A Bite of Douluo Continent

The golden pheasant has suffered yet another misfortune.

After coating the fish with egg wash, Qi Han first poured a pot of oil into a pan over high heat and slowly heated it for later use. Then, he evenly coated the fish with cornstarch.

The standard for "full coverage" is that the surface should be evenly covered with white flour, and the cut crevices should also be evenly filled with flour.

It takes a lot of patience to get to this point, but it's not entirely without tricks.

Here's another cooking tip.

Find a small bag, put the fish meat whole into it, then pour in the starch and shake it slowly.

When cutting fish, it's best to curl the skin slightly inwards so that the cut parts can unfold more smoothly.

The shaking force should not be too strong. You can't shake it like some book lovers do, using all your strength to try and find a girl nearby. Doing so can easily break or damage the fish.

After coating the fish with starch, lift the entire fish by the tail and shake it slightly to remove any excess starch from the surface.

Without this step, there would be more starch on the surface, resulting in a less crispy texture.

Imagine biting into fried chicken and feeling it's all flour; you'll probably understand.

The fish head also needs to be coated with starch, but the requirements are not as strict as for the fish body. You only need to coat the entire outside of the fish head with a layer of white starch, since the main purpose of coating the fish head with starch is to keep it the same color as the fish body.

Once the starch has been coated, the oil in the pan starts to bubble.

Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish should not be deep-fried directly, whether it is the head or the body. Otherwise, the shape of the fish meat will fall apart during the frying process, and once it is shaped after frying, it will be almost impossible to adjust it.

To gently fry the fish until it sets, a large slotted spoon is essential. If you don't have a slotted spoon, you'll need to hold the fish in place by hand until it's slightly set before releasing it into the oil.

When you put something into the oil to fry, it splatters with oil, and the oil in the pan is hot, so it's still quite dangerous.

The first thing to be put into the oil is the fish head, because compared to the fish body with its cuts, the fish head has a much larger contact area and is more difficult to cook through during frying, so it needs to be fried for a longer time.

First, place the fish head on a strainer with the mouth facing upwards. Slowly lower the strainer until the hot oil covers the entire fish head. Use chopsticks to hold the fish head in place to ensure its shape does not change.

As soon as the fish head was placed down, the hot oil in the pot began to sizzle. Countless tiny, pale golden oil bubbles spread wildly outwards from the point where the fish head touched the oil. At the same time, the aroma of starch being fried naturally wafted out, mixed with a hint of fish meat, and wafted into Qi Han's nostrils.

smell good!

Although it was just a fish head, the aroma made Qi Han swallow hard.

I'm a little hungry...

After a while, once the fish head has been fried to its final shape, simply place it directly into the hot oil and fry slowly.

Before putting the fish into the pot, it needs to be processed a little. First, restore the fish to its original shape, with the skin facing outwards and the two pieces of fish meat with the diagonal cuts facing inwards.

Then fold the two halves of fish meat over the tail joint, so that the skin is pressed tightly together on both sides, the fish meat is facing outwards, and the tail is sandwiched in the middle. Keeping this position, lift the tail up and use a thin bamboo skewer to skewer the front ends of the two halves of the fish together, and slowly place them on a strainer.

Use chopsticks to hold the fish in place on the strainer, keeping the tail pointing upwards, and then slowly lower it into the pot.

"Fuck!"

The moment the fish was placed in the oil, the commotion in the pan was much greater than when the fish head was fried. In just a moment, countless tiny golden oil bubbles appeared on the surface of the oil in the pan, and there was even a tendency for them to pile up and overflow.

At the same time, a rich aroma rushed towards Qi Han. The rich and intoxicating smell of fish mixed with a hint of egg yolk instantly filled Qi Han's nostrils, making him involuntarily squint his eyes slightly.

The aroma of deep-fried mandarin fish is simply irresistible.

Once the fish is fried to a bright golden color, the skin, which serves as the support for the fish meat, has already curled up completely under the high temperature, causing the golden fish meat to bloom like flowers. Because the shape is stabilized with chopsticks throughout the frying process, the fish body, when scooped out with a slotted spoon after frying, is similar in size on both sides, with the tail sticking up high.

After removing the bamboo skewer and draining the oil from the fish, Qi Han placed it on a plate. Then, he removed the fish head and placed it at the front of the fish where the head had been, with the mouth facing upwards, and removed the glass bead held in the fish's mouth.

After draining the oil, the fish no longer has the same rich aroma as before, but the subtle fish fragrance mixed with the aroma of the golden-fried starch is still very tempting and makes one's mouth water.

The cooking of the mandarin fish is now complete. Next, it's time to prepare the sweet vinegar sauce.

Qi Han brought out two small pots, one to boil water and the other to brush with some oil.

Small bubbles quickly appear in the oil layer that tightly covers the bottom of the pan. Quickly pour in tomato sauce, white sugar, and white vinegar, then add a little salt to taste, giving the sauce a richer flavor.

The ladle was constantly turned, and the sauce was simmered over low heat until the white sugar was completely dissolved in the tomato sauce. As the rich broth in the pot slowly began to bubble, a sweet and sour tomato aroma slowly permeated the entire kitchen. Qi Han couldn't help but swallow.

It smells so good!

The sauce in this step can actually be freely adjusted. You can add not only tomato sauce but also other fruit juices to get different flavors of squirrel mandarin fish.

Adding a fruity sweetness to the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish not only removes the greasiness of frying but also brings a completely new taste experience to the dish.

After the sauce starts to bubble, add a small amount of cornstarch slurry to thicken it. Don't make the sauce too thick; just make it slightly thick.

Bring water to a boil in another pot, add a few prepared green peas and shrimp, and cook until done.

