Chapter 185: Frying Pan Fried Rice
Outside the canteen serving window.
The Staple Food Department employee who was serving rice was curiously peeking into the kitchen.
They originally thought that only the rumored Information Turbulence Contactee had the skill to turn ingredients from rotten to magical, but they didn’t expect that these students who seemed to just come to watch the fun actually had real talent.
Most Class Eight Grade One students’ vegetable cutting and peeling skills were actually similar to those of junior and senior high school students in the 21st Century who ordered takeaway or dined out every day. The first time they entered the kitchen, they peeled radishes and potatoes half a centimeter thick. Xiang Chuan couldn’t stand seeing food wasted; she almost used all her strength to control herself from kicking them all out of the kitchen.
If not for the fact that this group of gluttons learned to kill chicken and kill fish very quickly at the beginning, Xiang Chuan wouldn’t want them to touch the kitchenware at all.
Fortunately, over these two months, they often came to the A Bite of China Club under the pretext of helping, to freeload meals. Not to mention the knife skills for shredding and slicing that test technique, just their peeling technique had improved a lot compared to the beginning. Even one or two people could peel thinner than Ouyang Yating and the other two. If it weren’t for the two club presidents refusing to let them go no matter what, Xiang Chuan really wanted to poach them to add to her own club.
About ten minutes passed.
Ouyang Yating and the other two, along with the Class Eight Grade One classmates, had already washed and cut all the ingredients, neatly placing them on the nearby worktable. Xiang Chuan no longer had an excuse to slack off.
She stood in front of the canteen control panel. Whether it was the kitchen behind her or the serving window in front of her, people on both sides were all staring straight at her, very curious about what Xiang Chuan wanted to do.
Xiang Chuan picked up the spatula, took a deep breath, and looked at the spatula in her hand with resentful eyes—more precisely, the ladle.
Modern people rarely use kitchenware; even if there is kitchenware, it’s the model preferentially produced and allocated to the kitchen AI. The pot spatula she usually used in the Xiang Family Mansion kitchen and the A Bite of China Club Small Restaurant kitchen was a specially customized version.
Originally, using a ladle to stir-fry rice wasn’t a big deal. When Xiang Chuan was still an ignorant junior high student, she often sneaked out behind her parents’ backs to eat freshly stir-fried fried rice and fried noodles. The stall masters all skillfully stir-fried these night snacks with heavy ladles.
But the problem was she was facing a frying pan now!
Could this thing be stir-fried with a ladle! Xiang Chuan, who had used a stir-frying wok for over twenty years, shouted in her heart. She even somewhat regretted why she didn’t go home to make these.
But the ingredients were all prepared, and dozens of eyes around her were watching. No matter how thick-skinned she was, she didn’t dare to back out at this moment.
Fine, treat a dead horse as a live one. Xiang Chuan self-abandoningly turned on the heating platform switch.
Xiang Chuan looked around at the ingredients and decided to start with beef fried rice.
She placed the frying pan on the heating platform, poured in a spoonful of oil, and after waiting for the oil to gradually become scorching hot, Xiang Chuan quickly added the thinly sliced beef.
The pot bottom emitted bursts of “sizzle” sounds, and the aroma instantly filled the entire kitchen. Even some beef lovers who often went to Yue Xiang Restaurant to eat pan-fried steak or steak buns couldn’t help but swallow several times at the beef aroma in the air.
Xiang Chuan’s wrist flexibly flipped the spoon, frying the beef until slightly fragrant, then added salt and an appropriate amount of pepper powder for seasoning.
Next, she added the rice that had been left to dry in the cold storage at noon into the pot, pressed and stir-fried it with the spoon, making sure every grain of rice was wrapped in oil and beef juice.
The aroma of the oil and the meaty fragrance of the beef intertwined, tempting everyone’s sense of smell, while also mixing in some aroma from the chemical reaction of rice and hot oil. For a moment, swallowing sounds rose and fell in the kitchen where the aroma could be smelled.
Xiang Chuan had no time to pay attention to the reactions of the people around her. She quickly added chopped green vegetable bits, and finally sprinkled a little chili powder to make the entire fried rice look even more appetizing.
Because it was the first time using such kitchenware to make fried rice, Xiang Chuan wasn’t too sure about the appropriate heat and time. She could only scoop a small pinch onto a small plate with the spoon every once in a while to taste, then continue stir-frying.
After repeating five or six times, this beef fried rice was finally plated onto the serving plate.
Because she had just tasted several mouthfuls, Xiang Chuan wasn’t too tempted to sneak a bite right now. She quickly went to wash the fried rice pan and spoon. Of course, she didn’t forget to instruct the kitchen AI to watch this freshly made fried rice, in case this group of red-eyed gluttons around her licked the entire plate clean in the blink of an eye, not leaving her even a single grain of rice.
Xiang Chuan didn’t rush to eat right away. Instead, she reheated the pan with more oil, added diced chicken, and quickly stir-fried until the chicken turned white, then added the diced carrots and eggplant chunks.
The eggplant began to slightly release juice under high temperature, and the oil mixed with vegetable juice made the fried rice aroma even richer.
It would be great if there was salted fish or cured meat; stir-frying with eggplant would make that aroma one of a kind. Xiang Chuan thought regretfully in her heart.
