Chapter 288 Mullet Egg Soup

In the first game, both teams played to their full potential, and both teams were known for their seasoning. In the end, Fuyuan team took the lead with a slight advantage. However, this result made the audience quite dissatisfied.

These opinions gradually disappeared in the soft and smooth aroma, and Mr. Jin waved his hand to introduce the history of Suzhou meat. This is a real imperial dish, but even in Beijing forty or fifty years ago, most stores were just selling dog meat under the name of sheep meat, using the name of Suzhou meat, but actually selling ordinary braised meat. For real Suzhou meat, the aroma of spices and herbs must be completely integrated with the aroma of meat, and the aroma of herbs and spices must not cover the taste of meat, which is extremely demanding on the chef's skills.

After hearing what Mr. Jin said, everyone became more excited about Su Zao Rou.

However, at this moment, Sun Yuke put the braised duck into the oil pan. With the sound of the oil pan "sizzling", the rich aroma burst out like exploding fireworks. The fat in the duck skin was forced out, stimulating the originally mellow braised aroma to be overbearing and exaggerated, attracting everyone to look towards Sun Yuke.

Just at this moment, Chef Zhou opened the lid of the Su Zao meat pot. As the steam rose, a completely different aroma quietly spread: the scent of medicinal herbs and spices was like a mist, gently entwining the mellow meat aroma, slowly seeping into every corner. The rich meat aroma, set off by the elegant scent of spices and medicinal herbs, weaved a fine net in the air. It smelled warm and soothing at first, but the layers were distinct when you tasted it carefully, and the more you thought about it, the more you felt the lingering aftertaste.

“When these two flavors collide with each other, it’s like a fight!” Yang Yuhe sighed, smiling and shaking his head.

The crispy duck was served first. The crispy duck was cut into neat pieces, the skin was shiny and crispy, and the meat inside was still tender and juicy. When you bite it, it makes a "crunch" sound, and the rich aroma of the marinade instantly fills your mouth.

"The braised crispy duck is absolutely delicious. It's the best crispy duck I've ever eaten." Mr. Jin, a gourmet, was full of praise.

Sun Yuke looked at Ms. Zhu Liling and said, "My grandmother conquered those foreigners with this crispy duck, and Liu Yi decided to become a Chinese chef because of this crispy duck."

Hearing someone calling his name, Liu Yi looked at Sun Yuke. Sun Yuke translated what he said to him, and Liu Yi nodded quickly: "Yes, yes! I never thought there would be such delicious duck."

On the other side, Chef Zhou cut the braised meat into pieces, put them in a ceramic pot, and finally poured the soup over the meat. The process of pouring the soup made everyone who was still savoring the crispy duck feel hungry.

Master Zhou's apprentice brought a plate of golden and crispy sesame biscuits. A large plate of biscuits was served on the table along with a large ceramic pot.

Master Zhou bowed slightly and said, "If we eat this Suzhou-style meat in our Yufenglou, we will braise it the day before and put it in the refrigerator to set, and then slice it and arrange it the next day. That way it will look beautiful. Today, everyone can taste it first, and don't worry too much about the presentation."

His casual attitude actually made the audience laugh.

“Break the sesame cake, scoop a spoonful of soup, and then pick up a piece of meat. The elbow meat has tendons, and the pork belly is stewed until tender. You can all try it.” Chef Zhou instructed everyone how to eat.

Everyone followed Master Zhou's instructions and broke open the sesame pancake. When the golden crust cracked, fine sesame seeds fell out, revealing the fluffy pores inside. A spoonful of thick Suzhou meat broth was poured on the center of the pancake, which was immediately absorbed by the pancake. Then a piece of trembling elbow meat was picked up and stuffed into the pancake.

Mr. Jin took the first bite. The outer layer of the pancake was crispy, and the soup moistened the inner layer of the pancake. The elbow meat with tendons was chewy and flexible, and the pork belly was so soft that it almost melted, without any greasy feeling. After eating a pancake, the lingering meaty aroma still lingered in the mouth, making people feel a sense of loss. And to fill this feeling, you must take another bite.

"Wow!" Yang Yuhe didn't care about his image and finished a pancake in two bites. He quickly picked up a piece of pork belly and said, "Old Zhou, how many years have you been cooking this pot of soup?"

Master Zhou chuckled and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve: "This soup was passed down by my master, and I have continued to make it for more than ten years. However, the soup my master gave me has a stronger spice flavor, and the taste is somewhat similar to the old Beijing stew."

