After being chopped, it was placed on a plate.
Then, a bit of water was drizzled over, and a handful of dry starch was sprinkled in.
To make the fried eggplant crispy, he couldn't use salt to draw out moisture anymore; otherwise, the eggplant would be soft and not achieve the desired crisp texture.
He stirred the mixture in the bowl by hand to evenly coat the eggplant strips with dry starch.
Once coated, he heated oil in a wok, preparing to deep-fry the eggplant.
While waiting for the oil to heat up, Lin Xu didn't idle. He chopped dried chili into segments, peeled and sliced the garlic cloves, and added a handful of Sichuan peppercorns.
These were the aromatics for the dish.
Initially, Lin Xu was somewhat anxious, fearing that he wouldn't do well and might mess up. By this moment, however, he had become calm. He even cared less about the rankings, only wanting to make the dish he had conceptualized and taste it, to see where it might still be lacking.
