Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 473 385: The Secret of Crispy Batter, Claypot Rice with Preserved Meats

The freshly cooked fried pork had an extremely strong vinegar smell, so strong that just a light whiff was enough to make you want to sneeze.

The sensation was almost like eating horseradish, a noticeable sting that flashed through the nose, waking you up instantly.

"Isn't this smell a bit too strong?"

The three head chefs covered their noses, looking suspiciously at the mountain-like pile of golden fried pork.

Knowing it was fried meat slices, they originally had high expectations.

But unexpectedly, the sauce prepared before it was taken off the heat had such a sharp scent, with a vinegar aroma so strong it made them frown.

"This is how fried pork is."

Lucas proactively handed over a plate, placing it beside Marchello.

"You have to eat it while it's hot for the best taste. Even when it's warm, the texture loses a lot. Please, go ahead and taste it; you'll know what it is once you try it."

Without thinking, Marchello moved the plate in front of Raphael: "Just eating and not working isn't right, let's take turns."

As he spoke, he was the first to pick up a palm-sized piece of fried pork and brought it to his nose.

Strangely, when he got closer, the vinegar smell wasn't as intense as before, replaced by a sweet and sour fragrance.

"Crunch"

The fried coating was just as crispy as imagined, but there was a distinct difference.

It wasn't the scaled batter of fried chicken, nor the batter coating of fried fish. While crispy, it also maintained a certain degree of softness.

Through the cross-section from a bite, a semi-transparent gel-like layer could be seen between the batter and meat slices, presumably the batter steamed and cooked through.

The technique of making this batter was very unique, using pure starch for the coating, and Marchello's eyes flashed with surprise.

"No wonder the oil temperature needs to be controlled and refried twice. The high concentration of starch paste cooks slowly, requiring the method of continuously raising the temperature to cook the batter inside, while the outside achieves a crispy texture."

"If the two circles of oil weren't added when making the batter, it probably wouldn't be as crispy."

He understood this simple technique. Although he rarely used it, he could analyze the basics by looking at it a couple of times.

The principle was simple: by mixing oil into the batter, the oil spreads throughout.

During the frying process, the oil within the batter heats up, also contributing to the frying effect, essentially frying both inside and outside simultaneously.

Once the batter expands and sets, the oil inside flows out through gaps in the coating, leaving empty spaces that create a crispy texture.

Because of this batter structure, even if the external temperature is very high, the temperature affecting the central meat slice is extremely limited.

It can cook the meat slice without overcooking, retaining its moisture and keeping the texture tender, while the coating remains crispy – truly achieving two goals at once.

The inner meat slice is made from pork tenderloin, the most tender piece of meat on a pig.

Although the most tender, it contains virtually no fat, only lean meat, meaning if the cooking time is too long or the temperature too high, it can severely affect the texture, causing the muscle tissue to harden and become unchewable.

How to cook tenderloin to keep it tender and juicy while introducing new varieties is a challenge every chef continuously explores.

Aside from the crispy, tender fried slices, the glaze covering the batter's surface is also crucial.

The initially sharp vinegar smell almost vanishes once in your mouth, replaced by the perfect blend of sweet and sour.

The taste of sugar mixed with vinegar was evident and intense, rushing straight to the top of the head upon entering the mouth.

The sweet and sour glaze combined with the oil aroma of the fried coating was a match made in heaven, making it hard to resist wanting more bites.

The fresh-off-the-pan fried pork was scorching hot, and every bite released steam with a faint vinegar aroma.

Marchello nodded while eating, hardly even having the mind to comment, directly biting the remaining half piece in his mouth and reaching for the second piece of fried pork.

This dish indeed needed to be eaten hot; once it cooled down by about ten degrees, and the piping hot temperature was gone, not only would the glaze's texture become worse, the fried coating would also turn greasier.

"Phew~"

"Hot, hot..."

Raphael also picked up a piece and took a big bite, puffing and fanning his mouth with his right hand.

He had just wanted to tease Marchello for being lazy, but this one bite left his mind blank, with the vinegar aroma overwhelming him, only thinking about having more while it's hot.

Worried about the fried pork getting cold and affecting the taste, Raphael didn't opt to plate it now but instead pushed the bowl towards Nagishiro Sho, turning to look at everyone.

"Everyone, go ahead and eat, just remember to leave five or six pieces for me to plate and take photos later."

Seeing the three previously skeptical head chefs fall silent after tasting, everyone's curiosity was piqued again, frantically reaching out with chopsticks and forks for the fried pork.

For a moment, the restaurant echoed with the continual crunching sounds of crispiness.

Next.

One by one, classic or homestyle Great Xia dishes with local characteristics appeared in front of everyone.

