novelraw Chapter 155: The Fans
Chapter 155: The Fans
It was too complicated! They wouldn’t be able to make it anyway—all they had to do was open their mouths and eat!
All anyone could see was the small screen.
After some preparation, the once-ugly fish was sliced on a diagonal. The fillets were thin and translucent, with the skin-on side showing a faint red hue. Arranged neatly on the cutting board, they looked surprisingly like butterflies poised for flight.
#Why does it... suddenly look delicious?#
#Are we really judging food by its looks now?#
#What is this? Why am I suddenly drooling...?#
Changbei and Qiudao sat side by side in the office, their eyes gleaming.
For the first time, even before he could smell anything, Qiudao had a powerful feeling: ’This dish is going to be amazing.’
"It has to be!"
About five minutes later, the two fish were filleted. Since the fish were so large, Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t use a bowl, but instead used the same type of large bucket she’d used for the marinade.
She was grinning, but no one could see her face. They could only hear the smile in her voice. "You all said you wished I’d use a giant bucket every time I cook, right? Well, today’s your lucky day."
"Today’s fish fillets will be divided into 50 bowls, for a total of one hundred million tasting slots. I hope all you unlucky players out there can finally break your losing streak and snag a slot this time."
"And if you don’t manage to grab a virtual tasting slot, don’t worry! You can click the giveaway button in the top-right corner of the stream right now, leave a comment, and who knows? You might just be the lucky number one in our real-life drawing."
Her ’advertisement’ done, Jiang Qiuqiu went back to preparing the fish fillets.
To achieve a smooth, tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture, the fillets had to be seasoned first. She added her homemade ginger-garlic water, a moderate amount of salt, and three bowls of water. "And now," she said, "we stir."
"When you’re stirring a small amount of fish, you can just use your hands. But since there’s so much today, I’ve prepared a mixing paddle."
The bucket was rather tall, so when it came time to stir with the paddle, Jiang Qiuqiu inevitably had to stand on a stool.
A stool!
#What did I just see?!#
#Did she use a stool when she made the braised snacks last time?#
#I have the same model stove as Juju, it’s just over a meter high... and that bucket looks to be about 60 cm tall, so if you do the math...?! Is Juju only 1.6 meters tall?#
#So not only does she sound young, she’s actually tiny? Ah! Nineteen-year-old Juju is so precious, I love it!#
#The thought that I’m here every day, pushing a nineteen-year-old girl to work so hard cooking for me... I feel so guilty!#
#To the person above: if you feel so guilty, you can just leave the stream and cleanse your sins! I’m one of the world’s greatest villains, I’m willing to take on your suffering for you! ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉ#
#If I don’t descend into hell, who will?!#
As the topic veered off course, Jiang Qiuqiu joined in on the banter. "I’m an adult, you know. There’s nothing to feel guilty about. Why feel guilty? Shouldn’t you be happy?"
"You get to be happy, and you’re also helping a nineteen-year-old girl be self-reliant and build a better life for herself."
As she spoke, the fish fillets had fully absorbed the water.
Even though they hadn’t been cooked yet, the rapid stirring had caused the fillets to plump up, becoming translucent and full.
"At this point, we’ll add the whites of two bird eggs and some cornstarch."
Coating the fish in egg white instantly gives it that silky-smooth texture. The cornstarch then locks in the moisture the fish has absorbed, keeping it from becoming dry and tough.
The initial preparation was complete.
The dish was Fish with Pickled Greens. As the name implied, the stars of the show were the pickled greens and the fish.
The fish was ready. All that was left was—
The pickled greens, which Jiang Qiuqiu herself had fermented half a month ago.