The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 17 Pimple Soup

The operation process of the pimple soup in the Kanto family is as follows: the order of the pimple soup is placed in the noodle room, and the noodles are reconciled with the noodles of the pimple soup, and the ingredients are prepared, and then brought to the hot dish, and Cui Kai is in charge of making it.

Stove masters are reluctant to make the staple food of pasta, especially pimple soup. It is very laborious to make pimples fresh.

Especially when I am busy, I always cook my own dishes first, and often put the pimple soup at the end, and make it when I am urged.It's easy to get confused when making it, as long as it's cooked, clear soup with little water is tasteless.

Customers always complain that the pimple soup is not delicious, and the problem has not been properly resolved.

Now Lao Tan is ready to completely solve this problem.

Through the observations of the past few days, the iron pot pancakes and pimple soup are both completed by the cooperation of the two stalls.Iron pot pancake is a collaboration between stew stove and pastry, and pimple soup is a collaboration between Cui Kai and pastry.Since it is a joint production, these three stalls will be combined into a working group.

After the three stalls become a working group, the sales are calculated together, so that all prosperity and one loss.In the past, we fought on our own, and when there were withdrawals, we shirked responsibility from each other.Now it is my own business, and I will be fined for returning the food, which will also affect the sales task of the group, which is directly linked to the bonus.As long as money is involved, take the initiative.

With profit gains and losses, the work will automatically change from passive to active, and the communication between each other will be diligent, and the preparation work will be fully started, lest there will be a phenomenon of prompting and returning the food.

The job connection problem is solved, and the technical problems begin to be solved.

Before get off work yesterday, Lao Tan asked Wang Shulan to make a purchase order for the raw materials of the improved pimple soup. Today, all the purchases came back. The regular meeting in the morning has already asked the noodles and Cui Kai to prepare, and the trial production will start after lunch.

When Lao Tan came to the pastry room, the six female generals at the pastry shop were a little nervous when they saw Lao Tan come in.

"Have you prepared all the ingredients for the pimple soup?" Old Tan asked Wang Shulan.

"Ready." Wang Shulan replied.

"bring here."

Wang Shulan hurriedly asked Fat Ya to bring the prepared ingredients to the case in one go.

Lao Tan checked that there was nothing missing, and then asked, "Who is in charge of the pimple soup?"

The person in charge of the pimple soup was a woman in her thirties, who was a little frightened by Lao Tan's serious bandit face and did not dare to move forward.

Wang Shulan smiled and said: "Chef, you can teach me first, they are a little afraid of you, I will teach them after I have learned."

Old Tan smiled unnaturally, and said, "That's fine, I say you do it."

"Four taels of corn flour, seven taels of flour, one tael of lecithin, one egg, ten grams of salt, seven taels of water, and mix well."

Wang Shulan mixes the dough according to the proportion.

Old Tan saw that the fat girl was fine, and said to her: "Wang Xiaoqi, cut up the king bean and potatoes, and cut them into cubes, half a centimeter."

Wang Xiaoqi picked up the potatoes and beans. Wang was about to cut them, but she turned around and asked, "Chef, how much is half a centimeter?"

"I'll take a ruler to measure it for you, okay, I'll make a sample for you."

Lao Tan made a sample with a kitchen knife, and Wang Xiaoqi began to cut according to the size he cut.

Old Tan said to the woman in charge of the pimple soup: "You cut up the tomatoes and cabbage, just do the same as before."

After Wang Shulan reconciled the noodles of the pimple soup, she asked Lao Tan to watch it, and at the same time asked: "Chef, what is lecithin for?"

Lao Tan shook the reconciled noodles and said: "Lecithin is extracted from soybeans. Do you know soybean noodles? Don't you always put soybean noodles in when you bake cornmeal pancakes, make steamed buns, and corn flour cakes?" One is to increase the flavor, and the other is to increase the viscosity of the protein."

Wang Shulan said embarrassingly: "Chef, I have never used bean noodles. I said that our small pancakes, hair cakes, and steamed buns are not as good as others. I always feel that there is almost something wrong with them. Bean noodles are not added." reason."

Lao Tan really has never tasted the staple food they make. If he had tasted Nengpin, he would add bean noodles and said to Wang Shulan: "Today, you add twenty catties of bean noodles, and when you make these kinds of dishes, add them. The ratio is One to ten, remember."

"Is it all one to ten?" Wang Shulan asked, taking out a notebook and a pen at the same time.

"Well, it's one to ten."

