Develop braised food
Fu Zhiqiao slept very restlessly that night, and the next day she got up early and rushed to Taibai Tower.
When she left Taibailou yesterday, she instructed the kitchen staff to buy more pork. She planned to teach the chefs at Taibailou how to make braised beef, roasted lamb leg, and kebabs. Since there was no beef or lamb available, she had to practice with pork first.
Actually, she had this idea last year. Taibailou is currently most famous for its drinks, but not so much for its dishes. Compared to Qiongxianlou, which has the reputation of having imperial chefs, Taibailou's dishes are much inferior, and even if the taste is not bad, it cannot compare with these long-established restaurants.
Fu Zhiqiao had long wanted to improve this situation.
While the drinks are indeed a specialty of Taibailou, the most attractive aspect for customers is still the taste of the food. For a period after the introduction of its premium Taibai wine and Zui Shixian (Drunken Poet Immortal) liquor, Taibailou seemed poised to overtake Qiongxianlou in popularity, but Qiongxianlou eventually regained its dominance.
Qiongxianlou remains the most famous restaurant in the capital.
Fu Zhiqiao is determined to secure the position of the number one restaurant in the capital, but it will be difficult to elevate Taibailou to a higher level based solely on the reputation of its drinks.
The menu at Taibailou is mostly based on wine, which has brought out the best in wine. Since there is no room for improvement in the wine itself, they can only focus on improving the restaurant's menu.
According to her survey, most people in Beijing mainly eat chicken and mutton, followed by pork, duck, and fish.
High-ranking officials and nobles have their own channels to obtain beef, but ordinary people at the bottom of society can never afford to eat a single bite in their entire lives, which shows how rare beef is.
Therefore, Fu Zhiqiao plans to introduce beef into Taibai Tower. Wang Qi has already been sent by her to Wenya Grassland to buy cattle and sheep. The cold winter makes it easier to preserve meat. In other seasons, it is impossible to slaughter cattle and sheep and transport them back to the capital. This is a delicacy that can only be eaten in winter.
To stand out from other restaurants, Taibailou simply wants to sell things that other restaurants don't serve.
She thought about it for a long time before deciding to use beef and mutton as the winter menu for Taibailou. Beef shank will be used for braised dishes, and mutton and other cuts of beef will be used for grilled skewers. She believes that few people can resist the temptation of braised dishes and barbecue. She wants to use these two new menu items to carve out a niche for herself among many restaurants!
The recipe for braised food isn't difficult either. Having lived in an era of information overload, this little thing is no challenge for her.
Fu Zhiqiao plans to promote someone from the kitchen of Taibailou to be in charge of cooking braised dishes and grilled meat.
Taibai Tower has about twenty or thirty people, including head chefs, cooking apprentices, pastry makers, food preparers, stove makers, and general kitchen workers. There are no management positions in the kitchen; you can just go to Defu if you need anything. Besides Defu, the only people with any say are the two head chefs.
Han Rong and Tang Xingkang were the stir-fry chefs she brought from Qingzhou. During their time as chefs at Taibai Tower, they had acquired many recipes and secret formulas. They were not ungrateful people, so they immediately recommended their apprentices to her.
To ensure fairness, Fu Zhiqiao did not directly choose the people recommended by Han Rong and Tang Xingkang, but instead opted for an assessment system.
Two people were selected based on three criteria: skill in knife work, control of heat, and presentation of the dishes. The two winners were Gao Xiangfeng, a cooking apprentice, and Jiang Shun, a food preparation worker.
Upon learning that they had been selected as sous chefs, Jiang Shun and Gao Xiangfeng were grinning from ear to ear, repeatedly expressing their gratitude to their employer and the two chefs.
After the assessment, Fu Zhiqiao promoted Jiang Shun and Gao Xiangfeng to sous chefs. Jiang Shun, who came from a kitchen helper background, was good at knife skills and was in charge of braised dishes. Gao Xiangfeng had been learning cooking skills and was put in charge of grilling meat.
Since the two were chosen based on their own abilities, the other people in the kitchen had no objections, since they were simply not as skilled as the others.
Although only two people were selected as sous chefs, Fu Zhi Qiao's move showed the others in the kitchen a path to promotion, and everyone was full of enthusiasm. Today they were promoted, and maybe next time they would be promoted.
Making barbecue requires charcoal, but it's only early October, far from the time to use charcoal. The guy went to several grocery stores, but couldn't find any charcoal for sale.
Most of the charcoal used in the capital comes from Xishan Kiln. In order to stockpile enough charcoal for the winter, Xishan Kiln is currently firing its kilns at an accelerated pace and has no time to take small orders. In particular, Fu Zhiqiao specifically requested fruitwood charcoal, which makes the request even more difficult.
The shop assistant had no choice but to pay extra to pre-order a batch of fruitwood charcoal from the grocery store owner, urging them to hurry up and get the goods.
Without charcoal, you can't make barbecue, so Fu Zhiqiao plans to teach Jiang Shun how to make braised meat first.
Beef shank is the preferred cut for making braised meat, but since we haven't been able to buy beef or lamb yet, we'll have to use pork as a substitute for now.
Next to the large kitchen, there was a separate small kitchen.
The kitchen had already prepared all the necessary spices. She stood in front of the cutting board and said, "Today I'm going to teach you how to make braised dishes. All the spices are here. Remember them."
"Boss, what is this braised food?"
"No matter what it is, just watch carefully and write down the steps."
"Yes!" Knowing that his employer was going to teach him a new menu, Jiang Shun immediately perked up.
