TSK, TSK, TSK. Look how mad you've made Senior Brother; he's really lost his composure, Lin Xu said with a smile. "It's just a word from the boy, why take it so seriously?"

While comforting his senior brother, Lin Xu prepared to stealthily learn the technique.

Well, I still have a Superior Cooking Learning Card unused. Since Senior Brother is going to make this classic Braised Eggplant, I might as well learn it. Once the new restaurant is decorated and opened, this dish might become one of the signature dishes there. After all, Braised Eggplant, like Earth Three Fresh, has always been a must-order at family restaurants. It seems like you can find this dish everywhere. However, the methods slightly vary by region. For example, when frying the aromatics after the eggplant, some places use tomato sauce, some use soybean sauce, and some even use Doubanjiang, or go without any sauce at all. Beyond that, the methods are pretty much the same.

Almost everywhere, the process involves frying the eggplant pieces in oil. Then, they are stewed in the pot to soak up the sweet, sour, and perhaps savory sauce with hints of umami, before being served. When eating, just cover the rice with it, or pour the sauce over the rice, and your appetite will instantly be aroused.

Xie Baomin kept mumbling to himself while preparing the ingredients. Clearly, this common dish was throwing off the composure of this State Banquet master.

After washing the eggplants, he was about to peel them when Lin Xu said, "In the school canteen, they make this dish with the peel on. Why don't you try that method?"

"Really? That would save me some trouble." Xie Baomin, eager to prove to his son that his cooking skills surpassed those of the school chefs, immediately chose to do the same upon hearing that the school chefs didn't peel the eggplants.

He placed the eggplant on the cutting board and chopped them into roll-cut pieces. The so-called roll-cut pieces involve cutting while rolling the ingredient so that the knife always cuts from the surface of the last cut. This method creates attractive, well-cooked pieces with more edges that better grasp batter and sauce.

After chopping the eggplant, Xie Baomin soaked them in a basin; this effectively removed any odd taste from the eggplants. During washing, some salt and white vinegar should be added to the basin. The salt provides a base flavor when frying the eggplant, and the white vinegar prevents the eggplant from oxidizing and changing color. After soaking for a while, he drained them.

He scattered some dry starch over the eggplants, shaking the basin a few times to evenly coat the cut surfaces of the pieces with the dry starch. The dry starch helps crisp the surface of the eggplants and also prevents them from absorbing too much oil during frying.

After all the eggplant pieces were coated with starch, Xie Baomin brought over two tomatoes, one green bell pepper, and one red bell pepper. After peeling the tomatoes, he chopped them into dice, which makes it convenient for them to release their juice when stir-fried. Meanwhile, he cut the green and red peppers into diamond-shaped pieces, primarily for color coordination. He then prepared some chopped green onions and minced garlic. Now, all the ingredients needed for Braised Eggplant were ready.

Xie Baomin turned to ask, "Is there nothing else to prepare?"

This question indeed stumped me. I never worked part-time in the cafeteria during college, so I wasn't aware of the cooking process there. I only distinctly remember the unpeeled eggplants because occasionally I'd bite into a piece of tough old eggplant skin and have to spit it out, which rather affected the efficiency of my meal.

"It should be like that, I suppose. Why don't you just start cooking, and I'll know once I taste it."

Although I'm unfamiliar with the cooking method, the taste and texture when mixed with rice are unforgettable. I'll know if there's any discrepancy after a taste later.

Xie Baomin set up a wok and started cooking.

When frying eggplants, the oil should be hot so that it can crisp up the surface of the eggplants immediately. If the oil temperature is too low, the eggplant pieces will absorb oil like sponges. This is not only wasteful with oil, but the resulting Braised Eggplant will also be greasy and hard to swallow.

The oil was moderately hot. He scattered the dry starch-coated eggplant pieces into the wok to fry. When they were first added, he didn't stir them immediately because that could shake off the dry starch on the surface. He had to wait until they were slightly golden and crispy before stirring them with a spoon to turn them over. This made it easier to fry the eggplant pieces thoroughly while also preventing the side touching the oil from burning. When the eggplant skin began to wrinkle slightly and the surface turned a golden brown, he took the eggplant pieces out.

He then raised the temperature of the oil for a second fry. This step was to fry out the excess oil in the eggplant pieces, making the eggplant less greasy to eat. The second frying should not be too long; twenty to thirty seconds was enough. Before taking them out of the pan, he poured the chopped green and red peppers into the oil to briefly pass through, then lifted the wok and poured the oil and ingredients together into a large colander set over an oil drum. The oil drained into the drum and could be used again next time, while the ingredients drained in the colander.

Xie Baomin put the wok back on the stove. Without adding more oil, he used the residual oil in the pan to sauté the scallions and garlic until fragrant. Then, he quickly stir-fried the chopped tomatoes until they started to break down and release their juices, and added two spoonfuls of pork bone broth to the wok.

He began seasoning. He sequentially added light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white sugar, and salt to the wok, stirring evenly to blend and allow the flavors to permeate. Then he added the soaked wood ear mushrooms. He cooked them briefly for two minutes to ensure the wood ear mushrooms were cooked through, then added the fried eggplant pieces and the green and red peppers, stir-frying over high heat.

During this moment, Lin Xu silently chanted in his mind: Use the Cooking Learning Card!

Instantaneously, a system prompt sounded in his mind: "Learning target: Xie Baomin. Current skill is: Anger. Do you want to learn?"

Lin Xu: ????? System, you're being naughty again!

While he was stunned, Xie Baomin had already finished reducing the sauce in the wok and was now at the workbench behind him, starting to plate the dish. After serving, he washed the wok.

Then the executive chef of Fishing Platform wiped his sweat with a towel and said to Lin Xu, "Junior Brother, try this and see if it's as good as what the school chefs make."

Lin Xu was regretting not having learned this dish. He put his thoughts aside and carefully observed the Braised Eggplant his senior brother had made in a state of anger. The lustrous red eggplant pieces were arranged on a clean white porcelain plate, adorned with green and red peppers and black wood ear mushrooms, looking quite tempting indeed. However, Lin Xu always felt it was somewhat different from the Braised Eggplant served in the large trays of the school cafeteria. But he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different.

Just as he was about to taste it, Ma Zhiqiang suddenly remarked, "Chef Xie, this dish is too meticulous and exquisite. A dish like Braised Eggplant is more home-style; it tastes better when it's a bit more casual."

Exactly, too delicate. Lin Xu finally realized where the problem lay.

Xie Baomin furrowed his brows in confusion. Ever since he started learning to cook at Fishing Platform, exquisite presentation had always been the top requirement from his masters and leaders. Unexpectedly, being too exquisite turned out to be a drawback when making Braised Eggplant.

Could it be that I'm really not as skilled as the school chefs?

"Of course not," Lin Xu picked up a piece and tasted it. The flavor was still on point. If it were to be rated, it would at least be of Superior level. But this Braised Eggplant had the style of a high-end hotel, lacking the taste of home-style restaurants and cafeterias.

Recalling that Ma Zhiqiang excelled at large-pot cooking, he put down his chopsticks and said, "Zhiqiang, why don't you make a version? Let Senior Brother and me broaden our horizons."

Ma Zhiqiang didn't hesitate. He washed his hands and said, "Then I'll make a humble attempt in front of you two!"

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