Food starts with noodles

In other words, this is authentic and this is well deserved.

Maybe it’s a bit bragging to say this, but Yipin tofu in Shandong cuisine is indeed the best among many Yipin tofu dishes.

It is even because of this dish that the reputation of Yipin Tofu is different from other types of tofu dishes.

The dish of Yipin Tofu is said to have originated from the Confucian Mansion.

As the most important branch of Shandong cuisine, many dishes with more elegant names come from Confucius.

Of course, some dishes are really from Confucianism, and some are just arty of later generations. Chinese people like to share anecdotes about celebrities, especially in terms of dishes.

Yipin Tofu is said to have been conferred by Emperor Qianlong, a gourmet expert.

But it is not known whether it is true or not. Anyway, in the gourmet circle, as long as there are no definite legends and records of gourmet food, just push it to Emperor Qianlong.

Even Wenxi boiled cake located in Shanxi dared to publicize that Emperor Qianlong passed by Wenxi County when he went to the south of the Yangtze River.

This kind of irrelevant propaganda is believed by people, so what else can't be propagated?

The dish of Yipin tofu not only implies the pursuit of the Confucian family, but also the cooking method itself is relatively cumbersome, and the ingredients used are relatively exquisite.

Although this dish is called tofu, among all the ingredients, tofu is the most inconspicuous.

Because this dish uses eight ingredients: sea cucumber, fish maw, shark's fin, scallops, ham, shrimp, crab roe, and winter bamboo shoots.

These eight kinds of ingredients are not fixed, generally as long as the ingredients are within the scope of Bazhen, if you want a little more common people, you can use vermicelli, shiitake mushrooms, fungus, etc. instead.

Anyway, the taste is about the same.

In addition to these eight ingredients, the remaining main ingredient is tofu.

There is nothing special about tofu, both southern tofu and northern tofu are fine, but in the A-level dishes, it is emphasized to use lactone tofu, probably because the lactone tofu is more delicate and the appearance is more beautiful.

In addition to lactone tofu, this dish also uses bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, etc. These are not for eating, but for carving and embellishing on top of the tofu.

So don't pursue the taste, as long as the appearance is sufficient.

The ingredients in the store are well-prepared, and dried products such as sea cucumber, shark fin and fish maw are also ready-made and can be used at any time.

After Xu Zhuo prepared the ingredients to be used, he started to make.

The old man and the others will have lunch in the store today, so Xu Zhuo plans to make it now, to give a few old people a taste, and at the same time prove that he has not been idle recently and has been learning new dishes.

Xu Zhuo took the box containing lactone tofu and put it upside down on the chopping board.

First use a kitchen knife to stick to the bottom, slice the tofu at the bottom and the tofu box together, then cut off the four sides, cut off the tofu box and the side of the tofu that is close to the box, so that the tofu can be removed The hard skin makes the tofu taste better.

This kind of dish that pursues beautiful form and taste is inevitable to waste.

There are even many similar dishes, the reason why they are tall is because they are too wasteful to cook.

Famous for extravagance, this is a famous dish.

Xu Zhuo cut all the six sides of the two boxes of tofu in this way, then put the tofu on the chopping board, pressed it flat with a kitchen knife, and crushed the tofu bit by bit.

Don't be in a hurry when grinding, but slowly and forcefully, so that the tofu can be crushed more thoroughly without large particles or similar ingredients.

After thoroughly crushing the tofu, Xu Zhuo put the tofu into a small pot and started to marinate.

The tofu itself is tender enough, so it is relatively simple to marinate. After the tofu is crushed, put a little salt, a little white pepper, and a small spoonful of onion and ginger water to enhance the flavor and remove the odor.

After stirring evenly, beat a few egg whites into it, add half a frying spoon of cooked lard, and stir vigorously again.

The stirring time should be longer this time, so that the lard and tofu can be completely blended together, and the taste and texture will be better.

After mixing well, throw in a handful of cornstarch.

Stir again and set aside.

