The story of a cook

Chapter 250 Braised Pork

A new kitchen owner needs to pay attention to everything, and everything has to be taken care of, and something may go wrong if it is not taken care of.

When I got home that day, Lin Yan was still awake, watching a series there, watching me come back and asking me how I was doing.

"It's okay, everything is going well," I said.

Lin Yan asked: "Are there many guests for dinner?"

I said, "It's okay, it can sell for more than 2000 points."

Lin Yan asked: "Will you lose money if you sell it for two thousand?"

I said, "Shouldn't lose money."

Lin Yan asked: "Have you found all the kitchen staff?"

I said, "I have found everything, and the second child has also passed by, and I will serve cold dishes."

"He used to be fine." Lin Yan asked: "Then his partner is gone?"

I said, "I've been out of business for a long time, and I wasn't in a relationship years ago."

Lin Yan said: "It's better for you to be able to grow up there, and the second child will have another partner there."

I said, "That's something for the future, and I can't think about that now."

Lin Yan said: "For the second child, find someone better, someone who can live a life, but don't look for someone who is younger, who doesn't know anything, and knows how to play in a day."

I said, "That's different. You're still young, how do you know how to live?"

Lin Yan said: "I'm still living a life. I'm poor and dare not spend money recklessly."

I said, "Children from poor families take charge of the family early."

Both Lin Yan and I grew up in poverty, so we don’t waste money like crazy. We know that earning money is not easy, and we also know what it’s like to live without money.

Lin Yan said: "Let me tell you something, Zhihao has started to learn his driver's license and won't go to work."

I asked, "How long will it take to study? It will take two months."

Lin Yan said: "It took two months, and he said he was almost paid, and asked me to get it for him, but I said I didn't care, so I didn't get it for him."

I said, "Why don't you give it to him, our family has no money?"

"He has enough money himself, so don't give it to him." Lin Yan said a little angrily, "He doesn't give my mother any money he earns, and keeps his driver's license, so I won't give him money."

I laughed and said, "Whatever, you decide on this matter, I won't participate, as long as you don't talk about me, my brother-in-law, it's fine."

She rarely said anything about Lin Yan taking money for her family, and she didn't tell me much either.The family only has that little salary, and if it is gone, it will be gone. If you want it, you have to wait for the capital to be raised next month.Lin Yan is not stupid, she has to save the normal living money, she can't just live for the sake of the Gu family, then she really can't live, it is better not to want such a daughter-in-law to be the same.

Lin Yan is so nice, I seldom worry about family matters, she handles them all.She is in charge of utility bills, sanitation bills, gas bills, and rent. I can’t eat a few meals at home, and the firewood, rice, oil, and salt at home are all her business, and I rarely ask.

Lin Yan said: "Old Tan, the elder brother's house across the street has moved out, and a new renting house has arrived."

I said, "Really." Then I asked, "What does the new guy do?"

Lin Yan said: "It seems to be in business, selling dried fruits."

I asked, "How many people?"

Lin Yan said: "Just the husband and wife, cooking in the kitchen today, they can't cook without paying for their gas, and we use our gas."

I said, "Just use it, the neighbor lives there."

Lin Yan said: "I asked them to use it. It seems that they are all in their forties, and they are all pretty good. The women are very affordable. The saury they make must give me a few yuan after I finish eating. I said No, give it to me too, it makes me a little embarrassed."

I said, "People think it's embarrassing to use our gas. You can eat it if you give it to you. Otherwise, it's not good. It seems that we are special."

Lin Yan said: "I can't help but eat another bowl of rice, I'm a little bit overwhelmed." She rubbed her stomach as she spoke.

I said: "Let me see, what kind of support is my girl—"

Lin Yan stopped my outstretched hand and said, "Don't touch it, wash your face and brush your teeth quickly, your hands are all oily, and your whole body smells like chopped green onion."

I smiled and went to wash my face and brush my teeth.

The first thing I did in the kitchen the next day was to make braised pork.

