Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 51 Shangbixiang Street, Magical Pig Blood Tofu Soup, Is This a Case of Tyranny?
Supermarkets don't have fresh pig's blood, and the supply at the wet market can't meet Xia Ming's needs.

In the end, the production team had to urgently source a batch of completely fresh pig blood from the slaughterhouse, which finally satisfied Xia Ming's request.

Looking at the more than 20 kilograms of fresh pig blood he had bought for 1.88 yuan per kilogram, Xia Ming brought his nose close and sniffed it.

"It tastes very fresh, but it's a pity that it lacks some spiritual energy and doesn't have the lingering flavor of the Kyushu Continent."

Just after Xia Ming got the pig's blood, the program team finally announced the location of this food street competition.

Changsha Shangbixiang Street

[Brief Introduction: Shangbixiang Street is located in Tianxin District, Changsha City. It is the eastern section of Bixiang Street after it is divided into two parts by Shuyuan Road. It starts from Huangxing South in the east and ends at Shuyuan Road North in the west.]

Compared to the overdeveloped Changshapozi Road and Changsha Sail Street, Shangbixiang Street is a new popular spot for tourists to take photos.

This street, about 200 meters long, is full of the lively, everyday life of old Changsha. It's lined with old shops, mostly family-run workshops where crafts have been passed down through generations.

The food here is abundant, including various snacks such as sugar-coated glutinous rice cakes, chopped chili peppers, bundled chicken, pan-fried buns, and crayfish, as well as regional specialty bean products like Liuyang Baisha tofu and Demaolong dried tofu.

[Map (Image)]

Six points were scattered along this not-so-long street. Since Xia Ming was alone, the production team let him choose first, while the rest of the team drew lots.

Xia Ming studied the map for a while and then chose a location that was relatively far to the west.

This place is very close to the "Xiang District Financial Bund", a key area of ​​Changsha. It is surrounded by many office buildings and is a gathering place for white-collar workers.

Moreover, Shangbixiang Street only has iconic gate towers on the east and west sides. The west side is adjacent to Shuyuan Road, which is accessible by taxis and buses. The only downside is that it is not close to the subway.

In contrast, to the east, you can exit at "Nanmenkou" station on Line 1 of the Xiangqu Line and walk just a few hundred meters to reach the east side of Shangbixiang Street.

For tourists with a limited budget, the East Gate is a good option, but the difference in taxi fares between the East and West Gates is not significant.

Because of the tight schedule, he quickly started preparing the ingredients after choosing the location of the food street.

After confirming that the pig's blood was in the right condition, Xia Ming took a black turtle out of the basin.

These are the turtles he just bought at the supermarket. They are purebred greenhouse turtles, with no wild parts whatsoever. They cost 22.8 yuan per jin (500g), which is 10 times cheaper than wild turtles.

Conversely, the taste of this turtle meat can't compare to that of wild turtles, but given the price, there's not much to complain about.

With a swift movement, Xia Ming severed the turtle's head. Seizing the opportunity, he hung the turtle upside down and began to bleed it.

The greenhouse turtle had a very strong bloody smell; as soon as it was poured into the bowl, the other contestants could smell it.

The black horse that was chopping vegetables was the first to look up at Xia Ming. When it realized it was Wang Ba, it frowned.

"Draining turtle blood? What are they going to do with that? Make it into a blood tonic? But the fishy smell will probably be hard to remove!"

Yang Yanbin, who was standing to the side, glanced at it.

"It's not blood curd. Artificially farmed turtles are too fishy, ​​and ordinary people can't stomach blood curd at all."

After saying that, he glanced at the pig's blood next to him. He judged that the Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef probably wanted to make blood tofu, but he was not sure what the turtle was for.

Xia Ming, who was busy at the moment, had killed seven turtles. There was quite a lot of blood in the bowl. He smelled it, nodded, and then pulled out a turtle with a bluish shell on its back.

