gourmet food

Chapter 799 The Legendary Pocket Tofu
“Does this thing still need to be fermented?”

Only now did Chu Yunfeng feel the soreness and swelling in his arms. Although he had good physical strength and endurance, it was still a bit too much to keep shaking for more than ten minutes.

"Of course, the pocket effect can only be made after fermentation. I will teach you when the time comes.

But you are in good health. Now if I use my hands to stir, my hands will feel sore and swollen in less than a minute. You are not bad and you persisted for twelve minutes. "

Mr. Xia squeezed the muscles on Chu Yunfeng's arm and nodded with satisfaction.

Chu Yunfeng smiled slightly and nodded. He originally wanted to raise his hand to make a powerful movement, but suddenly realized that he seemed to have overstretched himself just now.

This arm began to feel a little numb. It seemed that the stirring and shaking just now was too strong and lasted too long.

"I'll go up and collect my things first and then come back down later."

Mr. Xia tapped Chu Yunfeng's gradually numb hand with his hand, then turned and went upstairs. He did not notice that Chu Yunfeng's hand shook like lightning.

Oh my God, my dear mother, my tendons are numb. It seems to be even more numb.
Slowly, slowly!
After about 5 minutes, Chu Yunfeng felt that his arms were back again. It seemed that making this dish was not only a technical job, but also a physical job.

After finishing the water in the cup and pouring another cup, he looked at Chu Yue and drooled, shook his head, took out his phone and started browsing.

After a while, Mr. Xia came down, took out a spoon, and then added a lot of lard to the pot, ready to continue making it.

This spoon is different from the ordinary ones. The front part is slightly longer. Use it to scoop up the fermented tofu and fish grits.

After the oil is slightly smoking, pour the grits from the spoon onto your hands, then scrape them up with a spoon, pour them into your hands again, and continue scraping.

After repeating this several times, the grits will become a long strip in the spoon, and then slowly lower the long grits into the oil pan.

"This is the "pocket". It's different from what you imagined before, right?

And when making this pocket, be sure to use lard, because the food made with lard is much more fragrant, and its penetration is very fast, which can speed up the shaping speed.

The first step in frying is shaping, which is also the most critical and difficult part of making this dish. You have to watch it carefully. "

Mr. Xia really taught Chu Yunfeng how to cook step by step. Every detail was explained very thoroughly, making Chu Yunfeng nod his head. It felt like he was giving advice.

After the grits came out of the pot, they floated immediately and gradually began to bulge. It really looked like a pocket.

When the surface turned slightly yellow, Mr. Xia scooped up all the "pockets" from the pot and put them aside.

Chu Yunfeng understood that he was waiting to fry it again, which would make the "pocket" more golden and remove some excess grease inside.

This is all based on my own experience in cooking, especially for some crispy dishes, such as crispy fish. When re-frying, you need to fry it again at high oil temperature.

This will make the fish meat crispier and the skin more golden, which will enhance the visual and taste effects. So there is no doubt that the heat should be turned up to increase the temperature of the oil.

But the next second Chu Yunfeng was confused again!

Because my mother actually turned down the firepower. This was obviously to lower the oil temperature. Didn't it need to be fried again?

But if there is no need to fry it again, why does my mother still hold the colander with the "pocket" in her hand, ready to cook again at any time?
"Should we fry it again? Why not raise the oil temperature, but lower it? Wouldn't this allow some oil to soak into it?"

Just ask if you don't understand. This is a good habit. Although Mr. Li can only figure it out when he formally studies in the system space, but here, it doesn't exist.

"Of course it needs to be re-fried, and it needs to be done twice. The temperature of this re-frying needs to be lower than the first time. The purpose is to thicken the skin.

If the oil temperature is too high, the skin will harden quickly and become mushy.

As for the oil soaking problem you mentioned, you will understand it in the next step. You don’t need to think about this little oil at all, because it is not eaten directly, and there are many subsequent processes, so take your time! "

Mr. Xia was very satisfied with Chu Yunfeng's surprised look. This dish is like this, it will surprise many people.

Chu Yunfeng nodded and continued to observe carefully. For this dish, it requires patience. It seems that it is already halfway through, and it has already brought a lot of surprises and shocks to himself.

