Gourmet Beast Tamer

"It does look like meat skin."

Faced with Dan Bao's curious inquiry, Qin Lang announced the answer slowly.

"This dish is called vegetarian braised pork. As the name suggests, it uses vegetarian ingredients to make a vegetarian dish that looks like braised pork."

"Winter melon with fleshy skin is just the beginning."

Make braised pork with vegetarian ingredients? !

Dan Bao's eyes widened again.

Although these winter melon slices do resemble meat skin, what about the meat?

Its eyes couldn't help but look at the winter melon slices and tofu slices that had been prepared aside.

Wouldn't that be used for these?

"Gudu?"

"You guessed it right." Qin Lang said with a smile, then stacked four slices of tofu and winter melon to form a square shape, and covered it with freshly fried winter melon slices as skin.

Trim the edges and tie the ingredients with string along the cross knife that was cut previously.

A piece of fat and thin "pork belly" is ready like this.

After following the same pattern and making sixteen pieces of fake pork belly, Qin Lang put them aside and let Dan Bao curiously move forward to observe, and started the next steps in his hands.

Heat oil over low heat, add sugar and stir-fry until melted.

There is naturally no meaty flavor in vegetarian dishes, so if you want to make it taste similar to meat, you must cook it in the same way as meat dishes.

Braised is a cooking method that is highly adaptable to raw materials and can be used on a variety of ingredients.

Even if there are no meat ingredients, the dishes made with this method can still have a salty and fresh taste, which is very similar to meat dishes, which is the so-called meaty taste.

On this basis, using ingredients that have a relatively bland taste and are easily covered by the braised sauce to create a texture close to pork belly, you can imitate the real braised pork.

When the white sugar in the pot is completely melted and fine bubbles emerge and gradually turn into a dark reddish brown color, quickly pour a small bowl of hot water to prevent the sugar from further caramelizing, stir well and set aside.

Pour in the oil again. When the oil is hot, add onion, ginger, star anise, cinnamon and other spices. Stir-fry until fragrant. Return the sugar color to the pot. Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cooking wine, oyster sauce and salt.

Put the fake pork belly into the pot, add water to cover the ingredients, cover it, and simmer over low heat.

All the steps are the same as braised pork.

Forty minutes later, one person and one spirit returned to the stove.

“Are you ready to see pork belly made with vegetarian ingredients?”

Hearing Qin Lang's inquiry, Dan Bao nodded his head in a hurry.

"Gudu!"

I want to see it!

"Dangdangdangdang~"

Qin Lang opened the lid of the pot, and with a burst of heat rising, everything in the pot gradually became clear.

The fake pork belly, which had completely turned into brown, appeared in front of one person and one spirit.

The tofu is lighter in color, and its light brown color is almost the same as the fatty part of braised pork.

Winter melon is darker in color, and its dark brown color can also make people mistake it for the lean part of braised pork.

With the string fixed in place, the fake pork belly did not fall apart but maintained a regular shape even after such a long period of stewing.

Paired with the "pork skin" that has been fried in advance, it looks like tempting pork belly trembling slightly in the pot.

"Gudu~"

Dan Bao swallowed deeply, smelling the rich fragrance emanating from the air, and was already impatient.

"Don't worry, wait until I collect the juice." Qin Lang reassured, then turned up the heat.

The water in the soup in the pot evaporates rapidly, and the delicious flavor in the soup becomes more and more intense.

It wasn't until the soup became thick that Qin Lang skillfully plated it.

Put the fake pork belly into a plate, cut off the string and pour thick soup on it to add a layer of moistness to the surface.

This is how a vegetarian braised pork dish is completed.

"Come and taste it?"

Qin Lang smiled and picked up a piece and put it into the mouth of Dan Bao who was already eager to try. Then he picked up another piece and put it into his own mouth.

After chewing for a while, he nodded slightly.

Compared with real braised pork, the meaty flavor of vegetarian braised pork is still lighter, but the seasoning is almost the same, making the difference between the two not obvious.

Whether it is tofu or winter melon, they are all filled with full soup at this moment. After a long period of stewing, the soft and waxy texture can bring an experience that is not inferior to braised pork. The fried "meat skin" is glutinous. It's crispy and the texture is even more wonderful.

After the initial flavor of the braised sauce gradually fades away, you can feel the very faint bean flavor of tofu and the flavor of winter melon in the aftertaste between your lips and teeth.

"Grrrrrr!"

Dan Bao tasted a piece of vegetarian braised pork with a suspicious expression on Dan Sheng's face.

I can’t taste the taste of vegetarian food at all!

If it hadn't watched Qin Lang cook it with his own eyes, it would have thought it was meat.

No, I want to spend another 100 million yuan to verify it!

Qin Lang smiled as he watched Dan Bao enjoying the vegetarian braised pork.

There is still one day left, and he can still adjust and optimize this dish.

For example, making the texture of pork belly more realistic, such as making vegetarian braised pork more meaty.

He was very curious about what kind of evaluation the thirty judges would give on this dish in the scoring competition the day after tomorrow.

…

On this night, it was not only Qin Lang who was preparing for the municipal cooking competition the day after tomorrow, but also the twenty-five contestants who were also on the list.

In his own practice kitchen, the bright look in Tang Xie's eyes could not be concealed even by the darkness of the night.

He has lost to Qin Lang twice, and there will not be a third time!

As for the other contestants…

Tang Xie raised his eyebrows slightly, with a bit of pride.

Except for a few unfamiliar ones, almost all others were defeated by his men!

Keep training hard!

Tang Xie encouraged himself in his heart, and then, together with the two food spirits flying beside him, he once again devoted himself to the adjustment and preparation of the dishes.

Beside him, the leftover ingredients had piled up into a hill.

And the out-of-town chef who Tang Xie didn't know the details of was currently busy in the back kitchen of a restaurant in Dongxia City.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk."

The owner of the restaurant walked to the kitchen door and knocked on the door on the side.

"Rake, it's closed."

Hearing the sound, Lake in the kitchen raised his head, revealing his bright brown eyes.

He glanced at the restaurant owner and said calmly, "According to the previous agreement, I only need to make ten temporary dishes for the day, and this kitchen can be used by me."

"That's true, but do you want to continue?" The restaurant owner couldn't help but ask, "You've been in the kitchen all night, right?"

"Not enough." Lake shook his head, as if fighting intent was burning in his eyes.

He is the champion of the Danju City cooking competition. The purpose of coming here is not to have fun, but to get the second-level food recommendation badge for the champion.

In the rating competition, just advancing to the top eight is not enough?

He wants to take first place in the rating competition!

He wants to win the second-level Food Recommender Badge without any suspense!

"Okay." Seeing Lake like this, the restaurant owner shook his head helplessly, "I'll leave you the key. Don't forget to close the door when you leave."

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Contents of the easter egg chapter at the end of this chapter:

【Vegetarian Braised Pork】

【Braised Pork】