Chapter 523 Scallion-fried Sea Cucumber 4

"You need to be patient when frying the onion. You need to fry it until the whole onion is slightly soft and collapsed, and the skin is completely yellow. Frying it too lightly will not work."

As they were talking, the pepper oil and onions gave off a fragrant aroma due to the heat of the oil. The four people around them swallowed their saliva in unison, with the same thoughts in their heads.

Why do Mr. Nan’s fried onions smell so good!

After placing the onions in a bowl and draining the oil, the apprentice quickly snatched the pot and took it to the sink to wash. Nan Rongquan smiled helplessly, glanced at the apprentice, and then picked up the sugar. "Cooking is inseparable from sugar color. Sugar color is best fried in oil. The pot must be clean, otherwise it will affect the color."

After saying this, the apprentice washed the pot, and Nan Rongquan turned on the fire and wiped the moisture off the pot with a hand cloth.

Add oil and sugar, stir until small bubbles appear and then big bubbles appear, then add a spoonful of clear soup.

"Generally, when frying sugar color, there is a critical value. When large bubbles are about to appear, the heat is turned off. However, for this scallion-fried sea cucumber, the sugar color is fried to a caramel color, so it must be added immediately when large bubbles begin to appear. This is also the critical value. Timing is critical."

After pouring in the clear soup, the sugar color in the pot calmed down slightly and then began to boil again. Nan Rongquan quickly stirred it evenly and immediately removed it from the pot and poured it into a bowl with green onions on the side.

"Now we need to season this bowl of sugar-colored soup. We need to add enough of all kinds of flavors. First, add half a spoonful of sugar. This half spoonful of sugar is to cover up the bitterness of the sugar color. Although the sugar color looks good when it is fried to caramel color, it is bitter, so we have to cover it up. Then add two spoonfuls of green onion, pepper and cooking wine, about 1 gram of salt, stir, and then adjust the taste." Nan Rongquan took another small spoon and scooped half a spoonful of soup to taste it.

"Try it, this is the taste, feel it."

Seeing this, the four of them took a small spoon and followed Nanrong to scoop a small spoonful and taste it carefully.

“For sea cucumber with scallions, the scallion flavor must be prominent. To make the scallion flavor more prominent, we now have to steam the scallions to fully release the scallion fragrance and make the flavor permeate.

"Ten minutes, until the scallions are mushy. It just so happens that our sea cucumbers are already stewed. Shandong cuisine emphasizes deep-frying everything after roasting, so we'll fry the sea cucumbers first. Using scallion oil will make them more fragrant."

Nan Rongquan removed the gauze from the casserole, unwrapped it, and took out the sea cucumber. The four of them took advantage of the break to write furiously in their notebooks. Zhao Xiaojing, while taking notes, silently summoned the system and activated the scene projection function.

"First, add the scallion oil and spread it evenly. Heat it to about 50% to 60%. Place the sea cucumber in the wok and use the wok to scoop up the oil. Don't put the sea cucumber directly into the wok, otherwise it will easily be overcooked. If the heat is not well controlled, it will easily affect the taste of the sea cucumber. Fry for two seconds, remove it, put in a slotted spoon, and then use the hot oil in the wok to pour over the sea cucumber's belly."

Nan Rongquan's hands moved very quickly. While he was explaining to everyone, the sea cucumber had already finished pulling out the oil, and the bubbles stirred up by the hot oil on the sea cucumber's belly gradually disappeared.

This step seemed to happen in a flash, but the fat man let out a long breath, and the other three also looked troubled.

"There are techniques for pulling oil, but there's not much to say. You just have to find the feel for it yourself. I can only say that you should try it a few times and find the critical value yourself."

Sure enough, it is another critical value.

A few minutes later, the scallion juice was steamed. After opening the lid of the pot, the taste became richer than before, and the scallions were dyed a rosy red by the soup. Nan Rongquan poured the juice into the pot with the scallions and soup, asked the four people to taste it again, then turned on the fire, poured in the fried sea cucumbers, and began to collect the juice.

Roast the sea cucumber over medium-low heat for three minutes, add a little MSG to enhance the flavor, then pour in the starch sauce and let the starch sauce evenly hang on the sea cucumber. Finally, pour in half a spoonful of scallion, ginger and pepper oil, turn off the heat and serve.

"Bright oil and glistening starch. A sea cucumber and a scallion, add the sauce, and it's done."

Nan Rongquan paired the ingredients with a sea cucumber and a green onion, picked them up with chopsticks, placed them on a long and narrow plate, and poured the last spoonful of bright red sauce on them.

As Nan Rongquan said it was done, the four of them were inexplicably shocked and stared at the scallion-fried sea cucumber in front of them for a long time without saying a word.

"Try it and remember the taste. Take a bite of sea cucumber and a bite of vegetable. Eat them together."

The four of them were still stunned when the apprentice beside Nan Rongquan had already prepared a bowl and chopsticks for him. Nan Rongquan waved his hand and shoved the bowl and chopsticks towards his apprentice, "You eat, I've eaten too much. You guys should eat while it's hot too. I'm only teaching you this once, otherwise you'll never have another chance."

The four of them woke up as if from a dream. When the apprentice took another set of bowl and chopsticks and handed them to Nan Rongquan, Nan Rongquan took them with a helpless smile and started eating, and then they all picked up their chopsticks.

The sea cucumber trembled slightly at the tip of the chopsticks, yet it didn't collapse. It was coated in a bright red sauce, but it was just the right amount, not spilling out as it was picked up. As I leaned in closer, the distinct aroma of onions filled my nostrils, enticing my mouth to salivate uncontrollably. I couldn't wait to get both onions and sea cucumber into my mouth.

As soon as you take a bite, your understanding of master-level culinary skills becomes concrete.

The sea cucumber's original fishy smell completely disappeared, replaced by the striking aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and a rich scallion fragrance. The sea cucumber was soft, smooth, and snapped with a single bite. The scallions were soft and tender, and even after being fried and then steamed, they held onto the flavor of the scallions, retaining a slight bite and filling the mouth with a subtle burst of juice. Although the juice was sweetened, it didn't taste sweet at all. The sea cucumber's flavor was also salty and fresh, not bland at all, and the scallion fragrance was present even to the very end.

I was so amazed by the scallion-fried sea cucumber that I felt like crying.

It was not until Nan Rongquan's apprentice called out to him that he came back to his senses from the feast of his taste buds.

"I'm sorry, everyone. You'll have to practice on your own for the rest of the time. I have to take Master back to rest and take medicine. I'll add you to the sea cucumber processing method later and send you the steps. If you have any questions, you can contact me directly."

"Okay, okay, brother, you are busy. Teacher Nan has taught us a lot today. It will be fine if we practice on our own." The fat man nodded quickly.

The apprentice breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and gently helped Nan Rongquan, who was sitting on the chair, up.

Nan Rongquan slowly stood up with the help of his apprentice's arm. In just a moment, his back was bent a little. As he walked, his hands kept pressing on his waist.

"Teacher Nan, actually you don't have to come every day. If we have any questions, we can concentrate on asking via video, or this master can guide us. The most important thing is that you take good care of the patient." Zhao Xiaojing felt sad when she saw this, and couldn't help but step forward and said.

"Yes, old man, you should rest when you are old. You have already taught us carefully. With our level of understanding, you don't have to worry too much. If anyone has any questions, we can communicate with each other and we can do it well." The fat man advised.

"I'll tell your master this later. Just do it hastily. You should first think about how to do it hastily when you go back." Nan Rongquan glanced at the fat man, turned to smile at Zhao Xiaojing, and helped his apprentice out the door.