"By the way, Uncle Xiang, if I guess correctly, you should have made this salted duck dish yourself."
Jiang Xu glanced at the two white ducks on the table that were sealed in vacuum bags. They were clean, without a single extra hair on their bodies, and were arranged neatly and symmetrically. They looked like they had a unique sense of beauty, and said.
"Yes, what's the problem?"
Hagiwara Sho showed a hint of amusement.
He dared to say that although he had only been learning for a week, the two salted ducks he made were absolutely authentic and tasted great thanks to the hotel's century-old brine.
"Although the salted duck has to go through a process before it is served, this is indeed your dish. Then Uncle Xiang, can you please agree to have a show with me, across the video screen?"
"Shokuji through the video?"
Hagiwara Xiang was stunned. He could still play like this. Why didn't he think of this idea when he was young?
Oh, video calling wasn’t popular at that time, so that’s okay.
"Interesting, I agreed. Then let Qingye handle the last step of the salted duck on my behalf, and have a halberd-eating game with Jiang Xujun. But between us, father and daughter, you will suffer more by yourself."
Hagiwara Xiang smiled slightly and casually agreed to Jiang Xu's invitation to the shokuji duel without taking it to heart.
Aoba: "???"
Jiang Xu's eyes were indeed slightly focused, and a fighting spirit arose in his heart.
He knew that judging from the level of a chef, Hagiwara Sho was definitely very strong, and had at least entered the second level of cooking.
It is even possible to be considered a leader in the second level.
But this salted duck dish is not his signature creation wholeheartedly after all.
Jiang Xu realized that it was not impossible to win.
His eyes glanced at the three ducks and three chickens on the table that Qingye had bought freshly slaughtered and had their internal organs removed.
With a slight movement in his heart, he pointed to a rooster that looked the most tender and said: "Since Uncle Xiang, you are a salted duck, then I will choose this chicken to make a dish of saliva chicken."
Saliva chicken? Another dish I’ve never heard of.
But this does not prevent Hagiwara Xiang from smiling and saying: "I'm looking forward to it!"
"Then don't disconnect our video connection. Jiang Xujun, please tell me the various spices and sauces that need to be boiled for Mapo tofu, and I will prepare them. I will follow your steps later. Of course. , and don’t forget your own Shoji dishes.”
Jiang Xu said: "This dish of mine doesn't take long. You can wait and cook it when Aunt Daizi comes home."
Hagiwara Xiang frowned, feeling that these words sounded inexplicably familiar.
Qingye looked at Jiang Xu strangely. She had often heard similar words from her father before.
"Then Qingye, wait until the time is almost up and then complete the last step of the salted duck."
"OK."
About ten minutes later, Hagiwara Sho appeared in the camera again carrying a large bag of ingredients and various spices.
The mobile phone was also raised to a high place and looked down from a wide angle.
It can be seen clearly that Hagiwara Sho is standing in front of a very clean stove. The space behind is also filled with various pots and pans, including a steamer and refrigerator.
"Uncle Xiang, where are you cooking now?" Jiang Xu asked curiously.
"Oh, it's the restaurant's experimental kitchen. It's specially used to develop new dishes. The ingredients and kitchen utensils can be used for free according to the chef level. It's very convenient."
Jiang Xu nodded to show understanding: "Then let's get started."
Hagiwara Sho placed all the materials in front of him in an orderly manner, nodded and said, "Okay."
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Xu looked at the screen again. His normally normal expression suddenly stiffened and his pupils suddenly shrank.
His eyes reflected a white crane circling on the other side of the screen, above Hagiwara Sho who was preparing ingredients.
The upper body of the white crane is lifelike, with distinct feathers and moving eyes, but its two slender legs are as floating as elongated smoke.
'substitute? ! ! This is a sign that the substitute is about to awaken! '
Jiang Xu was so surprised that he almost screamed.
Fortunately, in the next second, he caught a glimpse of the system prompt in the lower corner of his field of vision.
[Spirit of Fortune: White Crane]
[Explanation: The food spirit transformed from chef Hagiwara Sho’s food luck. White Crane has a noble and gentle personality and likes a clean and orderly environment. It seems that he is particularly obsessed with Sakurajima cuisine. 】
Food spirit!
What's the use of this thing?
Suppressing the surprise and curiosity in his heart, Jiang Xu started to explain how to make Mapo tofu without squinting.
In fact, it is no different from what he did in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of this book.
