Chapter 583: Chapter 561: A Showpiece, Geleshan Spicy Chicken

The peppercorns were Dahongpao peppercorns, with a heavier numbing taste and a longer-lasting aroma, and they wouldn’t easily burn under high oil temperature.

Once everything was prepared, Wang Fan began his creation.

Unlike the Western style where one can leisurely and elegantly cook while listening to symphonies, the Jianghu cuisine of Wudu emphasizes personality, boldness, casualness, and grandeur. Whether it’s the dish itself or the cooking process, elegance is never the goal.

With generous oil, he stir-fried scallions, ginger, and spices until fragrant. After quietly putting on a mask and goggles, Wang Fan poured nearly half a pot of chili peppers into the pan.

An oil temperature of 60% hot would make the chili crispy without burning it, allowing the three types of chili to fully release their capsaicin under the influence of the heat.

The quintessential ingredient that can pierce through the taste buds of a Wudu native has to be chili. The rich, fiery, spicy, and overwhelmingly fragrant flavor makes every local greedily inhale with pleasure.

"Cough cough cough..."

For outsiders watching the scene, except for those from a few select provinces or cities, who could withstand such a spectacle? They were directly choked by the spiciness of the chili, coughing incessantly, fleeing the food market as if for their lives.

Even Wang Fan, wearing an N95 mask and goggles, could barely withstand the spiciness, so how could those not used to spicy food bear it?

Locals, however, were completely unfazed, instead being deeply engrossed in the intense chili aroma, unable to extricate themselves.

"This aroma is the real deal, this spicy chicken is definitely flavorful! I love it."

"Authentic, absolutely authentic Geleshan Spicy Chicken. Upon seeing the chili, you can tell they’re not of a single variety. It’s rare to find such thoughtfully made dishes in small restaurants nowadays."

"No wonder my child insisted I come over to buy a meal to take home. From the aroma alone, you can tell the caliber is extraordinary."

"Just yesterday, I got my daughter his meal for lunch. Wow, once a little nobody, she suddenly became a popular figure in the class, with everyone scrambling to trade food with her. It made her so happy. Today, I have to bring her another serving."

"Oh baby, this aroma is causing a flood of saliva in my mouth, it seems like it will burst any second."

"Brother, if I hadn’t already seen the drool at the corner of your mouth, I might have believed what you said."

So fragrant!

Frying chili requires extremely precise oil temperature. Below 150 degrees is unacceptable because the chili’s aroma can’t be fully released, and above 160 degrees is also unacceptable because the chili would inevitably carry a slight burnt taste.

Under Wang Fan’s superb control of heat and temperature, the three kinds of chili revealed their full essence.

The intense and pure fragrance, devoid of any extraneous flavors, was utterly tantalizing to the core.

Especially for the Wudu locals, who grew up eating spicy food, that was a temptation striking right at their DNA.

By now, all the chilis in the pot had turned a reddish-brown color. Wang Fan picked up the bowl of chicken meat and poured it into the pot, then began to stir without a pause, occasionally adjusting the heat as he went.

The oil temperature requirement for chicken is equally high; low oil temperature would result in the chicken becoming soft, while high oil temperature would affect the chili. Balancing the oil temperature at the moment the chicken enters the pot is a crucial skill for determining the final presentation of the dish.

But this is a nuance only experts among experts can discern. Those who haven’t reached the pinnacle can hardly perceive the brilliance of this step, let alone ordinary people.

But crafting a stunning step is not meaningless; that perfect control of heat brought forth such a rich and captivating meat aroma.

The overwhelmingly rich fragrance released seized everyone’s attention onto the pot.

"Oh my goodness, it already smells this good just after starting to stir-fry?"

"I have never experienced this feeling before. I think today, if I don’t get to eat this spicy chicken, I might die right here."

"Is this the power of the ultimate outdoor food boss? It’s like several floors high."

