Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 244: Boiled Fish Without Chili

Shen Yu is going to make a boiled fish without chili pepper today, so he will try the boiled dogwood oil to see if it tastes good when used in cooking.

Boiled fish is characterized by fresh fish, delicious soup, spicy and salty taste.

Although Shen Yu didn't dare to kill chickens or fish, he was very skilled in cleaning fish.

She loves eating fish, so when she was studying in the cooking class, she asked the chef for advice very carefully.

How can I remove the scales and fillet the fish quickly and effectively? I still find it difficult to bring myself to kill the fish.

Unexpectedly, when Shen Yu was holding the fish with one hand and holding the back of the knife with the other hand to measure how to knock the fish unconscious first, Zhou Dalang came over and said, "How can you let a girl do something like killing a fish?"

"I'm the one who always cleans up the fish my parents eat. Go and turn the pancakes, girl. You tell me how you want the fish cut, and I guarantee it'll be ready in a moment."

Shen Yu felt relieved, and said with a smile: "I was just thinking about how to knock it out, and seeing it twisting around, I really didn't dare to do it."

"Then I'll leave it to you. Just kill the fish and scrape off the scales. I'll fillet it later."

Zhou Dalang agreed and carried the two fish in a basin to the backyard door. There was a large basket for garbage at the door to avoid dirtying the yard when killing the fish.

Shen Yu washed his hands and continued to make the sauce-flavored pancakes. He had just finished two when Zhou Dalang came in with the neatly cleaned fish.

Shen Yu thanked him, then took the basin, sprinkled some fine salt on the fish, rubbed it, and scraped off the mucus on the fish with the back of a knife.

Zhou Dalang watched Shen Yu work while making pancakes, and asked curiously: "Girl, I have already rinsed it with water, why do you need to rub it with salt and scrape it again? Is it to make the fish taste better?"

Shen Yu filled the water again to clean the fish, and explained: "The mucus on the fish is very fishy. Rub it with salt and scrape it clean with a knife. The fish will not have that fishy smell when it is cooked."

Zhou Dalang suddenly realized, "No wonder the fish I cooked still smelled fishy after I washed it. I thought this was what fish smelled like."

"My father cooks fish in the same way. I don't know what the fish in the restaurant tastes like." Zhou Dalang smiled naively and flipped the pancake in the pan neatly.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Every chef has his own little tricks for cooking. Sometimes, just watching a simple action can make a dish taste completely different."

Zhou Dalang praised sincerely: "This is the good thing about you, young lady. You never avoid us when you cook."

"If we don't understand something, we can ask you. You can tell us much better than those master chefs."

"When I started making cakes, I didn't know how to make them, so I asked my father. He scolded me and said, 'You can't do it yourself. Which master would teach his apprentice everything?'"

"So the cakes I make are not as good as my father's, or after receiving the guidance of the girl, the cakes I make are getting better and better."

Shen Yu was also quite moved after hearing this. He just smiled and said nothing.

In fact, she was not a truly selfless person, it was just that the number of dishes she could cook was too many for the ancients, most of which they had never heard of.

Therefore, there is no need for her to keep these simple home-cooked dishes secret.

There are also Zhou Dalang, Jiang, and Zheng Sanniang. Although they are helpers, after getting along with them for a long time, Shen Yu found that the three of them are honest and loyal, get along well with him, and treat him like his own family.

So when she cooks, she never thinks about avoiding people.

While thinking about these random things, he did not delay the work at hand.

Shen Yu put the cleaned fish on the chopping board, and with a cloth towel under his hands, he sliced ​​off the fish meat on both sides, and then sliced ​​it into evenly thick slices.

Chop the fish head and bones in the middle into several pieces.

Put the fish fillets and fish bones in a basin and soak them in clean water. Shen Yu took the time to cut the green onions into chopped green onions, soak a handful of black fungus in hot water, wash the bean sprouts, and cut some green onion segments and ginger slices for later use.

After finishing all these, the fish fillets are almost done soaking.

Take the fish fillets and fish bones out of the water, drain the fish bones and fish heads and set aside, squeeze out the water from the fish fillets, place them in a bowl, and make an egg white paste with egg white and starch.

Sprinkle a small amount of salt on the fish fillets, mix well, then pour the egg white paste in and mix well. The fish fillets are ready.

Since fish meat does not contain oil, if you want it to be more fragrant, you have to add some extra oil.

The lard and dogwood oil that Shen Yu had made two days ago came in handy at this time.

After placing the pot on the stove, add a large spoonful of boiled lard first. After the oil melts, pour the fish bones and fish head in.

Fry slowly over low heat until the fish bones turn slightly yellow, then add hot water and bring to a boil over high heat. Skim off the foam, cover the pot and simmer until the soup is thick and white, and the base soup is ready.

While the fish soup was being cooked, Shen Yu started another soup pot on the small stove, added hot water and a spoonful of salt, blanched the soaked black fungus and bean sprouts until cooked, then scooped them out and placed them in the large soup pot prepared for boiled fish.

At this time, the fish soup is ready. Use a colander to scoop out the fish bones and fish head and place them on the bean sprouts in a large bowl. Because the fish bones have been fried until slightly yellow, they will taste particularly fragrant when placed at the bottom of the soup.

In another small pot, add cornel oil. After the oil melts, add Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions and ginger slices and stir-fry until fragrant.

Pour in the fish soup, bring it to a boil again, then pour in the battered fish fillets.

Do not stir it yet. Wait for a while until the fish fillets change color, then stir them to loosen them up, add salt to season, then take the pot off the stove and pour the fish fillets and soup into a large soup bowl.

At this time, the fish in the basin smelled very fresh and fragrant, and red oil was floating in the soup.

Shen Yu went to the shop in front and took a look. It was already noon and customers were coming in for lunch one after another.

Shen Yu was thinking whether he should pour some hot oil now and let Li and the others take turns to go to the big kitchen to have lunch and try this new dish.

Just when I was about to ask Li if she was hungry now, as the fish was already cooked and we should move up the lunch time, I looked up and saw Qixi coming over.

Shen Yu was not in a hurry to taste the food and went back to the backyard with Qi Xi.

Qi Xi said with a smile: "Miss, I asked, and the master said that he would send someone to deliver a large round table tomorrow, and the chairs will also be matched."

"He said that he would come with his classmates at the beginning of the evening hour on the 16th. There would be six of us in total, and drinks would be delivered tomorrow as well."

"When the store closes, just put the long table against the wall temporarily, and move the stools inside to the yard temporarily."

"Put the round table and chairs in the middle of the shop, light a few large oil candles, and there will be nothing else to clean up."

Shen Yu nodded, indicating that he understood, and then asked: "What kind of flower cake do you want? How many layers does it have? Also, Mr. Lu, do you have any dietary restrictions? Have you asked?"

Qi Xi slapped his head and said, "I asked and asked, but I was only thinking about the arrangements and forgot to mention this important matter."