Just replaced the doubanjiang with a kind of doubanjiang that has the most similar taste to Mapo's special doubanjiang (that is, Pixian doubanjiang) described by Jiang Xu, and some condiments.
The overall steps haven’t changed much.
In Qingye's eyes, whether it was Jiang Xu's sword skills or his control over fire, among all the peers she had met, few could do it better.
But they are just peers.
And Hagiwara Sho's basic cooking skills are close to the top of his skills, and he has begun to pursue his own 'reason'.
Converted to a sparrow, it is the pinnacle of heart-changing, only half a step away from reaching the upper realm.
Therefore, it is obviously a 'dictation' and it is the first time to make this dish, but from the outside, Hagiwara Sho looks very skillful and does not look like a novice at all.
This is actually because he is relying on his past experience to control the overall process of making dishes without making any mistakes.
In many places, Hagiwara Sho was already ready as soon as Jiang Xu opened his mouth, but he waited until Jiang Xu finished speaking and confirmed before he started to operate, obviously anticipating the next steps of this dish in advance.
The dishes are also slowly taking shape in this step-by-step operation.
"Doubanjiang, red oil, black bean paste, garlic, chili noodles, beef bone broth, pepper noodles..."
Jiang Xu Yishun said.
"Forehead..."
Just like this step by step, Hagiwara Sho's eyelids couldn't help but twitch every time he followed Jiang Xu's words and added the above strong seasonings to the pot.
This kind of spiciness can only be said to be a Sichuan cuisine.
The entire pot was already burning red and bubbling. Even through the screen, Jiang Xu and Qingye could see that the air was filled with a red color.
Jiang Xu in front of the camera frowned slightly without any trace.
Hagiwara Sho's actions were not wrong, and neither was his story.
But due to experience and timing issues, the completion of this dish was not as high as expected.
At most, it's only 70%.
However, that’s okay, most of the essence of Mapo Tofu is still retained.
It's just that the freshness and integrity are slightly lacking.
"Okay, Uncle Xiang, the previous work is done. All that's left is seasoning and thickening."
Jiang Xu said after all the spices were added.
"good,"
Nodding, Hagiwara Sho first took a small spoonful of the original bright red soup with a piece of tofu from the pot.
Because Jiang Xu lowered his head, he couldn't see his expression clearly.
But the white crane with pure white feathers above him looked at the Mapo Tofu that was like a lava hell, with obvious hesitation in his smart eyes.
Time waits for no one, and if you continue to hesitate, the tender tofu in the pot will deteriorate and become old due to excessive cooking.
Hagiwara Sho gritted his teeth and put the spoon into his mouth.
bake!
It was as if the original lava exploded in his mouth. Visible to the naked eye, a flush rose from Hagiwara Sho's neck and spread all over his face.
The white crane above his head raised its neck and let out a clear chirp, and the white feathers all over its body began to be dyed with various colors from its beak.
The colors of the watercress and tempeh, the red of the chili noodles, the green of the peppercorns, and the jade-white of the tofu are all different.
It turned into a crane that was more colorful than a peacock!
The crane spirit spread its wings, swooped forward, glided over the iron pot where Mapo tofu was cooking, began to hover, and made several chirping sounds.
But its legs were still in the shape of an illusory mist, like a rope connecting Hagiwara Sho and its body.
After swallowing the tofu, Hagiwara Sho's eyes that had been closed due to the irritating taste of spicy hot hemp suddenly opened wide.
His hand was like bringing up layers of phantoms, and in an instant he picked out the salt, monosodium glutamate, and chicken essence that he had measured in his mind from the condiment cup.
The three seasonings flew out from the mouth of the cup almost at the same time, turned into an arc, and fell into the pot accurately.
Then, Hagiwara Shocai raised the soy sauce bottle and moved it over the pot, tilted it slightly and immediately returned to the normal position.
A small amount of black soy sauce flowed out from the mouth of the bottle, gathered in mid-air and transformed into a ball of black liquid, falling rapidly.
But something else fell at the same time.
That is, a colorful feather!
As the flying crane spirit continued to flap its wings, the colors on its body gradually faded, and finally they were all condensed into one feather, and it returned to pure white.
The crane spirit looked back, used its long pointed beak to pluck off the feather that was mixed with various colors, and then let it fall into the pot.
The soy sauce and Iroha fell into the pot at the same time.
Almost immediately, the original umami flavor of the ingredients suddenly broke through the blockage of spiciness and spread to the entire test kitchen.
This is Yuan Chu Dao! !
