BXBX NOVEL Chapter 43 - Resumption of the Broadcast
After Ruan Tang arrived home, he found out that the tofu He Yun Yi mentioned had already arrived and that the smart butler had already put it into the fresh-keeping cabinet. He opened the fresh-keeping cabinet and found that the Academy of Sciences had sent two kinds of tofu — firm tofu and silken tofu. There were two big and fresh blocks of it. Looks like tonight’s dinner would be tofu dishes.
Along with the tofu, there were also a dozen preservation boxes. It was strange that He Yun Yi would send him a preservation box. When he opened it, he discovered that it was a specially designed preservation box which had several small partitions. With these separating the dishes from the rice would be much easier. They were similar to the lunch boxes from his past life, but the better preservation and heat keeping functions. It was also designed to especially hold soup and prevent it from spilling. One must never underestimate the wisdom of people in the future.
These past two days that he hadn’t been able to do any live broadcasts left him feeling that something was missing. He really missed those adorable viewers, and he liked receiving their enthusiastic feedback when they taste the food that he made.
Since things have already been resolved, he could restart his broadcast this very evening.
After thinking about it, he logged onto the Weibo account and published a short live broadcast notice.
“@Ruan Tang V: Live Broadcast at 7 o’clock tonight.”
[@Can’t stop hugging trees: Oh oh oh, flying straight to the live broadcast!]
[@Miao Miao Loves to Eat all the dishes of the anchor: Great, our dear anchor is back!]
[@I want to eat late at night: I can finally eat something delicious / (ㄒoㄒ) /~~ Without the broadcast, I didn’t feel alive!]
Before 7:00, Ruan Tang had already prepared all the ingredients needed and the live broadcast was started on time.
As a result, as soon as he entered the live broadcast room, he was blinded by gifts’ various colorful special effects. The live chat was even more jam packed than before. Although he had already set the live chat limits to the highest it could go, he could still just barely see through the chat. He glanced at the number of people online, and it had already exceeded 500 million!
“Hello everyone, I am the anchor, Ruan Tang. Today I will be bringing you Mapo tofu, sweet and sour crispy tofu and fresh shrimp tofu soup.” A spicy dish, a sweet and sour dish and a salty savory dish — it would definitely satisfy the tastes of every kind of viewer.
[A touch of medicinal fragrance: What a nostalgic introduction! Anchor, we missed you!]
[I wish for tranquility: Ah, ah, young man, my husband! Such a nice voice! Prprprpr]
[Zigui: Tofu! Is this what the Academy of Sciences meant when they said new semi-processed ingredients?]
Ruan Tang took out a piece of sirloin and chopped it into minced meat, then placed it in a small bowl to the side. The silken tofu was sliced into small cubes and blanched in a pot of water with a bit of salt. This will remove the beany flavor of the tofu and it will also improve its texture, making it less prone to breaking while also making it smoother and tenderer.
He heated some oil in a pan and first sauteed chopped scallions, minced ginger and garlic and crushed peppercorns until they turned fragrant. In order to prevent the viewers from accidentally biting down on the peppercorns and having their mouths turn numb and tingling, Ruan Tang filtered out these auxiliary ingredients before the next step. He then added the minced beef, slowly stir-frying until it turned pale. He added soy sauce to color the meat and then added chili sauce, letting it fry until the red oil came out. The meaty savory smell was wrapped in a spicy scent. Red oil was bubbling at the bottom of the pan. The audience almost couldn’t hold back.
Next, Ruan Tang let the tofu drip dry and then added it to the pan to let it simmer on low heat. He added three parts starch slurry to thicken the sauce. The tofu cooked very quickly, the surface was already covered with red oil, and the tiny pores on it were rapidly shrinking, absorbing all the savory juices.
Ruan Tang couldn’t use a spatula to move the tofu around, lest it crumble, so he gently rocked the pan back and forth to let all the ingredients be evenly heated. He the jolted the pan a few times to make the ingredients and spices mix well. When he scooped out the dish onto a plate, he sprinkled chopped green onions and pepper powder over it. The spicy and delicious Ma Po tofu was finished.
Mapo tofu was placed in an open, flat plate. The red sauce was dotted with white jade-like tofu. It was dotted with verdant green bits and even the minced beef locked golden. The whole dish looked glossy and radiant, not to mention the spicy, savory scent pouring out.
The audience had long been hooked by the seductive aroma that made their mouths water uncontrollably. When they saw Ruan Tang finish plating, they didn’t even wait for his signal before flocking around this dish.
[Can’t stop hugging trees: it’s so spicy! So savory! So tender! So so delicious! (ˉ﹃ˉ)]
[Miao Miao loves to eat all the dishes of the anchor: Wow, this thing called tofu is so good! It’s so fragrant! With this, I can finish off two large bowls of rice! ]
[Love Potion: Wah, I can’t eat spicy things, it’s so hot that my lips seem to be burning, but it’s really delicious! Eat while weeping...]
Mapo tofu is characterized by the words “numbing, spicy, burning, fragrant, soft, tender, savory, and invigorating”. Especially the numbing spiciness was particularly important. The so-called numbing, of course, referred to the sichuan pepper, the spiciness should actually come from the chili sauce with black bean sauce. But in the absence of black bean sauce, Ruan Tang’s homemade chili sauce was also good enough.