Lao Tan went on to say: "In terms of nutrition, lecithin can regulate biochemical balance, lower blood pressure, and inhibit Alzheimer's disease. All you need to know. The gnocchi we make needs to be preserved for 24 hours. If we only use flour And corn flour, after more than [-] hours, the pimples will start to rise, which has no texture and taste. It is not easy to rise after adding lecithin, and it also has a noodle fragrance, which is the same as bean flour, which plays a role in enhancing flavor. Know Alright."

Wang Shulan nodded and said, "Got it." Then she asked curiously, "Chef, may I ask, what education do you have, are you a college student?"

Old Tan smiled and said, "Do I look like a college student? Hehe, I'm just like you, without a degree."

Then he took the washbasin and told Fatty to take the diced potatoes, king beans, tomatoes, and cabbage, and came out of the pastry room to Cui Kai's stove.

Cui Kai and Cui Xuan are cleaning up. Seeing Lao Tan coming over with things, they quickly stop what they are doing.

Old Tan asked, "Where's the marinated chicken thigh in the morning?"

Cui Kai went over to take out the marinated chicken thigh.

Lao Tan took the marinated chicken thigh to his nose and smelled it, and then said to He Tai who was standing behind him, "Take an egg and starch."

The kitchen is a place where you rely on craftsmanship to eat. No matter how well-informed you say, if you can’t cook, no one will accept it.So as long as the head chef has a very high level of cooking, otherwise he won't be able to hold back.

Although Lao Tan has been recognized by everyone since he came, he feels like a character, but he has never seen him on the stove, and he doesn't know how good cooking is, so he still feels dissatisfied.

Seeing Lao Tan cooking now, the kitchen staff can't help but gather around, wanting to see the head chef's skills.

Old Tan went to the stove, first cracked the eggs into the marinated chicken thighs, and said to Cui Kai who was standing beside him while adding starch: "This is the oldest crispy fried chicken, did you eat it during the Chinese New Year when you were young?"

Cui Kai said: "I have eaten it, and now my mother makes it for Chinese New Year, but it is not as delicious as my grandma's."

"You can see what I put in when I marinate in the morning. You must marinate according to the proportion, so that you can marinate the taste of childhood."

Hang the chicken thighs with starch to form a thin soft fried paste, then heat the oil in a pan, and when the oil temperature rises to [-]% hot, start adding chicken thigh strips.Half a minute later, there was a sound of fine oil bursting in the pot.

After 1 minutes, the sound of the oil explosion gradually weakened, the water vapor slowly dissipated, and the golden chicken strips floated up one by one, exuding a faint fragrance.

After another 1 minute, the aroma in the pot became stronger and the chicken strips began to be crispy.

Old Tan picked up the chicken strips with a colander, poured them into the plate behind him, and said to everyone around: "This is an old-fashioned fried crispy chicken, also called tiger head chicken. It is an old dish." Then he said to Cui Xuan: " Cut half of it into fine cubes, and let everyone taste the rest to see how it tastes."

Everyone is waiting for Lao Tan's words.

After Cui Xuan just took half of it and cut it, Li Zhongqing immediately picked up a chicken strip and put it in his mouth. The moment he put it in his mouth, his eyes lit up, and before his mouth was full, there was a strong aroma.Take a bite, it is very crispy, and then a more intense aroma fills the mouth, and the taste that I have been looking for for several years when I was a child is back.

He didn't expect Lao Tan to cook such an unremarkable fried crispy chicken so domineeringly that he couldn't help but want to eat the second piece.

The plate was empty when he went to get it.

The chefs who ate the crispy chicken felt the same as him. The deep-fried chicken is authentic, full of flavor, and the skill is in place.

Lao Tan conquered these masters with a simple fried crispy chicken.

Cui Kai, who was standing next to Lao Tan, had already lit the stove and began to use a colander to drain the gnocchi.

Lao Tan deep-fried the diced potatoes and King Bean to control the oil, then sautéed the pan with chopped green onion to give out the fragrance, and put the soy sauce in the pot. After the fragrance comes out, add the soup to the mouth, add the fried diced potato, diced King Bean and cut it The crispy diced chicken, boiled over medium heat, and when the aroma in the pot came out, Cui Kai also drained the gnocchi.

Take out the gnocchi and pour them into the prepared soup. After boiling the pot, add the diced tomatoes and chopped cabbage, and then boil the pot again and add an egg liquid.The pimple soup in the pot is already viscous, like milk, and the color is very beautiful.

