Chapter 355: Let You Open a Gourmet Restaurant, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

By now the duck had swollen to twice its original size, its skin stretched taut, its wings slightly spread.

This size was just right; too much air and it might burst during roasting, too little and it wouldn't look plump enough.

After the duck was inflated, the water in the iron pot Lu Feng had placed on the Stove earlier began to gurgle and boil.

Lu Feng took the duck down from the rack, supported its body with one hand, picked up a long-handled Spoon with the other, ladled boiling water from the pot, and gently poured it over the duck.

This step was pre-scalding, letting the duck skin adjust to the high temperature first, so that when it went directly into the pot, the skin wouldn't break from too great a temperature difference.

Only after the duck's whole body had been doused with boiling water once and adjusted to the temperature did he put the whole duck into the pot to blanch.

During the blanching process, Lu Feng's movements were very careful and cautious.

He kept holding the duck's neck, suspending its body in the pot, to avoid letting the duck breast touch the bottom of the pot.

The duck breast was the most prominent part of the roast duck; once a collision left a dent, it would ruin the overall appearance of the roast duck.

As the duck meat was gradually cooked by the boiling water, the fresh fragrance of the duck meat itself slowly drifted through the Kitchen with the steam.

More special was that the wine fragrance in the duck meat was also mixed in.

The two fragrances intertwined, and even though there was no seasoning yet, it already made people involuntarily swallow their saliva.

"This wine fragrance smells truly mellow; a duck raised drinking Shaocheng Wine really is different from ordinary ones."

Lu Feng took a deep breath of the air mixed with meat fragrance and wine fragrance, and couldn't help but sigh emotionally.

Thinking that this duck had grown up drinking Shaocheng Wine since childhood, Lu Feng felt that he had previously lived worse than a duck.

It seemed that to surpass the diets of those Ingredients, he had only to work hard to complete the System's Missions and unlock more Recipes.

At this time, the duck in the pot was already completely blanched; Lu Feng put aside the distracting thoughts in his mind and continued to focus on making the roast duck.

He used Chopsticks to clamp the duck's neck, and slowly lifted the scalding duck out of the boiling water.

After leaving the boiling water, the duck was steaming all over; Lu Feng did not pause, used a long-handled Spoon to ladle cool Mountain Spring Water, and began to gently pour it over the duck's body.

Through the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, this could tighten the duck skin, making the skin more crispy and tender, and also remove the gaminess from the duck's body.

After pouring cold water several times in succession, there was no more steam rising from the duck's body.

Lu Feng stopped his movements, placed the duck on the Chopping Board, and took out a porcelain Bowl containing Green Plums from the Food Ingredient Box.

These Green Plums were also bought from the System Mall, each round and plump, used to remove gaminess and add fragrance to the roast duck.

Lu Feng picked up a small porcelain Spoon, placing one Green Plum at a time precisely into the small opening of the duck's belly.

His movements were very light, to avoid squeezing the Green Plums burst.

To avoid the Green Plums' juice seeping into the duck meat, which would make the duck meat taste bitter and sour.

After all the Green Plums were stuffed in, Lu Feng sewed up the duck's belly, and then began to prepare the Crispy Skin Water.

Crispy Skin Water was the key Seasoning for making crispy-skinned roast duck; through the chemical reaction of ingredients such as sugar, vinegar, and wine, it made the duck skin crispy and browned.

Lu Feng mixed Maltose, White Vinegar, and Huadiao Wine according to the ratio, then used a Spoon to stir until the Maltose completely melted.

Afterwards he picked up a soft-bristled Brush, starting from the duck's neck, brushing the Crispy Skin Water onto the duck's body from top to bottom.

The Crispy Skin Water had to be brushed very evenly, otherwise when roasted later, the skin's color would be inconsistent, thereby affecting the overall appearance.

After the whole duck was brushed with Crispy Skin Water, the duck skin's surface glowed with a warm amber color.

Lu Feng hung the duck on the rack at the Kitchen's ventilation opening, letting the duck air dry naturally.

After the duck meat air dried, roasting it would produce the excellent effect of shiny skin and smooth meat.

This series of procedures took not a short amount of time.

But until the roast duck was completely done, the progress was still less than half.

Although the production steps of this roast duck were rather complicated, high-end Ingredients, in Lu Feng's place, were even more paired with complex cooking methods.

In order to present a perfect appearance and Texture in the end, Lu Feng spared no time at all.

Taking advantage of the interval while the duck air dried, Lu Feng installed the Special Roasting Oven bought from the System Mall.

This small hanging oven looked very exquisite, entirely dark brown, with fine textures on the surface.

Lu Feng reached out and knocked on the oven's outer wall, hearing a "boom boom" dull sound in his ears.

This sound was different from the heaviness of brick and stone, nor like the crispness of metal.

"This roast oven... could it be made of a clay jar?"

Lu Feng said somewhat surprised.

He originally thought this roast oven would be made like traditional brick and stone with mortar and such.

Unexpectedly, this roast oven given by the System had such special materials.

Lu Feng looked up the introduction about the roast oven in the Mall, and read it carefully once.

The clay of this roast oven was not ordinary clay, but mixed with quartz, feldspar, and Purple Sand Clay unique to deep mountains.

First screened multiple times to remove impurities, then using traditional hand-kneading clay techniques to repeatedly pound, ensuring the clay texture was uniform and fine.

Next using Wood Charcoal as fuel, baked in a special kiln, letting the clay fully sinter.

After leaving the kiln, the craftsman would coat a layer of transparent glaze on the clay jar, then put it into the kiln again for a second firing, finally forming this kind of clay jar.

A roast oven made with this kind of clay jar combined hardness and breathability, and also transferred heat evenly and dissipated heat slowly.

Simply tailor-made for making roast duck, nothing was more suitable for roasting duck.

Of course, the production method of this kind of clay jar provided by the System adopted ancient firing methods.

Now such firing methods were rarely seen.

Lu Feng's gaze fell on the unremarkable black tail needle on the side wall of the roast oven, and he extended his fingertip to touch it.

A delicate, icy sensation came to his fingertip, without the cold hardness of metal, but rather bearing the unique warmth of ceramic.

He leaned in to observe carefully and found that it was indeed made of ceramic.

Most tail needles equipped with roast ovens in other fan dian were metal.

Iron tail needles would have a metallic taste, but of course wrought iron or some alloys did not.

However, compared with ceramic, metal still fell far short in effect.

Lu Feng picked up the roasting hook, slowly pierced it through the soft cartilage below the duck's breast, then gently turned the duck's head and clamped it onto the roasting hook. This way, the incision on the duck's neck was blocked, preventing the duck from leaking air during roasting.

After securing the duck, he carefully surveyed the whole duck.

The duck skin was taut, glowing with an amber luster, the surface clean and dry, with no sign of oil seeping out.

This showed that the previous steps had all been handled well, with no mistakes occurring.

Afterwards Lu Feng took out wood charcoal, preparing to light the roast oven for preheating.

Before lighting the fire, he casually opened the System Mall and pulled up the introduction for this wood charcoal.

After reading it in one glance, he couldn't help but click his tongue again.