Food: How come this boss knows everything?

Chapter 204: Boss Li needs to try the specific taste several times
In the afternoon, they bought chicken legs, beans and salted duck eggs from the vegetable market. Li Rui and Xiao Han began to try to replicate the dishes.

First up is the spicy chicken nuggets.

Chop the fresh drumsticks into pieces, then put them into clean water and wash them repeatedly.

The chicken tastes woody after blanching.

It’s not as tender as the one in Hetou Restaurant.

To remove the fishy smell, you have to use other means.

Li Rui asked Xiao Han to add salt, rice wine, onion and ginger water and soak the chicken thighs in it.

Salt can increase the osmotic pressure in the liquid environment outside the chicken leg, and the residual blood inside the meat will be further discharged.

The addition of onion, ginger and rice wine can cover up the unpleasant smell with spicy flavor.

After this treatment, the chicken will taste neither fishy nor woody.

Heat oil in a pan.

Add peppercorns and chili peppers to create a spicy base flavor.

Add the bean paste, chopped green onion, ginger and garlic, and stir-fry over low heat until fragrant.

The main ingredients of bean paste are chili peppers and broad beans.

During the fermentation process, microorganisms break down macromolecular proteins into amino acids, which form the main source of umami flavor. Several intermediate products of fermentation, such as esters, alcohols, and phenols, also add some corresponding aromas.

After a long fermentation period, several flavors are combined together to create the slightly spicy, mellow and rich bean paste.

A lot of salt is added during the fermentation process of the sauce and the later seasoning.

So when making spicy chicken nuggets, Li Rui estimated that the saltiness would be about the same.

After the ingredients are fried until fragrant, add the chicken pieces into the pan.

At this step, Li Rui turned up the fire.

Use high temperature to tighten the chicken skin and quickly lock in the moisture of the chicken, so that the chicken will taste more tender.

Continue to stir-fry,

Stir fry the chicken and sauce evenly.

Fry out the moisture inside the chicken.

Add water to cover the chicken pieces, and turn to low heat after the water boils.

Start seasoning.

There is no ready-made recipe, Li Rui needs to try it himself.

He scooped out a little soup with a spatula and took a sip. Just as he expected, it was salty and spicy enough.

Next comes the sugar.

The spicy chicken nuggets at Hetou Restaurant have a very prominent sweet taste.

Li Rui added it three times in a row and tasted it three times before he got the taste of the dish.

"Xiao Han, bring the candy color over here."

"okay."

Xiao Han took out the sugar color that had been prepared in large quantities for braising the meat.

Li Rui put a little in.

Sugar coloring can make the chicken nuggets more ruddy and attractive. It can also add a little caramel flavor.

"I feel like I need some more light soy sauce."

Light soy sauce adds umami flavor.

After taking another bite, Li Rui finally nodded with satisfaction.

"That's about it this time."

The next step is to simmer over low heat to allow the chicken to be fully flavored.

In fact, a lot of soup came out of the pot by utilizing the moisture of the chicken itself.

But it is definitely not enough to mix with rice.

You have to add more water.

When the chicken is almost cooked, turn to high heat again and add the side dishes and minced garlic while the sauce is collecting.

Stir-fry until the vegetables are cooked through, then remove from the pan.

"Come on, try it." Li Rui put the dish on the plate.

Because it was a food tasting and the two of them had just eaten spicy chicken nuggets for lunch, they only used a few chicken legs and didn’t make more.

Xiao Han picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.

Because of their low level of education, their evaluations appear more sincere.

"It's delicious, boss, the same taste." Li Rui also tasted the dish he made.

You can control the heat and seasoning yourself, and have a clearer understanding of the dishes.

"The bean paste and spices can be added when the chicken is stir-fried. Like the method just now, stir-fry them first, and then stir-fry them with the chicken over high heat. The sauce and spices will be burnt in some places."

"After frying the peppercorns, you can use a sieve to scoop them out, which makes it easier to eat. I think using Sichuan peppercorn noodles would also work."

"Pepper noodles?" Xiao Han asked.

Li Rui: "Have you ever tried Mapo Tofu?"

Mapo Tofu was the recipe given by the system when Li Rui was making lunch boxes.

I will also prepare some for dinner these two days.

"Before the Mapo Tofu is served, pepper powder is added to enhance the numbing feeling."

After listening to Li Rui's explanation, the young man suddenly understood.

"So this is ah."

He is indeed a good vegetable cutter, but his cooking skills are still at the level of an ordinary college student cooking home meals.

Following Li Rui in the kitchen, I have learned a lot in the past few days.

Customers have different taste preferences.

After tasting two bites, Li Rui put down his chopsticks and said, "Do you want to eat more? Leave the rest of the food to Xiao Ma. She likes to eat the same dish repeatedly."

Xiao Han recalled the scene where Sister Ma showed off her elbows, and he agreed with the boss's point of view.

"Sister Ma, this is the case. It's mainly because you, the boss, cook delicious dishes. How about we try stir-frying the chicken first?"

In Jianghai City in winter, it gets dark very early.

The shops along the street turned on their door lights early to attract passers-by.

And a small shop on Fangda Plaza Commercial Street seems particularly busy today.

Customers passing by were discussing:

"Both dishes are ready. Boss Li is so efficient."

“I really want to try what it tastes like.”

"Each restaurant has a signature dish. There are so many restaurants and snack bars in Jianghai City. No wonder he knows so many."

"I suspect that every time Boss Li suddenly disappears, he is going to learn other people's skills."

Among the customers,
One of them is Boss Li’s fan friend, Miss Xia Yu.

When she got off work, she also brought her roommate Xie Lin over.

They worked in the same unit, and on the first day they reported for work, because they were two young girls, they decided to live together so that they could take care of each other.

The two of them get along well and are generally compatible in life and work.

It's rare to become friends with colleagues.

But interpersonal relationships like colleagues and roommates, because they are people you meet by chance, there will still be some conflicts occasionally.

Xie Lin never eats Xia Yu's cooking.

Even the takeout food that Xia Yu touched would taste bad.

So when two people want to have dinner together, they often have to go outside.

At this time, Xia Yu and her roommate had already sat down at the dining table on the second floor. The waiter brought the spicy chicken nuggets and duck yellow beans they ordered to the table.

In addition to the meal, the two ladies ordered two bottles of alcoholic drinks.

"Let's eat!"

The dishes that Li Rui reproduced this time were recommended by them, so they were very familiar with the original taste of these two dishes.

After tasting it, I couldn't help but admire it.

The shop’s version can be said to be the best of the best. The taste of the two dishes is exactly the same as they remember. They even think that it is better and more palatable than that of Hetou Restaurant.

This is not because of the fan filter,
But it's some small details that we don't pay attention to while eating.

The two of them finished their meal, and the alcoholic drinks made them slightly drunk.

Miss Xia Yu asked her friend across from her:
"Linlin, have you noticed that my cooking skills have improved?"

"Ah?" Xie Lin looked at her in confusion, "I haven't eaten the food you cooked recently?"

Xia Yu pouted, "How come I haven't eaten it before? Last time you were sick, you asked me to help you order a takeaway, and that was actually what I made."

Xie Lin was so angry that she laughed at her actions.

Although she was grateful for her roommate's care, she still slammed the table angrily and said solemnly:
"I'm telling you, it tastes terrible."

(End of this chapter)