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Chapter 489 A dish that races against time——Seared mandarin fish with vinegar!Awesome gift! 【Subscribe】

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

In the kitchen, after Lin Xu finished changing the knife for the mandarin fish, he put the fish flat on the chopping board again, and slapped the fish a few times in the way of slapping garlic.

In the industry, this step is known as "relaxing the body."

That is, after changing the knife, the fish meat and fish bones are loosened by patting, which is more convenient for frying.

It is not necessary to slap the body too hard, just a few times on each side. If you use too much force, the fish will be shattered, and even the peony flower knife that has been changed will fall off the fish.

Putting the loose mandarin fish aside, Lin Xu picked up another one and continued to change the knife.

Each fish is marked with a peony flower knife. Although it seems simple, the strength of the knife, the distance between them, etc. are all very particular, and you can't mess around.

This flower knife technique is very similar to the sweet and sour Yellow River carp in Shandong cuisine.

What you eat is the crispy texture and sweet and sour taste. If you want to talk about the difference, it is that the sweet and sour carp does not have so many requirements for re-frying. In addition, the sweet and sour sauce and vinegar sauce are different in method.

Qiu Zhenhua looked at it for a while, and found that Lin Xu had no problem changing the knife, so he also picked up the kitchen knife and helped change the knife.

"Hey, wild mandarin fish, this is from Lao Huang, right?"

There are two types of mandarin fish, wild and farmed. The wild mandarin fish has a slightly slender body and firmer meat. When you cut it with a kitchen knife, you can obviously feel the resistance of the meat.

Only such fish can be used to make the classic dish of vinegared mandarin fish.

If you use farmed mandarin fish, even if it is freshly cooked, the fish meat will still taste bad and pink, which is completely different from the firm taste of wild fish.

Lin Xu said:

"All the ingredients used in today's engagement banquet were provided by Lao Huang for free."

"This dog's eyelids are very lively, and he is really born to do business."

Everyone is familiar with Lao Huang, but compared to Lao Xie and Lao Dai's behavior of bullying Lao Huang to take advantage of it, Qiu Zhenhua, who has a gentle personality, has never done this before.

After all the fish had been changed to knives, Lin Xu set up the oil pan and poured half a pot of peanut oil into it.

To make vinegar-flavored mandarin fish, you need to use peanut oil to deep-fry, so that the aroma is more intense, and the fried color is moderate. If you use rapeseed oil, the taste of the oil will overwhelm the fresh fragrance of the fish, and the fried color will be very heavy.

However, soybean oil and corn oil have poor coloring effect, and the fried fish is whitish in color.

With only peanut oil, the fried fish is golden in color and rich in aroma, which can make the mandarin fish more delicious.

After burning the oil, Qiu Zhenhua said to Lin Xu:

"You mix it up, I'll make powder for the fish."

Fresh mandarin fish does not need to be marinated, but is directly fried in batter, so as to keep the freshness of the fish to the maximum extent.

But in order to make the paste better, before the paste is applied, a layer of potato starch needs to be patted on the surface of the fish, which can make the fish more crispy and delicious.

There is a skill in making powder. You have to shake the fish tail a few times to shake all the knives on both sides of the fish, and then grab the starch and sprinkle it evenly on the knives on the fish.

Sprinkle all the inside and outside of the whole body, and shake the fish tail a few more times to shake off the excess starch.

As for Lin Xu's batter, it is a relatively simple meringue batter.

Put potato starch and low-gluten flour in the pot according to the ratio of 1:1, mix well, break in two whole eggs to increase the color, and then sprinkle a little salt and five-spice powder.

Finally, pour in peanut oil and an equal amount of water to make it into a creamy texture that can be brushed.

This kind of batter is crispy and crispy, crispy and fragrant, and it is slightly fluffy after frying, which can better absorb the vinegar juice and taste better.

The batter was ready, and Qiu Zhenhua had already made the powder.

At this moment, the oil temperature in the pot has risen to [-]% hot, and the fish is fried.

Lin Xu held up the tail of the mandarin fish so that the body and head of the mandarin fish were completely submerged in the batter.Then lift it up and shake it lightly twice.

The batter on the fish immediately flowed downwards.

When frying fish, whether you are making sweet and sour carp or squirrel mandarin fish, as long as it involves hanging the batter, you need to lift the fish tail and shake it to let the excess batter drip down.

If the batter is too thick, it will taste full of noodles, the taste will be bad, and it will be prone to not being fried through.

When the batter was almost dripping down, Lin Xu brought the fish to the stove, dipped the fish head in the oil pan to shape it, and then poured the hot oil in the pan with a spoon on the fish, letting the fish on both sides The flower knife is shaped.

