The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

28 Several Variants

Despite the lack of comments so far, Xiao Ming was in a good mood. Whether it was this dish or the next one, they could both be done quite fast so the live stream actually wouldn't need to go in for much longer. While they were usually streaming more than that and he loved doing this, it was better to take a bit of a break if Qian Huang really wasn't doing well. He'd rather not take a risk in this situation.

Since he could finish the dishes soon Qian Huang also shouldn't have a reason to complain about this decision. After all, they still would have done what they had promised their viewers. As for everything else, they would certainly understand if they explained.

Thinking like that, Xiao Ming took out the ingredients that he had already prepared and put the bowls down in front of him. "The creamy cabbage casserole is actually an easy dish to do no matter which way you prepare it.

"For this method, we'll first have to stir-fry the ham and scallions and then just add the other ingredients bit by bit. The whole dish can be made in a wok or a pan if you like that better. As you can see, this really is a simple version that doesn't require you to do a lot." Saying that, he immediately started the process. "Since we've already talked about how to stir-fry, I won't say much and just let you watch."

Xiao Ming smiled at the camera and then indeed just went ahead and stir-fried the first ingredients. Having finished with that part, he added the next ingredients as he had said and only looked back up at the camera when he had poured the milk and chicken broth into the wok. "Now, the stir-frying part is already finished and we'll get to the next one: Since the liquid has been added, the other ingredients should be boiled in it." He looked more serious when he said that, giving a hint that he was going to explain something about today's topic once again.

Back at the house of the ninjas, Si Jin's eyes seemed glued to the screen. He really liked this version of Xiao Ming. Of course, his crush was good-looking no matter what he did or what expression he made but this was a special treat. Xiao Ming was obviously an easy-going person that would smile often but he rarely showed his more serious side. So despite loving his smile, Si Jin cherished these rare opportunities of seeing him like this. It was definitely screenshot-worthy.

Back in the stream of Bright Yellow Water, Xiao Ming was continuing to explain. "You might think that boiling is a very easy method of cooking where you just pour in some liquid and then you are basically done. But just like with frying, there are many different ways to boil ingredients and dishes.

"For one, there is the actual boiling technique. For this one, the ingredients need to be completely submerged in the liquid while the temperature has to be high enough to boil. For other boiling techniques, either the heat, the amount of liquid, or the time will usually be different.

"For example, there is a technique called blanching where you will also submerge the ingredients in boiling water but take them out after a short amount of time and then use cold water to cool them down. When simmering, you will still completely submerge your ingredients in the liquid but the temperature will be slightly below the boiling point which is 100 degrees Celsius. The temperature has to be even lower if you want to poach your ingredients which would be done at about 70 to 80 degrees instead.

"You see: Just by varying the temperature, the methods will differ. Of course, which one to use will depend on the ingredients. For example, a lower temperature is often used with delicate ingredients.

"Other than that, there are some methods that don't only involve boiling itself. The first example of that would be the braising technique where the ingredients are first sauteed — which as you hopefully remember, is a way of frying something — or seared in a pan with some liquid before it is finally being simmered in a covered pot. So a dish that is being braised can combine either two methods of boiling or one frying and one boiling technique."