Chapter 1492 - 578: A Divine Artifact for Both Looks and Flavor—Douban Fish! Brother-in-law’s Request!

Chapter 1492: Chapter 578: A Divine Artifact for Both Looks and Flavor—Douban Fish! Brother-in-law’s Request!

Lin Xu slowly sautéed, letting the hot oil fully extract the aroma of Doubanjiang, turning the oil in the pot into a lustrous red.

At this stage, he added the ginger and garlic mince along with half of the scallions, continuing to sauté.

Using the red oil to bring out the aroma of scallion, ginger, and garlic mince further enriched the fragrance of the Doubanjiang.

When the ginger mince turned slightly yellow, he began seasoning.

Lin Xu scooped up a spoonful of Light Soy Sauce and poured it along the edge of the pan.

As the aroma of the sauce rose, he poured in a spoonful of Rice Wine.

He simmered it a bit, then added in more than half a spoon of aromatic vinegar.

Finally, he added white sugar in an amount half of the vinegar.

Stirring evenly to blend the flavors, he placed in the fried fish, added a large bowl of clear water, just enough to cover half the fish body—no need for more, as it would eventually be reduced.

When the water boiled, he scooped water from the pot and continuously drizzled it over the fish body, especially on the areas of the fish head and fish tail that couldn’t be submerged in the soup, requiring multiple careful rounds of drizzling.

Shi Wenshan watched this scene with a slightly astonished expression:

"I thought it was a simple dish, didn’t expect it to be so effortful, just the soup drizzling step is something I would struggle with."

This step, although seemingly simple, was quite intricate and bothersome.

Because there wasn’t much broth on either side of the fish body, he had to be careful when scooping to avoid touching the fish body, while aiming to scoop as much broth as possible to drizzle over the fish head and tail.

After simmering a while, he covered the pot and let it stew.

Ten minutes later, he flipped the fish in the pot and continued cooking.

After another ten minutes, the meat on both sides of the fish body was fully cooked and quivered slightly with the bubbling broth, indicating it was ready to be served.

Lin Xu carefully lifted the fish out with a large slotted spoon, placing it onto a prepared oval fish plate.

He arranged it, adjusting both the fish skin and body.

Immediately, he used a fine sieve to remove all debris from the broth, filtering the broth clean.

Using a high flame, he brought the broth back to a boil and integrated the thickened sauce.

Soon, the broth turned thick and rich.

The lustrous broth emitted a tantalizing aroma paired with a thick texture that looked so tempting; Lin Xu felt even without side dishes, he could easily devour two bowls of rice with just this broth.

As the broth continued to bubble, he turned off the heat, adding the remaining scallions into the pot, stirring them to mix thoroughly with the thickened broth.

Then he scooped the soup from the pot, gently drizzling it over the fish body.

The broth was plentiful because when eating, this dish required dipping the fish meat in the broth for the best taste.

"Mm, it’s aromatic!"

Shi Wenshan looked at the whole fish’s rosy sheen and the tantalizing aroma, unable to help but swallow a bit.

Originally, having just celebrated the New Year, after indulging in plenty of fish and meat, he theoretically shouldn’t be craving meat.

But at that moment, he felt as if he hadn’t eaten for two days.

His brother-in-law’s culinary skills were truly impressive.

At this point, cousin Wenqing squeezed into the kitchen:

"The child is finally asleep, Xiao Xu, I’m here to learn cooking from you. Is there anything I can learn?"

Shi Wenshan couldn’t help but tease his younger sister:

"Xiao Xu just made this Douban Fish, it’s quite simple. Just remember the recipe, and you can make it. I’ll tell you the recipe, usually passed from father to son, only sharing it with you..."

He earnestly recited the recipe Lin Xu had just mentioned, repeatedly warning not to disclose it, making cousin Wenqing truly believe she had obtained a culinary secret:

"Brother, don’t deceive me, is this really a precious secret recipe? Then I won’t learn it, I can’t break Xiao Xu’s rule, just teach me two simple dishes then."

The concept of passing from male to male made Shi Wenqing a bit apprehensive.

As she was speaking, Shen Jiayue commented:

"Sister Wenqing, you’re really three years forgetful from pregnancy; in the past, it was hard to fool you, but now two sentences, and you’re duped. Having a child is really terrifying, huh?"

Cousin Wenqing was indeed the family’s academic star, having entered Beijing University Medical College with excellent grades, and was recommended for combined Masters and Ph.D. during her undergraduate studies. She now worked at Beijing University’s First Affiliated Hospital.

The year she graduated, CCTV went to the hospital for filming, and she became the featured doctor, then met with the program group leader, also a Beijing University media alumni, her brother-in-law.

Then they started dating, married, had kids, living a peaceful and happy life.

Her brother-in-law’s family is from Jiangnan and isn’t quite accustomed to Northern food, creating some friction, despite the overall harmonious mother-in-law relationship.

Now wanting to learn cooking from Lin Xu, she aimed to show her mother-in-law that her family had culinary talent.

Lin Xu responded immediately:

"It’s too simple, you can just learn from Yueyue: Air fryer crispy pigeon, air fryer honey-glazed wings, and other various miscellaneous dishes that Yueyue knows well. Also, cola chicken wings and similar dishes you can learn—they are all quite simple."

He thought there might be a deeper reason for learning Douban Fish.

Unexpectedly, it was just to show herself before her mother-in-law which led Lin Xu to recommend a few easy and yet impressive dishes.

Not many stir-fries; after all, such dishes involving hot oil were prone to burns.

But steaming dishes were much safer.

Therefore, Lin Xu recommended a slew of steaming recipes, and Shen Jiayue also expressed she could teach her cousin to make custard mooncakes and sugar-cooked chestnuts among other treats and snacks.