Xu Hao and the others finished their fruit and returned to the kitchen.

They were ready to continue tidying up.

As soon as they entered the kitchen, they noticed an unfamiliar machine on the table to the right, a machine they'd never seen before.

They moved closer to take a look…

It seemed, perhaps, to be a blender?

But the buttons on the machine were very straightforward, with only an on and off button.

Huang Tao casually said, "This is a fully automatic blender, purchased along with the last automatic baking machine, which we didn't need at the time, so I put it away in the back of the cabinet. Now that we plan to make fish balls for sale tomorrow, I remembered we have this fully automatic blender. We can put the fish meat in it to blend directly, saving everyone a lot of effort."

Since everyone had accepted the existence of the automatic baking machine, no one doubted Huang Tao's explanation in the slightest.

"Well, okay, but boss, generally when using a blender to puree, the fish paste produced, though more delicate than when scraped, won't taste as good as the traditional method."

Lin Zifeng voiced his small concern after listening, but he had confidence in the boss, believing that such a minor issue wouldn't stump him.

"That's the magic of this fully automatic blender. You just put the fish meat in, and it operates automatically, achieving the perfect texture for the fish paste."

Huang Tao had just taken it out and briefly studied this fully automatic blender.

In short,

fully automatic machines are quite magical.

For example, the previous automatic baking machine could automatically recognize the food and adjust the appropriate heat and time.

To this day, Xu Hao and the others still exclaim how damn amazing it is.

But none of them thought too much about it, assuming these high-tech machines were pre-set accordingly.

The fully automatic blender is similar, capable of blending the ingredients to the best texture based on what's put in.

And though compact in size, it has a large capacity, able to handle a lot of fish meat at once!

This saves him a lot of time processing ingredients!

"The fish stall owner will be delivering fish in a bit. We'll make the simplest white fish balls then..."

Before he finished speaking!

A shout came from outside the door: "Boss Huang, Boss Huang, I've brought the bass you wanted..."

Wow!

Speak of the devil, Cao Cao arrives!

"Okay, I'm coming right over..."

As he responded, just about to go out and get it, the fish stall owner considerately brought it in.

"Thank you! Even at this late hour, you went out of your way to deliver..."

"No worries, I haven't closed up yet, and even if I had, as long as you, Boss Huang, need goods, I'd deliver them even in the middle of the night..."

The astute fish stall owner naturally clung to Huang Tao's golden opportunity.

Thinking what Huang Tao thinks, rushing when Huang Tao is in need!

Huang Tao: "..."

"Then, Boss Huang, you get busy, I'll head back, and tomorrow morning I'll deliver the rest of the goods..." the fish stall owner cheerfully waved goodbye.

"Alright, take care!"

After sending off the fish stall owner, Huang Tao and the others in the kitchen began to get busy.

Ding Suqin and Ji started working together, scaling the bass, gutting them, and cleaning out the viscera, dirty gills, and fish teeth.

Yan Ming and Lin Yuhan, the young couple, took charge of cleaning the bass, making sure they were spotless inside and out.

Huang Tao accompanied Xu Hao and Lin Zifeng in processing the cleaned bass.

They all knew that a good fish ball should be bouncy and delicious, with no residue or gelatinous taste at all.

Therefore!

The fish skin and bones must be thoroughly removed.

Huang Tao flipped the fish, raised his knife, and chopped off the head and tail.

Pressing down on the middle,

the blade skimmed beneath the fishbones.

A chunk of bony flesh was swiftly sliced off in no time.

Pinching the softer flesh below,

he lifted the knife down,

pressing it against the skin,

and with a gentle flick,

in no time a clean piece of fish meat was deposited into the basin…

With their collaboration, it didn't take long for all the fish to be filleted.

Huang Tao smiled and said, "Haozi, soak the filleted fish in running water for more than fifteen minutes."

This can more effectively remove the residual blood from the fish, making it even whiter, more translucent, and clean.

While soaking the fish,

keep the faucet running, allowing the basin's water to flow continuously.

This helps wash away the residual blood from the fish more effectively.

"Got it, boss."

Understanding the instructions, Xu Hao obediently followed them.

"Zifeng, cut these scallions and ginger into thin shreds..." He handed an appropriate amount of scallions and ginger to Lin Zifeng, instructing him to slice them thinly.

"Chop chop chop..."

Lin Zifeng picked up the kitchen knife and swiftly sliced the scallions and ginger into thin shreds on the cutting board.

Huang Tao then placed the shredded scallions and ginger into cool boiled water to soak.

This would become the scallion-ginger water to be used when preparing the fish paste later.

It's necessary to prepare plenty of scallion-ginger water.

When making the fish paste, water needs to be added multiple times.

The fish paste made this way will be smooth, delicate, and elastic.

Besides preparing scallion and ginger water!

We also need to prepare some starch water.

This is to make the fish paste thicker and easier to shape.

He walked over to Xu Hao to check how the soaked fish was doing.

"Hmm, it's ready! No need to soak any more."

He placed the fish meat handed over by Xu Hao piece by piece into the automatic mixer, covered the lid, and pressed the "Start" button.

The blade of the machine rotated rapidly under the power, and surprisingly, the noise was almost negligible.

The fish meat turned into white fish paste almost instantly.

"Beep!"

As the prompt sounded, the automatic mixer stopped working.

The snow-white fish paste was poured into a large basin by him.

The next step is the most skill-testing one: mixing!

Mixing the fish paste is the most critical step in making fish balls, determining whether the balls are bouncy, soft, or chewy depends on whether this step is done properly.

He poured an appropriate amount of the prepared scallion and ginger water into the basin, then started stirring clockwise by hand, allowing the fish paste to fully absorb the scallion and ginger water.

Scallion and ginger water helps remove the fishy smell and enhance aroma!

Using it in fish paste can make the fish balls delicious without a fishy taste and enables the fish paste to be thoroughly mixed to gain strength.

Thus, the taste will be tender and chewy.

When the fish paste became sticky again, he added a little more scallion and ginger water.

After adding water three times in a row,

The fish paste, which was initially sticky, seemed diluted now, slightly sticky fish paste being lifted high and then dropped heavily, with a splash as the meat collided, white juice splattered...

Fish paste is ready!

He added a spoonful of salt and a small amount of yellow wine into the basin; this not only gives the fish balls a base flavor but also makes them chewier.

Then he poured in a few egg whites.

The egg white ensures the fish balls' color but also makes them smoother, more delicate, snow-white, easy to float, and elastic.

After mixing the egg white evenly, he added the starch water prepared earlier.

Continue mixing.

Next, it's time to shape the fish balls.

Heat a pot of water, no need to bring it to a boil.

Just to about sixty to seventy degrees!

Hot water can quickly shape the fish balls, but if it's boiling, the balls can easily fall apart in the boiling water.

If the starch content is high in the fish balls, you could use cold water as well.

However, it's best to use hot water.

This way, the foam on the surface of the fish balls can be flushed away by hot water, improving the texture of the fish balls.

If using cold water, the foam will remain on the surface of the fish balls and be difficult to remove.

Wait until the water is hot.

His left hand immersed in the basin, grabbed a handful of prepared fish paste, left a small opening at the base of the thumb, and gently squeezed.

A cute little round ball popped out.

With a gentle scoop from the right hand's spoon,

the plump white fish ball fell into the hot water on the stove.

The fish balls made this way are solid fish balls, also known as white fish balls.

Adding some shrimp roe, crab roe, or other meats is also possible, but the taste and flavor would be quite different.

We will talk about these and stuffed fish balls later, but now Huang Tao is focusing on white fish balls.

After all, those are costlier and more time-consuming, not suitable for a food festival.

Gradually, his movements quickened.

Both hands were very relaxed, gently scooping on the left, squeezing effortlessly, and with a gentle turn of the spoon on the right, a fish ball steadily dropped into the pot, one after another...

The speed was as if he was directly dropping ready-made fish balls into the hot pot.

Once the fish balls are shaped, it's time to cook them!

The final texture and taste of the fish balls?

It all relies on the cooking method and technique.

So!

This step is especially crucial.

He turned up the heat, not to the maximum.

The idea was to gradually warm the water in the pot.

This allows the fish balls to slowly adapt to the water temperature, preventing them from getting boiled or breaking apart suddenly.

During cooking, he should constantly use a spoon to skim off the foam in the pot, keeping the water clear and clean.

This results in fish balls that are smoother and more delicate on the surface.

Otherwise, the foam would make the surface of the fish balls uneven.

Not only affecting the color but also the appearance.

When the water in the pot reaches ninety degrees, the fish balls start rolling in the hot water, and the foam increases.

This indicates that all the impurities in the fish balls have been cooked out.

It also means the fish balls are almost cooked through.

When the fish balls are about to stop rolling in the pot, Huang Tao turns down the heat to prevent the water in the pot from boiling completely.

Simmer for another six minutes until no foam appears, then the fish balls are thoroughly cooked.

Ready to be taken out!

He took a large slotted spoon to scoop out the fish balls from the pot one by one, placing them into a bowl of cold water prepared by Xu Hao.

The sizzling hot fish balls instantly immersed in cold water, the initially loose skin and meat tightened in an instant as the temperature dropped rapidly, with a slight mist of white steam in the cold water basin...

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