Ch17 – Eggplant Three Ways – Side A
It was still so early in the morning, but he has already received two calls.
When he had finished the call, he climbed out of bed and took a shower. The time was almost half past ten. It was now mid-June. Although there was air conditioning at home to keep the temperature constant, the summer heat still managed to creep in. He put on a thin shirt and thought of maybe preparing some refreshing desserts when he heard the doorbell ring.
He walked towards the living room, and Xiao Bai had already signed for the express delivery. It was a small box. He didn't know what was inside, but it was quite a bit weighty.
He looked at the sender, it turned out to be from the Academy of Sciences. Ruan Tang couldn't help but to be more curious. It couldn't be that they had come out with a new ingredient so quickly? He opened the box and found that it was a pot, one with a lid that could be flipped open. It was the essential item in every household during his previous life — a rice cooker!
When he saw the familiar rice cooker, he couldn't help but take it out and hug it. The model that the Academy sent looked very good. Because it used the interstellar technology's heating system, its appearance was smaller and more exquisite that the models before. However, the capacity was still very large, and it was no problem to make enough rice for seven or eight people.
With a rice cooker, no matter if it was making rice or boiling congee, it would be a lot more convenient. Not to mention that in the absence of an oven, he can replace it with the rice cooker and can bake a cake! However, cake was not suitable for lunch at noon, so it was included in his list of plans. Afterwards he logged in to the shopping mall.
He first went to the kitchen area and sure enough, the rice cooker has been put up for sale. If it is like so then he can safely use it in the live broadcast. He was no longer afraid that it would be found out that he and the Academy had reached a partnership.
Last night he had eaten a lot of meat, so Ruan Tang planned to eat a little lighter today. In his heart, he had already decided on a menu, and just happened to see that the eggplants in the shopping mall were all big and thick. He eggplant three ways.
Now the weather was hot, and although he didn't know if the boron-based humans will also be susceptible to prickly heat, but the eggplant was mild and fragrant, not only can it relieve internal body heat, but it also had the benefit of easing cardiovascular diseases. Without restraint, he bought seven or eight large eggplants, pork and a bunch of spices.
After the express delivery arrived, the live broadcast was started.
"Hello everyone, I am your anchor, Ruan Tang and today I want to cook for you eggplant three ways."
[Miao Miao loves to eat meat: First comment! I received a live broadcast notification and rushed in. Anchor, I love you! ]
[Can't stop hugging trees: Although I don't know what the anchor is going to cook, I always feel that it's going to be something amazing!]
[Liu Ye Bai: I have eaten eggplant! It's the signature dish of the Rose Restaurant! But what does three ways mean? ]
"Eggplant three ways means that we will be using eggplant as the main ingredient, but the eggplant will be cooked in three different ways to make a three-course dish with completely different tastes. One is the Yuxiang eggplant with the sweet and sour taste, the other is a salty and delicious simmered eggplant and lastly, there is also a crispy and delicious fried stuffed eggplant. I will make more of the stuffed eggplant, and it will be used for the lottery after the live broadcast." He smiled and explained.
[The April turtledove flicks its feathers: shocked!! The anchor is too powerful, right? ]
[Working the night shift everyday: My God, the anchor is too awesome!]
[Bang and Chirp: Real? Or fake? I often go to the Rose Restaurant and have never heard of these dishes. ]
[A touch of medicinal fragrance: the above commenter must be new? [Laughs without saying anything.jpg]
[Yue Zhi Xin remembers snow: [Laughs without saying anything.jpg]]
[ID27791075: How can this live room be so peculiar?]
Although there were some not particularly harmonious voices, they were quickly drowned in the busy chat. After all, he wasn't money, it was normal for some people to not like or perhaps even question him. So, he paid them no mind and started cooking.
Yuxiang eggplant will take more time to make it. So, he takes out two eggplants first, washed them with water, cut them into small pieces, and sprinkled with starch and salt, and put them aside to marinate.
Then he took a few more eggplants and cut them into round slabs, which will be used to make the stuffed eggplant.
The last eggplant, he cut directly into pieces using a rolling cut, ready to be made into simmered eggplant.
[Fill the eyes with magnificent mulberries: Wow, even the cuts are different!]
"Yes, different shapes have different cooking technique requirements. The degree to which they absorb taste is also not the same, so you should choose according to the situation." After processing the eggplant, the pork washed clean with a sharp knife minced into ground pork. Cut into minced meat. Ground pork would be used in all three dishes, so he divided them into three small portions and put them aside.
"We will first make simmered eggplant. Eggplant is more oil-absorbing, so if you will be making it yourself, you should pay attention to put in some more oil." He said as he poured oil into the drying pan and began to heat it.
When the oil was hot, Ruan Tang put in a third of the minced meat, and quickly stir fried it until it changed color. When he added the minced garlic and ginger, the oil began to pop and sizzle. A stimulating scent burst into the air, making the audience salivate.
