Food starts with Mapo Tofu

Chapter 491 Young man, I have a hand (ask for a monthly ticket)
In this land that gave birth to Lanxiang Excavator Technical School and Zhangqiu Scallions, in addition to Li Qingzhao and Xin Qiji, two great poets, it also gave birth to the meat that countless Jinan people will never forget.

Even if you are thousands of miles away from home, the smell of meat will still linger in your mind.

Of course, Chen Nian is not from Shandong, and this is also the first time he has eaten handle meat, but when he smelled the taste under the rumbling stomach, he couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

The corner of his mouth subconsciously drew a happy arc, and then he took a plate and was about to put the meat out, but he changed his mind soon.

He turned around and took a deeper plate, then filled the rice into it, and then returned to the kitchen to fill out the meat, eggs, and gluten, and put them evenly on the plate.

Then he scooped up a spoonful of broth with his big iron spoon, and scattered it into the bowl in a beautiful semi-circle with a "swish".

Finally, fried tofu soaked in broth in another pot is also placed on the edge of the bowl.

You have to eat like this, that's called dry rice!
The old years are not all filled, because just like this, he feels that he has enough for himself, and there is still more than half of the pot.

But at this moment, he suddenly saw a person standing at the door.

The other party was wearing the uniform of a sanitation worker.

Chen Nian looked at the other party and thought for a while, then put down the rice bowl in his hand and went outside the kitchen: "Master, why don't you come in and have something to eat?"

Chen Nian said.

It's not because of anything else, the main reason is that the other party is still working this evening, and anyway, I can't eat the freshly prepared meat by myself, so it's better to ask the other party to come in and eat together.

"Is it still open at night?"

The old man asked curiously.

"It's closed, I just made some food for myself, but it's too much, and it's not interesting to eat alone. It just so happens that you can be a companion when you come." When Chen Nian saw the other party asking this question, he understood in his heart The other party probably hasn't eaten yet.

So while talking, he walked outside the door and enthusiastically wanted to invite the other party to come in and eat together.

"Forget it, I have to go home to cook for my son later, what time will he eat when I get home, I guess he is already starving at this point." The uncle thought for a while, and finally waved his hand.

But Chen Nian felt that since he met the other party, it was fate: "Master, how about this, I originally wanted to cook something for myself, but now I do have a lot, and the rest should be It's enough for two people, or else you pack it up and take it home? Anyway, I won't be able to sell it to customers tomorrow."

When the uncle heard this, he began to hesitate again.

"Okay, sir, don't think about it, let's talk first." Chen Nian took the other's arm conveniently, and when he entered the restaurant, he put the broom in the other's hand aside.

"Master, wait a moment, I'll pack it for you." After Chen Nian pressed the uncle on the stool, he planned to go back to find a packing box and pack the remaining meat and rice.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, young man..." Seeing this, the uncle quickly grabbed Chen Nian's arm, "Why don't I just eat with you here, and I'll pack the rest back for my son, why? Like? And I'll pay."

"It's okay, give me any money, it's fate to meet everyone."

"That can't be done. If you don't want money, then I won't eat this meal." The uncle said that he was about to get up and leave. Seeing this, Chen Nian hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, give me the money, let's eat first, later Can I get paid again?"

"That's fine." The uncle became happy again when he heard this.

Then the old man went back to serve the rice, put the meat, eggs, tofu, gluten, and finally poured the broth on the rice again.

Two plates of rice came out.

The uncle looked at the food: "There is something, young man!"

Chen Nian put one plate in front of the uncle and the other on his side: "No, no, just do whatever you want."

"You made it this fine just by doing it casually?" The uncle expressed a little shock, but at the same time he also wondered whether Chen Nian was trying to deceive people.

"Master, do you recognize this dish?"

"I know it, butt meat, what's not to know about it, you just look at the big piece of meat, and then look at the rope tied on it, and the color, isn't this the handle meat?" the uncle said.

Only then did Chen Nian realize that the uncle's accent seemed to be from Shandong, and he hadn't noticed it just now.

If the uncle is from Shandong, then it can be understood.

"Master, why don't you try this meat? If there is something that is not good, you can just say it. Only with criticism can we make progress. For us cooks, cooking must be continuously improved."

But the uncle nodded very politely: "Then what's the problem, your meat is very authentic just by looking at it."

During the formalities, Chen Nian learned that the uncle's name was Lin Mingxu, which was only one word different from the name of Lin Zexu who sold cigarettes in Humen back then.

During the chat, Chen Nian found that the uncle has a very good personality, and he also has the obvious boldness of Shandong people.

A smile is always on the lips.

The two were chatting, and the uncle's eyes unconsciously looked at the handle meat in the bowl.

Originally, he really wanted to find something to eat. After all, he went back to do it this late at night, and it was not too early anyway.

In this way, he came to the entrance of Honghong Hotel. At that time, he knew that there were many people queuing at the entrance every day, no matter at noon or at night.

He had never eaten here before, and happened to be passing by, so he couldn't help but take a look inside curiously.

But who knew that just looking at it like this made him sit here at this moment.

