Feng Yifan came up with the dish "Hibiscus and Lychee Fish" after listening to his daughter's request and thinking of the new friend his daughter made in kindergarten today. The pure friendship among the three little girls was very sweet, so he came up with it on the spur of the moment.
This is also a dish he created by combining two dishes he created in his previous life.
After processing and marinating the black carp, Feng Yifan next processed the grass carp which had more bones.
The processing method is the same as that for black carp, which is to slice the whole fish meat. However, because grass carp has more small bones, the subsequent processing is more delicate.
Feng Yifan used the knife in his hand to very quickly scrape off the fish meat bit by bit from the whole piece of fish.
The scraped fish meat will appear directly as minced meat, and the small thorns can also be cleaned out in the process.
The whole process not only tests your patience, but also your knife skills.
He Yaqian was watching in astonishment. She was completely convinced as she saw the fish meat paste being scraped off.
As expected, when it comes to cooking, you can only watch.
Feng Yifan was very skilled and quickly scraped off the fish meat and removed the small bones.
“Actually, if you cook it at home, you don’t have to scrape the fish meat like I do, but remember to clean the fish bones, or use fish with fewer bones.
Then, you can use a food processor to puree the fish, and the result will be the same.”
Then, Feng Yifan cut off some pork fat and quickly chopped all the diced pork fat into paste manually.
Finally, mix the pork fat paste and fish meat together, add onion, ginger water and some seasoning, and beat in one direction in a container.
After beating the fish paste, Feng Yifan took out some eggs and separated the egg whites and yolks.
This step is very delicate, and Feng Yifan does it entirely by hand. After the egg yolk and egg white are separated, they do not fall apart at all.
While doing this, Feng Yifan said: "You can also use a separator here. In fact, now we have the right tools to do it, which is more convenient and faster than doing it manually."
After separating the egg whites, Feng Yifan began to beat the egg whites, stirring them manually in one direction very quickly.
Finally, the egg whites are beaten into a creamy consistency.
Seeing this, Yang Xiaoxi couldn't help but exclaimed: "Wow, Uncle Feng is so amazing, he can turn the water in the egg into cream."
Feng Ruoruo immediately explained to Yang Xiaoxi: "That's not water, that's called egg white. After it's cooked, it will become the white and tender egg white outside the egg yolk."
After listening to Feng Ruoruo's explanation, Yang Xiaoxi immediately nodded and said, "Yes, I know, it's egg white."
He Yaqian muttered bitterly: "Oh my god, how can this dish be easy?"
Photographer Ah Fei said with a smile: "It's really not difficult for Chef Feng. You didn't see the fried rice at noon."
Meng Shitong quickly made a silent gesture: "Don't talk, watch carefully."
Feng Yifan then mixed the beaten egg whites and fish paste together and stirred them evenly.
Then turn on the fire and put the pot on the stove. Pour the best peanut oil into the pot. Just heat it up a little bit, then use a large iron spoon to scoop up a piece of fish paste and put it into the pot.
"Remember this step. Don't touch the fish paste after putting it in. Just let the oil slowly heat up to set its shape."
After finishing the explanation, Feng Yifan quickly started to cook the fish paste one by one.
Pieces of fish paste as thin as willow leaves were put into the oil pan by Feng Yifan at a very fast speed.
The whole process really tests hand speed, and Feng Yifan almost never stopped. He had put all the fish paste into the pan before the oil temperature rose.
Then, as the oil temperature rose, he gently poked it with a spoon to make sure each willow-leaf-shaped piece of fish meat was shaped, and then he took it out directly.
Then, still using the same pot of oil, Feng Yifan quickly coated the marinated black fish fillets with flour.
"You have to pay attention. When coating the fish with flour, you must pinch up these three corners. This way, the flour can cover the gaps between the fish meat. After coating the fish with flour, you can put it in the oil pan for frying."
As Feng Yifan spoke, he had already put the first piece of fish fillet into the pot.
When the fish fillet is heated, the skin part shrinks quickly and the fish fillet quickly rolls into a ball.
“The first frying is to set the shape, so the oil temperature must not be too high, and the fish must not be overcooked. After it has set, it must be fished out.
Then increase the oil temperature for a second frying.”
During the explanation, Feng Yifan's hands never stopped. Every movement was very quick and accurate, with almost no unnecessary movements, and he didn't make a mess.
Throughout the cooking process, Feng Yifan was like an artist, demonstrating the art of cooking in the kitchen.
Whether it is Meng Shitong and the other three who were filming, or the two girls who were watching with Feng Ruoruo.
Everyone was completely impressed by Feng Yifan's cooking. He was so elegant and methodical, and there was really no sign of panic at all.
Even though he is the only one in the kitchen, he is always able to handle the job with ease and complete every dish by himself.
The Hibiscus Lychee Fish was finally formed, and everyone understood its meaning.
This dish does not use hibiscus flowers or lychees, but is made entirely with two kinds of fish.
The black fish fillets are fried, added with sweet and sour sauce, and cooked into red fish balls that look as delicious as red-skinned lychees.
The fish fillets made of tender white fish meat paste, after being seasoned and cooked, look like a white hibiscus flower when placed on the plate.
Feng Yifan was also very serious in arranging the dish, with the white and tender fish fillets in the middle arranged into the shape of a flower.
Around the plate, there are fish balls that look like lychees dotted around.
The combination of red and white makes this a really beautiful dish.
Meng Shitong looked at the finished dish and couldn't help but sigh: "Really, it's really a work of art. It's so beautiful, as if there are bright red lychees placed beside hibiscus flowers."
He Yaqian was completely speechless. She really didn't think that she could make this dish at home.
As for the photographer A Fei, he was relatively calm, with only one sentence in his mind: basic operation, don't mess around.
Yang Xiaoxi and Chen Yaofei clapped their hands together and applauded Uncle Feng's dish.
Yang Xiaoxi shouted excitedly: "How beautiful! Uncle Feng, your dish is really beautiful. Is this dish for us to eat?"
Feng Yifan smiled and nodded when he heard this, saying, "Yes, Uncle Feng made this for you."
Chen Yaofei said softly, "Thank you, Uncle Feng. The dishes you cook are so beautiful. They are much more beautiful than the dishes my grandparents and I have eaten in restaurants abroad."
Feng Yifan also smiled at the little girl and responded: "Thank you Feifei for the compliment."
When everyone was praising Feng Yifan, Feng Ruoruo did not say a word of praise. The little girl looked at everyone happily as they praised her father.
Little Feng Ruoruo was very proud because everyone was praising his father.
After everyone praised him for a few words, Feng Yifan held the dishes and said to the three little girls, "Okay, let's go quickly. This dish must be eaten while it's hot. You guys go out and eat first, and Dad will bring the rest over soon."
Feng Yifan took the lead with the dishes, and the three little girls followed closely behind, hand in hand, and rushed out of the kitchen to serve the dishes together.