Chapter 350: Elma Took the Food!
The soup presented a rich golden-brown color, its surface covered with a layer of crystal-clear gelatin, shimmering slightly in the clay pot with an oily luster, like the finest amber.
Seeing this pot of soup, Ryohei knew the first broth was successfully simmered.
And the aroma far exceeded his expectations!
Perhaps because magic isolated the inside and outside of the clay pot, causing the aroma not to leak out much, leading to a concentrated explosion at the end...
In short, Ryohei was quite satisfied with this pot of soup!
Listening to the exclamations of Lucoa and Jashin-chan beside him, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve up a few degrees more.
"..."
Feeling a bit proud inside.
Ryohei picked up the ladle on the stove, dipped it into the clay pot, and applied a little force to the already soft and tender ingredients, which crumbled at the touch.
He stepped aside and instructed Jashin-chan, "Jashin-chan, you mash the ingredients in the pot and filter out the first broth with cheesecloth."
"...Mash them?"
Jashin-chan was quite surprised, but she still responded, stood in Ryohei's previous position, took the ladle, and got busy.
Ryohei then started making the second broth!
He set up a wok on the stove, heated it, and put in a spoonful of snow-white lard—the lard melted quickly, emitting a unique savory aroma.
When the oil temperature rose, Ryohei added the prepared scallion sections, ginger slices, and various spices, stir-frying them until fragrant.
Then he added the ingredients for the second broth into the wok—
Jinhua ham, Muscovy duck, beef, free-range chicken, and bone-in upper ribs!
"..."
Jashin-chan was mashing ingredients on the side.
Seeing Ryohei nimbly adding ingredients for the second broth into the wok, she couldn't help but feel a little expectant.
Sizzle—!
Accompanying Ryohei's movements, a pleasant sizzling sound began to echo in the kitchen.
The aroma of the second broth ingredients was gradually excited by the heat, but compared to the rich and domineering aroma of the first broth, it seemed somewhat insignificant, like a "little brother."
Ryohei's wrist moved lightly, the spatula in his hand an extension of his arm, stir-frying the second broth ingredients smoothly a few times.
His right hand gripped the wok handle steadily, then exerted force abruptly—
The entire wok tossed lightly in his hand, the ingredients soaring into the air, every piece of meat flipping perfectly in mid-air, evenly coated with heat and aroma.
"Speaking of which, I've always felt that Ryohei-kun looks very handsome when tossing the wok."
Lucoa clapped her hands and said with a smile.
"You have good taste!"
Ryohei turned to look at her and gave her a thumbs up.
"It might be even more handsome without clothes."
"Exposing your true nature in three seconds, huh?"
"At least wear an apron; cooking needs a sense of ritual."
Having finished mashing the ingredients and taken out a piece of cheesecloth from the cupboard to filter the soup, Jashin-chan raised a finger seriously.
"What decent person cooks in a naked apron!"
Ryohei retorted.
Jashin-chan pointed at herself, using action instead of words.
"..." Ryohei ignored her.
He took out a jar of 10-year-old Guyue Longshan Yellow Wine from his storage space.
After opening the seal, he grabbed the bottom of the jar with one hand and boldly poured the entire jar of yellow wine into the wok.
The essence of the second broth for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is replacing water with wine—
Yellow wine can stimulate the hidden aroma of ingredients and give the soup a unique mellow taste. Through alcohol evaporation, it can also take away the fishiness, making the soup base more delicious.
"Got a light?"
Ryohei put down the wine jar and turned to look at Lucoa and Pekola.
Although she didn't know why, Lucoa still extended a slender white finger, and with a poof, a wisp of orange-red flame appeared at her fingertip.
"Does Ryohei-kun want to light a cigarette? I remember you don't smoke."
Lucoa joked.
"I indeed don't smoke."
Ryohei reached out and grabbed Lucoa's wrist, pulling her over and guiding the flame towards the edge of the wok:
"What I want to light is this wok!"
The moment the flame touched the alcohol vapor, with a whoosh, a brilliant sea of fire ignited in the wok, the orange-red firelight illuminating their faces.
"What are you doing?"
Such commotion made Jashin-chan look sideways involuntarily.
"Accelerating alcohol evaporation." Ryohei released Lucoa's wrist and answered while watching the flames churning in the wok.
"..." Jashin-chan nodded thoughtfully—
Her cooking skills were very good, no worse than a general chef. Hearing Ryohei say this, she roughly guessed his purpose.
Without paying too much attention, Jashin-chan continued filtering the first broth.
After finishing, she pointed to the residue in the cheesecloth and asked:
"What should I do with this residue?"
"Throw it away."
Ryohei looked over, paused, and said:
"The essence has already melted into the soup; these have little edible value."
Mainly because they were mashed, bones and meat mixed together—he wasn't short on money now; money was just a number to him, so naturally, he didn't care for these.
"Feels a bit wasteful."
Jashin-chan looked at the food residue wrapped in cheesecloth.
She seemed to think of something, her big blue eyes lighting up. She clenched her right fist and lightly punched her left palm:
"How about giving it to Bête to eat?"
"That works."
Ryohei felt her suggestion was quite good; anyway, Bête wasn't a picky eater.
His gaze turned to Lucoa and Pekola, asking:
"Which of you will deliver it?"
"I'll go."
Pekola raised her hand to take on the task.
"Then I'll trouble you to make the trip." Ryohei looked at her.
"Mn."
"..."
Just after Pekola left—
The orange-red flames in the wok gradually extinguished.
Ryohei put in a few more slices of Jinhua ham, added some rock sugar to enhance freshness and flavor, then asked Jashin-chan to pour in the filtered first broth.
He turned around to get the Shaoxing wine jar he specially bought in China at noon.
The jar for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is very particular; traditional Buddha Jumps Over the Wall must use a Shaoxing wine jar.
This kind of wine jar heats evenly and has excellent sealing properties, perfectly locking in the aroma of ingredients during long simmering while avoiding cracking due to uneven heating.
"Hmm..."
Putting a bamboo grate at the bottom of the jar to prevent burning, Ryohei instructed Jashin-chan: "Jashin-chan, help stir-fry half a wok of salt, just heat it up."
"Okay."
Jashin-chan responded, went to the corresponding cupboard, took out a few unopened bags of sea salt, and asked curiously:
"What's the stir-fried salt for?"
"When we put it in the jar to boil later, placing the jar on the sea salt can make the bottom heat more evenly."
He explained simply.
"So particular!" Jashin-chan clicked her tongue lightly.
Just then, Pekola, who went to deliver the food residue, returned. Her first sentence was—
"Elma took the food."
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