Chapter 125 Chapter 125 Tasting each other.
Seeing Chef Wang's attitude, You Chef knew that this dish must suit his taste. She picked up a piece of food and put it into her mouth. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
The eggplant strips have a smooth texture and are filled with broth when you sip them. The stewed eggplant flesh is wrapped with pork belly and dried sturgeon and gradually mixed together. Various aromas are intertwined and the layers are distinct.
The dried sturgeon blended perfectly with the other ingredients, not overpowering them. Instead, its flavor flourished with the other ingredients. This performance amazed Chef You, who nodded repeatedly in approval. Finally, he gave Lin Zhi a thumbs-up: "Amazing! I didn't expect dried sturgeon to pair so well with eggplant."
After that, Chef You and Chef Wang started to taste the food together, taking turns to eat.
Seeing the two of them about to finish off the food, Mr. Qiu became anxious. He no longer cared about his previous embarrassment and quickly picked up a chopstick to taste it.
After just one bite, Mr. Qiu felt his mouth water. He had mentioned earlier that he was young and poor, and that meat was hard to come by, with only the occasional wild game available.
On those rare days when they could eat meat, the family would eat it whole, skin and bones alike, never wasting a single bit. To ensure everyone was well fed, they would boil the meat into a broth and pile as much vegetables as possible into it so everyone could taste the meat.
As a child, he would sniff the aroma of meat in the air, his mouth watering. When the pot of broth was brought to him, he would quickly scoop a spoonful of it over his rice, add a couple of pieces of eggplant or taro, and wolf it down.
And now, he has such an impulse.
Mr. Qiu looked around, and without him saying a word, a clever servant brought him rice.
He put the eggplant strips soaked in soup on top, and ate it with a mouthful of rice and another of eggplant strips, enjoying it very much.
Chef Wang had no time to laugh at Mr. Qiu, and turned his attention to the sturgeon and steamed pork belly.
The dish in front of me is similar to the dried sturgeon and eggplant stew just now. The appearance alone is very tempting - golden shredded ginger and emerald green onion fall on the amber-colored meat slices and dried fish. The whole dish is oily and shiny. Just looking at it makes people's mouths water and they can't wait to get a bowl of rice.
Chef Wang didn't pick up the dried sturgeon, but a piece of pork belly.
The pork belly slices are half fat and half lean. After being steamed, the fat melts in your mouth. It tastes oily but not greasy, and is more moist, while also absorbing the full fish aroma.
Next is the dried sturgeon. The saltiness of the dried sturgeon is mostly absorbed by the pork belly, giving it a delicious and salty flavor of the sea. At the same time, the meat is firm, plump, oily and mellow.
Every time you chew it, your mouth is filled with the aroma of pork belly and dried sturgeon.
The only problem is that it's a bit salty.
Chef Wang happily picked up a bowl of rice and couldn't wait to put pork belly and dried sturgeon on it.
Soon, the shiny rice was filled with salty and fresh oil, and every bite was soft and flavorful.
The salty and fragrant taste is not overpowering, and the meaty aroma is not stuffy. The two flavors are intertwined together, making people unable to help but take one bite after another.
After finishing the two dishes, the three of them looked at the fried rice with extremely enthusiastic eyes.
Mr. Qiu took the lead in scooping out a bowl and putting a spoonful into his mouth. The freshly fried rice was still steaming, and the aroma of oil and egg wrapped in the salty aroma of dried sturgeon rushed into his mouth.
The fried dried sturgeon is crispy and salty, with a dry seafood aroma when chewed. The fried chicken pieces are crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. Paired with sweet and juicy vegetables, it whets your appetite and makes you unable to stop eating.
After finishing the three dishes, Mr. Qiu wished he could go back to this morning. At that time, he would definitely give up all the sturgeons he could get his hands on!
Mr. Qiu secretly regretted it, while Chef Wang and Chef You were secretly amazed. In the past, they always regarded dried sturgeon as the most delicious and fresh thing, mostly used it to stew broth, but rarely paired it with ordinary ingredients.
Thinking this way, he could expand his ideas and try other novel dishes. Chef Wang even thought of Chef Wei from Haoweizhai. Several of the vice-chiefs were quite pessimistic about him giving up his position as head chef and going on a journey. Chef Wang, knowing the inside story, thought it would be a good idea to let his son go on the journey as well, as he might gain some insights.
At the same time, Chef Wang and Chef You felt embarrassed to eat Linzhi's cooking for free, so they simply asked someone to get the ingredients and made a few dishes on the spot, asking Linzhi to take one or two back to taste.
Lin Zhi's appetite was already whetted by the aroma lingering in the kitchen. Without asking anyone to bring her food, she personally carried the food box back to her room, ready to share it with Lin Sen and his wife, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Sister Zhi, did you make this?" Song Jiaoniang took the food box and asked curiously.
"No." Lin Zhi hurriedly told the couple what had happened today. "Mr. Qiu, Chef Wang, and Chef You all ate up what I cooked. Chef Wang and Chef You felt embarrassed, so they cooked these dishes themselves so that I could taste their cooking skills."
"The cooking skills of Chef Wang and Chef You? That's incredible!" Lin Sen's eyes lit up when he heard this. "Chef Wang is the head chef of Tongfulou. The prices at Tongfulou are even higher than those at Juyoulou!"
"The same goes for Chef You. She used to be a chef in Fanlou, and later became the head chef in Xichunlou." Song Jiaoniang echoed.
The name of Xichunlou was similar to that of Juyoulou in the past, but as Juyoulou gradually declined, Xichunlou has gradually taken the upper hand.