"Bullshit, it’s at least as tall as Yintiaoling! This dish, in all of Wudu’s restaurants, name any one, I’ve practically tried them all, and never once have I been this impressed. He’s using regular chicken too! Not even the naturally fragrant free-range chicken. He’s really mastered the heat and technique to the utmost! And the most astounding part is that this dish only costs 15 yuan..."

"I can’t take it, I can’t help but look up at a 45-degree angle, and when my mom asks why, I can only say if I don’t, my saliva will spill out."

Seeing the chicken chunks in the pot mostly turn white and slightly shrink, Wang Fan poured the Dahongpao peppercorns into the pot.

Peppercorns shouldn’t be heated in oil for too long, otherwise, they easily turn bitter, and salt can’t be added to the oil as it easily carbonizes, thus the seasoning and base flavor are mostly reliant on soy sauce.

He wrapped a corner of the iron wok with a cloth and began to steadily rock the wok. The iron spatula gently stirred, and after a spoonful of soy sauce was added, Wang Fan deftly rocked the wok, pushing with the iron spatula, creating a brilliantly beautiful arc with all the ingredients inside.

This maneuver left Gang Ge, watching from the side, truly amazed.

He had seen woks rocked before but had never seen such a large wok with so many ingredients rocked as well as this! The key was, it was done so perfectly!

He knew Brother Wang had decent physical strength, but didn’t expect it to be this good.

The chili, peppercorns, and chicken chunks inside the wok mixed in a marvelous rhythm, with the dark red oil persistently trailing the ingredients but ultimately obediently settling back into the wok.

The aroma of soy sauce, driven by the high oil temperature, was fully infused into the chicken with this masterful execution.

Insiders observing the technique were amazed, but it is the onlookers who bring emotional value.

"666, I feel this pot of ingredients weighs more than me. Does this mean Boss Wang could rock me in his hand like this?"

"I’d definitely score this move of Boss Wang 82 points, and the remaining 18 points I’d give in the form of 666, not afraid of you being arrogant."

"If I had this skill, I’d go to the plaza every day to rock woks."

"This must be the first time Boss Wang has shown off his wok-rocking skill, huh? Man, that arc is more dynamic than a rainbow."

"Too surreal, it feels like an action right out of a cartoon; can this really be replicated in reality?"

Wang Fan, however, didn’t deliberately show off; every technique served the purpose of perfecting the dish. He did it this way simply because it was necessary.

The purpose of wok-rocking is to ensure even heating and seasoning while maintaining the integrity of the ingredients. The chilies, after being fried in high-temperature oil, are very crispy, and using an iron spatula could easily break them all. Wok-rocking helps preserve as much of the chili intact as possible.

Wok-rocking boils down to pushing forward, tossing up, and pulling back. It isn’t hard to learn, but mastering the skill to achieve different effects with different ingredients and methods requires immense hard work and dedication.

When the rich aroma reached its peak, Wang Fan decisively turned off the heat. Instead of placing the dish into an insulated vessel, he directly poured it onto an iron plate.

A handful of MSG was evenly sprinkled, and upon contact with the chilies and chicken chunks, it adhered, making it look as if covered with a few grains of frost.

Finally, a handful of chopped green onions was sprinkled, officially completing this authentic Geleshan Spicy Chicken.

The final dish, bamboo shoots stir-fried with meat, was much simpler, finished within less than a minute under high heat stir-frying. But the people around barely noticed Wang Fan’s movements after that, their entire attention still fixed on the spicy chicken.

The brownish-red chilies, like burning flames, exuded the same kind of passionate exuberance as most people of Wudu, emanating a rich aroma.

The golden brown, shrunken-to-small-size chicken chunks were crispy on the outside and tender inside, like treasures hidden among the chilies, as if playing a game of hide and seek with the diners.

While visually captivating to the fullest, the dish continued exuding that intense roasted aroma.

The fragrance of peppercorns, chilies, and chicken embraced everyone abundantly and rushed straight to the top of everyone’s skull.

Truly an 8D surround sensory allure, perfectly complementing the 8D magical city of Wudu.