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Chapter 489 A dish that races against time—mandarin fish braised in vinegar! Dundun’s gift! 【Please subscribe】

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

In the kitchen, Lin Xu finished cutting the mandarin fish, placed the fish flat on the chopping board again, and slapped the fish a few times with garlic.

In the industry, this step is called "loosening."

After changing the knife, the fish meat and bones are loosened by beating, making it easier to fry.

You don’t need to tap too hard to loosen the body, just tap a few times on each side. If you use too much force, the fish meat will be smashed, and even the modified peony flower knife will fall off the fish body.

Putting the loose mandarin fish aside, Lin Xu picked up another one and continued to change the knife.

Each fish is marked with a peony knife. Although it seems simple, the strength of the knife, the distance between the fish, etc. are all very particular and cannot be messed up.

This flower knife technique is very similar to the sweet and sour Yellow River carp in Shandong cuisine.

What you eat is the crispy texture and sweet and sour taste. The difference is that sweet and sour carp does not have so many requirements for re-frying. In addition, the methods of making sweet and sour sauce and vinegar sauce are also different.

Qiu Zhenhua watched for a while and found that there was no problem with Lin Xu changing the knife, so he also picked up the kitchen knife and helped change the knife.

"Hey, wild mandarin fish, is this sent by Lao Huang?"

There are two types of mandarin fish: wild mandarin fish and farmed mandarin fish. The body of wild mandarin fish is slightly slender and the meat is firmer. When you cut into it with a kitchen knife, you can clearly feel the resistance of the meat.

Only this kind of fish can be used to make the classic dish of vinegar-braised mandarin fish.

If farmed mandarin fish is used, even if it is freshly killed and cooked, the fish meat will still taste bad and pink in the mouth, which is completely different from the firm texture of wild fish meat.

Lin Xu said:

"All the ingredients used at today's engagement banquet were provided by Lao Huang for free."

"This bitch has very lively eyes. He is really born to do business."

Everyone is familiar with Lao Huang, but compared to Lao Xie and Lao Dai who often bully Lao Huang and take advantage of them, Qiu Zhenhua, who has a gentle personality, has never done this.

After all the fish were cut, Lin Xu set up the oil pan and poured half a pot of peanut oil into it.

To make vinegar-braised mandarin fish, you need to use peanut oil to fry it, which will have a richer aroma and a moderate color. If you use rapeseed oil, the smell of the oil will overwhelm the freshness of the fish, and the fried color will be very heavy.

Soybean oil and corn oil have poor coloring effect, and the fried fish will be white in color.

With only peanut oil, the fried fish will be golden in color and rich in flavor, making the mandarin fish even more delicious.

After the oil was burned, Qiu Zhenhua said to Lin Xu:

"You mix it up, and I'll powder the fish."

Fresh mandarin fish does not need to be marinated, but directly fried in batter, so as to maintain the freshness and tenderness of the fish to the maximum extent.

But in order to make the battering effect better, you need to pat a layer of potato starch on the surface of the fish before battering, which can make the fish taste crisper and more delicious.

There is a skill in patting the starch. You need to hold the fish tail and shake it a few times to shake all the knives on both sides of the fish body. Then, grab the starch and sprinkle it evenly on the knives of the fish.

Sprinkle it all over the body, inside and out, and shake the fish tail a few more times to shake off the excess starch.

As for the batter prepared by Lin Xu, it is a relatively simple puff pastry batter.

Put potato starch and low-gluten flour in a basin in a ratio of 1:1, mix well, beat in two whole eggs to increase the color, and then sprinkle in a little salt and five-spice powder.

Finally, pour in peanut oil and an equal amount of water to make it into a creamy consistency.

This kind of batter is crispy and fragrant, and slightly fluffy after frying. It can better absorb the vinegar juice and taste better.

The batter has been mixed, and Qiu Zhenhua has also patted the powder.

At this time, the temperature of the oil in the pot increased to 60% hot, and the fish began to be fried.

Lin Xu held up the tail of the mandarin fish so that the body and head were completely immersed in the batter. Then lift it up and shake it gently twice.

The batter on the fish immediately flowed down in strands.

When frying fish, whether making sweet and sour carp or squirrel mandarin fish, as long as the batter is involved, you need to hold the fish tail and shake it to let the excess batter drip down.

If the batter is too thick, it will taste full of flour and have a bad texture, and it may not be fried thoroughly.

When the batter was almost dripping, Lin Xu brought the fish to the stove. He first dipped the fish head in the oil pan to shape it, then used a spoon to pour the hot oil in the pan over the fish, so that the sides of the fish body were cooked. The flower knife is shaped.

