Chapter 359: Chapter 359 Difficulty

“Is this a fried egg?”

Zhou Tianhao looked at the fried egg that Qin Lang placed on a plate for use, interest gleaming in his eyes, “It’s interesting to fry an egg into the shape of a lotus leaf.”

“In this way of frying, the crispy taste fills your mouth when you eat it directly and it can also absorb the soup to the maximum extent. It is like killing two birds with one stone.” Qin Lang smiled and fed the last fried egg to the drooling Dan Bao.

“Absorb the soup?” Zhou Tianhao imagined this scenario and immediately felt his hunger, which was due to various fragrances, increase.

“Correct, this method is used in the Loach Egg Dish.” Qin Lang explained, he then picked up the soaked loach, draining the water.

He put the wok on the stove, heated thin oil, put in the loach and covered the wok.

“Sizzling ”

The pleasing sound of frying was continuous and a bit muted due to the covered wok, like a symphony packed with layers of delicious food.

After a short wait, Qin Lang opened the wok cover again and a peculiar fragrance quickly rose from the wok, flirting with their sense of smell.

The color of the loach in the wok was turning gradually golden.

Qin Lang grasped the wok handle, lifted it off from the stove with one hand, and rocked it in a rhythmic pattern. As a result, the loach, which originally stayed in the middle of the wok, started spinning quickly along the inner wok wall with inertia.

The uniform heating accelerated the color change in the loach.

After a little while, the side of the loach clinging to the wok had turned golden. Qin Lang casually flipped the loach in the wok so that the other side would fry.

Following the same procedure until both sides became golden, Qin Lang then put the wok back onto the stove, and began choosing seasonings.

He added ginger, garlic, and cooking wine, burned off the alcohol in the wine, poured in water that would cover the loach, finally added Capsicum frutescens, and covered the wok.

Simmer on low heat for ten minutes, until the soup in the wok changes to a turbid white color and the essence of the loach is fully diffused into the soup, then add the previously fried egg, cover the wok and let it simmer for another five minutes.

Lastly, he added a little pepper for seasoning, garnished the dish with green onions to enhance the fragrance, and Qin Lang neatly served the super appetizing Loach Egg Dish.

“Squeak-”

The door of the suite was opened and Shen Qian, who had hurried back, entered the door and yelled excitedly, “What a delicious scent, let me see what you guys made!”

“Your timing is impeccable.” Qin Lang smiled, “The last dish has just been made, quickly wash your hands and get ready to dine!”

“Great! I especially kept my stomach empty after reading your text!” Shen Qian cheered and rushed to the washstand.

Meanwhile, Zhou Tianhao stood there looking at the big bowl of Loach Egg Dish, replaying Qin Lang’s cooking steps in his mind, pondering their purposes and significances.

Soon, his eyes gradually brightened.

He already has a certain idea about the dishes for the second Food Fight. This has marked a significant breakthrough compared to his previous aimless practice.

“Let’s eat, let’s eat!” Zhou Tianhao, back to reality, helped serve the dishes on the dining table and then set the tableware properly, anticipation shimmering in his eyes.

He wants to taste the flavor of the dish cooked with the loach by Qin Lang.

“Wow! So many dishes!” Shen Qian, who washed her hands and returned, saw the table full of dishes and breathed in the tempting array of fragrances filling the room, she swallowed her saliva involuntarily and was the first to pick up her chopsticks, “Let’s eat!”

Zhou Tianhao nodded, quickly reaching out with his chopsticks towards the loach he had been eyeing.

The flesh of the loach, which had been fried until golden and then stewed on medium-low heat, was already soft and tender. With slight force, it easily disintegrated in his mouth, leaving only its skeleton behind.

The unique delicious taste of the loach suddenly burst forth between Zhou Tianhao’s lips and teeth.

Zhou Tianhao suddenly thought of the few other loach dishes he had tasted. In comparison, the not-so-difficult-to-prepare Loach Egg Dish by Qin Lang was the most delicious among them.

A look of admiration and enjoyment surfaced on his face.

Soon after, Zhou Tianhao thought of something.

He picked up a fried egg from the plate and put it into his mouth.

The fried egg, which had been stewed in the soup for five minutes, no longer retained the crispiness it had when freshly fried. The previously noticeable crispiness turned into a unique texture that was both resilient and chewy.

The light texture of the protein inside the fried egg was unaffected; instead, it became even more delicious with the penetration of the soup.

What drove Zhou Tianhao to race the table and exclaim in admiration, was the yolk at the center of the fried egg. It was neither runny nor fully cooked, but dipping it slightly in the soup before putting it into the mouth resulted in an unprecedentedly delicious flavour, heightened by the soup’s savoury taste.

Such deliciousness, one simply could not resist!

Shen Qian, who was sitting on the side and tasting other dishes, noticed that other than her and her Food Spirit, all the others were tasting the same dish. Furthermore, that dish was placed right in the middle of all, garnering all attention. Curiosity piqued, she couldn’t help but take a closer look.

To her surprise, she asked, “Is this a loach?”

“Although I’ve heard that loach can be used in cooking, I’ve never tasted dishes made from it.” Shen Qian said, as she picked up a piece and tasted it.

Immediately, the look of surprise on her face intensified.

The loach was more delicious than she expected.

At that moment, Shen Qian felt as though she had opened the door to a whole new world.

“Try the fried egg in here. That’s the highlight.” Qin Lang pointed at the fried egg and then asked her, “How did your evaluation go?”

“The evaluation! Uh…” Halfway through Shen Qian’s sentence, she put a fried egg into her mouth. The unique delicious taste and texture that exploded between her lips and teeth left her in a trance, forgetting what she was about to say.

After a while, Shen Qian gradually recovered, a look of yearning appeared on her face. “The evaluation went pretty smoothly. Tonight was the first time my candidate dish has been on the menu. It’s already achieved fifty percent of the sales of the signature dish.”

“That’s quite a lot.” Zhou Tianhao looked at Shen Qian with renewed admiration, “At this rate, your candidate dish will probably surpass the signature dish in another day or two, right?”

“It’s not that simple.” Shen Qian shook her head, “Many of the customers today chose to buy the dish because it’s new on the menu. I’d be happy enough if I can maintain today’s sales tomorrow.”

“Ah!” Shen Qian sighed, “Having my candidate dish surpass the signature dish in just four days is indeed a tough challenge.”

“Compared to that, my challenge seems a bit easier.” Zhou Tianhao gave Shen Qian a sympathetic look.

“You two keep fighting. The best I can do is to provide delicious food to reward you.” Qin Lang smiled, scooping himself a bowl of Crucian carp tofu soup and toasted the two, “Cheers.”

The two were amused by Qin Lang’s gesture, and their attention quickly went back to the food..