Chapter 225: The Joy of Fried Food

Chapter 225: Chapter 225: The Joy of Fried Food

Of course, just fried chicken wouldn’t be enough.

The mountainous region of Guisheng Province produced potatoes, and they were exceptionally delicious.

So, Nan Zhi had the children cut the potatoes into thin strips and crescent-shaped wedges, to be fried into french fries and potato wedges, respectively.

With all the preparations complete, it was finally time for the most crucial moment: frying!

Fu Chao and Xie Yu brought out the cafeteria’s largest iron wok.

The wok was so big a child could squat inside it, drawing a collective "Wow!" from the children on the spot.

Under the unblinking gaze of dozens of eyes, the two assistants, Fu Chao and Xie Yu, were responsible for pouring two full buckets of peanut oil into the wok.

Peanut oil was full of flavor and had a high smoke point, making it the best choice for deep-frying.

Then they lit the fire and waited for the oil to heat up.

Deep-frying is undoubtedly one of the most flavorful cooking methods. At the same time, it’s a method many people avoid in their home kitchens.

Firstly, it’s expensive. Take the fried chicken Nan Zhi and the others were preparing today; without the production team’s sponsorship, she would never have let the school spend this kind of money.

Secondly, it can be greasy. After all, many people consider fried food to be junk food. Its high calorie and fat content makes many hesitate.

The truth is, while fried chicken is indeed high in calories, if cooked properly, the oil won’t penetrate the firm muscle of the chicken legs. Instead, the moisture within the chicken is forced out, and its flavor is subsequently released.

At that point, the chicken skin achieves a golden, crispy texture.

While waiting for the oil to heat up, Nan Zhi didn’t stay idle. Instead, she shared a lot of scientific facts about deep-frying with everyone.

For instance, she mentioned that with fried food, the outer layer is fried, but the inside is actually steamed. This is because the existing steam collides with the oil trying to penetrate it, achieving a sort of unstable equilibrium.

...The children listened to these theories with rapt attention.

Even the viewers in the live stream chat started clowning around in the comments:

[I learned something! Simply put, fried chicken = steamed chicken, which means it has no calories!]

[Teacher Nan is awesome! I’m buying fried chicken after work today!]

[You guys are such smart alecks!]

[But seriously, what Nan Zhi is explaining is really interesting. It’s reignited my passion for cooking!]

[My mom too! She was watching the stream with me, and now she’s in the kitchen getting ready to fry chicken. She even made me put the phone in there so she can cook along with Teacher Nan...]

[My dad too! Now the whole family is in on it, hahaha!]

...

Countless families, connected by the internet, were doing something similar.

The cooking class streamed the day before yesterday wasn’t widely known because it hadn’t been promoted in advance.

But today’s cooking class was something everyone had been eagerly anticipating. Many people had tuned in specifically to attend the class.

As a result, Nan Zhi’s classroom had long since expanded from the 50-odd students of Cuishui Village Primary School to the entire internet.

In the blink of an eye, the hashtag #NanZhiFriedChickenMiniClass# had already shot to the number one trending spot.

Nan Zhi was completely unaware of this.

Adhering to her principles of teaching, even though she didn’t let the children handle any of the actual cooking, she didn’t forget to provide a detailed explanation of each step—

"We should try to use a large pot, and only fill it about one-third of the way with oil. This is because a lot of bubbles will form during frying, causing the oil level to rise to twice its volume. If the pot is too small, the oil will spill over, or worse, catch fire."

"We can judge the oil temperature with our eyes. It’s usually between 180 and 190 degrees, which is about the state you see in the wok right now. Of course, using a thermometer is more direct. I also want to remind you, never walk away from the stove while deep-frying. That’s extremely dangerous."

"If the oil starts to smoke, the temperature is too high. You can add a little more oil to cool it down. If you see the oil catch fire, don’t panic. Cover it with the lid, turn off the stove, and wait for it to cool down on its own."

"As long as you’re careful, I believe cooking isn’t a difficult thing to do."

"..."

The children nodded repeatedly, their expressions incredibly serious.

In the live chat:

[Nan Zhi’s explanations are so detailed. If I had a teacher like her, I’d definitely become a master chef!]

[Hey, person above me, wake up! Why are you daydreaming in the middle of the day?]

[So you’re not supposed to fill the pot too much with oil! I suddenly understand how my last attempt at fried chicken went so wrong.]

[Reporting to Teacher Nan! How do you tell if the chicken is cooked through?]

[I’ve been following Nan Zhi’s instructions to a T. Since I can’t eat the real thing, having a substitute behind the screen is pretty good too!]

[So someone else had the same idea, hahaha!]

...

Seeing that the oil temperature was about right, Nan Zhi began to place the chicken pieces in one by one.

While using a spider strainer to move the chicken around in the wok and ensure it cooked evenly, she conversed back and forth with the children, answering their sudden, imaginative questions.

Anyone who truly understood cooking would know just how astonishing Nan Zhi’s performance was.

She wasn’t using any external instruments; she was effortlessly controlling the oil temperature with just her eyes.

Calm and composed, unhurried and unflustered.

The confident certainty of having the entire domain of the stove under her complete control gave her a unique sort of brilliance.

It was a radiance that transcended her physical appearance, as if her very soul was faintly glowing!

Moreover, everyone discovered that Nan Zhi was practically an encyclopedia when it came to cooking.

It seemed as if no question could stump her.

And her answers weren’t just simple replies.

She would use simple terms to explain profound concepts, telling everyone the ’why’ behind the answer.

The children all had the same thought: ’I’m learning so much!’

The online viewers echoed the sentiment: ’I’m learning so much!’

In the wok of bright, golden oil, the breaded chicken legs were gradually changing color.

The air was constantly filled with the aroma released by the hot oil.

It wasn’t just the small cafeteria; even the playground outside was permeated with the rich fragrance!

The children’s eyes were sparkling!

After all, living in the mountains, everyone lived frugally. Just getting to eat meat was a treat, so how could they ever afford to be so extravagant as to use this much oil for frying?

And yet, at their age, they were in the middle of their growth spurts, a time when their bodies craved calories and fats the most.

No wonder the way they stared at the wok was even more intense than when they had watched the spring pancakes being made yesterday.

’Spring pancakes were great, of course.’

’But this golden, crispy fried chicken looks so much more delicious!’

One child couldn’t help but ask:

"Teacher Nan, how long until it’s ready?"

Nan Zhi sensed their impatience and smiled.

"Very soon."

With a swift movement, she lifted the fried chicken out of the wok and placed it in a large steel basin that had been prepared earlier.

Countless pairs of eyes silently converged on it.

As if sensing their gazes, Nan Zhi reminded them,

"Don’t be impatient."

One of the secrets to great fried chicken is to fry it once, then raise the oil temperature and fry it a second time.

This makes the crust even crispier.