Chapter 143: Grilled Fish With Astragalus Root

“We’re gonna be making our first soup, which is Poria mushroom pigeon stew. We’ll need this – Poria mushrooms.”

Su Yayan took out a small plate filled with white square things. “Poria mushrooms are good for disinhibiting and dehumidifying the orifices, and it’s also a good supplement for the guys with a calming effect. If cooked with pigeons, this dish is especially effective towards people with nephritis, edema, and generally have weak health. It’s also very easy to make. First, we blanch the pigeon in boiling water to get rid of the scum, then we put the pigeon, Poria mushroom, some onions, and garlic together in a pot with seasonings to taste. Once the water has boiled, we turn it down to low fire for it to stew in its own time.”

Su Yayan took out a clay pot and do exactly what she had just said before, and as she took out another clay pot, she said, “The second soup, sea cucumber soup with Matsutake mushrooms and pigeon eggs. I’m sure many have heard of matsutake mushrooms and sea cucumber before, albeit only some have seen it before. Let’s now introduce the cordyceps.”

Su Yayan pushed the cordyceps-filled plate nearer to the camera and said, “This is also a type of fungus, but it looks nothing like one. It enhances a soup’s fragrance and has an elastic, chewy mouthfeel. However, most of the cordyceps’ nutritional value would’ve gone into the soup after it’s been boiled with the soup, so friends that don’t fancy the mouthfeel of the cordyceps can discard it, but you can’t not drink the soup.

“It’s the same for matsutake mushrooms. Taking into consideration the time allocated for this livestream, I’ve already soaked it beforehand, and it’s almost done now. Please don’t throw away the water in which you’ve soaked the matsutake mushrooms, just use it as a soup base, or half of the freshness of the matsutake mushrooms would’ve been wasted.”

Su Yayan poured the soaked matsutake mushrooms, the peeled pigeon eggs, and the soup into a pot and bring it down to a simmer after a boil. Then, she added the sea cucumber and the cordyceps into boiling water to blanch them slightly, then took them out and set them aside.

After she was done, Su Yayan began her third dish – Grilled Fish With Astragalus Root.

Since Ning Qirui had just finished his acupuncture session, high protein food like pigeon eggs and fish would be recommended for his diet.

Su Yayan had cleaned the fish beforehand, so all she needed to do now was to slice a cross on each side of the fish so it cooks easier when the fish was fried. Then, she cut the codonopsis and astragalus roots into slices.

Next, she fried the fish to a perfect golden brown in a wok and caramelized some brown sugar. After she added some clear broth, sliced codonopsis roots, and astragalus roots in with the fish, she brought it to a boil, covered it, and allow the flavors to marinade.

A few minutes later, she added in some sides like mushrooms and shoots, and right after the fish was plated, she poured hot boiling lard oil on it.

Cooking dishes was not the same as boiling soup. To boil soup was to place all the ingredients in a pot, simmer in on low heat until all the ingredients were fully cooked, then its fragrance would waft out. On the contrary, to cook a dish was to have its fragrance bellow out like smoke immediately once the ingredients were mixed in with the hot oil inside the pan.

Since Su Yayan began preparing this dish, people were howling in hunger when they first smelt the fish when it was being fried. When they’ve finally reached the finishing touches of the boiling lard oil pour, the strong aroma of the dish spread out majestically in the livestream platform like ocean waves, making everyone drool uncontrollably.

[You just want flowers, right? I’ll give you, I’ll give you, I’ll give you! I’ll give you my life too for just a taste of this fish!]

[I concur! This fish is fried to perfection – crispy skin with tender flesh and it’s so alluring! It’s totally different from the ones I’ve fried, which is an absolute tragedy. I didn’t just burn the fish, I burnt my pan too!]

[I feel you! It seemed really easy when the Host does it, but when I do it, I really resent my hands! How could they be this dumb? This is really hard…]

[You guys still had time to talk about all these?! I’ve already had a few mouthfuls of these, it’s so yummy!]

In the next few minutes, comments have drastically decreased, but the notification bell of gratuity flowing in has not stopped. Clearly, these people were very pleased with the taste of the fish.