Chapter 9: Taking credit for the work, it's all the braised pork.

Zhao Tou'er looked at her calm eyes and somehow agreed: "Okay, I'll let you try it."

A fat chef next to him said dissatisfiedly: "How can you 'try' to cook for a general? If you can do it, you can do it, and if you can't do it, you can't do it." Zhao Tou'er glared at

him: "Then what do you say we should do now? You do it?"

The fat chef turned his face away and didn't say anything.

Seeing Zhao Tou'er speak for Jiang Yanyi, the other chefs thought it was too much of a joke to ask Jiang Yanyi to make braised lion head, but they didn't say anything because they had learned from the previous experience. They just believed in their hearts that Jiang Yanyi couldn't make a lion head that was presentable.

No matter how delicious she makes simple food like knife-cut noodles, her cooking skills are not good enough in front of the main dishes.

Every chef has a few specialties that he is good at, and he will not teach others easily. He has to think twice before accepting an apprentice before handing him his best skills.

After all, there is an old saying that goes "Teach the little apprentice and starve the old master to death."

Braised lion's head is one of Chef Li's specialties. In the past, when making lion's head, Chef Li would avoid people when making the soup.

Jiang Yanyi knew that every chef had his own preferences for the soup he used for cooking, but the ultimate soup that was recognized in later generations was made from old hens, Jinhua ham and dried scallops.

Jiang Yanyi looked at the sun outside and estimated that it would take nearly two hours until noon.

There was no ham in the barracks, so she asked someone to find a piece of pickled bacon from the hind leg of a pig as a substitute, and threw it into the pot with the processed old hen, pork bones, and dried scallops to cook.

To put it simply, the lion's head is a meatball the size of a fist. If you want to make it delicious, you have to pay attention to the idea of ​​"clear but not bland, fat but not greasy".

The meat should be 30% fat and 70% lean pork belly. When dicing, separate the fat and lean meat, which is also a test of knife skills.

Cut the lean meat finely and chop it roughly, and cut the fat meat roughly and chop it roughly.

Chop the scallions, ginger and garlic, dice the water chestnuts, mix them into the chopped meat, add seasonings, beat an egg to increase the viscosity, and then you can make meatballs.

When Jiang Yanyi used to make a simple version of braised lion's head at home, she added chopped scallions when she was seasoning the stuffing, so when the lion's head was put into the pot and the oil was boiled, the scallions on the skin were burnt, which was very unsightly.

In order to avoid this situation, she specially left a little minced meat without scallions and paste it on the outer layer of the meatballs, which not only locked in the fragrance of the scallions, but also prevented the scallions on the skin from burning when boiling. "

To fry the meatballs, you only need to fry the skin until golden brown. This step is to shape the meatballs so that they don't fall apart when cooked in the soup. Meatballs that have not been fried will have uneven and scarred surfaces after cooking, which is unappetizing to look at.

Jiang Yanyi fried some bamboo shoots and carrot shreds in a casserole. Bamboo shoots enhance the flavor, while carrots are the most natural and healthy coloring agent and can also add some sweetness.

However, the carrot flavor will be stronger when added to the soup, so Jiang Yanyi put the stir-fried carrots in a casserole. The radish shreds were picked up before being poured into the soup, which not only gave it a beautiful color but also prevented the flavor from mixing.

The soup, which had been cooked for more than an hour, was not very mellow, but the freshness was definitely there. After adding other ingredients, she put the fried meatballs into the pot and cooked them slowly for half an hour on low heat.

Regarding the issue of the heat, Xu Ke once wrote in "Qing Bai Lei Yin": "Roast it over a low heat, stop after burning a few pieces of firewood, and continue to burn it for about five minutes, and take it out when it is cooked. "

You can see how troublesome it is.

After working for a whole morning, Jiang Yanyi finally made the braised lion head before the military camp started eating.

Just at this time, a soldier came back carrying Chef Li.