The pimples are golden yellow, the diced potatoes are light yellow, the bean king and cabbage are emerald green, the tomatoes are bright red, and the scattered egg flowers add to the appetite.

When taking out the spoon, Lao Tan took some cooking oil with his hands in the seasoning oil tank, and when he was about to drop it in, he habitually smelled it, and found that the cooking oil was not enough in taste, so he gave up.

Then he asked Hetai to bring sixteen small bowls. When filling the bowls, the aroma of the pimple soup wafted out, and the surrounding chefs were already salivating.

After filling the last bowl, Old Tan said, "How about you guys try it?"

As soon as the words fell, the sixteen bowls of pimple soup were picked up, and the hands were too slow to grab it, so the two of them had to share a bowl.

No one spoke for a while, only the sound of drinking soup was heard.

The first one to drink was Yuan Hua, the boss of the chopping board. He couldn't help saying: "It's delicious, it's absolutely delicious!"

Next came Li Xu, the sous chef, "Master Tan, this pimple soup is so good, it's a must, especially the crispy chicken in it becomes more delicious as you eat it, and it still smells delicious after drinking it. Let's take a second sip."

Li Zhongqing also finished drinking, tasted his mouth, and admired sincerely: "This is called pimple soup, authentic, kung fu!"

The master is still drunk, so I would like to have another bowl.

Now everyone looks at Lao Tan with admiration and respect.

Seeing that the people around did not disperse, Lao Tan became interested and said: "Look at the pimple soup is simple, and there are not many people who can make it well. Tell everyone that you can cook without being a cook. If it is done, someone will cook it." A cook is only a good cook. There are no big things in the kitchen, it’s all about the details. The same goes for cooking, you must pay attention to the details.

The craftsmanship is divided into high and low, and the dishes are regardless of size.Don’t think that if you can make abalone and shark’s fin, you’re a chef, and if you fry potato shreds, you’re a housewife;Any product in the kitchen is done well and to the extreme is kung fu and a master. "

Everyone nodded one after another, took out their pens intentionally, and wrote down "the crafts are divided into high and low, and the dishes are not divided into big and small".

After Lao Tan finished speaking, he remembered something, and asked, "Who is in charge of the seasoning oil?"

Wang Liang said, "I'm in charge, can't it be blown up?"

"It's okay, but it's not enough time." Old Tan said.

"What is missing as a chef?" Wang Liang asked.

Old Tan saw that everyone wanted to hear, and said: "Okay, today I am interested, so I will tell you what seasoning oil is. Seasoning oil is unique to our Northeast cuisine, Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, Anhui dishes are not used.

Northeast cuisine is mainly based on a wide range of materials, rough cooking methods, and original flavors.Pay attention to the blending of five flavors and hundreds of flavors. The most prominent feature is the seasoning oil poured out of the spoon, which has a special fragrance, which is not found in other cuisines.

Many Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine cooks have stayed in Northeast China for a long time, and they can also cook Northeast cuisine, but they can't make that taste, why?I don't know how to use seasoning oil flexibly, or even don't use seasoning oil, so I can't make it.

To give a simple example, for example, dried tofu with sharp peppers, there are two flavors with or without seasoning oil. It tastes delicious if you put it in, but it is a Northeast dish when you eat it. It is not delicious if you don’t put it in. is not it? "

Everyone nodded in agreement after thinking about it.

Lao Tan went on to say: "Seasoning oil is also called Sanhe oil. It is mixed with sesame oil, soybean oil and salad oil, and fried with pepper, aniseed, onion, ginger, garlic, spices, and green vegetables. These things have proportions. The order of cooking is also particular, it’s not enough to put them together until they are fried and squeezed dry to get the aroma. The whole kitchen smells fragrant after being deep-fried with good seasoning, and as long as you order a little of the stir-fried vegetables, the whole dish will be fragrant, and once you eat it, you will feel the authentic Northeast cuisine.”

"Chef, teach me how to fry." Wang Liang looked eager.

"Tomorrow I will give you the recipe for frying seasoning oil." Old Tan said.

Hearing Lao Tan say that he gave himself the recipe of seasoning oil, Wang Liang was secretly happy, and Niu Hongtai, who was next to him, yelled at him and said: "The chef gave you the recipe, don't take it for yourself, take it out for everyone to see, it's not for you my own."

"Please treat me to a drink." Wang Liang said.

"Will you have a drink? It will be fine if you don't clean up."

(End of this chapter)