After estimating the temperature of the oil, Mr. Xia lowered all the "pockets" in the colander into the oil pan again. During frying, he used the colander to constantly turn it over to make it heat more evenly.

Soon, when the golden color of the "pockets" became darker, they were all picked up, and this time the oil temperature began to increase.

"The frying time this time will be slightly shorter, but the purpose is the same, which is to make the skin of the 'pocket' thicker again."

The "pockets" that were put into the pot again quickly deepened the color of their skin under the high oil temperature. When they became slightly brown, Mr. Xia picked them all up.

"It smells so good. This will be put directly into the soup stock to cook, right? After it's cooked, it should turn into a soft "pocket", right?
Moreover, the soup should be milky white, and the excess oil floating around should be punched out separately, otherwise it will affect the quality of the soup. "

Chu Yunfeng guessed what to do next, but he didn't expect that he was wrong again, and he was wrong very wrong.

After hearing Chu Yunfeng's guess, Mr. Xia immediately laughed. She did not respond. Instead, she took out a large bowl, put a little edible alkali in it, and poured some boiling water.

After stirring evenly with chopsticks, pour all the fried and slightly browned "pockets" in, gently press them a few times with a slotted spoon, and then seal them with plastic wrap.

"What do you mean?

lye?

What does soaking do in this step?

Is it to make it soft? "

Chu Yunfeng suddenly found that he couldn't understand. He couldn't figure out the purpose of this step. Could it be that all the cooking skills he learned before was in vain?

Chu Yunfeng, who was deeply shocked, was full of curiosity. He looked at his mother eagerly, expecting her to answer his questions.

"You haven't seen it before, so I told you before that this dish is extremely complicated to make, and every step must not be missed. The function of this alkali is to dissolve it.

The fried tofu needs to be "penetrated" so that its internal structure becomes soft, but it cannot be "penetrated" too much, which will dissolve them all.

So this process only takes 10 minutes. "

Mr. Xia explained the particularity of this step, which made Chu Yunfeng realize the magical effect of edible alkali, and his confused face slowly regained its clarity.

"Who invented this dish? It's amazing that they can come up with such a recipe. I'm looking forward to the moment when I see the finished product."

It was rare for Chu Yunfeng to be so attracted by the preparation of a dish. He had never felt this way even when he was learning dishes like boiled cabbage.

"It is said that this dish is hundreds of years old. The exact origin is unknown. However, the process of this dish is indeed very complicated, so it is almost impossible to see anyone making it now. This is also the most important reason why those exquisite traditional Sichuan dishes have been lost. reason.

But after making this dish, you can display it as a soup in your set meal. "

Mr. Xia also sighed. Such complicated and tedious work cannot be done without some skills and patience.

"It's indeed possible, but I don't want to introduce these dishes for the time being. Let's wait until the Thai state banquet is over."

Chu Yunfeng obviously wants to retain a sense of mystery. When many exquisite traditional Sichuan dishes appear together, it will definitely become a blockbuster.

The 10 minutes came quickly. Mr. Xia directly removed the plastic wrap, poured the large bowl directly into the pot, and started cooking on high heat.

"Don't replace the alkaline water. Just wait for the water to boil and boil it for 1 minute. The purpose is to make the "pocket" have a pulping effect. Do you understand?"

Mr. Xia turned around and asked Chu Yunfeng. When he saw him nodding, he scooped up all the tofu.

Packing paste!
How could it be possible not to know?
Isn't this just a jargon in antiques?

The purpose is to make this "pocket" look smoother, which is easy to understand!
Sure enough, when Mr. Xia dropped the "pocket" that had been cooked for one minute into the boiling water, it was obvious that its surface was much smoother and softer, with a beautiful luster.

"This "pocket" needs to be washed with boiling water, at least 5 times. The alkaline water smell inside must be washed away, so that it can present the final umami flavor.

As for whether the alkaline water smell has been washed away, you will know when you pick it up and smell it. If you smell it, there is still a trace of alkaline water smell, and you need to wash it again. "

After washing it 5 times, Mr. Xia taught Chu Yunfeng how to deal with the alkaline water in the "pocket".

As for how to wash?Of course, you don't rub it with your hands, but use a slotted spoon to press down slightly from the top, using the pressure of it being immersed in the water to force out the alkaline smell.

"OK, now that the "pocket" is ready, the next step is relatively simple. First make a pot of milk soup."