Chef Li was worried about the Huotou Camp, so he drank a dose of medicine from the military doctor, and after he stopped having diarrhea, he hurriedly urged someone to carry him back.

"What dish was replaced with the braised lion head? "

Chef Li was helped to sit on the chair, and this was the first question he asked.

In his absence, no one in Huotouying could make lion head, so the first thing Chef Li thought of was to change the dish.

No one in Huotouying

said a word for a while. The fat chef, who had not been optimistic about Jiang Yanyi at the beginning, glanced at Jiang Yanyi and said in a rather weird tone: "The assistant chef who helps you said she can make lion head, and Zhao Touer asked her to do it."

Chef Li looked at Zhao Touer, who inexplicably felt guilty: "Old Li, I'm just trying my best to save the situation..."

Chef Li interrupted him and shouted: "Stupid! "

How could he not know that Tou'er Zhao agreed to let Jiang Yanyi make the Lion's Head in order to prevent himself from being blamed by his superiors, but he also did not want to implicate the people in the camp.

Chef Li did not hold any hope for the Lion's Head made by Jiang Yanyi at all, and said directly: "Have you prepared the substitute dish? Bring it up quickly so I can see."

Tou'er Zhao said: "The girl has been cooking for the whole morning. You can first see if the Lion's Head is okay. If not, we will serve the substitute dish. "

When she said this, she winked at Jiang Yanyi, and Jiang Yanyi understood and brought over the lion's head he had made.

Seeing that Jiang Yanyi had already brought it over, Chef Li took off the lid on the plate.

I didn't have much expectation at first, but I was stunned when I saw the lion's head on the plate.

Four meatballs of the same size were squeezed together, and the color was bright red. The lion's head was sprinkled with some chopped green onions, red and green, which was very beautiful. The bottom of the plate was covered with There were bamboo shoots on the table, and a circle of blanched Chinese cabbage around it.

Chef Li has been making lion's head for decades, and he can tell how well a lion's head is made just by the color of the sauce.

But it was the first time he had seen someone make such a good-looking sauce, and he felt inferior to him.

The chefs at the stove had never seen the finished product made by Jiang Yanyi before, and when they saw it now, they were very surprised.

Chef Li stared at the lion's head for a long time before saying, "Give me a pair of chopsticks. "

Someone immediately handed him a pair of chopsticks. He did not touch the lion's head, but stood up and walked to the stove, and used the chopsticks to dip a little of the remaining sauce in the casserole to taste it.

The expression on his face changed from the initial hesitation to solemnity, which made Zhao Tou'er and the other chefs at the stove feel anxious.

Jiang Yanyi's expression was relatively calm, but Chef Li's expression made her doubt her own cooking skills - could it be that she used the carrots after frying to dye the color, but it backfired?

After putting down the chopsticks, Chef Li looked at Jiang Yanyi deeply and said, "Okay."

Turning to Zhao Tou'er, he said, "Send the braised lion's head to the general."

Zhao Tou'er was relieved, and hurriedly asked the fireman to put the dishes prepared for the general into the food box and send it over.

The other chefs were surprised to see that this plate of lion's head could get a good word from Chef Li. They took chopsticks to dip the sauce in the pot and tasted it, and then they all widened their eyes.

Delicious! It

's so delicious that you want to swallow your tongue! The sweet taste is really wonderful!

People in the chef industry know that the more exquisite the dish is, the more you have to eat the original flavor to taste the chef's cooking skills.

In the past, whether Jiang Yanyi made tofu pudding or sliced ​​noodles, they thought it was just a small matter, but this time, this red-braised lion's head, they had to look at it with new eyes.

Feng Shuo was ready to ask someone to call the chef who made the sliced ​​noodles in the morning, but he learned that the chef had a stomachache and was lying on the bed next to the military doctor, so he gave up. At noon, he

saw this braised lion's head dish. The color seemed to be not much different from what he had eaten in the palace before, and he was a little surprised.