At this time, the eggplant that was cut using the rolling cut was put in. While frying, he used a spatula to press down a few times on the eggplant to force out the water inside the eggplant.
He then added sugar, soy sauce and the right amount of salt for seasoning, then gently stir fried a few times. The eggplant absorbed the oil juice and seasoning, and turned soft and wrinkled. The color became reddish brown and the purple eggplant skin was soaked in oil and looked shiny, almost like it glows.
"The next step is to cook for half an hour at low temperature." Ruan Tang put the lid on the pan and turn the temperature down and left it alone.
"Today, the dishes goes very well with rice so everyone, by all means, don't forget to cook a pot of fragrant rice." He said that as he took out the rice cooker he bought. "When I visited the shopping mall, I saw this. This baby should be the new kitchen implement that the Academy of Science has just developed. It has only been out of a short time. Although the price is a bit expensive, it is really very convenient, whether it is cooking rice or making porridge. It can even be used for stew and soup."
He said these not to advertise the Academy of Sciences, but because he really thinks that this kitchenware is very useful and want to share it with the audience who have always supported him. Using a rice cooker was very simple, even a klutz could use it by themselves and come out with simple and delicious food.
He took out the inner pot of the rice cooker, put in the appropriate amount of rice, and gave it a wash. He then added twice the amount of water and put it back to the rice cooker, and then pressed the cooking button.
[I wish for tranquility: anchor, anchor! look here! How do you add water for this rice cooker? I used it to cook at home once, but not everything was cooked. Half was cooked and half was raw. And the bottom was mush. What happened? QAQ]
He looked at his question and explained: "Your rice became half-cooked, it happened because the water was not enough. Generally speaking, the appropriate amount of water would be no more than a finger width more than the rice. If you like it drier, just put a little less, if you like it stickier, just put a little more. A safe estimate would be to put twice the amount of rice. As for the problem of the burning the rice, the rice cooker has an electrical safeguard built in. When the rice is cooked it will change to 'keep warm' mode and so you won't need to worry about it burning. You could just leave it there."
[Following broadcasts to learn cooking: Yes, I have tried it last night, and it's very easy to use!]
[Gold coins fall down: 2500 GM coins, it seems a bit expensive…]
[Small transparent: But it's very convenient, with this, I can cook too. I've decided to buy one!]
[Clear and cold: What kind of anchor is this? how come there's still ads? Could it be that the shopping mall gave you an advertising fee?]
[Joyful Yulin: (#`O') To the commenter above, Are you sick?]
Seeing that the live chat was noisy again, the familiar meteor shower appeared once again in the live room.
"User 'He' gave the anchor a meteor shower."
[HE: I tried using it last night and it was very easy to use.]
Seeing local tyrant room manager, Ruan Tang couldn't help but to reveal a faint smile. "The eggplant should almost be finished marinating. Let's make the Yuxiang eggplant next."
Ruan Tang took out the marinated eggplant and gave it a quick fry in the frying pan, removed it and drained the oil. He then continued to add the scallions, ginger and garlic to the pan. In fact, there should also some chili peppers added, but unfortunately peppers have not yet been restored, so he could only do it like this for now.
After that, the minced meat was added in, once the meat had browned evenly, added the dark soy sauce, sugar a small spoonful of vinegar. He poured in the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. As Ruan Tang continued to stir-fry, the sweet and sour aroma suddenly gushed forth.
[Miao Miao loves to eat meat: Wow wow, before I knew it my mouth was starting to water! It must be delicious!]
[Can't stop hugging trees: Me too! But why did the anchor leave out the fish? I didn't see any fish…]
Seeing the audience's questions, Ruan Tang felt both amused and annoyed. In his past life there were a lot of funny skits about food, such as why there were no ants in Ants in Trees (Ground Pork with Sweet Potato Noodles) , or why there were no lions in the lion's head (a kind of meatball), and no wives in the wife's cake (a type of filled pastry), and so on.
Out of curiosity, he also read a lot of information in this regard.
"It is said that in the ancient times of old Earth, when people roasted fish, they liked to put some scallions, ginger, garlic, vinegar and soy sauce to get rid of the fishy smell and to season it. When they were making other dishes, in order not to waste the ingredients, they would use the leftover ingredients for the roasted fish. Put it in, and the result is a dish with a unique flavor. Yuxiang or Fish Fragrance was named after that." He smiled and said, "So the Yuxiang eggplant is just a dish name, and there is actually no fish."
[Drinking plain boiled water in the middle of the night: Wow, really?! The anchor even knows this, could it be that he's studying ancient Earth history?]
[Lazy Snow: I'm studying ancient earth history and I have never heard of this! It couldn't be that the anchor is just making it up?]
[Small ginger: But we have never before eaten these dishes made by the anchor. It is impossible for the anchor to just make up so many dishes. I think the anchor may be in possession of some old culinary family's rare recipe book! Or possibly the heir of that family!]
[Can't stop hugging trees: I think the above commenter has a big hole in her head, but somehow I still think it might be possible!!!??? ]