Chapter 64: Kung Pao Chicken

"Nothing much, just asking casually."

Meeting Danbao’s puzzled look, Qin Lang smiled.

Regarding whether Kung Pao Chicken belonged to Lu cuisine or Sichuan cuisine, there had always been endless debate. In his previous life, opinions also varied on whether cucumber should be added to the dish.

However, after carefully studying both methods in his previous life, Qin Lang preferred making Kung Pao Chicken without cucumbers.

This had nothing to do with culinary authenticity, but rather because cucumbers released moisture during stir-frying, diluting the characteristic sweet-and-sour lychee flavor of the dish.

As a result, the taste of the Kung Pao Chicken would be somewhat compromised.

Retrieving a small bowl, Qin Lang skillfully added white sugar, fragrant vinegar, salt, soy sauce, and dry bean starch, finishing with a splash of water, and stirred the mixture well.

With the sauce for the upcoming Kung Pao Chicken prepared, Qin Lang immediately moved on to the other soul of the dish: making the peanuts.

For a qualified plate of Kung Pao Chicken, the bouncy and flavorful chicken cubes, the crisp scallions, and the crunchy, fragrant peanuts were all indispensable.

Since he was even using top-grade chicken, Qin Lang naturally did not want to be careless with any other aspect.

"Though it takes quite a bit of salt, it can be recycled for salt-baked dishes later, so it's not a waste." Muttering softly to himself, Qin Lang set the wok on the heat and added five catties of table salt, followed by one catty of peanuts.

Salt-stir-frying peanuts achieved the most even heat distribution. The resulting peanuts were not only crispy and fragrant, but also as white as jade, an advantage that ordinary deep-fried peanuts could not match.

After more than ten minutes of stir-frying, the peanuts were activated by the heat, releasing a rich aroma of roasted peanuts.

Using a skimmer to sift the peanuts out of the wok, without any effort—just a gentle rub—the red skins of the peanuts separated, leaving behind only pearl-white peanut kernels.

"Crunch—"

Qin Lang casually tossed one into his mouth, savoring the rich peanut aroma and crispy texture, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Glug, glug!"

Danbao at the side could no longer sit still.

Gourmet Chef, how could you secretly eat without me!

"Here, have some." Qin Lang chuckled and tossed a few kernels into Danbao's mouth, then set the rest aside and scooped the salt out of the wok.

With a hot wok and cold oil, he added Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili peppers to release their aroma.

The intense spicy scent was activated by the hot oil, and even after passing through the range hood, it still made Qin Lang sneeze several times.

"Good thing Grandpa Zhao repaired the range hood this afternoon." Qin Lang shook his head involuntarily. "Otherwise, just the smell of stir-frying the chilis would have been too much for me."

With that, he quickly tossed the sliced ginger, garlic, and prepared chicken meat into the wok together, stir-frying until the chicken changed color completely, and then continued to toss for another twenty seconds.

An incomparably rich aroma of chicken enveloped Qin Lang and Danbao, making them feel as though they were adrift in an ocean of fragrance, unable to keep from showing intoxicated expressions.

"If I get top-grade chicken again next time, I'll try making soup with it."

Qin Lang silently mapped out a bright future for the next piece of chicken.

Pouring in the prepared sauce, he gently separated the chicken pieces in the wok, then tossed in the scallions and the stir-fried peanuts, reducing the sauce before dishing it out.

A plate of intensely fragrant Kung Pao Chicken was thus perfectly completed.

"Slurp—"

Hearing the faint sound of someone swallowing saliva, Qin Lang instinctively turned his head, only to be startled by four pairs of eyes peeking in from the kitchen doorway. He was left speechless and amused. "The dish isn't ready yet."

"Isn't it already out of the wok? I saw it." Cao Dongdong swallowed hard, his eyes glowing with a greenish hue as he stared at the plate of Kung Pao Chicken.

