Yunding Ranch

Chapter 313 Dongpo Stewed Meat
Standing in the kitchen, looking at the familiar kitchen utensils, Lu Li finally felt like he was at home.

Every corner of the kitchen has a strong atmosphere of life, and there are leftover mashed potatoes and lettuce leaves on the table at noon today; however, those special kitchen utensils have not been used for a while, and even started to accumulate dust. It seems to be forgotten.

Before cooking, Lu Li had to boil a large pot of boiling water, wash and disinfect the tableware one by one, and rearrange the kitchen.After we were done, we started to prepare dinner.

Lu Li remembered that before Song Lingyi returned to China, they went to the Chinese community in Austin and bought a lot of utensils, ingredients and ingredients, including a casserole.Casserole is widely used in southern cuisine. It can not only make soup, but also cook, fry, fry, stew, boil, etc., all of which can produce different flavors.

However, after buying the casserole, I never found a chance to use it.Lu Li found it today because he decided to make Dongpo pork.

The most abundant ingredients in the refrigerator are meat, such as beef, mutton and pork. When choosing ingredients for staple foods, meat is naturally the best choice.However, Lu Li wanted to try his best to avoid western meat cooking methods, so he naturally thought of Dongpo meat. Although the production process was time-consuming, the real craftsmanship was not that complicated.

Dongpo pork is soft but not rotten, fat but not greasy, and has a delicate taste. It is a real famous dish.

"What are you doing?" Finley looked at Lu Li who was extremely busy and asked curiously.

Lu Li didn't answer, but prepared the ingredients in an orderly manner, ginger, green onions, sugar, pork, and finally some rock sugar from the storage cabinet, and displayed them on the stove one by one.

"Have we eaten this dish before?" Finley couldn't help being a little excited, and her expectations had already risen vaguely. She seemed to know all these ingredients, but she had no idea what Lu Li was going to make. .Moreover, there are white sugar and rock sugar, which is simply too strange.

"No." Lu Li replied casually, and then began to clean the pork belly.

There are quite a few members of the ranch, so Lu Li picked three pieces of pork belly. In order to make the dense and delicate taste, it is best to choose pork belly with skin, which is easier to taste and easier to cut.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Everyone else was working, and only Finley stayed behind. Looking at Lu Li's busy figure, she swallowed and started to try.

Lu Li thought for a while, then asked, "You can wash the beef and cut it into thin slices."

Lu Li decided to cook boiled beef.Although it was said that they had made boiled live fish before, and it was well received; but Lu Li believed that, for example, fish, they still prefer beef, and this boiled beef will definitely make them like it even more.

The simple words made Finley excited, and he rolled up his sleeves and planned to fight hard, "Okay!"

Ignoring Finley's work, Lu Li started to get busy. First, he cleaned the pork belly - cleaned up all the bristles on the skin, and then put it in boiling water for 5 minutes. Wash with warm water and cut into cubes.

After processing the pork, slice the ginger and scallions, and find a few shallots and tie them into knots. This is the end of all the preparatory work.

Put the small steaming rack woven with bamboo strips on the bottom of the casserole, first neatly spread the scallion and ginger, and then put the pork on it one by one, like a chessboard, add a little sugar, and throw it on the side A few pieces of rock sugar, a little light soy sauce was added, green onion knots were added, and rice wine was poured at the end.

This bucket of yellow rice wine was given to them by Li Huainan, it is really good Shaoxing rice wine.In Chinese cuisine, many dishes need to use rice wine to enhance the taste, but in North America, it is not easy to find authentic rice wine. Before that, Lu Li used wine and whiskey , but today, rice wine must be used for Dongpo meat, so that the taste is authentic.

Gudu Gudu, the mellow and strong aroma of rice wine began to waft out, Finley couldn't help but put down his work, and ran over again, "What is this?"

Texans' natural sensitivity to alcohol is at play again, Finley asked excitedly, sniffing his nose hard.

"Yellow wine." The sentence was in Chinese. Lu Li laughed. Not only does China have a variety of cuisines, but also alcohol. Every region has its own representative alcohol, and rice wine is just one of them.

"Can I have a sip?" Although Finley was asking, but his eyes were fixed on the barrel of rice wine, and he couldn't move his eyes.

Lu Li could feel Finley's scorching gaze from the back of his hand holding the wine jug, "Of course, but this bucket is used for cooking, so you can't drink too much." Lu Li picked up the spoon and poured out a small amount. Spoon, handed to Finlay.

Finley poured it into his mouth in one breath, smash it, "Not enough, too little, can you give me some more?" Although the portion is not much, it has a lot of aftertaste, especially the mellow aroma of the wine. It's something that beer doesn't have.

