My daily life of cooking food in Tokyo

Chapter 245 Mapo Tofu
Collecting bamboo drain is also very simple.

Take bamboo of suitable size and cut it into small sections of suitable length.

Burn the middle of the fire and collect the liquid that flows out from both ends.

Of course there is another way.

Cut off the branches and leaves of the growing bamboo directly, bend it, and lower it to receive the collection container until the next morning to collect the liquid.

However, this method is too slow, and at the same time, it also loses some anger and burnt aroma, so it is not suitable for Liu Minghui to use.

No time wasted.

Liu Minghui went straight to the backyard and started chopping bamboo.

With the scythe constantly waving, a bamboo was quickly chopped off and became Liu Minghui's trophy.

After several treatments, Liu Minghui collected a small bottle of bamboo juice.

Under the sunlight, the bamboo leek has a beautiful amber color, which looks very attractive.

With a light sniff, you can smell the strong bamboo fragrance.

Although this bottle is not much, it is enough as an auxiliary tool for bartending.

Of course, the freshly collected bamboo juice is not suitable to be used directly for wine mixing.

It also needs to be processed to remove the astringent taste before it can be used.

Charcoal is needed here.

The unique porous structure of charcoal can absorb the astringency and excessive bamboo flavor in bamboo juice.

The taste of bamboo leek becomes softer and more mellow, which complements fine wine.

After the preparation work was completed, Liu Minghui began distillation and purification.

Take two containers, one large and one small, and pour the first wine and bamboo juice into them respectively.

The container containing the bamboo drain needs to add two small pieces of charcoal additionally.

After that you can start heating.

The temperature should not be too high, but just right.

After absorbing enough heat, the contents of Chujiu and Bamboo Leek begin to evaporate.

into steam.

Run along a long pipe to the collector.

Under the action of ice, the temperature of the collector is very low.

The steam liquefies at the moment of contact with the collector.

Constant condensation.

In the end, it turned into large liquid droplets.

Dries down the bottom of the collector.

Drops into the prepared container.

This process is very slow, and there must be no mistakes during the period. It requires enough patience and technology to complete.

Fortunately, for Liu Minghui, these were not problems at all.

After an unknown period of time, Liu Minghui finally purified a large jar of wine.

The color is crystal clear and looks like clear water without any impurities.

From far away, Liu Minghui could smell a strong aroma of wine.

He was very curious about what the wine he had processed would taste like.

I can't wait to pour some out, dip a little with chopsticks, and start to taste it.

As soon as this wine is taken into the mouth, a rich aroma composed of a mixture of wine aroma and bamboo aroma begins to hit the nose.

Strong, yet not pungent, it leaves a deep impression.

The entrance is hot, indicating that its degree is very high.

But it's not very exciting.

It is acceptable to most people.

Move your tongue and start savoring.

You can also feel a sweetness in the hotness.

It is under the effect of this sweetness that although the wine is full-bodied, the taste is very soft.

It tastes very smooth.

Like a combination of hardness and softness, it constantly impacts the drinker's mouth.

Compared with the first drink before, the current drink is many times stronger.

Just looking at Liu Minghui's frown, it was obvious that the wine still couldn't satisfy him.

Liu Minghui shook his head.

This wine can only be said to be in the right direction, but the purification is not good enough.

If you taste it carefully, you can still feel a little astringent and a little sour.

It needs to be purified twice, or even three times or more, before it can become the most perfect taste.

Sure enough, in the system's evaluation, this jar of wine barely reached the middle level.

Although it's good, it obviously doesn't meet Liu Minghui's requirements.

After all, his brewing skills have reached an advanced level.

Making wine that is less than high-end is considered a failure.

Work slowly and work hard.

More haste less speed.

Liu Minghui started the second purification.

Soon a third purification began.

……

After an unknown number of purifications, Liu Minghui's technique has gradually become proficient.

The control of Chujiu and Zhuli became more and more proficient, and finally got the wine he wanted.

A jar of wine that has been evaluated by the system as high-end.

Taste again.

The taste of the wine has changed drastically.

Every detail has been turned into perfection.

The result is a perfect blend of flavors.

Just one sip will bring you the ultimate taste bud enjoyment.

