I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

At 7 a.m., Li Zhibai returned to the Shaxian snack shop.

Actually, according to his normal business hours, he could have gone home to sleep and then come back to the store, but right now his mind was filled with those two words.

Black...gold...

The moment Yang Chongwu saw the sunrise from his company window, he suddenly had an inspiration: he wanted to make a braised egg that was pure black on the outside, as clear and translucent as a black gemstone, but with golden liquid flowing inside when cut open.

Black and gold, simplicity and luxury, represent Yang Chongwu's experience, the difficult period of enduring the darkest valley before finally seeing the golden dawn.

Furthermore, he also had to be able to taste two completely opposite layers of texture in a single bite of egg.

Just thinking about it makes me feel awesome.

If this could be made, it would fetch an astronomical price!

But the problem is how to make it, because there doesn't seem to be any braised eggs like this on the market, so he has to start from scratch and explore and research it himself.

"System, what if I make braised eggs that are completely black, like black gemstones, but with golden yolk flowing out when you bite into them? Would that work?"

[The host already has the answer in their heart, why ask me?]

"Can't I even ask?"

Li Zhibai already had a preliminary direction and method in mind, and he even knew what kind of eggs he wanted to use.

The first egg laid by a mature hen must be used. There's a saying in folk tradition that this egg is "invaluable," meaning it's worth more than gold.

The first egg laid by a hen contains the most essential nutrients of the chicken, with an extremely high yolk ratio, a golden and thick color, and a firm and bouncy egg white. The taste of the food made from it is far superior to that of ordinary eggs.

These eggs are not easy to obtain, especially those from specific breeds of free-range chickens, which makes them even more difficult to get.

After checking the time, he figured Su Su should already be up, so he made a phone call.

Beep~~~Beep~~~

"Sister Su, I need your help urgently!"

Every time Su Su heard those familiar lines, she knew her master was about to pull off something big.

"Master, please speak."

"I want the very first egg laid by a hen, the first nest egg, the kind that's considered priceless. Ideally, it should be from a free-range chicken raised in the mountains, eating insects and drinking spring water. It can't be a regular white-feathered chicken; it has to be a good chicken. Can you get your hands on the first nest egg?"

Su Su frowned and thought for a moment, then said with some difficulty, "Master, those eggs you mentioned are extremely rare. Even if you pre-order, you might not be able to buy them. Farmers usually don't want to sell their first batch of eggs. I can only try my best to ask around for you, but I can't guarantee anything."

"Sister Su Su! I'll add more money! I'll pay any amount you can get!"

"...Okay, I'll try my best to find a way for you."

"Okay, I'll wait for your message!"

Li Zhibai hung up the phone, thinking that if Su Su couldn't handle it, he might as well go to the chicken farm himself and keep watch, waiting for the hen to lay an egg.

Of course, it was just a thought; he couldn't actually go.

"Never mind, I'll try it out in the kitchen first."

Li Zhibai returned to the kitchen of the new shop and took out the premium eggs that Su Su had sent last time, which were specially used for making fried rice.

These eggs are the best variety available on the market; the yolks are several shades darker than those of regular eggs, and the egg whites are firm enough.

"Let's practice with these first, and then we'll make the real thing when we get the gold."

Li Zhibai stroked his chin, frantically searching his mind for the knowledge base bestowed upon him by his god-level culinary skills, pondering how to make this black gold braised egg.

This black and gold braised egg is actually quite simple. The egg white should be braised until it is as black and shiny as obsidian, and the soft-boiled yolk should be as shimmering as molten gold. The black and gold colors create a strong visual impact, and that's how you make it.

But it's easier said than done.

Regular braised eggs are colored with dark soy sauce, resulting in a dark brown color. Although the color can be quite deep, it's nowhere near as black as obsidian.

"How exactly do you braise it to achieve that perfect black color?"

Li Zhibai stood in front of the stove for a long time, and suddenly remembered the dessert he had at the molecular gastronomy restaurant last night.

The technique of using flavoring to simulate smoking in that dessert inspired him. Perhaps he could use molecular gastronomy to make this braised egg?

Let's try it as we go!

For the first batch, add dark soy sauce and caramel coloring.

failure!

The color is completely substandard!

For the second batch, add black soybean paste, black rice vinegar, and brown sugar.

The color is quite dark, but the taste is too pungent, with the sourness overshadowing the braised flavor.

The third batch consisted of dried shiitake mushrooms, black garlic, and black goji berries.

It's black, but not deep enough. It doesn't have the texture of obsidian. It looks like a moldy stone, completely unappetizing.

The fourth batch, the fifth batch... all the way to the sixth batch, it was a complete failure.

"No matter what I do, I can't get the black I want. What's wrong?" Li Zhibai asked, somewhat worried.

