Chapter 108 - Sweet and Sour Carp (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Before they left, Sister-in-law Song took out a fish she caught and added sugar and vinegar to it, making it into a dish. Then, she told her younger brother-in-law…”

Xu Le lowered his head and paused.

Zhang Liang immediately followed up, “I remember now. Her original words were, “This bowl of fish has both sweetness and sourness. I hope you won’t forget the hearts of the common people when you eat the sweetness. When you come back from your examinations, you will be able to get rid of evil and

do good for the people.” Later on, when her brother-in-law really became an official, he punished that scoundrel Zhao.”

Xu Le faced the camera and said, “Marinating the fish is so that the fishy taste could be removed. Just adding the scallions, ginger slices, and yellow wine will be enough. Lightly mix them evenly.”

He cleared his throat and continued his story. “After punishing the villain, the brother-in-law couldn’t find sister-in-law in the local area for a while. It was only when he went out for a meal that he tasted the sweet and sour carp that tasted exactly the same as when he left home. He was surprised, so he

found the chef who made this dish and realized that it was Sister-in-law Song.”

“Then, he found out that after Sister-in-law left home, she hid in the government office to be a cook. The two of them were very happy to reunite with each other. After that, brother-in-law resigned from his post and resumed his old job. That was how this beautiful story came about.”

“Some locals imitated Sister-in-law Song’s cooking method of West Lake Vinegar Fish and added local characteristics to this dish to make this West Lake delicacy.”

Zhang Liang nodded excitedly and said, “There’s also a poem that praises it: ‘The man gets drunk in his clogs and the sun shines on the terrace. There are so many boats swimming in front, half of them returning from the ponds and the moon. Why look for Zhang Han, the beauty and fish speaks of the

West Lake; To think that you have the ability to mediate, do you know Auntie Song from back then?”

The two of them made the expectations of the dish rise high in front of the camera. Xu Le was very clear that they definitely could not fail that day. It would be best if they succeeded in one go!

In the system, every step could be redone, but he could not rehearse in reality. There was no room for “redoing”.

“Marinate it for about ten minutes. In the pot, put in scallions, ginger, yellow wine, and salt. Place the fishbone facing down. After boiling water, transfer it to a small fire. You must not use boiling water to cook it, otherwise the fish meat will easily scatter. Cover it and stew it for about five minutes.”

Xu Le picked up another pot, added water and yellow wine, and said, “We’ll start mixing the sauce now. Add water, yellow wine, dark soya sauce, the appropriate amount of salt and 50 grams of sugar.”

Looking at Xu Le adding spoonful after spoonful of sugar, Shu Qi said in surprise, “Does a fish need so much sugar? Will it be too sweet?”

“It’s not much.”

Xu Le did everything according to the ratio on the recipe. There was definitely no mistake. He said, “It looks like a lot of white sugar, but it’s actually not even as much as the sugar content in a 500-ml bottle of coke.”

Xu Le stirred the sauce in the pot with a metal ladle and sprinkled a small amount of pepper powder before pouring the vinegar into the pot.

“This place uses Zhenjiang Old Vinegar and Shanxi Old Vinegar, so the smell of vinegar will be even stronger. You have to maintain at low heat or medium heat. This sauce must not be boiled with a huge fire. Otherwise, the smell of vinegar will be completely gone.”

The metal ladle continuously stirred within the pot. He looked at the color and said, “When it’s around this red color, you can start to thicken the gravy. If the color isn’t enough, then add some light soya sauce into it. If you add a small amount, you can adjust it to reach the desired color. When the sauce

starts to bubble, pour the corn starch and the starch sauce directly into it, and stir it until it’s thick enough…”

He lifted the metal ladle. The thick, bright sauce, like a line, connected the inside of the pot and the metal ladle.

“At this point, we can begin the next step. From now onwards, five minutes is just enough. The surface of the fish meat has slightly contracted. After it’s smothered successfully, the fish meat will be very tender, so we can’t use chopsticks to pick it up.”

Xu Le picked up a strainer and demonstrated while talking about the things to take note of. He said, “The ladle will gently slide down the side of the pot and wrap around the fish meat. Then, we will scoop it up gently and place it on the plate. The fish belly will be facing outwards. We can gently push the