NOVGO.NET Chapter 14: Cooling Off
He added salt and sugar to the stockpot. With that, the seasoning for the broth was complete—no MSG or chicken bouillon necessary.
Li Xiao gave the live stream camera an OK sign.
"Great. We’ve finished all the prep work. All that’s left is to cook the wontons and the bamboo-pressed noodles, and then we’ll be ready to send them out."
"Everyone should know how to cook wontons. Just boil them for three to five minutes, depending on their size."
"Of course, if you’re cooking a large batch, take the wontons out as soon as they’re done and place them in cool water. This prevents the wrappers from overcooking and breaking."
As Li Xiao spoke, he turned his attention to another stockpot, this one filled with plain water.
The water had been preheated, but it hadn’t yet reached a boil.
"Cooking the noodles, on the other hand, is a bit trickier."
"If you want a bowl of perfectly crisp and delicious noodles, controlling the heat is crucial."
"Many people share a common misconception when cooking noodles: they wait for the water to come to a rolling boil before adding them. That’s actually incorrect."
"Because noodles contain a lot of starch, if they suddenly encounter high temperatures, the outside will cook too quickly, sealing the starch inside. This prevents the noodles from absorbing water, and they end up clumpy or undercooked in the center."
"The correct way is to add the noodles when the water temperature is around 80 to 90 degrees Celsius."
"Add the noodles at this temperature, wait for the water to come to a full boil, then add a ladle of cold water to prevent the noodles from soaking in overly hot water. Once the water boils again, the noodles will be done."
"Of course, if you’re worried about the noodles sticking together, you can also add a little lard to the water. This will prevent them from clumping and also make them more fragrant."
While speaking, he poured a tray of noodles into the pot.
The noodles, which were wound into small nests, were quickly separated with a pair of wooden chopsticks to ensure they heated evenly and didn’t stick together.
A minute later, bubbles of various sizes appeared in the water.
Li Xiao didn’t rush to add the cold water, as this was just a "false boil," with the temperature only at about 95 degrees Celsius.
Once large, rolling bubbles appeared, Li Xiao immediately poured in the cold water he had ready, instantly cooling the pot and stopping the boil.
A minute later, the water came to a boil once more. Li Xiao immediately grabbed a large mesh skimmer and lifted all the noodles out of the pot.
As he scooped out the noodles, Li Xiao reminded his audience,
"Okay everyone, watch carefully. This next step is crucial."
"Whether your noodles turn out perfectly crisp all depends on how well you perform the ’cold river plunge’!"
"Of course, before the plunge, you have to lower the temperature of the noodles a bit first."
By the time he finished speaking, all the noodles were in the skimmer.
With a light flick of his wrist, Li Xiao sent the noodles in the skimmer flying into the air with a deft motion.
The noodles, which had been clumped together, quickly spread out in the air.
As the noodles fanned out, the steam trapped within them also rapidly dissipated.
Li Xiao’s movements were incredibly practiced. In the space of a few breaths, he’d tossed the noodles a dozen times in a row. The billowing steam vanished, and the once-scalding noodles became much cooler.
But it wasn’t over yet. With another flick of his wrist, the noodles fell into a large metal basin nearby.
The large metal basin was filled with chilled water, and small ice chips floated on the surface.
As the noodles plunged into the ice bath, the last of their residual heat was instantly drawn out.
Watching his fluid, effortless movements, many in the live stream chat erupted in amazement:
"Jeez, if I didn’t know better, I’d think the streamer was performing acrobatics!"
"What’s the point of tossing them around like that? Cold noodles don’t taste good!"
"If he makes one mistake, those noodles will end up all over the floor."
"There are even ice chips in the water? Is he making cold noodles?"
...
As he used the skimmer to lift the noodles from the ice water, Li Xiao explained to his viewers,
"This ice water step is critical. It rapidly drops the noodles’ temperature, preventing them from overcooking internally."
"It also rinses off the sticky starch from the surface, giving them a much cleaner mouthfeel."
"This rapid hot-and-cold shock also makes the noodles’ texture even more crisp and springy!"
"As for the issue some viewers mentioned about the noodles getting cold, you don’t need to worry at all."
"Because we’ll be pouring a 100-degree Celsius broth over them later. That will heat them right back up, so it won’t be an issue."
As he spoke, Li Xiao was already portioning out the noodles, placing them into individual take-out bowls.
One hundred portions of wonton noodles was no small amount; it took him a full twenty minutes to cook all of the noodles.
As for the wontons, they were much easier to cook than the noodles.
While the wontons cooked, Li Xiao also finalized the 100 viewer orders in his system and notified the delivery riders he had contacted the previous day.
Since he had added an extra 80 viewers for delivery at the last minute,
Li Xiao immediately increased the number of riders.
He lifted the wontons out, gave them a quick rinse in warm water to cool them slightly and wash away any surface stickiness.
He placed the wontons on top of the noodles, sprinkled some yellow chives over them, and snapped on the lids. The main work was done.
As for the broth, it was of course out of the question to add it in advance.
Although the lottery-winning viewers were all local, even same-city delivery times ranged from ten to thirty minutes.
Anyone who’s ordered noodles for delivery should know what happens next.
If the wontons and noodles were left to soak in 100-degree Celsius broth the whole time, by the time they reached their destination, they would most likely have dissolved into an inedible clump.
Li Xiao wasn’t about to let all his hard work go to waste because of a delivery issue.
That’s why he had specifically bought 100 insulated flasks yesterday.
It wasn’t that regular plastic containers wouldn’t work, but that the flasks offered much better value for the experience.
After all, these small flasks weren’t that expensive—only 80 yuan each, for a total of 8,000 yuan for one hundred.
To Li Xiao, spending 8,000 yuan to give 100 viewers a much better culinary experience was a bargain.
Besides, after the lucky viewers received the flasks, they could reuse them for other things.
Just as he capped the last flask, the doorbell rang.
Lined up neatly outside the door were thirty-five delivery riders.
Li Xiao quickly ushered the riders in to pick up the orders.
Since all 100 meals were the same—Shrimp and Bamboo-Pressed Noodle Wontons—there was no need to worry about mixing them up.
Each rider took the number of meals they were assigned and just had to follow the addresses they were given.
Please keep reading and add this book to your collection! Thank you so much.