Two rows of spices were already laid out on the long cutting board. Jiang Shun stared at the dozen or so spices on the table, unable to look away. This was a secret recipe! He was incredibly excited that his employer had entrusted him with such an important task as soon as he was promoted to sous chef.
"To make braised food, you need to prepare the broth first. Only with a good broth can the braised food be good." Fu Zhi Qiao paused for a moment and looked at Jiang Shun: "Do you know how to caramelize sugar?"
Jiang Shun shook his head blankly. What kind of dish is caramelized sugar?
Upon hearing this, Fu Zhiqiao sighed softly. "Alright, let's start teaching from the beginning!"
"Caramelizing sugar is a very important step in making braising liquid. Go and crush the rock sugar... uh, rock sugar."
With all the ingredients ready, Jiang Shun took a deep breath, heated the oil in a wok, and, following Fu Zhi Qiao's instructions, added crushed rock sugar to the wok and stirred gently.
"When making caramelized sugar, you need to stir it constantly with a spatula to prevent it from burning."
Jiang Shun tensed all his muscles, concentrating all his strength in his hands as he carefully wielded the spatula. The rock sugar slowly melted in the pot, and bubbles began to appear on the surface of the oil. Fu Zhi Qiao hurriedly called out, "Okay, when white bubbles start to appear in the pot, it means the sugar is ready. Remember, you must add hot water!"
This technique was something she learned from her mistakes.
When she stayed at Taibai Winery for a while, she was craving braised pork, so she asked the kitchen staff to make it for her. The farm's cook didn't know how to make this dish, so she had to explain it to the cook while she made it.
Don't be fooled by Fu Zhi Qiao's impressive menus and recipes; that's just because she has a lot of experience eating delicious food. In reality, she has no cooking experience at all.
Under her half-baked guidance, the cook carefully caramelized the sugar. When she saw bubbles coming out of the pot, Fu Zhi Qiao immediately told the cook that she could add water. Upon hearing her instruction, the cook immediately scooped up a ladle of cold water and added it in. The hot oil in the pot splattered as soon as it met the cold water, and the cook's hand instantly turned red.
Fu Zhiqiao was able to avoid being affected because he was standing further away and directing the operation.
The cook was stunned, and Fu Zhi Qiao was dumbfounded.
Seeing the cook's hands were red from the burn, but thankfully no blisters, Fu Zhi Qiao immediately told her to go and rest and have someone else do the work. The cook shook her head, indicating that she was fine.
Fu Zhi Qiao usually lives in Qingzhou City and only comes to the farm for a short stay occasionally. The cook receives her monthly salary on time but has never cooked for the owner. She feels bad about it and no matter how much Fu Zhi Qiao persuades her, she insists on making the braised dishes.
The cook started cooking again. The timing of caramelizing sugar is crucial. If the heat is too low, the final color of the caramel will not be bright enough. If it is overcooked, it will taste bitter, which is also unacceptable.
Fu Zhiqiao believed she had mastered the art of caramelizing sugar, after all, she had first taught the cook how to make braised pork, then taught Xiaoyue how to make braised beef, and Jiang Shun was the third person she taught.
The first step in making braising liquid is to caramelize sugar. With the experience from the previous two times, Fu Zhi Qiao is now quite adept at the process of making braising liquid. It's just a pity that Xiao Yue has been assigned to Fu Yun Ge to make sweet soups and pastries, otherwise she planned to hand over the task of making braising liquid to Xiao Yue.
Caramelizing sugar can be a bit difficult for first-timers.
Jiang Shun overcooked the first batch, and when he heard Fu Zhi Qiao say it wouldn't work, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Fu Zhiqiao noticed his nervous expression and comforted him, "It's okay, if this pot breaks, we'll just cook another one. Don't be nervous."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Shun's expression became even more tense. He knew that rock candy was very expensive, and he had already ruined one batch. If he ruined the next batch as well, would the employer think that he wasn't capable enough...?
Jiang Shun's heart was pounding. Before he could think it over, Fu Zhi Qiao's order came again.
Having learned from the previous experience, Jiang Shun dared not be careless when starting the pot again. He listened attentively to Fu Zhiqiao's orders, and as soon as he heard the words "add water," he immediately picked up the hot water next to him and poured it in.
The next step is to add more than ten kinds of spices, such as star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, licorice, and hawthorn, to the caramelized water. Then add soy sauce and an appropriate amount of salt, bring to a boil over high heat, and then simmer over low heat.
Jiang Shun opened his eyes wide and tried hard to remember the order in which Fu Zhiqiao added the ingredients.
Noticing his muttering, Fu Zhiqiao smiled and said, "The order doesn't matter, just make sure you don't forget any spices."
Half an hour later, the dregs were filtered out, and the braising liquid was ready.
After the braising liquid was ready, the pork belly strips, which had been blanched beforehand, were added. A suitable amount of Taibai wine was poured in, and then Fu Zhiqiao added two large spoonfuls of her own homemade five-spice powder.
The five-flavor powder, which she had ground in advance, was her secret weapon. She had no intention of teaching the method to anyone else. It was enough for Jiang Shun to learn how to make the braising liquid. She wanted to keep the core recipe of the five-flavor powder to herself.
As long as Jiang Shun follows the method she taught, the taste of the braising liquid will be almost identical.
To make braised meat, you need to simmer it over low heat; this will ensure the meat absorbs the flavors.
An hour later, the aroma of braised meat filled the room, making people's mouths water and attracting Han Rong and Tang Xingkang from the kitchen next door.
They had never smelled this fragrance before.
Tang Xingkang stood at the door, rubbed his hands together, and involuntarily swallowed, asking, "Master, what are you doing?"
Fu Zhiqiao succinctly stated: "The new menu item in the building is braised pork."
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