Chapter 11 Making Knife-Cut Noodles

Jiang Zhi first took some peppercorns, gently crushed them with the back of a knife, and then finely crushed them with the blade to obtain a slightly coarse peppercorn powder.

Then, along with the crushed dogwood seeds, ginger diced ginger stirred to ensure the flavors were fully blended together.

They then obtained a small chili sauce.

Today, Jiang Zhi plans to make a special bowl of spicy braised tofu for her big benefactor, Comrade Gu Yuan.

As for the remaining bowl, Jiang Zhi plans to make it plain for others to choose from.

Jiang first took out the firm tofu, then picked up the knife that he had just lightly sharpened on the whetstone a few times, and cut the firm tofu in two.

With a swift stroke, the firm tofu was cut into triangular pieces by the sharp blade, then Jiang Zhi used the knife to lift it up and neatly stacked it on a plate.

Jiang Zhi then brought a ladle of well water from outside by hand. She used it to wash away the fine residue on the surface of the tofu from the side without damaging its shape. After draining the water from each tofu, she gently sprinkled a thin layer of salt on the surface of the tofu.

This technique, called "drawing out the moisture," aims to make the tofu firmer without making it too tough. Most importantly, it allows some salt to initially seep into the surface of the tofu.

Otherwise, when Jiang Zhi thought of this, she couldn't help but recall: when she first entered this industry, her master deliberately didn't remind her, and then she just cooked a pot of tofu and meat without adding any salt.

From then on, she remembered this painful lesson.

With the salting step completed, allowing the salt to initially penetrate the surface and interior of the tofu, Jiang Zhi is about to proceed to the next step.

She lightly spread a layer of flour on the table, then gently patted the tofu with another layer of flour, then coated it with a layer of beaten egg batter, and then patted it with another layer of flour. She rolled it back and forth like this two or three times, and that's how the tofu was coated with a layer of batter.

The tofu is done; now it's time to prepare the minced meat.

Pork in ancient times was always smelly and pungent, but it could be masked by using spices in brine. However, pan-fried tofu uses minced meat, which should have been a big challenge.

However, Jiang Zhishan had his own ingenious plan.

She turned and took a small bowl, tossed in minced ginger, scallions, and garlic, then mashed them with a spoon, added some well water, and that was the first step.

—Use scallion, ginger, and garlic water to remove fishy smell!

This step was far from enough to suppress the pork from the ancient, uncastrated pigs, so Jiang Zhi had a second method.

She picked up the pot, boiled a small bowl of water, then added peppercorns and cloves. Once the water boiled, she added scallions, ginger, and garlic, mixing them together. This was the second step.

—Use spices to mask the fishy smell!

After these two steps, Jiang Zhi visibly became more and more radiant: come on, she used to be a promoter of Chinese snacks!

When she used to travel abroad every day to promote her products, how much suffering did she endure when dealing with that stinking, rotten pork?

Today, all the hardships have finally come to an end!

When mixing the spice water into the minced meat, Jiang Zhi made sure to add small amounts at a time, allowing the minced meat to slowly absorb the water.

Jiang Zhi sighed inwardly. To make the meat more tender, adding water in small amounts and multiple times was far from enough. It would be best to add some ice water.

Unfortunately, ice-making wasn't as easy in this era. Although Jiang Zhi had learned some basic ice-making techniques online, the idea of ​​making ice for several days just for a piece of meat was beyond her expectations.

When the meat filling has eaten up the entire small bowl of spice water, the meat is considered to have been initially seasoned.

Now pick out each thin piece of tofu, press a layer of minced meat of the same thickness on top, and then arrange them on a plate with the minced meat facing up and the tofu facing down.

Before the meat filling fell out, Jiang Zhi quickly lit the fire in the pan, added a layer of oil to cover the bottom, and then fried the meat filling with the oil, making it sizzle.

Jiang Zhi carefully placed the meat filling into the pot one by one. The moment she finished, a fragrant aroma of caramelized meat wafted from the bottom of the pot where it met the filling, reaching Jiang Zhi's nostrils and momentarily captivating her.

Then, carried by a gust of wind, it drifted into and out of the alley.

So much so that when people inside and outside the alley were eating rice or noodles, they could smell it when they sneezed, and instantly their food lost its flavor.

Not to mention the one, two, three, or four people who bought their ingredients early and obediently sat in a row outside waiting.

Little Twist continued reading her book as usual. Ever since Jiang Zhi secretly and subtly revealed a bit of the truth to You Yi, You Yi regarded his younger sister as a treasure.

Pei Ye had secretly confided to Jiang Zhi that You Yi had never been good at taking the imperial examinations, but someone in his family had to take that path. His parents had been urging him to take the exams for years, and now that they had seen a new hope, they were treating him like a precious treasure.

Little Twist received many new books from his older brother, and naturally he couldn't put them down.

At this moment, Gu Yuan was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, wielding a red-tasseled spear with great flair.

Upon smelling the aroma, she didn't even put down her red-tasseled spear. Instead, she strode into the main hall, spear in hand, her eyes fixed longingly on the kitchen's food preparation area.

