The Fine Food Broadcaster

Link: https://book.qidian.com/info/1009922190

Proofread by Pill Bug

Gumihou: This chapter is probably best called Crime Against Wagyu

As rewards covered the sky that was Ye Fei’s broadcasting channel, Ye Fei gently scored the surface of the tofu. When he stepped back, one could see that the tofu had been neatly divided into two.

Then, he lifted his knife again and in a sudden flash of Kungfu, the tofu tumbled across the board in precise 2cm x 2cm x 2cm cubes, no more, no less.

“F*ck, did Deity Ye measure out this tofu in advance? Why does it look like all the tofu cubes are the same size?”

“Truly, ah. If Deity Ye did not measure the tofu out in advance, then, it must be that his knife skill is just that awesome, ah.”

“What do you mean just that awesome? It’s incredibly awesome, ah.”

“Not only the knife skills, but the eyes must be sharp too. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to make such even cuts.”

“This piece of tofu reminds me of Deity Ye’s second dish. The Cola Tofu. The tofu back then was the Spring Snow Tofu with beans watered with water from the Bai Ma River. Although this one is not the Spring Snow, I think the quality is not inferior, ah. Look, you can see that the tofu is as smooth as a mirror and incredibly tender. Just looking makes you want to eat it.”

“Same.”

“Same +1”

“+2”

Ye Fei had just started using his knife. Some of the more knowledgeable viewers could see that although Ye Fei rarely showed off his knife skills, he was in fact, very skilled.

That’s because if his skills were not good, it would be impossible for him to cut the tofu so neatly.

After cutting the tofu, he did not mess with them anymore. That’s because the tofu pieces were too small. If placed too close together or stacked on top of each other, it would be easy for the tofu to deform or break.

Ye Fei had set a pot on the stove with half a pot of water and set it to boil. He also added a bit of salt into it. Once the water started boiling, he carefully slid the tofu cubes into the boiling water.

This step is called Tofu Blanching. Salt water can remove the slightly  bean smell of tofu and remove some of the water without damaging them, thus stabilising the tofu’s structure.

However, this step should not take too long. Otherwise, the tofu would be overcooked and the overall flavour of Mapo Tofu would be affected. It would also be difficult for the tofu to absorb the Mapo Tofu sauce.

Ye Fei blanched the tofu for just over a minute before removing them with a colander.

Next, he carefully spread them out on a large white porcelain plate and set them aside.

He also poured out the water from the pot.

Now, it was time to tackle the A5 Wagyu beef. First, he used a long thin knife to make 38 horizontal cuts on the meat, cutting it into similar slices before slowly chopping it.

One must pay extreme attention when chopping beef, especially high-class beef. That’s because of the much higher level of meat juice inside the meat. Therefore, to maintain the juices inside the meat, [1] care must be taken to make sure that the juices are not squeezed out when chopping the meat, otherwise, the fragrance and flavour of the meat would be greatly reduced.

Ye Fei started chopping slowly at first, and after some time, as the beef became more shredded, he picked up speed.

Finally, the only thing people could hear in the channel was the sound blade colliding with the chopping board. It was not very loud. One could hear that the blade only lightly touched the board before separating.

Sha sha sha sha ~~

The sound was like silkworms chewing on mulberry leaves, like the rain scattering lightly over a forest. The sound was incomparably beautiful, making people feel like they were enjoying a piece of high-quality music.

“Goodness me, ah. Every cut makes the same sound, the knife only lightly strikes the chopping board. That means the knife sliced through the beef very quickly and retracts very swiftly. This skill is incredibly extraordinary, ah.”

“The sound of chopping meat is so beautiful. This is the first time I enjoy such a sound, it is like listening to a classic by a world master.”

“Even the sound of large and small pearls falling on a jade plate could not be compared. This sound is just too beautiful.”

“Deity Ye’s knife skill… just how many years has he trained, ah?”

“Without 8 or 10 years of training, there is no way you could move your knife so consistently. Every cut, every impact is perfectly uniform. No ordinary human can do that.”

“I think so too. I once had the displeasure of seeing a one-star chef chop something. The hollow ‘kuang kuang’ sound was so annoyingly loud that I nearly went over and smashed his cutting board.”

“Look, Deity Ye is done mincing the meat.”

While everyone was chatting with each other, Ye Fei was already cleaning his knife. He was really done chopping. Then, with a large chopping knife, he scraped up the minced meat and plopped it into a white porcelain bowl. That was when everyone noticed something amazing once more.

Ye Fei’s cutting board was clean, there was no meat juice on it at all [1a].

[1b] What does this show?

[1c] First, it shows that Ye Fei’s knife is very sharp. So sharp that it cuts through the beef so easily that not even a drop of meat juice was squeezed out.

Second, it shows that whenever Ye Fei was cutting or mincing the meat, the amount of strength he uses was just right.

“Your mom, this is too frightening, ba? How could this be?”