——The guys in the military camp can make such delicate and exquisite food.

He took a bite, the sauce wrapped around the lion's head was sweet and fragrant, and the meat inside was tender and juicy, refreshing and not greasy.

Although Feng Shuo didn't know how to cook, he could faintly taste the food he had eaten in the barracks these days, whether it was rice or tea, so he concluded that it was the bowl of tofu pudding that restored his sense of taste yesterday, and the bowl of knife-cut noodles in the morning today.

After all, those were the first two things he ate before he regained his sense of taste.

This lion's head tastes really good.

Feng Shuo asked, "Which chef in Huotou Battalion cooked this dish?"

The guard had just checked today's menu with the people in Huotou Battalion yesterday. He remembered that Huotou Battalion said that the red-braised lion's head was their chief chef's specialty, so he immediately said, "It was Chef Li who went to the military doctor for abdominal pain earlier."

Feng Shuo thought for a moment, and his deep eyes concealed emotions that only he understood: "Give this bowl of red-braised meat to that chef, and ask him to come over. I have something to ask him." The

red-braised meat on the table was a little rough, and the fat was a little greasy, so Feng Shuo didn't touch it. But in the eyes of ordinary soldiers, it was still a rare delicacy.

The personal guards knew that it was rare for the soldiers to eat meat, so they were not surprised by Feng Shuo's reward. They ordered their subordinates to bring the bowl of braised pork and went to Huotouying.

Huotouying.

After lunch, they rested for an hour before continuing to prepare ingredients for the evening.

During this time, the women all returned to Hu Yanglin's barracks.

Jiang Yanyi hadn't seen Chunxiang much all morning, and only caught a glimpse of her during dinner. After Chunxiang noticed Jiang Yanyi's gaze, she avoided his sight directly, not knowing whether it was because of guilt due to what happened in the morning or something else .

Jiang Yanyi vaguely felt that Chef Li's diarrhea today was related to Chunxiang, but she had no evidence.

And if Chunxiang wanted to harm Chef Li, it seemed that she could not find a motive. It was a bit too coincidental that Liu Cheng happened to take a leave to go home today.

But Liu Cheng is Chef Li's apprentice, so he has no reason to harm Chef Li.

Jiang Yanyi was getting more and more confused. Seeing that it was getting late, she said hello to Chef Li and prepared to go back to Hu Yanglin to rest for an hour before coming back.

"When you go back, take this list to Lao Zhao and ask him to prepare more ingredients for the dishes above." Before leaving, Chef Li handed Jiang Yanyi a list.

Jiang Yanyi was surprised to see that there were seven or eight people who wanted to eat hot and sour noodles.

Chef Li thought she didn't cook noodles well last night, but after seeing the lion's head she made today, and so many people wanted to come over to eat noodles in the evening, the plain-looking noodles looked a bit mysterious to Chef Li.

He said, "I don't know what ingredients you used to make the noodles last night. When you meet Old Zhao, tell him in person."

He tried to avoid the question, not wanting Jiang Yanyi to think that he wanted to find out how the noodles were made.

But Jiang Yanyi didn't think about that at all. She thought that Chef Li was just bothering her.

Thinking of her previous worries, she looked around and saw that there was no one around. She lowered her voice and said, "Master Li, you had diarrhea suddenly today..."

"The old man knows what's going on. You can go to Old Zhao." Chef Li seemed to know what Jiang Yanyi wanted to say, so he interrupted her and looked at Jiang Yanyi with a kinder look.

Jiang Yanyi saw that Chef Li said this, thinking that he knew who was responsible for his diarrhea, so he said nothing more and went to Boss Zhao.

After she handed the list to Zhao Tou'er, she asked him to prepare more cornstarch and sweet potato starch.

A soldier was cleaning the food in the warehouse and accidentally knocked over a basket of duck eggs. Some of the duck eggs had already gone bad and were broken into pieces, which smelled terrible.