After Mr. Xia finished speaking, he poured lard into the pot. When it melted, he threw in the remaining fish bones and heads that had been decomposed before, and added onion and ginger to fry.

"I don't need to say more about this step. If you want the soup to be more milky, you need to add boiling water, and the firepower must be strong, so that the milk soup can be produced."

After Chu Yunfeng helped to rush into the boiling water, under the violent impact of the firepower, a pot of white milk soup was quickly formed.

Before Mr. Xia could give instructions, Chu Yunfeng had already handed over the pepper. Of course it was indispensable in such a soup. Such a sensible and cooperative person certainly won his mother's smile and nod.

After the milk soup was cooked, Mr. Xia filtered everything with a colander, leaving only the white milk soup.

Then continue to pour lard into the pot, then sauté the onions, ginger and garlic until fragrant, then pour the milk soup into it, add a little salt, and then pour all the "pockets" in.

Chu Yunfeng nodded, it seems that this is the last one to make, and this "pocket" is needed to absorb the essence of the soup, but there are other side dishes.

While simmering over low heat, Mr. Xia began to slice the chicken, mushrooms, ham and winter bamboo shoots, and added them in when the "pockets" were simmering in the pot until they were shaking slightly.

When the "pocket" was gently touched with a pot spoon and it started to tremble, Mr. Xia nodded, turned off the heat and prepared to start the pot.

Put the blanched greens aside, first scoop a few spoonfuls of the soup in the pot into the big bowl, then carefully lift up the "pockets" one by one, and gently put them in In the bowl.

"Be careful when you cook the pot. Don't pour it all into the bowl as usual, otherwise the "pocket" will be torn or broken.

You have to do it one by one, so as to ensure the integrity of the dish. Do you understand? "

Chu Yunfeng nodded and saw the plump and plump "pockets" being put into the bowl, floating on the milk soup, looking very smooth and plump.

Green vegetables, ham and shiitake mushrooms are slowly added in, making it look even more beautiful and very appetizing at first glance.

"I'll try one first!"

Chu Yunfeng couldn't help it anymore. This dish took so long to make and went through so many processes. What a magical experience it must be.

He said he wanted to taste one first, but Chu Yunfeng made a "pocket" with a spoon, then added a green vegetable, a slice of magnolia, a slice of ham and a mushroom, and placed it in front of his mother.

Then he took another bowl and prepared a portion for himself as per the method.

Pocket tofu, so why does it look like a pocket?

Chu Yunfeng clamped one end with chopsticks, then picked up the "pocket", and a decent "pocket" immediately appeared in front of his eyes.

The long and relatively oval "pocket", after picking it up, the soup inside suddenly made a falling movement, making the "pocket" become more vivid.

The soup dripped slowly, indicating that there was a lot packed inside. Chu Yunfeng gently put it back into the bowl, and then took a bite.

Tender!

delicious!

This is the biggest feeling for Chu Yunfeng. The smoothness and tenderness of this tofu is almost a bit stronger than that of directly adding tofu, and the taste is simply invincible.

Then I used chopsticks to open it and take a look inside.The skin of this "pocket" is indeed relatively thick, so it can hold so much soup.

And there is a lot of white and tender tofu and fish inside, which is smoother and softer than the outer skin, adding to the rich taste.

"It's delicious. This dish is indeed extraordinary. It seems that my mother is good at it. Where do you want me to learn such a dish? I guess Mr. Li doesn't know how to cook it, right?"

Chu Yunfeng sighed with emotion. Although Mr. Li can cook a lot of dishes, not every exquisite traditional Sichuan cuisine can be cooked.

"This dish was passed down from your master. Mr. Li may not be able to cook it, but he can cook a lot of dishes. You should cherish this opportunity.

Okay, let's wake up Chu Yue. You guys can eat first. I'll go up and pack some things. After eating, we'll go to the airport. The time is almost right. "

After Mr. Xia went upstairs, Chu Yunfeng looked at the time and saw that it was already past 5 o'clock in the morning. He didn't call Chu Yue before because he wanted her to get more rest. After all, she had to drive to the airport.

When Chu Yunfeng was about to wake her up, Chu Yue suddenly stood up. Before opening her eyes, she sniffed twice: "What is it? It smells so good."

(End of this chapter)