Chapter 694 The Basic Skills of a Retired Celebrity Chef Are Beyond Imagination! Is This a Dish or a Work of Art? 【Please Subscribe】

"Xiao Xu's knife skills are truly outstanding."

Qiu Yaozu took a look at the fish that Lin Xu had modified and couldn't help but praise it.

I have seen so many amazing and talented young people in my life, but most of them become carefree after becoming famous. Not only do they not care about cooking, but they even forget about their basic skills.

As for Lin Xu, although he is famous and powerful, you can tell by looking at his knife skills that he has not practiced too much. Otherwise, the cutting depth of the blade would not be so consistent, and the cuts made on the fish would not be so well-proportioned and beautiful.

Cooking is a profession that relies on talent, but besides talent, hard work is equally important. Without a certain amount of sweat, even if you have talent, it will be wasted.

Lin Xu smiled and said:

"I usually don't have any hobbies, I just like cooking. Every time I put on an apron and stand in front of the stove, I feel so at ease and comfortable..."

This is not because Lin Xu is showing off, he really likes cooking.

From graduation to now, cooking has allowed him to have a job, a house, a wife, a teacher, and a large number of fans and customers.

And the sense of accomplishment every time he makes a dish makes him feel that it is worth all the effort.

Qiu Yaozu said with emotion:

"I am becoming more and more jealous of your master..."

He is talented, hard-working, and has no shortcomings of being tired of doing one job. Anyone who sees such a young man will take the initiative to accept him as his apprentice.

It's really cheap for that piece of shit like Lao Gao.

After finishing his emotion, he put the fish meat, fish heads and tails into a clean basin, then brought some onion and ginger water, added a little pepper water, half a teaspoon of pepper, and a small spoon of salt, and stirred evenly. .

Pour the prepared sauce evenly over the fish, stir and marinate.

Lin Xu saw this step and asked curiously:

"Onion, ginger and salt water are enough? Isn't this too simple?"

Qiu Yaozu smiled:

"You don't need too many ingredients, just the right amount. These sauces add a base flavor to the fish. When you eat it, it will form a clear contrast with the sweet and sour sauce outside, making the taste even better."

After saying that, he put the pot in the refrigerator for refrigeration and marinating.

While playing, he muttered:

"No matter what kind of meat you marinate, it's best to put it in the refrigerator. It will be more delicious and taste better."

Lin Xu marinated his own fish and put it in the refrigerator as well.

While the fish was being marinated, Qiu Yaozu took the prepared lettuce and said with a smile:

"Next it's time to prepare the decorations in the Cuizhu fish flower, which is where the name Cuizhu comes from."

He cut off both ends of the lettuce, then picked up a baller, inserted it through the cut, turned it quickly, and then took the baller out, and a beautiful green ball was ready.

Shen Jiayue, who was filming the video, immediately opened her mouth.

Wow, this spoon is so useful, I will buy a set later, so I can pretend to be the master of state banquets, right?

Well, when the time comes to cook for Dundun, first crush the pork liver into puree, and then use this kind of spoon to scoop it into balls, just like Haagen-Dazs, which will definitely shock the little guy.

Thinking of her son's shocked expression, Shen Jiayue was eager to try and couldn't wait to start now.

In front of the camera, Lin Xu looked at the small ball dug out by Qiu Yaozu with a somewhat surprised expression:

"I thought the masters used a kitchen knife to slice the spherical ingredients bit by bit, but it turns out you also use a ball scooper."

Qiu Yaozu smiled:

"Tools are made for people to use. I not only use ball diggers, but also air fryers, electric pressure cookers, microwaves and ovens. If there are convenient tools that I don't use, I have to use stupid methods. That's not a master, but a believer. .”

Lin Xu: "..."

Your words can directly scold those classical cooking schools who pursue handicrafts and ancient methods and pursue originalism.

But...well done!

Those who talk about ancient methods every day should indeed be scolded.

Porridge must be cooked using ancient methods, steamed rice must be steamed using ancient methods, snacks must be made using ancient methods, and even pots and pans are handmade using ancient methods.

No matter what it is, as long as it has the word "ancient method", the price will basically double.

But some people are fooled and are willing to be leeks.

Lin Xu thinks that if this rate continues, it won't be unusual for ancient toilet paper or ancient diapers to appear one day.

Qiu Yaozu dug up twenty lettuce balls and put them all into the bowl.

Then he picked up a piece of lettuce, removed the outer skin, and cut the big end into a cube. Then he cut off several corners of the cube, then changed to a small carving knife, carved along the sides of the cube, and carved out the inside bit by bit. Dig out the lettuce.

Lin Xu looked a little confused:

"Uncle Qiu, what are you doing?"

"I'm carving an hydrangea to decorate the fish's mouth. Has Xiaoxu ever learned to carve such hollowed-out ingredients?"

Lin Xu shook his head. He was really not proficient in carving.

As Qiu Yaozu continued to carve, the hydrangea gradually took on a shape.

This hydrangea is not only a polyhedron, but also has several layers. When carving the outside, Qiu Yaozu had already carved out the inner layers as well.

The last piece of lettuce is carved out, and the entire hydrangea is fully revealed.

Hydrangea is a polyhedron made up of lettuce roots. Inside is a smaller polyhedron, and the innermost part of the polyhedron is a carved sphere.

The innermost lettuce ball can be carved into a stylish shape through two barriers. This kind of knife skills allowed Lin Xu to see the excellence of Huaiyang cuisine chefs.

This can no longer be described as technology, this is pure art.

And it’s a flawless technology.

At the age of over seventy years old, with a carving knife no longer than a finger and a piece of lettuce that was like scraps, he actually made an artistic hydrangea.

He is truly worthy of being a master of state banquets. Even if the sculptor sees him, he can't help but call him "teacher".

After Qiu Yaozu finished carving, he shook his head at the camera:

"I'm so old. I used to be able to carve the lettuce balls inside into bells. Now my hands are shaking so much. Netizens can just take a look."

Lin Xu smiled bitterly. He just scolded those who pursued ancient methods as believers, and now he slapped the face of the half-experienced internet celebrity chef again.

As far as this hand carving skill is concerned, 99% of people who teach cooking online, whether they are Internet celebrities or chefs, can't do it.

This requires carving the ball in the middle into a bell... You have to force netizens to kneel down to watch the video, right?

After Qiu Yaozu showed off his skills, he carved the other end of the lettuce into a smaller cube.

It looks like the base of a hydrangea.

Qiu Yaozu said:

"When decorating, the bottom bracket is stuffed into the fish's mouth and the hydrangea is exposed. It looks beautiful and can also bring good luck."

After speaking, he looked at Lin Xu and asked curiously:

"How is Xiaoxu's sculpting skills? Why don't you take advantage of this opportunity to practice your skills?"

Of course Lin Xu couldn't refuse.

He quickly exchanged his points for hollow carving skills, cut a piece of lettuce, and carved out a hydrangea as well.

With the blessing of techniques, he originally wanted to carve the ball into a bell, but he felt that it was not authentic, so he gave up the idea.

If it's senior brother and the others who have the limelight, then they can steal it. Anyway, for peers, it's nothing to steal the limelight.

But Qiu Yaozu was an elder, and he was older than his master, so it was not appropriate to steal the limelight, so he restrained himself a little, and after carving, he rubbed his slightly sore wrist:

"Uncle Qiu's carving skills really put me to shame. During this time, I have to do some surprise training and try to carve the ball into a bell and reproduce the style you used to create this dish when you were young."

When Qiu Yaozu heard this, his face was full of smiles:

"Good boy, remember to show me when you've finished practicing. I'm really afraid that this skill will be lost."

Not far away, Zhuang Yizhou and the others were a little arrogant, thinking that their knife skills were already very good, but at this time, they felt like they had been slapped awake.

Basic skills should never be abandoned at any time!

After making the balls and hydrangeas, Qiu Yaozu didn't stop at all. He set up the wok, added water to the pot, turned the heat to maximum, and started to boil the water.

Lin Xu opened the stove next to him and followed suit.

When the water boiled, Qiu Yaozu added a spoonful of salt and a tablespoon of peanut oil to the pot.

Stir it with a spoon and pour the lettuce balls in to blanch.

Raw lettuce has a peculiar smell. Blanching it with hot water will not only remove the peculiar smell, but the oil will also make the lettuce greener, which is more in line with the word "green pearl" in the name of the dish.

Don't over-blanch the lettuce balls. Take them out when they all turn green.

The removed lettuce balls need to be cooled, but do not use cold water. Cold water will cause the lettuce balls to rot, affecting their appearance and final taste.

As Qiu Yaozu spoke, he placed the colander on the oil drum, then used another spoon to scoop up the cooked peanut oil next to it and pour it on.

Using oil to cool down can effectively prevent the lettuce from turning rotten and also make the color more beautiful.

Lin Xu didn't expect that he could cool down food in this way, and he learned a lot.

If you learn to cook from a master chef, you will indeed learn the craftsmanship.

After the lettuce temperature has cooled down, place it in a bowl and set aside.

At this time, there is a layer of cooked peanut oil on the surface of the lettuce, which will prevent it from becoming rotten or soft.

Lin Xu prepared the lettuce balls according to his instructions, then prepared a small bowl of dry starch and put it into the basin, and added a handful of low-gluten flour for puff pastry.

Stir evenly and the dry powder for fried fish is ready.

Get a bowl, beat two egg whites, put a little salt in the egg whites, stir it with chopsticks, but not completely stir it up, but let the egg whites be strong and increase the viscosity of the egg whites.

When everything was ready, Qiu Yaozu brought over the marinated fish in the refrigerator.

At this time, the fish meat looks a little moist. Under the action of low temperature, the green onion and ginger water has basically been absorbed by the fish meat.

In cooking terms, it means that the sauce "eats" into the fish.

You can prepare for the next step.

Set up the oil pan, add half of the peanut oil to the pan, and start cooking over high heat.

Taking advantage of this time, Qiu Yaozu took the egg white and poured it evenly on the fish.

Then spread it evenly with your hands, and spread the egg white all over the fish head, fish tail and the gaps in the fish knife, so that the fish meat is covered with sticky egg white.

After spreading evenly, put the fish meat into the prepared dry powder so that the surface is covered with dry powder.

Hang it up and shake it a few times to shake off the excess dry powder to prevent it from being burned in the pot during frying, which will affect the final taste and appearance.

The firepower of professional stoves is strong, and the oil in the pot will heat up soon after the flour is hung.

Qiu Yaozu held up the complete piece of fish and said to Lin Xu:

"The Cuizhu fish flower is divided into three layers. This complete piece of fish meat is the bottom layer. When frying, it needs to be connected end to end to form a ring shape."

After saying that, he picked up the fish, dipped the head in some egg white, then pinched the fish skins together, turning the fish over and forming a ring shape.

After the shape is fixed, carefully put it into the oil pan.

Lin Xu understood now:

"So, when the fish meat was separated before, the large pieces of fish meat were the middle layer, and the small pieces were the top layer?"

Qiu Yaozu nodded:

"When the fish meat is fried, the skin shrinks and turns over. If you stack them from small to large, they can be arranged in the shape of a flower... This is the creative idea of ​​the Cuizhu Fish Flower. According to this routine, it can be Make Cuizhu fish dices, Cuizhu fish fillets, Cuizhu fish sticks, Cuizhu flower clusters... As long as you have enough imagination, similar dishes can be made smoothly."

If the cross talk actor's final battle is culture, then the chef's final battle is imagination.

Technology is endless, but imagination has no boundaries.

As long as you have enough imagination, you can create different dishes.

At this moment, Lin Xu had a feeling of enlightenment and felt that he had grasped the true meaning of cooking.

The system prompt sounded in my mind:

"The host accepted the guidance of a retired celebrity chef, realized the true meaning of cooking, and obtained the perfect fish cooking technique - Cuizhu Dish Technique. With this technique, all Cuizhu dishes can be made. Congratulations to the host."

What?

Is there such a good thing?

Lin Xu was just thinking about how to ask Qiu Yaozu to cook other types of Cuizhu dishes, but unexpectedly the system rewarded him with a full set of dishes.

This is so interesting.

The peanut oil in the pot was boiling vigorously, and the fish meat quickly took shape and turned into a standard ring shape.

Qiu Yaozu used a leak-tight drain to beat the dry powder floating out of the pot, and then put the remaining fish meat into the pot for frying. After setting the shape, he added the fish heads and tails.

When putting the fish head in, he pulled out the ginger inside to prevent the whole pot of oil from smelling like ginger.

Fry everything once, fry the fish thoroughly, and then serve it out.

After being fried, the fish meat becomes fluffy, and each fish meat stretches straight out. It looks particularly crispy and makes people want to take a bite.

But this is not the time to eat fish yet.

Qiu Yaozu stacked the fish meat on top of each other. The fluffy appearance really looked like a hydrangea-like emerald flower.

Then put the fish head and tail, so that the fish is lying on its back. This shape makes the fish flower in the middle look like it is in the arms of the fish.

After setting up the shape, start making the sweet and sour sauce.

Pour out the oil from the pot, use the base oil to fry the onion and ginger first, then add tomato paste, white sugar, white vinegar and half a teaspoon of salt for frying.

After frying, pour half a spoonful of hot oil into the pan to bring out the aroma.

Then scoop it with a spoon and pour it onto the fish body, head and tail.

During this process, the sound of inhalation continued to sound all around.

The fried fish flakes are very beautiful as they are, and when they are topped with the red sweet and sour sauce, the color and aroma are all present. Everyone is not only greedy, but also stunned by this wonderful creativity.

In terms of taste, this should be a squirrel mandarin fish dish.

But compared to the squirrel mandarin fish, the shape has become more beautiful and changeable.

I wonder if the other dishes of Cuizhu Cuisine are also so beautiful. Everyone is a little excited. If it weren't for the fact that they were still filming the video and Qiu Yaozu is a senior expert, everyone would even be tempted to ask.

After pouring the sweet and sour sauce, Qiu Yaozu used chopsticks to pick up the lettuce balls and garnish them around the fish flowers, and then stuffed the carved lettuce hydrangeas into the wide-open fish mouth.

Just when everyone thought the shape was finished, Qiu Yaozu took two smaller cherries and stuffed them into the eyes of the fish. He said while stuffing them back:

"People in the past were superstitious and could not let the eyes of animals see the appearance of diners. They were afraid that if they remembered it, they would complain to the underworld. Therefore, whether it was roasted suckling pig or fish like this, as long as the eyes were exposed, other ingredients had to be stuffed instead. Typically, fish are cherries and pigs are cherry tomatoes.”

After stuffing it, he cut a section of scallion white, pulled out the scallion core and cut it into curly filaments. He picked up a ball with chopsticks and placed it on top of the fish flower. The whole green pearl fish flower was completed.

The ruddy color and graceful shape make people look at it and feel like they are seeing a work of art.

Lin Xu also made his own fish, and the two fish were placed together. Shen Jiayue really wanted to turn off the camera at this moment, rush forward and take a big bite first.

This fish flower makes me want to die.

Qiu Yaozu looked at the emerald fish flowers made by Lin Xu and said with a smile:

"It's really good. It's even more beautiful than what I did during the competition. It was my first time to participate in such an important occasion, so I was a little nervous."

Lin Xu said:

"You are creating a new dish. I am learning more than painting gourds and gourds. Drawing gourds is easy, but not everyone can grow gourds."

Qiu Yaozu smiled:

"Speaking of gourds, there is now a dish of gourds, shrimps and crabs in Huaiyang cuisine, which I accidentally created back then. Is Xiaoxu interested in learning it?"

Lin Xu: "..."

You are not satisfied with taking pictures of one dish, but you still want to take pictures of it, right?

Nothing to say, make arrangements!

He immediately said:

"I'm so interested. Uncle Qiu, please take some time and let's make it together again. As an old man, I have absolutely no resistance to cute things. I just want to learn how to make gourd, shrimp and crab from you." .”

"Well, I'll teach you how to make it next time... Let's take a video first. What should we do next? Try it, right? Yue girl, come on, let's try the delicious one made by me or Xiaoxu."

Shen Jiayue thought that since the elders were here today, it would not be her turn to try the food.

After hearing this, he immediately said with a smile:

"Uncle Qiu, you must have made it delicious. There is no need to taste it."

She set the camera settings and came to the workbench. She lowered her head and smelled the delicious aroma of the fish and the alluring taste of the sweet and sour sauce, and then swallowed hard:

"It's so fragrant, so fragrant and tempting... Uncle Qiu, you made the dishes so beautiful that I can't even put down my chopsticks. I always feel like you are destroying the art."

"You girl, you have such a sweet mouth. Eat it. If you think it tastes good, I will teach Xiaoxu how to order other dishes later."

Shen Jiayue's eyes lit up:

"Are there any other dishes? Thank you, Uncle Qiu!"

After saying that, she picked up the top piece of fish with her chopsticks, put it on the small plate in front of her, and took a small taste from the plate.

As soon as you enter your mouth, the sour and sweet sweet and sour sauce stimulates your taste buds. The sweet and sour sauce is still a bit hot, but the more it is like this, the stronger the sweet and sour taste becomes.

Under the sweet and sour sauce is fried fish that is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. When you take a bite, there is a huge contrast between the crispy fish on the outside and the tenderness on the inside.

This contrasting feeling coupled with the sweet and sour sauce makes people addicted to it instantly.

“Wow, it’s so delicious!”

Shen Jiayue exclaimed, forgetting to look at the camera, and continued to eat...

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