Chapter 178: Fragrant White Rice
Since she had already arrived in the kitchen, Xiang Chuan decided to go all out.
Whatever! Eating white rice is more important first!
Steaming white rice doesn’t require extra equipment and materials; just water and a pot are enough, but…
Xiang Chuan looked at the dense crowd outside the kitchen. She dared to bet that if they really only made one pot of rice, she probably wouldn’t get even one rice grain by then.
So she quickly called over her own club members, and the four of them worked together with the canteen’s kitchen AI to start preparing pot after pot of rice.
Boiling water, rinsing rice, adding water—after repeating three times, Xiang Chuan filled the water to about the length of the first knuckle of her finger and put it on the heating equipment.
Manager Wu saw her neat and decisive actions and blinked in surprise, asking:
“Just… like this? No need to add any seasonings? No other ingredients?”
Xiang Chuan said helplessly:
“No need, no need. We’re just making plain white rice. We don’t have enough ingredients and seasonings now, so we can’t make anything else anyway.”
This was the honest truth. She wanted to make something like braised rice, but seasonings like soy sauce and oyster sauce were in short supply. Even a skilled cook couldn’t do much without rice.
Manager Wu skeptically glanced at the several pots on the heating equipment, opening his mouth several times but ultimately holding back.
Fine, there was only so much rice grain anyway. Even if it turned out bad, there wouldn’t be much loss.
Clearly, he didn’t think this could produce a delicious meal.
However, by this time, Xiang Chuan had already started thinking about some simple dishes to go with rice.
Although without soy sauce and oyster sauce the options were greatly reduced, some simple home-style dishes could still be managed.
She quickly reported a bunch of ingredients to Manager Wu.
Manager Wu, whose interest wasn’t very high, perked up instantly upon hearing the ingredients she listed: Was this going to involve some follow-up processing of the rice?
Manager Wu worked swiftly, and soon fresh vegetables, chicken, and beef were delivered to the kitchen.
Steaming rice could be handled by a few people, but stir-frying, especially for an entire grade of students, clearly exceeded the capabilities of the four A Bite of China Club members.
So, the Class Eight crowd was pushed into the kitchen by the four A Bite of China Club members.
If you want to eat, then get to work! Gluttons!
Fortunately, after field training and the “training” before the school anniversary, the Class Eight crowd could handle simple ingredient processing with ease.
Washing vegetables, cutting meat, processing chicken innards…
Although Class Eight’s techniques were much greener compared to the A Bite of China Club, to other classes who didn’t understand, it looked like watching a magic performance.
Mandy, Fu Chengkai, and others enjoyed the amazed looks from classmates of other classes, feeling delighted inside, but on their lips they still Versailles-said:
“Sigh, it’s a pity the chicken is already plucked. Otherwise, we could test if our chicken-killing skills have deteriorated. And no fish is really too bad; I wanted to scrape off some scales again…”
The female classmates handling ingredients nearby rolled their eyes at them upon hearing this: Weren’t almost all the ones responsible for killing fish girls back then!
After handing over all the ingredient processing work, Xiang Chuan focused on seasoning and marinating.
Beef and chicken were marinated with scallion, ginger, and pepper, to be stir-fried last.
The first thing she had to handle was the green vegetables.
Garlic was smashed and minced. Xiang Chuan picked up a pot, skillfully poured oil and heated it. Once the oil was hot, she quickly added the garlic and the washed green vegetables with roots removed.
The Fourth Production Escort Ship was currently in autumn, when other kinds of vegetables were abundant, but green vegetables were relatively scarce, unlike the abundance in spring and autumn.
The green vegetables delivered to the canteen were the common Chinese cabbage. Xiang Chuan sighed inwardly: If only there was lard; lard stir-fried Chinese cabbage would surely make people devour a big bowl of rice.
After demonstrating the stir-frying operations to the kitchen AI, she turned to handle the soup.
Without seaweed, plain tomato egg drop soup would be too monotonous, so Xiang Chuan modified her previous dough drops by reducing the flour, adding two extra eggs, and making the seasoning a bit heavier.
For those who liked heavy flavors, there naturally needed to be lighter soup. She took some whole chickens, directed the kitchen AI to cut the chicken into small pieces, then put them into the soup pot along with sliced ginger, scallion segments, and shiitake mushrooms washed by Class President Lu Daiqing, and began stewing soup.
With the soup and green vegetables prepared, it was time to prepare some dishes suitable to go with rice.
With chicken soup with shiitake mushrooms, stir-fried chicken with shiitake mushrooms was removed from her candidate list.
Sizzling beef was obviously a good choice. Although no soy sauce, with fresh onions and pepper, a simplified version could still satisfy the taste buds.
Autumn was the season of vegetable harvest. Xiang Chuan looked at the fresh vegetables in front of her, swallowed her saliva, and instantly had an idea.
Cucumber sliced thin and stir-fried with chunked tomatoes only needed garlic and salt for seasoning—a simple stir-fry made a sour, sweet, refreshing dish to go with rice.
For another dish, Xiang Chuan chose minced eggplant, substituting minced beef for the minced meat. She specially selected parts with more fat to make it easier to stir-fry out oil. Without soy sauce, the seasoning was changed to chili powder. After soaking the eggplant in saltwater, she heated the pot with oil, added garlic and minced beef, stir-fried until cooked, then added chili powder and a little diced tomatoes, stir-fried to release juice, poured in the eggplant, added salt and stir-fried for a bit, then plated.
The two new dishes, stir-fried cucumber and minced eggplant, caught the attention of the Class 8 Members around them. Everyone exchanged a look in the air and nodded in tacit understanding.
After finishing stir-frying the two dishes, Xiang Chuan handed the follow-up work to the kitchen AI. She picked up the canteen’s ingredient list and thought about what else could be made. A moment later, she turned back and found the two platters beside her were empty! Not even a drop of oil left! She abruptly looked at the Class Eight crowd methodically processing ingredients in the kitchen—everyone, including Ouyang Yating and the others, had moving cheeks. Xiang Chuan turned to look at the members of other classes outside the kitchen; as if knowing what she wanted to ask, the first hundred or so in the front row nodded in unison, making Xiang Chuan’s mouth twitch.
She knew this group of guys wouldn’t stay put.
Fine, just treat it as some perk for their help!
With this interruption from the Class Eight crowd, Xiang Chuan didn’t bother fiddling with new things anymore. Carefully counting, they already had three dishes and two soups—enough variety.
But in the end, she still added one stir-fried tomatoes and eggs.
Xiang Chuan: Finally able to eat white rice, how could this absolute king-of-rice-companion dish be missing!
[Beep—Steamer No. 1 timer ended]
When the kitchen AI’s voice sounded, Xiang Chuan rushed over immediately, but someone was faster—Manager Wu.
He looked at the large round pot with burning eyes, making Xiang Chuan hesitant to step forward.
However, though Manager Wu was excited, he didn’t forget basic etiquette. With the head chef Xiang Chuan not moving, he naturally wouldn’t overstep.
Xiang Chuan stood in front of the steamer, took a deep breath, and directed the kitchen AI to open the pot lid.
Steam mixed with thick rice aroma rushed at her face but was quickly sucked away by the ventilator. Even so, it couldn’t stop the aroma of the steamed rice from attracting attention throughout the kitchen.
Looking at the white rice made from new rice in front of her, Xiang Chuan’s moved tears welled up in her mouth.
She picked up a small bowl, scooped a small spoonful with the ladle, and brought it to her mouth with chopsticks.
When the familiar rice aroma filled her mouth, Xiang Chuan’s eyes brimmed with hot tears.
This was white rice! Fragrant white rice!