To make this kind of fish, the flower knife on the fish body should not be attached to the fish body, but spread as far as possible like wings, so that the fish bones can be fried to make the fish meat crispy and delicious, and even the bones are fragrant.

The batter on the surface of the fish is set, and the fish is slowly put into the pot.

Use a colander to beat out the batter scattered on the oil surface, so as not to fry for too long and cause the whole pot of oil to smell burnt.

After the mince was beaten out, Lin Xu began to batter the next fish, shaking the batter in the same way as before, frying the fish head, pouring the fish body, and finally putting it into the oil pan.

Today I use a large pot to fry fish, and there is more oil, so I can put a few more fish.

If you use a small pot, it’s better to fry them one by one honestly, otherwise, if two fish are next to each other, it’s easy to get out of shape.

When the third fish is lowered into the pot, the first fish has completely floated up, and the batter on its body is fried golden and golden, which looks very tempting.

If it can float up, it means that the water in the fish has been reduced.

Lin Xu turned the fish over with chopsticks and a colander, fried it for a while, and then took it out of the pot.

The next step is to fry one and fish one.

Freshly fried fish cannot be re-fried. You need to wake up the fish like a sober up, so that the heat of the batter and fish meat will drop slightly.

As the temperature drops, the moisture in the batter and fish meat will ooze out again, and some fried noodles tend to soften, which is why the internal water molecules "flow back" to the surface again when the temperature drops.

Re-fried at this time, the fish will naturally become more crispy.

Not only frying fish, but also frying any food, as long as you wait for a while and then fry again, it can have a similar effect.

All the fish are fried, and the fish that were fished out earlier can almost be fried for the second time.

"Can master Lin do it alone? How about I make vinegar juice for you?"

For a master of Huaiyang cuisine, when he can manage two pots at the same time and cook mandarin fish with vinegar alone, when will he learn the essence of this dish.

So Qiu Zhenhua asked politely, if Lin Xu needs help, it means that his understanding of this dish needs to be deepened, and he hasn't learned the skill of "fighting left and right".

In the Chinese culinary circle, Huaiyang cuisine masters have always been different from other cuisines.

In other cuisines, the white and red dishes are separated, and they still look down on each other. The master of the white case thinks that the master of the red case will do some tricks, and the master of the red case thinks that the master of the white case is just a little effort.

Almost put the title of "vulgar martial artist" on Master Bai's head.

However, the masters of Huaiyang cuisine basically know everything about the white case and the red case, which is a rare faction of "both magic and martial arts" in the circle.

In addition to the dual cultivation of magic and martial arts, the master of Huaiyang cuisine is also good at controlling the left and right fighting of two pots at the same time, one pot for frying fish, one pot for boiling juice, and the two pots do not affect each other.

Lin Xu smiled and said:

"No, I can do it by myself, you just help to skin the fish."

The so-called loose skin is to deliberately destroy the fried ingredients, so that the hot oil can penetrate more easily during the second frying.

Vinegar fried mandarin fish is deep-fried three times, and the steps of loosening the skin are different each time.

For example, after the first frying, you need to use chopsticks or similar things to pierce the thick back of the fish a few times. When frying again, the hot oil can go in along these holes, making the fried fish more crispy. , more transparent.

When Qiu Zhenhua heard this, an envious expression appeared on his face unconsciously.

He is only in his early twenties and can cook vinegared mandarin fish by himself. This kind of talent is envied by anyone.

In front of the stove, Lin Xu turned up the heat on the stove to the maximum to raise the oil temperature again.

For the three times of frying mandarin fish in vinegar, the oil temperature required is higher each time, but the frying time is shorter each time, especially the third time, basically it has to be fished out as soon as the skin is fried.

This frying method will make the batter on the outside more crispy, while the fish inside is still fresh and tender.

Qiu Zhenhua said:
"The dry croquettes in Shandong cuisine actually need to be re-fried many times. The more fried the outer skin is, the crispier it is, while the meat inside becomes more tender."

While the oil was burning, Lin Xu took a frying pan and put it on the nearby stove.

Slide the pan first, then put a tablespoon of lard into the pan.

When making fish, lard is essential, otherwise the umami flavor of the fish meat will be outstanding but the aroma will be insufficient.

Heat the oil, pour the prepared minced green onion and ginger into it and sauté until fragrant.

These scallions and ginger should be cut into powder, the finer the better, so that it will not affect the taste when it comes out of the pan.

When the aroma comes out, add a large bowl of light soy sauce, a small bowl of rock sugar, a large spoonful of rice wine, a large spoonful of dark soy sauce, a small pot of broth and a small pot of water into the pot.

