Li Nianfan was in the palace. He was instantly surprised when he saw that Daji brought something back, “Yo, what a fat Duck. Is this the Flying Duck Demon King?”
Daji replied, “This Duck is boastful and arrogant. He said he wants to marry my sister. I already defeated him.”
Li Nianfan nodded. He smiled and said, “Haha, I was just wondering what I am going to eat. In delicacies, Roast Duck is on the top of the list. This Duck is so plump, I think it will taste delicious.”
He looked a bit sentimental. It was such a familiar scenario.
He remembered when he brought Nanan for a trip. They ran into Immortal Jiao, a Black Fish Demon who also forced her to marry him. Then, he became a pot of Boiled Fish with Pickled Mustard Greens. The Flying Duck Demon King forced Little Fox to marry him too. He would be a plate of Roast Duck.
‘These Demons always sacrifice themselves to become food ingredients. All with the same reasons too. So touching.’
Li Nianfan said, “It’s getting late. Find an empty space. I will cook a meal for you all! Daji, Fire Phoenix, I need you girls to assist me.”
Daji kept nodding, “Yeah, yes, alright.”
They could never be as good as Li Nianfan at cooking, but they could assist him.
The Little Fox was instantly intrigued when she heard there would be delicious food. She could not wait. She said, “Brother-in-law, let’s go. I will take you to my back garden.”
Kunpeng and Cultivator Mosquito were friends of Li Nianfan. So, they also followed along. As for the other Demon Kings, they could only feel envious.
However, they knew that they did not deserve to accompany the expert.
At the back garden.
Li Nianfan told Daji to unfreeze the Duck. He started to prepare the other ingredients.
Roast Duck was different from other roast poultry. For example, Roast Chicken and Roast Pork could be eaten straight away. However, Roast Duck had a lot of fatty meat. It would be too oily. Roast Duck had another name, the Peking Duck.
The roasted Duck meat would be sliced into pieces. Then, it would be eaten with wrappings, the white parts of Scallions, and Cucumbers. The oily taste issue would be perfectly resolved, and it would make the Roast Duck extremely delicious. It was one of a kind. An amazing and powerful delicacy creation.
If the Peking Duck was one of the elite delicacies, the seemingly insignificant side ingredients had half of the credit.
Cultivator Mosquito and Kunpeng had no tasks. They asked anxiously, “Lord Saint, um… What can we do to help?”
Li Nianfan thought about it, “Why don’t you boil some water? Boil the Duck to remove its feathers.”
He paused and said, “Oh yeah, I wonder if there are any Jujube Wood nearby. Other fruit tree wood works too if you can’t find any. We need it for the fire.”
Wood from fruit trees had less smoke. They could burn for a long time too. More importantly, they would emit a fruity smell. It would not ruin the taste of the Duck meat. Lousy wood would make the Duck less delicious.
Kunpeng offered to help, “Hey, alright, I will pluck the feathers!”
Cultivator Mosquito stood up. She said with excitement, “I will go look for Jujube Wood.”
They were overjoyed with the tasks. They hurriedly went off.
Li Nianfan did not have an Oven. However, he had Immortals around him. It was effortless to build one on the spot.
Everybody worked together. It was very effective.
Li Nianfan steamed the wrappings he made. At the same time, he started to prepare the Flying Duck with no feathers. One of the necessary procedures was to stuff the anus of the Duck. That was because he needed to fill the Duck with braising soup later on. He stuffed the Duck to avoid the loss of juices.
It required technique to do that. He could easily ruin the Duck meat. However, it was naturally a piece of cake for Li Nianfan.
Then, he started to fill in the braising soup.
The braising soup was mainly boiling water, an appropriate amount of Sichuan Peppercorn Water, cooking wine, and other seasoning. He filled the Duck until it was about seventy percent full.
He did that so the Duck meat would not be dehydrated during the roasting process. It would make the Duck juicy too. It was an important technique.
‘Here comes the most important step. We are going to start roasting.’
It was important because Roast Duck depended on the fire and the heat. You had to be careful with the heat from the moment you put it in the Oven. Moreover, a Roast Duck had to be roasted evenly on all sides. Different Duck parts required different roasting timing. For example, the left side of the Duck required twelve minutes. The right side of the Duck only required seven minutes.
The fire was handled by the Fire Phoenix. Li Nianfan kept an eye on the Duck. He turned the Duck accordingly.
Kunpeng and Cultivator Mosquito focused on the gradually red Roast Duck. They were awestruck.
The Flying Duck Demon King was a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. He made them very stressed. However… He became unrecognizable. He also emitted a delicious smell. No one would know he was the Flying Duck Demon King.
He truly did not look like a Duck anymore.
Then, they looked at how serious Li Nianfan looked. He carefully turned the Duck every minute. He was focused.
‘I’m afraid very few things can make the expert be serious like that.’
‘Flying Duck Demon King, you are dead, but the expert took notice of you. You should be proud.’
The aroma suddenly changed while they were thinking to themselves. A layer of golden oil emitted from the Duck skin. The Duck skin hardened and turned crunchy. It looked crispy and shiny. It looked very appetizing.
‘Smells good!’
‘It smells wonderful.’
Compared to other roasted delicacies, the aroma of the Roast Duck was not the most intense, but it was the most unique. It smelled appetizing, and it made them salivate.
“Almost done.”
Li Nianfan smiled. He took the Duck out from the Oven. He casually inspected it and brushed on the sesame oil. It increased the shininess of the skin. It also got rid of the smoke ash, and increased the flavor.
The Roast Duck was officially complete.
He noticed that Kunpeng and Cultivator Mosquito were staring at it. They looked squeamish. Li Nianfan slightly chuckled, “Relax, it’s not time to eat yet.”
He took out his cooking knife as he spoke. He casually did a spin trick with the knife and sliced the Roast Duck.
He did not slice the meat. He sliced the Duck skin. The orange red Duck skin smelled delicious, and it was crispy. It shined brightly. Every slice was even and squared. He placed them in a neat order.
Daji asked curiously, “Perhaps the Duck skin can be eaten on its own?”
“Haha, you’re so smart, Daji. This is the essence of Roast Duck!”
Li Nianfan laughed, “Duck meat is delicious too, but the Duck skin is superb. The Duck skin alone can be a delicacy. This is the correct way to eat a Roast Duck.”
He paused. He smiled and said, “You can try it first if you don’t believe me. Of course, you should dip the white sugar, it will taste even better.”
“Brother-in-law, I want to eat. I want to eat!”
The Little Fox would not be courteous with Li Nianfan. She could not wait. She immediately hopped over. She could not hold chopsticks so she carefully took a crispy Duck skin with her little paw. She swiftly dipped the sugar and ate the entire piece.
