Chapter 360: Chapter 272: Crispy and Spicy Fried Bullfrog That Looks Like Fried Chicken

Although Western cuisine includes dishes with raw beef, and sushi restaurants are popular, there are quite a few people who can accept raw food.

But...

He really doesn’t believe that something like bullfrog can be eaten raw; just the thought of it is disgusting.

Similar to poultry, Western cuisine has clear safety guidelines that require chicken to reach an internal temperature of 74 degrees Celsius for more than 15 seconds before serving.

If it’s below this temperature, there are safety risks; such as Salmonella, a well-known pathogenic bacteria, can survive.

"Then it certainly won’t be raw. We in Great Xia have a famous dish called hot pot. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it?"

"No, but isn’t there a picture on the official website, the one that looks similar to mala soup?"

"Yes, the difference is mala soup is cooked by the chef and served on the table, while hot pot is cooked by the customers themselves in the pot. The ingredients differ, the base broth differs, and the eating method differs too."

"So you’re saying this bullfrog is an ingredient in hot pot?"

"Sort of, but also not."

Lin Chen shook his head mysteriously, "Hot pot is a magical cooking method where everything can be cooked, and bullfrog is just one of those ingredients."

"Today I’m going to make fried bullfrog for you, which is now a popular method in Great Xia. You can eat it like fried chicken."

"Fried chicken?!"

John’s eyes lit up, nodding repeatedly.

"Then quickly cook it, I’m starving!"

Upon hearing the words "fried chicken," a few diners with pale faces suddenly regained interest, quickly gobbling up a few bites of mala soup to soothe their wounded little hearts.

To be fair, they don’t really have a bias against frogs as ingredients; mainly, they haven’t heard much about them being sold, and the previous scene was indeed a bit gruesome.

Though scarce, it doesn’t mean no one makes it.

Some places even hold frog food festivals, dedicated to selling various frog leg dishes, and one could find similar news from time to time.

As long as you don’t watch the slaughter process, and just look at the finished dish, it’s probably still quite appetizing.

Lin Chen sliced a few pieces of ginger and white scallion into cleaned bullfrog. He added a small handful of Sichuan pepper and a bit of water, kneading it all briefly before setting it aside. He then began preparing the materials needed for frying.

The kitchen has ready-to-use oil for frying; he just needed to turn on the fryer and prepare a bowl of flour.

He’s making crispy batter, known as fish scale flakes. This method is quite common among Western folks where fried food is everywhere.

But commonality doesn’t mean the average person knows how to make the batter.

He intended to demonstrate the method a few times in front of everyone, then bring the batter-coated bullfrog to the kitchen for frying.

Fresh bullfrog doesn’t require a long marination, nor does it have a strong odor; the ginger, scallion, and Sichuan pepper serve as insurance, enhancing the flavor.

He took the bullfrog from the ginger-scallion water, drained it slightly, and threw it into the flour, pressing it a few times to coat every gap with flour.

He lifted it, shook off the excess dry flour, and then dipped it back into the ginger-scallion water.

Not long, just about ten seconds, ensuring the water fully covers the bullfrog.

The use of ginger-scallion water was mainly for convenience; regular water would suffice, but since there’s ginger-scallion water, using it was better than tasteless water.

After the water soak, he returned the bullfrog to the flour, re-covering it with flour around it, gently rubbing it with open fingers, allowing the flour to consolidate into a kind of batter; this is where the fish scale flakes come from.

"Fried frog?"

Looking up, he noticed the window filled with heads again, several curious eyes fixated on the bullfrog in the bowl before him.

"Not frog, bullfrog, different species."

John corrected their terminology seriously, "Frogs eat pests and can protect the farmland ecosystem, bullfrogs are omnivorous, eating anything and if left unchecked, they’ll destroy entire farmland."

"I just came with a fluke, asking the chef if it’s edible. Didn’t expect him to say this is a delicacy. Haha, not only can we enjoy it, but it also saves the farmland!"

A few diners nodded with vague understanding, not very knowledgeable about these biological aspects, taking only two words.

Delicious!

John brought six big bullfrogs altogether, and preparation didn’t take too long.

Having finished coating the batter, Lin Chen took the bullfrog to the restaurant for frying.

The guests didn’t leave, quickly polishing off the mala soup in the meal box and even drinking the broth to the last drop.

"This pork bone soup is truly fresh. What a thought, using high broth directly to cook dishes?"

"I thought high broth was used instead of water for cooking, never thought it could directly become a finished dish, the flavor doesn’t lose to the rich soup from a big restaurant."

"Asian people seem great at making soup, like the Japanese ramen broth is very tasty, Kimchi Country’s stone pot soup is good too, and this, all seem like lighter high broths, unlike our French cuisine where the texture is much thicker."