He couldn't help but look at the handle meat in the bowl. As an authentic old Shandong native, he is naturally quite familiar with handle meat.

But among other things, just say that the appearance of the aged meat is quite perfect.

The color of the thick oily red sauce is particularly appetizing, and the five-flowered three-layer structure shows that the chef who made this dish is also very particular about the selection of ingredients. The red sauce on the meat is especially obvious under the lights in the restaurant.

And the eggs that have already been boiled in color are opening their arms and grinning, as if they are inviting people.

As for the gluten that has been soaked in soup, it looks extremely plump at the moment. Just use chopsticks to gently pinch it, and a steady stream of oily soup will emerge from it, and then flow down the outer wall and flow into the rice.

He picked up a piece of meat and opened his mouth to bite down.

The first thing you touch is the scorched pork skin. After marinating in the pot, most of the water evaporates, but after a long time of stewing, the inside is full of soup.

The collagen in the pigskin is fully revealed at this moment, it is a kind of elastic resistance, but it seems to be willing to refuse.

The second is that the fat and thin pieces of meat are stewed so soft that you can hardly feel the presence of fat meat, and the lean meat is also stewed soft and soft, full of soup under the pressure of the teeth. The meat overflowed between the lines.

The delicious sauce touches the tip of the tongue, and even Lin Mingxu's experienced taste buds can't help but admire it.

"Okay!"

Lin Mingxu couldn't help giving a thumbs up after taking a bite!
"Your meat is also at the restaurant level in our place. You must know that there must be such a plate of meat on our banquets, whether it is for the rich or the poor.

However, before our place, there were many places that specialized in selling meat. That kind of shop was called dry rice shop, such as Feng’s dry rice shop, Liu Laoer’s dry rice shop, Lao Niu’s dry rice shop, etc. There were more meat than this. Well, when we were rich at the time, we had to go to the dry rice shop to get a piece of meat and a bowl of rice.

One piece is enough, I didn’t dare to ask for more at that time, sometimes I could eat three bowls of rice when I was hungry with a big piece of meat, and at that time the soup was free, if it felt tasteless, I asked the store to pour another spoonful of broth on the rice , just like this bowl. "

This sip seems to have opened up Uncle Lin's chatterbox.

"Indeed, that's what my master told me back then." Chen Nian couldn't help but nodded, thinking about what Master Sun had indeed told him back then.

After hearing Chen Nian's words, Uncle Lin knew that Chen Nian's master was probably an old man at that time.

But if he knew that Chen Nian's master was five or sixty years older than him, it would probably shock the old man's jaw.

As he spoke, Uncle Lin took a few mouthfuls of dried rice soaked in gravy, and the rice completely soaked in the broth had a rich meaty aroma.

The rice, which was originally only a little sweet, now has a salty taste like the meat, but the taste is completely different from the meat.

You must know that the rice used in the old age is not sold out in the afternoon. Although it is a little cold by now, the taste is harder. Suddenly, it is poured by the hot broth and left for a while. It becomes warm and delicious but still maintains the property of elastic teeth.

"It's true, it's true. If you say this is your first time doing it, I don't believe it." Mr. Lin said with a tone of experience.

And Chen Nian could only nod his head again and again: "It's true that I didn't just do it once, I did it several times before."

Uncle Lin had a smug look on his face, and he looked up at the menu on the wall of the old store.

"It's so delicious, why didn't it be put on the menu? Is it because people here are not used to eating it?" Uncle Lin asked curiously.

"That's not true. I always felt that this dish was not yet ready. It's not that I plan to practice more recently. If it's almost done, I'll put it in the menu. Otherwise, it will make customers feel bad when it's served. , wouldn’t that just smash the signboard?”

Hearing that Chen Nian was so principled, Uncle Lin admired him more and more: "Young man has a future, there are not many young people like you now, and you should not have been cooking for a long time, but how can I Remember that this restaurant used to be run by a 50-year-old man?
Although the business was good at that time, it was still a lot worse than in the past six months, and why did I feel that this store suddenly became lively, and it was closed for a while before it became lively..."

As soon as Uncle Lin opened his mouth, he was an old man in the neighborhood, but at that time he had nothing to do with Honghong Hotel, and he only cared about cleaning when he came and went every day, and didn't pay much attention to other things.

When Chen Nian heard about it, he had to recount the previous events.

"You came back to reopen the restaurant after graduation?" Uncle Lin couldn't help being even more curious after hearing Chen Nian's words, "Why do you plan to open a restaurant and go to a culinary school? Just follow your father and learn." ?”

"Well, that's what I thought too, but my dad didn't let me take the exam, but I didn't go to cooking school. If I did go to cooking school, my dad would take a mop and break my leg. .”

"Why?" Uncle Lin's curiosity has been completely aroused.

"The main reason is that I got more than 600 points in the college entrance examination. When I filled out my application, my dad told me that if I dared to go to the culinary school, he would kick me out of the house."

Uncle Lin was stunned when he heard this. Although he is old, he also knows the gold content of more than 600 points in the college entrance examination.

"Then you've only been a cook for half a year?"

