Translator: Atlas StudiosEditor: Atlas Studios

After the Gardenia fruits boiled the soup, he served it.

The color of the soup had already turned golden yellow. Xu Le lifted the lid of the stew pot. The chicken meat was tender white in color and the meat was firm. The stew was almost ready.

He picked up the pot and poured oil into it, preparing to stir-fry with sugar. He said, “Stir-frying with sugar is basically a must-have skill of every family. I won’t say too much. Remember to pour the Gardenia water in immediately after the smoke emerges and it has turned brown color.”

With a whoosh, the kitchen was filled with the fragrances of the soup as the fumehood operated.

“The color is golden red when it has succeeded. That’s right, when you scoop it up with a spoon, it’s bright red and clear.”

Xu Le turned and demonstrated to the camera. He added the soup base into the pot and ten chickens floated. When he added half of the soup base into the pot, they were immediately colored.

“As long as the chicken floats up, it means that it’s already cooked. First, add the soup base, then add the Gardenia water, and then add 150 grams of salt. By then, the taste is almost there.”

“At this time, we need to add another handful of rock sugar. This is because apart from the fragrance, the spices also have some bitterness. We will add sugar to neutralize the bitterness according to one’s personal taste.”

He sprinkled some rock sugar and closed the lid.

“Stew over a small fire for another 40 minutes, then turn off the fire and let the chicken taste seep in.”

Xu Le looked up at the clock on the wall and said, “We have to stew it for two to three hours before the fragrance can permeate through. We have to use this time to prepare the other chicken.”

“There’s still more chicken?”

Alex was in disbelief. “How many chickens did you buy?”

“Not much.” Bai Xiaoming looked up to the sky and sighed. “More than 30, nearly 40.”

Alex asked in doubt, “Can you sell them out today? The new dishes have not been advertised yet.”

Zhou Huangya pointed at Xu Le and said smugly, “Our living signboard is standing here. As long as we say that he made it, it will be sold out. Don’t worry about it.”

Alex frowned, still in disbelief. “Can you really cook?” He asked.

“When I demonstrated the process just now, you were standing beside me.”

After Xu Le answered calmly, he looked up at him and said, “You’re here today to record my cooking process, not to evaluate it. Besides, you haven’t tasted it yet.”

“That’s right! I didn’t even taste it. I definitely don’t believe that you can cook well. Open the lid of the pot and get me a chicken to try.”

“It’s not stewed yet. Do you want to eat raw meat?”

‘Xu Le was taking out the chicken meat from the fridge that he had mixed with salt last night and handed it to Alex.

He wasn’t afraid of causing trouble, but was even more afraid of offending people. After being rebuked by the child’s strong attitude, Alex couldn’t help but weaken his attitude. “You’ll be dumbfounded later. Just wait, I’ll definitely expose you!”

Zhou Huangya could not stand it anymore. She rolled her eyes, covered the wheat, and complained softly, “The ignorant are fearless.”

“What are you talking about? I’m the editor-in-chief. Do you believe that I’ll write you in?”

Alex rushed forward again. This time, no one paid any attention to him. He spoke arrogantly, and after saying a few crazy words, he stood obediently by the table and watched as Xu Le started to prepare the sesame oil chicken.

“I marinated the butter chicken last night. It’s been about 12 hours since then. Everyone can marinate it a night in advance at home. It’ll be more flavorful.”

The manager, Bai Xiaoming, exclaimed, “Oh my god, we were all sleeping last night. Yet you woke up and marinated dozens of chickens?”

“It’s alright. It only takes me about 10 minutes.” Xu Le added, “You just need to apply yellow wine and salt on the surface of the chicken and add some green onions.”

“Many spices from the previous dish can still be used. Here, I have also prepared some seasonings, nutmeg, white kernel, orange peel, aniseed, yellow gardenia, and tsaoko.”

There were many spices on the table. The last dish consisted of fragrant leaves, cloves, angelician root, ginger, grass fruit, fennel, onions, ginger, and vegetable oil.

Xu Le washed a handful of green coriander and said, “The main focus of the Sesame Oil Chicken is the spicy and numbing taste. There are two types of chili here. The two types of pepper are: Arrowhead, Starry Chili, Red Flower Pepper, and Sesame Pepper.”

Chili peppers were the soul of this dish. Sesame Oil Chicken was one of the authentic Sichuan Cuisine. It was a local delicacy. After it was prepared, it should be spicy and fragrant, refreshing and suitable for the stomach.

After pouring some vegetable oil into the pot and heating it up to 30 to 40% hot, he added scallions, ginger slices and finally coriander. After a little color, the fragrance was stimulated.

“When the condiments are golden brown, you can pour the chili inside.”

As Xu Le stir-fried, he increased the strength of the fumehood. When the chili was ready, he poured it out immediately.

“Add in the spices and two types of pepper that were prepared just now and directly stew it in the pot for half an hour. Remember to take out the seeds in advance. Otherwise, it will be bitter and affect the taste of the entire pot of sauce.”

“That sounds logical, he’s quite professional.”

Alex teased from the side.

After cooking the sauce chicken for 40 minutes, Xu Le turned off the fire and started to let the taste fuse with the meat.

“Add salt, chicken powder, and more oyster sauce to the soup base. The light soya sauce enhances flavor, and also add fermented sauce.”

As soon as the lid was lifted, the smell made Alex step back. The smell of fermented sauce was the same as the smell of coriander. Those who liked it would eat it for every meal. Those who didn’t like it would run away just by smelling it.

“What is this thing? It stinks!”

Alex mumbled to himself, but he couldn’t hold back his curiosity. He came over and asked, “Will it taste good to add this to the soup?”

“It can enhance the freshness. You won’t be able to taste it after it’s cooked.” Xu Le added another spoonful of bright yellow stuff and said, “Lastly, add some chicken oil and a little sugar. Then, the soup can be boiled with a lid.”

“Now, let’s deal with the chicken. This has already been marinated in advance. We just need to pour cold water into the pot and add scallions, ginger, and garlic to remove the fishy smell. After blanching for about ten minutes, froth will appear on the surface, so you need to remove the impurities.”

Once the time was up, Xu Le immediately brought the chicken under the tap to cool it down. After passing through cold and hot, the chicken skin would tighten and the texture would become more solid.

After the chicken was rinsed with cold water, Xu Le started to demonstrate while saying, “Get a portion of pepper and spices out of the seasoning that was made just now and stuff them into the chicken’s stomach from the back. There are spices inside and outside the chicken’s stomach and they will add

on to the flavor. After stuffing them in, break off the chicken feet and stuff them into the stomach as stuffing.”

“Tsk tsk, how cruel.” Alex interrupted at an inappropriate time. “Have you considered the feelings of the chicken?”

Xu Le was speechless for a moment. “You can ask him.”

Alex would not do something so stupid. He knew that Xu Le was mocking him. He snorted and said, “I don’t know who will be embarrassed later. Anyway, it’s not me.”

“Mmm.” Xu Le could not be bothered to argue with him, He called the people in the kitchen to help stuff the chicken’s stomach with spices..