Chapter 302 Competition to cook the same dish?
Today, the International Food Exhibition in Hong Kong City ushered in its most lively day.
Food lovers, exhibitors and industry professionals from all over the world gathered together, and the entire exhibition site was crowded and lively. Among them, several heavyweight guests attracted everyone's attention, including Paul Durand, Pierre, Yan Xi, Zhu Liling and Jose Carlos, the chef of a high-end restaurant in Spain.
Accompanied by senior executives of the food exhibition organizer and Yue Ning, several important guests visited the exhibition together.
When approaching the Durand Group booth, everyone saw a huge crowd of people gathered there, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of foie gras and mushrooms. The aroma seemed to be an invisible hand, attracting people to walk towards the booth involuntarily. Seeing this, the security personnel hurriedly pushed aside the crowded crowd and politely and orderly allowed the VIPs to enter the Durand Group booth.
At the booth, two young chefs from Baohualou were busy.
A chef stood in front of the iron plate, cutting the goose liver into dice-sized pieces and pouring the goose liver onto the iron plate. With the sound of "sizzling", the goose liver was quickly heated on the iron plate, and the oil came out, emitting an attractive aroma. Another chef was responsible for making fried rice. He poured clear oil on the iron plate, beat six eggs, gently cut three egg yolks, let them mix with the egg white, and poured clear oil on the edge again.
Next, he scooped up a large spoonful of fried vegetables, added a bowl of rice, and used two spatulas to scoop up the three unbroken egg yolks and put them on the rice, then quickly stir-fried them with the spatulas. The liquid egg yolks evenly coated the rice grains, making them instantly golden. He quickly went back and scooped the already fluffy eggs into small pieces, mixed the scrambled eggs with the eggs, and continued to stir-fry the rice.
At this time, the aroma of foie gras and egg fried rice intertwined and spread in all directions. The audience queuing in front looked like they had been hungry for three days and three nights, staring at the fried rice chef's hands with shining eyes.
The chef who fried the goose liver shoveled the fried goose liver to the fried rice, and the fried rice chef mixed the goose liver into the fried rice and began to add seasonings to the fried rice. Especially after adding a spoonful of black oily sauce, the aroma was instantly enhanced to a higher level. The rich and mellow aroma made the people present salivate even more. It was so fragrant!
Smelling the aroma, Paul Durand picked up a bottle with "Chinese Black Truffle Sauce" written on it and the English name below.
"Chinese black truffle?" Paul Durand was very confused. The rich aroma told him that this black truffle sauce was of very high quality, but the taste seemed different from the French black truffle and Italian white truffle. The mushroom flavor was stronger, and the taste of garlic and musk was a little lighter.
"Yes, this sauce is made with black truffles from Yunnan, China," Yue Ning explained with a smile.
Yue Ning remembered that in his previous life, the world's largest truffle producing areas were Yunnan and Sichuan in China.
Based on this memory, Yue Ning discussed with import and export companies in Yunnan and Sichuan and asked them to help find this kind of mushroom, which is locally called "pig arch mushroom". No one wants to eat this stuff in Yunnan, where mushrooms are abundant. After all, the appearance and taste of pig arch mushrooms are not outstanding in Yunnan, where mushrooms are numerous. But after hearing that it can be exported and sold at a high price, the locals immediately sent people to dig it. The first few batches had poor overall quality due to preservation issues. After coordination in the following batches, the preservation issue has been greatly improved.
French black truffles were transported to Hong Kong by air. Due to different seasons and different qualities, the price fluctuated between HK$1,000 and HK$1,500. As for the black truffles produced in Yunnan, the comrades of the import and export company told her that the local purchase price was only three yuan per catty, and many people had already gone up the mountain to dig them. Relevant agricultural product companies purchased and screened them and shipped them to Pengcheng. The good quality ones were only about twenty per catty, equivalent to HK$60 or 70. Except for the extremely good quality truffles that would enter the Hong Kong market and be used directly for cooking, the others were collected by Cui Ji Flavor Industry and made into black truffle sauce.
