Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Hu Yue’s worry was understandable as Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine was known for spiciness.
A defining characteristic of the Saliva Chicken was being fresh. Thus, the chicken had to be cooked immediately after being slaughtered.
“Although this is not the most suitable way of making the dish, with my condition, it is already the best way,” Yuan Zhou muttered inwardly. Then, he opened the cabinet. Within were three live chickens.
That’s right. Yuan Zhou was going to first kill a chicken before making this cold dish.
“Even the chicken is still alive?” Zhang Yan frowned.
“Saliva Chicken should be fresh. Not bad,” Zhou Shijie nodded approvingly.
“Sure. Fresh. But I’m afraid that I will be starved to death before the meal is done,” Zhang Yan remarked.
“He has to first slaughter the chicken and remove the feathers before he can cook and serve. We will be waiting a long time,” Hu Yue shook his head as well.
He should have slaughtered the chicken in advance and timed it with the arrival of the judges, right? If he was only going to start slaughtering now, how long would they have to wait?
“Moreover, a cold dish is supposed to be some sort of appetizer, a dish before the main course. But for an appetizer, this wait time is too long,” said Ma Cheng with a frown.
“You sure have a lot of comments. I almost thought you guys were the ones slaughtering and cooking,” Lee Yanyi berated.
“Mr Lee, you are not being fair here. It will really take too long slaughtering the chicken,” Hu Yue disagreed.
“Are you sure? Look, the chicken is already in the pot,” Lee Yanyi threw Hu Yue a sideways glance before pointing at Yuan Zhou.
That’s right. In the span of a few sentences, Yuan Zhou’s chicken was already in the pot. This speed almost felt like a magic show.
“This… that’s a different chicken, right?” Hu Yue looked over and saw Yuan Zhou putting a chicken into the pot.
It was understandable that he was doubtful. After all, even the feathers had been removed.
“No, it’s the same chicken that was still alive earlier,” Zhang Yan said as he rubbed his goatee. Inwardly, he was shocked but he still maintained a calm expression. It was unknown what he had witnessed just now.
He only saw Yuan Zhou lifting the chicken, then taking out a shiny knife from nowhere and slaughtered the chicken with a single strike. The chicken did not even have the chance to make a noise before it went limp.
Then, Yuan Zhou’s hands “swished” around and suddenly, all the feathers were gone. That was what Zhang Yan had bore witness to.
“What did I miss?” Hu Yue asked.
“Nothing much. Just Little Yuan slaughtering the chicken and removing the feathers,” Zhou Shijie said with a wide smile.
“Hoho,” Zhao Xin replied with an unnatural expression on his face.
“I have only spoken a few words. Not even three minutes have passed and the chicken is already slaughtered? Is that a fake chicken? I didn’t even hear it shouting before it was killed,” These were the shared thoughts of both Ma Cheng and Hu Yue.
Could he not allow the chicken some dignity, allow it to make some sound before dying?
Hu Yue glanced at Yuan Zhou before looking at the chicken in the pot, his mind still in a mess.
While the others were under shock over Yuan Zhou’s magical chicken slaughtering, Yuan Zhou was feeling dissatisfied looking at the pot.
“System, are you sure you can’t provide the most suitable ingredients for Saliva Chicken?” Yuan Zhou asked in dissatisfaction.
The system displayed, “This chicken is a black-boned chicken from Rongjiang, also known as the southeast little fragrance chicken. It originated from Rongjiang, with a smaller size and bright feathers.”
“Of a flock of chicken, only about 15% of them would be the little fragrance black-boned chicken and only about 5% of them would be perfectly healthy. And of the perfectly healthy ones, the black-boned chicken provided was breed from a line of chickens that were black-boned chickens for 10 generations.”
“Stop, stop, you already told me all that,” Yuan Zhou helplessly stopped the system.
The system ignored Yuan Zhou and continued on.
The system displayed, “As Rongjiang chickens have a unique fragrance on their bodies, the fragrance is even more pronounced on the black-boned chicken.”
“Through research, this system found out that the fragrance originated from Rongjiang’s sky, land, and water. In other words, the natural environment of Rongjiang. Thus, this system had specifically simulated the natural environment of Rongjiang in process of breeding this chicken.”
“When growing, the chickens were fed cooked wheaten food, brans, and sesames. And when the chickens reached a catty and half in weight, they were delivered here to the host.”
“This chicken is both fat and fragrance, it’s meat tender and fresh and is the best choice to make a Bon Bon Chicken.”
“Yes, yes, you are right. So I am using the perfect ingredient for Bon Bon Chicken to make Saliva Chicken. System, you must have lost your mind,” Yuan Zhou was somewhat speechless and immediately stopped the system from continuing.
That’s right. Since Yuan Zhou did not have the menu for Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine, the system did not have the suitable ingredients for Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine supplied.
Fortunately, Yuan Zhou had a lot of ready ingredients around and would still be able to make the dishes he had submitted.
While waiting for the chicken to cook, Yuan Zhou quickly prepared the dishes of the other customers and got Zhou Jia to serve them.
Naturally, Yuan Zhou was also preparing the chili oil, the most important aspect of the Saliva Chicken. The chili oil was in a different pot cooling off.
At present, Yuan Zhou had three countertops, two were places he would cook soups and the other was the most spacious countertop where he would handle the ingredients.
Whoosh! Yuan Zhou lifted the lid and took the chicken out.
“The chicken is cooked?” Hu Yue asked when he saw Yuan Zhou taking out the chicken.
“I think so,” Zhang Yan was somewhat bewildered as well. It shouldn’t be this fast, but when he recalled Yuan Zhou’s speed while slaughtering chickens, he decided to remain prudent and did not give a lot of remarks.
The chicken was quite small, and after being cleaned of the intestines and internal organs, it was only about one catty. After being cooked, it was about 0.95 catty.
The moment the chicken was taken out, a fragrance started spreading. Before the fragrance could dissipate, Yuan Zhou took out a ladle and scooped up some iced water and rinsed the chicken with it. The entire chicken was washed with iced water, the head included.
After washing the chicken five times, its skin tightened and became glossy. Yuan Zhou stopped when he saw this.
After being cooked, it was not recommended to use ironware on it to avoid spoiling its flavor. Thus, Yuan Zhou would use a porcelain knife and porcelain chopping board to start slicing the chicken.
Apart from taste, the cutting method of Saliva Chicken and Bon Bon Chicken were different as well. The Bon Bon Chicken needed to be sliced thinly, whereas for the Saliva Chicken, the integrity of the meat and the palatability of it was more important.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Yuan Zhou started cutting the chicken.
In the blink of an eye, the cutting was done. With the chicken slices resting on the back of the knife, Yuan Zhou hovered the knife above a plate and pushed the slices down.
Yuan Zhou was very quick. When he arrived with the food, the evaluation committee found that the chili oil was already mixed with the chicken.
“A taste renowned throughout Sichuan, a flavor suppressing all 12 prefectures of Jiangnan, Saliva Chicken has arrived. Please give it a try,” Yuan Zhou said as he placed the tray down.
“You’re reciting poetry? That’s pointless. Let me see if this chicken is good,” Lee Yanyi said and without waiting for any explanation, he picked up his chopsticks. He had abandoned all elegance.
“Enjoy your meal,” Yuan Zhou was already used to this and was not as shocked as the others. He gestured at them, inviting them to try the food.
