It took Liam a while to get the broadcasting room set up.
He remembered that this world’s livestreaming system had a scent simulation function, but the original owner had no use for it and had switched it off.
Now Liam wanted it back on and had no idea how to work it, which caused a bit of a delay. Inside the room, the complaints were piling sky-high. Most of them scolded Liam for being a show-off, telling him that if he didn’t know what he was doing he should clear off back to his room and be a painter instead of pulling ridiculous stunts.
Liam couldn’t help himself and spoke up to explain. "No, it’s just that I didn’t know where the scent simulation function was. It’s on now."
The comments went silent for a beat, and then detonated:
[Ahhh! Brother Sunflower spoke! He opened his mouth and talked to us for the first time!!!]
[I’m in love, I’m in love! What kind of fairy voice is that? He sounds so gentle...]
[I was all set to unfollow, but after hearing that voice I’m staying. Hmph! It’s not that I’m captivated by your voice, I just want to see what kind of dish you can actually cook.]
Liam opened the refrigerator, and Sunflower’s automatic camera system pulled back for the full view, then pushed in close on a bunch of lush green vegetables. The room detonated again:
[Holy crap! Are those premium Jade greens? That fresh, juicy crispness. I can taste the crunch from here.]
[Forget Jade greens, I can see Crystal Coral greens over there! Damn it! One bunch of those costs enough to buy ten of me!]
[I’m on my knees. Whoever said the Streamer was doing this for views and money, get out here right now. Look at that fridge, does that look like a man short of cash to you? Why the hell would he need dirty tricks for traffic?]
Liam paid the comments little attention. One quick look through the fridge and a few dishes surfaced in his head. He took out a piece of star-beast meat that tasted like pork, lean and fat threaded through each other. He took out a piece of sea-beast meat as well, something like a crisp-fleshed grass carp, along with the Jade greens, the Crystal Coral greens and a few simple herbs.
He also took out three star-bird eggs, each the size of a small bowl, with an omelet in mind.
First he boiled a pot of water, adding deodorizing wine and a pinch of salt. As soon as it came to the boil he dropped in the thinly sliced star-beast meat to blanch briefly, then scooped it out, explaining as he went:
"This kind of star-beast meat has a foul odor to it, so it needs a quick blanch to take the impurities off the surface. Thirty seconds in the boiling water, no more. The moment you scoop it out, put it straight into cold water so the surface doesn’t dry out."
"After blanching, wash the meat once more. I want to render the fat out of the star-beast meat to stir-fry the Jade greens, so this goes into a pan and gets stirred over medium heat with a little water, and the fat will come out of it slowly."
The audience watched every movement in silence. A few skeptical comments went up and nobody answered them. Every last person was fixed on Liam’s cooking.
Liam didn’t talk much either, just concentrated on stirring the meat. The water evaporated, the fat began to run, and the sizzling was extraordinarily pleasant to listen to. The automatic camera closed in on the pan and on Liam’s hands around the spatula. Everyone sighed in admiration:
[I always thought his hands only looked beautiful when he was drawing. Turns out they look just as good holding a spatula.]
[What is the person above even saying? His hands are beautiful whether he’s drawing or not!]
[All of you shut up. Can’t you smell that? If your nose is deaf, get out.]
[Ugh, why does it smell that good? Star-beast meat normally reeks. If you don’t bury it in spices the stink hangs around for three days. He used a bit of water and it’s already this fragrant.]
[Did the person above not hear him say the meat has to be blanched first? Oh no, I didn’t get it recorded, how exactly was the meat blanched again?]
[Don’t panic, bro. I screen-recorded it. I’ll send it over.]
[Sugar daddy, send it to me too! Love you, daddy~]
[Barf. Get lost.]