Ten mandarin fishes need a lot of vinegar sauce, so prepare more.

This kind of soup would rather be more than less, because the fish is not marinated, and it is all flavored by the vinegar juice.

The vinegar sauce is on the boil, and the oil pan next to it has reached [-]% heat.

Lin Xu held the mandarin fish with loose skin and carefully put it into the pot for frying.

The frying time this time is much shorter than the first time, and it takes about 50 seconds to fish out.

After the mandarin fish was fished out, Qiu Zhenhua started loosening the skin for the second time.

This time the loose skin is called loosening, which means very simple, that is to remove some big bones from the fish to facilitate the third frying.

The part where the bone is removed is generally the big bone behind the gills on both sides. After this part is removed, the fish head can be completely fried without any hindrance.

In addition, the abdominal cavity of the fish will be completely exposed, and the hot oil can flow unimpeded.

In addition to these, sometimes the bones behind the mandarin fish's head and dorsal fin are removed, which is not only convenient for frying, but also prevents diners from being stabbed by the bones hidden in the back when tasting.

Well, even if the dorsal fin is cut off, there are still some sharp small bones hidden inside, which will be removed by a careful chef. When frying again, the hot oil will fry this part until it is fragrant and crispy.

Don't worry about spoiling the presentation.

Put it in boiling hot oil again, and the removed parts will be fried to brown again, without any trace of being removed.

Lin Xu fried the fish one by one, and the vinegar sauce in the pot beside him was already boiling.

He stirred it with a spoon, and the rock sugar in the pot had melted, and the smell of rice wine had also evaporated, and now there was a slightly marinated aroma of onion, ginger broth and light soy sauce in the pot.

Due to the presence of dark soy sauce, the color of the soup is a bit dark, and it looks like a pot of caramel juice at first glance.

Lin Xu put a teaspoon of salt into the pot, and poured a bowl of balsamic vinegar into the pot.

Stir it to let the aroma of vinegar come out, then take the water starch that has been adjusted in advance, stir it with a spoon, and pour it into the pot in a circle.

After the water starch is put into the pot, grab a handful of minced garlic and sprinkle it in, stir it, and turn down the heat at the same time.

At this moment, the vinegar juice has become much thicker, and the aroma of vinegar, stewed soup, garlic yellow, etc. are all very strong.

Stir a few times in the pot with a spoon to let the flavors blend thoroughly, and then simmer in the pot over low heat.

For this dish of vinegared mandarin fish, the marinade must be hot enough, so it cannot be served from the stove, it needs to be kept hot.

At this moment, the oil pan has risen to [-]% heat.

Lin Xu started frying for the third time.

After Qiu Zhenhua removed the fish bones, he leaned over and took a look at the vinegar sauce in the pot:
"Not enough acetic acid."

"I'll add some more vinegar to the pot when I'm pouring the sauce later. There are a lot of fish today, so put enough vinegar in one go and it will evaporate easily."

Lin Xu explained, and then put a fish into the frying pan for the third frying.

When frying, I didn’t forget to tell the helper next to me:
"Set the hot plates."

For this kind of dish, the plate must be hot, so that the diners will taste sour and delicious after serving the dish. If the plate is cold, the temperature of the fish will drop from here to the banquet hall, and the fishy smell in the meat will easily return.

Why do restaurants like to marinate fish in advance?It is to prevent the fish from turning over and causing the car to roll over.

The reason why the vinegar-simmered mandarin fish is difficult is that it cannot be marinated, and the fish should be eaten in its original flavor. If you are not careful, the fishy smell will come out. Therefore, ordinary Huaiyang restaurants do not cook this dish at all. Dish.

Even if it is done, the step of pickling fish is added in the process of making it.

This time, we can’t fry them all at once, we have to fry them one by one, because the frying time for each fish is less than 30 seconds, and it’s easy to overcook two fish together.

The fish went into the pot and was quickly fished out again.

Lin Xu put it on the plate, then used a frying spoon to scoop a large spoonful of rice vinegar and poured it into the vinegar sauce along the side of the pot, and then held the pot of vinegar sauce with his left hand and turned it to mix the rice vinegar and vinegar juice together.

The right hand holds a spoon, scoops a large spoonful of hot oil from the oil pan next to it, and pours it into the vinegar sauce.

The hot oil was put into the pan, the sour aroma of vinegar, the smell of stewed soup, and the aroma of yellow garlic all swarmed up.

Lin Xu picked up the pot and turned around. At this moment, Qiu Zhenhua was peeling the mandarin fish for the third time. He covered the fish with an unused kitchen towel, squeezed it a few times, and let the fish flesh as much as possible. split.