Lu Li didn't say anything, and poured another tablespoon. This made Finley smile contentedly, and quickly poured the rice wine into his mouth, then stood by the side, unwilling to leave at all - this rice wine makes people so Intoxicated, she became even more curious about the dish in front of her.

"Could it be Burgundy red wine stew?" Finley boldly expressed his guess.

Lu Li nodded, "It can be regarded as the same style. But, I think there is still a big difference in taste, you can try it later." After carefully looking at it, after confirming that everything was prepared, he added a little more Then put the lid on the casserole and turn on the biggest fire.

After the water in the casserole boiled, put on protective gloves, seal the edges completely with tin foil, and then start to simmer slowly over low heat.

The essence of Dongpo pork lies in the fact that slow work produces meticulous work. You must not use high fire, but must use low fire to simmer slowly, so that the taste of all ingredients can penetrate bit by bit, and it will take at least three to ten minutes. , maybe two hours is also possible.However, the grasp of the heat is quite special and needs to be controlled by the producer.

After finishing all these processes, Lu Li turned to look at Finley's work, only to find that it was horrible.

Boiled beef does not have any detailed requirements for knife skills. Slicing and cutting thin is enough. Of course, if it is not thin enough, it does not matter, but the taste is slightly affected.But those are the needs of professionals. Lu Li's own knife skills are not good, and Song Lingyi always dislikes him. When dealing with home cooking, don't be too bad, it's enough.

But looking at the pile of beef in front of Finley, Lu Li felt that the cow must be very wronged.

Irregular large and small beef, hovering between lumps and dices, does not look like beef slices, but it does not look like beef mince, the thickest slice can already fry steak, and customers will He asked worriedly, "I want it fully cooked, won't the outer layer burn off?" The smallest slice was almost at the level of beef cubes, and Lu Li didn't know how Finley cut it out.

This is really, unbearable to look at.

"Is this unusable?" Finley asked cautiously, frowning a little nervously.

Lu Li turned his head, looked at Finley's timid eyes, and said firmly, "Yes."

Finley originally wanted to pretend to be pitiful, but when he heard Lu Li's answer that had no room for maneuver, he immediately laughed, "I think so too. So, what else can I do to help?"

"Uh, help with washing the vegetables?" Lu Li raised his tail slightly. He originally thought that cutting beef would be an easy job, but now, he's not sure either.

Finley originally thought he would be kicked out of the kitchen by Lu Li, but now that he could help wash the vegetables, he immediately became happy, "No problem! Just leave the vegetables to me, I'm confident!" With questioning eyes, she couldn't help but thump her chest loudly, "Trust me, I'm telling the truth."

Finley left the kitchen and began to search for vegetables, "By the way, do you want to wash some corn? Didn't you just say, make corn rib soup?"

Lu Li originally planned to make soup, but he needed to clear his stomach. Dongpo meat was already considered a greasy food, so he didn't want to continue making soup. The corn rib soup was already very light, but it was still meat.He decided to make a hot and sour soup tonight, refreshing and stimulating.

"Next time." Looking at the active Finley, Lu Li replied, and then he clearly saw Finley's drooping shoulders, and he didn't hide his disappointment at all, which made people laugh and cry.

After Finley left the kitchen, Lu Li immediately started his hands and feet again. This pot of Dongpo meat needs to be simmered slowly, and he has enough time to prepare today's dinner.

Looking at the beef on the chopping board that had been tortured until it looked bad, Lu Li collected all the bits and pieces so that he could chop it into minced meat and add it to the hot and sour soup to enhance the flavor.Then he started to cut the beef again. Fortunately, the family had enough beef reserves, and Finley consumed part of it, and the rest was still enough.

Concentrating on the cooking, he was really motivated. His stomach was constantly secreting gastric acid, and his saliva flowed out one after another. After all, Lu Li couldn't hold back. He tasted the food from time to time while cooking. This familiar taste and texture really makes people feel happy, even if they are busy with cooking work, they are still very happy.

"Smell! What is it, it's so fragrant! It's really delicious!"

Before the door was opened, Randy was standing outside the garden, and he could already smell the tempting fragrance. He couldn't help swallowing, and ran all the way up, pushed the door open, shouted loudly, and then I saw Finley standing at the door of the kitchen. She was very focused and looked at the kitchen intently.

Hearing the sound of the door, Finley didn't look back, but shouted loudly, "Eggplant! It's actually eggplant!"

Randy couldn't help being stunned, "What? Eggplant?"

(End of this chapter)