Chapter 422: Preparing the Ingredients
The only real difficulty in stir-frying techniques was the wok-flipping itself.
So Qi Han wasn't surprised at all that the crowd couldn't master it immediately. He didn't rush them; instead, he kept repeating the slow-motion demonstration while softly explaining the key points, helping everyone understand.
Repeating the motion over and over was actually quite taxing on the hands—after all, the slower the movement, the more tiring it became. But whenever Qi Han felt his arm start to ache, he quietly circulated his Spirit Power to dissolve the fatigue, so in truth he wasn't suffering much at all.
Naturally, he wasn't going to wait until everyone completely mastered it. Once he saw that over ninety percent of those present had finally grasped the wok-flipping motion, he stopped.
"Those who haven't mastered it yet can continue practicing after the lesson," Qi Han said. "Those who have can practice with dry sand or uncooked rice afterward. Once you can flip without losing a single grain—just like I did—you've fully mastered the wok-flipping technique."
"Alright, it seems everyone has a decent grasp of the basics. Next, we'll begin…"
Qi Han deliberately drew out the last word, and the slightly fatigued learners immediately straightened up, restoring their focus. Seeing this, a faint smile curved on his lips.
"…the actual teaching for egg fried rice."
"Everyone should have prepared the ingredients. Egg fried rice doesn't require many things—only eggs and rice as the main ingredients, scallions as the garnish, and oil and salt for seasoning…" Qi Han paused, then added with a friendly smile, "Those who don't like scallions can leave them out. It won't affect the taste too much."
Upon hearing this, a few people in the crowd quietly put their scallions away.
While the aroma of scallions was heavenly for many, it wasn't universal. Some truly disliked their smell. Even in Han Shi, Qi Han occasionally encountered such customers—if they informed Fu Ya beforehand, their egg fried rice would simply be made without scallions.
"The first step for egg fried rice is preparing the scallions. Of course, if you're skipping scallions, you can skip this entire step."
As he spoke, Qi Han rinsed a bunch of scallions in a basin of water beside him. "After washing off the dirt, remove the outermost old leaves. Then you can cut the rest into scallion rings."
"When cutting, try to slice each piece to about five millimeters in width."
A kitchen knife appeared in Qi Han's hand. Under the crowd's exclamations, the blade flashed like a streak of light—within the blink of an eye, the scallions were sliced into perfectly uniform rings.
Under the projection Spirit Master's close-up magnification, the scallion rings appeared enlarged countless times, further emphasizing how astonishing Qi Han's knife skills were.
Only after seeing the stunned looks below did Qi Han realize what he had done. He gave an apologetic smile. "Knife skills aren't learned in a day or two. You don't need to slice them as precisely as I did. Just try to keep them roughly the same size."
He had simply fallen back into his usual kitchen rhythm and unintentionally showed off a little.
Below the stage, Long Hanyun stared blankly at Qi Han. In that moment, he truly felt the gulf between their skills.
Yes, knife skills aren't learned overnight… but just how many nights did it take to reach such a terrifying level?
He quietly sliced his own scallions into pieces of similar size, then estimated the time he took. With a defeated sigh, he realized:
It took me more than ten times as long… and mine still aren't as good.
"Holy—holy crap!" Li Hong jumped excitedly as he watched Qi Han's knife work. "Did you see that?! That's Master Qi's knife skills! Tell me that's not amazing!"
"Amazing, amazing," Cao Yun replied with an eye roll. "But you're not the one cutting, so what are you excited about?"
Muttering, he lowered his head and began slicing his scallions.
Is this piece too long?
This one seems short…
Eh, whatever. Good enough…
Once everyone had more or less finished slicing their scallions, Qi Han began demonstrating the next step.
"Next, we'll handle the rice and the eggs…"
Just as he was about to continue, he noticed a hand slowly rising in the crowd.
Qi Han paused and asked gently, "Mr. Long, do you have a question?"
"Um…" Long Hanyun spoke a little awkwardly. "I mainly wanted to ask… why must we use overnight rice? Isn't freshly cooked rice fine?"
As soon as he asked, quite a few people nodded—they clearly had the same doubt.
So that's the question.
"Everyone should know that freshly cooked rice clumps together and is hard to separate grain by grain. But look at this overnight rice."
Qi Han pointed to the bowl in his hand. "When cooked rice cools for several hours, the starch undergoes a retrogradation process, causing the grains to separate."
Starch?
Retro… what?
What is he talking about??
Seeing the increasing confusion on their faces, Qi Han gave an apologetic smile.
"In short—just remember this: cooled rice becomes more separated and easier to stir-fry. The reason people say 'overnight rice' is simply to make it easy to remember. It doesn't actually have to sit for a whole night."
So that's how it is.
Long Hanyun touched the overnight rice he had brought. Sure enough, it separated far more easily than fresh rice.
As for the "starch" and "retrogradation" Qi Han mentioned—even though he didn't understand, he didn't ignore it. Instead, he silently committed the words to memory.
Maybe he could find an opportunity to privately ask Boss Qi for a deeper explanation?
He had a feeling that Boss Qi possessed a culinary theory completely different from anything known on the Douluo Continent. If he could learn it, he would definitely benefit greatly.
Of course, few were like Long Hanyun. Most learners, after hearing Qi Han's explanation, simply accepted that "cooled rice separates better" and engraved that into their minds. As for the mysterious words like "starch"… those were forgotten instantly.
Soon, Qi Han resumed what he had been saying before being interrupted.
"Prepare four regular chicken eggs. Crack two directly into a bowl. For the other two, separate the whites from the yolks. Mix the egg whites with the rice, and add the yolks to the bowl."
Qi Han explained while slowly demonstrating the steps.
Cracking eggs into a bowl wasn't difficult. But separating yolks and whites—that raised the difficulty noticeably.
So Qi Han demonstrated the correct angle and strength for cracking the shell, helping everyone succeed in one attempt.
Even so, the plaza was soon filled with cries of frustration from people who had broken their eggs incorrectly.
Fortunately, normal eggs weren't expensive, and no one was foolish enough to practice using precious Five-Colored Brocade Chicken Eggs.
"If you're using Brocade Eggs, you only need two. The steps are the same." Qi Han added casually before continuing.
Brocade Chicken Eggs were larger, so half the quantity was sufficient.
"Add a little salt to the eggs to remove the raw smell. Then use chopsticks to beat the eggs thoroughly. If you have Spirit Power, this step becomes easier."
Even though he said that, he still demonstrated the entire process in detail.
This step was new to the people of Douluo Continent as well, so it required patience.
Only after everyone had successfully beaten their eggs did Qi Han put on gloves and gently begin mixing the rice with the egg whites.
"Mixing the rice helps coat each grain evenly with egg white. It also loosens the rice so it will fry more easily later. Don't use too much force, or you'll crush the grains."
This step was simple. Everyone quickly found the right strength and began gently mixing their rice.
Once they finished and straightened up, Qi Han's expression grew slightly serious.
"With this step completed, the entire ingredient-preparation phase is finished."
Hearing that, excitement flickered across everyone's faces.
"Next—let's begin stir-frying the egg fried rice!"
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