However, her hands didn’t stop. Seeing that the eggplant had softened a bit, she added two large spoonfuls of rice and rhythmically pressed and stir-fried with the long-handled spoon until the rice was evenly mixed with the chicken and vegetables.
Looking at the freshly made fried rice in front of her, Xiang Chuan still felt regretful that she couldn’t achieve soy sauce freedom right now. A bit of light soy sauce for flavor and dark soy sauce for color would make this fried rice truly perfect in color, aroma, and taste. The vegetable chicken fried rice in front of her gave her the illusion that she was making a weight loss meal. The previous chicken dices were also skinless chicken, making this fried rice seem even healthier all of a sudden.
She really should add something. Xiang Chuan looked at the fried rice in front of her with indescribable feelings.
She opened the nearby seasoning jar and added a small amount of vinegar to the fried rice with a small spoon. The white vinegar evaporated directly in the air upon contact with the fried rice, emitting a pungent aroma, adding a subtle sour fragrance to the richness, like a delicate garnish that broke the previous single oily aroma, making the entire pot of fried rice exceptionally fresh and rich.
At the same time, the sour taste was the most stimulating to the taste buds. Xiang Chuan clearly felt the swallowing frequency in the crowd in front and behind her skyrocket, especially this group of gluttons behind her. Xiang Chuan even had reason to suspect that if she stepped away for even half a minute, this group could eat until not even the plate was left for her.
Ask and it’s because modern people have good teeth and appetite.
After consecutively stir-frying two portions of rice, Xiang Chuan had some resistance to the aroma of oil smoke. Looking at the shredded potatoes that were cut, she thought about whether to just make vinegar sautéed shredded potatoes, but she still chose to stir-fry the third portion of rice.
Mainly because she wanted to wait for the dried chilies to be sun-dried before properly tasting them. She was tired of the non-spicy version of vinegar sautéed shredded potatoes these past few days.
However, this didn’t stop her from using chili powder to make spicy potato fried rice.
Xiang Chuan first put the finely shredded potatoes into hot oil to stir-fry. The potato aroma was fully stimulated in the hot oil, with golden color gradually appearing, and the crispy texture made even more alluring through the bubbling oil. After seeing the potato shreds had changed color somewhat, she added an appropriate amount of salt and chili powder. The red chili powder stuck to the potato shreds, and the pungent smell gradually dispersed through stir-frying, making several students not very adapted to spicy flavors sneeze repeatedly.
Xiang Chuan’s hands didn’t stop. After stir-frying the chili powder evenly, she added rice, and like before, used the long-handled spoon to press and stir-fry, until the potato shreds and rice were intimately embraced, with every grain of rice wrapped in spicy oily essence.
Finally, when preparing to plate, she added some green vegetables and stir-fried briefly. The spicy potato fried rice was ready. Compared to the previous beef fried rice, the spiciness of this plate was more pronounced, making several Class Eight Grade One students whose spicy taste genes were awakened by chili powder during the previous barbecue light up with excitement.
But this wasn’t over yet. Xiang Chuan skillfully washed the frying pan and glanced at the eggs placed nearby.
Since she was making fried rice, how could she miss the king of kings?
Xiang Chuan reheated the frying pan, poured in an appropriate amount of oil. While the oil was heating, she quickly grabbed the nearby eggs, cracked four into a bowl and stirred them evenly. After the oil was hot, she poured the beaten egg mixture into the pan and quickly stirred with the long-handled spoon. The eggs rapidly coagulated in the hot oil, becoming golden and fluffy.
These actions were done in one smooth motion, like flowing water. Ouyang Yating and the other two watched Xiang Chuan with changed expressions: when did Xiang Chuan’s movements become so nimble? She was clearly half-dead even doing warm-up exercises in PE class usually.
Xiang Chuan naturally noticed the astonished looks from the three club members standing closest to her, but she really couldn’t spare a hand to give them a “lesson” right now. Seeing that the eggs in the pan had gradually puffed up slightly, she then poured the rice into the pan and stir-fried it together with the eggs. Although with her skills, she couldn’t achieve the legendary “every grain of rice wrapped in fluffy egg,” she could cheat a bit. The egg mixture in the pan had only one side cooked, with the other side still half-raw. Pouring the rice on top allowed the rice to coat some egg mixture, and as it was stir-fried in the hot pan, the rice gradually took on an alluring golden color.
Then, Xiang Chuan added appropriate salt and pepper powder for seasoning, and just before plating, sprinkled a little chili powder to add some color to this somewhat plain fried rice.
The classic egg fried rice was thus completed. Xiang Chuan plated the fried rice, and now the entire kitchen was enveloped in the domineering fried egg aroma, with egg fragrance overflowing and golden rice glistening with oil under the sunlight.
This made the Class Eight Grade One crowd, who had deeply experienced the deliciousness of egg dishes after tasting fried eggs and roasted eggs before, truly hungry with green eyes now.
Looking at the four plates of fried rice on the counter, everyone’s eyes flickered nonstop with the glow named “I want all of them.jpg.”
So much fried rice, how could Xiang Chuan eat it all by herself! Let me help her eat it!
At this moment, the thoughts of all Class Eight Grade One personnel reached a high degree of unity.
