Chapter 100: The Ingredients Aren’t Wild this Time
Author: Black Lantern (黑色花灯)
Link: https://book.qidian.com/info/1009922190
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Gumihou: A Culinary Crime has been committed. Please reread the chapter after Gumi’s many Rants to understand all the cringe-worthy scenes.
When they heard that Ye Fei was going to cook two dishes live today, without anyone’s prompting, rewards and gifts began to overwhelm the monitor.
The most arrogant gifters were 8-Treasure Cuisine and I Am a Foodie. These two fellows starting gifts were cruise ships and luxury planes. They were so super arrogant that the less wealthy people had no envy at all, feeling only admiration for them
Tasting Everything Under Heaven was also sending one luxury plane one after another, causing people to become speechless.
As for Tao Tie, that fellow who always likes to be part of the fun, he did not show up today.
The others swiped whatever they could. Those with money would throw out sports cars and planes, and those with less money sending out lollipops and applause.
Gifts of different values soon flooded the entire screen.
Ye Fei was ignorant of this. In his hand, he held out the white and tender cube of tofu, random trivia about this tofu flashed through his mind. After scanning through them quickly, he began to introduce one of the main star ingredients of the day.
“Tofu is actually a very general term.”
“If fact, if one were to divide this ingredient into sub-categories, we will find there are soft tofu, firm tofu and rice tofu etc.”
“Soft tofu generally refers to southern tofu, which uses gypsum as a coagulant. However, the amount of gypsum used is very small, producing a tofu that is tender, soft and white as snow. It also has a much higher water content. Some soft tofu is so well-made that if we place a cut piece on the table, it would not stop wobbling.”
“Old tofu, or firm tofu, generally refers to northern tofu and uses brine as a coagulant. The resulting tofu is rougher and firmer in texture. Firm tofu is generally yellower in colour, when cut open, some tofu even has holes inside them.”
“When making Mapo Tofu, the most commonly used tofu would be the tender southern tofu. This tofu in my hand is made from soybeans grown at the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The soybeans produced in this area are-”
Tasting Everything Under Heaven interrupted Ye Fei’s introduction with a shout, “Deity Ye, are the soybeans used to make this tofu collected from the wild?”
Ye Fei smiled, “The soybeans used to make this tofu is not wild-grown. Although many wild-grown plants are more nutritious than their domesticated counterpart, [1] wild soybeans are mainly used for medicinal purposes. They could cure night sweats [2], indigestion in children, lower back pain and other symptoms. On the other hand, cultivated soybeans are mainly used as food.
Although geographically speaking, soybeans could be grown in a very wide range of weather conditions and elevations, soybeans are best grown under certain conditions. The soybeans for this piece of tofu is grown under controlled temperatures between 15 to 17 degrees during its germination period. Soybeans have the highest germination rate around this temperature.
The soybean pods are later picked at around 25 to 28 degrees. That is when the pods are plump and round and filled with bean juice. One could say that tofu made from these best soybeans would definitely result in the best tofu.”
“F*ck, I know that Deity Ye uses top-quality ingredients. Just look at that piece of tofu, it’s so white and tender. Even without any extra condiments, I can probably eat a hole peace by myself,: Tasting Everything Under Heaven announced into the mike.
Ye Fei smiled as he carefully placed the tender white tofu onto a white porcelain plate. Then, he opened a different compartment and took out a piece of meat. The mean was brilliant red and tender looking, streaked with white lines, looking like a piece of top-quality marble. However, anyone with eyes could see that the meat was so tender that they could see meat juice sticking beading on the outside.
“Beef?” said Tasting Everything Under Heaven.
Ye Fei nodded with a smile, “That’s right. Today, we shall be making Mapo Tofu. For the minced meat, we shall use Japan’s A5 Wagyu beef [3].
The channel exploded into excited activity at this bombshell.
“F*ck me, wagyu? Moreover, such a big piece? That… that tofu is great but surely this piece of beef must be worth a whole lot more?!”
“Wagyu, a. That thing is sold by the grams, you know? It’s not an exaggeration to say that this thing is worth its weight in gold. It’s too expensive.”
“But, you can’t deny that it has the best flavour among all the top-quality beef. I was lucky to try a wagyu steak once when I was in Japan. Your mom, it was so delicious I wished I could just lick the place clean. It was simply too good.”
“Yi? Isn’t Mapo Tofu usually made with pork? Why did Deity Ye use beef?”
“That’s right, ah? I heard that Mapo Tofu is usually made with pork.”
Ye Fei held up the piece of wagyu and said, “There is no strict limit to the type and quality of meat for Mapo Tofu. You may use pork, beef or any other kind of meat. However, let me tell you, the original Mapo Tofu [4] uses beef, not pork. Naturally, it was not made with wagyu but just ordinary yellow beef. When matched with beef, the Mapo Tofu produced would be absolutely unique.
As for the Wagyu Beef, I think no further introduction is necessary. As someone who loves food, who doesn’t know about this famous beef? In terms of breeding, raising and slaughtering, every step of the procedure is extremely strict. Even the cowshed must face a particular direction. This is the noblest of beef, the beef of aristocrats. Extremely expensive and extremely delicious. Today, we shall use this Wagyu Beef to make minced meat part of the Mapo Tofu.”
Done speaking, Ye Fei placed the beef on another white porcelain plate and then took out the rest of the ingredients from another compartment.
These included: chilli powder, pepper, garlic, onion, bean paste, soy sauce, starch etc.
