"Guo Bao Rou (Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork), a traditional dish from the capital of Jibei Province, said to originate from the late Qing dynasty. It was created by the governor's chef to entertain foreign guests, with two styles: cooking in sauce and soaking in sauce. The preparation is as follows…"
"Hui Guo Rou (Twice-Cooked Pork), called 'Ao Guo Rou' in Shu region, is one of Shu's traditional dishes. Legend says it was invented by a disgraced official surnamed Ling from Shu who retired home and experimented with recipes. There are variations with garlic sprouts, green peppers, cabbage, potatoes, etc. The preparation is as follows…"
"Cumin Lamb, a new dish from the New Province, origin unknown. The best choice is refined hind leg lamb meat. There are many ways to cook it, with eleven detailed methods across different regions. The preparation is as follows…"
When Xiang Ye saw these dishes, his mind automatically filled with many ways to cook them. Judging from the details in his head, if he were to make them, they would probably taste even better than those restaurants' versions.
Thinking this, Xiang Ye couldn't stay still any longer. He rolled over and sat up, heading to the kitchen to take a look. Although he rarely ate at home, occasionally he did, so there were still some vegetables Ai Bai had left in the fridge.
Then a flash hit his mind—he remembered the frozen fish in the freezer.
And the crisp-textured grass carp he had eaten last night.
Now that he knew how to cook, why not give it a try?
With that, Xiang Ye went to the freezer and pulled out a smaller-looking grass carp. Even so, it weighed at least fifteen or sixteen Jin (about 7.5–8 kg).
After being frozen solid for over a day, it was completely frozen. He thawed it for a while before starting to clean it.
He scaled the fish and gutted it. Fortunately, it was a female grass carp, so inside the belly were many undeveloped fish roes. Besides that, he kept the swim bladder but discarded the intestines since, although his system said fish intestines were edible, Xiang Ye had no interest in eating animal intestines.
When he cut open the belly, Xiang Ye discovered something new: grass carp's teeth are located in the throat, and this particular fish was big, so the teeth were especially sharp and thick.
After finishing the preparation, he chopped off the fish head, then filleted the meat from both halves of the body.
Today, Xiang Ye planned two ways to cook the fish: one was to cook it hotpot-style by boiling slices of fish, the other was to make a dry pot dish. Originally, he wanted to make grilled fish like last night's, but he had no oven, so he settled for these alternatives.
As for the head and fish bones, he planned to simmer them into soup later.
Once the plan was clear, Xiang Ye got to work with swift, precise knife skills. Thanks to the system's cooking skill bonus, his hand was steady and skilled. The fish slices were cut evenly and thin, and he efficiently chopped up the bones and head.
Next, he started on the soup. First, he pan-fried the chopped fish head and bones, adding a few slices of ginger and pouring in some cooking wine. Since the fish was wild-caught and he carefully removed the black membrane inside the belly, the natural fishy smell was minimal. If it had been farmed fish, he would have marinated it first to reduce the odor.
When the fish head and bones were nearly fried, he added hot water and let the soup simmer slowly.
Meanwhile, on another burner, he stir-fried the vegetables for the dry pot: cauliflower, enoki mushrooms, and potato slices were briefly fried in oil, then the fish slices were also quickly fried.
For the dry pot sauce, he left some oil in the wok, sautéed minced garlic until fragrant, then added broad bean paste—an essential ingredient from the Shu region. Depending on his taste, he also added spicy chili paste, garlic chili sauce, or other chili sauces to make a bright red oil.
Then he tossed in dried chili segments, fish slices, oyster sauce, cooking wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and a pinch of MSG to enhance flavor.
After stir-frying everything evenly, he added the cauliflower and potato slices again and gave it all another toss.
Just before serving, he drizzled some fragrant Sichuan pepper oil on top. The aroma was intoxicating—Xiang Ye's mouth started watering, and he thought this would be even better than last night's dish.
Meanwhile, the fish head and bone soup was ready. Xiang Ye poured it into a small pot, kept it warm on the induction cooker, and brought it to the table.
The fragrance filled the air, stimulating his senses; the smell surged through his nostrils straight to his brain—absolutely delicious!
He tasted the dry pot first. It was numbing, spicy, fresh, and savory. Despite the fish having been frozen for over a day, the flesh was even crisper than last night's fresh fish. Xiang Ye knew this because the freezing would normally reduce freshness, yet his cooking made it tastier than the restaurant's.
For an ordinary home cook, 60 points out of 100 might be a fair score; ordinary restaurants might rate between 65 and 70 points. That restaurant's level was at least 85 or even 90, but compared to Xiang Ye's dish, it still fell short.
Master-level cooking, as mentioned earlier, is basically the pinnacle of professional expertise.
At this point, Xiang Ye could call himself a national banquet-level chef without exaggeration.
He cooked his own fish carefully and knew it was better than any outside restaurant.
Just as Xiang Ye happily ate, he suddenly heard the sound of a key turning in the door.
Ai Bai walked in.
The moment Ai Bai opened the door, the aroma hit his nose immediately.
He sniffed sharply, eyes lighting up with excitement, and shouted, "Damn, you eating alone at home, huh?"
"Not eating alone. You weren't here, so I had to cook something for myself. Wait, didn't you say you were moving out? Why're you back?" Xiang Ye asked, a bit puzzled.
"Ah, don't mention it. My in-laws showed up, couldn't stay there anymore!" Ai Bai replied.
Hearing this, Xiang Ye clicked his tongue. Ai Bai changed shoes quickly and rushed over without washing his hands, grabbed a piece of dry pot fish, and popped it into his mouth.
"Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Delicious! Where'd you get this fish? I've eaten fish for years and never tasted anything this good!" Ai Bai exclaimed excitedly while stuffing his mouth.
"I didn't buy it. I caught it yesterday and cooked it myself," Xiang Ye said casually.
"You… cooked it?" Ai Bai looked at him, dumbfounded.
"Yeah, the scales and guts are still over there." Xiang Ye casually gestured toward the trash that hadn't been thrown out yet.
But Ai Bai couldn't stay calm…
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]