In particular, the unique taste and fragrance of bamboo juice sublimates this wine.

Liu Minghui was very satisfied. Only this kind of wine could be given away.

Immediately do the same with the rest of the wine.

In the end, a total of three jars of wine were obtained.

Five jars of initial wine plus a large amount of bamboo juice will yield three jars of wine. The consumption rate is really terrible.

Liu Minghui thought about it, and decided to buy some exquisite wine bottles for refilling.

As the saying goes, people rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles.

Sometimes the packaging is even more important than the content.

Since the wine-making culture is prevalent here, Liu Minghui doesn't have to worry about not being able to buy wine bottles.

A bunch of exquisite wine bottles soon arrived.

After subpackaging, more than a dozen bottles of self-brewed wine were obtained.

A simple tie with a red ribbon is quite good as a gift.

Although these bottles look large, they are actually very small in capacity.

After loading, the two jars of wine were used up.

There is one jar left, which is naturally a gift left by Liu Minghui for his father Liu Lixing.

I believe that he who loves to drink will definitely like it.

Alcohol is not a good thing to bring on the plane.

At that time, you still need to go to the airport to go through express delivery procedures.

Except for a little trouble, it's not a problem at all for Liu Minghui.

This brewing experience is Liu Minghui’s first try.

Try your hand at brewing.

He was obviously very satisfied with the results.

It seems that when the conditions are ripe, I can consider making special wines that belong exclusively to Longli Izakaya.

After all, Liu Minghui opened an izakaya, and it was not enough to just serve good drinks and food.

Wine is undoubtedly the protagonist.

After doing all this, he opened the door, and Liu Minghui found that it was completely dark outside.

I actually spent a whole day.

Considering that distillation is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, Liu Minghui was relieved again.

Making good wine is not an easy task.

Cuckoo.

Liu Minghui's stomach made a protest sound.

He had breakfast today and was very hungry at this time.

Parents have always been very supportive of Liu Minghui's actions.

After knowing that he was concentrating on making wine, he didn't have the idea of ​​disturbing him.

They chose to give time to Liu Minghui himself.

Although Guangnian was waiting a little anxiously in the room, he did not choose to disturb Liu Minghui.

She knew that when she was concentrating on doing something, the most taboo thing was to be interrupted suddenly.

Of course, this is mainly because Liu Minghui has not been making wine for a long time.

If it lasts for more than a day and a night, they naturally cannot let it go.

As soon as he went out, Liu Minghui heard the very pleasant voice of Photon in the room:

"Minghui, are you out?"

"Come and eat."

"We saved dinner for you."

"It's still hot, you can eat it directly."

After finishing speaking, Indoor Photon took Liu Minghui's hand very naturally.

Liu Minghui looked at the time 22:36 on his phone.

Liu Minghui didn't refuse, and was pulled by the photons in the room to sit down together.

Open the cover, and there is a hearty meal inside.

Best of all, they're still hot.

Now that I can still eat hot food, I know that someone must have been heating it for me after thinking about it.

Who else could this person be besides Indoor Photon?
Xiang Zhen had always played this role before.

Maybe Mitsuko got her approval and made her feel like she could let go.

This time she chose to leave Liu Minghui under the care of Indoor Photon.

A touch of emotion welled up in his heart, and Liu Minghui thanked: "Photon, thank you."

"You must be tired. Go to bed early and don't have to wait for me."

"I'll go to bed after dinner."

Photon in the room stubbornly shook his head and said, "No, I will wait for you to go up together."

"This is my responsibility and obligation, you don't need to say thank you."

After speaking, he got up and went to the kitchen, and after a while, he brought a bowl of rice, put it in front of Liu Minghui, and said:
"Eat quickly, you must be hungry."

Looking at the inextricable love in the eyes of Guangzi in the room, Liu Minghui suddenly felt that he was not hungry anymore.

There seemed to be something more alluring in front of him.

He immediately planned to make a move to conquer the charming goblin in front of him.

It's just that when he was about to act, he seemed to have thought of something and stopped.

I almost forgot that this charming goblin in front of me could only look at but not eat, it was really depressing.

Liu Minghui sighed, and with difficulty turned his gaze back to the dinner in front of him.

It seemed that all he could eat was what was in front of him.