Not to mention that Tongfulou, where Chef Wang works, is a restaurant under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue. In short, Chef Wang can be considered a regular employee.
Lin Zhi looked at the two people who were flattered and snorted unconvincedly: "Your daughter is already sharing responsibilities with this person you all call so awesome? There's no need to be so surprised!"
Lin Sen and his wife quickly stopped talking, looked at each other, and went forward to comfort their daughter.
Lin Zhi was right. Being able to host an event at the same time as Chef Wang and Chef You showed that her daughter's level was on par with theirs.
The couple took turns saying nice things to Linzhi, and finally she smiled again. She opened the lid of the food box, took out all the dishes inside, and placed them on the table.
The first thing that caught the eyes of Lin Sen and his wife was a steamed dish called hand-torn air-dried sturgeon jerky. The dish was filled with thinly shredded fish meat, sprinkled with chopped green onions and sesame seeds, which looked very tempting.
"This is also made of dried sturgeon." Linzhi did not forget to introduce.
This dish is created by Chef Wang. Chef Wang does not tear the dried fish into pieces directly before using it. Instead, he soaks the dried fish in warm water for a while, and then tears it into fish strips along the texture of the fish meat. He then smokes and steams the fish.
When it comes out of the pot, the aroma is so rich that everyone present swallows their saliva.
Then Linzhi took out another dish, which was made by Chef You, called Black Chicken Stewed with Pickled Sturgeon and Fish Maw.
This dish uses dried sturgeon as a flavor enhancer, paired with fish maw and a whole black-bone chicken. The chicken broth is stewed to be warm and mellow. The flavors of chicken, fish maw and sturgeon are perfectly blended and support each other, making the flavor even better.
Song Jiaoniang smelled the tempting fragrance and became curious about sturgeons again.
In addition to the two sturgeon dishes, the lunch box also contained a dish of lychee shrimp balls, a dish of stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and a basket of rice.
Linzhi placed all the dishes on the table and invited her parents to come and try some. Song Jiaoniang sat down without hesitation, picked up the soup spoon and poured a bowl of chicken soup for her husband and daughter to try.
Because the chicken being stewed is black-bone chicken, the soup is slightly darker in color, but still extremely clear. The chicken oil floating on the surface is skimmed off completely, leaving only plump fish maw and chicken floating in the water.
However, what puzzled Song Jiaoniang was that she searched everywhere but could not find any trace of dried sturgeon.
“Are there really sturgeons?”
"It's true." Lin Zhi saw with her own eyes that Chef You put the dried sturgeon in it, otherwise she would probably doubt herself at this moment.
Linzhi had a guess, so he decided to find the answer from the soup.
She scooped up a spoonful and put it into her mouth. When her tongue first touched the soup, it was still smooth. But after the soup swirled around in her mouth, the stickiness gradually became stronger. The warm and smooth gelatin wrapped around the tip of her tongue, very domineering.
Then the freshness of the black chicken and seafood slowly spread out, without a trace of fishy smell, with distinct layers, rich and strong fragrance, but not boring. The fresh and sweet taste directly hooks the taste buds, making people feel unable to stop, and want to have two or three more bowls.
Linzhi raised her eyebrows, showing a look of surprise. In fact, fish maw stewed with chicken is also a famous dish in later generations. In addition to fish maw and chicken, fish lips, scallops and abalone are usually put inside to make the flavor more intense.
But this soup in front of you, which appears to contain only fish maw and black chicken, was created from scratch, relying solely on the unique salty and fresh taste of dried sturgeon to dominantly display the flavor of the seafood.
The perfect taste really made Lin Zhi applaud: "Amazing!"
Song Jiaoniang was still confused: "I didn't taste any sturgeon...huh?"
Lin Sen also found it strange.
It was not until Lin Zhi explained it to them that they noticed this and immediately looked surprised.
They scooped up a spoonful of chicken soup to savor it carefully, while Linzhi began to think about another dish of hand-torn air-dried sturgeon jerky with great enthusiasm.
Chef Wang did not avoid Linzhi and Chef You when making the food, so she saw many details, such as the materials used for baking were not lychee charcoal, but rice husks, citrons and tangerine peels.
The sturgeon meat that is first soaked, then smoked and then steamed will release oil and condense into brown spots. It will not only have a unique smoked aroma, but the meat will also become firmer, more tough and elastic.
Linzhi picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks and put it in his mouth. The sturgeon meat had lost some of its saltiness after being soaked, and after being smoked, it had a wonderful aroma of rice and fruit.
Repeated processing allows the fish to be fully flavored, and a small amount of chopsticks can be chewed for a long time.
You can first feel the flavor of the sea on the tip of your tongue, and then when the chewed fish shreds pass through your throat, you can feel the fresh and sweet aftertaste of the fish.
Although it is called a main dish, Linzhi thinks that this dish is more suitable as a main course or a side dish, and it will definitely be a great dish to eat with wine.
Almost as soon as he finished his thoughts, Lin Sen wailed: "Damn it, there's no wine..."
"There is rice wine in the kitchen."
"No, no!" Lin Sen shook his head repeatedly and glared at Lin Zhi who suggested it: "We are in Qionglin Garden. What if we get drunk and make some mistakes——"
Even though Lin Sen was sure that he could drink a lot, he didn't dare to make any mistakes. He had worked so hard to get everything he had now, and he didn't want to go back to the past!
So Lin Sen passed the dish to Lin Zhi and carefully instructed her with great anticipation: "Sister Zhi, please try it and study the recipe. We'll make it again when we get home! Okay?"
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