NOVEL NEXT Chapter 47 - Making [Crab Roe]
Chapter 47: Making [Crab Roe]
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“The dish [Imitation Crab], or [Crab Roe] is quite famous.”
As Xu Le spoke, he took out the ingredients from the fridge.
To deal with the production team’s request, Xu Le would already give them an explanation while cooking.
Otherwise, the program team staff would not be able to understand many of his steps.
“It’s impossible to determine where this dish originated from or who invented it. However, we can tell from the name of this dish that the purpose of this dish is—crabs!”
“Crabs are very expensive ingredients, so when one cannot afford to eat crabs, many chefs would make this [Imitation Crab] to imitate the taste of crab roe and crab meat.”
“This dish is a traditional Chinese specialty. It has a smooth texture and is rich in nutrition. It tastes like crab meat and is suitable for both young and old.”
“The ingredients used are very simple. The main ingredient is fish meat, and the supplementary ingredient is eggs. These two ingredients are also quite common. After adding all kinds of condiments, this dish will exhibit a taste similar to that of crabs, and also a look similar to that of crabs.”
Xu Le took out a piece of sole fish and a few eggs.
“Is it that simple?”
A staff member of the program team whispered.
Xu Le smiled when he heard that. “That’s right, it’s that simple.”
“You might think that making crabs is a very difficult task, but in fact, it’s also the charm of cooking.”
“Many years ago, someone discovered that the mixture of vinegar and ginger would produce a taste similar to that of crabs after a unique way of handling it. Now, let me show you!”
As he spoke, he started to heat the oil.
The cooking officially began.
At this moment, the entire hall was silent.
Whether it was the program team of Taste of China or Central TV’s live broadcast, all of the staff were staring at Xu Le.
They wanted to see how Xu Le could create this amazing [Imitation Crab].
Especially after these two days of experience, they had already felt the charm of cooking.
It was especially enjoyable to watch Xu Le cook.
It was as if they were looking at a master painting. The natural cooking gave off a soothing and aesthetic feeling.
Because every step was the simplest, most direct, and most perfect.
There were no unnecessary steps.
Every step was just right. It was really an ecstatic cooking process.
The process of cooking this [Imitation Crab] was the same.
Although the production team had just come to film, and Xu Le had never tried this dish in the real world.
The previous night, Xu Le had already confirmed to prepare this dish.
He exchanged for the [Imitation Crab] recipe in the System Shop and practiced for an hour in the system space.
Under the time flow that was 365 times slower.
He had been practicing this dish for half a month without stopping. His level of proficiency was naturally incomparable and terrifying.
As a result, Xu Le was already in his best condition when he took out the ingredients.
In his eyes, everything else was no longer important.
Everything about the venue, the people watching around, the environment…
They were all things that could be ignored.
Xu Le only had eyes for the kitchenware and ingredients in front of him!
The art of cooking begins now!
…
“First, the first step is to smooth the fish with oil.”
The oil in the pan was already 70% hot and was bubbling non-stop.
Xu Le placed the entire piece of sole fish into the pan.
Whoosh!
As the oil heated up, the hot oil and the sole fish produced a violent chemical reaction. Countless bubbles emerged from the pot, and the entire pot began to boil.
“This step of oiling is to let the fish meat pass through the pan once. This way, it can increase the fragrance of the oil. This is because there must be a lot of rich crab oil among the plump crabs. And this kind of fat and plump texture is what we are imitating.”
As Xu Le spoke, he used the spatula to gently push the piece of fish in the pan.
To allow the heat be evened out.
Xu Le took out three eggs while the fish was heating up.
He separated all the egg whites from the egg yolk.
This was a necessary step for this dish. After all, in this dish, the egg white was used to make crab meat, while the egg yolk was used to make crab roe.
Thus, the two of them were separated from one another from start to finish. Each had their own flavor and taste.
After the egg white and egg yolk were beaten evenly.
Xu Le began to mix the condiments and added some ketchup into the egg yolk.
He was using ketchup to imitate the sweetness of the crab and give it a unique depth in flavor.
This step did not exist in the authentic palace cooking method. After all, there was no such thing as ketchup in ancient China. This step was completely improvised by Xu Le. Moreover, he had already tasted it before and it was very good.
At this moment, the sole fish was almost at 70% cooked.
He fished it out of the oil and added a few drops of seasoning wine. This step was to remove the fishy smell from the seafood and stimulate its freshness to a greater extent.
This was also an essential step in handling any seafood.
“It’s very authentic!”
Master Cai Lan stood at the side and watched silently, his eyes shining.
He had once eaten a dish of [Crab roe] at the restaurant of [Merit Forest] in Beijing, and it left a deep impression on him.
This dish was completely made from eggs and fish, and it really did look like crab meat and crab roe. Moreover, some taste of crabs could really be tasted from it. It was extremely miraculous.
Until now, all of Xu Le’s steps were similar to the top chefs of [Merit Forest], and even closer to perfection. Therefore, Cai Lan was very satisfied with this.
Xu Le took out two pieces of ginger and chopped them into pieces before cutting a large onion into small pieces.
The next step was a very important step in the entire process of cooking the dish—making the “crab roe”.
Of course, he could not make real crab roe.
This crab roe was made from egg yolk.
Although it did not have the smell of crabs, its appearance was extremely similar.
Soon, Xu Le started to carry out the steps.