Chapter 244 Tianjin Diners
Chen Jinying came over and picked up a piece of squid flower covered with milky white sauce with bamboo chopsticks. The squid flower swayed gently without any dripping of the sauce.
She turned around and called her new apprentice: "Aqiang, come here."
Ah Qiang came over, and Chen Jinying said, "Did you see that? This is called 'tight sauce wrapped in starch'. The starch you fried with shrimp last time was so thin that it could feed fish. Glass starch is transparent and hard to detect, but milk starch is easy to see, right?"
Ah Qiang smiled innocently: "Master, this is the dish cooked by Ning Ning."
"Chef Chen, I feel that milk stir-fry and fried stir-fry are basically the same, except that milk stir-fry is thickened with fresh milk, while fried stir-fry is thickened with water starch. Is that right?" said a chef nearby.
Chen Jinying looked at Yue Ning: "The techniques are similar, but when I saw Ning Ning cooking just now, seasoning is also very important."
"Yes, the fried milk sauce was developed by Muslim chefs by borrowing the fried milk sauce from Shandong cuisine and combining it with the Hui people's habit of eating dairy products." Yue Ning said, "In terms of seasoning, the intensity of the milk flavor is a bit particular. People who don't drink milk often can use pure milk to thicken it; those who like a stronger milk flavor can add light cream. Plus the garlic flavor is integrated into the seasoning, it is really similar to Italian seafood stew."
Ah Wei ate a piece of shrimp and shook his head, saying, "Foreigners don't pay as much attention to the cooking time as we do when stewing seafood."
The plate of milk juice was quickly sold out, and Chen Jinying said to Ah Qiang: "I will try this dish with you in the afternoon."
"Chef Chen, let's go together!" The other chefs rushed to seize the opportunity.
"good."
The cooks continued to work. Lu Peide turned to his apprentice and said, "Take the pork out of the freezer. We are going to make a sauerkraut pork pot."
After hearing this, Yue Ning asked, "Who wants to eat roasted meat hotpot at this time of year?"
Lu Peide took the steamed and then refrigerated roast pork from the apprentice, and explained while slicing it: "It should be the guest who ordered the full milk sauce. He is Mr. Lin Haoyun's VIP guest. Their table ordered all northern dishes today, including my braised sea sheep, sister Jinying's braised prawns and scallion-fried sea cucumber. Three days ago, Mr. Lin called personally to say that the guest wanted to eat the roast pork pot, and if there is no sauerkraut stewed white meat, it would be fine."
Lu Rou Guozi is a high-end version of sauerkraut stewed with white meat.
When the Manchus entered the country and Aisin-Gioro became emperor, the tastes of the Emperor and the Empresses did not change, especially Emperor Qianlong, who particularly liked to eat cabbage.
How could the imperial chefs show off their skills in stewing pork with sauerkraut and vermicelli with sauerkraut? So, the imperial chefs started to cook rough dishes with great care.
Inspired by the fried pork, they first pierced the skin of the pork belly, smeared it with scallions, ginger, cooking wine and coarse salt, and hung it to air dry like roast duck. They blew it until the skin was shiny, and knocked it to make a "clang clang clang" sound, and then roasted it with fruit wood until the skin was evenly bubbled. After taking it out of the stove, they quickly put the pork belly into ice water to make the skin bubble more fully, and then put it in the steamer with seasoning.
After steaming, the fat of the pork belly will be melted and integrated into the lean meat fibers, and the skin will be completely soft. This kind of pork belly is then put into the refrigerator to set. After overnight, the condensed pork belly will be smooth and beautiful when cut.
The pork is sliced and placed in a pot with pickled cabbage and vermicelli, covered with a yellow chrysanthemum in the middle, and poured with milky white broth, and served in a small copper pot. The pot is bubbling, the pork is tender, and the broth is sour and mellow.
Since it is decorated with chrysanthemums, it is a seasonal dish in autumn and winter. Now it is the turn of spring and summer, why do you want to eat this? Maybe it is a guest from the north who has been away for many years?
Just as Yue Ning guessed, in the private room, Mr. Lin and his wife, celebrities from Hong Kong, were entertaining guests. An old man wearing gold-rimmed glasses was eating the milky soup made by Yue Ning.