“Aiyo, my Gawd, I only knew about Deity Ye’s propensity for exquisite ingredients, I never paid much attention to his knife skills. Today, I discovered that Deity Ye’s knife skills are absolutely astounding, ah.”

“In fact, there’s nothing really astonishing about it, a top-level chef must at least have top-level knife skills to be at the top, right?”

Once the beef had been chopped, Ye Fei set it aside and went on to mince the onion, ginger, garlic and some fermented soybeans [2].

In fact, the use of fermented soybeans in Mapo Tofu is very particular. If you see a whole bean inside your dish, that means the dish has failed!

All of the fermented soybeans must be sliced into strips so that their unique aroma would be released at a maximum rate.

Ye Fei patiently cut all the fermented soybeans into strips. The process took even longer than cutting tofu.

Once the prep work was completed, he placed the ingredients separately on a white porcelain tray.

Next, he took a wok out from a cabinet and placed it on the stove. After turning on the fire, Ye Fei poured half a catty of the peanut oil into it.

The oil flowed soundlessly into the pot, but soon, an overbearing aroma appeared [3].

A golden light flashed quietly above the wok, and suddenly, the entire channel exploded into chaos.

“F*ck, so fragrant.”

“Is this peanut oil? Why is it so much more fragrant than the peanut oil I used?”

“Gulp, you know, I’m willing to drink this bottle of peanut oil.”

“Hey, Upstairs. You’re not afraid of slippery guts?”

“Afraid, ah. But I still want to drink it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Haha, although peanut oil is good, it’s best not to be too greedy, oh.”

As soon as the smell of this top-quality peanut oil appeared, it immediately conquered the nose and stomachs of everyone within the channel. Soon, everyone was licking their lips.

When the oil reached the ideal temperature, Ye Fei poured the minced beef into it.

As soon as the minced meat hit the oil, it began to sizzle and flow out in all directions.

“Woah, I can’t stand it anymore. I really can’t.”

“Is this the aroma of Wagyu Beef? Your mom, Daddy suddenly wants to commit a crime, ah. That’s right, a crime against Wagyu cow. This smell is just too… gulp

“Aiyo, each time Deity Ye makes something, I feel like I’m about to be flattened. Could only look but not eat, Daddy is about to die, ah.”

“As soon as that bottle of top-quality peanut oil appeared, daddy wants to commit a crime, ah.”

“Draw! Draw! Draw! Hurry up and spin the Wheel! I must go to Deity Ye’s side. I want to eat top-notched food!”

“Uuh~~ hey, whoever manages to win, give me a PM. We can chat privately together, so long as you are willing to give me the win, conditions can be met.”

The fellow who made this statement ended up waiting for a long time, but nobody PMed him…

The minced meat was fried until it turned golden brown [4]. At this point, Ye Fei did not put any seasoning into the meat, not even cooking wine. He just dry-fried the Wagyu Beef.

After frying the beef, he removed it and placed the beef into a bowl. Then, Ye Fei did something that nearly made everyone in the channel explode…

[Gumihou: I already nearly explode many times…]

[1] Yeeahhhh…. About that.

Wagyu’s favour comes from fat, and wagyu is so fatty that it would sweat fat at room temperature. This melted fat is so delicious that you can wipe a piece of bread in the ‘sweat’ and eat it just like that. (beef butter, lol)

[1a] Therefore, even if you did nothing to the meat and let it sit on the board, it will leave ‘meat juice’ or ‘meat sweat’, especially if it’s the famous A5 wagyu beef.

So, a very nope moment for Gumi.

[1b] It shows that Ye Fei’s been cutting something that’s not meat. It’s probably legos or something similar.

[1c] It shows that Ye Fei’s knife is probably made from ice, because the fat is frozen into the meat the moment he cut into it.

Pillbug: Lol, this knife? https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=275269639528076

[2] It is unclear whether 豆豉here refers to Tempeh or Dou chi (preserved soybeans)

Both uses the same Chinese characters. In fact it should be black soybeans, but for this line:

‘豆豉 should be cut into long strips so that its unique aroma could be maximized’

After some thought, went with Fermented Soybeans instead of Tempeh

Dou chi – preserved soybeans

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004E55SDG/

Tempeh – traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans. Said to predate Chinese-stye tofu products.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh

Recipes using the mysterious ingredient that is not tempeh

https://home.meishichina.com/recipe-96681.html

[3] Dear, since you used ‘primitive technology’ which is probably cold pressing, this means your peanuts are not roasted. Unroasted peanuts will yield neutral flavoured oil. So, it is impossible for your oil to have an ‘overbearing aroma’

[4] Gumi has a question. The question is How?

Unless you cover beef with flour or starch, it is impossible to fry wagyu until ‘golden brown’ especially minced wagyu

https://thetakeout.com/drew-magary-ruins-wagyu-steak-1827996474

This guy fried some wagyu, take a look at them. They are hideous black things.

o_-? The only smell I recognize is the slightly sourish one when the tofu is too old. Fishy?