Black-Beak Phoenix
From afar, Lin Liang could see them coming with their respective ingredients. Flasher Uncle was carrying a Black-Beak Phoenix (a rare peac.o.c.k) and Panty Uncle was holding an aquarium with a Tricolor Silver-pattern Eel. Old Marilyn was also on her way and had her ingredients carried by Old w.a.n.g and Old Li. There was a bag of flour and a block of b.u.t.ter excreted from Père David"s deer (an extremely rare species with only a few dozens left in China) wrapped in oil paper. The aroma of the b.u.t.ter carried by the sea breeze managed to stimulate Lin Liang’s nostrils. Yes, I can sense good food!
“Come, help your master uncle apply some sunscreen,” Liu Bei laid face down on the beach and took off his robe, revealing his smooth and pale back.
“Okays.” Holding a bottle of sunscreen, Zhao Xiangyu went over. RedMoon followed, “I’ll help you too.”
Seeing Liu Bei being served by two beautiful ladies, Cao Cao and Sun Quan showed mixed feelings of anger.
As their bare hands made contact with Liu Bei’s back, Zhao Xiangyu and RedMoon were shocked and an unknown sensation could be felt swirling in their bodies. It’s so smooth. This uncle’s skin is more well-maintained than a lady’s. Even Zuo Yiyi’s back which is constantly taken care of could not compare with his.
“I..I...I !! Just simply slab the lotion on his back!” Cao Cao was also in a p.r.o.ne position on the beach, “Once you are done, I’ll show you Mengde’s New Book!”
“Me too! My sword - Meteor will be my gift to you!” Sun Quan did the same on the beach and retrieved a relatively narrow sword out of nowhere. Though being kept in the scabbard with its blade unrevealed, Ye Cang could tell the sword was no ordinary, “Quickly thank Uncle Master Sun and Uncle Master Cao!”
With much confusion, Zhao Xiangyu looked at Ye Cang and back to the two middle-aged uncles. She sighed, “Thank you, Uncle Master Sun and Uncle Master Cao!”
Old w.a.n.g and Old Li and Marilyn had made their way to the beach. Staring at the Golden Jade Dragon Crab and the Jade Scallop, Marilyn exclaimed, “It has been twenty-two years. Let me show you my signature dish, the Golden Krabby Patty!”
“Krabby Patty? You think this is Spongebob?! And You’re Mr Krabs?!” Old w.a.n.g laughed.
“Not funny at all. Quickly prepare the dish!” Marilyn rolled her eyes at Old w.a.n.g.
Old w.a.n.g asked Ye Cang over, “When dealing with this Dragon Crab and any other large crabs like this, not only does your speed need to be fast, you must also have a clear understanding of its structure. Without damaging any parts, you have to separate the meat, sh.e.l.l, roe, and mustard (hepatopancreas).”
With swift knife moves, Old w.a.n.g separated the Golden Dragon She-Crab’s sh.e.l.l, carefully took out its roe and mustard, and placed them into bowls. Each of the crab roes had the size of a quail egg, red and crystal-clear. The mustard was extraordinarily beautiful in the maple-leaf bowl that complemented it extraordinarily well.
“What’s the sh.e.l.l for?” Ye Cang asked out of curiosity.
“The sh.e.l.l has many uses. This is a large crab. Its pincers or sh.e.l.l can be used as a bowl for wine. In fact, by boiling it with some wine, it could even bring out an irresistible seafood-like sweetness in the wine.It can also be grinded into powder to add into the process of making noodles or into soups to make a stock. This distinctive taste is difficult to be replaced by any other things. In simple terms, the powder is just like MSG but with more of a natural taste. Even if it is over-added, the original taste cannot be ruined. It will react naturally with the taste of the ingredients and find a right balance in between. Oh yeah, it has another specialty! It can remove fishy or gamy odor even though we usually know that only most of the spice ingredients (including wine) could do the job. If you add this powder on a wild boar, it will immediately remove its porky stench but still preserve the sweetness of the meat (It goes by the same theory as cooking lamb. If you can successfully deal with the smell, you’ll find it tasty but if you don’t, the smell will be gamy). Just one sh.e.l.l is already priceless in the black market,” Old Li took one of the sh.e.l.ls from its legs, started grinding it into powder and mixed it with normal flour.