"It's even more authentic than what I had behind Quanyechang! The pig stomach and chicken gizzards are crispy, the milk sauce is thick, and the sweetness doesn't overwhelm the saltiness." The old man shook his head and sighed, "A few days ago, I went back to Tianjin and visited several Muslim restaurants, but I didn't get to taste the same dish as I did back then. I don't know what happened, the milk sauce was so thin that it didn't taste like milk, and it tasted sweet. I even suspected that I was getting old and remembered it wrong. The one I ate today tasted just like what I remember, with the taste of milk and garlic, and the ingredients were crispy where they should be, and tender where they should be. I didn't get to taste such authentic milk sauce in Tianjin, but I got it in Gangcheng instead."
At this time, the door of the private room opened and the waiter came in, followed by two waiters. On one of the trays was an exquisite copper stove. Before it was served, a sour and fragrant smell wafted over.
When the copper stove was placed on the table, the sour aroma of the boiling pot mixed with the aroma of meat and the fragrance of chrysanthemums. The old man adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and saw the neatly stacked meat in the stove, dotted with a yellow chrysanthemum.
The waiter explained, "Chef Lu said that there are no fresh chrysanthemums suitable for this flavor in this season, so he used dried chrysanthemums from Yueming Mountain in Jiangxi Province and soaked them instead. It is a little lacking after all, and I hope the guests will understand."
"That's very good." said the old man happily.
"Try this roasted meat." Mrs. Lin picked up the serving chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat with skin and put it into the old man's bowl. "Is it the taste you've been craving for?"
The old man picked up the meat slice and looked at it against the light. Tender red lean meat was sandwiched between the translucent fat. Bubbles appeared on the meat skin. When he put it into his mouth, the juice absorbed by the bubbles flowed out instantly. The aroma of fat mixed with the sourness of sauerkraut was oily but not greasy. The lean meat was so soft that it melted into crumbs.
The old man suddenly put down his chopsticks and scooped a spoonful of soup with a spoon: "This soup..."
Mr. Lin looked at him with a smile: "What did you remember?"
"The Lu family of Peking. Only the Lu family can make even ordinary soup bases have their own unique flavor."
"Just now you said that the braised sea lamb was delicious, and that it tasted like the flavor of a Tianjin restaurant. But the person who made this braised sea lamb is not best at Tianjin cuisine, but Lu family cuisine. Mr. Lu Xiuting's eldest grandson is here. The braised prawns and scallion-fried sea cucumber were made by Chen Dexiang's daughter."
"It's already impressive enough for a restaurant to have one chef like this, but this one actually has two?" the old man asked, "No, there are three. What about Chef Yue who made this milky sauce? Which famous family in Beijing is he from?"
"She? She's not from a famous family in Beijing, but she's the inheritor of Fuyunlou, a representative of southern Cantonese cuisine, and she's also the owner of this restaurant," Mr. Lin explained.
"How could a descendant of southern Cantonese cuisine cook this dish, which is rarely seen in other places except Tianjin, so well?" The old man was puzzled. "Also, how did she recruit these two people?"
"She is also a legend in Hong Kong. The greatest charm of Hong Kong is the prosperity of all industries and the emergence of talents." Mr. Lin said, "I will ask the waiter to ask if Miss Yue is free today? Would you like to meet her?"
Mr. Lin stood up, opened the door, and said to the waiter, "Please ask Miss Yue if she is free to meet Mr. Wan Boda?"
"OK."
The waiter walked out quickly and came to the kitchen door. Seeing Yue Ning busy, he called out, "Ningning."
Yue Ning put down her work and walked over. The waiter told her the situation. She asked excitedly, "Is it Professor Wan?"
How could the waiter know who Professor Wan was? He only said, "Said his last name was Wan."
Yue Ning turned to A Wei and said, "A Wei, follow my method and roll up the octopus like an elbow flower, then put it in the freezer."
"good."
Yue Ning hurriedly walked out of the kitchen, went to the bathroom to wash his hands, smelled to make sure there was no fishy smell of octopus, and then came to the door of the private room.
Yue Ning walked to the door and knocked, then pushed it open and went in. Mr. Lin Haoyun stood up and said, "Ningning is here."
Mr. Wan looked at the young girl who came in. American girls tend to mature early. This child looked like a high school student, but she had a temperament that could not be ignored, just like the most outstanding children from old money families in the business school where he taught.
Mr. Lin introduced: "Mr. Wan, this is the owner of this restaurant, and also the chef of this restaurant, Miss Yue Ningyue."
Mr. Lin introduced to Yue Ning: "Mr. Wan Boda is a famous economist and professor at W Business School. When he was young..."
