I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 631 - 295: Salt-Baked Snacks that Even a Kitchen Novice Can Learn! Shocking My Sister Yan for an Entire Year! [Subscribe Please]

Chapter 631: Chapter 295: Salt-Baked Snacks that Even a Kitchen Novice Can Learn! Shocking My Sister Yan for an Entire Year! [Subscribe Please]

When it came to salt-baked dishes, the first thing Lin Xu thought of was Salt Baked Chicken.

This dish, created by the Ke Family during their migrations, became as famous as Plain Chicken, renowned for its robust flavor and unique aroma.

However, for Lin Xu, attempting to make Salt Baked Chicken without any prior experience in related dishes was a bit risky.

With only four hours available, online tutorials suggested that marinating the chicken alone would take two hours, baking it would require another hour, and the final hour would be consumed by washing the chicken, stir-frying the salt, and other preparations. The timing was incredibly tight.

Even if he did succeed, he would have completed only one dish.

That was quite a significant gap from the requirement of three dishes.

Therefore, to complete the task, he needed to select ingredients that were less difficult to handle, quicker to prepare, and took less time.

In the spirit of "three cobblers with their wits combined may outdo Zhuge Liang," Lin Xu looked at his main kitchen crew and asked, "Which salt-baked dishes have you all tried? The simpler ones that are quick to prepare?"

Actually, this task had a loophole. Lin Xu now had plenty of points and could have exchanged them for three Excellent Level salt-baked dishes from the points mall, costing at most five to six hundred thousand points in total. But completing the task would grant him a Superior General Technique for salt-baking. Exchanging a few hundred thousand points for a Superior General Technique was undoubtedly a good deal.

But Lin Xu didn’t do that. If the system left such an obvious loophole, he thought, it’s probably waiting for me to fall into it. Better to honestly follow the task requirements. Besides, the task description mentioned exploration, so why not enjoy the fun of culinary discovery?

Upon hearing this, the head chefs and executive chef immediately offered suggestions:

"Salt-baked Pork liver: bury the Pork liver in hot, stir-fried salt and let it bake for fifty minutes. It’s so good, it’ll make the neighbor’s kids cry and roll on the floor with craving."

"Salt-baked peanuts, a perfect little snack to go with drinks."

"Salt-baked... salt-baked quail... eggs... Fragrant, really fragrant!"

"Salt-baked Large Shrimp: just bury live shrimp in salt, no other care needed. Not only the neighbor’s kids, but even the adults next door wouldn’t be able to resist this temptation."

"..."

With many minds at work, the range of ideas broadened.

Soon, everyone had thought up all sorts of salt-baked dishes.

Salt-baked fava beans, salt-baked soybeans, salt-baked walnuts, salt-baked cashews, salt-baked pumpkin seeds... Nuts and salt-baking are a perfect match. From this category alone, they listed numerous dishes.

Furthermore, there were salt-baked pork kidneys, salt-baked lamb kidneys, salt-baked chicken kidneys, salt-baked chicken gizzards, and other dishes that also met the requirement of being quick, simple, and easy to prepare.

Hearing everyone’s suggestions, Lin Xu, who had been worrying, suddenly thought, This is actually a bonus question!

With so many salt-baked dishes, all simple to cook, he was confident he could complete three dishes within four hours.

With this in mind, Lin Xu immediately began to prepare.

First were the quail eggs suggested by Qin Wei.

He chose this delicacy because salt-baked quail eggs required absolutely no seasoning. Their appeal lay in the aroma of the baked eggs themselves, making them relatively easy to prepare.

The kitchen had large-grain sea salt, rich in umami and with a loose texture, similar to the coarse salt used for Salt Baked Chicken. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

But unlike coarse salt, this refined large-grain sea salt was typically used for sprinkling on high-end seafood or steaks. It lacked the harmful substances present in coarse salt and could directly contact the food.

The only downside to this salt was its high price.

However, compared to the Superior salt-baking Technique, this cost was negligible.

Lin Xu brought over a small basin of quail eggs, poured them into clear water, and gently rubbed the shells clean, making them cleaner and safer to eat.

After washing the eggshells, he dried them with paper towels, placed them in a basket, and set them aside.

With salt-baked dishes, the surface of the ingredients must not be wet; otherwise, the water would dissolve the salt, making the dish unpleasantly salty and bitter.

Without moisture, the salt remains dry, imparting only the rich umami of the salt to the ingredients.

Once the quail eggs were ready, Lin Xu found a wok that wasn’t used often and decided to designate it as his salt-baking pot.

Salt can be corrosive to iron and tends to damage woks, so chefs normally use stainless steel pots, clay pots, or woks that are about to be discarded for salt-baking dishes. Chefs wouldn’t use their regular frying woks for salt-baking.

He cleaned the wok, placed it on the stove to heat up, and then poured in four packets of large-grain sea salt.

After pouring it in, he gently stir-fried it with a spoon, slowly heating the salt.

When stirring, it was crucial to scrape the bottom to ensure the salt heated evenly, preventing the food from burning.

To make the baked quail eggs more fragrant, after the salt’s temperature had risen slightly, Lin Xu added a handful of Star Anise.

Star Anise could impart a faint, savory, almost meat-like aroma to the salt.

Although this wouldn’t significantly affect the taste of the quail eggs once shelled, fragrant eggshells might improve the system’s assessment. And since this is an exploration, he mused, I should try various methods.

Star Anise is quite resistant to heat when stir-frying, so it needed to be added early.

Once the aroma of the Star Anise was released, he added Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili segments, continuing to stir-fry.

By now, the salt in the wok had clearly become drier. It was much easier to stir than when it was first added, and the rustling of the salt grains was more distinct.

Soon, a numbing and spicy aroma also began to waft through the air.

Lin Xu then added a handful of Fennel to the wok, mixed it evenly, and was ready to begin baking.

He first scooped out at least half of the salt from the wok. Then, he turned the stove flame down to its lowest setting, resembling a candle flame, because too much heat could easily burn the quail eggs.