After the duck meat is smoked, it needs to be stewed again. This is one of the characteristics of Wuwei pressed duck, which means smoking first and then braising.
The ingredients of braised duck are also extremely important. It is a secret recipe, but Ye Chui has figured out all the ingredients by relying on his gourmet-level tasting ability. The seasonings used in braised duck include star anise, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, grass fruit, fennel, aniseed, Sichuan bone incense, bay leaves and so on.
After these delicious seasonings are boiled, the aromas in the seasonings will blend together and react chemically with the duck meat, creating the unique rich flavor of Wuwei Pressed Duck.
While the duck was being smoked, Ye Chui began to prepare the seasonings. The kitchen was newly renovated and had all the utensils, but the various seasonings had not yet been prepared. Fortunately, when Dong Qian went to purchase the duck, she also bought some necessary seasonings.
The role of condiments, especially the various spices consumed in traditional Chinese culture, is very important in cooking.
A qualified chef should have a complete understanding of all kinds of spices and be fully aware of the role that each spice can play. However, this is not easy to achieve. After all, there are hundreds of kinds of spices in Chinese cuisine. Ordinary chefs cannot fully control the taste of even the most basic spices, such as star anise and peppercorns, let alone fully understand the various characteristics of these hundreds of spices.
Even Dong Qian did not have a thorough understanding of spices. The spices she used in the smoked duck dish were chosen quite casually, without considering the specific effects of the aroma at all.
At this moment, Ye Chui found a small cloth bag used for braising meat and began to put spices into the bag.
The proportion and composition of these spices is the secret recipe.
The number of secret recipes that Ye Chu knows can be described as countless. The spice ratios required for many delicacies are completely different, but Ye Chui is able to remember all these complicated recipes. For example, the beef noodles that Ye Chu made at the beginning required more than twenty kinds of seasonings, but Ye Chui was still able to make the recipe in detail.
Of course, the reason why Ye Chu was able to memorize so many secret recipes was not because of his extraordinary memory, but his memory of taste and his ultimate understanding of various spices.
He only needs to remember the aroma of the food, and then when he starts cooking, he can use the aroma to deduce the ratio of spices!
Just like now.
"Wow, Ye Chui, are you serious? Do you have to be so precise in choosing a spice? Is it necessary?" Dong Youyou couldn't help but say immediately when she saw Ye Chui carefully and precisely putting various spices according to a certain ratio into the cloth bag one by one.
"Of course it's necessary. Although the flavor of spices is insignificant in the whole dish, the role they play in the world is crucial. A little more or a little less may change the taste." Ye Chui said to Dong Youyou very seriously, and then handed the glass bottle containing peppercorns to Dong Youyou, "Youyou, help me take out thirteen peppercorns... No, let's say fourteen. Fourteen is more appropriate."
Dong Youyou: “…”
Watching Dong Youyou counting the peppercorns with a depressed look on her face, Dong Qian stood aside thoughtfully. In fact, any competent chef would have already formed a certain feeling for choosing spices, and add various seasonings based on their feeling. But when it comes to the detailed understanding of spices, she is obviously much worse than Ye Chui. In fact, Ye Chui's way of using spices also comes from feeling, but his feeling is much better than Dong Qian's.
Dong Qian's use of spices is to find a certain flavor, while Ye Chui is creating flavor.
The spices were quickly slowed down in the cloth bag, and Ye Chui put them into the pot and filled half of the pot with water. When the water in the pot began to boil, the smoked duck next to it was already cooked, and the smoking process was complete. At this moment, the whole duck was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a layer of black on the surface. Ye Chui gently patted the surface of the duck, and the skin of the duck gradually fell off, revealing the tender red body inside.
—This is why the leaves are shed after being smoked and roasted to keep the meat fresh and tender.
Duck meat is different from chicken. It is larger in size. If you want to roast duck meat thoroughly, the skin of the duck meat must be charred black. If you shed the skin first and then smoke it, the quality of the meat will inevitably deteriorate a lot.
Ye Chui carefully picked up the steaming duck meat, put it into the boiling brine, and began to braise the duck meat.
Braising is a unique Chinese cooking method. It means putting the initially processed food into a marinade and gradually heating it over fire so that the flavor of the marinade can be incorporated into the food.
Inside the pot, the spices prepared by Ye Chui were placed in a cloth bag. After being processed by hot water, their rich fragrance was released, and the water in the pot turned completely red.
This red color was deliberately created by Ye Chui. He put spices such as perilla into the spice bag. The main function of these spices is to dye food.
The general Wuwei pressed duck is dyed with nitrate, but Ye Chui felt that nitrate was harmful to the human body, so he looked for other methods.
