Xu Le borrowed a bowl of rice from the stall next door.
Everyone knew the trick of cooking Egg Fried Rice, which was to use overnight rice.
Since some of the moisture in the overnight rice had evaporated, the rice grain would become more discrete. It wouldn't stick to one another when it was stir-fried and would be more chewy when it was eaten.
The leftover rice that Xu Le was using were already steamed by noon.
It had been ten hours, so it had met the requirements.
Apart from rice, Xu Le also prepared eggs. He also bought ham, dried scallop, prawns, green peas, fresh bamboo shoots, chicken thigh, and many other ingredients from the nearby convenience store.
Each ingredient was placed in a separate bowl, lined up in a dazzling line.
"Do you need so many ingredients to make a fried rice?"
Zhang Tong frowned. He didn't understand.
The increase in the number of ingredients would increase the richness and taste of the entire dish.
But while using large quantities of ingredients, their flavours and textures might clash.
For example, ham was salty, shrimp was sweet, and mushrooms tasted fresh…
All of these flavors were delicious alone.
But when all of them were mixed together, it was likely to show the effect of one plus one being less than two.
Therefore, many excellent chefs knew one thing: You can't have too many ingredients.
For example, a piece of high-quality beef only needed to be seasoned and pan fried to produce a good taste.
If too many miscellaneous ingredients were added into the mix, it was very likely to be adding unnecessary details.
Seeing Xu Le choose so many ingredients, Zhang Tong was a little doubtful.
However, he still stood quietly by the side and watched.
Start the fire!
On the stove, there was a bright red flame. Xu Le turned on the fire to high heat and heated the entire pan.
After the pan was heated, he poured room-temperature oil into it.
Immediately after, Xu Le took out the ingredients that he had prepared and poured them into the pan, stir-frying them to producing a fragrance.
First, he added ham, then the dried scallops, mushrooms, fresh bamboo shoots, and finally chicken thigh meat.
Sizzle—
The moment the ingredients came into contact with the oil, a pleasant sound of frying was heard.
All the ingredients in the pan were of high quality. As Xu Le stir-fried them, the color of the food became more and more alluring. The fragrance instantly spread and attracted the attention of many passersby.
Xu Le stirred the ingredients gently, revealing the cooked color at the bottom. The sound of the ingredients being fried suddenly grew louder, and it was obvious that the number of ingredients was increasing rapidly.
After stir-frying for two minutes, he stopped cooking the ingredients.
They were almost 50% cooked. He would still need to fry them again the second time later on.
Just then, Xu Le picked up the bowl of rice from the side.
He skillfully added a the beaten egg into it.
As the egg yolk fell into the rice, Xu Le used his hands to knead it, making every grain of rice perfectly merge with the egg yolk, presenting a bright golden color.
The ordinary rice looked like a bowl of golden beans. Under the illumination of the street lamps at night, it emitted a golden luster.
He poured the rice with the egg yolk into the pan and quickly stir-fried it!
This step must be fast!
Otherwise, the rice would stick to the pan or stick together.
Under the rapid stir-frying, the rice was heated, and the egg yolk on the surface quickly solidified.
"It's a pity there's no chicken soup." Xu Le sighed.
If he could add a spoonful of chicken soup into the fried rice… the fragrance of the chicken soup would be completely integrated into the fried rice, allowing the taste to reach a higher level.
Sizzle—
An intense sound came from the pan, and the alluring sound spread out, drifting across half the street.
All kinds of saltiness, fragrance, freshness and sweetness fused together, but it did not seem out of place.
Zhang Tong's pupils suddenly contracted, revealing an extremely shocked expression.
There were so many ingredients, yet Xu Le was able to handle them perfectly!
Generally speaking, this could only be done by a chef who was extremely experienced.
But… Xu Le was only eight years old!
How long could a eight-year-old child have cooked for?
Half a year… a year?
And that was the maximum amount of time.
However, it was precisely such a young and immature child that was able to process the ingredients to such an extreme. He knew all about what ingredients to add first and later, how many seconds apart should they be added.
Zhang Tong had only seen such terrifying control over the food ingredients from his master.
However, it was a skill built on his master's decades of experience.
Was this child… really a natural Master Chef?
Under Zhang Tong's shocked gaze, Xu Le picked up another pot of oil and started boiling it.
Then, he poured the freshly filtered eggs into the pot at a very unique frequency and gradually stirred them.
As the egg stirred rapidly, it was first scattered, then began to spin like a small whirlpool, and pulled into thin strands.
"This is scattered egg!"
Zhang Tong was shocked again.
It was not easy to make scattered egg. And he used a very unique method.
He didn't think… the kid in front of him could even master this.
He scooped out the egg shreds and poured them onto the fried rice.
The golden fried rice looked like it had a golden crown on.
Xu Le sniffed the fragrance coming from the pan and was very satisfied.
Finally, he sprinkled a handful of onions.
The egg fragrance and rice fragrance of the fried rice were stimulated. After stir-frying for a while, the egg shreds and rice wrapped around each other like exquisite works of art.
Whoosh—
A handful of peas were thrown in, followed by a quick stir-fry!
The peas should have a soft and tender texture, so it could not be fried for a long time.
During the quick stir-frying, a steam was released, carrying the fragrance of various ingredients.
He quickly sprinkled the second batch of scallions, added salt and seasoning, and added the already cooked shrimps and rice wine into the pan.
He turned the fire to high heat and stir-fried for ten seconds.
Then, the food was served perfectly!
Xu Le quickly prepared a bowl and poured the golden rice grains with golden egg shreds into it.
It had the color of gold.
Along with a fragrant smell.
Every grain of rice was full and chewy, as if it could be broken with a blow.
All the other ingredients were perfectly embellished in the dish. Not only did the color of the dish become more vibrant, but it also allowed the aroma of different flavors to interweave with each other, presenting a richer taste experience.
"The fried rice is ready. Have a taste."
Xu Le placed the bowl of fried rice in front of Zhang Tong, who was dumbfounded.
"Don't forget to pay later. This bowl of fried rice… costs 99 yuan"