Finally, he took out the cooking out. This cooking oil was different from the ones he had used before. A golden colour cooking oil stored in a flat, oval transparent bottle. The content looks like it would weigh about a catty. There was nothing outside the bottle, not even a label.
“What kind of oil is that?”
Everyone was immediately intrigued by this oil. After all, Ye Fei usually uses either Rose Oil or the All Natural Pure Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This was the first time they see Ye Fei use a third kind of oil.
Therefore, how could they not be curious?
Ye Fei raised the bottle in his hand and said, “Everyone should be familiar with this kind of oil. It’s the commonly used peanut oil. There are many more kinds of oils that are even more expensive than peanut oil and tasted much better, but let me tell you, the most suitable oil for making Mapo Tofu is peanut oil. For some delicacies, the more expensive the oil you use, the better, but ultimately, the most [5] appropriate is the best.”
“As for this bottle of peanut oil…” at this, the smile on Ye Fei’s face grew wry. Your mom, why did that damned System have to be so over the top? It’s just a bottle of peanut oil, do you have to go all out like this?
“To make this bottle of peanut oil, some very strict conditions must be met. The peanuts used must be the unique Redskin Bee Waist Peanuts, which must then be pressed using the most primitive, purely [6] manual pressing technology. Moreover, only the first drop of each peanut, considered to be the purest, is gathered. The processing is closer to extracting the pure essential oil of peanuts. To make this bottle of peanut oil, a total of 3,815 peanuts are used. All of these peanuts are specially selected and individually inspected as only the plumpest and most perfect groundnut is used to make this oil. Hehe… I won’t say more, but let everyone have a whiff of it later.”
“F*ck, sh*t, f*ck! Deity Ye is really interesting. To use such awesome peanut oil to make Mapo Tofu live for us, he’s a true and honest person, ah.”
“Deity Ye, let me have this bottle of peanut oil. I want to drink it. I want to gulp it all down.”
“Pffftt~~ upstairs, don’t be stupid. If you dare to drink this oil, daddy will prepare a five-star luxury toilet for you. Let you stay there for three days and three nights.”
“Hah?”
“Slippery guts, ah, your sis. It would be shocking if you don’t shit yourself to death.”
“Oh, uh, I won’t drink it.”
“I shall say it now, the oil Deity Ye uses, I have some for sale.”
“F*ck, what’s this advertisement?!”
“Beat him!”
“Smack him!”
“Spray him!”
“… cough, cough, aren’t we all civilized people here? I think it’s fine to just slap him a little.”
“Yes, yes, yes, slap him!”
“Slap him hard! Slap him until he turns into a pile of ashes!!”
“I really do have some for sale, just not as good quality.”
“Enough with your nonsense, just F off!!”
The crowds were cheerfully quarrelling and dissing each other and rewards were swiped left and right without interruption.
As Ye Fei’s channel was covered with reward items, he picked up a slender-looking kitchen knife. Then, he moved the tender white tofu from the porcelain plate to the cutting board, and began cut into it…
[Gumihou: Honestly, I cringed so hard at many parts of this chapter]
[1] Wild Soybeans – Is the common name for ‘Glycine soja’
Who knows whether this is the ‘wild soy’ author is talking about or is just an imagined fantasy ingredient.
https://ocj.com/2015/12/wild-soybean-breeding/
[2] Night sweats – heavy sweating during sleepMay be a symptom of an underlying condition or illness
[3] Culinary Crime: Minced… wagyu?My advice? Do not.
If minced anyway? Carefully pat the minced meat into a patty with cold hands, or better yet, butter paddles so that your hands don’t touch it or the fat will melt away, taking the flavour of the beef away with it.
Once you have your patty, put it into the fridge and set up your skillet to sear each side briefly and make yourself a wagyu burger. Alternatively, dunk it in breadcrumbs and make beef menchi katsu-
You know what? Forget about the beef menchi katsu, I had beef menchi katsu made with 100% beef (not Wagyu) once and it’s hella greasy and squishy. DO NOT Recommend.
In fact, I’ve had Wagyu Salisbury Steaks (Hambaagu).
NOT Recommend. Hella squishy.
I prefer the ‘cheap’ Australian beef Hambaagu (199 yen), wagyu hambaagu is 1099 yen.
It’s a personal preference, I like meat to be chewy, not drinkable.
Erk.
Anyway, if you stir-fry minced wagyu on a pan, you’ll probably have less than half of the beef left and at least a litre of tallow. I guess you can make fragrant fried rice with the tallow.
https://thetakeout.com/drew-magary-ruins-wagyu-steak-1827996474
This recipe is a nope for me. It’s a waste of good wagyu meat and the very example of wrong ingredient for the wrong recipe. Especially since you’re going to cover the signature wagyu taste with strong mapo sauce and deplete its flavour by cooking all the tallow out anyway.
What a sinful waste
[4] Origin of Mapo Tofuhttps://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2015-09/06/content_21798522.htm
‘the original Mapo Tofu [4] uses beef not pork’
Gumihou: I don’t believe you. Cows are beasts of burden and would not be easily used as food. So, no. I don’t believe you.
Using wagyu to make Mapo Tofu just smacks of nouveaux riche. Like using top-quality olive oil to fry- ah, I see a pattern here.
[5] The irony…＼| ￣ヘ￣|／
[6] I guess he means ‘cold pressing’ with a stone grinder?There’s really nothing too special about the ‘primitive technology’. It’s just stone grinding the peanuts into peanut butter and then waiting for the oil to rise on its own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8OL94YdA-c
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