I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 736 - 329: The Pigeon Is Really Delicious! Dad, You Qualify to Bid for a School Canteen Stall Now! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]

Chapter 736: Chapter 329: The Pigeon Is Really Delicious! Dad, You Qualify to Bid for a School Canteen Stall Now! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]

"Senior Brother, are we starting now?"

Lin Xu watched as Xie Baomin placed the wok on the stove and deliberately came closer to observe and learn.

The ingredients for this dish weren’t complicated and were all common in the kitchen. The only one used in a larger quantity was fresh ginger. It was all cut into sieve-like pieces, roughly a small bowlful, resembling diced potatoes.

"Do we need this much ginger?"

Lin Xu was curious.

Xie Baomin poured a bit more vegetable oil into the wok than usual for stir-frying, then added some warm water to a bowl containing dry Sichuan peppercorns, completely soaking them.

He said with a smile, "Pigeon meat tends to have a gamey smell, so we use ginger to suppress the unusual odors in the meat. Moreover, despite the large amount of ginger, it isn’t very noticeable when you eat it."

Whoa, is this some kind of advanced technique or hardcore method?

Lin Xu didn’t ask any more questions but watched intently.

Once the oil in the wok was slightly hot, Xie Baomin added the whole bowl of chopped ginger directly into it and began to slow-fry the ginger pieces over low heat.

Isn’t this supposed to be stir-fried squab?

Why fry the ginger first?

According to the usual methods for cooking such dishes, one should pour the squab into the wok and stir-fry repeatedly to render out the moisture from the meat, and then add ingredients like Scallion and Ginger.

But now Xie Baomin’s approach had Lin Xu completely puzzled.

"Frying the ginger a bit gives the oil a light ginger flavor. This also draws out the ginger’s spiciness, making its aroma smoother," Xie Baomin explained patiently, then stirred the contents of the wok with a ladle before adding, "When the kids go back to school and you’re not busy here, buy a couple of ducks. I’ll teach you how to make Ginger Duck. That dish really takes ginger to the extreme."

Ginger Duck?

Lin Xu had never actually tried this dish before.

He inquired curiously, "Does it have to be a female duck?"

Xie Baomin was taken aback for a moment, then said, "It doesn’t really matter if it’s a male or female duck, as long as it’s a young, tender one. For Ginger Duck, the name emphasizes the ’Ginger Mother’ part. ’Ginger Mother’ refers to ginger that’s more than three years old. This type of ginger is often kept as seed stock, so it’s called ’ginger mother.’"

What?????

If you hadn’t said so, I’d have really thought it was a duck dish made by a chef surnamed Ginger.

Ginger that’s more than three years old... I’ll have to make a point of telling the driver not to get the wrong kind later.

The ginger was fried until its surface was golden brown and then removed from the wok. Xie Baomin didn’t discard it, presumably because it would be added back in to stew with the squab later.

Indeed, frying it like this significantly enhanced the ginger’s aroma while reducing its spiciness. Another technique learned. I’ll try this next time I make a similar dish.

After removing the ginger, Xie Baomin turned up the heat. He then used a fine-mesh strainer to scoop out the soaked Sichuan peppercorns, letting the excess water drip off just above the bowl before adding them to the wok.

Lin Xu noticed that Xie Baomin didn’t discard the warm water used for soaking the Sichuan peppercorns. He even made sure that when he drained the peppercorns, the excess water dripped back into the bowl.

It seems this Sichuan peppercorn water is useful too.

The oil in the wok quickly heated up, and the moisture from the Sichuan peppercorns rapidly evaporated, releasing a strong, numbing fragrance.

This step reminded Lin Xu of the Sichuan peppercorn oil technique his senior brother had taught him before.

So the frying now is probably to infuse the oil with a pleasant Sichuan peppercorn aroma.

Under the heat of the hot oil, the moisture in the Sichuan peppercorns quickly sizzled away. Once the peppercorns in the wok stopped crackling and wisps of blue smoke began to drift from it, it meant the Sichuan peppercorns were perfectly fried.

He scooped them out with the strainer and discarded them.

Next, he poured in the chopped squab pieces and began to stir-fry.

「Downstairs, in front of the service desk.」

Shen Baobao held a steamed pigeon, tearing the meat from its bones with her hands and placing it onto a plate adorned with a cartoon cat design.

The plump Dundun was squatting in front of the plate, gobbling down the still-warm pigeon meat in big bites.

When the pigeon was delivered, Dundun had already eaten its lunch, so the promised pigeon meat had been postponed until now.

Dundun’s meal was simple to prepare: just steam the pigeon in a steamer without adding any salt or oil, and serve it directly.

This low-sodium, low-fat diet kept Dundun’s fur glossy and its body plump.

Beside the little cat, Zeng Xiaoqi, who was waiting to eat steam pot squab, was diligently filming the scene with a digital camera mounted on a handheld gimbal.

This clip of Dundun eating meat couldn’t be used in the main feature but could serve as a behind-the-scenes outtake.

Hmm, a true outtake, not like those sensational video clips from the past few days.

"Can Dundun really type and play the piano?" As Zeng Xiaoqi paused filming to change angles, Shu Yun, who had watched the video several times, still couldn’t figure it out.

Why did the little fellow start typing when Geng Lele mentioned programming, and then act as if possessed by Lang Lang when the boss lady talked about playing the piano?

Is it really possible for a cat to be this smart? It’s a bit much, isn’t it?

"What’s so strange about that? We all struggled like crazy to pass the gaokao just to get into university, but isn’t Lele already a top student at Tsinghua University? People have different levels of intelligence, and cats must too."

Zeng Xiaoqi stepped behind the service desk and gave Shu Yun’s pert bottom a pat, "Worrying too much will make your Xiongxiong smaller, you know."

Shu Yun immediately retorted, "It seems you’ve been worrying quite a lot yourself then."

"You..."

Zeng Xiaoqi took a deep breath, silently cursed her ’bestie’ a good deal in her heart, then adjusted the angle and focus, and continued filming.