Although it was leftovers, there were no traces of being touched.

It was obvious that he had left food for Liu Minghui before eating.

Naturally, the taste of this kind of food that has been heated many times is not so delicious.

But being able to fill the stomach can be regarded as fulfilling the most basic function of food.

With a quick pull, two bowls of rice went into Liu Minghui's stomach.

Burping with satisfaction, Liu Minghui smiled and said, "Guangzi, you've finished your meal."

"Let's go back to bed early."

Indoor Photon's face turned red instantly, and he said in a confused voice, "Who wants to sleep with you?"

"I'm going first, I won't wait for you!"

After speaking, like a nimble rabbit, two flashes, and then disappeared before Liu Minghui's eyes.

Liu Minghui was completely dumbfounded by the behavior of the indoor photons.

The conscience of heaven and earth, the sleep he talks about simply means sleeping in your own room.

Absolutely no bad intentions.

It was because the female hooligan, Indoor Photon, had such an impure mind that she had such strange thoughts.

He, Liu Minghui, was not so impatient.

The next day, Liu Minghui got up early.

Since there is Xiang Zhen's birthday party today, the breakfast is just the simplest egg noodles.

simple.

But it is not lacking in nutrition and deliciousness.

Fry the eggs in lard until lightly golden on both sides.

No other operations are required, just add water and boil until the water boils, then put in the slender longxu noodles.

After simmering all the ingredients until they are mature, add an appropriate amount of salt to taste and serve in bowls.

Finally, sprinkle with a handful of chopped green onions, and a bowl of egg noodles with full color, flavor and flavor is completed.

After simmering, the white part of the egg loses its crispiness and becomes very soft.

The unique fluffy structure absorbs the essence of noodle soup and egg soup, which is very delicious.

Coupled with the fluffy egg yolk, combined with the firm and smooth noodles, people can't help but keep sucking.

A bowl of egg noodles soon entered everyone's stomach.

They all made gratified sounds.

After clearing away the dishes, Liu Minghui began to help prepare today's ingredients.

Although he promised to only provide one ingredient, Liu Minghui could still help with the simple task of handling the ingredients.

It's time to show off your knife skills!

Knife up and down.

All kinds of ingredients were flying under Liu Minghui's hands, and they were constantly being cut into suitable small pieces.

Cuts fast and well.

Seeing Xiang Zhen couldn't help but give her a thumbs up, and exclaimed: "Son, you are awesome!"

Liu Minghui's shot greatly relieved Xiang Zhen's pressure.

After all, many foods are actually not difficult to cook, but it is difficult to handle the ingredients.

Now she only needs to be responsible for cooking, and she doesn't feel too comfortable.

Liu Minghui will always deliver the just-prepared ingredients at the most suitable time.

This kind of immersive cooking is simply a kind of enjoyment for her.

While helping Xiangzhen handle the ingredients, Liu Minghui also began to prepare his own vegetarian dishes.

Mapo tofu.

This classic dish is what Liu Minghui is preparing to make.

The main ingredients of Mapo Tofu are tofu and beef mince, seasoned with some common seasonings.

After the dish is finished, it has eight characteristics: numb, spicy, fresh, fragrant, hot, crispy, tender and lively.

The eight elements work together to create the wonderful taste of Mapo Tofu.

Spicy, delicious, hot and tender is easy to understand.

They are the hemp of Zanthoxylum bungeanum.

The spicy bean paste.

The ingredients are fresh and green, red and white are suitable, and the color and taste are fresh.

The aroma of ingredients blending together.

The whole dish maintains the temperature after it comes out of the pan, and it is not easy to cool down.

Every time the chopsticks are eaten, they are as hot as just out of the pan.

Crisp actually refers to the unique taste of beef mince.

The minced meat fried in hot oil is golden in color and not crispy.

Grain by grain, grain by grain, distinct.

The mouth is crisp, and the teeth melt.

Live refers to a unique skill of Mapo tofu.

The tofu is served, and the inch-long garlic sprouts stand upright in the bowl.

Emerald green and blue, the oil is very bright.

It is as if it has just been picked and chopped from the vegetable field, and it is vivid.

I picked up a few leeks to taste and found that all the leeks were fully cooked and had no astringent taste.