Representative dishes from Jiangsu and Zhejiang included stir-fried preserved vegetables with young bamboo shoots, shrimp and ham vermicelli pot with three delicacies bamboo shoots, melt-in-your-mouth fatty yet not greasy Dongpo pork with strong sauce aroma in wine-red color, and squid abalone stewed with braised pork full of seafood aroma...

There were also dishes with rich Northern cuisine style, such as sauce-braised eggplant boxes, Di San Xian, large palm-sized leek boxes, braised ribs in an iron pot, and sauerkraut stewed vermicelli...

With Lin Chen, Old Chen, and Zhao Shun working tirelessly non-stop, within just two hours, they presented a dozen or so Great Xia dishes with diverse styles to everyone.

These are all carefully selected dishes by Lin Chen, considering both uniqueness and quick preparation.

There are actually many dishes that could be made, but since everyone had been busy all day and soon had to prepare ingredients for tomorrow's breakfast and lunch, dinner needed to be simplified as far as possible.

After all, not everyone has had their bodies enhanced with potion like him, so this level of intensity wouldn't feel tiring at all.

"Everyone, step aside and be careful of the heat."

"This one is Cantonese-style preserved meat clay pot rice, Lucas, you can explain it."

Lin Chen placed down the still steaming and hot clay pot, lifted the lid, revealing the fragrant preserved meat inside.

Next to it was a bowl of special sauce, and Lin Chen turned and left, leaving the stage for Lucas to shine.

Lucas made an "OK" hand gesture, walked over to take some static shots around the food, then briefly explained the procedure to Marchello, and focused the camera again on the clay pot.

Lin Chen had prepared a large quantity using a soup clay pot, as there were so many mouths waiting to be fed, small portions simply wouldn't be enough.

Marchello picked up a small bowl and shook it a few times skillfully to mix the sauce thoroughly, then drizzled it evenly over the preserved meat.

Then, he took the nearby rice spoon, inserting it along the edge to the bottom of the clay pot.

"Crack, crack"

The rice spoon encountered noticeable obstruction and hard objects, not the expected texture of rice.

Marchello paused for a moment, stared at the clay pot, pondered for seconds before realizing, and gently flipped the spoon upward.

Large amounts of steam rose up, accompanied by the rich aroma of preserved meat, rice fragrance, and the unique salty and fresh flavor of soy sauce, showcasing yet another dish completely different from the previous ones!

Through the exposed rice, one could clearly see a layer of burnt yellow crust sticking to the bottom of the clay pot, colored by soy sauce.

Marchello scooped once more, first mixing the top layer of rice and preserved meat evenly, then scooped the rice crust into small fragments, placed them aside, and took the small bowl handed over by Dais and Elsa, portioning the rice, preserved meat, and rice crust into each.

"This rice..."

Nagishiro Sho frowned slightly, his gaze fixed on the long-grain rice in the clay pot, looking intently.

"The grains are slender, pure white with a slightly translucent luster, and full of rice aroma; it seems to be very typical tropical long-grain rice."

"Tropical... could it be Thai Rice?"

"Correct!"

Next to him, Lucas gave a thumbs-up: "This is indeed Tai Island Fragrant Rice, assuming Lin hasn't made any changes; usually this rice is used for clay pot rice."

"The characteristic of this rice is its distinct grains, chewy texture, and intense rice aroma; when mixed with the right sauce to eat, it feels incredibly satisfying, even people who usually dislike rice might eat more."

"Plus, along with the preserved meat steamed inside, the blend of rice aroma and meat fragrance—once you taste it, you'll eat without a word."

Listening to his exaggerated description, everyone's curiosity only grew more intense.

After two hours of continuous tasting, their curiosity hadn't waned at all; rather, it only grew stronger, making them eager to explore how many surprises Great Xia Cuisine still held for them.

Indeed.

This bowl of peculiar rice had an intense preserved sausage flavor upon entry, the sauce had penetrated every grain, with the surface coated by shiny oil.

The salty and fresh taste of the sauce was moderate; although it appeared dark, eating it alone didn't feel salty.

When biting through the rice grains, there was an obvious resistance sensation, followed by a rich rice aroma filling the entire mouth.

Although both were long-grain rice, Tai Island Fragrant Rice's texture and flavor were entirely distinct from Indo Rice.

The former resembled more elongated rugby-shaped grains, while the latter lacked fixed shape but was twice as long, very soft, and not very aromatic.

Yet Indo Rice is more widely used here, visible in nearly every underground food court in shopping malls or street food carts.

It's usually made into butter-flavored rice paired with other meat dishes, with the main flavor derived from the butter sauce.

But this clay pot rice before them had once again refreshed their understanding of rice.

Even just plain, unseasoned grains, the taste is likely to completely overshadow Indo Rice.

Most importantly, mixed among the rice grains were parts congealed together, with a crispy texture!