Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 565: Chapter 565: Phoenix-Tail Prawns

After savoring the Dragon’s Saliva Fragrance, Elder Li was in high spirits. With a grand wave of his hand, he announced, "Come on, to the kitchen! I’m going to show you all my specialty today—Phoenix Tail Prawns."

Phoenix Tail Prawns are a traditional, famous dish from Nanjing, prized for a perfect harmony of color, aroma, taste, and presentation.

In the kitchen, sixteen large river prawns were leaping and splashing about inside a huge water tank.

Elder Li had the housekeeper scoop them up with a net. Not one more, not one less—exactly sixteen.

The prawns were enormous, each as long as an index finger, with strong, powerful tails as thick as a grown man’s finger.

They thrashed about in the sink, brandishing their long pincers left and right, looking full of vigor.

"These are some nice prawns."

Ding Kaifang was a connoisseur and could tell at a glance that these were top-quality, wild-caught river prawns.

Elder Li’s health had been recovering well recently, so he insisted on preparing them himself.

He took out a fine, soft-bristled brush and began to clean each prawn one by one.

Even the heads and pincers, which would be discarded, were cleaned spotlessly, every tiny part meticulously scrubbed with the soft-bristled brush.

The prawns, instead of struggling, grew still, as if enjoying a special massage.

A closer look revealed that Elder Li’s brushing was methodical. His wrist was steady, the pressure perfectly controlled to wash away any grime without damaging the delicate flesh.

After he had finished scrubbing all of them, Elder Li set down the brush and moved on to the next step.

After their "massage," the river prawns now looked completely languid, their tails particularly relaxed and straight.

At that moment, Elder Li picked up a prawn, his gaze focused.

With a knife in his right hand, he moved with lightning speed, first slicing down its back.

The blade glided through, splitting the shell open at just the right depth to expose the black vein.

With a gentle twist of his left hand and a smooth motion with his right, he removed the vein completely intact.

Immediately after, he quickly removed the second vein from its underside.

The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, without a single wasted motion.

Only then did Elder Li pinch off the head and peel away the shell.

Miraculously, the peeled tail remained straight and relaxed, not curling up in shock as one would expect.

The pearly white flesh was so translucent that when placed on a white plate, it looked almost transparent.

Elder Li’s speed was incredible; he finished processing all sixteen prawns in less than five minutes.

Each butterflied prawn was arranged neatly on the plate, resembling blooming parasol tree flowers.

The hard tail fan was left intact, fanned out like a small trumpet, its red and white pattern particularly lovely.

The onlookers held their breath, not daring to make a sound for fear of disturbing the artistic performance.

Not until Elder Li finished the last prawn and set down his knife...

...did Li Xu finally break the silence in admiration. "Elder Li, your technique for cleaning and shelling is simply incredible. It’s like watching a master artisan at work."

"I was completely stunned," Song Sisi added, nodding repeatedly. "That wasn’t cooking; it was practically surgery."

"That’s the work of a true grandmaster." Ding Kaifang gave a heartfelt thumbs-up. "Relaxing the prawn’s tail to remove the vein whole requires an intimate knowledge of its anatomy. And that knife work for the butterflying... the pressure control was flawless, down to the millimeter. The thickness and depth were identical. This trip was absolutely worth it."

Elder Li wiped his hands and chuckled. "It’s just a parlor trick, nothing worth mentioning. When it comes to cooking, the most important thing is a calm mind. If your mind is calm, your hands will be steady."

...

The prepared prawns, their bodies as white as jade, were arranged neatly on the plate. Their hard, red tail fans curled upward slightly, like soldiers awaiting inspection.

With a light, deft movement, Elder Li picked up an egg with one hand and tapped it gently on the rim of the bowl he held in his other.

CRACK.

A soft, crisp sound.

The egg white instantly flowed out like a small waterfall, yet under Elder Li’s control, it drizzled evenly over every single prawn.

Miraculously, not a single drop of egg white splashed onto the red tail fans, while the intact yolk sat peacefully in the bowl, as if it had never been disturbed.

This display of skill made everyone present stare with wide-eyed disbelief.

Cracking an egg with one hand might be a basic skill for many chefs, but to drizzle the white so precisely and evenly over the prawns with just a flick of the wrist—while leaving the tail fans completely clean—demonstrated a level of control that was simply breathtaking.

Immediately after, Elder Li turned and took two steps back. THUMP, THUMP. With one hand, he lifted the lid of an exquisite sea salt cellar; with the other, he scooped out half a spoonful.

He didn’t just sprinkle it. Instead, with a flick of his wrist, the sea salt drifted down like a fine mist, evenly coating the prawns in the exact same fashion as the egg white.

Every grain of salt seemed to land in its designated spot, as if by calculation.

The prawns needed to marinate for a few minutes to allow the salt to penetrate the flesh.

While they marinated, Elder Li began to prepare the garnish for the Phoenix Tail Prawns—sweet peas.

These were no ordinary peas; they were first-of-the-season, at their most crisp, tender, and sweet.

Elder Li had already shelled them, carefully extracting each emerald-green orb and ensuring that none of their delicate skins were broken.

Water came to a boil in a pot.

Elder Li poured the rinsed and drained peas into the boiling water.

After tumbling in the water for just a few seconds, he swiftly scooped them out and plunged them into a waiting bowl of cold water.

This wasn’t ordinary water, either. It was melted from the first snow collected off snow lotuses—pure, unpolluted, and carrying the faint, cool fragrance of the flowers themselves.

Once melted, its temperature was perfect for rapidly cooling the peas to preserve their vibrant green color, while also locking in their unique, fresh aroma.

The few minutes it took to prepare the peas was just the right amount of time for the prawns to finish marinating.

Elder Li placed a small, exquisite wok on the stove, heating it until it began to smoke faintly before immediately pouring in a bit of clear oil.

As the oil hit the wok, there was none of the usual greasy smell. Instead, a faint, refreshing botanical aroma wafted up.

"Elder Li’s range hood must be amazing. Such high heat, yet there’s no greasy smell, only this nice fragrance."

Song Sisi remarked as she watched the heat rising from the stove.

"Haha, Sisi, that’s not thanks to the range hood. It’s the oil," Ding Kaifang corrected her with a smile. "This is a specially made tea-seed oil. It’s been refined through multiple processes, giving it a high smoke point and a pure flavor, which makes it perfect for delicate freshwater seafood."

"Oh, so that’s why," Song Sisi said, the realization dawning on her.

’No wonder I never smelled that unpleasant, greasy smoke on the other times I’ve come to mooch a meal at Li Garden.’

Seeing that the oil temperature was right, Elder Li picked up a marinated prawn, dusted it with a thin layer of white starch, and slid it into the wok to be flash-fried.

SIZZLE—

With a soft hiss, the prawn’s body instantly curled up in the hot oil.

Each prawn, when lifted from the oil, had curled into a half-moon, its tail fan pointing high. When placed on the plate, it already had the distinct elegance of a phoenix’s tail.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!