After putting the duck meat into the pot, Ye Chui used a bamboo sieve to press the duck meat so that the duck meat was completely immersed in the brine. He covered the pot and simmered it over low heat. Ten minutes later, Ye Chui lifted the lid and the rich aroma of duck spread everywhere.
When Ye Chui smoked and roasted duck meat on charcoal fire before, the taste was also very tempting, but that kind of temptingness was no different from the smoked duck that Dong Qian had made before. But now, after being boiled in the brine prepared by Ye Chui for ten minutes, the taste of the spices reacted with the duck meat, and the aroma that was stimulated was indescribably tempting and delicious.
Dong Youyou immediately exclaimed: "No way, it's only been cooked in the pot for ten minutes, how come the taste has changed so much?"
"Is this the reason for all the spices?" Dong Qian seemed to understand something and said, "Ye Chui carefully selected each flavor just now, which is why the taste of the duck meat has changed so much. Each spice is indispensable to this taste."
"The peppercorns are measured down to the exact grain. It can't be that magical, right?" Dong Youyou said in amazement.
Dong Qian's expression slightly changed, and she looked at Ye Chui. How well does one know about spices in order for him to use the peppercorns precisely...
At this moment, Dong Qian's admiration for Ye Chui has turned into a kind of awe. Is this young man a god
In fact, the reason why Ye Chui was able to get the title of God of Cookery in his previous life was because of his incomparable proficiency in all aspects of cooking, which made people feel speechless with his divine ability...
After the marinade has been simmering on low heat for ten minutes, turn down the heat and continue simmering for about half an hour.
By now, the duck meat is ready to be served. The cooked duck meat is carefully placed on the chopping board. The duck meat is covered with yellow sauce, oil, and fragrance, which makes people's appetite open. Ye Chui takes a plate and cuts the whole duck meat with a knife, then cuts it into strips and places them on the plate.
This dish of Wuwei pressed duck is now ready.
Dong Youyou couldn't wait to pick up a piece with chopsticks, put it into her mouth, and tasted it carefully. The expression on her face changed: "It's really delicious..."
After saying this, she quickly shut up and looked at Dong Qian a little embarrassedly. She said that it tasted so much better, obviously comparing it with Dong Qian's smoked duck, and she couldn't help but say so.
Dong Qian smiled and didn't take it seriously. She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite to taste. She nodded and said, "This dish is somewhat similar to the one I developed, but it tastes much better than my smoked duck... So this is how you cook it."
"That's right, you have seen the steps just now. You can follow these steps in the future." Ye Chui said with a smile.
Dong Qian was stunned: "This is already your recipe, I can't continue to make this dish."
"Haha, anyway, this dish is sold together with the sugarcane crispy duck, so let's just consider it as a collaborative work between the two of us." Ye Chui said with a smile. This dish is used to sell for money, which will be of great benefit to Ye Chui, so of course he would not deliberately refuse such a good thing.
"Oh well… "
Dong Qian nodded, and was suddenly glad that she chose to join Ye Chui's restaurant. Money was not important to her, but the ultimate pursuit of cooking skills was what she cared about the most. Following Ye Chui, her cooking skills would surely improve by leaps and bounds!
"It's getting dark now. You two just got off the plane and came to the hotel. You must not have eaten yet, right?" Ye Chui smiled and picked up the plate of Wuwei pressed duck. "This dish can be used as dinner. Let's go outside the kitchen."
Dong Qian and Dong Youyou then followed Ye Chui to the hall outside.
The smoked duck that Dong Qian had made was given to Pan Qingguo and other waiters. The waiters had a delicious dinner with rice. But just after they finished dinner, they saw Ye Chui coming out with Wuwei pressed duck, and their eyes were immediately attracted to him.
Although Ye Chui's Wuwei pressed duck is very similar to Dong Qian's smoked duck, its appeal seems to be even greater than Dong Qian's...
Working in a restaurant, one is naturally used to seeing all kinds of delicious food, and should have a certain resistance to delicious food, but Pan Qingguo and others found that after Ye Chui came to the restaurant, their appetites were still aroused again and again...
At the dining table, Ye Chui, Dong Youyou and Dong Qian were about to enjoy dinner when Han Yuyan's voice suddenly came into the restaurant.
Han Yuyan has been staying with Mr. Han during this period, but she would come to the hotel almost every day to check on the progress of the hotel's decoration. Sometimes she would come to bring back some delicious food made by Ye Chui for Mr. Han.
But what important matter did she come to see Ye Chui for today
"Master, Master! I brought you something good. Grandpa told me to give it to you personally..." (~^~)