After Mr. Lin finished his introduction, Yue Ning said, "The first time I heard of Professor Wan's name was from my grandfather Zhou. He said that you were a banking leader who promoted the exchange business with foreign banks, and you also strongly criticized the National Government for issuing gold yuan coupons. I understood the changes in China's economy during the War of Resistance from your book "Inflation and Currency Collapse", and I also read your "Crisis under Expansionary Fiscal Policy". I also collected your new book last year, "Asia: The Economic Powerhouse of the Next Decade". Your discussion on Asia made me suddenly enlightened. I am very happy to meet you!"
"Who is the Grandpa Zhou you are talking about?"
"Mr. Zhou Xuanxiong." Mr. Lin said.
When Mr. Wan heard his old friend's name, he asked excitedly, "How is Xuanxiong?"
"Very good. Grandpa Zhou recently went to the mainland. He said he would go to Yangzhou in March for fireworks. He planned to travel all the way from Hangzhou to Yangzhou for a month." Yue Ning said.
In fact, Zhou Xuanxiong went with Fu Danqin. The brother and sister traveled together.
Mr. Lin said, "Ningning, let's have a bite together. Let's talk to Mr. Wan about the next ten years, especially your views on investing in Japan in the next ten years."
"It's my honor to communicate with Professor Wan face to face, but I don't know if it will disturb you?" Yue Ning asked.
Mr. Wan smiled and said, "Come, sit down."
Yue Ning asked the waiter to come in and add chairs, dishes and chopsticks.
After everyone sat down together, Mr. Lin began to introduce to Mr. Wan how Yue Ning developed Baohualou, which was originally on the verge of bankruptcy, into the most popular restaurant chain in Hong Kong in just one year.
"Ningning, you've also partnered with Lide Foods. You currently have two chain restaurants in Japan, right?"
"There are two stores already operating in Japan, and another two are about to open. These four stores are all in Tokyo and Osaka. For the next store, we have done a cooperation project with Hong Kong University and let students who are interning here be responsible for investigating and selecting the site." Yue Ning said.
This surprised Mr. Wan: "You are cooperating with Gangcheng University?"
"Yes! We not only cooperate with City University of Hong Kong, but also with two other higher education colleges." Yue Ning introduced their cooperation projects to Mr. Wan in detail.
Mr. Lin said, "Mr. Wan, if you can work at Gangcheng University, maybe you can teach Ningning."
Mr. Wan looked at Mr. Lin in confusion. Mr. Lin explained, "Ningning took part in the selection exam for Gangcheng University this year. She will study at Gangcheng University."
"Really? Do I have the chance to become Mr. Wan's disciple?" Yue Ning asked excitedly.
Compared with the status of City University of Hong Kong in the previous life, the disciplines of City University of Hong Kong in this era are still relatively weak. The current Governor of Hong Kong may be the Governor who has considered the development of Hong Kong the most in the history of Hong Kong. Under his leadership, the education and people's livelihood welfare of Hong Kong have been greatly improved.
As a celebrity, is Mr. Lin trying to recruit this scholar for City University of Hong Kong?
The waiter served each person a small portion of noodles with soybean paste. Yue Ning said, "Mr. Wan, please try our noodles with soybean paste."
As they ate and talked, Mr. Lin mentioned Yue Ning's statement in a TV interview that "the next ten years will be in Japan, and her future opportunities and even the rest of her life will be in China."
In this private setting, Yue Ning said frankly: "What I didn't say at the time was that although the next ten years will be in Japan, Japan's development will only be limited to ten years."
Yue Ning started from the current reality that the US dollar continues to strengthen, the US trade deficit is rapidly expanding, and the US economy is in recession, and analyzed: "The United States has forcibly suppressed inflation by raising interest rates. The increase in interest rates has caused the US dollar exchange rate to rise sharply, which will further aggravate the US trade deficit. In order to solve these problems, the United States will rely on its economic and military hegemony to force other countries to adjust their policies to maximize its own interests. Japan has no military sovereignty and is one of the fastest-growing countries. Its total economic output is second only to that of the United States, and it will inevitably be greatly impacted. Of course, this is only an external factor. From the perspective of internal factors, the Japanese economy has begun to bubble. If it is not controlled, once the bubble bursts..."
Some of the views that Yue Ning talked about were discussed by Mr. Wan in the book, and some were historical knowledge that Yue Ning learned in his previous life.
Mr. Wan's expression became more and more solemn...
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