Chapter 582: Chapter 561: A Showpiece, Geleshan Spicy Chicken

"Wow, the aroma of this meat is really strong."

"Who wouldn’t agree? Just smelling it makes me feel hungry."

"How much essence was put in?"

"No way, to me it just smells like meat, like the kind we used to have when our family cooked meat when we were kids."

"Now that you mention it, it does remind me, that scent is truly nostalgic."

The aunties who were planning to buy meals for their kids couldn’t help but start commenting when they smelled the rich, savory aroma of stewed pork ribs with beans.

Whether food is good, the aroma usually provides basic feedback, especially for stewed meat, and the quality is evident once the meaty smell wafts out.

Those that need a lot of spices to cover up the meat smell, you don’t need to guess, it’s definitely not good meat, at the very least, not fresh meat.

Wang Fan used regular fresh ribs from the market, but the roasted pepper powder brought the meat fragrance to a whole new level.

With the help of highly penetrating spices like Sichuan pepper and star anise, the meat aroma became quite aggressive.

It instantly overwhelmed the nearby grandparents and aunties coming back from shopping.

Wang Fan smelled the aroma, added salt to the pot, and poured the beans back in. The oily, green beans covered the meat, and by then the meat aroma was out. The beans absorbing the rich meat flavor while stewing would end up tasting even better than the meat.

After pouring the beans back in, Wang Fan didn’t cover the pot again, because it’s stewed beans; otherwise, it would have been braised beans, which would alter the taste and make the beans turn yellow.

"Clap...clap...clap..."

One by one, the plump garlic cloves were mercilessly smashed by Wang Fan. After smashing, he just left them on the chopping board, while in another pot, he fried some sugar color, and upon mixing, the color turned slightly reddish.

Using an iron ladle, he scooped from the pot and turned it over on the beans. The slightly reddish sauce trickled down, falling onto the beans, then back to the pot, leaving a sticky sheen on some of the beans.

Seeing this effect, Wang Fan picked up the chopping board, sweeping the garlic into the pot, and gently rocking the large iron pot, while softly stirring the ribs and beans inside.

Before long, as the garlic aroma emerged, Wang Fan turned off the heat, grabbed a thermal container and poured all the meat and beans in.

Some dishes must be eaten hot, but others benefit from sitting for a bit, becoming more flavorful and better in texture; stewed pork ribs with beans is one such dish.

After cleaning the pot, he began stir-frying dry pot cauliflower, while the aromatics of garlic and scallions in another pot filled the air. Wang Fan returned the pork belly from the sides of the pot back to the bottom, where the golden pork belly melded again with the slightly charred scallions and garlic, exchanging flavors.

Turning the heat down and adding a large spoon of red pickled pepper paste into the pot, Wang Fan immediately turned up the heat.

The vibrant red pepper paste instantly dyed all the ingredients in the pot bright red, mingling the strong meat aroma with the fragrance of the pickled pepper.

It was one hit after another, with the aroma of stewed ribs still lingering when the scent of stir-fried pork belly with pickled pepper joined the fray.

Everyone around was rendered speechless by this combination of culinary punches.

With eyes locked on the culinary delights in the pot and constantly swallowing saliva, this is the ultimate affirmation of a chef’s craftsmanship.

This resonates far more than any verbal praise like "amazing, amazing," or "so delicious."

A bunch of celery went into the pot, followed by sweet chili peppers, mini red peppers, sausages, garlic sprouts, a quick stir, seasoning, and a spoonful of broth all at once.

Picking up the pot, he transferred half the stir-fried base to another pot, added cauliflower to that pot, while returning potatoes to this one. Two dishes, dry pot cauliflower and dry pot potato slices, emerged from two pots simultaneously.

The second pot was already heated; stir-frying with the base and cauliflower led to adding some soy sauce.

After a quick stir, a bit more soy sauce was drizzled in, repeated three times until every floret was evenly infused with the aroma of soy sauce.

The potato slices, having been pre-fried, went into the pot for a simple stir-fry, followed by a hefty spoon of pre-mixed spices from Wang Fan, a generous handful of garlic sprouts, a drizzle of raw soy sauce, all mixed and fried evenly; the dry pot potato slices were ready to be served.

Not much later, the dry pot cauliflower was ready; when the florets were tender yet still slightly crunchy, Wang Fan decisively turned off the heat and packed it in containers. In an instant, the previously empty thermal containers were filled with three dishes, achieving high efficiency.

Gang Ge wasn’t sitting idle either; he had already scrubbed the pot clean, the sight of his muscled arms working the pot was quite amusing.

Wang Fan prepared to make Spicy Chicken.

One of the iconic dishes of Wudu’s Jianghu cuisine, Geleshan Spicy Chicken.

This dish may not boast a millennium or even a century of history, but many say it appeared around 1986, which doesn’t stop it from sweeping the nation with its unique taste and rich aroma.

By cleverly utilizing the right heat and oil temperature, the aroma and flavor of peppers, combined with the tender and slightly fatty rooster, explode on the palate.

The chicken was freshly chopped by the poultry shop owner, all into small pieces about 2 centimeters wide, fresh enough to still see the reddish blood.

Three types of peppers were used, with Hunan’s dried mini peppers providing the heat, Wudu’s Shizhu Red adding a fragrant spiciness, and the new generation of Neihuang adding color and aroma. These three peppers were pre-proportioned in a 1:2:3 ratio, with the seeds inside the pepper skins already removed beforehand.