"Hah!"
With a soft shout from Dylan, "Pojun" from the Seven Star Knives left its sheath, directly piercing the halibut's head, stopping its constant thrashing and splitting it in half.
Immediately afterward, the "Lianzhen Knife" also sprang out, dancing gracefully in the air, removing the bones from the halved halibut. The "Wenqu Knife" scraped off its scales and removed the skin, setting it aside for later use.
The deboned and skinned fish meat was cut into small cubes the size of chopstick heads. It was rinsed in cold water to remove any residual blood and impurities, and finally squeezed dry in cheesecloth.
This step required skillful force. Although a lot of strength was used, it was crucial to ensure that the fish meat didn't break apart. It was a truly skillful dish.
The drained fish meat was placed on the cutting board, and a kitchen knife was used to gently chop it. This was the biggest difference between fish lion's head and fish balls!
Making fish balls only required continuous pounding with an iron rod to turn the fish meat into a paste and develop its elasticity. Fish lion's head, on the other hand, involved chopping the fish meat into small cubes without breaking them.
This made it easier for the flavors to penetrate while increasing the fish meat's stickiness, making it easier to emulsify during the subsequent whisking.
Water chestnuts were smashed and cut into small pieces, about a quarter of the amount of fish meat. Too many would affect the shaping of the lion's head.
Salt, yellow wine, pepper, and one-third of the scallion-ginger water were added to the fish cubes, and they were quickly whisked clockwise using the strength of the wrist.
The rotating force was used here as well, the White Python Twisting Chain technique, which could not only be used for dough but also applied to various types of cooking.
Studying techniques, mastering techniques, if one only knew how to mechanically apply them without understanding how to adapt and use them flexibly, they would be destined never to become a special-grade chef in this lifetime!
Watching the fish cubes in the large bowl quickly emulsify and become sticky, Dylan continued to add another third of the scallion-ginger water. This was repeated three times until the fish meat reached the standard for making lion's head.
This was somewhat different from pork. Pork would emulsify after a few stirs, while fish meat required the chef's care and persistence. Therefore, not many people were willing to try it, and even fewer succeeded in making it.
At least, Dylan hadn't encountered fish lion's head on the menu of any restaurant outside so far, and he hadn't even heard of it.
The emulsification of the fish meat was the most important step in making fish lion's head, and also the most difficult and time-consuming step.
Egg white and starch could be added here to help the lion's head form faster, but Dylan didn't do so to highlight the freshness of the sea fish.
Adding egg white would increase the turbidity of the soup, and adding starch would affect the taste of the fish lion's head. Although the impact was very small, there was still an impact!
The difference between glowing-level cuisine and continuous glowing cuisine lay in these small details. Only by fully grasping their characteristics could truly top-notch cuisine be created!
Of course, with Dylan's current abilities, he was only extremely close to the limit. He still had a long way to go to create the invincible supreme delicacy.
Of course, even so, dealing with the chefs of this world was still easy for him.
After all, special-grade chefs in this world seemed to be the pinnacle, the top of the food chain, while Dragon Chefs were something beyond legend.
The Dragon Chefs of this world were different from the Dragon Chefs of Chuuka Ichiban. The Dragon Chefs of "Chuuka Ichiban" were imperial chefs, essentially still special-grade chefs.
But the Dragon Chefs of this world were truly above special-grade. Even imperial chefs of the British royal family like Tote were only recognized as five-star special-grade chefs internationally.
However, even a five-star special-grade chef was considered absolutely upper-class in this world, which was why the other party was so surprised when Dylan refused the conditions proposed by Lancy John.
"One halibut is just enough to make three halibut lion's heads."
Dividing the fish meat in the large bowl into three equal portions, Dylan took out a bucket pot, added water, and heated it to a temperature between 60-80 degrees Celsius to poach them. This could also be called nurturing, allowing the long cooking time to give the lion's heads a unique flavor.
Picking up the three balls of fish meat from the bowl, he dipped his hands in ice water and quickly shaped the fish meat into lion's heads the size of a fist.
Once the lion's heads were formed, they could be directly placed into the pot. He stirred the warm water in the pot with a spoon to ensure that the lion's heads didn't stick to each other, and then added scallions, ginger, and yellow wine to give the soup a base flavor.
"Master, lemon slices."
"Not bad, you actually predicted what I was thinking. How did you know I wanted to add lemon?"
Looking at Alice Nakiri, who had casually sliced two lemons for him while chopping vegetables, Dylan was a bit surprised and also somewhat gratified. This kid had really learned something!
"Don't underestimate me, okay? You taught me this knowledge point before. The acidity of lemon can effectively remove the fishy smell of fish. Although this is sea fish, it will still have a bit of a fishy smell. Lemon will be just right and can also add layers of flavor."
Alice Nakiri smiled slyly, obviously very satisfied with Dylan's surprise, or rather, excited about being able to help!
"Not bad, not bad, you've hit the nail on the head. I'll leave one for you to taste later. You probably haven't eaten this dish before.
The remaining two will be just one for each of them, so they won't fight over an extra one. It's simply a brilliant idea!"
Dylan casually found a lame excuse to leave the extra halibut lion's head for Alice Nakiri, beautifully naming it "so they won't fight over the dish."
"Ah? These are ingredients brought by the customers. Wouldn't it be a bit bad if we secretly eat them..."
Hearing Dylan's words, Alice Nakiri couldn't help but hesitate. As a chef, secretly eating the customers' food seemed a bit immoral no matter how she thought about it!
"Nonsense! How can a chef's actions be called secretly eating? This is called tasting. Do you want to serve bad-tasting food to the customers?
In some high-end hotels, the head chef generally doesn't cook, but they are responsible for tasting before serving to ensure that the dishes meet the serving standards. This cannot be called secretly eating."
Hearing Alice Nakiri's righteous words, Dylan's face turned a bit red, but he still put on a serious look and began to educate her.
In the culinary world, there was never such a thing as secretly eating. Clearly it was tasting, but it was misunderstood by others. Sometimes chefs really felt more wronged than Dou E.
"I see, I was ignorant."
Hearing Dylan's words, Alice Nakiri showed a look of sudden realization. It seemed she had misunderstood those chefs before. This was called tasting.
"You can't say that someone is secretly eating when you go to other people's kitchens in the future, otherwise they will definitely get angry with you. It's very impolite, understand?"
Dylan patiently persuaded her, very satisfied with her changed attitude. This was how a high-level chef should be!
"Understood!"
Looking at Dylan skimming the foam from the halibut lion's head soup, Alice Nakiri nodded emphatically, indicating that she understood.
She had learned something new again today. It was truly a fulfilling day!
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