Food starts with Mapo Tofu

Chapter 723 The Last Flavor of Spice

"That's a pity." The old man sighed. At first, he thought that if Chen Nian was interested in this way, he might be able to save people. After all, he also saw the aura of Chen Nian on the street that day. in the eyes.

But since the brother-in-law has agreed, he will teach it seriously.

"How much do you know about this?" the old doctor asked again.

Chen Nian thought for a while: "I only know the characteristics of some basic medicinal materials, but most of them are limited to the scope of commonly used spices. If there are more, I don't understand. Sir, you can treat me as a beginner."

"Well." The old doctor nodded, thinking that there are not many ordinary people who can get in touch with this aspect, but he has always felt that since Chen Nian can master the method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he must also have a certain understanding of medical skills, but he has no idea. Thinking of Chen Nian directly saying that he doesn't know anything.

But this is not a problem, after all, Chen Nian is literate, so it will be much more convenient for him to teach.

"When do you plan to start studying, sir?"

"The sooner the better, as long as there is nothing to do at home, I can come over." Chen Nian said, but after he finished speaking, he added, "You don't have to call me Mr., and you are my elder, so call me Xiaonian That's good, that's what my parents call me."

The old doctor is not hypocritical, although Chen Nian taught him cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but this kind of thing counts, and no matter what happened before, now Chen Nian is one of his apprentices.

Then he went back to the back room, and took out a book not long after: "Xiao Nian, take this book back and read it first, and ask me if you don't understand something, and you can come back to spring every morning." Tang, I will tell you about other things at that time. Although you want to be a cook, medicine and food are often not separated. Even if it is cooking, there is also a saying of medicine and food. You can learn these things anyway It's beneficial."

"Okay." Chen Nian quickly took the book with both hands, and then agreed.

The old doctor looked at Chen Nian like this: "Actually, I feel that you are a good seedling to study medicine, but people have their own ambitions, so you can't force it, and it was supposed to be my brother-in-law, shopkeeper Sun, who taught you in person, but he is now physically disabled. , need rest, so let me teach you."

Chen Nian naturally has no opinion on this, as long as he can learn something, he can learn from anyone.

So he went back today with this medical book.

The medical book given to him by the old doctor is a basic book, and it mainly talks about some acupuncture points of the human body and the most basic principles of their healing and saving lives.

That is to say, the above words are a bit obscure, but this does not bother Chen Nian, he has lived under the influence of Zhuangyuan Lang for a long time anyway.But there are still some old people who are not sure whether it is the meaning in his mind, so he wrote down these places, and planned to ask the old doctor when he went tomorrow.
"Fortunately, this is ancient times. If it is put into the present, the books of those medical students are ridiculously thick one by one. Such a large booklet can probably be used as a catalogue."

Chen Nian thought.

In this way, until the next day, Chen Nian came to Huichun Hall again, but at this time the old doctor was busy seeing patients, so Chen Nian just stood aside and waited, and by the way, listen to how the doctor sees a doctor in this period Said.

Even if I don't plan to study medicine, but if I really know how to do it, I can use it when I go back. After all, I don't have too many skills.

Just like the one-handed massage method I learned from the doctors in the Tianjin martial arts gym, Chen Nian used it on Hongdou. Chen Nian was pressed to death, but after that, his whole body felt unbelievably relaxed.

And the Kunqu opera I learned also came in handy a lot.

After the old doctor finished his work, he came to Chen Nian's side.

"I thought about it yesterday, since you want to use medicinal materials in cooking, then I have to teach you in a different way, but even so, you still need to know most of the medicinal materials.

After we have seen the patients, we will prescribe the right medicinal materials. Among the medicinal materials, we should pay attention to a monarch, his ministers and assistants. After all, it is impossible to use the same medicine for every patient's crux, so among the medicinal materials we grab One flavor or several flavors are needed, the main portion is more for the king, the next few flavors are for the minister, the next is the assistant, and the last is the envoy. "

While talking, the old doctor also took out a prescription for Chen Nian, giving examples of the various uses of these medicinal materials in this prescription for the condition of the disease.

Hearing these words, Chen Nian suddenly realized.

Because he has studied the prescription of five-spice powder before, and he also produced three types of five-spice powder, and the main ingredients used in each are different. Now that I think about it, isn’t this exactly what the other party said? ?

Unexpectedly, there was such a harvest on the first day, which made Chen Nian more determined to stay here and study.