When making this kind of fish, the flower knife on the fish should not be attached to the fish, but should be spread out as much as possible like wings, so that the fish bones can be fried and the fish meat can be crispy and delicious, even the bones are fragrant.

When the batter on the surface of the fish is set, slowly put the fish into the pot.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the batter scattered on the oil surface to avoid frying for too long and causing the whole pot of oil to smell like batter.

After beating out the minced meat, Lin Xu began to batter the next fish, shaking the batter in the same way as before, frying the fish head, drizzling the fish body, and finally putting it into the oil pan.

Today I am frying fish in a big pot with a lot of oil, so I can put a few more fish in it.

If you use a small pot, you should fry them one by one. Otherwise, if two fish are next to each other, they will easily become mushy and disfigured.

When the third fish was put into the pot, the first fish had completely floated up, and the batter on it was fried to a golden color, which looked very tempting.

If it can float, it means that the water in the fish meat has been reduced.

Lin Xu used chopsticks and a slotted spoon to turn the fish over, fry it for a while, and then take it out of the pot.

Next is the mode of frying one piece and scooping one piece out.

Freshly fried fish cannot be re-fried. You need to wake up the fish like sobering up wine, so that the heat of the batter and fish meat can drop slightly.

When the temperature drops, the water in the batter and fish will leak out again, and some fried pastries tend to soften. This is because the water molecules inside "reflow" to the surface again when the temperature drops.

If you fry it again at this time, the fish will naturally become more crispy.

Not only fried fish, but also fried any food, as long as you wait for a while and then fry again, you can have a similar effect.

All the fish are fried, and the fish fished out earlier are almost ready for frying a second time.

"Master Lin, can you do it alone? How about I help you make vinegar juice?"

For a Huaiyang cuisine chef, when can he control two pots at the same time and prepare vinegar-braised mandarin fish alone, and when can he master the essence of this dish?

So Qiu Zhenhua asked politely, if Lin Xu needs help, it means that his understanding of this dish needs to be deepened, and he has not yet learned the ability to "fight each other".

In the Chinese cooking circle, Huaiyang cuisine chefs have always been different from other cuisines.

In other cuisines, Bai'an and Hong'an are separate and they don't like each other. Master Bai'an thinks that Master Hong's skills are good at doing tricks, while Master Hong's thinks that Master Bai's is the most powerful one.

I almost gave Master Bai An the title of "vulgar martial artist".

But the chefs of Huaiyang cuisine are basically all masters of white and red, and they are a rare "double cultivation of magic and martial arts" faction in the industry.

In addition to being skilled in both magic and martial arts, Huaiyang cuisine chefs are also good at controlling the left and right sides of two pots at the same time, frying fish in one pot and boiling juice in the other without affecting each other.

Lin Xu smiled and said:

"No, I can handle it by myself, just help me give the fish pine skin."

The so-called loose skin is to deliberately destroy the fried ingredients to make it easier for the hot oil to penetrate during the second frying.

The mandarin fish braised in vinegar is fried three times, and the step of loosening the skin is different each time.

For example, after the first frying, you need to use chopsticks or similar things to prick the thick back of the fish a few times. When frying again, the hot oil can go in along these holes to make the fried fish crispier. , more transparent.

When Qiu Zhenhua heard this, an expression of envy appeared on his face unconsciously.

Being able to make vinegar-braised mandarin fish on his own in his early twenties is a talent that everyone would envy.

In front of the stove, Lin Xu turned the heat on the stove to maximum to let the oil temperature rise again.

When frying mandarin fish braised in vinegar for three times, the oil temperature required is higher each time, but the frying time is shorter each time, especially the third time. Basically, it has to be taken out and plated as soon as the skin is fried.

This kind of frying method will make the batter on the outside become crispier and crispier while the fish inside remains fresh and tender.

Qiu Zhenhua said:

"The dry croquettes in Shandong cuisine actually need to be fried multiple times. The outer skin becomes crispier as it is fried, while the meat inside becomes more and more tender."

While burning oil, Lin Xu took a wok and placed it on the stove next to him.

Slide the pan first, then put a tablespoon of lard into the pan.

When making fish, lard is essential, otherwise the fish will have outstanding flavor but insufficient aroma.

Heat the oil, pour in the prepared onion and ginger and saute until fragrant.

These onions and ginger should be cut into powder, the finer the better, so that the taste will not be affected when it is cooked.

When the aroma comes out, add a large bowl of light soy sauce, a small bowl of rock sugar, a large spoonful of rice wine, a large spoonful of dark soy sauce, a small bowl of stock and a small bowl of water to the pot.

