BXBX NOVEL Chapter 46 - Hot Pot Get-together
Ruan Tang asked him if he and He Yun Yi had any foods that they disliked and He Yun Chen replied that they weren’t picky eaters. As a result, Ruan Tang ordered ingredients for a standard hotpot.
The ingredients that he ordered for the hotpot that evening had already been delivered and Xiao Bai helped him to receive the delivery. Once he gets home, he could immediately start cooking.
The two of them had just entered through the door, when He Yun Yi can hurrying over on his suspended car.
“Xiao Tang, I brought over those things that you asked for!” He Yun Yi carried various small and big bags, all of which were things Ruan Tang had asked from him this afternoon. Aside from the custom partitioned pot for the hotpot, there were also various soy bean products like silken tofu, firm tofu and tofu skin. Under the temptation of food, He Yun Yi’s enthusiasm and potential increased a hundred and twenty fold, and he suddenly solved several production problems for processing new ingredients.
“Thank you, Big Brother He!” Ruan Tang greeted him and happily took the things from his hands. “Wait for a while, I want to do a live broadcast. If you don’t want to appear on the broadcast, don’t go to the kitchen!”
“Ok.” Both of them understood and agreed.
Ruan Tang happily ran to the kitchen carrying these items with him, preparing to start the live broadcast. He hadn’t broadcasted this morning, if he also didn’t broadcast this evening, the audience might already be jumping about in anxiety. What’s more, he had just recently promised to the audience that he would make hotpot.
Because there were guests in his apartment, this time, instead of using the live lenses, he chose to use the fixed point broadcast. This way, he could limit the range to just the kitchen.
After he turned on the live broadcast, the people online who received the broadcast notification immediately rushed to the broadcast room. When they entered, they suddenly realized that today’s broadcast perspective was a bit different.
[Miao Miao loves to eat all the dishes of the anchor: There’s a sudden broadcast! Good thing I always pay attention to the notifications. When I saw the notification for the live broadcast I— Woah?! You handsome guy! Who are you?! ! ]
[Can’t stop hugging trees: QAQ The anchor didn’t broadcast the whole day. I was watching the recordings to satisfy my cravings and then suddenly a live broadcast started.]
[Meng Po Po Po: That... Is the live broadcast today a bit different? I... I seem to have seen the face of the anchor??? ]
[demeter: To the commenter above... You didn’t see wrong because I-I saw it too Σ(っ°Д°;)っ]
Ruan Tang smiled a little. “I changed the live broadcast method today, that’s why you can see my face.” The live room was quiet for a moment, then suddenly broke out.
[Qi Jiu Mo Ran: My god! The anchor is so beautiful! How can he look so beautiful! ]
[Little Swallows fly: Anchor, you’ve finally exposed your identity! When will you announce our wedding? (ˉ﹃ˉ)]
[Salted fish was originally fish: I saw the anchor’s picture on the star network and knew that he was handsome, but I never knew he was handsome to this extent. I’m crouching down and looking up and he still looks so good~]
[Sakura Summer: Ah, it’s really the film emperor! How come I never thought Film Emperor Ruan was this handsome before?!]
[chayy Lan: QAQ, Ruan Ruan, you won’t be acting anymore? This movie fan is so sad...]
After all, he wasn’t the original owner. He had neither the super acting skills nor the ardent love for acting. It was impossible for him to return to the entertainment industry. Instead of giving hope to these fans, it was better to explain it directly. It was better to bear a quick, sharp pain than a long dull one. Ruan Tang hoped that they could quickly move on and find themselves a new idol.
[Small transparent: In fact, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this. Being able to see my idol cooking every day like this makes me the happiest! ]
[Drinking cold water in the middle of the night: Yes, that’s right! Anchor, refuel!]
Seeing the understanding and support of the audience, Ruan Tang gave his trademark smile and gave his standard introduction, “Hello everyone, I am the anchor, Ruan Tang and today I want to bring you a delicious hot pot.”
[Do not bear the burden of the Qing: Is hotpot that dish the anchor mentioned last time? The delicious one that’s good for sharing with a lot of people?]
[Smoke rain: The name hot pot sounds very special, I really want to eat and see! ]
[Moka: I’ve been looking forward to this! (☆▽☆)]
There was a lot of preparation needed for hot pot. So, after Ruan started the live broadcast, he immediately started to get busy. Seeing the audience so eager for the hot pot, he couldn’t help but reveal a slight smile. This drew screams of excitement from the audience.