"In the past, there was a person in our village who was admitted to an agricultural university. He went there to farm, and he was still at the agricultural university when he was a graduate student. It was just that the weather was bad for a few days before graduation. One day the sky was full of sunshine. As a result, there was hailstorm, and that year when he called back and cried, it was a miserable..."

Uncle Lin sighed as he spoke.

And Chen Nian couldn't help feeling tense after hearing this, and began to mourn for this classmate.

"But your school still teaches cooking?"

Chen Nian thought for a while: "If I have to say it, there is also this type of research, that is, how to make food more delicious, but we are more specialized in related principles."

"Then teach you how to cook?" Mr. Lin didn't understand what Chen Nian was saying, so he asked again.

"No." Chen Nian said bluntly this time.

"That's strange. It's only been half a year. You learned all these dishes in the past six months?"

"more or less."

"Then you are really good, this is God's reward!" Uncle Lin couldn't help giving a thumbs up again.

And Chen Nian smiled shyly, facing the elders' praise, he would always feel happy from the bottom of his heart.

"No, I'll do it a little bit."

"Hahaha……"

The uncle smiled and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took out two and handed one to Chen Nian: "Hey, young man smokes a cigarette, don't dislike my cigarette is not very good."

"No, no, sir, I don't smoke. I haven't smoked since I was a child." Chen Nian waved his hands quickly.

"Don't smoke? This is the first time I've seen a cook who doesn't smoke." Mr. Lin said with a smile, but he still took out the cigarette that was already in his mouth, carefully stuffed it back into the cigarette case, and put it in again. into the pocket.

"But it's good not to smoke. If you can't smoke, don't smoke. Let me tell you, if you go out and meet someone who insists on smoking, you should stay away. Such people have no good intentions." Uncle Lin said, with a thick and simple color on his dark face.

This made Chen Nian feel a little at ease looking at it.

Then the two began to cook.

Because the knife has been changed on the outside before, and it has been stewed for a long time, the broth is fully soaked in it, and even the egg yolk inside is also invaded by the meaty smell.

The aroma of the eggs and the aroma of the meat burst out together after this mouthful.

And there's gluten and tofu in addition to eggs.

If you drink the soup alone, most people will feel that the taste of the soup is a bit salty, but in addition to drinking the soup directly, other eggs, meat, gluten, tofu, rice, etc. can neutralize it to some extent salty taste.

It combines with its own taste to form a unique aroma. This is a carnival of meat, and the joy between the lips and teeth is noisy for this supper feast.

Eating meat for aging and even forgetting the fatigue during the day, perhaps Li Qingzhao, who wrote "I don't know old age in the pile of wine and meat", is probably thinking about the meat of his hometown.

While eating the meat, Chen Nian even thought that maybe adding chili, meatballs, kelp, beans, or even fried dough sticks and flower rolls in it would be quite delicious.

Or put the steamed stuffed bun in and give it a whiff...

"Hiss—I can't think about it, the more I think about it, the more greedy I get!"

"Let's hurry up and cook!"

Soon there was no sound of talking in the store, only the sound of chopsticks colliding with plates, chewing and eating.

The voices rang alternately from Uncle Lin and Chen Nian, harmonious and beautiful.

Although the outside of the tofu has been fried, the inside still maintains the whiteness and tenderness of the tofu, and the overflowing soup after one bite is no different from greatly increasing the attack speed of the rice cooker.

It can be said that whether it is the main dish or the side dish, it can increase the attack speed buff.

"Alas, there are really no chili peppers in the store. Otherwise, add a few chili peppers in it, and then a bite of meat and chili peppers will enhance the taste and relieve the greasy." Chen Nian couldn't help sighing while eating.

But Uncle Lin suddenly thought of something: "How about a green onion?"

Chen Nian's eyes lit up after hearing this: "Good idea, I'll wash it!"

Not long after, Chen Nian came out with two scallions.

The light white part looks like a beautiful woman's arms, while the front end is emerald green, with freshly washed moisture still on it, although the water drops have been wiped off, it is still as lustrous as jade.

Then there was the crisp sound of chewing green onions in the house.

While eating old-fashioned food, I was also thinking that the tastes of people nowadays are probably different from those in the past. I didn’t think about changing other things when I was old-fashioned. The main reason is this egg...

I just ate fried eggs with An Hongdou yesterday, and the response was good. If I replaced the boiled eggs in the meat with tiger skin eggs, the juice absorption effect should be better...

And it should be more popular.

Thinking of this, Chen Nian had an idea in his mind.

He couldn't help but look at the recipe in his mind. As expected, the meat this time was 100%, but he already had experience with the recipe.

It's not that there is no room for improvement when it reaches 100%, it can only be said that perfect conditions have been reached in all aspects, but if there are some better changes or optimizations on top of this, it is not impossible.

Thinking of this, Chen Nian had an idea in his mind, he planned to put pork belly into the recipe tomorrow, and in addition to today's side dishes, he also planned to add more peppers, seaweed knots and beans.

And the eggs are also replaced with tiger skin eggs.

(End of this chapter)