According to custom, no banquet is required for the apprenticeship ceremony, but Cui Shengguo wanted to see what insights Xu Milu had gained during her "seclusion" these past few days, so he dragged Old Man Liu along and followed Xu Milu to the kitchen.
Xu Milu hadn't been idle for the past three months in the Gourmet World, practicing her knife skills day after day. When she was called upon, she didn't say anything and happily picked out a piece of fine beef from the kitchen.
Inspired by the recipe for chili paste, she decided to use the brown sugar granules she brought back to make an innovative version of "Spicy Shredded Beef in a Bamboo Shoot".
Select the best lean meat from the hind leg of a yellow cow, without touching any raw water, and carefully remove the tendons and membranes with a delicate knife tip, slicing it into extremely thin large pieces.
Sift the salt grains through a sieve and grind them into a very fine powder. Stir-fry until the moisture evaporates, then heat the powder and spread it evenly on the meat slices. Set aside for later use.
"This step is good. Using heated salt to absorb the blood from the meat and then letting it dry helps maintain the beef's chewiness. This dish doesn't taste the same once it gets wet. This is Sichuan cuisine."
Cui Shengguo stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the scene for a long time, then glanced at the kitchen knife in Xu Milu's hand:
"Did you type this yourself?"
"Yeah, the kitchen knife I bought before wasn't easy to use. It was either too light to grip properly or I couldn't exert any force with it, so I had someone make one for me."
Xu Milu used the silver cleaver, Atro, that Sang Aite had crafted for her. The tip of the cleaver sliced through the beef, separating it as easily as cutting tofu.
"Hmm, that's good. A good cook needs a good knife. I noticed before that you have a lot of strength in your hands. You need to practice your strength. You can use the back of the knife to pound tofu. When you can pound the tofu without breaking it or scattering it with one cut, you'll have mastered the strength."
Xu Milu secretly made a mental note of it, but her hands didn't stop moving.
Heat half a pot of brown sugar granules. Gently pat the dried beef slices to remove the salt powder. Once the brown sugar granules are hot enough, cut the meat into slices that are 1.5 inches long and 1 inch wide, and place them on the granules to slowly dry.
"The beef was originally supposed to be steamed in a charcoal pot to remove moisture and dry it, and then steamed again. You're drying it directly with brown sugar, which saves you the trouble of the later steps."
Old Liu had some knowledge of Sichuan cuisine, and he understood it after watching for a while.
"Yes, authentic Lantern Shadow Beef Strips need to be dried by roasting and then steamed again, and then cooled before being deep-fried, all to ensure they are flavorful. But the chili peppers I use are special, so I can skip this step."
With a swift turn of her knife, Xu Milu sliced ginger into thin strips, prepared peppercorns, and heated oil in a separate pot. When the beef in the brown sugar felt slightly firm to the touch, she knew it was almost done.
When the oil is 70% hot, add shredded ginger and peppercorns. With a sizzling sound, the spiciness of the ginger and the slightly numbing aroma of the peppercorns rise to the surface.
Xu Milu nodded and scooped it out before it burned, to avoid leaving a burnt taste in the oil. This step was very important.
"No, no, you have to turn the heat down here. The beef slices are thin, so you have to use this oil temperature of only three-tenths of its maximum heat to let the aroma penetrate into them little by little. The beef slices that are fried slowly will be fragrant, dry, crispy, and spicy. They're perfect with drinks."
With Cui Shengguo's instructions, Xu Milu immediately moved the pot away and waited for the oil temperature to drop slightly before turning on low heat and slowly pressing the beef slices down the edge of the pot.
"Sizzle—"
The tiny, dense oil bubbles squeezed together one by one, and the beef slices slowly took shape. The sound of the oil bubbles bursting was like a beautiful melody.
Xu Milu was very careful, gently stirring the beef with a spatula while observing the color changes. Once the beef slices had completely changed color, she flipped her wrist, and the beef slices in the pot fell into the strainer on the side.
While the meat slices were draining their oil, Xu Milu drained most of the cooked oil from the pot, leaving only the bottom oil. She then added five-spice powder, flame-glazed leaf sugar powder, two-color mandolin chili powder, and Sichuan peppercorn powder to the oil and stir-fried them.
A strong, stimulating aroma immediately filled the air, and even Cui Mingjue and Li Ning, who were outside the kitchen, couldn't help but twitch their noses.
"This taste—the chili peppers are of good quality!"
Cui Mingjue was somewhat surprised: "Junior Sister's ingredients are all of very good quality, which is already quite rare. Hmm, these chilies smell like Xinjiang chilies, but they don't have a pungent smell."
“Master, you’re only finding out now! You didn’t know? My junior aunt has a friend who’s the owner of the Red Seed Research Institute. They have all sorts of novel seeds. Aren’t those giant radishes and super grapes from that seed company?”
Li Ning chuckled.
"Besides, these ingredients were also bought by Junior Aunt through that shop owner. I've practiced a lot with Junior Aunt during this time. I've mastered the soft-boiled abalone you taught me, hehe... Or perhaps you could—"
Cui Mingjue blushed slightly: "Ahem, what are you saying? Can I help my junior sister?!"
Li Ning: "..."
You really have wild ideas! He meant to let Cui Mingjue stay a little longer!
Why are people scrambling to do even chopping jobs these days?
...
...
Xu Milu was unaware of the "secret conversation between master and apprentice" outside. She was shaking her wrist, using the force in her hand to make the spices in the pot swirl, and then she added the fried beef slices to the pot and stir-fried them. The beef slices rolled up and down with the spices, bringing a spicy and stimulating aroma.
This step tests the chef's patience. Freshly fried beef slices are easy to break. To ensure better flavor absorption, stir them little by little with chopsticks. Ideally, turn the beef slices into thin beef strips. Finally, sprinkle with roasted white sesame seeds and stir-fry with dried bicolor mandolin chili strips until all the moisture is released. Then it's ready to serve.
...
A large plate of shredded beef, prepared with meticulous care and time-consuming techniques, was served. Xu Milu quickly sliced a plate of cold shredded radish and set out a hot pot of radish, mushrooms, and other seafood. As she was about to slice the abalone, Li Ning snatched the task from her hands:
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