Zhao Tou'er felt very distressed when he saw the broken eggs. He pointed at the soldier's nose and cursed: "You blind bastard, do you know how much this basket of eggs costs!"

The soldier kept apologizing.

Jiang Yanyi asked casually, "Why are all these duck eggs spoiled?"

Speaking of this, Zhao Tou'er got a headache. He said, "General Fan used to like to eat salted duck eggs, so the Huotou Camp bought a lot of duck eggs as a reserve. But the army did not have enough salt for cooking, so how could we dare to waste it on making salted eggs? We could only make a few each time, and the remaining eggs were only found now, and a lot of them were spoiled."

Jiang Yanyi knew that salt was expensive in ancient times. Looking at the remaining baskets of duck eggs, she suddenly had an idea. Making salted duck eggs was too expensive, so why not make preserved eggs instead?

She immediately said, "Zhao Tou'er, I have a way to make these eggs as delicious and long-lasting as salted duck eggs!"

About half an hour after Jiang Yanyi left Huotouying, the flag officer came to Huotouying with a bowl of red braised pork.

"Is Chef Li at the stove?" The flag officer's voice was like a loud bell, attracting people from Huotouying to gather around.

Chef Li came out of the barracks and said with some flattery: "Sir, I am the one."

The flag officer looked at him and said: "You made a good lion head. The general rewarded you with a red roast pork..."

Chef Li was surprised and said hurriedly: "I am unworthy of it. Today's lion head was made by other chefs on the stove."

The flag officer did not expect that this trip would be so troublesome, and asked: "Which chef?"

"He is a newcomer. He just went back to Hu Yanglin's barracks." Chef Li calculated the time and thought that Jiang Yanyi should have returned to that barracks by now.

As soon as Hu Yanglin was mentioned, the flag officer guessed Jiang Yanyi's identity.

It is said that heroes do not ask where they come from, so why would a chef care about where they come from? The flag officer didn't say anything more and led his men straight past.

The fat chef looked at the red-roasted pork in the hands of the soldier behind the flag officer, and felt uncomfortable. Red-roasted pork was his specialty, but why did the new lion-headed general eat it, but he didn't even touch the red-roasted pork he made?

At this time, the women in Hu Yanglin's barracks were all resting inside. Chunxiang secretly took the clothes that were soiled when she went to Hu Yanglin's place this morning and went outside to wash them.

When she was halfway through washing, she suddenly saw the flag officer who delivered the reward to the fire camp yesterday and his people coming here. He must be here to reward again.

When Chunxiang thought about Jiang Yanyi making a red-braised lion head today and stealing the show, which caused her to plan to take a bath, she was so angry that her teeth itched. She threw and hit clothes while washing to vent her anger.

The flag officer approached and saw a washer outside the barracks. He wanted her to go in and pass on a message, so he said, "Who made the red-braised lion head in Huotouying today? The general rewarded a bowl of red-braised meat."

Chunxiang thought it was a great reward, but when she heard it was just a bowl of red-braised meat, she sneered at it, but suddenly felt better.

She wiped her hands on her dress, and when she stood up, she saw the tempting color of the bowl of red-braised meat, and her stomach growled twice.

Thinking that it was just a bowl of braised pork, it would not be a big deal if she claimed it falsely, so she said, "I did it."

The flag officer looked at him, and Chunxiang's heart was pounding. She almost thought that the flag officer had discovered her lie.

The flag officer was just a little bit different. He thought that Chef Li was talking about the camp prostitute who was rewarded yesterday, but he didn't expect it was someone else.

He signaled the soldier behind him to pass the braised pork to Chunxiang.

Chunxiang happily took it, and smelled the meaty aroma in the bowl. The glutton in her stomach was aroused, and she felt more and more that her decision to claim it falsely was right, and hurriedly said, "Thank you, general."

Unexpectedly, the flag officer's next sentence was: "The general wants to see you, come with us."