After buying groceries early in the morning, You Yi sat upright in front of the main hall, staring at his younger sister with a strange smile on his face.

When Jiang Zhi hurriedly returned from outside with a basket, he greeted her with a smile, but Jiang Zhi was feeling empty after shopping and didn't pay any attention to him.

He smiled and continued strolling back to his seat, where he continued chatting with Pei Ye, who was also doing nothing.

*

Before the aroma wafted out, You Yi was already so salty he was practically scrambling to talk to Pei Ye about the dress Boss Jiang had bought that morning.

But in an instant, his attention was drawn to the fragrance again. He took a deep sniff and murmured:

"This taste, like bean curd?"

Shuru is the ancient name for tofu, taking the general term for all kinds of beans and adding the word "ru" after it, similar to the name for tofu pudding today.

Before You Yi could finish speaking, a light tap on the head landed on his forehead.

You Yi scratched the back of his head and looked over, only to see that the person behind him was clearly lost in thought, yet still gave him a dismissive glance.

Pei Ye was still imagining what Jiang Zhi would look like in that newly bought outfit, but he answered aloud.

“You Da Lengzi, that’s clearly spicy pork, have you forgotten? Miss Jiang cooked for us before!”

"Bean curd milk!"

"Pork!"

"Bean curd milk!"

"Pork!"

...

The two argued incessantly. Little Twist, used to it, looked up, glanced at them, then lowered her head again and quietly turned a page of her book.

*

The tofu and meat filling were still baked until they turned a brownish, caramelized color.

Taking advantage of this moment, Jiang Zhi flicked her wrist and gently lifted the pot, causing the tofu noodles to separate from the pot.

The snow-white tofu noodles were naturally flipped to the bottom of the pot by Jiang Zhi, where they began to come into contact with the sizzling oil.

When the tofu noodles emitted an even richer, caramelized aroma, Jiang Zhi knew that the tofu was basically done frying.

When she saw that the remaining oil in the pot had been completely absorbed by the tofu, she knew it was time for the next step.

She scooped up a bowl of water, then picked up a spoonful of soybean paste, stirred it carefully in the water, and then poured the soybean paste mixture around the edge of the pot in a thin but orderly manner.

In an instant, the pot began to bubble and boil, and the aroma spread out.

Taking this opportunity, Jiang Zhi lightly flicked the salt spoon in her hand, evenly sprinkling a thin layer of salt onto the tofu surface. Then she added a handful of chopped green onions.

Remove from heat and reduce the sauce!

Add a bowl of the original flavor, leave another bowl in the pot, add the chili sauce you just made, simmer over low heat for a while, and you'll have that spicy pan-fried tofu.

The dishes for today's breakfast are now complete!

*

As for what staple food to eat, Jiang Zhi already had a plan in mind.

Before she started sprinkling water, she had prepared half a basin of flour and sprinkled in half a spoonful of salt.

Then I took some boiling water from the kettle and mixed it with cold water from outside to make warm water, and poured it in little by little. I added water when there was too much flour and flour when there was too much water. After kneading the flour into a dough, I covered it with a damp cloth.

After finishing all of that, Jiang Zhi then continued making tofu.

Now, it's time to reap the rewards.

As soon as Jiang Zhi lifted the damp cloth, the dough became visibly smooth and the dough had also increased in size.

This step is called "resting the dough." If the dough is not rested, the subsequent knife-cutting process will become much more difficult.

Yes, Jiang Zhi was planning to make knife-cut noodles, mainly because they were convenient and quick. Combined with the braised tofu, they were the perfect dish to warm the stomach and satisfy the appetite!

The dough has risen, and the next step is the most crucial step in making knife-cut noodles – cutting them with a knife.

Knife-cut, knife-cut, that's what makes knife-cut noodles stand out from the skills of other chefs.

Good knife-cut noodles should be of uniform thickness, thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges, and cooked until chewy and flavorful...

In short, a good bowl of knife-cut noodles is never about the ingredients, but about the chef's skill.

Coincidentally, Jiang Zhi loves to show off her skills like this.

She picked up a knife of suitable length from the knife table, sharpened the blade, and after confirming that it was sharp enough, she began to cut.

She held the dough in one hand and the sharp knife in the other, slicing it towards the edge—

With the first cut, a small piece of knife-cut noodles rolled down the direction of the knife towards the boiling water in the pot.

The second cut, the third cut... Jiang Zhi didn't even look at the outcome of the previous cut, as if she had expected it, and just kept speeding up her work.

There was no way around it; Jiang Zhi knew perfectly well that if she slowed down even a few cuts, either the first part would overcook or the last part wouldn't be cooked through. This was the final challenge of making knife-cut noodles: speed was crucial!

*

When the water, which had temporarily calmed down, started bubbling again, and the slightly translucent noodles floated on the surface with the boiling water, Jiang Zhi knew:

The noodles are cooked!

She placed the noodles directly under the two bowls of braised tofu, letting the broth soak into the noodles, and then carried them out with both hands, one bowl in each hand.

As soon as they stepped out of the kitchen, four pairs of hungry mouths were already waiting to be fed!