Chapter 104 - Crispy Yam Duck (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The main purpose of Xu Le joining was to bring back the lost traditional cuisine to the screen and it would be best if it could become popular as a household dish again.

More than a dozen ducks were placed into the air-fryer coated with sauce. When the yam was almost grilled, they were taken out, and their skin were removed before being mashed.

Xu Le wore a pair of gloves and added the condiments one by one. He explained, “These are salt, white sugar, Five Fragrance Powder, as well as some baking powder. After adding them in and mixing them evenly, you can put them aside.”

“Now, let’s get into the most important step – frying the ducks.”

The duck, which had been air dried, was placed into the pot for deep-frying. The camera zoomed in as Xu Le used a spoon to pour some hot oil over the duck meat to make it fry more evenly. As he did this, he said, “Everyone, take a look. The surface of the duck meat is golden with a hint of brown. When it

has a crispy texture and looks glistening, you can fish it out, then repeat the same steps for the other ducks.”

“Although it has been fried, the taste has not seeped into the meat yet, so we still need to season it and continuing cooking it. I’ve added some huadiao wine here. At home, you can replace it with white wine or yellow wine.”

“Now, put these spices – onions, ginger, fragrant leaves, cloves, aniseed – in a pot that only has a small amount of oil and stir-fry until a fragrance is produced. Then, you can put them all in a pressure cooker to stew.”

Xu Le opened the pressure cooker and placed the duck inside. “The pressure cooker should have white sugar, dark soya sauce, salt, MSG, chicken essence, and the spices that were just stir-fried inside. Just cover the lid and add some boiling water. It’ll be fine after you start cooking the duck inside.”

Xu Le said each step very clearly. After the lid of the pressure cooker was closed, he reminded, “The first part is quite simple. At the very least, the steps from air-frying to stewing the duck would normally not go wrong, It will also taste delicious once it is cooked, but the main difficulty is the yam ring

outside.”

“Bring over the yam paste that was evenly distributed just now. Separate the wheat starch and com starch evenly in a ratio of 4: 3 and add boiling water over it before kneading it into a ball. When the surface is smooth, mix it evenly with the yam paste and add some lard.”

After finishing these steps, Xu Le wrapped the melted yam into a plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator to be frozen.

Half an hour later.

‘The duck meat in the pressure cooker was stewed until it was soft and tender, and the juices were rich. Just looking at it, it looked very appetizing.

Zhou Huangya let out a “wow” and swallowed her saliva as she looked at the crisp and alluring duck meat.

Xu Le cut the braised whole duck from the back. His sharp blade cut along the spine, trying to remove a large piece of intact duck skin.

He removed the bones and took out the flesh.

Xu Le said, “Now, we need to put on gloves and tear the duck meat apart. It has become very soft and mushy in the pot and can be torn into pieces with just a slight tear. Which one of you would like to do it?”

“TI do it!”

Zhou Huangya raised her hand in high spirits. While the camera was not focusing on her, she “openly” took a bite.

‘When the duck meat entered her mouth, there was no meat stench at all. The salty and fresh duck meat was overflowing with juice. It was tender and fresh. She widened her eyes and exclaimed, “I think just stewing it to this extent allows it to be directly served. It’s too delicious!”

The guests who thought that Xu Le couldn’t cook were all embarrassed, especially after tasting the duck meat.

“Oh my god, it smells so good!”

“The duck meat is not only soft but also chewy. How did he do that? That’s amazin,

Zhou Huangya reminded everyone, “This is only a semi-finished product. I’m really looking forward to what its final taste would be!”