He also encountered a problem: eggs cannot be boiled for too long. If they are boiled for too long, the yolks will solidify and there will be no soft runny yolks. This is also a major problem that needs to be addressed.

Li Zhibai had been busy for most of the day, and by this time it was well past noon.

In front of him was a row of braised eggs, ranging in color from "somewhat dark" to "normally dark" to "as black as a lump of coal," a colorful array of blacks, each with its own unique characteristics.

But none of the pots he cooked achieved the effect he wanted.

What he wanted was an obsidian black, a black so dark it reflected a person's image, a black that would make a rich person want to open their wallet at first glance.

"No, it still won't work."

In the past, when he cooked, whether it was Bodhi Jade Vegetarian Dish or Secret Braised Pork, he had a general idea in mind and knew where to focus his efforts. But this Black Gold Braised Egg was different from all his previous dishes. It was developed from scratch without any reference.

Li Zhibai sighed, casually scooped a failed braised egg from the pot and ate it. Although the taste was not as good as a divine dish, it could at least fill his stomach.

Just as he was eating three braised eggs, Su Su appeared at the door in her BMW Mini, carrying a bamboo basket lined with straw, on which lay three eggs.

"Master! I got it! I got it!" Su Su shouted excitedly as she entered the room. Judging from her excitement, she had obviously gone through a lot of trouble to get these few eggs.

"Really?"

Li Zhibai quickly went over and carefully took the basket from Su Su's hands.

These three eggs were indeed smaller than regular chicken eggs, and their shells were a darker, matte pinkish-brown color, with a few fine bits of grass clinging to their surfaces.

"Sister Su Su, is this Jin Buhuan?"

"Yes! I contacted a supplier who specializes in raising free-range chickens in the mountainous area of ​​southern Anhui and told them that I urgently needed the first clutch of eggs. They only spared three eggs because they consider us a major customer, but the price was a bit high."

"How expensive? How much is one of these eggs?"

"It costs about 200 yuan each."

Li Zhibai: "..."

200 yuan for an egg? That's insane!

In other words, the price of this one first-laid egg is roughly equivalent to a box of top-quality eggs in his store.

"If an egg costs 200, then I need to sell mine for at least 2000 to justify its price."

Su Su: "..."

Hearing her master's unintentional complaint, she had a very strong premonition that her master's new dish would probably break the record for the most expensive single item in the restaurant once again.

Li Zhibai carried the basket of golden eggs back to the kitchen and carefully took the three eggs out of the basket one by one, placing them on the countertop covered with a soft cloth.

Then he picked up an egg and held it up to the light.

The shell of the first-laid egg is more translucent than that of a regular egg. When the light shines on it, you can vaguely see the deep orange yolk inside, which is almost twice the size of a regular egg. The egg white layer is also thicker and more viscous than that of a regular egg. When shaken, it has almost no watery flow and is very firm.

"Good egg!"

Li Zhibai put down the egg and began to think again.

We have the eggs, but how to cook them is still a problem.

Traditional braised eggs are simply made by boiling, peeling, and braising the eggs. But no matter how I tried these three steps, I just couldn't get the effect I wanted.

Dark soy sauce doesn't give a deep enough black color, and squid ink has a strong fishy smell. Black fermented soybeans are also a bit dull in color, so they all fall short.

"Sister Su Su, do you have any molecular gastronomy equipment that can separate liquids into layers?"

Su Su thought for a moment and said, "Master, would a low-temperature centrifuge work? We use it to process small amounts of color samples."

Li Zhibai's eyes lit up when he heard her words; this machine seemed feasible.

He had been struggling with the issue of squid ink. Pure squid ink had a strong fishy smell, so it definitely wouldn't work to use it directly for braised eggs, as it would ruin the overall flavor of the braising liquid.

But what if we use low-temperature centrifugation to separate the squid ink?

The reason squid ink tastes fishy is because it contains a large amount of water-soluble proteins and free amino acids. These substances will quickly oxidize and decompose when cooked at high temperatures, releasing a distinct fishy smell.

But if we use low-temperature centrifugation to extract the melanin from the squid ink separately, remove the protein components that produce the fishy smell, and retain only the pure melanin, wouldn't that solve the problem?

Li Zhibai quickly asked Su Su to find someone to deliver the centrifuge, and then he went to a nearby supermarket to buy a few fresh squid.

Once everything was in place, Li Zhibai immediately began the process. He first cut open the squid, removed the ink sac, squeezed the thick ink into a centrifuge tube, set the parameters, and then the machine started spinning at high speed.

At the same time, he stared intently through the glass lid at the changes inside the centrifuge tube.

"It moved! The melanin has settled to the bottom."

