Chapter 108: Sweet and Sour Carp

 Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Before they left, Sister-in-law Song took out a fish she caught and added sugar and vinegar to it, making it into a dish. Then, she told her younger brother-in-law…”

Xu Le lowered his head and paused.

Zhang Liang immediately followed up, “I remember now. Her original words were, “This bowl of fish has both sweetness and sourness. I hope you won’t forget the hearts of the common people when you eat the sweetness. When you come back from your examinations, you will be able to get rid of evil and

do good for the people.” Later on, when her brother-in-law really became an official, he punished that scoundrel Zhao.”

Xu Le faced the camera and said, “Marinating the fish is so that the fishy taste could be removed. Just adding the scallions, ginger slices, and yellow wine will be enough. Lightly mix them evenly.”

He cleared his throat and continued his story. “After punishing the villain, the brother-in-law couldn’t find sister-in-law in the local area for a while. It was only when he went out for a meal that he tasted the sweet and sour carp that tasted exactly the same as when he left home. He was surprised, so he

found the chef who made this dish and realized that it was Sister-in-law Song.”

“Then, he found out that after Sister-in-law left home, she hid in the government office to be a cook. The two of them were very happy to reunite with each other. After that, brother-in-law resigned from his post and resumed his old job. That was how this beautiful story came about.”

“Some locals imitated Sister-in-law Song’s cooking method of West Lake Vinegar Fish and added local characteristics to this dish to make this West Lake delicacy.”

Zhang Liang nodded excitedly and said, “There’s also a poem that praises it: ‘The man gets drunk in his clogs and the sun shines on the terrace. There are so many boats swimming in front, half of them returning from the ponds and the moon. Why look for Zhang Han, the beauty and fish speaks of the

West Lake; To think that you have the ability to mediate, do you know Auntie Song from back then?”

The two of them made the expectations of the dish rise high in front of the camera. Xu Le was very clear that they definitely could not fail that day. It would be best if they succeeded in one go!

In the system, every step could be redone, but he could not rehearse in reality. There was no room for “redoing”.

“Marinate it for about ten minutes. In the pot, put in scallions, ginger, yellow wine, and salt. Place the fishbone facing down. After boiling water, transfer it to a small fire. You must not use boiling water to cook it, otherwise the fish meat will easily scatter. Cover it and stew it for about five minutes.”

Xu Le picked up another pot, added water and yellow wine, and said, “We’ll start mixing the sauce now. Add water, yellow wine, dark soya sauce, the appropriate amount of salt and 50 grams of sugar.”Looking at Xu Le adding spoonful after spoonful of sugar, Shu Qi said in surprise, “Does a fish need so much sugar? Will it be too sweet?”

“It’s not much.”

Xu Le did everything according to the ratio on the recipe. There was definitely no mistake. He said, “It looks like a lot of white sugar, but it’s actually not even as much as the sugar content in a 500-ml bottle of coke.”

Xu Le stirred the sauce in the pot with a metal ladle and sprinkled a small amount of pepper powder before pouring the vinegar into the pot.

“This place uses Zhenjiang Old Vinegar and Shanxi Old Vinegar, so the smell of vinegar will be even stronger. You have to maintain at low heat or medium heat. This sauce must not be boiled with a huge fire. Otherwise, the smell of vinegar will be completely gone.”

The metal ladle continuously stirred within the pot. He looked at the color and said, “When it’s around this red color, you can start to thicken the gravy. If the color isn’t enough, then add some light soya sauce into it. If you add a small amount, you can adjust it to reach the desired color. When the sauce

starts to bubble, pour the corn starch and the starch sauce directly into it, and stir it until it’s thick enough…”

He lifted the metal ladle. The thick, bright sauce, like a line, connected the inside of the pot and the metal ladle.

“At this point, we can begin the next step. From now onwards, five minutes is just enough. The surface of the fish meat has slightly contracted. After it’s smothered successfully, the fish meat will be very tender, so we can’t use chopsticks to pick it up.”

Xu Le picked up a strainer and demonstrated while talking about the things to take note of. He said, “The ladle will gently slide down the side of the pot and wrap around the fish meat. Then, we will scoop it up gently and place it on the plate. The fish belly will be facing outwards. We can gently push the

opening up now.”

With a push of the chopsticks, the opening closed tightly and the delicate sweet and sour juice poured onto the fish.

Zhang Liang’s heart fluttered as he watched, and he wished he could taste it immediately. However, Xu Le picked up another piece of fresh ginger, so he resisted the urge to pick up the chopsticks and said, “Do you still need more ginger?”

“No, I need ginger grains.”

Ginger grains was referring to the ginger that was cut by hand. It was the size of a rice grain. It must be cut and not chopped, otherwise it would have become diced ginger.

The fine ginger grain was sprinkled on the bright red sweet and sour sauce. Zhang Liang waited until Xu Le said, “Come and try” before he heaved a sigh of relief and quickly went forward. “I’m dying of hunger. When I saw you making it just now, I felt that the cooking method was especially authentic. The

taste definitely isn’t bad.”

Zhang Liang picked up a piece of meat covered with red-brown gravy using his chopsticks. Inside was a piece of snow-white fish meat with a hint of pinkness. Zhang Liang took a big bite.

The first taste was a very bold sour taste. The fragrance of vinegar pervaded the air, followed by an obvious sweetness that blended with the intrinsic freshness and tenderness of the fish meat.

“Oh my god, this is the best!”

Zhang Liang praised and could not help but take another big bite.

Zhou Huangya hopped over to taste it and said, “It’s made by Xu Le, so it’s definitely delicious! Quick, let me try it. I love eating fish!”She muttered to herself. When she used her chopsticks to pick up the fish meat, it was clearly an angular piece, but it melted the moment she took a bite.

It blended with the sweet and sour sauce. It was sweet and sour, very delicious.

Zhou Huangya gave him a thumbs up in admiration and said, “Awesome! The sour and sweet taste matches the taste of the locals. The cooking method is also very authentic. When I went to Hangzhou to play previously, I ate it once. Back then, it was cooked by the head chef. It was so salty that I kept

drinking water. Today, the sour and sweet taste is just right.”

Bai Xiaoming took a bite, and the fish meat melted between his lips and teeth. He couldn’t find any fault with it. He commented, “The fire control is especially skillful. It’s not tough at all, and it’s super tender. I think it’s been stewing slowly with fire, whether it’s braised fish meat or boiled in gravy… It

tastes sour first, then sweet. The rest is salty and fresh, but for some reason, I can actually taste some crab meat.”

“That’s right. The ginger added at the end will have a reaction with the sweet and sour sauce. In addition, the fish meat is fresh and tender. It’s the same principle as imitation crab meat, so the texture will carry a little crab flavor.”

“Wow! This is amazing, Hurry up and serve it. With just this dish, we will definitely be able to recoup our expenses today!”

Zhou Huangya applauded in advance.

Xu Le nodded and said, “If you feel that the taste is alright, you can add this dish to the menu. Anyway, the grass carp here is very cheap. Oh right, there’s also carp soup today. I’ll make it now.”

Shu Qi smiled brightly and clapped, “That’s great, I’m really looking forward to your cooking!”

“Okay.”

Finally, the sweet and sour carp from Hangzhou was listed on the menu for 290 yuan.