The fried rice was ready, and the chefs put it in disposable plastic plates for everyone to taste. Yue Ning handed Paul a small portion of fried rice: "Paul, try our fried rice made with foie gras and Chinese black truffle sauce."
Paul took the fried rice and observed it carefully. The fat from the foie gras seeped into the rice, making it more oily, and tiny particles of black truffle were faintly visible in the rice.
Paul has tasted the goose liver produced in Pengcheng. He thinks it is still a long way from Landes goose, but compared with the fat duck livers on the French market, it is obvious that the goose liver here in China is more delicate. The goose liver he sent to China was rated as above average, and the goose liver I ate here today seemed to have improved.
The fat in this foie gras is thicker and more delicate, and it is fried at just the right temperature, making it both crispy and tender.
After confirming the foie gras, he savored the black truffle sauce in the fried rice. The Chinese truffle sauce is very similar to their French truffle sauce, but also different.
"Hey guys, what do you think of this truffle sauce?" Paul asked the chefs.
Pierre savored the taste in his mouth: "It doesn't have as strong a musky smell as the black Perigord truffle and the Burgundy truffle, but the aroma is very complex. It is a high-quality black truffle paste."
Zhu Liling runs a high-end Chinese restaurant in the United States and has a lot of experience in the integration of Chinese and Western ingredients. At this moment, she is particularly concerned about the oriental truffle sauce in this bite of fried rice. When the rice mixed with foie gras slides into the throat, the aroma of truffle sauce is not an overbearing impact, but penetrates layer by layer like ink on rice paper, with the aroma of nuts, garlic, mushrooms, and even a mellow fragrance that she can't describe.
She said: "It's so interesting. When I return to the United States, I will use it to make a Chinese truffle noodle dish. It will definitely surprise those guests who are used to eating black truffle pasta."
Yanxi remained silent until the last grain of rice on the plate was put into his mouth, then he slowly put down the spoon. His tasting method was very meticulous: first taste the foie gras alone, then pick out the rice wrapped in truffle sauce, and finally chew the three together.
He said in French: "The fat content of foie gras is excellent. The flavor of the truffle does not steal the spotlight from the foie gras, but it is always there."
Jose chewed it in small bites, carefully distinguishing the taste: "Yes, this truffle sauce has a soft but recognizable taste. I wonder what fresh truffles taste like?"
"I froze a lot of it. We'll taste it carefully in the evening," said Yue Ning.
"This foie gras is also very good. If you didn't tell me, I could only tell that it was not the foie gras from the Landes goose, but I can confirm that the quality of this foie gras is very high," said Jose.
Yue Ning smiled: "We use local lion-head geese to fatten this foie gras. The foie gras of lion-head geese are known for their fineness. After fattening, it is better than the foie gras of the hybrid geese and Ningdong white geese we sent before."
"So, how much does foie gras cost here?" asked Jose.
Pierre smiled and said, "Durand is their European general agent, you can ask him."
Paul showed a smug expression: "The price is very attractive."
The accompanying food exhibition staff came over and said to Yue Ning: "Ms. Yue, the finals are about to begin."
Yue Ning looked at the guests and asked, "Shall we go watch the game?"
As the group walked into the finals of the "World Chinese Chef Competition", they were immediately followed by the camera.
In the stands, Nicholas and Fan Xiuqin stood up, and Nicholas called out in Cantonese: "Dad."
Yue Ning smiled helplessly. Fan Xiuqin, this lively character, was leading Nicholas, this elegant French boy, further and further astray.
Everyone focused their attention on them. Pierre greeted his son and they went to sit in the best seats besides those for the professional judges.
The two teams from Shanghai Jinhua Hotel and Gangcheng Baohua Building were ready on stage. After the host introduced today's contestants, judges and guests, the competition officially began.