Afterwards, the old doctor began to tell Chen Nian blindly taking medicines and medicines before bringing Chen Nian to the medicine cabinet.

There are only two ways to quickly understand these medicinal materials, one is to memorize them by rote, and the other is to understand them in practice.

Although the first method has to be explored more deeply through the second method in the end, it will be much faster that way.

Chen Nian tried hard to memorize the characteristics of these medicinal materials in his mind, and Chen Nian felt his head was going to explode all morning.

"There are only so many medicines in Huichuntang now, and there will be some other medicines in the future, but I will tell you about those later, but how much of the things I told you just now, do you remember?"

"Less than [-]%." Chen Nian said honestly, "And out of the [-]%, I guess I might forget some more in the afternoon."

The old doctor laughed when he heard the words: "Hahaha, you are already very good. You can remember 100% of these more than [-] herbs, which is much better than I was back then. After my brother-in-law told me, I remembered Seven or eight kinds." While talking, he patted Chen Nian on the shoulder, and at the same time took out another book from under the counter: "But it doesn't matter, what I told you is in this book, you can read it when you go back have a look."

Chen Nian's face turned dark when he heard this, and he thought to himself, master, why didn't you tell me earlier that you have a bound book?
Just now, Chen Nian was afraid that the old doctor would only talk about this kind of thing once, which made him concentrate on memorizing it all the time, and he couldn't remember the previous things when he heard the latter, which made him a little depressed.

"Okay, thank you Master."

But when I think about it, it’s always hard to say such things, and it’s just a complaint in my heart. After all, the other party is my teacher, and Chen Nian is still grateful from the bottom of his heart. It is also very tiring to stop introducing the medicinal materials.

So when the meat was almost sold out in the afternoon, Chen Nian picked out some stewed meat that he deliberately put at the bottom and didn't sell.It was packed and sent to Huichuntang.

In the evening, Chen Nian was reviewing what the old master told him in the morning.

Among all the medicinal materials, due to the different medicinal properties of each medicinal material, the dosage is also different, and the order of adding them in the decoction is also different. Some need to be put in at the beginning, while others need to be added. Put it in after two or three quarters of an hour, and put it in when the medicine is almost fried.

Just the order in which the medicinal materials are added can be divided into several steps, and between these steps, some steps need to use strong fire, and some steps need to use slow fire.

This point is actually easy to understand, just like when Chen Nian stewed meat, he first boiled the water with a high fire, and then turned to a medium-low fire or a low fire to cook slowly after the water boiled.

"Chinese culture is so broad and profound, I feel like a primary school student now!" Chen Nian couldn't help sighing.

But now that you are aware of your own shortcomings, you should learn even more.

In the following time, besides selling breakfast in the morning, marinating meat in the afternoon, selling meat in the evening, and studying and processing the ingredients for the next day in the evening, there is one more thing to do every day in the next day. Go to Huichun Hall in the morning Be an apprentice.

But every time Chen Nian went to Huichun Hall, the happiest person was not the old doctor or Sun Yunrou, but the few apprentices who were originally in Huichun Hall.

Some of them are apprentices of Sun Ban'an, some of them are apprentices of the old doctor, but no matter who their apprentices are, they have not learned so much before.

After all, in this kind of medical center and pharmacy, the apprentices just went to work, and they only had to do errands and cut herbs.

And even if it is cutting medicinal materials, the master has to designate whom to cut.

So if they want to get in touch with medicinal materials, they can only reach this point, but the simple work of cutting medicine is just like turning screws in a factory. If they want to go further, they must perform better to win the favor of the masters.

Only in this way can they be upgraded to another level, that is, after the master prescribes the medicine, they will go to grab the medicine and pack it.

In this way, they can really see the prescriptions, and if they want to, they can also hear the master's diagnosis of the patients and the patients' own descriptions.

At this point, they can truly be regarded as the master's students rather than apprentices.

But when thinking about this step, there must be a prerequisite, that is, to recognize characters, no matter whether they can recognize the characters written normally, at least they must be able to recognize the characters written by the master.

Even if you don't need to know all the characters, you must remember the names of those medicinal materials.

After being able to take up this job, learn how to decoct medicine, that is a matter of smooth sailing.

But now there is only one elder brother who is in charge of decocting medicine in Huichun Hall, and there are two younger brothers who cut medicine and three younger brothers who do odd jobs.

They didn't have the opportunity to get in touch with this aspect so early, but the arrival of vintage gave them the opportunity to hear these things.

