Chapter 520 Scallion-fried Sea Cucumber 1
After Nan Rongquan finished speaking, he left the stage quite decisively. However, Zhao Xiaojing and Guan Yingxia, whose names he mentioned, were so shocked that they could hardly react.
Zhao Xiaojing was better off, having come in second. The happiest thing for her was being able to study with Nan Rongquan, so she was mentally prepared. However, Guan Yingxia had been preparing for the worst all along, so even though she got the worst ranking among the five, she was still able to calmly comfort the others. But now, when she heard the good news, tears welled up in her eyes several times.
The small group that was just feeling sad for Guan Yingxia was suddenly overjoyed, and Wen Xinyuan was also very happy. However, it was only at the end that he realized that he was the only one among the five who could not study with Nan Rongquan. After being happy, he suddenly became angry again.
Because of the need to prepare ingredients, the study time with Nan Rongquan was scheduled for three days later.
Several of them had their own restaurants and things to do, so after agreeing to keep in touch, they each returned to their own city.
Zhao Xiaojing was checking the system all the way on the high-speed train. This time, she was promoted ten levels because of the Oil Explosion and Double Crisp. In addition, she was in the top three, and the system generously transferred 200,000 yuan as a reward to her bank card, as well as some experience points, potions, physical custom scrolls, etc., which she didn't have time to sort out.
Everything else is fine, and it won't go bad if put in the backpack, but the farm she has been thinking about can also be upgraded and its area expanded.
This upgrade directly used half of the experience Zhao Xiaojing had accumulated in recent days. In the end, the farm area was upgraded to 100 square meters, and seasonal vegetables such as water spinach, amaranth, and cucumber were planted. Although it was far from enough to cook in a restaurant, it was enough for her own consumption.
We have already entered the top three in the country. This time, the system did not issue any promotion tasks, but only issued a reward task. There are rewards for the first, second and third places, but it did not clearly state what the rewards are.
Three days later, the four of them gathered again in Baitao.
There were fewer people this time, so the Baitao staff were a little more relaxed. After explaining the rules, they gave each of the four people a set of chef uniforms and took them to the kitchen of Baitao's cafeteria.
This was the location Nan Rongquan had personally chosen. While the small table in the studio was convenient for competitions, due to its stage-like nature, the lighting was projected rather than natural. Furthermore, with five people gathered around the table, it felt crowded, making it somewhat inconvenient for teaching.
As soon as the four of them stood still, Nan Rongquan walked in, followed by a middle-aged man in chef's uniform and a photographer.
"Hello, Teacher Nan!" The fat man took the lead in bowing.
"Hello, Teacher Nan." The three people behind him quickly followed suit and bowed.
"Alright, little fatty, you're the only one who likes this. I'm not your master." Nan Rongquan waved his hand. "Enough of the nonsense, let's learn how to cook sea cucumber with scallions today."
"Learn how to cook sea cucumber with green onions!" the fat man repeated it exaggeratedly.
The other three were also delighted.
Braised scallion sea cucumber is a pinnacle of Shandong cuisine, a classic and a must-try, even serving at state banquets. Nan Rongquan was renowned as the world's premiere chef for braised scallion sea cucumber. While the four knew the dish he was about to teach would be of high quality, they had no idea it would be so high.
"If you know what's right, just study hard. In five days, learn as much as you can. It depends on your own understanding." Nan Rongquan said as he walked towards the sink and began to wash his hands.
The rules of the competition required Nan Rongquan to teach the dish thoroughly and meticulously, after which the four would learn on their own. The competition lasted five days, with Nan Rongquan spending half the morning in the kitchen each day, providing impartial guidance and corrections. After the five days, Guan Yingxia watched from the audience while Yu Yiyuan, Zhao Xiaojing, and Zhao Duo competed in the finals, where they had to recreate Nan Rongquan's braised sea cucumber with scallions. The winners were determined by the level of completion and skill of their renditions.
"Sea cucumbers are crucial for making delicious scallion-fried sea cucumbers." Nan Rongquan walked over to the chopping board and picked up a sea cucumber to demonstrate. "There are several ways to process sea cucumbers, the most common being salt-dried, sugar-dried, and lightly dried. When we make scallion-fried sea cucumbers, we always choose lightly dried sea cucumbers, regardless of size. Lightly dried sea cucumbers have brown skin. Furthermore, we want to choose those with intact, plump spines on their backs. Then, we need to ferment the sea cucumbers. A good sea cucumber can yield 8 kilograms per kilogram, but for scallion-fried sea cucumbers, it's best to ferment only 5 kilograms, until it's tender enough to pinch through. This one, for example, has firm skin and excellent elasticity. Over-fermenting or under-fermenting won't achieve this effect."
Nan Rongquan repeatedly folded the sea cucumber in his hand for the four of them to see. Previously, they hadn't noticed from a distance on the stage, but now, closer, Zhao Xiaojing immediately noticed that his hands were shaking unconsciously, and with his movements, the ingredients were also shaking. Looking at his face, he still looked tired, and even after three days of rest, he still hadn't recovered much.
After a moment of distraction, Nan Rongquan put down the sea cucumber and started explaining the techniques.
"Braising" is a technique in Shandong cuisine. Most braised dishes need to be thickened with starch and cooked over medium or low heat. They are divided into red braising, white braising, scallion braising, sauce braising, fermented rice braising, and dry braising. The characteristics are that the flavor is fully absorbed, the sauce is rich, and the taste is long-lasting.
The method of cooking sea cucumber with scallions is to make the originally tasteless sea cucumber flavorful by cooking it.
After explaining the techniques, Nan Rongquan picked up the sea cucumber again and said, "You guys may not have cooked sea cucumber dishes much, so I will say a little more. When you get the dried sea cucumber, you need to soak and process it first. It takes three soaking and three cooking times, a total of six days, to become the one I have now that can be used directly. This process does not require much technical skills, but it does require sufficient patience. Due to time constraints, this step will not be demonstrated. My apprentice will send you the specific method later." Nan Rongquan pointed to the middle-aged male chef who was standing behind him and had no sense of presence. The male chef nodded at the four of them.
Only then did the four of them know the identity of the middle-aged male chef.
"These, as well as those used in the competition, were all shipped directly from Yipintang. This level is just right. But we're not in a hurry to process the sea cucumbers right now. Let's make the clear soup first. Clear soup is essential for this traditional Shandong cuisine."
Nan Rongquan was speaking as he started to get the ingredients, but when he turned around, the apprentice behind him had already laid out the ingredients for him before he could move.
"Old chickens and ducks, preferably hens over two years old. The elbows, preferably the front elbows. The amount to use depends on how much soup we're making. The soup should be three times the amount of ingredients. For three pounds of soup, you need one pound of ingredients. Today, I'm making a pot, so I'm using half a chicken, removing the tail and cutting it to make it easier to release the flavor."
Nan Rongquan picked up a knife, cut half of the elbow along the bone, spread the elbow meat on both sides of the bone, then removed the tail of half a chicken or duck, cut a few times along the wing roots and legs, and simply removed the sticky mucous membranes of the internal organs. Then he put it in the sink to rinse, and continued to clean the blood clots in the skeleton while washing.
Although it was just a simple matter of washing chickens and ducks and cutting them, which they usually did themselves, the four of them still watched closely, afraid of missing any details.
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