Wuwei Pressed Duck is a famous Anhui dish. The word "Wuwei" in the name of this dish does not have any special meaning, but because the place where this dish is produced is called Wuwei County, Wuwei Pressed Duck was named after this.
Wuwei pressed duck, also known as Wuwei smoked duck, has a history of two hundred years. It is well known to duck lovers. It is a time-honored brand among duck dishes. Like all time-honored brands, the preparation methods of such dishes are secret, and the marinade ingredients, smoking and roasting temperatures, etc. are unknown to outsiders.
In his previous life, Ye Chui had studied delicacies from all over the country. He once spent some time studying and exploring Wuwei Pressed Duck. He vaguely figured out many of the secret methods of making Wuwei Pressed Duck. The Wuwei Pressed Duck he made can be considered authentic.
Smelling the smoked duck made by Dong Qian at this moment, Ye Chui vaguely thought of the Wuwei Pressed Duck. In fact, many Chinese recipes in the world have similarities. After all, the cooking method is certain, and the only things that change are certain ingredients and the control of the heat.
Some dishes can be passed down for a hundred years, two hundred years, or even longer, so they naturally have their own unique features. Under similar cooking methods, this dish is already the ultimate in deliciousness. Since Dong Qian's cooking method is close to Wuwei Pressed Duck, then her way of cooking duck meat is the best way to cook Wuwei Pressed Duck.
As the aroma spread out, a moment later, Dong Qian came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of cut duck meat. She placed the plate in front of Ye Chui with some anticipation, and said with a chuckle, "Please try my dish."
The smoked duck made by Dong Qian has been cut into strips and placed on a plate. The color of the duck meat is a dark yellow and slightly black, and it is dotted with some coriander and celery. Plating is also a chef's skill. As a woman, Dong Qian is meticulous in this regard and does a great job, which is very appetizing.
Ye Chui nodded with satisfaction, picked up a pair of bamboo chopsticks, picked up a piece of smoked duck meat, and put it into his mouth.
"Ye Chui, when eating smoked duck, you should dip it in the sauce first and then put it into your mouth. This way it will taste the best." Dong Youyou reminded hurriedly.
Ye Chui smiled and shook his head, then put the bacon directly into his mouth.
Dong Qian said, "The dipping sauce is to match the flavor of the bacon and for the enjoyment of the diners. However, if you want to know whether a dish is good enough, the best way is to put it in your mouth and taste it without dipping it in the sauce."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Dong Youyou nodded in understanding.
While Dong Youyou and Dong Qian were talking, Ye Chui had already finished a bite of the dish. The two women immediately looked at Ye Chui expectantly. The waiters such as Pan Qingguo, Su Xin, Huang Yong and Meng Gang knew that Dong Qian cooked the dish for Ye Chui to taste, so they all stood at a distance and looked over curiously. The smoked duck had a rich and mouth-watering flavor, and it must be very delicious. They wondered what Ye Chui would think
After taking a bite of the smoked duck, Ye Chui savored it for a while, then said to Dong Qian: "If the score is 10 points, I can only give this dish 6 points."
"What?" Dong Youyou was immediately unhappy and glared at Ye Chui, "How is it possible that my sister's dish is only six points high?"
Dong Qian was not unhappy at all. Instead, she hurriedly pulled Dong Youyou and said, "Youyou, don't be angry." She looked at Ye Chui and said, "You gave it six points, which means you can taste the flaws in this dish, right?"
"Yes, there are indeed some areas in this dish that need improvement." Ye Cui nodded in acknowledgement.
"Where is it?" Dong Qian asked quickly.
Ye Chui thought about it, then stood up and said, "It's hard to explain directly. I saw that you just bought a few more ducks. Why don't I demonstrate it to you directly..." Ye Chui laughed again, "You bought these extra ducks, I'm afraid you have made up your mind to do it a few more times, right?"
Dong Qian smiled and admitted, "That's right."
Ye Chui smiled, and seeing that it was already evening, he said, "Okay, I'll go to the kitchen and make it myself."
Dong Qian showed an expression of great interest, and Dong Youyou also had a smile on her face. She had eaten the delicious food made by Ye Chui many times and she missed it very much.
Soon Dong Qian and Dong Youyou followed Ye Chui to the kitchen.
However, Pan Qingguo and others were all surprised: It seemed that Ye Chui wanted to show Dong Qian how to cook
Dong Qian is a six-star chef...
Lu Bing is a five-star chef. Although there is only one star difference between a five-star chef and a six-star chef, there is a world of difference when it comes to cooking skills. They can accept that Ye Chui's cooking skills are better than Lu Bing's, but now... even a six-star chef has to ask Ye Chui for advice on cooking
They knew Ye Chui was very powerful, but... this was too powerful!
No wonder he can be Tian Xiaodu’s master!
