I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 786 - 345: Bowing Down to the Power of Money! The Secret to Crystal Clear Fish Scale Jelly! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]_3
Lin Xu returned to the kitchen to prepare the remaining dishes.
Once the oil was hot, he poured in the Fish Intestines and other ingredients all at once and stir-fried them over high heat for a dozen or so seconds before taking them out and plating them.
The cooked Fish Intestines were rolled into thin rolls, resembling white chocolate bars drizzled with Red Oil.
Next, he used the method for boiled meat slices to prepare the boiled Fish Bladder.
Finally, he removed the membrane from the Fish Roe, cut it into pieces, deep-fried it, and then stir-fried it with other ingredients and Dry Pot Sauce, and thus the Dry Pot Fish Roe was officially completed.
After finishing, the assistant chefs had also nearly completed slaughtering the fish.
"Clean them thoroughly, then rub salt all over, inside and out, and let them marinate in a bowl for a while."
If each fish was prepared individually, rubbing salt and directly packing it with glutinous rice would suffice. But since it was being done in bulk, the surface moisture of the fish had to be drawn out before applying the glutinous rice.
This method produced tastier Fish, and the glutinous rice also fermented better.
While everyone was busy, Lin Xu brought the prepared Fish Scales to the sink area.
"Boss, should all of these be turned into Fish Scale Jelly?"
"Yes, turn all of them into Fish Scale Jelly. They’ll go on sale in the store tomorrow morning."
The carp weighed about four or five pounds. Their scales weren’t very large and wouldn’t be satisfying to eat when fried, so Lin Xu decided to turn all these Fish Scales into Fish Scale Jelly for today.
If I want to eat spicy Fish Scales later, I can just buy a few large fish.
That stuff lasts a long time.
Once fried, it can last for several days without being finished.
The Fish Scales collected from eighty fish amounted to about a large basinful, enough to make several dozen pounds of Fish Scale Jelly.
If sold portion by portion, at least fifty or sixty portions could be sold.
At twenty yuan per serving, that’s over a thousand yuan.
Calculating this way, the revenue from the fish offal might even be higher than the cost of buying the fish themselves.
Fish Scales have a strong fishy smell, and sediment from the riverbed can get trapped in their grooves. To eat them confidently without any fishiness, they must be washed repeatedly.
Lin Xu put salt and flour in the basin and carefully mixed and scrubbed the Fish Scales.
After doing this, he rinsed them with clean water.
After several such washes, the originally gray Fish Scales became clean, even sparkling slightly under the light.
With this step complete, the Fish Scales were ready.
Lin Xu set up a large soup pot to boil water. He added the Fish Scales, along with ginger slices, Scallion sections, and a ladle of Liquor, and started blanching them.
Fish Scales have a strong odor and couldn’t be used directly; otherwise, the Fish Scale Jelly would be both fishy and unpalatable.
After the water boiled, he skimmed off the foam with a spoon, then took out all the Fish Scales, rinsed them with cold water, and removed the ginger slices and Scallion sections. Then, he formally began the preparation process.
Just like with Pork Skin jelly, achieving a good appearance for Fish Scale Jelly meant not boiling it; instead, it required steaming.
He placed the Fish Scales and cooled boiled water into a steaming cabinet to steam them, which would produce crystal-clear Fish Scale Jelly that resembled glass.
He took several large deep trays and laid a layer of cling film in them for easy demolding.
He scattered a two-centimeter layer of Fish Scales, then added Scallion and Ginger, salt, and Rice Wine again. Finally, he poured in cooled boiled water until the water in the trays was six centimeters deep.
The reason for using cooled boiled water was because it’s clean and clear, much like the principle of making ice cubes at home.
Ice cubes made from unboiled water, no matter any adjustments, are always turbid.
But ice cubes frozen from cooled boiled water became crystal clear, indistinguishable from purchased edible ice cubes.
All the Fish Scales were placed onto trays. He carefully carried them and put them into the steam cabinet to start steaming.
After finishing these tasks, Lin Xu began to look for a suitable place to ferment the Fish.
First, he ruled out the cold storage, as its temperature was too low and unsuitable for fish fermentation.
The kitchen was quite suitable, but there wasn’t much free space at the moment, not enough to fit several bamboo baskets of marinating Fish. Moreover, the kitchen floor was frequently washed with a hose, which made it too easy for the Fish to be splashed with unboiled water.
Lin Xu went outside the kitchen and looked around, finding that outside was also not suitable.
The Fish would emit some odor during the marinating process, so it could not be placed in areas frequently visited by customers, to avoid affecting their dining mood.
Upon arriving on the third floor, Lin Xu checked the private rooms. Just as he was about to leave, he remembered that the banquet hall was rarely used recently and pushed the door open to enter.
In the banquet hall’s entrance corridor, there was a utility closet. It was initially planned for storing disposable cups and utensils. However, because the window exposed it to direct sunlight, which could cause disposable chopsticks to bend, it hadn’t been used.
Lin Xu opened the door to this room and took a look. He found the small room was actually quite good. Its front was made of highly transparent glass, and it received direct sunlight from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon.
Such a place was naturally suitable for making Fish.
"Let’s do it here then."
Water would drip while making the Fish, so the bamboo baskets needed to be placed in iron basins. Ideally, a rack should also be placed in each basin. This would prevent the drawn-out water from soaking the bottom layer of Fish and causing the Fish to spoil.
After returning downstairs, Lin Xu instructed Che Zai to make the preparations: buy whatever was needed and arrange for any necessary processing, ensuring nothing would delay their use in an hour.
"Then I’ll have someone weld some iron racks, placing the bamboo baskets on the racks and the water basins under the racks. Does that work, Boss?"
"That’s fine, as long as the water doesn’t drip onto the floor or soak the Fish," Lin Xu replied.
"I’ll get on it right away."
After Che Zai left, Lin Xu and a few kitchen helpers brought out the steamed and cooled glutinous rice from the cold storage. They mixed in some glutinous rice they had scraped off earlier and then began to apply it to the Fish.
These Fish had already had much of their moisture drawn out. Before applying the rice, their surfaces needed to be wiped dry; otherwise, the glutinous rice wouldn’t stick.
After applying it evenly, they laid a layer of straw in the bamboo baskets and sprinkled some coarse sea salt. They then arranged the Fish flat in rows, sprinkled another layer of salt, and covered it with another layer of straw.
After stacking them up meticulously layer by layer, they switched to another bamboo basket.
While they were busy, Lin Xu’s phone rang.
He pulled it out to look, and it was actually his senior, Xie Baomin, calling.
"What’s up, Senior?"
"It’s like this: tomorrow Master Dai is going to a TV station to make Boiled Fish with Pickled Cabbage. He’s a bit nervous and wants you to appear with him. Are you free tomorrow morning?"
Boiled Fish with Pickled Cabbage?
Lin Xu remembered he still had two Cooking Learning Cards, so he immediately agreed.
"I’m free. I’ll head to the TV station first thing tomorrow morning. I won’t cause any delays."
Winter was approaching, the perfect time for Boiled Fish with Pickled Cabbage. Eaten then, its sour and spicy flavor would be absolutely warming and appetizing. I wonder how Chef Dai’s version tastes? A flicker of excitement went through Lin Xu. He rubbed his hands, already eager to learn this dish...
The last day for double Monthly Tickets, brothers! If you have them, remember to cast one. If we pass a thousand Monthly Tickets, we’ll add more updates, as promised! Adjustments are being made, and I will start adding three updates soon. No rush. Since we planned to update 350,000 words this month, we’ll keep our word. This Chapter has 5,200 words. Seeking Monthly Tickets!
