Chapter 518 Three Sets of Duck, a Classic Huaiyang Dish Created by Literati! 【Please Subscribe】

Chapter 518 Three sets of duck - a classic Huaiyang dish created by literati! 【Please subscribe】

"What is Xiaoxu's education level?"

Qiu Yaozu took a sip of the hot tea brought by the nanny, and then led Lin Xu to the living room of the villa, asking questions as he walked.

Lin Xu thought it was just chatting and replied:

"Bachelor's degree in Finance from Central University of Finance and Economics."

"Bachelor's degree... I guess that's enough. Come with me. Before cooking, let's talk about the origin of this dish to give you a preliminary understanding of Huaiyang cuisine."

Is that enough?

Lin Xu was a little surprised.

It’s just a matter of learning how to cook, are there any academic requirements?

To be honest, this is the first time Lin Xu has encountered such a situation.

Before cooking, ask about your education level. If you have a low level of education, will you be unable to cook or hold a kitchen knife?

When he came to the study, Qiu Yaozu pointed to a copy of "The Analects" on the table and asked:

"Have you studied The Analects of Confucius?"

Lin Xu nodded:

"I have learned that the passing of people is like a man, and he does not give up day and night. This is a famous sentence in The Analects of Confucius."

When he saw the title of the book, the ten Analects of Confucius he had memorized in junior high school flashed into his mind unconsciously.

In addition to lamenting the passage of time, "The passing of time is like a man, never giving up day and night", there are other famous sentences such as "Knowing something is knowing it, not knowing it is not knowing, it is knowing", "Reviewing the past and learning the new can be a teacher" and other famous sentences.

It gave me a headache at the time, and it still leaves a deep impression on me now.

But why did Mr. Qiu ask this?

Isn’t it okay to discuss Confucius’ words before cooking?

Qiu Yaozu said:

"There is a very famous saying in "The Analects of Confucius: Zilu", which says that gentlemen are harmonious but different, and villains are similar but not harmonious. This sentence talks about the philosophy of life, and it is also the purpose of the creation of the three sets of duck dish."

What?

Is the famous sentence from The Analects related to the three sets of ducks?

Lin Xu asked with some confusion:

"Mr. Qiu, I don't understand very well."

Don’t all educated people believe that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen? How does it have anything to do with a dish?

Qiu Yaozu said with a smile:

"To talk about three sets of duck, we have to start with the prosperity of Huaiyang cuisine."

He explained the origin of Huaiyang cuisine to Lin Xu in a calm and unhurried manner.

In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou's economy reached its peak. Salt merchants liked to be arty and invited some literati to their homes for gatherings and meals, and invited literati to participate in the design of gardens, restaurants, etc.

It was at this time that three sets of ducks were designed by some literati based on the sentence "Gentlemen are harmonious but different" in the Analects of Confucius.

Gentlemen are harmonious but different. To put it simply:

A gentleman can maintain a harmonious and friendly relationship with others in interpersonal interactions, but he does not necessarily agree with each other on specific issues.

This is the opposite of the interpersonal communication of villains.

The villain is the same but not harmonious, which means that the villain will be accustomed to agreeing with others in terms of views on issues, but deep down he does not have a harmonious and friendly attitude.

Lin Xu was confused when he heard this, and he didn't understand what this had to do with the three sets of ducks.

Qiu Yaozu said:

"When Santao Duck was founded, we emphasized that all three ingredients should have their own original flavors. At the same time, the combination of two or two flavors will produce the effect of one plus one being greater than two."

Lin Xu finally understood something when he heard this:

"So the creative theory came first, and then the dish of three sets of duck was born?"

"Yes! You kid really understands everything. Chinese cooking usually starts with the dishes, and then the cooking concepts are derived based on the dishes. But for Three Sets of Duck, the concept is first developed, and then the chefs explore it bit by bit based on the concepts."

Is this the origin of the saying that harmony is different?

Qiu Yaozu highly praised the dish of three sets of duck. This is also a very important high-end dish in Huaiyang cuisine. Its status is equivalent to that of boiled cabbage in Sichuan cuisine.

"To make three sets of duck, you must first understand the creative concept inside. Only by knowing how to be harmonious but different can you truly understand and make this dish well."

For high-end chefs, making three sets of duck is not difficult. It is nothing more than deboning three ingredients.

But it’s not enough to just be able to cook this kind of dish. You also need to be able to appreciate the beauty of the dish and understand the cultural core inside it, so that you can truly appreciate the cultural beauty of Chinese food.

Guo Degang said that the final battle in cross talk is culture, and the same goes for cooking.

After talking about the creation concept of this dish, Qiu Yaozu got up and took Lin Xu to the kitchen. Instead of making three sets of duck directly, he talked about the selection of ingredients for this dish.

"Xiao Xu, if you were asked to cook this dish, what would you choose?"

How to choose?

Lin Xugang wanted to say that a domestic duck, a wild duck and a pigeon would be enough. What good choice was there?

But thinking that Qiu Yaozu would not ask such a simple question, he thought carefully for a moment and said:

"First there has to be a drake."

Among duck dishes, male duck is much stronger than female duck. Regardless of whether it is stewed, steamed or fried, male duck tastes better, so he thinks he should choose male duck.

Qiu Yaozu showed a hint of surprise on his face:

"The fact that you have this kind of knowledge means that you really understand cooking, which is incomparable to ordinary chefs."

Are you really right?

Lin Xu felt a sense of joy in answering the multiple-choice questions.

Qiu Yaozu continued:

"There is a description of ducks in the famous Huaiyang cuisine book "Tiao Ding Ji": All poultry are still female, but ducks are the only ones that are male; all poultry are still tender, but ducks are the only one that is more valuable when they are old. Male ducks, the older they are, the more fragrant they are, and the more delicious they are. Outstanding, so for three sets of ducks, male ducks must be selected for more than one year.”

Is this why you called Lao Huang specifically yesterday to deliver ingredients?

Thinking about it, only people like Lao Huang who deal with various breeding farms all year round can buy male ducks. Most people go to the wet market to buy only female ducks.

Because the ducks that are farmed generally do not keep male ducks. If they don’t lay eggs, they will only waste food.

But it’s not that there are no male ducks. Among about seventy or eighty egg-laying ducks, there will be one male duck that is responsible for mating the female ducks. This male duck will usually be eaten by the farmers. If you want to buy it, you must You have to rely on connections like Lao Huang.

As for wild ducks and pigeons, Lin Xu was not sure.

Walking into the kitchen, Lin Xu saw the ducks, wild ducks and pigeons that would be used today neatly placed on the workbench.

The three ingredients have all been plucked and are smooth. Among them, the mallard duck has a red beak and red webs, which looks very attractive.

Qiu Yaozu held the wild duck and said:

"When choosing domestic ducks, just choose male ducks, but wild ducks are more particular. Xiaoxu, do you know how wild ducks are graded?"

Lin Xu shook his head. He was like a novice who had just come into contact with cooking. He had never thought that cooking could require such rigorous theoretical knowledge as writing a thesis.

Qiu Yaozu said three words:

"Look at the color!"

Wild ducks are different from domestic ducks. Wild ducks look for food as soon as they emerge from the eggshell.

Ducks that are fat and strong when they are young will have their bills and webs turn red, which is the best among wild ducks, followed by orange, and even worse colors such as yellow and black.

For wild ducks, choose ducks with red beaks and red webs. Only such ducks will be fat and strong, and will be delicious enough to be used in dishes.

Fortunately, wild ducks are now artificially bred, and wild ducks with red beaks and red webs are more common.

Finally, there is pigeon, which is also a relatively particular ingredient. What matters is not the breed, but the age of the pigeon.

Young pigeons do not have a strong flavor, and old pigeons may not be stewed well between domestic ducks and wild ducks, so middle-aged pigeons that are three to six months old should be chosen.

"It's easy to tell the difference between old and young pigeons. Just look at the soft meat on the soles of the feet. Old pigeons are relatively fatter, but middle-aged pigeons are difficult to choose. In the past, chefs would select them one by one by hand."

Pick by hand?

Lin Xu didn't quite understand the meaning of this.

He asked curiously:

“Don’t people who keep pigeons know?”

"In the past, pigeons were raised more extensively, but once the pigeons can fly, they all look the same. How can pigeon farmers tell them apart? They can only pick them by twisting their necks."

Old pigeons have a long growth period and have a relatively big temper. If you twist their necks, they will struggle violently.

Young pigeons have never seen the world and will be fine no matter how you twist their heads. Only middle-aged pigeons will struggle for a moment when their necks are first twisted, and then just let it go.

"But that doesn't have to be the case now. Scientifically bred pigeons all have tags on their legs, which record the hatching time. You just need to choose the right pigeon based on the number plate."

In addition to the three types of poultry, the three sets of duck dish also requires three ingredients: winter bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms and Jinhua ham. Now these three ingredients are ready and ready to be cooked.

Qiu Yaozu said with a smile:

"I've told you about the theory and material selection. Next, you can make it, Xiaoxu. Let me see your basic skills by the way."

Lin Xu's basic skills were no problem. Without saying a word, he picked up the kitchen knife and deboned the male duck first to get a feel for it, and then cleaned up the wild ducks and pigeons.

Just like making the Eight-treasure Gourd Duck, the whole duck is removed from the bottom of the neck. First, the entire duck neck is removed, and then all the bones in the ribs, spine, duck wings, duck legs and other parts are removed along the cervical vertebrae.

The three ingredients were slaughtered and bled but the internal organs were not cleaned. Lin Xu took the time to process them to prevent the internal organs from producing a rotten smell in the stomach over time.

Qiu Yaozu originally thought that at Lin Xu's age, even if he was very talented, he would not be very skilled in the bone removal process.

But when Lin Xu got started, he realized that this kid was as nimble as a master who had been working in front of the stove for half his life.

I know very well the bones of ducks. When removing the bones, I don’t use a knife very often. I basically rely on my thumbs to push the duck meat away from the bones.

This pushing method is the highest form of bone removal, blunt removal.

The so-called blunt removal means that when removing the bone, the meat should always be in contact with the blunt side, so as to effectively prevent the skin and flesh from being scratched.

Some people who are not good at deboning whole chickens or ducks will keep their knife in hand when doing so.

But those who are really knowledgeable will only use a knife when removing joint fascia. Most of the time, they only use their hands and no other tools.

This kind of performance made Qiu Yaozu feel itchy in his heart.

"Lao Gao is really lucky to have picked up such a good apprentice. If he had known, I would have gone to Yingchun Street to buy a house and settle down."

He was willing to give advice to Lin Xu because he was happy to see him. He could not help but want to give advice when he saw a good prospect.

Coupled with the addition of He Jiashun and others, the Qiu family has become a well-known family in Diaoyutai and even the entire Chinese food circle, and they finally have the hope of realizing their elders' "honorable ancestors".

So when I was happy, I naturally wanted to teach Lin Xu some high-end dishes and make a good relationship.

In the future, if Lao Gao is never in the capital, then we will slowly poach him. As long as he works hard, this kid will one day call himself master.

Well, Mr. Qiu didn't dare to directly make Lin Xu his apprentice, but he still had the courage to share his apprenticeship with Gao Peisheng, and he was very bold.

When the time comes, you will be the master and I will be the master too. No one can tell anyone else.

In the cooking circle, it is very common for a chef to have several masters, because it is impossible for a master to cover everything.

White dishes and red dishes, steaming vegetables and stir-frying, stewing vegetables and making soups, etc. Every chef has his own specialty, so he worships a group of masters so that he can "gather the strengths of all the chefs."

Now, Qiu Yaozu plans to take such a path.

If you, Lao Gao, can teach, then I, Lao Qiu, can also teach, and I do it under the guise of doing good for the children, so you have to put up with your objections.

Soon, a duck was stripped of all its bones by Lin Xu.

He took out the duck's ass and pussy together, and Qiu Yaozu couldn't help but shout: "Hello"

"Very good. Even if we let Zhenhua come, we can only do it at this speed. Xiaoxu's cooking skills are really incredible. No wonder your master is wandering around."

"It's just a matter of doing it a lot. Practice makes perfect."

Lin Xu smiled and shook the domestic duck in his hand. At this moment, the duck's skin was facing in and the meat was facing out. However, he did not turn it over, but put it aside and started to debone the wild duck.

"Xiao Xu, why don't you turn the duck over?"

"You have to blanch them later. You can't turn them over. You have to turn them back later. It's easy to hurt the skin."

Tsk tsk, this is talent. There was no mention of how to do it, but this kid realized it.

Qiu Yaozu asked curiously:

"How do you know you need to blanch it? You've made three sets of ducks before?"

Lin Xu pulled out the mallard's neck bone, shook his head and said:

"I haven't done it before, but my master said that no matter what kind of dish, you can't put raw meat directly into the soup stock. This will ruin the pot of soup."

Qiu Yaozu could not wait to give Lin Xu a thumbs up.

There are many chefs who know this, but very few actually remember and practice it.

Many people know this sentence clearly, but they always take the ingredients and put them into the soup pot to cook. Sometimes they refute it by saying that the ingredients are fresh enough.

No matter how fresh the ingredients are, they will contaminate the broth.

The best way is to scald it in boiling water and then put it in the stock.

Lin Xu was busy removing the bones of the wild duck, which was a little difficult.

Not only because the bones of wild ducks are harder, the most important thing is that there is less meat, especially on the back of wild ducks. The meat is so thin that there is only a piece of skin, and the skin will be broken if you are not careful.

Fortunately, he had the bone-removing technique at hand, and he was able to completely remove the mallard duck's bones without any danger.

The deboned wild duck also had the skin on the inside and the meat on the outside. Lin Xu did not turn it over, but continued to debone the pigeon.

After the three ingredients were all deboned, Lin Xu did not rush to make them. Instead, according to Qiu Yaozu's reminder, he first put the whole piece of Jinhua ham in a pot and boiled it. Then he sliced ​​the bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms and blanched them in boiling water.

Finally, slice the soft-boiled Jinhua Huo and place it on a plate with the mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Set aside.

"When you are putting on the condoms later, you need to stuff these ingredients into the abdominal cavity of the ingredients regularly to increase the taste and aroma of the ingredients."

Following Qiu Yaozu's guidance, Lin Xu's understanding of this three-set duck became more and more profound.

To learn this dish, you really need to understand the concept first.

Only in this way can you get twice the result with half the effort.

Next, it’s time to blanch the ingredients.

Lin Xu boiled a pot of water and prepared a large basin of ice water.

When the water in the pot boiled, he put the pigeon's head into the pot with his hands and rinsed it twice, so that the meat in the pigeon's body was completely exposed to the boiling water, so that the blood, water and impurities in the pigeon meat would be removed.

Pigeons cannot be blanched for too long. After rinsing them in the pot for a few times, they must be placed in cold water to cool down to prevent the pigeon meat from being heated and rotten.

During the whole process, Lin Xu didn't use a colander or chopsticks. He just pressed his hands against the boiling water. Qiu Yaozu nodded repeatedly. Only by not being afraid of burning can you become a good cook.

Soak in cold water and carefully turn the pigeons over.

The pot on the stove was still boiling. Lin Xu scooped up the foam left by scalding the pigeons and poured them out. He picked up the pigeons again and rinsed the skin of the pigeons again.

This time, the purpose of rinsing is to scald the skin of the pigeons and clean them, so that the soup will not have an odor.

The pigeons also need to be cooled in ice water after being scalded. Then he took three pieces of Jinhua ham, two pieces of bamboo shoots, and a piece of shiitake mushroom and stuffed them into the pigeon's belly.

Stuff it, skim off the foam in the pot, and start scalding the wild duck.

Blanch it first and then pour it in ice water. After cooling, start to turn it over. After turning it, stuff Jinhua ham, bamboo shoot slices and shiitake mushroom slices into the wild duck's belly. Then stuff the pigeon in, leaving only the pigeon's head from the opening below the duck's neck. Poke out.

When lassoing, the pigeon is placed frontally in the belly of the wild duck, that is, the pigeon's back is facing the back of the wild duck. When the mallard lassoes the duck into the belly of the domestic duck, its back is also facing up and against the back of the domestic duck.

The advantage of this is that when simmering in a pot over low heat, the meaty parts of the three ingredients stick to the bottom of the pot and are more resistant to cooking, while the upper back meat is thinner, which can effectively prevent them from being cooked.

After harnessing the pigeon, Lin Xu took the wild duck and put it in the pot to scald the skin to remove the odor of the duck skin.

Next, it’s time for the largest domestic duck.

Lin Xu made it step by step, blanched the duck meat, turned it over, stuffed the three ingredients, stuffed the three kinds of wild duck carefully, and then sorted the heads of the three ingredients.

The head of the domestic duck presses on the wild duck, and the head of the wild duck presses on the pigeon.

One body and three heads, although it looks a bit scary, it also has a different kind of beauty.

Blanch the skin of the duck in the same way, and then it's time to officially cook it.

Following Qiu Yaozu's instructions, Lin Xu brought a casserole, placed a bamboo grate scalded with boiling water on the bottom of the pot, spread mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, and Jinhua ham on the bamboo grate, and finally placed three sets of prepared ducks.

Pour the clear broth that covers the duck body into the casserole, put it on the stove, bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer over low heat.

After Lin Xu finished doing this and was about to take a break to wash his hands, the system prompt sounded in his mind:

"Under the guidance of the state banquet master, the host completed three sets of duck, a Huaiyang cuisine master dish, for the first time. He obtained the perfect recipe for the dish and gained an additional fifty points for the Huaiyang cuisine branch task."

Let me go, is there such a good thing?

Lin Xu just thought that if Qiu Yaozu didn't take action, he wouldn't even have a chance to steal his master.

I didn’t expect that I would get the cooking skills right now, it was a surprise!

Qiu Yaozu didn't expect that Lin Xu could take care of all the steps when making this dish for the first time, and he fell in love with this young man even more.

He rolled up his sleeves and said:

"I've been watching you cook a while ago, and it made me a little bit itch. While I'm simmering the duck, I'm going to make a Huaiyang dish that you may have never seen before, to give you some insights."

And there are Huaiyang dishes that I haven’t seen before?

Lin Xu asked curiously:

"What kind of food?"

"Hibiscus submarine pine!"

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After thinking about it, I might as well endure the cough and continue writing. Lying down is uncomfortable anyway, so I might as well take the opportunity to divert my attention with delicious food. This chapter has 5,200 words. After 12 o'clock, the monthly votes will be doubled. Please vote later!