After finishing these tasks, he quickly removed the towel, and Lin Xu also put the pot next to him. Without stopping, he scooped up a spoonful of the sizzling vinegar juice and poured it on the fish.

"Zi la..."

A burst of sour aroma rises, and this vinegar-seared mandarin fish is finally complete.

Qiu Zhenhua put the lid on the plate, and said to the help cook next to him:

"Quick, serve!"

The kitchen assistant ran out with the food and handed it over to the food passer, who then went upstairs to deliver the food immediately.

Lin Xu put the frying pan back on the stove that was still on low heat, and continued to fry the next one.

Qiu Zhenhua stood aside with a towel waiting to skin the fish.

You have to race against time to make this dish, and you can't be in a daze, otherwise the dishes you make will be compromised.

Qiu Zhenhua said while he was busy:
"In the old restaurants, two swift-legged waiters were required to serve the dish together. One ran ahead carrying the fish, and the other followed behind carrying the vinegar sauce. The dishes had just been placed on the table. The guy behind poured the sauce over it, and the fish sizzled and smelled sour... This way of serving food is called "running juice."

Lin Xu is very clear about this.

Running juice, running juice, running to pour juice, has high requirements for waiters.

Not only do you have to run fast and run steadily, but you also need to use a bowl of juice when pouring the juice, just to pour all the fish head, body, and tail once, so that the juice does not spill or leak, and it is all over the fish.

Such technical requirements cannot be met by just a trainer.

Moreover, a qualified waiter not only needs to know how to pour juice, but also to know how to eat and drink, to speak auspicious words, and to remember the preferences and personalities of all regular customers, which is much better than the current waiters.

It's a pity that in modern society, this kind of talent cannot be a waiter. The so-called running juice only exists in some gourmet classics and similar story books.

In reality, it is rare to see two waiters trotting all the way to serve food, yelling while running:
"Fish~come~~~~~"

"Vinegar~熘~Mandarin fish~~~~"

Lin Xu looked at Qiu Zhenhua and asked:
"Has Diaoyutai tried running juice like this?"

"I tried it. It scared foreigners and made us all write self-criticisms."

The rule that even the Diaoyutai can’t be picked up, probably really can’t be picked up, but it’s okay, efficiency is the first priority in modern society, and several people are busy working for one dish. This kind of efficiency is not to mention making money, but thank God if it doesn’t lose money.

After finishing all the fish, Lin Xu wiped his hands, and went upstairs with Qiu Zhentao to prepare for the banquet.

Although the dishes on the table may have been almost eaten at this moment, eating is one aspect of eating, and joining in the fun is another.

And if you don't eat noodles, you always feel like you've missed a lot of money.

Upstairs, the entire banquet hall was filled with the sour smell of mandarin fish smelt in vinegar. The guests attending the engagement banquet saw Lin Xu coming in, and they all praised:
"This mandarin fish is really delicious."

"That's amazing, Xiao Xu, it's the first time I've eaten such a delicious mandarin fish."

"It's a pity that it's gone after one or two bites per person. For such a dish, you have to have one per person to enjoy it."

"Would you like to serve this dish in the store? If I do, I will try it again no matter how much it costs. I never thought that even the fish bones are crispy."

"At first I thought the squirrel mandarin fish was already the ceiling, but I didn't expect the vinegar-seared mandarin fish to pierce the ceiling."

"Good craftsmanship, let's take a video later, if you can't learn it, save it."

"..."

Lin Xu responded to everyone one by one, then came to the side of Shen Jiayue, looked at old lady Shen and asked:
"Grandma, how is this fish?"

"It's delicious, it's so delicious, you must be tired after working so hard? Hurry up and sit down and eat, my grandson-in-law has worked hard."

Shen Jiayue hurriedly took the chopsticks for Lin Xu, and moved a small bowl in front of her:

"Just now, I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to eat it, so I specially left some delicious ones for you... This fish is really delicious. Let's eat it again someday? It's really not enough to eat two or three bites."

Lin Xu tasted the fish, it was sour and delicious, and the fish was crispy.

The temperature of the fish is very high when it is just out of the pan, and the temperature of the vinegar juice is also very high, so the high-temperature vinegar directly softens the high-temperature fish bones, and it tastes fragrant and crispy in the mouth.

Coupled with the sour and sweet taste, it is impossible to describe in words.

While he was eating fish, Dundun struggled to jump down from old lady Shen's arms, straightened his little sweater, and then strode towards Chen Yan.

Since Auntie is engaged, I should give me a small gift too...

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(End of this chapter)