Chapter 566: Chapter 553: The Gold Standard of Wang Fan Selects

It seems unintentional, but it’s a masterpiece of art, achieving an unexpected victory.

The biggest characteristics of Jianghu cuisine are "rustic," "rough," and "miscellaneous."

"Rustic" refers to the intensely local flavor of Jianghu cuisine.

"Rough" indicates the bold and unrestrained nature of Jianghu. In cooking, traditional methods are not used; a large handful of chili peppers, a big bowl of Sichuan pepper, crucian carp swimming in the red oil soup, diced chicken hidden in the spicy shells. Cooked on an earth stove, served in rough bowls, drinking and eating meat boldly, enjoying the numb, spicy, and hot flavors, seeking satisfaction rather than formality.

"Miscellaneous" refers to the varied cooking techniques.

Because it doesn’t have a fixed lineage, if I find your method good, I’ll take it; if his technique seems nice, I’ll adopt it. Many dishes here give you a familiar feeling when you taste them, but you rack your brains and can’t figure out what exactly they resemble.

Chongqing Hotpot is one of the representative works of Jianghu cuisine; Mao Xue Wang and Boiled Fish are also among the most well-known dishes.

Going out on a culinary tour requires thorough preparation; Wang Fan may struggle with memorizing vocabulary and texts, but when it comes to the background and recipes of these dishes, he never forgets.

They wandered in Longshou Lane, where an old established store was easy to find.

With fewer people today, it was considered an off-peak trip, arriving when there were not many people out, and it wasn’t mealtime, making it feel like they had reserved the entire place.

The biggest benefit of having fewer people is that the dishes come out quickly; the waitress soon brought three big bowls of old tofu pudding.

The waitress appeared to be in her forties, always wearing a warm smile on her face.

As soon as Wang Fan and Zhuo Qianqian spoke, it was clear they were from out of town, so the waitress explained, "First time trying the old tofu pudding? Let me show you how to eat it."

As she spoke, she took out chopsticks and dipped them into one of the bowls of old tofu pudding.

The bowl was large, and the tofu pudding was plentiful—a big piece of white tofu with a hint of green floated on the water in the bowl, holding its shape loosely. This is the origin of the name ’floating on water.’

Wang Fan and Zhuo Qianqian watched the waitress operate with interest, as they really hadn’t tried this elsewhere.

The waitress’s chopsticks slowly went down and then gradually closed, lifting out a big piece of tofu pudding, still steadily held on the chopsticks.

"After picking it up, just dip it in chili oil and eat. Let me know if you need anything else. Here in Wudu, feel as if you’re at home, no need to be polite."

After thanking the waitress, Wang Fan and Zhuo Qianqian carefully picked up their tofu pudding from the bowl.

Although Wang Fan had never made this before, his first time eating this, he could immediately tell how this tofu pudding was made.

This thing works like tofu—the principle is the same, the difference lies in the thickness of the soy milk. Lower the thickness of the soy milk and increase the proportion of brine to achieve this state of old tofu pudding.

If you wrap what’s in the bowl with tofu cloth, squeeze out the moisture and press it down with a heavy object, it would directly become tofu.

Wang Fan easily lifted a piece of old tofu pudding; dealing with it posed no difficulty under his absolute control.

The tofu pudding lightly trembled on Wang Fan’s chopsticks, showing how tender it was.

Without dipping it in chili, Wang Fan directly took a bite of plain tofu.

As it entered the mouth, there came a fresh fragrance of soybeans and a faint hint of brine. With a slight press of the tongue, the small piece of tofu completely melted away, with an extremely soft and tender texture.

This thing naturally has no underlying flavor, only the unique taste of soybeans. Wang Fan mainly wanted to see if it was the real deal.

He picked up another piece, and this time, he placed the tofu in the adjacent bowl of chili.

As the tofu entered the chili bowl, the red oil quickly wrapped around the tofu. Wang Fan swirled it at the bottom of the bowl, letting the tofu pick up some chili bits before bringing it to his mouth.

The mouthfeel of chili oil was more lubricated than the tofu. The rich aroma of the chili was fragrant but not spicy. Wang Fan already anticipated this result, so he dared to let the tofu tumble in the chili oil without worry.

As soon as the chili was brought out, he had already smelled that it was made with Er Jingtiao, and its characteristic was its aroma without spiciness.

With the addition of red oil chili, it was like giving this bowl of tofu pudding a soul. The strong aroma of the chili combined with the tender texture of the tofu, plus a hint of saltiness in the chili oil, made the originally somewhat plain tofu immediately unbelievably delicious.

They had just eaten a couple of bites of tofu when the waitress brought more dishes. The serving method here was interesting because the kitchen was downstairs, so there was a special serving window where the chef would pass the dishes through after cooking.

This time, the dish was called "Three-in-One," or it could be called "Four-in-One." If there’s a special request, Five-in-One or Six-in-One is possible as well. Adding one ingredient adds another "in-one," which showcases the unrestrained nature of Jianghu cuisine.

Once this dish was served, the entire table filled with the aroma of chili.

The surface of the whole plate was covered with dark red chili bits, completely hiding all the ingredients underneath, with nothing visible except the chilies.

Wang Fan picked up his chopsticks and turned it over, revealing a piece of pork intestine immediately.

He picked up the first piece for Zhuo Qianqian and then picked a chopstick full of chili bits for himself.

The aroma, a peppery scent straight to the top of the head, had only a trace of spiciness. One bite and you can tell it’s definitely good chili. The only flaw was a slight bitterness, likely from over-frying the chilies.