"Boss!" Meng Gang couldn't help but ask as he walked past Pan Qingguo and the others. He glanced at the plate of smoked duck in the hall and said with some envy, "What should we do with this duck?"
Dong Qian glanced at Meng Gang and the others and said, "If you don't mind, share it. I will work here in the future, so consider this a meeting gift."
Although she has a cold personality, she is not ignorant of the ways of the world.
The waiters had already felt that the dish tasted very tempting when Dong Qian was cooking it. Now that they could taste it themselves, they naturally would not refuse. Several of them quickly agreed and rushed towards the dish.
Ye Cui smiled and took the two girls into the kitchen.
The few ducks that Dong Qian bought were kept in cages in a corner of the kitchen. Most of the ducks available in Yanjing are free-range ducks. In fact, the best ingredient for making Wuwei pressed duck is still Mallard duck. However, this world is different from Ye Chui's previous life. There is no way to avoid the limitation of ingredients.
Ye Chui walked to a cage, reached in, grabbed a duck and pulled it out of the cage, cut its throat to let the duck bleed, and after the duck died, he put it in hot water and plucked its feathers. This was the usual process for killing chickens and ducks and there was nothing special about it.
But when it came to removing the duck's internal organs, Ye Chui's approach was quite different: he did not directly cut open the duck's abdomen, but instead cut open the duck's armpits and removed the duck's internal organs from there.
"Is this how you kill a duck?" Dong Youyou asked Ye Chui in surprise.
"Not all ducks need to be killed this way, but when smoking or roasting ducks, it's best not to damage the duck's body so that the freshness of the duck meat can be preserved as much as possible. This is a trick." Ye Chui said with a smile, but his eyes were looking at Dong Qian.
Dong Qian had just killed the duck in the usual way. At this moment, she nodded thoughtfully: "So there is such a trick here."
Ye Chui handled the duck very skillfully, which made Dong Youyou sigh: "He kills and cleans a duck faster than you, sister. When I was working at Hainan Chicken Rice, I felt that his movements were extraordinary. I don't know how he practiced them."
"This also requires talent." Dong Qian sighed lightly.
When she first saw Ye Chui, she didn't take him seriously at all. When she saw that Tian Xiaodu actually recognized Ye Chui as his master, she looked down on Tian Xiaodu. But now, that contempt has long turned into respect. Ye Chui is indeed qualified to be his master and qualified to teach them, the six-star chefs.
The cooked duck meat was put into a large basin and half of it was poured with warm water. Ye Chui then sprinkled salt into it. It would be marinated for a while to allow the salt to penetrate the meat. This process usually takes about an hour.
However, Ye Chui had another way to speed up the process: he began to massage the duck meat continuously with his hands.
The massage technique is also very unique. It should be done at a moderate speed so that the duck meat can fully come into contact with the salt without damaging the duck meat's tissue.
Although this massage technique looks simple, it is not easy to master it. It took Ye Cui at least a month to teach Tian Xiaodu this massage technique until Ye Cui felt satisfied.
This kind of massage not only allows the salt to absorb into the duck's body, but also allows the warm water in the basin to cleanse the blood from the duck's body.
Ten minutes later, Ye Chui took the duck out of the basin and placed it on the chopping board, then gently patted the duck meat to squeeze out the moisture from the duck as quickly as possible.
In fact, there is another step in this process, which is to apply nitrate on the duck's body surface.
The so-called nitrate water is a liquid containing potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate. It is mainly used to color meat products and make the meat reddish. However, Ye Chui does not recommend using this thing.
Because nitrate water is harmful to the human body, it will produce toxic substances such as nitrite when heated.
Therefore, Ye Chui skipped this step.
Then Ye Chui set up a pot, poured water into it and boiled it, and rinsed the duck in the boiling water. This process was also what Dong Qian had thought of before. It could make the duck's skin shrink and tighten, making it easier to peel, and it was also crucial for the subsequent smoking and roasting process.
After taking it out of the boiling water, wipe the duck all over with a damp cloth.
According to the authentic roast duck method, the duck skin should be removed at this time, but Ye Chui did not plan to remove the skin now. The skin removal process should be left until after the smoking is completed.
Next comes the crucial smoking process.
The kitchen utensils are brand new, including a special charcoal grill.
In fact, the most authentic smoking method of Wuwei pressed duck is to use fir wood chips for smoking, but fir wood is not so easy to find, so this step can only be omitted.
The restaurant's grill is specially prepared for some barbecue food. Ye Chui lit the charcoal, put an iron stick on it, and put the duck on it for smoking and grilling.
"Huh?" Dong Youyou discovered something and asked curiously, "Shouldn't the duck be coated with seasoning before being smoked? I saw my sister always do that."
"No, after the duck is smoked, it needs to be stewed, and then the seasoning can be added during the stewing process."
Ye Chui explained with a smile. (~^~)