This turtle is different from the previous ones; it's a pond turtle, also called a big pond turtle, priced at 62 yuan per jin (500g). Even the small one in his hand costs 180 yuan. Compared to the cheaper greenhouse turtles, this kind of turtle tastes much better and the meat is much firmer. Of course, it can't compare to semi-wild ones, but that's his budget. He's already spent about 550 yuan on turtles, which is way over budget.

The viewers in the live chat were also stunned. The total cost was only 1300, with turtles accounting for nearly half of it. Although they got a lot of turtle meat and turtle blood, it was still far from the normal snacks they had imagined.

Is this some kind of marketing campaign using turtle skewers to attract customers? But the problem is, who eats turtle while strolling down the street?

[There are still people who eat them, right? I remember there's a county in Changde that specifically raises turtles in the Xiangqu area.]

[Hanshou, the hometown of turtles, people in Hunan province eat turtles. But isn't the cost too high? It probably won't sell well at food stalls.]

[This doesn't look like a snack shop. Is the Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef thinking snacks aren't profitable and planning to sell full-service meals instead?]

[The competition lasts 12 hours, and only two meals can be sold for main courses. Besides, who has the time to go to the food street for a main course?]

Actually, I do eat there. My company is in Wuhan, near Liangdao Street, and I eat there every day.

Why not eat at Hubu Alley?

[Hubu Alley? Even dogs wouldn't eat in Hubu Alley, it's a tourist trap!]

While the comments section was buzzing with discussion, Xia Ming had already finished collecting the turtle blood. He mixed it with a small amount of strong liquor and a few drops of turtle bile, then started stirring it with chopsticks.

If it's duck blood, the main purpose of this step is to remove the "blood skin," which can slow down the coagulation time of the duck blood. But if it's turtle blood, it's simply a matter of mixing the wine with the blood.

Of course, Xia Ming's main purpose in stirring the blood was to secretly use the "Blood Fusion Demon Cultivation Method" to remove the fishy smell from the blood. In fact, it could be removed by normal operation, but it was more troublesome. For him, it only took half a minute to absorb the blood.

The processed turtle blood is mixed with pig blood, then a small amount of special seasoning water (Sichuan pepper water) is added, and then it is put into a large pot to boil.

Then, a small amount of salt and a certain amount of seasoning water were added in batches. After 10 minutes, the filtered pig blood was collected, divided into 6 thick plates, and placed in the freezer for quick freezing for 45 seconds. Then, it was taken out and allowed to cool naturally.

At this point, almost all the contestants could tell that Xia Ming was making pig's blood tofu.

They had no objection to this option, but they were mainly curious whether Xia Ming could sell all of the nearly 30 kilograms of pig's blood.

Just as the blood cooled, Xia Ming first thoroughly cleaned the turtle's exterior with warm water (turtles have a protective gel layer on the outside; if not cleaned properly, they can easily cause a high-protein allergic reaction after consumption). He was running a food stall, not a murder stand; with so many customers, he couldn't act like he did with the Five Flavors Scorpion before.

Of course, the benefits of turtles go far beyond just eating meat; otherwise, wouldn't the 550 yuan have been wasted?

Cut the prepared turtle into large pieces, then blanch it in boiling water. Add ginger slices, rice wine, and white pepper in that order. Simmer over low heat for two minutes, then remove from the water.

After washing away the foam, Xia Ming smelled the turtle. The ginger scent suppressed the fishy smell of the turtle. Then he added white vinegar, divided the turtle into eight large bowls, one turtle shell in each bowl, added seven kinds of Chinese medicinal spices, and finally added an appropriate amount of pickled plums.

Then pour in an appropriate amount of mineral water and place it on a steamer to steam.

Next, he took many live chickens, slaughtered and plucked them on the spot, collected the chicken blood and offal, and finally processed them all into small pieces.

Upon seeing the turtle and chicken, Shuai Xiaojian, who was preparing the coating with flour, frowned slightly.

At that moment, he thought of a nourishing dish made primarily with chicken and turtle.

"Could it be that the Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef is making the Overlord Turtle Chicken?"

(End of this chapter)