He looked at Yue Ning: "After I met Xiao Yue, she told me about this Suzhou-style meat, which is divided into three seasons and has three recipes. She gave me the recipe and asked me to use a certain proportion of old sauce with new ingredients to make meat that can remove dampness in spring and summer, reduce dryness in autumn, and nourish in winter. Look at the gentle aroma of this meat, we couldn't make it before. But the meat with heavy spices sold very well in the past, and our chef Dong even asked me to set up a stall to sell meat."

This made everyone laugh. At this time, Sun Yuke came over and said, "Master Zhou, can Liu Yi and I have a taste?"

"Of course, I made a big pot!" Master Zhou personally broke the pancake and put the meat in it, "Girl, try it."

He handed another cake to Liu Yi and said, "This young man is dark and fat. He looks like a good cook."

Liu Yi looked puzzled, and Sun Yuke explained: "He said you have a talent for being a chef."

Liu Yi, who was eating a pancake, nodded quickly. He didn't even bother to wipe the soup flowing down the corners of his mouth. He just gave Master Zhou a thumbs up and repeated in stiff Chinese: "Delicious! Very delicious!"

The apprentice came over to urge Lao Zhou: "Master, it's time to cook! If Master Dong were here, he would be talking to you again!"

Chef Zhou returned to his seat and put the vegetables in the drain basket on the plate one by one, saying with a smile: "I just like to chat with the guests. Our chef Dong hates me the most."

"Chef Zhou, are you starting to plate the food now?" asked the host.

"No where! I'm going to make the Tianjin cuisine of braised vegetarian dishes." Chef Zhou responded.

Yang Yuhe leaned close to the microphone to explain: "We have seen Chef Lu Peide's braised sea sheep before, with shark fin and eight pieces of lamb, which is loose braised; we have also seen Chef Chen Jinying's braised pig face in the previous episode, where the pig head was stewed until it was soft, the bones were removed and then braised in the pot, which is whole braised. Today, Chef Zhou made a braised all-vegetarian dish, using ten kinds of vegetarian dishes. There is no fixed style for the vegetarian dishes, and putting them together is also loose braised. Those who can cook this dish are all famous chefs in Shandong cuisine."

"I remember Ningning said last time that she might not be 100% successful in making braised vegetables. Can she do it now?" There are always people who remember what Yue Ning said.

Sure enough, the camera was pointed at Yue Ning again. Yue Ning said helplessly: "You guys... are going too far! You want me to cook again."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "However, starting tomorrow, Chef Lu will be back home to visit his family, so I'll take his place. I wonder if I can make his hand-picked dishes?"

Everyone stared at her with wide eyes. Yue Ning looked at Cai Zhiyuan and said, "I'll give you a chance to film a day at Ning Yanlu Mansion."

If other restaurants wanted to do this kind of program, they would have to pay. But when it came to Yue Ning, she gave face, and only gave face to Cai Zhiyuan. Cai Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll arrange it."

Yang Yuhe continued to explain: "To peel the vegetables, you need to stack them with the front side facing down and the bottom side facing up. Now we have to open our eyes and watch carefully, just watch the moment when they turn over."

Yue Ning and Zhu Liling looked at Chef Zhou, who added a spoonful of broth to the pot. After the broth in the pot boiled, he added seasonings to taste it, scooped another spoonful of hot broth from the pot into the dish, and then pushed the dish into the pot along the edge of the pot, without the dish falling apart.

Chef Zhou held the handle of the pot and gently turned his wrist. The crisp green of the bamboo shoots, the brown sauce of the mushrooms, the milky white of the winter bamboo shoots, the creamy yellow of the cabbage, and the orange-red of the carrots slid back and forth in the pot, but always maintained their own shape without any disorder.

Chef Zhou poured a spoonful of water starch on the dishes, forming a thin layer of sauce and evenly coated each vegetable.

Suddenly, Chef Zhou exerted force on his wrist, and the wok drew a beautiful arc in the air. The vegetables in the wok seemed to be given life, all flew up into the air, turned over in mid-air, and then fell steadily back into the wok.

This skill of "scooping inside the spoon" caused a burst of exclamations from the audience. The loudest exclamation came from Liu Yi. He opened his mouth wide and exclaimed: "Oh My God..."

At this time, Chef Zhou's dishes were already out of the pot. The ten vegetarian dishes were neatly arranged on the plate.

Liu Yi asked Sun Yuke who was stirring the spoon: "Coco, it's amazing, how did he do it?"

