisine, a branch of Jiangsu cuisine. Legend has it that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty tasted this dish when he traveled to the south of the Yangtze River and liked it very much. As a result, Squirrel Mandarin Fish became famous and has been passed down to this day.

This dish requires both excellent knife skills and precise control of the heat. After all, if the heat is not controlled properly when frying mandarin fish, the color and taste will be greatly compromised.

Fortunately, Qi Han's skill in both knife work and cooking time was quite high, so the squirrel mandarin fish was a piece of cake for him.

An afternoon was enough time for him to completely master this squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.

As the afternoon business hours approached, Qi Han stepped out of the system space, calmed the cuddling Gulu for a moment, and quickly immersed himself in cooking the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.

Although the dish Squirrel Mandarin Fish originated from Suzhou cuisine, it can now be found in almost every decent restaurant across the country.

Such widespread popularity has also brought new problems. In the process of its spread, this dish has undergone various improvements, eventually forming two schools: classic squirrel mandarin fish and new-style squirrel mandarin fish.

In many people's minds, the squirrel mandarin fish should have a head standing upright, a mouth wide open and facing upwards, a body that opens like flower petals, and a tail that is raised high.

The fish's mouth is wide open, symbolizing abundant wealth.

Head held high, tail wagging, slurping as sauce is poured over it.

This sentence is about it.

This type of squirrel-shaped mandarin fish is the classic squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, also known as the ingot-shaped squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.

The Qing Dynasty book "Tiao Ding Ji" records the following about squirrel fish: "Take seasonal fish, remove the bones from the belly, coat with egg yolk, fry until golden brown, and shape into a squirrel. Cook with oil and soy sauce."

The term "arranging dishes in the shape of a squirrel" refers to arranging the dishes in the shape of a squirrel.

Since the classic Squirrel Mandarin Fish doesn't look like a squirrel at all, there's a saying: "The Squirrel Mandarin Fish is called that because the sound it makes after being slurped up is very similar to the sound of a squirrel."

This argument is somewhat unfounded, which is why the new-style squirrel-shaped mandarin fish came into being.

The new-style squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, also known as the figurative squirrel mandarin fish, is not much different from the former. The cooking methods are similar, and the difficulty is not much different. The only difference is in the plating.

The modern-style Squirrel Mandarin Fish is based on ancient records. After cooking, the mandarin fish is arranged in a lifelike shape that resembles a squirrel. Some even go a step further, using two or three mandarin fish to create the appearance of several squirrels playing around.

This type is relatively rare and is usually found in private kitchens or high-end restaurants.

(P.S.: The bonus chapter at the end of this chapter will feature videos of two types of squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.)

The squirrel-shaped mandarin fish in the system's recipe uses the first type.

After all, this is the most classic and most common version.

Soon, Qi Han took out a large fish from the food cabinet. It was about the length of a forearm, with a flat and wide body, a bulging back, and a wide-open mouth.

This is a water-attribute soul beast called Qingjiang Longgui, and the one in Qi Han's hand has a cultivation of a hundred years.

Although the Qingjiang Dragon Mandarin Fish is a fish-type soul beast, it lives in freshwater lakes inland on the Douluo Continent and is not a sea-type soul beast. Because its species is not powerful, it has extremely tender flesh and has become extinct on the Douluo Continent due to being hunted in large numbers.

It must be said that this fish is much larger than the mandarin fish commonly used for squirrel mandarin fish.

So the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish made with it must be delicious.

Just looking at it made Qi Han swallow hard.

The first step in cooking squirrel-shaped mandarin fish is to prepare the fish, and this step is also the one that tests your knife skills the most.

Quickly remove the scales and internal organs from the mandarin fish. When removing the internal organs from the squirrel mandarin fish, be careful not to cut too far forward in the abdomen. It is best not to cut the part before the pelvic fins, so as not to make the fish head unable to stand up and affect its appearance.

Next, the head and body of the mandarin fish are separated.

Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish is prepared by eating only the body and rarely the head, which is the complete opposite of chopped chili fish head. The head is mainly used for presentation, so it needs to be prepared separately from the body.

Note that in this step, you cannot simply separate the head and body in two. Instead, you should cut from behind the gill cover of the mandarin fish, cutting off the lower jaw and the pelvic fins at the front of the abdomen. The cut-off head should be shaped like a smaller top and a larger bottom.

After cutting off the fish head, use a knife to slowly split the area around the fish's ventral fin in two, creating two supporting legs so that the fish head can stand upright with its mouth facing upwards. Then, insert a glass bead the size of a lychee into the fish's mouth to prop it open and maintain its shape. This completes the process of preparing the fish head.

Next comes the preparation of the fish body, which is also the most difficult part of preparing mandarin fish.

Make a cut at the point where the fish head and body were separated, and slowly push the blade along the main spine of the mandarin fish to completely separate the flesh from the main bone. Stop cutting near the tail, being careful not to cut the flesh completely, otherwise it will be difficult to shape later.

Carefully flip the fish over to the other side, and repeat the process on the other side to successfully divide the mandarin fish into three parts.

The flesh on both sides of the mandarin fish, as well as the dorsal fin and spine in the middle.

Gently fold the fish meat on both sides towards the tail, like peeling a banana, and the fish bone in the middle will be completely exposed.

Starting from the part closest to the tail, place the blade against the fish bone, and with a forceful slap of the other hand, you can easily cut the fish bone without damaging the fish meat on both sides.

This step was child's play for Qi Han, who was already familiar with cooking lamb stuffed inside fish.

After all, deboning a whole fish is much more difficult than this.

After cutting the fish bones, the mandarin fish is left with only two halves of the body and the tail connecting the two halves. Open one half, with the skin facing down and the flesh facing up. With the knife close to the fish ribs in the belly area, carefully remove all the large bones from the belly.

Once this step is completed, there will be no more fish bones on the fish body, and you can start making decorative cuts using the lychee-cutting technique.

The so-called "lychee cutting technique" refers to cutting the food horizontally and then vertically to create small squares or diamond shapes without cutting it completely through. This way, when the food is heated, it will curl up due to uneven expansion, and the small squares will unfold, just like the delicate and beautiful lychee.

This knife technique is commonly used for dishes like pork kidneys or squid.

The lychee cutting technique involves first cutting at an angle and then straight. The angled cut refers to cutting at an angle with the blade at about 45 degrees, while the straight cut is a vertical cut.

Compared to the traditional double straight cut method, each small piece cut diagonally then straight will be more three-dimensional and aesthetically pleasing, and will not be soft and mushy.

The system's recipes have extremely strict cooking requirements. Every cut Qi Han makes must touch the fish skin precisely without damaging it.

After slicing one side, do the same on the other side. At first glance, the fish meat that has been scored looks no different from before, but with a gentle touch, the fish meat blooms like a flower. The slightly translucent white fish meat, which has not been cooked at all, looks exceptionally tempting.

I wonder if this kind of fish meat can be used to make sashimi?

Qi Han swallowed hard, but decided to give up on the idea.

I'll definitely have sashimi next time.

Lay the two fish fillets skin-side down on the cutting board. Qi Han first washes them with water, then evenly coats them with cooking wine and salt, adds scallions and ginger, and carefully and gently massages the fish meat, allowing the cooking wine, which has absorbed the essence of scallions and ginger, to slowly seep into the fish meat through the gaps in the cuts, thoroughly removing the fishy smell.

After letting it sit for about five minutes, wash the fish with clean water, drain it, and then thoroughly dry it with kitchen paper towels before coating the fish with flour.

Before coating with flour, beat a few eggs and spread them evenly on the surface of the fish. You don't need too much, just enough to make sure that every part of the fish is covered with egg.

The egg wash plays a crucial role. It not only helps the fish absorb the starch more easily, preventing uneven coating, but it also makes the fish more tender and slightly improves the color of the fried mandarin fish. The only drawback is probably…