In this way, the tofu will be tender enough, delicious enough, and delicious enough to eat.

Not only tofu is not enough, if there is tofu alone, it can't match the name of Yipin tofu.

At this time, it is necessary to invite out the prepared eight treasure ingredients.

When using these dishes, you need to change the knife first. All the ingredients except the shark's fin should be cut into small pieces, and the shark's fin should be cut shorter and not too long, otherwise it will not be elegant enough to eat.

A-level dishes are still court dishes produced by the Confucian Mansion, so they must be elegant enough in terms of food appearance.

After Xu Zhuo chopped all these ingredients, he put them in a small basin, poured a little cooking wine and onion and ginger water into it, added some salt and white pepper, and finally beat an egg white.

Stir with your hands to mix the ingredients evenly.

Then add a handful of cornstarch and continue to mix until the surface of all ingredients becomes sticky.

Only in this way can the tofu made be delicious and even more delicious.

These ingredients need to be marinated, which will add more flavor and taste better at the same time.

At this time, you need to prepare a little water starch, which will be used later when frying the ingredients and making the sauce, and it should be a little more.

After 10 minutes, Xu Zhuo put the frying pan on the stove, heated it up, poured cold oil into the pan, then added a little peanut oil to the pan, poured the marinated ingredients into the pan and started to stir fry.

This step is mainly to use hot oil to stir-fry the fresh aroma of the ingredients, so that when you eat it, the taste will be more delicious, and it will have a more obvious contrast with tofu.

Because these ingredients were marinated with starch, so soon, the water in the pot disappeared completely, and the surface of the ingredients became sticky. If it wasn’t for the smooth pot before, it would definitely be It will stick to the pan.

After the aroma of the ingredients was fried, Xu Zhuo added a spoonful of green onion and ginger water to the pot, poured a little dark soy sauce, and then added a little water starch.

After a little cooking, the ingredients in the pot become slightly sticky.

But this kind of stickiness is not too obvious, so it will not affect the taste, but can lock some water, making it more comfortable to eat.

After the ingredients were fried, Xu Zhuo turned off the fire and took out all the ingredients with a spoon.

Then he took a larger plate and put a circular steel ring in the middle of the plate. The steel ring doesn’t need to be too high, ten centimeters is enough.

This is specially processed to make the shape of tofu more beautiful.

It is the same reason that pagoda meat basically uses a square funnel as support.

Mainly for the purpose of shaping.

After placing the steel ring, Xu Zhuo brought over the marinated tofu, scooped the tofu in with a small spoon, and spread a layer inside the steel ring.

The thickness does not need to be too high, about two centimeters will do.

After paving, sip it with a spoon to squeeze out the air in the tofu as much as possible, which can make the tofu more beautiful.

Especially the rim part, even more so.

After laying out the tofu, Xu Zhuo brought over the freshly fried ingredients and evenly spread it on top of the tofu.

However, when paving, it should not be next to the steel ring, and it is necessary to reserve a gap of more than one centimeter. After doing this, it will not be exposed, and the appearance will be more perfect.

After laying out the dishes, put the remaining tofu in and smooth the surface as much as possible, which can increase the appearance of the dishes.

After finishing these, Xu Zhuo put the plate aside, picked up a kitchen knife and a few vegetables that had been washed, and began to shred them, preparing to put them on top of the tofu.

This is a critical step in this recipe.

For a dish, although the taste is the most important thing, sometimes the presentation is also very important.

This is especially true for dishes that are obviously for ostentation.

Chapter 1533 Worthy of the First Grade Name

In cooking, carving has always been a very tasteless skill.

The main reason is that no matter whether the carved pattern is good-looking or not in place, it will not affect the quality and taste of the dishes, and sometimes it will even give people a sense of mystery, which has a certain negative effect on the dishes.

It can be said that except for high-end restaurants and some gourmet competitions, in daily life, it is rare to see the phenomenon of carved dishes.

However, the first-grade tofu that Xu Zhuo is going to make today requires this skill.