Since Liu Minghui promised to make a vegetarian dish, he would not use beef.

Here a workaround has to be thought of.

Soy is the best substitute.

Since ancient times, soybeans, a material rich in vegetable protein, have been used to make vegetarian meat.

It's just that if you want to make vegetarian meat taste like real meat, it will test the skill of the chef.

In particular, it is even more difficult to make vegetarian meat that can support one of the eight "crispy" mapo tofu.

Fortunately, Liu Minghui's basic skills are solid, and now he has basically reached the intermediate level.

In addition, soybeans are a very common ingredient, so you can try it.

The first step in making vegetarian meat is steaming.

Only when the soybeans are steamed until they are extremely soft can they be ready for subsequent seasoning and frying.

Taking advantage of helping Xiangzhen handle the ingredients, Liu Minghui has steamed the soybeans on the steamer for a long time.

It is estimated that the heat will almost meet Liu Minghui's requirements.

Mapo Tofu does not require a lot of vegetarian meat.

Just one bowl of steaming is enough for Liu Minghui to try many times.

Turn on the steamer.

The yellow-orange beans are served in a small white bowl, which looks very pleasing to the eye.

Before seasoning the soybeans, Liu Minghui also needs to pretreat the soybeans to remove the soybean skin and germ that will affect the taste.

Pour the boiling soybeans directly into the ice water.

While cooling down quickly, it will also make the soybeans firmer and more chewy.

The process of peeling and removing the flesh is not a coincidence, it can only be done a little bit, slowly.

Very time-consuming and laborious.

Even though Liu Minghui was skillful, it took him half an hour to process all the soybeans.

Get a mud press.

Put the processed soybeans into it and grind them into mud.

In order to ensure the tender and crispy taste of the crispy meat, the mashed soybeans cannot be used directly.

It also needs to be sieved to crush the large particles in the soybean paste and turn it into fine sand.

Add appropriate amount of seasoning directly to the sieved soybean paste for seasoning.

Among them, soy sauce is the most critical.

While dyeing the soy bean paste into the sauce, it can also add a sauce fragrance. The whole is more like cooked beef mince, so that it can be faked.

Next is the time to put the technology to the test.

Heat the oil in a hot pan until it reaches the right level.

Liu Minghui picked up his chopsticks and made a stroke in the soybean paste.

Immediately, a diced soybean paste was cut off by Liu Minghui, and it fell into the oil pan smoothly without any splash of oil.

Liu Minghui was like a master who was making sliced ​​noodles. With his skillful movements, pieces of mashed soybeans kept falling into the oil pan.

It's just that he didn't use a knife, and he didn't cut noodles.

After a few minutes, the pot was evenly covered with mashed soybeans.

Liu Minghui used a colander to continuously wave, allowing them to get the most even heating while swirling in the oil pan.

Soon these mashed soybeans were deep-fried and shaped, and they were taken out and put aside to control the oil for later use.

At this time, there is almost no difference in shape and color between the diced vegetarian meat and minced beef, and it has completely reached the level of being fake.

As for whether the texture and taste can be comparable to or even better than beef mince, it depends on the cooking level of the chef.

After the vegetarian minced meat is prepared, it's time to stir-fry the tofu.

Although Mapo Tofu looks like simple fried tofu with minced meat.

But in order to meet the requirements of the horoscope, it is a test of the chef's cooking level.

Heat oil in a pan, add bean paste and other seasonings and sauté until fragrant.

Under normal circumstances, the minced beef should be added after frying.

It's just that Liu Minghui uses vegetarian minced meat, so he can skip this process.

Just add water and boil.

After the water boils, add the pre-soaked tofu.

The tofu here needs to be cut into evenly sized pieces and soaked in salt water in advance.

Tofu soaked in salt water can not only remove the beany smell, but also add a flavor in advance.

When the tofu is about to be cooked, add the minced meat and mix well.

Add some water and starch to thicken the sauce evenly and it can be out of the pan.

At this time, the tender white tofu has been evenly coated with red gravy, exuding a spicy and burnt taste, which looks very attractive.

I can't wait to just pick up the spoon, scoop up a spoonful and put it in my mouth.

Of course, it's not finished yet.