Once the sauce in the pot has thickened to the desired consistency, add a spoonful of the hot oil used to fry the fish to release the sauce. As the hot oil is added, the sauce immediately sizzles and produces countless bright red bubbles.

almost.

Qi Han estimated the heat and slowly poured the sauce, which had been sizzling, onto the surface of the mandarin fish. The sizzling sound of the sauce had not yet completely disappeared, and it made a squirrel-like squirting sound as soon as it touched the mandarin fish.

The sauce was poured evenly over the fish, instantly coating the originally golden-brown fish with an enticing persimmon-red color. A rich aroma, a blend of the freshness of the fish, the rich fragrance of starch, and the sweet and sour taste of tomatoes, filled the air.

"Gurgle..."

The sound didn't come from the gurgling of someone sitting on the partition licking their fur, but from Qi Han's stomach.

The moment that enticing aroma burst forth, he felt himself become ravenously hungry, wishing he could taste the delicious squirrel-shaped mandarin fish immediately.

Wait! There's one last step!

Sprinkle the cooked green peas and shrimp evenly over the fish. Squirrel Mandarin Fish, done!

Qi Han couldn't wait to indulge in the delicious food.

Chapter 277 Did the Boss Stir Up a New Trouble? (Seeking Recommendation Votes)

Each strand of the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish in front of me unfolds like a daisy, evenly coated with a glistening red sauce. The thickened sauce is as tempting as a fresh tomato, reflecting a soft glow under the light.

There aren't many green peas and shrimp sprinkled on the sauce, but the light green, plump peas and the tender, pink shrimp, with their white and pinkish hues, create a strong contrast with the red sauce itself, making the dish more colorful and vibrant.

The color alone is already so tempting, and this squirrel-shaped mandarin fish also has an extremely enticing aroma.

What kind of food has the strongest aroma?

If you've ever been to a food street or other place with all sorts of delicious food, you'll definitely say the answer without hesitation.

Fried foods.

Although it's really high in calories, it's also really delicious.

When food is deep-fried, its surface temperature rises rapidly after it comes into contact with hot oil, causing caramelization, protein denaturation, and the decomposition of other substances, resulting in a unique fried aroma.

Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish is a dish made entirely by deep-frying. The rich and tempting aroma of deep-frying is complemented by the fresh and sweet and sour flavor of the sauce. The rich fruity aroma of tomatoes suppresses the greasiness of the deep-frying, allowing the fish flavor to be further highlighted and presented.

The plate was placed on the table, and Qi Han sat down in front of the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish. The rich, irresistible aroma flooded into his nostrils, causing him to close his eyes in ecstasy.

It smells so good!

Picking up his chopsticks, Qi Han couldn't wait to gently pick up a piece of fish.

"Crack!"

With a crisp snap, the fish strips were gently broken at the base, their surface coated with thick, glistening tomato sauce, giving them a somewhat fries-like appearance.

Because Qi Han's knife work was exceptionally precise, each cut just touched the fish skin without damaging it. After the fish strips were broken off, not a single piece of fish meat remained. All the fish meat was easily picked up with each fold, leaving only a corner of the fish skin, which had been fried until it was curled and crispy, exposed.

Eagerly putting the fish strips into his mouth, Qi Han chewed them gently.

"Click, click."

The crispy sound continued, and the rich, sweet and sour sauce blended perfectly with the crispy and tender fish, creating a unique taste experience.

Most foods become crispy on the surface after being deep-fried.

This is because the food's surface temperature quickly reaches 100 degrees Celsius the moment it comes into contact with hot oil. The water boils and evaporates violently, and the expansion of the water vapor makes the food's structure loose. The loss of water makes it harder. The two work together to bring out the unique crispy texture of fried food.

Moreover, its advantages don't stop there.

This crispy layer that forms on the surface of food acts like a hard, airtight shell, preventing the evaporation of moisture from the food's interior and increasing the steam pressure inside. Based on a principle similar to a pressure cooker, this raises the internal temperature of the food, thus accelerating its cooking process and giving fried food a crispy exterior and tender interior.

And this is the secret behind the unique flavor of squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.

After swallowing a mouthful of fish floss, Qi Han's face showed an expression of lingering enjoyment.

Because the fish is drained of oil very carefully, and with the fresh and sweet and sour fruit flavor complementing it, the squirrel mandarin fish has no greasy feeling at all. After one bite, your mouth is full of fragrance.

Beneath the crispy, fried starchy coating lies tender and juicy fish meat. Every bite is bursting with fresh fish flavor, without a trace of dryness. The stark contrast between the inside and outside textures further accentuates the tenderness of the fish. The combination is so perfect that Qi Han couldn't help but admire the wisdom of his ancestors.

"Crack clap..."

The crisp sounds continued, and soon, only the lonely fish head remained on the plate in front of Qi Han.

He patted his belly with satisfaction, and a smile that belonged to a freeloader couldn't help but appear on his face.

I'm full.

After clearing away the plates and utensils, Qi Han walked towards the door.

Four employees were already waiting outside.

"Good afternoon, boss!" x4

As you enter the store, four energetic staff members greet you.

"what?"

Fuya twitched her nose as a unique fragrance she had never smelled before entered her nostrils.

That was the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish that Qi Han had finished eating; its aroma still lingered in the dining area.

"Boss, what's that smell? It smells so good!"

"This?" Qi Han smiled slightly. "This is a new dish you will be trying this afternoon."

Eh?

Eh? !

The four women were all stunned.

There were new dishes at noon yesterday, there were new dishes at noon today, and this afternoon…

Are there any new dishes?

Has the boss stirred up a new hornet's nest?