Zhou Ming cut the pork belly and front grooved meat and handed them to me.The reason why the pork belly is added is because the pork belly is relatively fat, especially the one bought in the market. You can’t just buy the one with three layers of streaky pork. There is not much on a pig. The pork belly is relatively good, and it is a bit fat , the guests will be greasy after eating, adding part of the front groove meat will not be so greasy, and the front groove meat is tender and lean, so it tastes better when it is braised in brown sauce.

There are many ways to make braised pork, and the ways are different in different places, and the taste is also different.For example, Mao’s braised pork in Hunan has a relatively large piece, and the braised pork tastes spicy; Shanghai local cuisine also has braised pork, which is heavy in color and sweet in taste; there is a dish called Sixi Xiaorou in Hebei Lu cuisine. It belongs to the method of braised pork, which tastes sweet and salty; the color of other Northeast braised pork is golden red, and the taste is salty.People in the Northeast have a strong taste. It is not good to make it light, it is not delicious, and it cannot be sweet. If it is too sweet, no one will eat it.The famous Northeast dish "pork stewed vermicelli" is stewed pork vermicelli. If you want to make pork stewed vermicelli, you must first cook the braised pork. Pork stewed vermicelli is not delicious if the braised pork is not good.

First of all, water the pork belly and the front groove meat.The so-called flying water refers to boiling the water and putting the raw materials into the pot for rapid heating to remove the peculiar smell and blood stains of the meat raw materials, such as the smell of mutton, the earthy smell of duck meat, the fishy smell of chicken, etc. .But the water must be boiled and put into the pot. If the water is not boiled, it is not called flying water, but it is called boiled meat.When the meat encounters boiling water, it will quickly shrink the meat fiber and condense the fat. If the water is not boiled, this effect will not be achieved, and the prepared dishes will be lacking in taste.

Fly the cut meat into the water and start to boil the sugar color.Before boiling the sugar color, first prepare a horseshoe hot water and put it aside. When the sugar boils until the blue smoke turns yellow, pour a horseshoe hot water into the pot, and there will be big bubbles in the pot immediately. At this time, the sugar color is boiled.In many cases, chefs add cold water, which also forms sugar color. The color of sugar boiled by adding cold water is the same as that of heated water, and the taste will be sweet. Because the temperature of the syrup drops rapidly when cold water is added, it will produce a sweetening phenomenon. Sometimes This is the reason why the braised pork has a sweet taste.

There is not much difference between a chef's cooking and a bad one. It is mainly in the details. As the saying goes, details determine success or failure.For example, flying water, such as boiled sugar, seems to be nothing, but it is actually very important. Often, a seemingly inconspicuous detail is ignored, and the dishes made do not meet the taste standards and cannot become popular.

After the sugar color is boiled, put a little base oil in the pot, add scallions, ginger and aniseed ingredients to sauté until fragrant, then add the pork belly pieces that have been splashed with water and the front grooved meat pieces, and stir-fry over low heat.Cooking Northeast braised pork pays attention to "three-point stir-frying, five-point stewing, and two-point cooking". Whether the braised pork is good or not depends on whether the stir-frying is in place.During the process of slow-stirring over low heat, the meat will continue to drain the water inside and volatilize it. After the water volatilizes, the meat will slowly spit out oil and have a fragrance.

There is a total of fifteen catties of meat, and it is also a laborious task to stir-fry slowly in a large stir-frying pot.At the beginning, the pot was full of water vapor, and the meat was slowly draining out. When the water vapor disappeared, the bottom of the pot made a "sizzling" sound, and oil began to leak out. When you saw the oil, use a hand spoon to take half a spoonful of sugar. Put it in the pot and continue to stir fry.

Seeing that the sugar color is stained on the meat piece, the meat piece turns from white to light red, then add half a bottle of cooking wine and continue to stir-fry.Slowly, the aroma began to waft out of the pot. Seeing that the skin of the pork belly began to tighten, add half a bottle of cooking wine, add half a hand spoon of sugar, and stir-fry over low heat.

