eurekapd Chapter 301: Stir-frying with oil and water
Chapter 301: Stir-frying with oil and water
The beef and pig ears were braised yesterday. The braising liquid was the old braising liquid brought by Chef Huang. Zhao Xiaojing tasted it and found it average, but it was not realistic to make a new pot of braising liquid due to time constraints, so she had to work harder on the sauce.
Among the sixteen dishes, six were cold dishes. Zhao Xiaojing only added a little sauce to the two braised dishes to adjust the taste, and then followed the two apprentices to start cutting the side dishes. The remaining mixed dishes of one meat and three vegetables were handed over to Master Huang.
The three new employees that Master Huang brought in today were three strong sisters-in-law who worked very efficiently. Zhao Xiaojing and the other two cut the braised meat and put it in a large basin. They came over with gloves to arrange the dishes. Not only were they as fast and neat as an assembly line, but they also cooperated very well. In a short while, 90 plates of braised dishes were arranged into a double-petal flower shape, and they didn't forget to put a few corianders in the middle. Zhao Xiaojing saw that they cooperated very smoothly, so she told them the corresponding sauces for the two braised meats and asked them to pour a spoonful of sauce on each plate, and then she didn't care about the cold dishes anymore.
Chef Huang calculated the amount and soaked the vermicelli and jellyfish, then poured the peanuts into the pot, added two spoons of salt and a few ladles of cold water, covered the pot and cooked it, then joined the three people in the cutting work.
The amount of food preparation and cutting for the forty-five tables was not small. The two apprentices were basically responsible for cutting into sections and cubes, while Zhao Xiaojing and Chef Huang were responsible for cutting into strips and slices.
The four of them were chopping at the same time until nine o'clock. The three sisters-in-law had killed the fish and gutted them one by one, chopped the chicken, ribs and beef into pieces and washed them, peeled all the quail eggs, and even cleaned all six large pots.
Zhao Xiaojing was amazed at the efficiency of the sisters-in-law, and put down the knife and started to blanch the beef. The menu of the buffet was very plain, with four dishes in the hot pot category, and they didn't have stage names, just beef hot pot, chicken hot pot, spare rib hot pot, and family hot pot.
Time was running out, so Zhao Xiaojing blanched the meat, removed the fishy smell, and simply stir-fried and seasoned it. She then put the beef, chicken, and ribs directly into the pressure cooker according to the cooking time for each meat.
As for the family hotpot, it was simple. Yesterday afternoon, Zhao Xiaojing had already prepared the soup stock, fried the crispy meat and meatballs, and Master Huang had also steamed the fish cakes. Today, the sliced squid was lightly blanched to remove the fishy smell, and finally the soup stock was boiled to adjust the taste, and then it was handed over to the sisters-in-law to do the assembly line work, and Zhao Xiaojing didn't have to worry about it anymore.
The sisters-in-law worked together to move the big steel barrel of soup stock from the stove to the side, and then poured quail eggs, cooked black fungus and mushrooms, broccoli, squid flowers, and ham sausage into the still warm soup stock and covered the lid of the steel barrel to let the ingredients soak in. When the lunch break is about to start, they heated it up and boiled it, then put it into a separate hot pot, and then put the crispy meat, meatballs, and fish cakes on top according to their portions, and then they could serve it directly on the table with the alcohol stove, and eat it while it is cooking, and the taste of the ingredients can also be well preserved.
"Sister, did you soak the glutinous rice for me overnight?" The sisters-in-law covered the steel bucket and were about to help Zhao Xiaojing move the pig's trotters when a middle-aged man wearing an apron and looking kind came into the yard from outside. After entering the yard, he first looked around for ingredients. When he saw the glutinous rice, he squatted down to examine it carefully. Behind him followed the grandson whom Zhao Xiaojing had seen yesterday, carrying an iron bucket in his hand.
"Yes, Lao Huang and the others soaked it yesterday, and they drained it this morning. This basin is yours." The sister-in-law said, pointing at the glutinous rice that the man was looking through.
"Thank you, thank you, it's very well controlled!" The man thanked with a smile, picked up the large basin, and walked straight to the Wei family's kitchen.
Zhao Xiaojing took a curious look at the iron bucket. It was filled with blood, half a bucket full. Judging from the amount, it didn't look like chicken or duck blood, but pig blood. This should be the relative of the Wei family who can cook Min cuisine. When Zhao Xiaojing was pouring glutinous rice yesterday, she heard them call to ask about the specific amount needed.
But pig blood and sticky rice? What kind of dish is this going to be? Zhao Xiaojing guessed silently and felt itchy. Yesterday, she thought this temporary kitchen built in the yard was spacious and convenient. Today, she found that she couldn't see Min's relative cooking, which made her feel very sorry.
Just as I was thinking about it, the eldest daughter-in-law who I met yesterday also came over. She chatted and laughed with Zhao Xiaojing and her group, then ran into the kitchen. Soon, she took out a basket of ingredients that looked like garlic and onions and washed them.
Zhao Xiaojing looked at it for a while but couldn't figure out what it was, so she stopped paying attention to it and just lowered her head to stir-fry sugar color.
Sugar color is used to braise pig's trotter. Braised pig's trotter is a staple dish at village banquets. A whole pig's trotter looks beautiful and grand, and festive, so it is basically served at every banquet.
Pig's trotter is the name used in the village. It is actually pork elbow, but the cooking method is completely different from the pork trotter rice. To make braised pork trotter, the whole elbow must be deep-fried, soaked, colored, seasoned, and then roasted.
By the time the two sisters-in-law had brought all forty-five pig trotters over, the sugar color in Zhao Xiaojing's pot had reached the most critical stage. The rock sugar that was fried in oil was producing more and more foam as it was stirred continuously. When it reached the critical point of being the thickest and densest, Zhao Xiaojing quickly poured in the hot water that had been prepared on the side.
There was a sudden violent reaction in the pot. The dense foam instantly turned into small bubbles that kept breaking, making a rustling sound. Zhao Xiaojing continued to stir it non-stop, and soon the sugar color in the pot became rich and sticky.
The two sisters-in-law kept looking back at Zhao Xiaojing while walking to the plating area, pointing their chins at Zhao Xiaojing and talking in surprise to Chef Huang who had just brought over a large bowl of mixed shredded vegetables.
"This girl is really good. She looks very good at cooking at such a young age, and she cuts the shreds very finely!"
"That's right. This morning I thought Chef Xie was busy. This relative couldn't be called, but when he started working, I found out that he seemed to be quite capable."
"Hey, don't underestimate him. Just looking at his skills in making sugar color, he's better than Chef Xie and I! He's a real kung fu master." Chef Huang glanced over there and shook his head.
"Really? What's wrong with the candy color? Don't you two know how to fry it?"
"We can stir-fry, but we stir-fry in water while others stir-fry directly in oil. Our skills are different!"
After saying this, Chef Huang took a new basin and went back, leaving the two sisters-in-law looking at each other in bewilderment, not understanding the difference between stir-frying in water and stir-frying in oil.
After the two sisters-in-law finished packing the cold-mixed shredded vegetables, they couldn't help but run over to ask Chef Huang, who was stacking glutinous rice layer by layer to make eight-treasure rice pudding, "What's wrong with stir-frying with water or oil?"
"I don't usually see you guys being so eager to learn!" Chef Huang laughed. "Frying in oil is fast and saves time, and the heat must be controlled very accurately. If you're not careful, it will be overcooked. What's more, she uses a big pot like ours. Old Xie and I are not easy to control the heat of this big pot to fry the sugar color. Every time we are afraid of making mistakes, we fry it in water, which takes much longer than her!"