The entire meat of the sh.e.l.l-less Dragon She-crab was perfectly separated. It was pinkish and as shiny as jade. Old w.a.n.g pressed softly on the meat from the pincers with his fingers. The bounciness of the pink meat made everyone look forward to putting it in their mouths. This is so fresh!
Marilyn then started kneading and Lin Liang was amazed by her techniques. This lady uses a lot of strength in kneading the dough but she was gentle at the same time. Being good at kneading isn’t something easy. There seemed to be a connection between her elegant hands and the gradually softening dough. Her actions were way smoother than a transparent river without a speck of pollution.
“The sh.e.l.l will come last. Hey, Lil’White, help us out. We need that speed of yours to deal with the Tricolor Silver-pattern Eel. Get its organs out before it loses consciousness, especially that internal gland. Any slower will cause it to damage its own body! And the entire eel will be wasted so you have to be fast! To us (chefs), we must be fast with all three. Our eyes, our knife and our hands! Missing any of it and it is the end! Also, its swim bladder cannot be broken! The best is for it to be kept half alive. When separating the internal gland, you must cut off the bladder at the same time too!” Without wearing any gloves, Old w.a.n.g placed the eel on the chopping board and explained to Ye Cang while enduring the electric current. As a great chef, enduring the negative effect from the meat is also part of the training. You won’t be able to feel the freshness of the food if you wear gloves! Even though this electric current is strong enough to knock you out, For a real chef, one must learn to resist it with their inner strength. “I’ll demonstrate one time!”
In absolute silence, Old w.a.n.g’s knife sliced through the eel as he grabbed the internal gland out and placed the bladder on the ice. Nodding at him, Ye Cang grabbed one eel from the water, without a knife, sliced through with his fingers and picked out all the organs precisely, leaving only a clean eel. That incredible speed made Old w.a.n.g dumbfounded. I haven’t even processed what he was doing and he’s already finished! I can’t find any other chefs better than him in this society! That hand movement and technique...
Meanwhile, Old Li was preparing the Black-Beak Phoenix. Getting rid of its feathers is a hard job. You can’t scald it. You can only use your hands to pluck them. It’s so exhausting. Ye Cang then went over to help with his speedy hands. It was less than a minute before he got rid of all the feathers. Old Li was examining the bird and found it was really clean. He said thankfully, “This saves me a lot of time and keeps the ingredient fresh,” Old w.a.n.g then marinated it with some plant salt and Old Li’s special soy sauce. He stuffed some Seven-stars Green Onion and Nine-Joint Ginger into it and turned around to prepare some honey. It was Jade Bee’s honey and Père David"s deer’s b.u.t.ter. That was what gave the goodness to this dish and was kept to be brushed on the bird when grilling later.
Lin Liang got the idea after seeing the Black-Beak Phoenix and Tricolor Silver-pattern Eel, “So, that’s how it is? If I’m not mistaken, you guys planned to put the eel into the bird, some Blossom Rice into the bladder and crab’s mustard into the eel. By grilling the bird, heat will be radiated inside. The taste of the phoenix will be transferred to the eel, then to the crab mustard, the bladder and lastly the rice. Since it is enclosed, the reaction will be reversed too and that forms a wonderful cycle! Good! That’s a great idea! Freshness all in one food! Wow!”
Old w.a.n.g was stunned. This is a DIY dish I came up with Old Li. Can’t believe he managed to see through our plan. They gave him a thumbs up.
“You missed one thing and that’s the honey and b.u.t.ter. Rubbing them on the surface will help prevent the freshness from escaping. Since you managed to see through our plans, just to get your two cents, how are we going to prepare the Jade Scallop?” Old Li was a little unhappy.
Flapping the feathered fan, Lin Liang stared at the remaining ingredients. “Allow me to think again… Good work, my two great chefs!”