Having tasted the crispy pork belly, which was truly astonishing, Ji Caimai was certain it would be a hit among the students of the Imperial Academy and the officials and clerks of the Dali Temple for some time. The few pieces of pork belly he received from the estate today weren’t even enough for tomorrow’s crispy pork belly, let alone anything else.

After thinking for a moment, Ji Caimai decided to use the pork belly originally intended for braised pork as a snack. This left only vegetables and chicken for lunch.

Wen Mingtang also felt that since both the braised pork and the pork belly used the same ingredient and “Second Senior Brother”¹ had suffered too much today, it would be better to use a different ingredient to alleviate some of the pressure. Therefore, chicken was chosen for lunch.

The ingredients delivered from the estate were naturally fresh, and the chicken was no exception. Wen Mingtang brought over a freshly slaughtered chicken and demonstrated for Ah Bing: “Chop it into small pieces, even smaller than when we made Dàpánjī before.”

And these chicken pieces really weren’t that big! Ah Bing gestured with his hand to indicate the size, then turned to Tangyuan, who was peeling peanuts behind him, and winked, saying, “Master Wen’s chicken dish today is probably going to be a delicate one. These little pieces… a grown man’s mouth is big, he could probably swallow several pieces in one bite!”

Tangyuan peeled the peanuts in her hands, lifted her eyelids to glance at him, then pointed at the pile of dried chilies nearby and said, “Not just meticulous. In a while, I’ll have to cut these dried chilies open and remove the seeds. I heard from Chef Wen that all of them are going into the chicken dish!”

Hearing this, Ah Bing’s hand, which was cutting chicken, froze. He looked at the large plate of dried chilies in Tangyuan’s hand and instinctively gasped, “So many dried chilies in the meat dish?”

Tangyuan nodded and said, “These past few days, everyone’s been saying they can handle spicy food! This spicy chicken is a good opportunity to see if they really can handle spicy food.” As she spoke, she suddenly slurped up a mouthful of saliva.

However, Master Wen said that this spicy chicken was a “less spicy” version compared to the authentic version, with more chicken and less chili, but it was still spicier than the dishes that the people at Dali Temple usually ate.

After Ah Bing’s chicken was cut and the blood was washed away, Wen Mingtang added scallions, ginger, starch, salt, pepper, wine, and other seasonings to the chicken and mixed it well. Finally, he sealed it with oil and set it aside. While the chicken was marinating, Wen Mingtang helped Tangyuan prepare the side ingredients. She fried the shelled peanuts in oil until fragrant, and cut the chili peppers and sieved them to remove the seeds. After everything was ready, Wen Mingtang went to the pot and began to make this dish called spicy chicken.

First, she poured oil into the pot, put the marinated chicken pieces into the oil to set their shape, and then fried them again before taking them out and setting them aside.

Then, she heated the oil again, adding Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, and ginger. Holding the seeded dried chilies in her hand, she looked up at Ah Bing and Tangyuan, who were eagerly watching her movements and trying to remember the steps. Suddenly, she smiled and asked, “Are you ready?”

Ready? Ready for what? The two stared wide-eyed, confused. Just then, Wen Mingtang’s hand trembled, and she poured all the seeded dried chilies into the oil.

The moment the chilies hit the oil, a torrent of bubbles erupted, accompanied by an intensely strong aroma.

Everyone was already familiar with the spicy and domineering aroma of chilies after Wen Mingtang’s “training” over the past six months. But such a large collision of chilies with a sea of ​​oil was a first.

The intense spiciness, fully unleashed by the oil, swept over them, making their noses itch and giving them a slight urge to sneeze. Along with the spiciness, white smoke rose from the oil pan.

The area in front of the stove was shrouded in mist, resembling a “fairyland.” Ah Bing and Tangyuan, who had been diligently memorizing the recipes alongside Wen Mingtang, were so startled they retreated far behind the counter, constantly sneezing and covering their noses with handkerchiefs.

Even Ji Caimai, who was calculating accounts behind the takeout counter, couldn’t withstand the pungent spiciness, sneezing twice before glancing at Wen Mingtang, who remained calm and unmoved amidst the “smoke and mist.”

Wen Mingtang, intently stir-frying spicy chicken in the “fairyland,” seemed to notice Ji Caimai’s gaze, turning to look at her. Ji Caimai gave her a thumbs-up, then immediately turned and ran out of the kitchen for some fresh air.

Ah Bing and Tang Yuan, unable to bear the spiciness any longer, followed suit. To remain so calm amidst such pungent spiciness—Chef Wen truly possessed a “master chef’s demeanor”!

Seeing everyone had retreated, Wen Mingtang could only shake her head. She continued stir-frying, adding chicken and minced garlic and stirring quickly. When it was almost done, she finally added salt, sugar, peanuts, sesame seeds, and other seasonings before taking it off the heat.

The freshly cooked spicy chicken was still steaming hot, with tiny oil bubbles even appearing on the surface of the golden chicken pieces. Accompanied by a few sizzling sounds, bright red chilies and peanut pieces were interspersed among the ingredients, while white sesame seeds were scattered throughout. Coated on the golden surface of the chicken pieces, which were bubbling with tiny oil bubbles, it was a sight to behold.

Because it was a dish cooked with plenty of oil, the surface of the ingredients all shimmered with an enticing sheen, making one’s mouth water just by looking at it, not to mention the aroma of the chicken, chilies, sesame seeds, and other spices that had been fully released.

Ji Caimai, Ah Bing, and Tangyuan, who had just been forced to retreat outside the kitchen by the strong, pungent fumes, were drawn back by the aroma as Wen Mingtang began to stir-fry.

When Wen Mingtang served Làzǐjī, the three of them were already beside her, eagerly watching the dish.

When Chef Wen was making this dish earlier, she had said it was an extremely fragrant and spicy dish. Now that it had come out of the wok, that truly proved to be the case! In the phrase “fragrant and spicy,” the fragrance came first and the spiciness second. The spicy fragrance was so enticing that it made one’s mouth water. Though they feared that choking heat, they were irresistibly drawn toward the rich aroma of chilies all the same.

It was not as though Wen Mingtang failed to notice the three eager gazes fixed upon her. Pressing her lips together in a smile, she portioned out three small plates of làzǐjī, garnished them with a bit of cilantro, and handed them over, saying, “It’s still early yet. Today, we can have our midday meal ahead of time.”

Chefs rarely eat on time; they usually eat either before or after everyone else, though they often eat after. Today, everyone was craving it, and làzǐjī tasted best fresh from the pot. Since there was enough time, Wen Mingtang wouldn’t neglect her stomach.

The “làzǐjī” on the white porcelain plate in front of her was piled up like a small mountain. At a glance, the golden-yellow chicken meat far outnumbered the bright red chilies. This was the advantage of the less spicy version of “làzǐjī”—no need to search for chicken meat among the chillies.

Wen Mingtang picked up her chopsticks and took some chicken from the plate.

(End of Chapter)

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Footnote

1. “Second Senior Brother” (Èr Shīxiōng) humorously refers to pigs, referencing Zhu Bajie from Journey to the West, who is commonly called Second Senior Brother.