"Lafi! Lafi!" Tuantuan nodded frantically, and the newly born little Egg Yolk Pastry was almost crying from greed!

"There's still beef, don't rush." Qin Lang sighed.

"Then stir-fry the beef faster." Zhao Qian seamlessly wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. "Just make that eighteen-second beef, we're not picky!"

Qin Lang's mouth twitched. "Alright, I know what I'm doing. Just wait and eat."

Watching Cao Dongdong and Zhao Qian pull their heads back, he moved with lightning speed, quickly picking up a pair of chopsticks and putting a mouthful into his mouth.

Beneath the pungent and numbing seasoning, the texture of the chicken cubes themselves was tender, juicy, and astonishingly springy. They offered a firm bite upon entry, yet were not dry or stringy at all.

The scallions had not been in the wok for long, retaining a hint of crisp freshness, while their sharp, spicy taste had been almost entirely eliminated, leaving only a pure sweetness.

Combined with the crunchy and intensely aromatic peanuts...

With just a single bite, Qin Lang's eyes lit up instantly.

As expected of top-grade chicken; in all the Kung Pao Chicken he had ever eaten, he had never tasted anything so delicious.

Casually picking up a piece with his chopsticks, he shoved it into Danbao's wide-open mouth, and without missing a beat, Qin Lang immediately began cooking the beef.

No fancy tricks this time; he would just make the eighteen-second beef.

That was the fastest, and it went great with rice!

He was already too impatient to start devouring his meal.

A few minutes later, the three of them officially began eating.

Without any hesitation, three pairs of chopsticks simultaneously reached for the plate holding the Kung Pao Chicken. The eighteen-second beef, which had conquered everyone at the True Beef Restaurant earlier, was completely ignored this time.

There was no helping it; the flavor of that Kung Pao Chicken was simply too seductive.

"Whoa, these chicken cubes..." Cao Dongdong chewed while deep in thought, seemingly trying to find words in his vocabulary to describe them, before finally wheezing out, "Are just too damn delicious!"

Zhao Qian couldn't help rolling her eyes. Saying nothing more, she focused entirely on picking up food and shoveling rice.

With such deliciousness, eating even one mouthful less would be a total loss!

By the time even the sauce in the Kung Pao Chicken dish was completely gone, the three of them used the remaining rice to fiercely polish off the eighteen-second beef.

After this whirlwind feast, the three humans and three food spirits wore matching expressions of supreme satisfaction.

"Ah... That was so good." Zhao Qian sighed. "By the way, Qin Lang, when are you heading to Bailu City?"

"Huh?" Qin Lang was taken aback by Zhao Qian's abrupt question.

"Out of nowhere, why would I go to Bailu City?"

Zhao Qian and Cao Dongdong sat up straight at the same time, pointing at the landscape painting in the corner of the dining table. "Aren't you going to look for it?"

"Of course I am, but I haven't yet..."

Qin Lang was about to say he didn't even know where the painting was located when he suddenly stopped, looking thoughtfully at Zhao Qian and Cao Dongdong.

"So, the statue in the painting is in Bailu City?"

"Yeah," Cao Dongdong nodded. "That's a landmark building in Bailu City, the very famous Silver Deer statue."

Qin Lang slowly sat up straight, rubbed his chin, and his expression turned solemn.

This was only the fourth landscape painting, and he already had to leave Dongxia City?

After figuring out the rules of the Traveler's Book, Qin Lang had anticipated this day would come, but he hadn't expected it to arrive so soon.

He wasn't naive enough to think that after the fourth painting, the subsequent ones would return to Dongxia City. Even if there were any, they would definitely be a tiny minority.

Fortunately, he had been mentally prepared for a long time, so he wasn't completely caught off guard.

"In a few days, I suppose."

Taking a deep breath, Qin Lang spoke slowly, "At least, I need to finish guiding those trainees first."

Even going on a long trip required earning enough travel expenses first, didn't it?