Ten pieces of mandarin fish require a lot of vinegar sauce, so you need to prepare more.

It's better to have more than less of this kind of soup, because the fish is not pickled and relies entirely on the vinegar juice to get the flavor.

The vinegar sauce is on the boil, and the oil pan next to it has reached 70% heat.

Lin Xu held the loosened mandarin fish and carefully put it into the pot for frying.

The frying time this time was much shorter than the first time, and it took about fifty seconds to fish it out.

After fishing out the mandarin fish, Qiu Zhenhua started the second round of pine bark.

This time the loose skin is called loose skin, which means simply to remove some big bones from the fish so that it can be fried for the third time.

The parts to be removed are usually the big bones behind the gills on both sides of the fish. After this part is removed, the fish head can be completely fried without any hindrance.

In addition, the abdominal cavity of the fish will be completely exposed, and the hot oil can flow unobstructed.

In addition to these, the bones behind the head and dorsal fin of the mandarin fish are sometimes removed, which is not only convenient for frying, but also prevents diners from being stung by the bones hidden in the back when tasting.

Well, even if the dorsal fin is cut off, there are still some sharp little bones hidden inside. Careful chefs will remove it. When frying again, the hot oil will fry this part until it is fragrant and crispy.

Don't worry about spoiling the presentation.

Pour it into the boiling hot oil, and the disassembled parts will be fried until brown again, and no trace of disassembly can be seen at all.

Lin Xu fried the fish one by one, and the vinegar sauce in the pot next to it was already boiling.

He stirred it with a spoon. The rock sugar in the pot had melted, and the smell of rice wine had evaporated. Now there was a slightly braised aroma composed of onion, ginger stock and light soy sauce floating in the pot.

Due to the presence of dark soy sauce, the soup is a bit dark, and at first glance it looks like a pot of caramel juice.

Lin Xu put a small spoonful of salt into the pot and poured a bowl of balsamic vinegar into the pot.

Stir it to let the aroma of vinegar come out, then pick up the water starch prepared in advance, stir it with a spoon, and pour it into the pot in a circular motion.

After the water starch is put into the pot, grab a handful of chopped garlic and sprinkle it in, stir it, and turn down the heat at the same time.

At this time, the vinegar sauce has become much thicker, and the aroma of vinegar, marinated soup, yellow garlic, etc. are all very strong.

Use a spoon to stir the pot a few times to let the flavors blend thoroughly, then simmer in the pot over low heat.

For the dish of vinegar-braised mandarin fish, the marinade must be hot enough so that it cannot be taken off the stove and needs to be kept hot.

At this time, the oil pan has reached 80% heat.

Lin Xu started frying for the third time.

After Qiu Zhenhua removed the fish bones, he came over and took a look at the vinegar sauce in the pot:

“The vinegar isn’t sour enough.”

"I will add some vinegar from the side of the pot when pouring the sauce later. There are a lot of fish today, so put enough vinegar in one go to make it easy to evaporate."

Lin Xu explained, then put a fish into the oil pan and started frying it for the third time.

When frying, he didn’t forget to tell the cook next to him:

"Set the hot plates."

For this kind of dish, the plate must be hot, so that the food will taste sour and delicious to the diners. The plate must be cold. From here to the banquet hall, the temperature of the fish will drop, and the fishy smell in the meat will easily return.

Why do restaurants prefer to marinate fish in advance? This is to prevent the fish meat from returning to the fishy state and causing overturning.

The reason why the dish of vinegar-braised mandarin fish is difficult is that it cannot be marinated. If you eat the fish as it is, the fishy smell of the fish will come out if you are not careful. Therefore, ordinary Huaiyang restaurants do not do this at all. Dish.

Even if you make it, add the step of marinating the fish in the process.

This time we can't fry them all in one go, we have to fry them one by one, because the frying time for each fish is less than thirty seconds, and it's easy to over-fry two fish at the same time.

The fish went into the pot and was quickly fished out.

Lin Xu put it on the plate, then used a frying spoon to scoop out a large spoonful of rice vinegar and poured it into the vinegar juice along the edge of the pot. Then he grabbed the pot of vinegar juice with his left hand and turned it to mix the rice vinegar and vinegar juice.

Holding a spoon in his right hand, he scooped a large spoonful of hot oil from the oil pan next to him and poured it into the vinegar sauce.

When the oil is hot in the pot, the sour aroma of vinegar, the smell of braised soup, and the aroma of yellow garlic all rush up.

Lin Xu picked up the pot and turned around. At this moment, Qiu Zhenhua was loosening the skin of the mandarin fish for the third time. He covered the fish with an unused kitchen towel, squeezed it a few times, and tried to loosen the fish meat as much as possible. split.