At this time, the meat is spitting out oil, and it is still coloring. When it reaches golden red, the pot is filled with an attractive aroma. It has been stir-fried for more than 15 minutes. The meat is half-cooked, and the sugar color is even.

After stir-frying, add water to submerge the raw materials, add cinnamon and bay leaves, and turn to low heat to simmer.Before stewing, check again whether the water added is sufficient, because when making braised pork, the water should be added to the right amount at one time, neither too much nor too little.It must not be less, because when it is halfway through the stew, it is found that adding more water will affect the taste of the braised pork, and the finished braised pork will appear "vent".Check that the water is added just right, and simmer with confidence.

Zhao Gang added the seasoning on the seasoning table and picked vegetables with Zhou Ming's brother-in-law. I said to Zhao Gang, "Zhao Gang, come here, the master will teach you how to make the sauce."

Zhao Gang came over and asked, "Master, what sauce do you mix?"

I said: "One bucket of soybean paste, five bags of Douzhongbao, ten bags of Xiangqi sauce, one-third of chicken powder, and one bottle of light soy sauce, mix them together, and fry them over low heat."

Zhao Gang said happily: "Okay, I'll fix it right away."

After speaking, Zhao Gang started to prepare.

Seeing that Zhou Ming and Zhang Jun's preparations are almost done, they said to Zhang Jun, "Zhang Jun, open ten bottles of canned chestnuts in a while, and soak them in clear water."

"Okay, Master Tan." Zhang Jun turned to get the canned chestnuts.

At this time, Zhou Ming took out a piece of bacon and was about to cut it. I said, "Zhou Ming, don't cut it yet. Steam the bacon for 15 minutes before cutting it."

Zhou Ming said, "Brother Tan, this bacon is cooked."

I smiled and said, "It's cooked, take a bite."

Zhou Ming looked at the bacon and said, "It seems not familiar."

I said: "The bacon we bought is all made by Beixing. It is not pure bacon, but it has been smoked a bit. It smells like bacon, which is not as good as bacon. Steaming it will work better."

Zhou Ming took the bacon to the steamer and started steaming the bacon.Zhang Jun opened ten bottles of chestnuts and soaked them in water.

I told Zhang Jun: "From now on, open ten bottles of canned chestnuts and soak them every day, and change the water twice. Remember, these ten bottles of chestnuts will produce fifteen dishes."

Zhang Jun said, "Well, I see."

Over there, Zhao Gang told me that the sauce was ready. When I went over to see it, the half pot of sauce was bubbling and smelling like sauce. I asked, "Ready?"

Zhao Gang said, "Okay."

I asked: "Zhao Gang, if the fire is as big as half a pot of water, can the water boil now?"

Zhao Gang thought for a while and said, "It can't be opened."

I asked: "The water can't even boil, do you think this half pot of sauce can be cooked?"

Zhao Gang scratched his head and said, "No, I also feel that this sauce cooks too quickly, faster than water, so the master is bubbling."

I said, "Bubbling doesn't mean it's cooked. It bubbles even before the water boils. That's called 'Xiangbian'. If your sauce is cooked now, fry it on low heat for another 10 minutes. We'll see when the time comes."

Zhao Gang continued to fry the sauce.

Look at the watch, it's time to braise the braised pork.

Back at the stove, I saw that the broth of the braised pork had been poured under the ingredients, and the pot full of braised pork was bright red, very attractive.

But before that time, there is still the last process, which is burning.

Turn the heat from low to medium, and the soup in the pot starts to bubble and gurgle.Then slowly turn the spoon so that each piece of meat is full of soup, ruddy in color, and shiny.At this time, the braised pork is called braised pork, and I want to eat it when I look at it.Collect the soup in the pot, turn off the heat when there is not much left, and then pour the braised pork into the prepared stainless steel square plate.Don't dare to say that the cooked braised pork is full of fragrance, at least within two meters of the fragrance.

Seeing Zhou Ming's brother-in-law, Wang Dong staring at the braised pork, the child couldn't resist the temptation of delicious food, and told him that he could try a piece, but he had to wait for it to cool down, otherwise his mouth would be burned.

(End of this chapter)