After centrifugation, a layer of thick, almost solid, pure black substance settled at the bottom of the tube, while the top layer was a light grayish-white liquid.

Then he poured off the liquid on top and used a spoon to scrape off the obsidian-like paste and put it in a small bowl.

The extracted pure black pigment paste looks as black and shiny as a black gemstone, and has a very faint salty and savory taste, with almost no fishy smell.

"This is it, this is the black I wanted!"

After his initial excitement, Li Zhibai immediately began preparing to make the braising sauce.

Cordyceps sinensis, Dendrobium officinale, Ganoderma lucidum, Angelica sinensis, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Rehmannia glutinosa, Polygonum multiflorum, black goji berries and other precious Chinese medicinal herbs, as well as top-grade Da Hong Pao tea, and thirteen kinds of spices including Sichuan pepper, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom, and licorice are all put into a gauze bag. Finally, a few pieces of rock sugar and soy sauce brewed in the traditional way are added and simmered slowly over low heat.

He referenced and improved upon the recipe for this braising sauce from the legendary tea egg recipe that sold for thousands of yuan online, and the ingredients used were incredibly extravagant!

This also means that if the eggs are successfully processed, their price will be very attractive.

Just as the braising liquid was almost ready, Li Zhibai carefully placed three golden basils into the constant-temperature pot. To make soft-boiled eggs, the temperature control had to be very strict. If the time and temperature were not controlled well, the flowing golden color he wanted would not be achieved.

He set the temperature to 63.5 degrees Celsius and simmered it at a constant temperature for 10 minutes and 12 seconds.

This temperature allows the egg white to solidify into a soft tofu-like texture, while the yolk remains perfectly runny, releasing golden egg liquid with just a gentle poke.

When the time was up, Li Zhibai took the eggs out of the pot, quickly put them in ice water to cool and set, and then began to peel them.

Because it is cooked at a constant temperature, the egg whites are very delicate. You have to be very, very careful when peeling them, as even a little force will leave unsightly scratches on the surface of the egg whites.

The peeled egg looks white and tender, like a peeled lychee. With a gentle shake, you can vaguely see the runny yolk inside trembling slightly.

In the next step, Li Zhibai did not follow the traditional method of braising eggs by directly putting them into the pot for braising. Instead, he used another piece of equipment that he had never used before: a vacuum marinating machine.

He first put the peeled eggs into a vacuum bag, poured in the prepared braising liquid and the bowl of pure black squid ink paste, and then vacuum-sealed it.

Under vacuum, the braising liquid and melanin can penetrate into the surface of the egg white more quickly and evenly, resulting in a faster and deeper color while preserving the original state of the soft-boiled yolk inside the braised egg to the maximum extent.

"This is it, or it won't. Get in here!"

Li Zhibai put the vacuum bag into the pickling machine and started the machine.

ten minutes.

twenty minutes.

half an hour.

The color of the eggshell changed from white to light gray, then from light gray to dark gray, and finally to light black at a visible speed.

But that wasn't enough. He then put the vacuum bag into the system's high-tech refrigerator, intending to let it sit for more than 20 hours to allow the color to fully penetrate the protein.

After doing all this, Li Zhibai realized that he had been working on it for almost 9 hours straight, and it was already 4 p.m.

The rest will be revealed tomorrow when we open the bag.

After resting for a while, Li Zhibai started preparing the ingredients for today's business in the kitchen, especially winter melon.

After the ingredients were almost ready, he moved a small stool to the entrance of the shop, holding half a watermelon in his hand, eating it while watching the activity of the Shaxian Old Shop across the street.

The old Shaxian restaurant across the street is now surrounded by a blue construction fence, and the clanging of electric drills and hammers can be heard from inside, suggesting that it is undergoing renovations.

A red banner hung above the construction site, with several large characters written on it.

[The Shaxian of the Universe! Major Upgrade! Stay tuned!]

Li Zhibai: "..."

The Shaxian County of the Universe?

What the hell is this?!

My shop is called the Shaxian of the World, and you dare to call yourself the Shaxian of the Universe? How dare you be so arrogant!

Just as Li Zhibai finished complaining, he saw that Zhao Lei across the street had also noticed him and gave him a thumbs up from across the road.

That smug expression seemed to say: How about it? Dude, wasn't that a great move?

Li Zhibai also gave him a thumbs up, with a bright smile.

Copy away, copy away, copy as much as you want!

You think you can steal my customers by simply copying a high-quality counterfeit store? You're thinking too simplistically.

You can copy the decor, you can copy the menu, you can copy the prices... but you can't copy the most important things: the taste and the cooking skills, right?

As the saying goes, your cooking skills are all the result of hard work and practice; in short, they're terrible! My cooking skills, on the other hand, were given to me by the system—a max-level cheat! The difference is obvious!