After doing this, he quickly removed the towel, and Lin Xu also held the pot and placed it next to it. Without any pause, he scooped up a spoonful of the vinegar sauce that was still sizzling in the pot and poured it on the fish.

"Zi la..."

A sour aroma rose up, and the vinegar-braised mandarin fish dish was finally completed.

Qiu Zhenhua put the lid on the plate and said to the cook next to him:

"Quick, serve!"

The chef ran out with it and handed it to the food waiter, who immediately went upstairs to deliver the food.

Lin Xu put the wok back on the stove, which was still on low heat, and continued to fry the next one.

Qiu Zhenhua stood aside with a towel, waiting to give the fish pine skin.

You have to race against time to make this dish, and you can't even have a moment of effort, otherwise the dish will be compromised.

Qiu Zhenhua said while working:

"In the past, in large restaurants, two agile waiters were required to serve this dish together. One person ran in front with the fish, and the other person followed behind with the vinegar sauce. The dish was just placed on the table. The waiter at the back poured the sauce on it, and the fish sizzled and the sour aroma filled the air... This way of serving food is called running the sauce."

Lin Xu knew this very well.

Running juice, running juice, running and pouring juice, the requirements for the waiter are very high.

Not only do you have to run fast and steady, but when pouring the sauce, you also have to use a bowl to pour the sauce, just enough to pour the fish head, body and tail all over, so that the juice does not leak out and is poured all over the fish.

Such technical requirements cannot be achieved by just any waiter.

Moreover, a qualified waiter must not only be able to pour juice, know how to match food and drink, and speak auspicious words readily, he must also remember the preferences and personalities of all regular customers, which is much better than today's waiters.

It's a pity that in modern society, it is impossible for such talents to be waiters. The so-called waiters only exist in some food classics and similar storybooks.

In reality, it is rare to see two waiters trotting all the way to serve food, shouting:

"Fish~here~~~~"

"Vinegar~熘~霘~鱼~~~~"

Lin Xu looked at Qiu Zhenhua and asked:

“Has Diaoyutai ever tried to drain juice like this?”

"I tried it. It shocked foreigners and made us all write self-criticisms."

Even the rule of not being able to pick up Diaoyutai, I guess you really can't pick it up, but it's okay, modern society is efficiency first, and a dish requires several people to work on it. With such efficiency, let alone making money, it's a blessing to not lose money.

After all the fish was cooked, Lin Xu wiped his hands and went upstairs with Qiu Zhentao to prepare for the feast.

Although the food on the table may have been almost eaten by now, when it comes to eating, eating is one thing, and joining in the fun is another.

And if you don’t eat when you have a table, you always feel like you are missing out on a lot of money.

Arriving upstairs, the entire banquet hall was filled with the sour aroma of mandarin fish cooked in vinegar. When the guests at the engagement banquet saw Lin Xu coming in, they all praised him:

"This mandarin fish is really delicious."

"That's amazing Xiaoxu, it's the first time I've eaten such delicious mandarin fish."

"It's a pity that it's gone after one or two bites per person. This kind of dish can only be enjoyed once per person."

"Will the restaurant serve this dish again? If so, no matter how much it costs, I will have to try it again. I never thought that even the fish bones are crispy and fragrant."

"I originally thought that the squirrel mandarin fish was already the ceiling, but I didn't expect that the vinegar mandarin fish actually broke through the ceiling."

"Good craftsmanship. Let's take a video later. If you don't know how to learn it, keep it in your collection."

"..."

Lin Xu responded to everyone one by one, then came to Shen Jiayue, looked at Mrs. Shen and asked:

"Grandma, how is this fish?"

"It's delicious. It's so delicious. You must be tired from working now, right? Come sit down and eat. Thank you for your hard work, my grandson-in-law."

Shen Jiayue quickly got the chopsticks for Lin Xu and moved a small bowl in front of her:

"I was afraid you wouldn't be able to eat it just now, so I specially left some delicious food for you... This fish is so delicious. Let's eat it again someday? Two or three bites like this are really not satisfying."

Lin Xu tasted the fish. It was sour and delicious, and the fish was crispy.

The temperature of the fish is very high when it comes out of the pan, and the temperature of the vinegar sauce is also very high, so the high-temperature vinegar directly softens the high-temperature fish bones, and you get this fragrant and crispy texture in your mouth.

Paired with the sour and sweet taste, it is simply beyond description in words.

While he was eating fish, Dundun struggled to jump out of Mrs. Shen's arms, straightened her sweater, and then strode towards Chen Yan.

Since my aunt is engaged, let me give you a small gift...

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