By now a good deal of fat had rendered out into the pan and the pieces of meat had browned a little. Liam said, "Now I’ll scoop half of this out to stir-fry the Jade greens, and keep stirring the other half until it goes a bit more golden, to make cracklings. Half the cracklings go into the Crystal Coral greens soup, and I’ll save the other half for another meal."
Everyone stopped commenting and set about committing his every movement to memory. He scooped half the meat into a bowl, stirred the rest for another ten minutes or so, then turned off the stove. He tipped the cracklings out into a separate bowl and poured off all the fat from the pan.
"Too much grease is bad for you, and it drowns out the dish’s own flavor as well, so a little is all you need."
"The sea-beast meat and Crystal Coral greens soup needs longer to stew, so I’ll start that first. Sea-beast meat has a fishy smell, so crush some ginger and scallion, dilute it with water, and wash the meat with that."
"Once the sea-beast meat is washed, use dry paper towels to draw the excess water off the surface. Then we sear the meat briefly in the star-beast fat. Remember, a quick sear only. When the surface goes lightly golden like this, that’s enough."
"After searing, add julienned ginger, chopped scallion bulbs, and half the crispy cracklings. Stir until it’s fragrant, then tip the lot into a stewing pot and add enough water to cover the meat. Bring it up over high heat until it bubbles, then drop the heat and add a little cold water. I’m making a large serving bowl of this, so I’ll fill to about two-thirds of the bowl."
"Season it now: salt, fish sauce... ah, no fish sauce here, so we’ll skip that step. Add a little seasoning powder made from star-bird meat, and a dash of vinegar. Then just put the lid on and let it simmer over low heat until the broth turns milky white."
"Crystal Coral greens cook quickly, so all you do is cut them into sections, wash them well and let them drain. Add them when the fish soup is nearly done."
"Now for the Jade greens. Jade greens have thick stalks and a lot of dirt caught down in the crevices of the leaves, so we peel the leaves off one at a time to wash them. Remember to stack the leaves evenly, or you won’t be able to cut them properly later."
These Jade greens looked no different from bok choy, except that they ran as large as a napa cabbage, and their glossy color made them look carved out of a block of green crystal. Their flavor was far crisper and more refreshing than bok choy too. Eaten raw, they were rather like Hami melon.
Liam separated the leaves carefully and washed them one by one. His movements looked leisurely and were in fact very quick. In no time at all he had the whole bunch washed.
"Once the greens are washed, cut them into sections about ten centimeters long and blanch them briefly. The reason for blanching is that Jade greens hold a lot of water. Skip it, and they’ll release all that water into the pan and lose their crispness."
"We stir-fry the greens in a deep wok. A little fat in the wok, fry off some minced garlic until it’s fragrant, then in go the greens and the seasoning. Start on high heat, and turn it down when the greens are nearly done. Only at that point do we add the star-beast meat and toss it all together. All you want is for the meat and greens to take up the seasoning fully."
"The instant the greens are perfectly done, get them out onto a plate. Leave them any longer and they’ll go mushy."
Without anyone noticing, the broadcasting room had climbed to the number one spot, and the viewer count was rising by the minute. New arrivals walked straight into an ambush of rich cooking aromas and immediately started howling.
[Holy crap, I’ve just had dinner, why is my stomach growling again...]
[Say no more, person above. I’m crying from my mouth!]
[Boohoo, does anyone pity a dirt-poor man like me? All I’ve got is low-grade nutrient fluid.]
[Get your nutrient fluid out then! Sip it slowly, drink while you watch, it tastes incredible! I’m drinking mine right now!]
The audience in the room leapt up as one and scrambled for their nutrient fluid, sniffing at the simulated aroma while they sipped. And it had to be said, it tasted significantly better that way.
Once Liam had the greens out on a plate, he called, "Second sister, carry this out for me."
Isabella shot into the kitchen and carried the plate of greens carefully out to the dining room. The two siblings outside had caught the smell long ago and had not been able to sit still since; the saliva would not stop coming.
It was a blessing and a torment both at once.