When everyone had had a taste, Ruan Tang started on his second dish. “Now, I’ll be making sweet and sour fried tofu.”
Worried that the audience could not distinguish between the two kinds of tofu, he explained: “These two are tofu, but their taste and texture are different. They are also suited for different kinds of cooking. Firm tofu is courser. When you cut it, large pores can be seen in the cross section. The color is also yellowish, it’s harder but more flexible. It is more suitable for pan frying, deep frying and braising. It is not suitable for stir-fry but its calcium content is also higher.”
“The silken tofu is finer and more delicate. Its water content is also high.” He pointed to the dish of the Mapo tofu. “As you just saw, its surface is smoother and whiter. It’s suitable for hot pot, soups and steaming.”
Someone immediately asked in the live chat: “What’s hot pot?”
He replied: “The hot pot is also a very special kind of dish. It is also very simple to do and is suitable for many people to share. I will also broadcast this in the future. Now we’ll start to make the next dish.”
He first made a sweet and sour sauce with vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, starch and a small amount of salt, and put it aside. He then washed the firm tofu, cut it into small squares about three centimeters, and then use paper to absorb the moisture from the surface of the tofu. Next, he heated a pan of oil and put in the tofu blocks, frying until they turned golden. He then scooped them out and poured away the excess oil, leaving only a thin layer. He added back in the fried tofu together with the sweet and sour sauce, using medium heat to simmer, allowing the tofu to absorb the flavor. Finally, he turned up the heat to let it soak in the juices.
[Following broadcasts to learn cooking: Ah, this sour and sweet tofu is delicious, I thought the firm tofu would be tough, but the texture is actually very tender. But the most important thing is that this is easy to make! I’ll have to give this a try when I get home! ]
[Honey Summer: Delicious. ]
[wuminly: Hey, it’s really delicious... Although I’m a kitchen klutz, I think I can make this too!]
Fried golden crispy tofu skin wrapped in thick sweet and sour sauce, inside is a soft tofu core. Both the taste and texture were indeed excellent.
Seeing everyone like this dish very much, Ruan Tang felt quite happy, he then said: “Making Tofu and Shrimp soup is easy. The main ingredients are silken tofu and shrimp.”
He cut the tofu into small cubes, then processed the shrimps, removing their heads, shells and digestive tracks. By now, everyone was familiar with this processing method and no one said anything. Though there were some people who still thought processing shrimps was a bit disgusting and said that they would just be responsible for eating them, thanks.
He put half a pot of water into the stockpot, then added the ginger slices and the peeled shrimp to boil together. After the shrimp slowly turned red, he immediately removed it. He took out another pan and using a small amount of oil, stir fried the sliced scallions and minced garlic until it turned fragrant. After adding in water, he put in the tofu chunks and the shrimp. He used salt and some ground pepper for seasoning. After five minutes of boiling with the lid on, the soup was finished.
When the soup was out of the pan, everyone could see the white jade of the tofu and the red of the shrimp enhanced each other’s beauty. The soup broth had turned a semi-translucent beige. With the final addition of the chopped green onions, it created a scene that made people feel carefree and relaxed.
[The April turtledove flicks its feathers: I like this soup, the shrimp is very tender, the tofu is also very smooth, the soup is so refreshing!]
[Gu Yanqing: It’s extraordinarily delicious!]
[ID29238510: This is my first time watching the broadcast. I’ve heard that the anchor’s cooking skills were amazing. That he could turn simple ingredients into delicious dishes. I thought it was just an exaggerated rumor. I never thought it was actually true! It’s amazing how he used the same ingredient to create three different-tasting dishes! Offering crystal flowers!]
[Can’t stop hugging trees: I only care if I can win the lottery today... QAQ]
[Miao Miao loves to eat all the dishes of the anchor: Hey, I haven’t won the prize for a long time, I took a look at the number of people online, I just want to cry now...]
[Dancing under the moonlight: begging for a prize! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !]
Watching the audience start praying for the prize again, Ruan Tang couldn’t help but smile, “Because today’s dishes were relatively simple to make, 20 lucky viewers will be drawn and will receive the tofu set meal.”
[Small White isn’t White: Performing somersaults and begging for a prize! ]
[arinbs: One-hundredth of a million winning rate, my god! ]
[Barely Passing: seeking a prize...]
“Congratulations, Miao Miao loves to eat all the dishes of the anchor, Meng Po Po Po, Gu Yanqing, Dancing under the Moonlight.... To the twenty lucky viewers, since there’s no rice with this two dishes and one soup, you can cook some while waiting for the delivery to arrive. The delivery will be sent later, please remember to check and receive. See you all tomorrow!” After the announcement of the winners, he closed the broadcast amidst their anguished wailing.
The preservation boxes that He Yun Yi sent him came in handy. Both dishes and soup could be put together, instead of being divided into several boxes as before.
With Xiao Bai’s help, he quickly packed 22 boxes. In addition to the lunch boxes of the winning viewers, the two other boxes were, of course, for the He Brothers. Theirs had more than the others and also included a portion of rice.
He Yun Chen had been busy dealing with matters on the star network these past two days and he had accumulated a lot of work so he stayed at headquarters to do overtime. He Yun Yi was busy researching new ingredients, so he was also working overtime. Ruan Tang sent their packages to their offices.
He watched the courier robot take the packages away, closed the door, sat back on the sofa and thought: Maybe I should invite the two of them over when I make hot pot later?