Even the elder brother of Huichun Hall is looking forward to the arrival of Chen Nian every day, after all, even he has never read those books.

The things he knows now are all comprehended by himself during the long practice and when he listened to what the master said to the patients, he secretly wrote them down.

But there is no such thing as Chen Nian, who will teach you step by step, explaining word by word, for fear that Chen Nian will not understand.

Although it is inevitable that there will be jealousy in their hearts, they also know that this kind of thing cannot be envied. The old man pulled shopkeeper Sun back from the gate of hell in the street, and he also used that miraculous technique passed it on to them.

With such kindness, it is only natural for the master to teach Chen Nian some things. After all, what could be more important than human life?

So sometimes they would secretly find Chen Nian and give Chen Nian some benefits, allowing him to ask his own questions along the way.

Of course, the old doctor knew about these things. After all, he knew in his heart that Chen Nian would definitely not ask these questions, but since Chen Nian agreed, the old doctor also said it. Anyway, these are things that he will teach his apprentices in the future.

Besides, even if these apprentices asked, they couldn't ask any in-depth questions, which didn't involve fundamental inheritance.

It's just that in the process of Chen Nian's study, the most distressing thing is not those apprentices but Xiaotao, because Chen Nian has entered the stage of learning now, and he doesn't have much time to play with her, even at the beginning he promised to teach Xiaotao in his spare time There is no way to fulfill the promise of reading words for a while and playing with Xiaotao for a while.

The rubber band that was given to her in old age has also been idle for a long time.

But the girl Xiaotao still has a drive. She thought that since Chen Nian couldn't spare more time to play with her, then she should study harder and earnestly, so that she would be highly regarded by Chen Nian glance.

So every practice task assigned to her by Chen Nian, she will earnestly complete it after returning home. Even if there is no pen and paper at home, she will practice calligraphy seriously on the ground in the yard.

After learning more knowledge, Chen Nian also started to improve his own lo-mei recipe.

He categorized the spices he could use. Some spices are used to fix the taste, some are used to deodorize, and some are used to remove fishy smell.

For example, when marinating pork, spices such as Amomum seed, celery seed, thyme, nutmeg, and clove fruit can play a role in fixing the taste, while the main flavor in chicken and duck meat is to use kaempferol and galangal , cumin, star anise, cinnamon, angelica, etc. The spices used to set the flavor on the fish are different from before. White buckle, tangerine peel, perilla, etc. may be mainly used.

These spices are usually used at the level of monarch and minister.

When it comes to Chinese spices, it is divided into licorice, tangerine peel, mangosteen, bay leaves, etc., as well as cloves, nutmeg, amomum, grass fruit, etc., as well as thyme, bay leaves, and five plus spices that increase the level of fragrance. Skin these.

Although some spices can also be used as main ingredients, the corresponding order of grades for different lo-mei can also be changed.

In addition to these, lo-mei also needs to have a back-to-mouth fragrance, which requires adding lemongrass, vanilla, tangerine peel, cinnamon, etc. to it.

In addition, seasonings such as deodorized nutmeg, fragrant fruit, angelica, cinnamon, and deodorized ginger, kaempferen, and Piper also need to be added depending on the ingredients.

Even if you want to make the meat more deboned, you can also add an appropriate amount of grass buckle to it.

The six months of study plus my own practice gave Chen Nian the feeling of going to university for another four years.

And this is just learning cooking. Regarding the category of spices, it is really not so easy to do a good job in any line. You need to know one, and you must know the process from zero to one. "

It is precisely because of the newly acquired knowledge that Chen Nian has successfully raised the completion rate of the lo mei he made to 98%, and now only the last 2% is left.

The last 2% is left, which means that I probably still lack a spice.

"What the hell is this?"

Chen Nian kept flipping through the book that he used as a record, which recorded all the spices that Chen Nian had access to that could be used in cooking.

And he has basically tried all the spices on it.

Now not only Song San and Xu Erni, but even Xiaotao's parents asked Xiaotao to tell her not to bring chicken wings and necks to the house anymore.

At first, Chen Nian thought that the other party was embarrassed, but then Dong Daniu came to tell Chen Nian that they were tired of eating these things. Now they have a headache when they see chicken wings, and sometimes they dream about themselves when they sleep at night. It turned into a chicken, and countless chicken wings grew out of its back.

Chen Nian smiled and told the other party that if he had such a nightmare, he could have a chat with Song San, after all, Song San has very rich experience in this area.