"This spicy bone broth has a unique spice flavor, just looks spicy, but isn’t too spicy when drinking, much tastier than the original flavor, the mild tingling sensation on the lips seems addictive!"

"Really? I thought it would be very spicy, didn’t dare order it."

Everyone gathered here from across the world to enjoy the food, which is quite a fate, and they began talking enthusiastically, exchanging differences in taste.

What if there’s a chance to try spicy hot pot in the future?

After a while, Lin Chen emerged from the restaurant. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

John had never felt a few minutes drag on like this; it seemed like centuries. He hurriedly went over to meet him.

"Is it ready? Let me see... Wow! You must admit, it certainly looks no different from fried chicken."

Lin Chen casually handed him the tray.

"I sprinkled spicy powder on it, so the taste should be similar to spicy fried chicken, but our Great Xia’s flavor has noticeable differences—you’ll know once you take a bite."

"It’s very hot just out of the pot, wait a bit before eating. Want a Coke?"

"Yes, yes!"

John nodded eagerly like a pecking chick, licking his dry lips in anticipation, and leaned down to inhale near the bullfrog.

What he smelled was the familiar aroma of fried oil, along with the distinct scent of chili powder.

Overseas, the chili powder on fried chicken usually lacks fragrance; it’s mixed into the flour before frying, or it’s hot sauce applied on the chicken’s surface or dipped to coat it.

This kind of chili-powder-sprinkled fried chicken... bullfrog, he hadn’t tried before.

He shook his head, throwing off the thought of fried chicken, and silently reminded himself that it was bullfrog, bullfrog.

It’s not surprising he kept thinking of fried chicken—the appearance does look quite similar.

Under the sunlight, the scales-like crispy coating reflected an oily sheen, with bright red chili powder hidden in every seam, just looking at it made his mouth water uncontrollably.

Adding to the fact he’d never had bullfrog meat before—Lin Chen described it as having a texture between fish and chicken, meaning it would be very tender.

Isn’t that juicy, tender fried chicken meat!

While Lin Chen went to get him an ice-cold Coke, he held the tray and returned to the front of the food cart, proudly showing off his lunch to the surrounding diners.

"Come take a look, freshly fried bullfrog! Doesn’t it look just like fried chicken?"

Curious onlookers gathered around and indeed found the tray piled with bullfrog pieces like a small mountain, with its golden yellow scales-like coating almost identical to fried chicken.

If it weren’t for the bullfrog’s sprawling limb shape, they might have mistaken it for fried chicken.

"Looks good, the finished product has a big difference from the original ingredient."

"What does bullfrog taste like? Is it good? If it can be made like this, it probably isn’t bad, right?"

John had been craving for a while, reaching out to grab, but withdrew instantly as the hot temperature scared him, instinctively licking his fingers for a taste.

"How would I know? Haven’t tried it yet—Chef said bullfrog meat is juicy and elastic, between chicken and fish, sounds like it should be good."

Just by licking the chili powder off his fingers, he felt confident the bullfrog would be delicious.

He expected a strong spicy taste since bullfrog has an odor in life, thinking the chili powder might cover that.

However, it was not the case.

The chili powder tasted salty and fragrant, not heavily spicy, but noticeably stronger compared to regular fast-food spicy chicken, with a distinct savory flavor, likely containing MSG.

MSG is monosodium glutamate, known as magic powder—any food becomes delicious with it.

MSG was initially extracted by the Sakura People and later became widespread in East Asian countries, though less common in the Western world.

Most legitimate restaurants do not allow MSG as it is considered cheating, leading to lazy, uncreative chefs.

But he wasn’t worried about Lin Chen using the magic powder—his skill is so high it won’t limit him, maybe it’s just for taste improvement.

After all, time is limited, Lin Chen had just finished a busy period without rest and made a meal for him, using ready-made seasoning powder to save time, understandable.

Once the chili powder’s taste lingered in his mouth long enough, he finally realized what the familiar flavor was.

Fried chicken fillet!

Yes, it’s the same seasoning powder used for the fried chicken fillet at the weekend activity stalls!

Now he was relieved.

He gently blew over the fried chicken... bullfrog surface, speeding up cooling, and couldn’t resist reaching out again within seconds.

This time, he was smarter, not grabbing the thick areas, but the joints where the meat was thinnest.

No meat meant faster heat dissipation, likely not hot.

Sure enough, the bullfrog’s ankle wasn’t hot at all, just a gentle warmth.

His eyes brightened, unable to resist anymore, quickly lifting the frog leg and biting into the plump thigh.

"Crunch—"