[The April turtledove flicks its feathers: anchor anchor, what does hot pot mean?]
“The hot pot is a dish where the necessary tool is the pot. We will heat up soup in it and then cook the ingredients by dipping it in the boiling soup for a short while.” As he said this, he took out the partitioned pot that He Yun Yi had just given him. There was a divider in the middle of the pot which means that it can accommodate two different flavored soup bases. “Different people have different tastes, so today I will use this partitioned pot for the hot pot. One side will have the non-spicy white soup while the other one will have the red spicy soup.”
In fact, the main reason he chose to use a partitioned pot was because He Yun Chen and He Yun Yi had different taste preferences. He Yun Chen liked to eat spicy foods, but He Yun Yi did not. Therefore, he specifically asked He Yun Yi’s help to customize this pot, ready to accommodate both spicy and non-spicy flavors to suit their tastes.
“To make a hot pot, the first thing we need to do is to make the soup base. A delicious and rich soup base is the essence of hot pot. Generally speaking, the soup base would taste richer is we let it boil for five hours, but since this was a spur of the moment decision, I wasn’t able to prepare it in advance. So I will have to improvise. But don’t worry, the taste will definitely still be delicious.” He took out a few cylindrical bones with meat on them, cut them with a kitchen knife, and put them into the soup pot. He also added in sliced ginger and scallions and let it boil over high heat. After removing the floating scum, he turned down the heat to let it simmer slowly.
“In addition to the soup base, a variety of hot pot ingredients are also needed.” He then began to prepare the ingredient they would be cooking in the hot pot later.
First were the meats — lamb, beef and pork were definitely indispensable. For the lamb, he chose meat from the leg, where there were striations of fat and lean meat. He sliced wide strips of meat from the leg and then wrapped the meat into a cylinder using plastic wrap. He put it into the freezer for a quick freeze, then took it out and slowly cut it into thin flakes. In this way, he was able to make the lamb roll up slices that was a hot pot essential during his past life. Beef roll up slices were made the same way. Pork slices were taken from the streaky pork belly.
Next were the vegetables. He bought potatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, bamboo shoots, white radish, cucumber, white gourd, gourd, corn and other items. He washed them all and then sliced or cut them into sections. He neatly placed them on a plate for later use. Soy products were also indispensable. Silken tofu, firm tofu, dried tofu, tofu skin were all ready.
Although only a few types of seafood had been restored in the future, this didn’t prevent Ruan Tang from creating delicious food. Shrimp could be made into shrimp balls, and fish could be made into fish balls and fillets. He could also create egg dumplings, meatballs — all sorts of popular hotpot ingredients.
Poultry ingredients were, of course, also indispensable. Chicken wings, chicken hearts, duck blood, duck intestines, duck gizzards, duck liver, duck feet and so on. Once marinated, they would become very much sought after delicacies.
It was a pity that there were no mushrooms, so Ruan Tang could only use tree fungus.
Plate after plate of ingredients were placed onto the counter until it was completely crammed full. The audience were stunned to see it. Just what was this hot pot? How come there’s so many ingredients? Did he empty out the entire shopping site?
[You’re a puppy: Anchor, you’ve made so much. Are you going to finish it all?]
[Taxise: Maybe he’ll use it for the lottery! Although I don’t know how he’d send it orz]
When Ruan Tang saw the question raised by the live chat, he couldn’t help but laugh: “So many, how can I finish it all? That’s why I called two friends over. That’s also why I changed the broadcast mode today.”
[Sakura Fairy: Hu hu hu, who could be so lucky? QAQ I also want to be friends with the anchor!]
[Blowing Wind: I don’t, I want to provide for the anchor instead! But I don’t have the money for it qvq, Speaking of, why isn’t our local tyrant of a house manager here today?]
[Floating Dreams: I don’t know... but one less person is one less competitor! 】
[Can’ stop hugging trees: Anyway, just because you have money doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want~(`^)]
[Blue Nobility: I think were underestimating the room manager [not simple.jpg]]
Seeing that these viewers were trying to dig out He Yun Chen’s whereabouts, Ruan Tang hurriedly said, “Let’s take a look at how to soup is coming along.”
He opened the lid of the soup pot and inside, the nearly white soup was gently boiling. Hot steam quickly burst out, carrying with it the rich savory aroma. The viewers couldn’t help gulping.