The two teams went to look for ingredients first. Master Zhang from Shanghai found four pig's trotters with small trotters and a dozen salted duck eggs, and left his apprentice to continue getting the ingredients while he returned to the scene to make preparations.
"Chef Zhang is in such a hurry to come back. Is he going to cook a big dish today?" the host asked curiously.
"No, we want to make a cold dish. Four hours of preparation time is a bit short, not enough for the pig's trotters to cool completely." Chef Zhang explained.
Chef Zhang put the pig's trotter on the fire to roast the skin. After the pig's skin is roasted, the remaining pig hair can be burned off and the residual fishy smell of the pig's skin can be removed. He brushed the roasted pig's trotter clean, put it on the chopping board, picked up a kitchen knife to cut the trotter open, and removed the bones and meat inside, including the small bones in the claws, and a piece of pig's trotter skin came out.
"Chef Zhang, do you want to make stewed pig's trotters?" Yang Yuhe asked.
Chef Zhang smiled and said, "I was inspired by the stewed pig's trotters in Foshan. I incorporated the stewed pig's trotter recipe into the recipe of our Jiangnan Zaohu."
This was Jose's first time in Hong Kong. He had only seen Chinese chefs' knife skills on TV. Now he opened his mouth slightly in surprise: "Oh my God! How can he be so fast?"
"Jose, look at Chef Chen." Pierre had seen it with his own eyes a long time ago. His son had also told him a lot about the unique skills of Chinese chefs when he returned to France last time. The more he interacted with Chinese chefs, the more Pierre realized that he knew very little about them.
Chen Jinying was slicing a grass carp. She sliced the grass carp from head to tail, leaving a slice of fish meat as thin as a cicada's wing and about a foot long.
"Chef Chen, what are you going to do?" someone asked curiously.
"Make a Sichuan dish, fish fillet with lantern shadow."
Mr. Jin introduced the dish into the microphone: "As the name suggests, the fish fillet should be thin enough to let light through it. This is a dish that tests the chef's knife skills. Today, Chef Zhang is also showing off his knife skills. The most difficult part of making the Yunzha pig's trotter in Foshan is to remove the bones of the trotter. Usually, a chef who specializes in making Yunzha pig's trotters can't make more than a dozen trotters a day. In just 20 minutes, Chef Zhang has already removed all four trotters. This is a real skill."
I saw Chef Zhang pick the meat and tendons off the pig's trotter bones. Because the trotters were still attached, there was still a lot of meat. He poured in seasonings to marinate the meat. Then he cracked open the salted duck eggs and took out the egg yolks.
His apprentice took out a handful of straw and soaked it in clean water.
The host said, "I remember this time last year, when Chef Zhang participated in the first competition, he was holding rice leaves and straw. Today, you didn't hold rice leaves but held straw?"
"Shanghai is a water town in the south of the Yangtze River. Rice has been grown here since ancient times, and straw is often used to tie meat and rice dumplings." Chef Zhang said as he put the egg yolk in the middle, and wrapped the yolk with meat and tendons as much as possible without exposing it. Finally, he rolled it tightly with pig's trotter skin and then tied the trotter tightly with straw.
After tying up the four pig's trotters, he put them into the pot and stewed them with seasonings and the old soup he brought.
Chen Jinying's fish fillets had already been sliced, and Wu Zhihai was putting them into the oven.
The host asked him, "Chef Wu, what are you doing?"
"The water in the fish meat needs to be dried out so that it will be crystal clear when you fry it," said Wu Zhihai.
The host looked at Chen Jinying, who was removing the bones from the cow's hoof that Wu Zhihai had already cleaned, using the same method as Chef Zhang, leaving a layer of skin. She then carefully peeled off the meat and tendons from the hoof bones.
The audience was dumbfounded. Did the two chefs collide with each other today? Did they cook the same dish? But one used pig's trotters and the other used cow's trotters?
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