Except for Dong Daniu's family, even everyone in Huichuntang cast a shadow over the chicken wings. After all, this thing can't be given away, so we have to find a way, otherwise it would be too wasteful to rot at home.

Song San and Xu Erni didn't eat either, and Chen Nian alone couldn't eat much.

And the business of Song San Braised Pork is unbelievably good now, so the money is not bad.

Just like this, I flipped through the old years, and suddenly saw the blind herbs on it and stopped.

This medicinal material has been known to be used as a spice for a long time, but due to the problem of the name, it has not been considered for a long time.

Betel nut.

Later generations have heard rumors of betel nuts, especially in Hainan and Hunan. Even though the dangers of chewing betel nuts are popularized on the Internet, many victims even suffer from oral cancer because of eating too much betel nuts. It is difficult to stop people's enthusiasm by showing their own experiences.

It's just that Chen Nian still has some resistance to this kind of thing.

When he was in school, his classmates also gave it to him. Chen Nian chewed it and it didn't taste good, and he vomited it up when he felt dizzy and didn't eat any more.

"But according to what the old doctor said, the betel nut used as medicine seems to be different from the chewing betel nut that I know. I have heard the teacher say that chewing betel nut seems to be added in the process of processing. Alkaline substance, I forgot what it is specifically, but the part to use betel nut seems to be different from chewing betel nut..."

Thinking of this, Chen Nian wrote down this question.

Chen Nian asked this question the next day.

"You mean this." The old doctor looked at Chen Nian, "This thing is still a bit complicated, but its medicinal value is very high, but it is usually used in medicine, that is, this kind of fruit is The outer skin removed after ripening is also called big belly hair because of the small hairs on it. Its main function is to move Qi to widen the middle, flow water to reduce swelling, and is mainly used to treat dampness stagnation, abdominal distension Fullness, uncomfortable stool embolism.

In addition to the skin, the fruit after ripening can also be used as medicine, which is called big belly. Its main function is to kill insects and eliminate accumulation, promote qi and promote water. Abdominal distension, constipation, diarrhea and edema embolism. "

As he spoke, he seemed to think of something: "In the capital, there are some dignitaries who will chew the young fruit of this thing, but you must not use it when cooking, because this thing is addictive. It would be pure harm if you come out."

Chen Nian nodded, thinking that later generations chewing betel nuts should be young betel nuts.

But after the old doctor finished speaking, he felt that Chen Nian was not such a person: "But it's not a big problem if you don't chew it directly and repeatedly, but I still suggest you not to use it."

"Then master, can you use the big belly skin and big belly?"

The old doctor thought for a while: "If you are using it for braised pork... I think you can try it with big belly, but you must use the right amount."

"Isn't it addictive to use this?" Chen Nian asked again.

"It won't happen if you use it in small quantities, but you don't want to sell this to customers."

After hearing this, Chen Nian was overjoyed: "Then I'll give it a try when I go back, and if it's really made, I'll bring it over for everyone to try."

As a result, the old Langzhong was stunned on the spot when he heard this: "How can you avenge your kindness, kid? Don't take it here. During this period of time, we are eating chicken wings every day, and we are almost having nightmares."

Chen Nian smiled calmly: "It's okay, if you really dream that your body is covered with chicken wings, you can talk to my father, he already has a way to deal with it."

So after today's study, Chen Nian came home and planned to try it with a big belly. Although it was called this name, it was cut open in his hand, with curved patterns inside.

Moreover, the big belly brought back by Chen Nian was processed to remove part of the toxicity, and it was personally certified by the master, so Chen Nian can try it with confidence.

At worst, after trying it, I found that it is not this kind of medicinal material, so I just replace it with other herbs after aging.

After the ingredients are processed in order, and the spices are put into the pot according to their own characteristics, the aging begins to wait.

In this way, Chen Nian felt that the time was almost up. The moment he lifted the lid of the pot, he just smelled it with his nose and it didn't seem to make much difference, but Chen Nian took a look at the recipe and found that the numbers on it were jumping again!
99.7%!

"It really is this!"

Chen Nian couldn't help but get excited, after more than half a year of trying, it finally came out!
The remaining 0.3% is just to try to add the betel nut seeds at the right time and amount. This is what the old doctor said, otherwise, Chen Nian would really dare not use this.

So in the next two days at most, the aging will be able to completely complete the new lo-mei.

　Thank you Mu Ke for rewarding 100 starting coins from Yu, thank you very much l
　　
　
(End of this chapter)