[Can’t stop hugging trees: Smells so so good! My mouth’s starting to water.]
[Miao Miao loves to eat all the dishes of the anchor: When can we eat? I can’t wait any longer...]
Ruan Tang added salt and a little pepper. He tasted the soup and nodded with satisfaction. The audience saw his movements and learned from it. They too ladled out some soup to taste.
[Be like the water: Oh, it’s so tasty! So delicious! Just this soup is already enough!]
[Kindergarten boss: The meat is also so tender, I can’t wait to start eating...]
Ruan Tang didn’t stop the audience from drinking the soup. In any case, they were only tasting holographic simulation data. They could only taste it, it won’t fill their stomachs and it won’t hold up his cooking.
Next, it was time to prepare the seasoning for the red soup. Ruan Tang heated some oil in a pan and then added the chopped chili peppers, sichuan peppercorns and onions. He fried them until they turned fragrant before adding a spoonful of sugar, vinegar and light soy sauce. He also added in some dried chilies that he had dried in advance. A dense and stimulating spicy scent immediately spread out and sent a jolt to the viewers’ systems.
Ruan Tang poured the fried spicy seasoning into the left side of the partitioned pot, then poured in some of the boiled soup. There was suddenly a lot of the red soup base. A thick layer of spicy oil floated on top of the soup that had already turned a light reddish brown. This was the red, spicy soup for this hot pot. On the other side, Ruan Tang also poured some of the white bone soup. This was the white soup for this hot pot.
The pot designed by He Yun Yi had an automatic heating function. With a press of the button, the soup could continue heating.
“Now the soup is ready. The red side is spicy while the white side is the not spicy bone soup. You can put the ingredients into the pot according to your preference. Once it’s cooked, you can fish it out and directly eat it.” Because the audience couldn’t pick up and cook the ingredients themselves in holographic mode, Ruan Tang simply put a piece of every ingredient into each soup to let the audience have a taste. “Everyone, hurry and have a taste.”
The audience impatiently grabbed their chopsticks and hurried to fish out the ingredients to eat. The spicy soup was hot and numbing but invigorating. The white soup was light and refreshing. The ingredients, after being boiled in the soup, had magically become so delicious. The audience were so busy eating, they couldn’t even lift their heads.
[Purple Fantasy: God, this hot pot is too delicious, right?]
[I wish for tranquility: It’s so hot! But it’s so invigorating! I’m sweating so much, ww]
“Everyone can try this dipping sauce, although I put some chili oil, it won’t be very spicy.” Ruan Tang used chili oil, sesame oil, ground peanuts, garlic and chopped green onion to mix this mashed garlic and chili dipping sauce. It was fragrant and spicy, and the ground peanuts and mashed garlic would make the ingredients even tastier. Eating hot pot with this kind of dipping sauce was truly a rich delicacy.
Truth be told, Ruan Tang preferred the peanut butter with salted bean curd dipping sauce. But without peanut butter or salted bean curd, he could only make do. He made a mental note of it and hoped that the Academy could help him recreate it soon.
[Bai Nian Ning: Ah, this sauce is delicious! I think I can eat a few more bowls with this!]
When almost everyone had had a taste, Ruan Tang said with some embarrassment, “Because hot pot is a special kind of dish that needs to be eaten as soon as it’s fished out, I won’t be drawing a lottery today.”
When these words came out, the live chat suddenly burst into anguished wails. Ruan Tang patiently waited for their cries to die down before saying, “But later I will discuss with the Academy of Sciences how we can come out with packaged ingredients as well as the inconvenient to process ingredients for this hot pot. It will be made available on the shopping site so that everyone can conveniently create this for themselves. Making hot pot is easy. You can buy the ingredients and try making it at home.
[Weak hearted idiot: Although I still feel very wronged, since that is the case, I’ll forgive you!]
[Gold coins fall down: Oh, hehehe, good~ More power to the anchor~]
“So today’s live broadcast ends here. See you all tomorrow.” Ruan Tang turned off the broadcast and looked towards the living room. He Yun Chen and He Yun Yi had already smelled the aromas coming from the kitchen and had been impatiently waiting. They were already craning their necks around to have a look in the kitchen.
He couldn’t help but chuckle and brought the hot pot outside.
“Ok, we can also start eating!”