I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 829 - 359: Ren Jie: I’ve Experienced Life and Death! Chen Yan: What a Coincidence, I’ve Experienced Social Death!
"Great!"
After giving these instructions, Lin Xu walked from the banquet hall to the private room area.
He opened the door to the small private room, expecting the atmosphere inside to be somewhat awkward, but to his surprise, everyone was chatting lively. At this moment, Uncle Chen Yuejin was even sitting with Ren Chongmo, behaving like long-lost brothers.
Wow, are they hitting it off that well?
"Mr. Chongmo, your name sounds extraordinary at first glance, evoking an image of appreciating literature; when I hear it, I picture a scholar. Unlike my name, which sounds so rough and plain."
"Oh no, no, Mr. Chen, your name carries a strong sense of the times. As soon as one hears it, they know what era you were born in, with historical weight, much more powerful than my simple Chongmo."
Ah, so they’re just trading compliments here.
Lin Xu didn’t disturb them and instead greeted Geng Lishan and Grandpa Han Jitong, then turned to ask his Aunt Shen Guofang:
"Aunt, is there anything else you need? Feel free to order more tea, wine, or dishes, no need to be polite."
"It’s enough, it’s enough, we can’t finish all this; it’s not like we’re outsiders. You go ahead and do your work, don’t mind us. We’ll be family from now on. Isn’t that right, Professor Tian?"
"Yes, yes, we’re family now."
Not wanting to disturb them further, Lin Xu returned to the kitchen and found some leftover Silver Shrimp Soup, so he took a few sips.
I must say, sipping this fresh fish soup really helps sober up.
No wonder in "Golden Lotus," Ximen Qing wanted to drink it early in the morning — probably to cure a hangover.
"Lin Xu, how should we handle these grass carp bodies? Using them for fish fillets seems a waste."
The store uses two-to-three-pound grass carp for Boiled Fish, with tender meat, but using these big chunks of grass carp for it would be too wasteful.
The price of a grass carp is much higher than that of a regular carp.
Lin Xu replied:
"Why not just fry them into Five-Spice Smoked Fish? We can eat some in the afternoon and give some to our customers."
"Not for serving in the store?"
"We will, but given the high cost of grass carp, we’ll revert to using large regular carp. When making Five-Spice Smoked Fish, the difference between regular carp and grass carp isn’t significant, and the costs are dramatically lower."
Right now, the price of grass carp is too high, especially the large ones, which sell for over ten yuan.
Such costs will greatly shrink the profit margin of the dish.
In comparison, carp is priced more favorably.
Five-Spice Smoked Fish is a dish from the Yangtze River basin.
Originally, during the Qing Dynasty, frying the fish in oil was too costly, so they steamed it first, then air-dried it, and finally smoked it with sugar, coating the surface with a caramel color.
The smoked fish’s texture was crispy, its color reddish, and after being immersed in well-cooked broth for a few minutes, it tasted exceptionally good.
But this method was phased out by the late Republic.
The current method has been considerably simplified; the fish is directly fried in oil, resulting in crispy slices with a dry fragrance, tasting and feeling better when soaked in broth.
Although the method has been improved, the term "smoked fish" has been retained, and higher-end restaurants typically use the name smoked fish.
But in everyday street food, people consider it merely a quick fry in oil, so they also call it blast fish.
As the dish developed, it gained two names.
In Shanghai, in somewhat upscale restaurants, it’s still called smoked fish.
But if you buy it at the market, it’s called blast fish.
Apart from Shanghai, in nearby places like Suzhou, it’s more commonly called blast fish, like the famous blast fish noodles in Su-style noodles.
Smoked fish is a dish that doesn’t require knife skills; the fish body is directly cut into large thick slices about 1.5 centimeters, no need to debone or make decorative cuts.
But today’s grass carp in the store was just too large, so cutting it this way resulted in one slice taking up half the plate. Lin Xu decided to fillet the fish body along the spine and then cut it into thick slices.
As for the fish heads, twenty large grass carp heads altogether have substantial weight, so Lin Xu thought to pair each head with tofu to make Fish Head Stewed with Tofu.
Twenty servings of Fish Head Stewed with Tofu could sell for over a thousand yuan — it can’t go to waste.
Just like that, when Shu Yun promoted the aromatic grilled fish, she also added a limited supply of Fish Head Stewed with Tofu, a total of twenty servings available on a first-come-first-served basis.
Such temporary new dishes often attract discerning gourmet enthusiasts.
For instance, last time when fish offal dishes were offered, several customers who understood food couldn’t stop praising them. So when the news about grass carp head stewed tofu hit the Lin Ji’s Food member group, activity began to buzz.
Everyone was rushing to reserve, afraid of missing this delicious opportunity.
"What are you up to, junior brother?"
Busily engaged when Xie Baomin and Dai Jianli returned to the kitchen after lunch in the upstairs banquet hall.
"It’s a pity to use these grass carp chunks for anything else, so I plan to make some Shanghai-style Five-Spice Smoked Fish for everyone to taste. As for the fish heads, they’ve already been sold."
Upon hearing about smoking fish, Dai Jianli immediately called out to Old Huang and Cui Qingyuan, who were drinking tea and chatting outside the kitchen:
"Professor Cui, we’re having Shanghai-style smoked fish tonight; doesn’t that call for a little tipsy snacking?"
"Sure, sure, I don’t have any classes this afternoon. Let’s drink huadiao tonight; I barely held it together with that aged Luzhou liquor at lunch."
The reputable genius professor, lately indulging in drinking and feasting — unthinkable in the past.
Yet, Cui Qingyuan felt the recent times had been fulfilling and joyous.
In the kitchen, seeing Lin Xu preparing spices and seasonings, Xie Baomin smiled and asked:
"There are both cold and hot preparations for smoked fish; do you know how to make them, junior brother?"
"I know a little, but I still need your guidance. I’m a bit unsure if I dive right in."
Xie Baomin grinned:
"Junior brother, just go ahead boldly; even if this smoked fish becomes a disaster, I’ve got the skills to redeem it. I’m very familiar with this dish!"
Lin Xu, intrigued, asked:
"Senior brother, do you have any stories connected to this dish?"
"It’s not me, but our master, more precisely, our master’s third wife has the association." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
What?
The third wife of our master?
Lin Xu urged:
"Senior brother, quickly tell me! I’m eager to hear!"
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This Chapter is 5,100 words; please send monthly tickets, brothers. Another update will be around eleven tonight, so hold on!
