I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 558 - 271: A Classic Local Dish — Fried Shrimp, Becomes Tough If Fried For More Than 18 Seconds! [Subscribe Request]_3
But when the dishes arrived, they realized that each dish here was more ingenious than the last. In the Yanjing dialect, it was authentic, extremely authentic!
「In the kitchen.」
After preparing the dishes to be served, Lin Xu brought over the small green shrimp for the Fried Shrimp.
Fried Shrimp is a dish found throughout the Yangtze River Delta region, using readily available small river shrimp or small green shrimp from the area.
Because these shrimp are tender and properly prepared, there is no need to spit out the shell when eating them. The crispy shell is even more flavorful than the shrimp meat itself.
This dish has two methods of preparation: home-style and restaurant-style.
Home stoves have less firepower, so the oil heats up slowly. To achieve crispy shells and tender meat, it is necessary to flash-fry the shrimp twice at high temperatures, each time for a very short duration, allowing the hot oil to affect only the surface of the shells.
This way, the shells become sufficiently crispy, and the meat remains tender.
The restaurant method, however, is not as complicated.
Restaurant stoves are comparable to rocket engines and can keep the oil in the wok at a consistently high temperature, so there is no need to fry the shrimp twice.
Even the first quick pass through the oil needs to be timed in seconds.
One second more, and the shrimp meat might overcook.
One second less, and the shell might not be crispy.
The key to this dish lies in mastering heat control.
Although the cooking time for Fried Shrimp seems brief, it is actually a Kung Fu dish.
Before cooking, the small green shrimp need to be meticulously cleaned: the whiskers, pincers, legs, and Shrimp Spear must all be removed, leaving only the intact shrimp body.
This prevents these parts from pricking the mouth when eaten and also stops them from burning during the flash-frying process.
After cleaning the small green shrimp, Lin Xu set up the wok, poured oil into it, and lit the stove to begin frying.
While waiting for the oil to heat up, he prepared a sauce for the Fried Shrimp.
Depending on the quantity of shrimp, he added a spoonful of Light Soy Sauce, a third of a spoonful of White Sugar, and half a spoonful of Rice Wine into a bowl, stirring with chopsticks until the White Sugar dissolved.
As the oil temperature continued to rise, Lin Xu placed a strainer over the oil drum used for collecting drained oil, getting ready to cook.
Zhuang Yizhou and Wei Qian quietly watched from the side.
Although everyone’s cooking skills were considerable, dishes timed to the second were worth studying repeatedly. Even if one had completely mastered such a dish, it was still best to review it while others cooked.
When the oil was hot enough, Lin Xu poured the cleaned small green shrimp into the wok.
WHOOSH...
A loud sizzling sound erupted as the hot oil boiled violently, and the small river shrimp turned from green to red within two seconds.
Their previously varied appearances now transformed, each one curling tightly.
Lin Xu stirred slowly with a ladle in the wok, ensuring the shrimp heated more evenly, which would improve the texture of the finished Fried Shrimp.
Five seconds later, the sound of shrimp shells cracking echoed successively.
This was the sound of the shrimp meat contracting, and the heated air inside the shells bursting them.
After this sound, the shrimp meat and shell would separate, creating about a half-millimeter gap between them.
Ten seconds later, the cracking sounds ceased, indicating all the shrimp shells had burst open. At this point, the shells were quickly becoming crispy while the meat was rapidly cooking.
Stirring a few more times with the ladle, Lin Xu lifted the wok and then poured all the oil and shrimp into the strainer.
The hot oil drained into the oil drum, while the bright red-shelled shrimp were caught in the strainer.
The frying process was complete, but the cooking had to continue.
After setting the wok back on the stove, he stirred the prepared sauce again with a ladle, making sure no undissolved White Sugar had settled at the bottom.
After stirring, he immediately poured the sauce into the hot wok.
By this time, the little bit of oil remaining in the wok had heated up, and as soon as the sauce was added, its savory aroma was quickly released.
He stirred rapidly with the ladle, blending the sauce smoothly and ensuring the White Sugar was completely dissolved.
Once the sauce became slightly thick, he added the fried shrimp, tossed them quickly for a few seconds to ensure they were evenly coated with the sauce, and then removed the wok from the heat.
The standard method for this dish is quite straightforward. There’s no need for Scallion and Ginger, Cooking Wine, star anise, or pepper powder. Simply fry and then stir-fry with the sauce.
But the difficulty was immense. Whether in the frying or the final stir-frying, a mere second’s difference could make the taste worlds apart.
There were quite a few shrimp in the wok, so Lin Xu served them on one large and one small plate.
The large plate was sent to the private room upstairs for Yan Lin and the others to taste.
Then, Lin Xu brought the smaller plate out to where Shen Jiayue, Zeng Xiaoqi, and Chen Yan were still dining. Director Zeng once again publicly critiqued their secretive behavior from noon.
However, because Lin Xu was present, she did not repeat the curse about a cup size reduction.
"Try it, the classic Shanghai dish, Fried Shrimp. See if there’s any difference from the shrimp we have here."
Upon hearing this, Shen Baobao picked up a shrimp and tasted it. Her eyes widened. "This shrimp shell is so crispy! The taste is a mix of salty and sweet, it tastes like... like Oil Braised Large Shrimp! Yes, that kind of salty-sweet flavor of Oil Braised Large Shrimp. But this shell is really nice, very crispy and delicious."
The same flavor as Oil Braised Large Shrimp? Lin Xu took a pair of clean chopsticks from the sterilizer beside him and tasted a shrimp.
The flavor was indeed very similar to that of Oil Braised Large Shrimp. However, because these shrimp were smaller and more tender, their shells were crispy and crunchy, offering a unique taste.
"Yueyue is right, it does taste like Oil Braised Large Shrimp."
"To be precise, it tastes like the Oil Braised Large Shrimp made by Boss Lin."
"Exactly. Many restaurants use tomato sauce for Oil Braised Large Shrimp, but my brother-in-law’s skills are more authentic."
"..."
Listening to their discussion, and recalling the Scallion Roasted Large Shrimp he had made at noon, Lin Xu realized the connection between Shanghai cuisine and Lu cuisine was closer than he had imagined.
If one were to study the history of culinary development, this would indeed be an interesting topic.
Next time he saw his master, he could discuss this. He and Old Master Guo were planning a Cantonese cuisine museum, which might provide some inspiration.
While he was pondering this, Yan Lin and her friends upstairs were completely stunned.
"Wow, these shrimp are amazing!"
"Delicious! The shell is crispy, the meat is tender—such skilled craftsmanship."
"Today has really been an eye-opener!"
"Later, I must get the owner’s business card. I’ll make a reservation whenever I crave this; the flavor is just fantastic."
"..."
Among the friends, one plainly dressed, gentle, and refined-looking middle-aged man said, "I wonder if the owner here can make Four Happiness Roasted Glutinous Rice. If so, as long as my job doesn’t transfer me, I’ll make this place my cafeteria."
Four Happiness Roasted Glutinous Rice?
The others paused slightly, recognizing it as another old Shanghai dish. Could the chef here make it well?
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It’s getting late, brothers. Tomorrow I’ll write about a super classic dish that’s perfect with rice. This Chapter is 5,200 characters. Please support with Monthly Tickets and subscriptions!
