Chapter 301: Stir-frying in oil and water
The beef and pig ears were braised yesterday. The braising liquid was the old braising liquid brought by Chef Huang. Zhao Xiaojing tasted it and it tasted average, but time was tight and it was not practical to make a new pot of braising liquid, so she had to put some effort into the sauce.
Among the sixteen dishes, six were cold dishes. Zhao Xiaojing only added a little sauce to the two braised dishes to adjust the taste, and then followed the two apprentices to start cutting the side dishes. The remaining mixed dishes of one meat and three vegetables were handed over to Master Huang.
Mr. Huang's new hires today were three sturdy, efficient women. Zhao Xiaojing and the other two cut the braised meat and placed it in a large basin. They then came over, gloved and ready to plate. Not only was their work as fast and orderly as an assembly line, but their coordination was also incredibly effective. Ninety plates of braised vegetables were quickly arranged into double-petaled flower arrangements, each with a few sprigs of cilantro in the center. Seeing their seamless coordination, Zhao Xiaojing explained the corresponding sauces for the two braised meats and instructed them to ladle a spoonful onto each plate before leaving the cold dishes alone.
Chef Huang calculated the amount and soaked the vermicelli and jellyfish, then poured the peanuts into the pot, added two spoons of salt and a few ladles of cold water, covered the pot and cooked it, and then joined the three people in the cutting work.
The amount of food preparation and cutting for the forty-five tables was not small. The two apprentices were basically responsible for cutting into sections and cubes, while Zhao Xiaojing and Chef Huang were responsible for cutting into strips and slices.
The four of them were chopping at the same time until nine o'clock. The three sisters-in-law had already killed and gutted the fish, chopped and washed the chicken, ribs and beef, peeled all the quail eggs, and even cleaned all six large pots.
Zhao Xiaojing marveled at the efficiency of the sisters-in-law, then put down her knife and began blanching the beef. The buffet menu was unpretentious, with four dishes all being hot pots, with no stage names. They were simply written as Beef Hot Pot, Chicken Hot Pot, Spare Rib Hot Pot, and Family Hot Pot.
Time was running out, so Zhao Xiaojing blanched the meats to remove the fishy smell, then simply stir-fried and seasoned them. She then put the beef, chicken, and ribs directly into the pressure cooker according to the cooking time for each meat.
As for the Family Hot Pot, it was simple. Yesterday afternoon, Zhao Xiaojing had already prepared the broth and fried the crispy pork and meatballs, and Chef Huang had already steamed the fish cakes. Today, they'd lightly blanch the sliced squid to remove any fishy smell, and finally boil the broth and adjust the flavor. The sisters-in-law would then handle the entire process without Zhao Xiaojing having to worry about anything else.
The sisters-in-law worked together to move the large steel vat of broth from the stove to the side. Then, they poured quail eggs, cooked wood ear mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, squid, and ham into the still-warm broth and covered the vat, letting the ingredients soak in. They brought the broth back to a rolling boil near lunchtime, then poured each into a separate hot pot. They then layered the crispy pork, meatballs, and fish cakes on top, according to their serving size. The broth could then be served directly over the alcohol stove, cooked and eaten simultaneously, preserving the texture of the ingredients.
"Sister, did you soak this glutinous rice for me overnight?" The sisters-in-law covered the steel bucket and were about to help Zhao Xiaojing move the pig's trotters when a middle-aged man wearing an apron and looking kind came into the yard from outside. After entering the yard, he first looked around for ingredients. When he saw the glutinous rice, he squatted down to examine it carefully. Behind him followed the grandson whom Zhao Xiaojing had met yesterday, carrying an iron bucket in his hand.
"Yes, Lao Huang and the others soaked it yesterday, and drained it this morning. This basin is yours." The sister-in-law said, pointing to the glutinous rice that the man was looking through.
"Thank you, thank you, the control is very good!" The man thanked with a smile, picked up the big basin, and walked straight to the Wei family kitchen.
Zhao Xiaojing glanced curiously at the bucket. It was filled with blood, more than half full. Judging by the amount, it didn't look like chicken or duck blood, but pig blood. This must be the Wei family relative who knows how to cook Min cuisine. Yesterday, when Zhao Xiaojing was pouring the glutinous rice, she heard them call to ask for the specific amount needed.
But pig's blood and sticky rice? What kind of dish was this? Zhao Xiaojing speculated silently while feeling very itchy. Yesterday, she had thought this makeshift kitchen in the yard was spacious and convenient, but today, she found that she couldn't see Chef Min's relative cooking, which made her feel very sorry.
Just as I was thinking about it, the eldest daughter-in-law I met yesterday came over. She chatted and laughed with Zhao Xiaojing and her group, and then ran into the kitchen. After a while, she took out a basket of ingredients that looked like garlic and onions and washed them.
Zhao Xiaojing looked at it for a while but couldn't figure out what it was, so she stopped paying attention and just lowered her head to stir-fry sugar color.
Sugar color is used to braise pig's trotters. Braised pig's trotters is a staple dish at village banquets. A whole pig's trotter looks beautiful and grand, and it also looks festive. It is basically served at every banquet.
Pig's trotter is the village name for pork elbow, but it's prepared completely differently from the pork elbow in pork trotter rice. Braised pig's trotter requires the entire elbow to be deep-fried, then soaked and browned before seasoning and grilling.
By the time the two sisters-in-law had brought all forty-five pig trotters over, Zhao Xiaojing had reached the most critical stage of frying the sugar color in the pot. The rock sugar in the oil was foaming more and more as she was constantly stirring it. When it was about to reach the critical point of being the thickest and densest, Zhao Xiaojing quickly poured in the hot water that had been prepared on the side.
There was a sudden violent reaction in the pot. The dense foam instantly turned into small bubbles that kept bursting, making a rustling sound. Zhao Xiaojing continued to stir it continuously, and soon the sugar color in the pot became rich and sticky.
The two sisters-in-law kept looking back at Zhao Xiaojing while walking to the plating area, pointing their chins at Zhao Xiaojing, and talking in surprise to Chef Huang who had just brought over a large bowl of mixed cold shredded vegetables.
"This girl is really good. She looks very good at cooking at such a young age, and she cuts the shreds really finely!"
"That's right. This morning I thought Chef Xie was busy. This family really had no relatives to call, but when they started working, I found out they seemed to be quite capable."
"Hey, don't underestimate him. Just looking at his sugar coloring skills, he's better than me and Chef Xie! He's got real skills." Chef Huang glanced over there and shook his head.
"Really? What's wrong with the candy color? Don't you two know how to fry it?"
"I know how to stir-fry, but we stir-fry in water, while others stir-fry directly in oil. Our skills are different!"
After saying this, Chef Huang took a new basin and went back, leaving the two sisters-in-law looking at each other in confusion, not understanding the difference between stir-frying in water and stir-frying in oil.
After the two sisters-in-law finished packing the three-shredded cold dish, they couldn't help but run over to ask Chef Huang, who was piling glutinous rice layer by layer to make eight-treasure rice pudding, "What's wrong with stir-frying with water or oil?"
"I've never seen you guys so eager to learn!" Chef Huang laughed. "Frying in oil is fast and saves time, but you have to control the heat very precisely. If you're not careful, you'll overcook it. And she uses a big wok like ours. Old Xie and I tend to have trouble controlling the heat when frying the sugar color in a big wok, so we always end up frying it in water to avoid mistakes, which takes much longer than she does!"
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