From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 29: Making flower knife and mixing paste (please follow up)
  Probably because Feng Zhengming taught the two apprentices a lot, Li Huidong also decided to show his skills to the two apprentices and teach them something.

Li Huidong said to his apprentices: "Wipe the water off the fish, remember to use a clean towel, and then come over and see how I cut the flower knife."

When Zhang Lei and Yang Peng heard that their master was going to teach them something, they naturally hurriedly followed the master's instructions.

Use a clean towel to wipe off any water stains on the inside and outside of the fish one by one.

Li Huidong asked Feng Zhengming to help look at the pot. He came over and reached out to lift a fish from the big basin.

Putting the fish on the chopping board, Li Huidong held the knife in his hand and said: "Yanxilou rules, before sizing the sweet and sour carp, you must first cut it with a knife. The knife must be struck deep enough. You should roughly measure the size of the fish. The length, and then based on this size and length, determine how many cuts should be made.”

As he spoke, Li Huidong also roughly measured it with his hands: "This fish is relatively large, and it can be stabbed six to seven times on one side."

Li Huidong directly cut into the fish with a straight knife.

"Cut with a straight knife, all the way to the fish bone, then press the knife close to the fish bone, push it horizontally like this, and bring the knife like this in an arc on both sides. Remember to hit it deep enough, but not to cut it off. .”

Zhang Lei, Yang Peng, and a group of children in the village stood aside curiously to watch Li Huidong cut flowers on the fish.

After all, Li Huidong came from Yanxi Tower, and he was Senior Brother Feng Zhengming. His knife skills were indeed very good.

Each cut is steady and accurate. One cut at a time, the entire fish is basted on one side, then turned over and basted again.

Finally, both sides of the fish were decorated with flower knives. Li Huidong lifted the fish by sliding its tail.

Zhang Lei, Yang Peng and the children in the village all looked surprised.

The whole fish was cut by Li Huidong until it was completely hollowed out.

Li Huidong showed off and said to the two apprentices: "Did you see it? The knife must be deep enough. If it is not deep enough, the fish fillet cannot be turned over like this. This is more difficult for me. It is the peony flower that your master is best at." Knife, if you two can't do it well, then use the wheat flower knife."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng couldn't help but ask: "Master, how do you hit the wheat spike knife?"

Li Huidong smiled, put down the knifed fish, and then reached out and took out another fish from the basin.

This time Li Huidong's operation was still stable and accurate, and this time the operation was faster.

It's just that this time Zhang Lei and Yang Peng saw that it was different from the previous ones.

This time, Li Huidong straightened the knife and pushed the knife horizontally against the backbone of the fish. He did not draw an arc on both sides of the fish, but just pushed the knife straight.

When the fish is lifted up, it is in the same completely hollow shape as the previous one.

The difference is that this time the cutting edge of the fish fillet is straight and does not have the same arc as the previous one.

But if apprentices like Zhang Lei and Yang Peng hadn't looked carefully, they wouldn't have been able to see the subtle differences between the two blades.

After demonstrating two fish, Li Huidong said to his two apprentices: "Okay, I'll leave the rest to you two. You don't need to be fast, but remember to be precise with your knife."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng immediately agreed, and the two of them began to cut the fish according to the instructions taught by their master.

Li Huidong was about to leave, but suddenly he remembered something and came back to take the two prepared fish back to the chopping board.

"By the way, you should pay attention. When cutting the knife, remember to dig out the teeth in the fish's throat. Don't keep this tooth. If you keep it, it will be very fishy and affect the frying of the whole fish."

Seeing Li Huidong pick out the teeth of two fish, Zhang Lei and Yang Peng quickly looked at the fish in their hands.

Sure enough, deep in the throat, there were indeed fish teeth that seemed to be stuck in the throat.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng agreed in unison: "Okay, Master, I understand."

Then, Zhang Lei and Yang Peng looked serious and started to cut the fish according to their master's instructions.

There were ten fish in total, and the two of them caught five fish respectively, and put them together with the fish that the master had prepared before. Li Huidong then asked two people to rinse the shaved fish, then soak it in water and marinate it.

"Put some salt in the water. Because it tastes sour and sweet, salt must be used as the base flavor to highlight the sweet and sour taste. Therefore, when marinating, you need to put some salt in the water."

After adding salt, Li Huidong said: "Bring the beer."

Zhang Lei went to get a few bottles of beer. After Li Huidong opened the bottles, he poured the beer directly into the basin for marinating fish.

“Pour in some beer and that will help take away the fishy smell.”

Feng Zhengming looked on and said, "Brother, is this your secret recipe?"

Li Huidong said with a smile: "Yes, this is a good method I accidentally discovered after I contracted the canteen of the brewery. It can add some wheat flavor to the fish, and it can also better remove the fishy smell."

Feng Zhengming said: "My senior brother is very good. He can learn and apply it flexibly. Master will definitely be happy if he knows it."

Li Huidong said with a serious face: "Master doesn't often teach us that chefs must know how to be flexible and stick to traditional techniques, but also use some new things to make the dishes better."

Feng Zhengming said: "That's right."

While the fish was soaking there, Feng Zhengming also began to prepare the paste for wrapping the fish.

Li Huidong watched his two apprentices pick up the fish and called them over to watch Feng Zhengming stir it up.

"Come here and watch. You, my uncle, are making the paste. You must watch it carefully. It also requires a lot of skill. If the paste is not mixed well, the fish that will be fried in the end will not be good either."

When Feng Zhengming saw Li Huidong arrange for two apprentices to learn from him, he also taught seriously while working.

"For this paste, the first thing is the ratio, which is usually three starch and one flour. Of course, it can also be four starch and one flour. This ratio depends on how you feel when mixing the paste."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng listened very carefully.

Zhang Lei asked: "Uncle, why do you need to add flour?"

Feng Zhengming explained: "If you don't add flour, the starch will be very slippery and cannot hang on the fish, so you need to add some flour."

Yang Peng then asked: "Then why don't you add more flour?"

Feng Zhengming added: "With just flour, or too much flour, it will not be crispy when fried, and it will become brown."

Feng Zhengming then began to mix the paste, and at the same time continued to explain: "For starch, corn starch, sweet potato starch, and potato starch can be used, and potato starch will be crispier. I use potato starch here."

First put the starch and flour into the basin according to the proportion, and then Feng Zhengming began to gradually add water to it.

Li Huidong reminded the two apprentices: "You must remember that when making a paste, you cannot add too much water at one time. You must add water gradually, adding water while mixing. If you add too much water at once, the paste will become thinner. saved."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng watched Feng Zhengming add water little by little, gradually turning the powder in the basin into a paste.

When Feng Zhengming was mixing the paste, he actually added some bottles of beer.

This made Li Huidong smile knowingly when he saw it.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng didn't ask, because they watched Feng Zhengming grasp and mix, and the paste in the basin gradually became very silky.

In the end, the batter in the big basin had no particles at all and became a smooth batter.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng could see their eyes wide open.

And the village children who were watching all felt that Feng Zhengming was performing a magic trick.

(End of this chapter)