I'm the Culinary God

"Since the basic work is done, let’s start. Baomin will make the green chicken porridge, and I’ll make the white one, which we’ll finally combine together."

The so-called Tai Chi Chicken Porridge, to put it plainly, is pouring two types of chicken porridge in different colors into a bowl, following the Yin Yang Dual Fish presentation.

To achieve the best presentation on the table, they need to be made simultaneously.

Both colors should be prepared at the same time and then poured into the container, so the resulting chicken porridge has consistent temperature and a remarkably smooth texture.

Xie Baomin agreed, and set up the wok to start cooking.

Relatively speaking, Master Gao was even more meticulous as he said earnestly to Lin Xu:

"This soup is somewhat similar to Bump Soup, considered a high-end version of it. We’ll need fried pork oil, fried chicken oil, chicken soup, water starch, salt, and flavoring later."

Before cooking, it’s important to clarify the ingredients, so Lin Xu can have a rough understanding of the dish.

"Got it, Master."

Master Gao slid the wok, then put half a spoon of pork oil into it.

Once the oil was hot, he poured the prepared chicken soup in. When it was about to boil, he added salt and flavoring to taste.

When the chicken soup was completely boiling, he scooped a large spoonful of water starch into the wok, while adjusting the heat to the lowest setting to keep the soup in a semi-boiling state.

"When pouring the chicken meatball into the wok, the soup should not be boiling; otherwise, the meatball would cook through immediately, becoming dry and rough. But the temperature shouldn’t be too low either, or the meatball will sink. About ninety degrees is good."

As an experienced chef, Master Gao succinctly communicated the important points in a few sentences.

Lin Xu nodded, indicating he had taken note.

Then Master Gao took a spoon in one hand to stir the wok, and in the other, he carried the bowl with the chicken meatball, slowly pouring into the wok as if making Bump Soup.

Once the chicken meatball entered the wok, it immediately flowed along with the rotating chicken soup.

This effectively prevented the meatball from clumping.

After all the meatball was poured into the wok, he increased the heat, bringing the soup back to a boil.

As the temperature rose, the meatball quickly formed into small grain-sized balls, and because the soup was constantly stirred, all the balls were elongated, resembling rice grains.

Lin Xu watched in amazement, finding it truly miraculous.

Master Gao said:

"At this point, not only must you stir, but also flexibly adjust the thickness. If it’s watery, thicken it; if too thick, add chicken soup."

Lin Xu curiously asked:

"What if it’s just right in thickness?"

Master Gao smiled and scooped half a spoonful of pork oil to pour in:

"Then it’s ready to serve."

Although he spoke of serving, he did not do it immediately. Instead, he poured half a spoonful of chicken oil into the wok, gently swirling it on the surface of the chicken porridge using the back of the spoon to distribute the fat evenly.

When a bright layer of oil emerged on the porridge, Master Gao finally lifted the wok off the flame.

Meanwhile, Xie Baomin also completed his portion of green chicken porridge.

The two types of chicken porridge side by side showed the appearance of two rice porridges, yet the rich aroma lingered in the air, tempting one to taste.

In the past, he had tried making vegetarian dishes resemble meat, finding it extremely challenging.

Today, after witnessing the techniques for mimicking vegetarian dishes, he realized it’s not difficult to turn vegetables into meat-like dishes, but rather how to make meat into a vegetarian-like appearance.

Master Gao poured his chicken porridge into the bowl, and Xie Baomin began spooning the green chicken porridge along one side of the bowl.

Before long, a beautiful Tai Chi Diagram appeared in the bowl.

Spoon a bit of white atop the green chicken porridge, then a bit of green atop the white chicken porridge, and the Yin Yang Dual Fish was officially completed.

Looking at the Tai Chi Diagram in the bowl, Lin Xu felt greatly enlightened.

Finally, he’s learned such a high-end dish.

Master Gao said:

"Chicken porridge can be paired with many ingredients. High-end ones include sea cucumber, fish fin, fish maw, fish lips, cubilose, fish liver, and others. Medium ones include white fungus, tendon, pigeon eggs, fresh scallops, squid, and such. It can also be paired with bean sprouts, bok choy, and other vegetarian ingredients, showing strong adaptability."

Lin Xu knew that his master was giving him advice.

As the saying goes, teaching a man to fish is better than giving him a fish. Imparting one or two techniques is not as effective as passing down the entire concept, so when encountering similar dishes, one can easily recreate them.

Xie Baomin added:

"When cooking with other ingredients, they should first be stewed a bit in chicken soup, and then added to the cooked chicken porridge for pairing. Remember, no matter how expensive the side dishes are, chicken porridge will always be the star of chicken porridge dishes."

The words of both provided Lin Xu with a very intuitive understanding of these dishes.

So these are the key points of chicken porridge dishes.

Note it down, lest you forget it later.

With the dish finished, Xie Baomin carried it upstairs to let Lin Xu’s family taste it.

By this time, the private room was already filled with some appetizers, and Shen Guofu was eating happily.

As he ate, he saw Xie Baomin enter carrying a soup bowl, and his face immediately lit up in surprise. Was the main dish being served already? He wondered what delicious creation the Head Chef had prepared this time, feeling quite expectant.

Yet, when Xie Baomin uncovered the bowl, Shen Guofu was taken aback.

What is going on?

Just a bowl of rice porridge?

Although the Tai Chi shape is quite nice, a good appearance is pointless; drinking it won’t make one able to perform Tai Chi Boxing, nor does it enhance the taste in any way.