"I told you, a great Chinese chef is one who has Chinese Kung Fu." While spreading the fried onions on a plate, Sun Yuke poured the prepared sauce into the pot and brought it to a boil. He then slid in the fried beef slices, letting them evenly coated with the sauce, and finally spread the beef slices on the onion shreds.

After the two dishes were served, Chef Zhou's braised all-vegetarian ten-color vegetables were wrapped in a bright sauce, and the original flavor of the vegetables blended with the fresh fragrance of the broth when eaten; Sun Yuke's satay beef tenderloin, the pink beef slices were wrapped in a bright red sauce, and the slightly charred onion shreds were placed at the bottom of the plate. Although it looked inconspicuous, it tasted excellent, the beef was tender, and the salty and fresh satay and the sweet and spicy onions were intertwined, which was indeed a clever seasoning that catered to international taste buds.

In contrast, although the satay beef tenderloin was amazingly seasoned, it lacked the same stunning display of skill as the vegetarian braised beef.

While the scoring was going on, Liu Yi said a few words to Sun Yuke. Then, Sun Yuke turned to Chef Zhou and said, "Chef Zhou, Liu Yi and I would like to learn cooking from you, is that ok?"

"Master... Kung Fu." Liu Yi uttered two Chinese words and bent down to clasp his fists towards Chef Zhou.

Chef Zhou didn't dare to accept a foreign apprentice, but the onlookers in the audience were not afraid of trouble and shouted in English: "Louis, in China, to learn Kung Fu, you have to kneel down and worship your master."

After hearing this, Liu Yi turned around and was about to kneel down to Chef Zhou: "Master."

"No, no!" Chef Zhou quickly lifted him up and said, "Young man, this is a new society, this kind of thing is not acceptable anymore."

"New society?" Sun Yuke himself did not understand. Yue Ning took the microphone and explained: "In the old society, the hierarchy was strict, and the relationship between master and apprentice was like that between father and son, with all kinds of rules; in the new society, everyone is equal, and there is no need to kneel down. However, when we are learning skills, we must respect our masters. We don't have to kneel down, but we must respect them in our hearts. Louis, Master Zhou is a chef from mainland China. Whether he can accept you as an apprentice depends on his superiors. In addition, I have just discussed with Grandma Zhu that our two families will cooperate in the future. The matter of apprenticeship will be discussed after the competition is over."

The scores were out: Fuyuan's crispy duck was well seasoned, but Chef Zhou's Suzhou-style pork was superior in terms of background and technique, so Fuyuan fell behind in this dish; in the following shacha beef tenderloin and braised vegetarian dishes, Chef Zhou's skills were self-evident. In the end, Yufenglou took the lead by a large margin.

Sun Yuke's smile was as bright as the sun: "Chef Zhou is amazing. Meeting such a great chef here is my greatest reward."

Chef Zhou felt a little embarrassed by what she said, and said, "Girl, this is all I know. Cooking skills really require hard work and practice, and you can't learn them in a day or two. Otherwise, I will definitely not hide my skills."

"Let's compete first, and then I'll ask you for advice after the competition."

"Okay!"

When Chef Zhou returned, his apprentice had already torn the squid eggs into paper-thin slices and soaked them in water. The broth was also ready, and Chef Zhou began to clarify the broth with chicken mince, resulting in a clear broth as clear as water.

Yue Ning reached out for the microphone, and the host handed it to her. Yue Ning looked at Yang Yuhe: "Uncle Yuhe, Mr. Jin, I'm afraid I have to explain this, because this is not the traditional stewed mullet eggs. This soup comes from the stewed mullet eggs of Shandong cuisine, but after being improved by the chef of the state banquet, it has become a sour and spicy mullet egg soup. It has been used many times to entertain important foreign guests and is the number one soup for state banquets. The cuttlefish eggs must be cuttlefish eggs from cold water areas to make this dish fresh, tender and fragrant. The cuttlefish eggs are pickled with salt after they are taken out of the water. When they are used, tear off the thin film on them. There are slices inside. It is said that each slice is a small cuttlefish. The torn thin slices are called "mullet coins" in the jargon. Soak the mullet coins in clean water and rinse off the excess salt..."

When Yue Ning introduced this dish, Chef Zhou blanched the soaked mullet meat, divided it into different soup pots, and finally poured the rest into a large soup bowl.

He turned back, boiled the chicken soup, added a little salt to season, then added pepper and cooked for a minute or two. After turning off the heat, he added two spoonfuls of pickle juice.

The clear soup was poured over the snow-white slices of mullet eggs, which slowly spread out. The young apprentice garnished the soup with a coriander leaf, and the first soup of the state banquet was served.