Chapter 113: Chapter 112: The So-Called Wok Hei!

When the task appeared and the recipe was accepted, the animation of crispy stir-fried Niu River began playing in my mind, along with a text version of the explanation.

Chen Mo just glanced at it.

“What the hell?”

This isn’t a recipe for dry-fried Niu River, it’s like replaying a scene from a movie, except the upper half of the characters’ bodies are cropped out, leaving only the hands!

“Can I regret this?”

[You can give up, but at the same time, you will never be able to obtain recipes related to dry-fried Niu River again.]

Chen Mo was speechless, and took out the beef from the cabinet to start preparing the ingredients. Although the recipe production method was a bit absurd, at least the initial handling of the ingredients was roughly the same.

Beef, sliced.

To ensure the absolute taste of the Mapo tofu, the beef Chen Mo bought was sourced from… Yueyun Pavilion, high-quality beef cut into coin-thick slices, placed in a basin and marinated first.

The marinating method is also very simple. It requires adding cooking wine and oyster sauce, a bit of light soy sauce and MSG, then mix well, and pour in some peanut oil to seal the surface.

The large slices of beef began to marinate, just looking at it made people feel satisfied. Old Zhao, who had been hungry for two days, looked at the beef slices coated with starch and sealed with oil, thinking that taking a big bite would be extremely satisfying!

Next, start processing the other ingredients.

Discounted bean sprouts, trim the heads and tails, leaving only the tender middle part. Cut the purple onions into thin strips, loosen them up and set aside for now.

Then, Chen Mo began to prepare the sauce.

Dry-fried Niu River, each word is the essence of this dish.

The main cooking technique is stir-frying, and the goal is to be dry. The main ingredients are beef and rice noodles, with a few other ingredients to enhance the flavor.

So to achieve the dry-fried effect, seasoning cannot be added continuously, it must be added all at once, which is important.

Chen Mo began to cook, a progress bar appeared in front of him, adding seasonings also had one, this progress bar allowed the amount added to reach the most perfect state, what is stir-fried Niu River? Beef and rice noodles.

Therefore, Chen Mo chose only two seasonings, one is light soy sauce, and the other is dark soy sauce, one to enhance the freshness, and the other to add color and increase flavor at the same time.

These are the ingredients, next is the stir-fry.

This is also the most important part of the challenge version of dry-fried Niu River, and also the ultimate goal of Chen Mo’s second task—fry.

“Damn it, is it really okay to do this?”

Chen Mo was thinking about the scene he just saw in his mind, and began the first step with his hands, frying the ingredients.

Room 408, the three middle-aged people who should have been sleeping were sitting together watching the same phone.

Fang Zhizhong was an outsider, he didn’t quite understand why just live-streaming a stir-fry had drawn two Cantonese cuisine heavyweights to watch attentively, “Gentlemen, what’s special about this stir-fried noodles? There’s some sold at the bridge for 7 yuan a portion. If you want to eat, I’ll treat you.”

Hou Yao’s expression was intriguing, “Boss Fang, this fried Niu River might be a bit different from the fried noodles you’re familiar with.”

This time, Mu Xin surprisingly wasn’t excited, but nodded, “Yes. Fried Niu River, especially dry-fried Niu River, truly tests a chef’s skills. Why do many restaurants like to test applicants with the simplest dry-fried Niu River?”

Hou Yao chuckled, “Because mastering this dish indicates that the chef excels in controlling heat and various stir-fry techniques.”

Fang Zhizhong was still puzzled, “Then what counts as a good fry?”

This time, neither of them spoke, but just quietly watched the live stream, because Chen Mo began to move!

With just one move, Hou Yao suddenly exclaimed, “He’s actually! Is he using a non-stick pan?”

In the eyes of the older generation of Cantonese chefs, especially someone like Hou Yao, using a non-stick pan for stir-frying is an insult to the ingredients.

In fact, as long as the heat is well controlled, any ingredient can achieve a non-stick effect, but it’s exactly such a simple theory that can take a lifetime to perfect by touch.

Watching Chen Mo ignite a strong fire, without adding anything to the pan, when the black pan reached a certain temperature, Chen Mo quickly poured in the marinated beef, then gently spread each slice on the pan surface with a spatula.

Such an approach is called frying.

Compared to stir-frying, frying is more direct, especially for meats, allowing the meat to undergo Maillard reaction instantly, releasing aromas that are hard to achieve with other techniques.

The beef was just put in, turned over, and fried for thirty seconds before being taken out of the pan.

The next steps were for onions and bean sprouts.

Mu Xin saw Chen Mo just scoop out the beef and immediately pour the onions and bean sprouts into the pan, and couldn’t help asking, “Is this reasonable?”

Hou Yao pinched his chin and thought for a moment before saying, “When marinating the beef, peanut oil is used to seal the surface, and the frying process is very oil-saving. The residual oil in the pan is enough to cook these two ingredients.”

Fang Zhizhong listened, confused, but seeing the seriousness of the two friends, a thought emerged in his mind.

Since even Master Hou and Boss Mu were so serious, perhaps this dry-fried Niu River was extraordinary.

Such an extraordinary dish, yet they’re watching a live stream instead of…

“Gentlemen, I’m going out for a smoke.”

Mu Xin and Hou Yao were very focused on the live stream, subconsciously nodded, not responding to Fang Zhizhong.

Boss Fang left the ward, walked down from the fourth floor, left the inpatient department, and headed straight to the courtyard in front of it. At this point, there were about a dozen other patients there, who ate slower than the rest.

Others had already eaten their fill and returned to sleep, but they were still there eating away.

Reaching the isolation area, Fang Zhizhong saw an old acquaintance.

“Old Zhao.”

“Hmm?” Old Zhao turned around, seeing it was Boss Fang, his expression improved a lot, “President Fang, you’re here for?”

Instead of a direct response, Fang Zhizhong said, “Did you really get it cut?”

Old Zhao showed a hint of embarrassment and nodded, “Yeah.”

Fang Zhizhong patted his shoulder, not knowing what to say, and both tacitly said nothing, watching where Chen Mo was.

The onions and bean sprouts were stir-fried to about 70-80% doneness and set aside.

At this moment, the oil in the black pan had almost all been absorbed by the previous vegetables. Chen Mo took a deep breath.

“So, to summarize dry-fried Niu River in one word, it’s wok hei.”

“But what exactly is wok hei?”

Chen Mo recalled the recipe he just saw in his mind, and the explanation it gave for wok hei, a rare scientifically inclined answer was given.

Wok hei is the various reactions produced when the ingredients collide with the wok wall at high temperatures, including the Maillard reaction and caramelization reaction, one expressed as an aroma blended after flavor volatilization, the other reflected in the color and texture after cooking.

And for these reactions, the basic condition is.

Temperature, needs to be above 200 degrees.

“So… this isn’t frying, this is damn well burning, right?”

Chen Mo only ignited a strong flame without adding any seasonings or ingredients, just staring intensely at the black pan heated on the flame.

Watching the black pan gradually turn from black to gray, then slowly to red.

It’s now!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep