From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 266 Oil-slicked chicken slices, fried meatballs

The five dishes in the morning included sweet and sour carp cooked by Master Yan and his two apprentices.

The other four dishes are also very particular, and the four master chefs also explained them as carefully as possible without reservation.

For example, the dish of fried chicken slices may not be as attractive in presentation as the sweet and sour carp when it is finally finished.

But there are still a lot of details in the cooking of fried chicken fillets.

For example, you need to use the back of a knife to smash the chicken into minced meat, and during the smashing process, you also need to use the knife to crush the minced chicken on the chopping board to pick out some of the tiny tendons.

This process alone is a very time-consuming technical task.

The instructor was also very serious and detailed in his explanations.

"Be sure to smash the chicken until it becomes pureed, and then use a knife to slowly spread the chicken puree little by little, so that you can see the tiny tendons."

After the apprentice picked out all the tendons, the master showed it to many young chefs present.

Other master chefs at the scene were also amazed by the craftsmanship of boiled chicken slices.

Water boiling is similar to oil boiling. The water temperature must not be too high and the water temperature must be controlled.

More are the more solid cooking details, such as the processing of elbows and sea cucumbers. How to flavor sea cucumbers in advance? And how to make the taste of pork elbow and sea cucumber match?

It was a vivid cutting and matching lesson for many young chefs present.

The senior chefs guide the juniors to do it and explain it to everyone in detail.

After adding the chicken slices, the master chef showed off his skill, and with a sharp turn of the spoon, the blanched chicken slices came out of the pot.

Feng Zhengming is even more curious about the traditional recipe of Nanjian Meatballs because he still remembers watching some store tour videos on the Internet in his previous life. Those who visited the stores said that it was almost impossible to eat Nanjian Meatballs in various restaurants. Very authentic.

The method taught by the master is a very traditional method.

First of all, Nanjian meatballs are not round in shape.

For example, you can beat the egg whites into an egg paste, mix the boiled chicken puree with the egg paste and dry starch, and then fry it in a pan with 30% oil.

Master Zhang said: "Okay, then I will tell you. If you have any detailed questions, you can ask me."

Master Wang from Jubinyuan asked his apprentice Lin Guofu to make stir-fried kidneys, and at the same time asked his apprentice Sun Zhu Xu to assist.

Master Sun of Tai Feng Lou and his apprentice made the sea cucumber braised elbow. This dish actually does not require much skill.

There are some differences between Nanjian meatballs and other meatballs.

Smash the finely minced chicken, add onion, ginger and water to boil, then add potato starch and egg white.

The master chef who instructs the making of Nanjian Meatballs is named "Zhang".

Feng Zhengming said with a smile: "Uncle, isn't this the main thing you will teach today about this dish? I want to learn from you."

Keep the oil temperature from rising during the whole process, and use low oil temperature to slowly soak the chicken pieces.

After that, you need to moisten the pot first to ensure that the bottom of the pot is moist before adding oil.

All the snow-white chicken slices are deep-fried, and soaked in hot water to wash off the excess oil. Simmer the chicken slices with stock. After the chicken slices are out of the pot, use the remaining soup in the pot to add some green beans and wolfberry, and hook them up. A thin glass of gravy is poured on the surface of the chicken slices.

"Look carefully, how many tendons are there? If you don't pick them out, it won't be possible to make chicken fillets later."

He is also a master chef of Shandong cuisine, older than Master Yan.

Instead, it presents a flat state.

When Feng Zhengming had lunch at noon, he also went to consult the master chefs who had cooked in the morning.

The old master asked his apprentices to demonstrate such a method, and also talked about some other methods on the spot.

As well as some details of buckling the bowl, be sure to push up the middle of the elbow, so that the elbow buckled out of the bowl will be more beautiful.

"Uncle, can you tell me more about Nanjian Meatballs?"

In addition to the method of oiling, the master chef also talked about the method of boiling with water.

Even when some young chefs on site asked about the soup, the old chef even used some leftover chicken to make a soup for everyone to see.

Especially for Nanjian Meatballs, he was very curious about the traditional way of making them, so he specifically asked the master chef who made Nanjian Meatballs in the morning for advice.

Let the chicken puree in the pot set and float up on its own, then turn it over and take it out of the pot.

As for the key knife skills of this dish, Master Wang also asked his apprentice Sun Zhu Xu to cut it carefully and show it to the young chefs at the scene. He also provided guidance and explained the details.

The other three dishes: Braised pork elbows with sea cucumber, stir-fried kidneys and pan-fried meatballs, all have their own characteristics and techniques.

Then use your hands to mix evenly, making sure that the chicken puree and other mixed things are evenly mixed, and there are almost no particles or lumps.

So when Feng Zhengming saw that a master was personally teaching this dish today, he humbly asked for advice on this dish.

He couldn't help but smile and said: "Zhengming, the sweet and sour carp you cook is very good. It has the style of your master back then. Why do you want me to learn how to make Nanjing Meatballs?"

Feng Zhengming also learned another skill on the spot.

The old chef's method is to soak the chicken slices in hot water after being cooked to soak out some of the oil.

Master Zhang saw that Feng Zhengming came to ask for advice humbly.

During the stir-fry session, Lin Guofu personally took part in the cooking and was very neat and tidy, which made the young chefs at the scene applaud.

When the oil is 30% warm, use a spoon to scoop up the chicken puree and carefully spread it flat in the oil pan.

This is actually because the Nanjian meatballs are not boiled or fried, but fried in a pan.

Therefore, during the frying process, the meatballs will take on a relatively flat shape.

The meat filling of the meatballs is also similar to Sixi meatballs, which must be cut into small dices.

But Nanjian meatballs are whipped and cannot be beaten like Sixi meatballs.

Master Zhang carefully explained to Feng Zhengming: "When beating, the meat may be toughened. Because the Nanjian meatballs are fried, they cannot be beaten. You can only beat them clockwise to get the stickiness. Do you understand?" ?”

Feng Zhengming listened very carefully and even took out a small notebook he brought specially this time and wrote down what Mr. Zhang said.

Of course, in addition to the three fat and seven lean meat fillings, the Nanjian meatballs also need to add diced water chestnuts.

Moreover, Master Zhang also made some improvements and added a little bit of pear to add a certain flavor.

After whipping the meat filling, you need to moisten the pot first.

It can be said that most dishes require moistening the pot first, so several senior chefs on site told the young chefs to moisturize the pot carefully, know how to moisten the pot, and know how to maintain their own pots. . After moistening the pot, do not put a lot of oil in the pot, but only put some oil on the bottom of the pot.

Then squeeze the meatballs with your hands and put them into the pot one by one.

Arrange the balls neatly, one by one, and they can't stick to each other.

If there is less oil in the pan, you can add some oil with a spoon.

Wait until the fried side of the meatballs is set and colored.

During the on-site cooking, Master Zhang also asked his apprentice to use a big turning spoon.

Then fry the other side until it's brown.

Then pour the meatballs out.

When Mr. Zhang said this, he smiled and said: "The next step is to braise the meatballs. First stir-fry the sugar, then add the onion and ginger to the pan. After stir-frying until fragrant, add the prepared stock, and you can put a star anise on it." , then after seasoning, add your fried meatballs and braise them."

Master Zhang also carefully provided some detailed guidance on the juice collection.

"Remember one thing, when collecting the juice, it is best to have a little more soup. In this way, during the process of collecting the juice, slowly cook the soup into the meatballs, so that the meatballs also have flavor inside, not just on the surface. .”

Feng Zhengming listened very carefully and recorded some details in his notebook.

Seeing Feng Zhengming taking notes in his notebook, Master Zhang couldn't help but praise him.

"Yes, Zheng Mingyou's habit of jotting down notes is very good. As the saying goes, a good memory is not as good as a bad pen. You should still record the details. Write them down and keep doing it according to your records. After slowly forming a fixed habit, you can I won’t ignore small details, and I won’t say that I deviate from traditional things.”

After Feng Zhengming recorded it, he responded to Mr. Zhang with a smile.

"Thank you, uncle, I will definitely cook our traditional dishes well."

Master Zhang said with a smile: "Okay, from now on these old dishes still need to be passed down by you young people."

Feng Zhengming said seriously: "Don't worry, uncle, I will study hard, study hard, learn the skills well, and pass them on in the future, so that the traditional skills of our Shandong cuisine can be passed down."

After hearing this, Master Zhang smiled and said to Master Yan: "Lao Yan, your little apprentice is really a bit jealous."

Master Yan asked strangely: "Jealous? What are you jealous of? He is a junior, how can he be worthy of your jealousy?"

Master Su immediately rushed to say: "I'm not jealous of Zhengming, we are all jealous of you."

Master Wang answered: "Yes, we are all jealous of you. You have a young and motivated apprentice like Zhengming who is already so good at his craftsmanship and yet so humbly willing to learn."

Several other masters nodded one after another, expressing their jealousy over Master Yan having a young apprentice like Feng Zhengming.

Master Yan was stunned for a moment, then looked at his young apprentice Feng Zhengming.

Then Master Yan suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, you old guys are jealous of me because I have Zhengming as my disciple? Then I am really happy. At first, you and I were equally matched, and our competitions always resulted in wins and losses, but now My little apprentice makes you jealous, but I am the one who laughs last."

Master Yan said this, making several other masters dumbfounded.

Master Xia said: "Lao Yan, I can't say enough right now. Zhengming is really great now, but that doesn't mean our apprentices can't catch up with him in the future."

Other masters echoed: "Yes, our apprentices can also catch up."

Master Yan said with a smile: "How old are your apprentices? Why are you chasing after them?"

This really put the old masters on guard a bit.

"Hey, you old man, I said your apprentice is excellent, but you really stand up for it."

"No matter how old our apprentice is, everyone will see the real seal in their hands from now on."

"That's right, don't just talk, wait until the national cooking skills competition and see if our apprentice can be better than your little apprentice."

"That's right, the National Cooking Skills Competition, that's when the real competition begins."

Master Yan saw that several of the masters were unconvinced and even a little bit angry.

He was quite proud and said: "Okay, let's wait until the national cooking skills competition and let the apprentices compete. By then, no one should be hiding anything, and everyone should show their true skills."

The masters competed with each other, making the apprentices look at each other in confusion. They could only watch and chuckle, not daring to interrupt casually.

Although the disciples didn't speak, the masters had obviously begun to compete.

The apprentices also understood among themselves that in the future national cooking skills competition, they would definitely compete with each other.

While eating, there were some other young chefs who specifically asked Feng Zhengming and the chefs who were cooking in the morning for advice.

When young chefs approached Feng Zhengming, they all humbly asked him for advice.

"Master Feng, with your fish knife, do you need to measure the distance in advance for each knife? Otherwise, when the knife is struck, the distance will not be well controlled?"

When hearing such questions, Feng Zhengming also gave some of his own experience and understanding.

"First of all, you can't be afraid of cutting with the knife. You can't hold it back to hit, because in order to fry the carp thoroughly, you must hit the carp thoroughly with the knife first, so don't be afraid of cutting with the knife. Don't hold it back. It doesn't matter if some parts of the fish are cut off, but it must be cut thoroughly.

Another point is that when playing flower knife, if you are not proficient, don't follow my example and pursue speed. You can slow down a little and strike one knife at a time. "

Listen to Feng Zhengming's detailed description, especially Feng Zhengming's explanation of the force of the knife.

Both the young chef who asked for advice and the young chef who listened next to him benefited a lot.

Some young chefs in big restaurants who were originally not very convinced of Feng Zhengming are now somewhat convinced of Feng Zhengming.

For example, Duan Jinsheng no longer dares to yell at Feng Zhengming anymore.

Having seen Feng Zhengming's knife skills, Duan Jinsheng is still very aware of his own gap.

Maybe now there are people who say that Feng Zhengming is the representative of Quancheng's young chefs, and no one will raise any objections.

After lunch, during the lunch break, there were still many young chefs asking for advice from the senior chefs and Feng Zhengming.

Li Zhifeng looked at the scene and felt that it was a little delayed for the masters' lunch break.

Li Zhifeng arranged for the senior masters to take a rest, and then specially summoned the middle-aged masters to continue answering questions on behalf of their respective masters.

The masters went to rest, and of course the disciples did not dare to neglect them. After all, they represented the master.

During the lunch break, there was another Q&A session, which really made the communication as perfect as possible.

After the senior chefs had finished their lunch break, at 2:30 in the afternoon, the five senior chefs came on stage with their juniors in the second half and started a live demonstration of another five classic dishes.

(End of this chapter)