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

Li Zhibai first took out the bag of original wild fragrant Yulis rice, opened the vacuum packaging, scooped out a bowl of rice and examined it carefully under the light.

The rice grains are long and slender, each one plump. Especially when held up to the light, the rice grains are almost transparent, like small, elongated jade stones.

He picked up a grain of rice, put it in his mouth, and chewed it. The raw rice had a very faint grassy fragrance. After chewing it, a few seconds later, a sweet aftertaste appeared on his tongue.

"Good rice!" Li Zhibai nodded in satisfaction.

After confirming that the rice was of good quality, he immediately began to work on it.

He had practiced making this fried rice recipe many times before, and with the inspiration he got from Gao Siqi, he had practically created his own unique way of making fried rice.

Whether the desired effect can be achieved depends on how well the next steps are done.

Li Zhibai first boiled a pot of water and brewed a pot of Emei Mountain premium bamboo leaf green tea, but he only took the first brew, the weakest one.

If you steep Zhuyeqing tea for too long, it will taste bitter. So you can't use too much tea or steep it for too long. Once the tea soup starts to change color, you can immediately filter the tea and let it cool.

Once the tea has cooled to 25 degrees Celsius, pour the rice into it and soak for 20 minutes. This method allows the tea aroma to slowly permeate the rice from the outside in, without discoloring the grains; they will remain translucent and glossy.

While the rice was soaking, Li Zhibai began preparing the base ingredients for steaming the rice.

This is the step I've put the most effort into tonight.

He prepared to use the method of steaming rice in layers, placing all the ingredients in layers at the bottom of the steamer, with the rice on top, and then steaming it until cooked.

The advantage of doing this is that the rice grains can evenly absorb the flavor of the ingredients underneath during the steaming process.

Li Zhibai first found a large bamboo steamer in the kitchen, and then began preparing the ingredients.

He prepared a total of twenty-one ingredients for the base, which were layered into four layers.

The first layer is meat, including pieces of old hen that have been aged for more than three years, pork bones, ham slices, pigeons, etc. All of them are blanched in cold water to remove blood foam, drained, and then marinated in ten-year-aged Shaoxing wine for ten minutes to remove fishy smell and enhance aroma before being put into the steamer.

The second layer contains processed seafood, including premium dried abalone, dried scallops, dried shrimp, conch, and other ingredients.

The third layer contains mushrooms, such as dried matsutake mushrooms from Changbai Mountain, shiitake mushrooms, cordyceps flowers, etc.

The fourth layer is for vegetables, such as carrots, white radishes, lotus root, celery, onions, etc., all cut into thick slices or shreds and placed at the bottom.

The vegetables help to neutralize the greasiness of the layers of meat on top, so that the steamed rice doesn't leave a greasy feeling in your mouth after eating it.

This method was inspired by a traditional lotus root steamed rice recipe that Li Zhibai found online.

After laying out the four layers of ingredients, he placed a bamboo mat on the top fifth layer to separate them. He then scooped the soaked rice out of the bamboo leaf tea soup, drained the water, and spread it evenly on the bamboo mat.

The rice should be spread loosely, not compacted, so that there are enough gaps for steam to rise from below.

After doing all that, the next step is to make the "water" for steaming the rice, or more accurately, the stock.

Li Zhibai once again used eighteen kinds of ingredients, including old hen, pork bones, ham, dried scallops, dried scallops, and shiitake mushrooms, and simmered them over low heat for three hours. After filtering, he finally produced a pot of clear broth.

With the addition of broth, when steaming rice, the steam generated by the boiling broth at the bottom of the pot, combined with the layers of ingredients, can penetrate more thoroughly into the top grains of rice, ensuring that every grain of rice absorbs all the essence.

For the steaming step, Li Zhibai used the cutting-edge technology of the system kitchen.

He placed the bamboo steamer into a specially made steamer and set it to constant temperature steam mode, locking the steam temperature at 100 degrees Celsius.

The problem with ordinary steamers is that the steam temperature is unstable, sometimes high and sometimes low, which may result in uneven heating of the rice grains, or even overcooking on the surface and undercooking on the inside.

The constant temperature steam in the system's steamer can completely lock the temperature at 100 degrees Celsius, ensuring that all rice grains are heated evenly from the outside in, resulting in a completely consistent taste for every grain.

Twenty-five minutes later, open the steamer.

A burst of steam, a blend of the aromas of meat, mushrooms, the sweetness of seafood, the freshness of vegetables, and a hint of bamboo, suddenly wafted over.

So delicious!

Li Zhibai lifted the lid of the steamer and took a look. The rice grains were completely steamed, and each grain had become plumper, like long, swollen pearls.

He picked up a grain of rice, put it in his mouth, and tasted it.

The aroma of meat, mushrooms, the fresh sweetness of seafood, the delicate sweetness of vegetables, and the bamboo fragrance of bamboo leaf tea blend together seamlessly, creating a rich and layered flavor profile.

"It's done!"