And it's important.

To a certain extent, the pattern is even the key to evaluating the dish of Yipin Tofu.

When gourmets comment on this dish, they seldom talk about the taste and texture, and most of them start from the appearance.

The reason for this is mainly because the texture and taste of this dish is basically fixed. No matter who makes it, unless it is to change the pattern and innovate, the taste and texture are almost the same.

And this kind of high-grade dishes, the taste and texture are not the most important.

How to make this dish more noble and elegant is the focus of diners' attention.

And in the final analysis, these are just appearances.

Only when it looks good can it appear elegant, noble, and eye-catching.

So over the years, countless people have worked hard on the carving and decoration of Yipin tofu.

Some people make palace fan paintings on the round surface of Yipin tofu, some make ink paintings, and some make calligraphy or embroidery.

Anyway, it's how to attract people, how to attract people's attention.

Over the years, the taste of the dishes has not changed much, but the appearance of the dishes has undergone earth-shaking changes.

It's not that everyone has gone astray or put their attention in the wrong place. It's really that the taste and taste of this dish have reached the point where there is no improvement.

At best, the taste is slightly different because of the different ingredients.

As for the taste, it is basically the same routine. The combination of salt and white pepper makes this dish delicious, but also has a little bit of spiciness, which makes it more enjoyable and appetizing.

Xu Zhuo cut the washed beauty vertically, scraped off the chili seeds inside, and then cut the chili into thin filaments.

The color of the beauty pepper is very red, but the taste is not very spicy, but has a hint of sweetness.

This feature is coupled with the fact that the beauty pepper is relatively long, so generally when pairing dishes, the beauty pepper is used instead of the small but very spicy chaotian pepper.

Today Xu Zhuo plans to make a somewhat abstract peony flower with finely sliced ​​bell peppers.

Use a few shreds of red pepper to outline the shape of the peony flower, which is both elegant and unconventional.

At the same time, the combination of white lactone tofu and red chili shreds also gives people a visual impact.

Overall, a good idea at this time.

In the past, Xu Zhuo would never have dared to play like this, but now he has A-level skills in his hands, and he is also proficient in arranging plates. This kind of operation is as easy as drinking cold water.

After cutting the bell peppers, Xu Zhuo cut some very thin shredded carrots to make the pistils of peony flowers.

In the end, Xu Zhuo peeled a little cucumber and cut it into thin strips.

This is used for the leaves of peonies.

After everything was ready, Xu Zhuo soaked these ingredients in salt water, and then started to put them on the tofu with tweezers.

The reason why it is blanched with salt water first is that it can soften the three ingredients and make them any shape you want.

This kind of line drawing is relatively difficult, because not only the line but also the blank part must be considered when creating, which tests the artist and the understanding of beauty.

Xu Zhuo has skills in hand, so it is not difficult to do this.

Soon, a beautiful peony flower appeared on the tofu.

The flowers are very large and look like the reverse side of a one-yuan coin, which makes people like it very much.

After making the flowers, Xu Zhuo arranged the remaining pepper shreds into a rectangular frame in the blank space of the corner, making it in the style of a seal.

Then, inside the seal, two words were placed in seal script: Yipin.

In this way, the force came out properly.

After setting it up, Xu Zhuo covered it with a layer of plastic wrap, and then used a toothpick to pierce some small holes.

The purpose of doing this is to prevent the water vapor in the pot from dripping onto the plate and destroying the hard-fought flower pattern.

However, if you want to cover the plastic wrap, the height of the steel ring must exceed the tofu.

Otherwise, these plastic wraps are tightly attached to the peony flowers, and when they are opened again, the flowers will be completely destroyed.

After finishing these, Xu Zhuo put the steamer on the stove, added water and quickly boiled it, then put the tofu on the plate into it and started steaming.

This dish is really not difficult in practice.

As long as the ingredients are complete, a person who can cook a little can make it.

The only difficult thing is the carving of this dish, or the presentation.

This is the key step in testing cooking skills.