I'm the Culinary God

After being comforted like that, Dundun immediately rubbed its head against Lin Xu's neck.

Then, a system notification sounded in Lin Xu's mind: "Host has comforted Dundun attentively, completing the hidden task [Pacify Beloved Pet], and obtained the Perfect Level braised dish: Braised Rabbit Meat. Congratulations to the host."

Holy cow! This was a hidden task? Luckily, I'd just consoled Dundun for a bit. Otherwise, I would have definitely missed out on such a great reward.

Although Lin Xu had seemed eager to try earlier, he actually wasn't proficient in cooking rabbit meat, and the system had never rewarded him with a similar recipe. He had only thought that as long as he added more chili and spices, the rabbit meat wouldn't taste bad. But now, after acquiring the Perfect Level Braised Rabbit Meat experience, he realized that this dish's cooking method was very particular; if not careful, it was easy to mess up.

For example, rabbit meat is quite lean and somewhat tough, with a very low fat content. It would be a big mistake to cook it with the usual concept of "cooking meat dishes as if they were vegetable dishes, and vegetable dishes as if they were meat dishes." Instead, this dish required lard. That way, the aroma would be richer, and the meat would become more fragrant, tender, and smooth. If vegetable oil were used, the rabbit meat would not only turn out dry and tough, but it would also seriously lack fragrance.

Moreover, rabbit meat has a strong gamey taste, especially wild rabbit, which has a rich, grassy gaminess. To make it taste good, one must use ingredients that remove gaminess and off-flavors. These included Angelica dahurica, White Cardamom, and White Pepper, as well as lemon, high-proof Liquor, and so forth. Only then could the rabbit meat be cooked to be fresh, fragrant, and delicious, suitable to accompany both drinks and rice.

After processing this information, Dundun, no longer looking scared in Lin Xu's arms, hopped down. It headed straight to the side of the sink, attempting to drag out the black fish. However, with a flick of its tail, the black fish splashed water all over Dundun.

Lin Xu sighed. Back to being a bratty kid again, huh?

He didn't bother with the little guy but walked into the kitchen on his own to start preparing the rabbit.

Alright, since I already have the recipe, let's get started. It would be perfect to see what's different about Braised Rabbit Meat made with a Perfect Level recipe.

First, he chopped the rabbit into large pieces with a cleaver. Then, he soaked them in cold water. This would remove the gaminess and also make the meat moister and more tender.

While soaking the rabbit meat, Lin Xu trimmed a piece of meat from one of the rabbit's legs. He would steam it in the pot for a bit to give Dundun a taste. Having just received the Perfect Level Braised Rabbit Meat recipe from Dundun, it wouldn't be right not to reward it.

Right, not only will I reward it with rabbit meat, but I'll also give Dundun some black fish on Grandma's birthday. I'll let this little fellow truly experience the joy of eating meat.

Once the piece of rabbit meat for Dundun was steaming, Lin Xu checked on the air-drying wild fruits. He noticed their surfaces had mostly dried, except for the stems and the parts touching the bamboo basket, which were still slightly damp, so he flipped each fruit over.

Having finished that, he began preparing the ingredients needed for the Braised Rabbit Meat. He gathered several scallion segments, a few slices of ginger, several cloves of garlic, a large handful of dried chili pieces, a pinch of Sichuan peppercorns, some chili rings cut from Hang peppers and Erjingtiao chilies, and various other spices.

Once everything was ready, he fished the rabbit meat out of the water. After draining the rabbit meat briefly, he placed the wok on the stove. He heated the wok, then swirled in some cold oil to coat it—a technique to prevent sticking—before adding a large spoonful of lard.

Soon, the oil was hot. Lin Xu added the scallion segments, ginger, and garlic to the wok, frying them until fragrant before adding the rabbit meat and beginning to stir-fry. The heat for this step needed to be high. This would ensure that any off-flavors in the rabbit meat evaporated from the meat along with moisture, driven out by the high-temperature oil.

When the surface of the rabbit meat had slightly changed color, he added the prepared spices and dried chilies. He continued to stir-fry, allowing the aromatic flavors to quickly penetrate the meat and further eliminate any gaminess. When the spicy fragrance was prominent, he poured some high-proof Liquor down the side of the wok. Using the volatility of the alcohol, he continued to eliminate the gaminess of the rabbit meat. After this step, most of the meat's off-flavors had been eliminated.

Next, he added Braised Soy Sauce and water, covered the wok with a lid, and let it simmer slowly.

As it simmered, Shi Wenming remarked with a sigh from the side, "No wonder the rabbit I stewed before didn't taste good! Turns out this stuff needs lard. I've learned another trick from you, Nephew."

Lin Xu replied with a smile, "For dishes with low-fat ingredients like this, you need to use lard or beef tallow—it's about making meat dishes with animal fats. Remember when I cooked fish? I used lard then too."

In cooking, you have to learn to adjust the oil flexibly based on the ingredients. When ingredients are naturally fatty, use vegetable oil or no oil at all, letting their own fats render out. When the ingredients are too lean or lack fragrance, use lard. If you want to enhance umami, you can even use chicken fat. Some specific dishes, like the less-common 'It Resembles Honey,' even require Sesame Oil for cooking.

While the rabbit meat stewed, Lin Xu took the nearly-dry wild fruits to prepare fruit vinegar.

There are two types of fruit vinegar: one is for beverages, and the other is for cooking.

So-called beverage vinegar uses vinegars with a simple flavor profile, like White Vinegar or Rice Vinegar, as a base. Fruits, white sugar, Honey, and other ingredients are then added to brew. The resulting fruit vinegar is sweet and sour, and can be drunk directly or diluted with water.

Cooking vinegar, on the other hand, is brewed from washed fruits fermented in a sealed container. Although this type of vinegar has a fruity flavor, its acidity is much stronger. It's not suitable for drinking directly and should only be used sparingly in cooking.