Li Zhibai then used the quick-drying function in the kitchen to spread the steamed rice on a tray and push it into the quick-drying cabinet. The low temperature and strong air quickly removed the moisture from the surface of the rice grains, which not only kept each grain of rice dry and loose, but also locked in the internal moisture and flavor.

Next comes rendering the oil.

This step was also his original creation for the Bodhi Jade Vegetarian Dish.

He first simmered the fat from the ham over low heat to make a clear ham oil, then mixed in a small amount of cold-pressed camellia oil. When the oil temperature reached 120 degrees Celsius, he added dried matsutake mushrooms and dried shrimp, and deep-fried them over low heat until the aroma of the matsutake mushrooms and dried shrimp was fully infused into the oil. After filtering out the residue, he obtained a bowl of secret blended oil unique to this dish.

Since the ham oil itself has a salty and savory flavor, there's no need to add extra salt when frying rice.

Once this step is done, there are only two remaining steps.

First, the egg yolk.

Li Zhibai chose free-range eggs, only taking the yolks, and used the kitchen's sterilization machine to kill bacteria and remove any fishy smell.

Then he poured the cooled rice into a bowl, poured in the purified egg yolk liquid in three batches, and slowly mixed it with his hands.

This technique is very sophisticated.

The force should not be too strong, otherwise the rice grains will break; nor should it be too weak, otherwise the egg mixture will not coat the grains evenly.

Each grain of rice must be evenly coated with a thin layer of egg yolk.

One, two, three...

He didn't stop until the rice was still white on the outside.

The final step – stir-fry.

The iron pot was placed on the stove, the high-heat mode was turned on, and the temperature of the bottom of the pot quickly soared to 260 degrees.

Add a spoonful of the secret blended oil, and when the temperature reaches 70%, immediately pour in the rice and start stir-frying.

With a flick of his wrist, Li Zhibai tossed the iron pot up, causing the rice to tumble in the air before settling back into the pot.

After repeating this process several times to ensure that each grain of rice is heated evenly, the heat is turned off only when charred marks appear on the edges of the rice grains.

Before turning off the heat, he scooped out a small spoonful of pure ham oil and poured it around the edge of the scalding hot pot.

Sizzle~~~~

A wisp of smoke rose up.

As the smoke dissipated, an extremely rich aroma burst forth, and his self-created Bodhi Jade Cuisine was completely ready.

Remove from the pan and plate.

Li Zhibai chose a plain white porcelain plate, adorned with three bamboo leaves at the bottom, and gently piled the fried rice into the shape of a small snow mountain.

knock off!

Li Zhibai glanced at the finished product on the plate, then at the time on the wall.

More than five hours have passed since midnight, and it's already dawn.

But it was worth it.

Li Zhibai picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and put it in his mouth.

The moment he bit down, he instantly narrowed his eyes.

what! ! !

So delicious! Absolutely amazing!!!

Even though you can't see the egg, your mouth is filled with a rich egg flavor, along with the salty and savory taste of meat, the sweetness of mushrooms and seafood, and the fresh aroma of bamboo. The taste is excellent and has a very rich and complex flavor profile.

It becomes more fragrant the more you chew it, and there's a hint of sweetness in your mouth after swallowing.

Li Zhibai even felt that the breath he exhaled after eating the fried rice smelled delicious.

Nobody even bothers to smell it.

Ding!

[Congratulations, host, on successfully creating a divine dish—Bodhi Jade Vegetarian Cuisine: The Only One.]

[Because this dish was independently developed by the host, combining various ingredients with unique techniques, the system has determined it to be the host's original and exclusive recipe, and therefore marks it as "unique".]

[Food rating: Divine.]

[The system recipes have been updated, adding a new dish: Bodhi Jade Vegetarian Cuisine - Unique. Both the standard and deluxe versions of the recipe are now unlocked.]

[Congratulations, host, on successfully obtaining your first Gourmet Heart.]

[This heart of food says: Every heart of food embodies the most sincere emotion between food and people. It doesn't come from technique, nor from ingredients, but from that child who, when hungry, ate a bowl of white rice and thought it was the most delicious thing in the world.]

That is also all the love a mother can give to her child, and it is also a child's most beautiful memory.

This love of food belongs to the little boy named Gao Siqi, and also to every ordinary person who has been healed by a bowl of fried rice late at night when they come home hungry.

[System Reward: Host's Physique +1.]

Li Zhibai: "???"

"That's it? Is the reward that perfunctory?"

He originally thought that the Heart of Gourmets would at least drop some kind of legendary gold item, but it only gave him 1 point of physique.

That's so stingy!

However, after his physique improved by 1 point, he did feel some changes in his body. He seemed to be stronger, had more endurance, and even the fatigue from staying up most of the night had dissipated a lot, making him feel much more energetic.

Li Zhibai then opened the system menu to see the price of this Bodhi Jade Dish.

Bodhi Jade Cuisine (Standard Version): 288 yuan/serving.

Bodhi Jade Delight (Luxury Edition): 1288 RMB/serving.

"puff--!!!"

"1288? System, you really dare to place such a order!"

"What kind of ultimate idiot would spend over a thousand dollars on a plate of fried rice?!"