Finally, Liu Minghui sprinkled a small handful of garlic sprouts on the mapo tofu, and it was considered complete.

Even if it's just casually.

All the garlic sprouts are standing upright in the bowl, which is really beautiful, and vividly demonstrates the most difficult "live" trick.

At this moment, mother Xiang Zhen's voice came from the side, saying: "Xiao Hui, your Mapo Tofu looks really good."

"Especially the fresh green garlic sprouts, it's simply amazing."

Xiang Zhen, who is well aware of Liu Minghui's craftsmanship, is naturally very concerned about her son's vegetarian dishes.

After looking at it for a long time, she realized that Liu Minghui made mapo tofu.

But how can mapo tofu be considered a vegetarian dish?

Yep.

There is no meat in the whole dish, but it can barely be called a vegetarian dish.

It's just that it's far from the stir-fried vegetables that Xiang Zhen thought.

Liu Minghui took out two spoons, handed one to Xiang Zhen, and said:
"Mom, come and try how good my vegetarian food is."

"Be careful when eating, or you won't be able to burn your mouth if you burn it."

Smelling the tempting aroma in the air, Xiang Zhen couldn't hold back, took the spoon and began to taste it.

Reminded by Liu Minghui, Xiang Zhen didn't dare to underestimate the mapo tofu that didn't emit any heat.

I blew hard with my mouth before I dared to put it in my mouth.

Even so, she still felt the heat of Mapo Tofu immediately.

It turns out that all the temperature is blocked in the tofu by the perfectly thickened gravy.

This is also the secret of the "hot" formula.

hot.

After the high temperature, there is a strong spicy taste.

Since it was Xiang Zhen's birthday party, Liu Minghui naturally had to make it more in line with the public's taste.

The hot feeling is naturally indispensable.

The combination of hot and spicy is like a volcano erupting, erupting with a violent impact in the mouth, stimulating Xiang Zhen's mouth crazily.

She couldn't help opening her mouth, wanting to inhale more cold air and the spiciness and sugar of Mapo Tofu.

After a while, Xiang Zhen finally got used to the temperature of Mapo Tofu.

As for spicy?
For the people here, spicy is just enjoyment, never a challenge.

Chew quickly.

Xiang Zhen found that the mapo tofu was extremely tender and smooth.

It can be cut by teeth with just a light touch, showing no signs of aging due to overheating.

The unique bean flavor and sweetness of tofu are the best neutralizing agents, making Mapo Tofu softer and more enjoyable to eat.

A wave of waves has risen again.

The smell of numbness rose suddenly, crazily stimulating the whole mouth, and brought Xiang Zhen a wonderful feeling like being electrocuted.

This kind of crisp and numb feeling makes people want to stop.

Chewing a little more, you can feel the unique taste of vegetarian meat.

The crispy fragrance is unusual, and after being crushed by the teeth, it even feels like melting.

Then there is a strong fragrance that melts.

It is the wonderful aroma produced by protein fried at high temperature.

Somewhat similar to beef, but somewhat different.

If you eat carefully, there is still a bit of the unique aroma of beans.

After all, it is vegetarian minced meat, so the taste cannot be exactly the same as beef minced meat.

It is already very against the sky to be able to achieve a basically similar taste.

Besides, the taste of minced meat is not inferior to that of minced beef, it can only be said that each has its own characteristics.

Because they are all soy products, the taste of vegetarian minced meat can be better integrated with tofu.

The crispy vegetarian minced meat and the tender tofu complement each other, and the taste is rich and layered.

Together they are an unparalleled taste experience.

If you can eat garlic sprouts, this taste enjoyment can be upgraded.

Garlic sprouts themselves have a strong aroma.

After absorbing the high temperature of Mapo Tofu, it reaches maturity quickly.

The crisp and tender taste makes this mapo tofu taste a little more varied.

Overall very tasty.

But something seems to be missing.

Xiang Zhen thought about it and suddenly realized that what she was missing was rice.

It's a waste of money to use such an artifact that doesn't match the rice.

The soft, glutinous and sweet rice is a perfect match with mapo tofu.

A mouthful of rice and a mouthful of mapo tofu, this taste, just thinking about it, makes your mouth water.

It is definitely not a problem to dry three bowls of rice in a row.

(End of this chapter)