Food: The super chef just wants to set up a stall leisurely

It was still dark. Zhao Xiaojing turned off the alarm that rang only twice and looked at her cell phone.

After one night, the number of people in the group grew rapidly again.

Before going to bed last night, I saw the new parents excitedly posting pictures of fried skewers on their Moments and I guessed the result.

Zhao Xiaojing's relay ends at 4 a.m. every day, which is the time she gets up.

The one we fried today was the Palm Treasure. By the deadline, the number of people who signed up reached 62, and a total of 150 kilograms were ordered.

Although she had seen the fighting power of parents, the numbers collected this morning still surprised Zhao Xiaojing.

However, after a night, Zhao Xiaojing's heated mind gradually calmed down. An increase in the order volume was certain, but if it continued like this, there would be a possibility of purchase restrictions.

Although she could find a part-time job for more troublesome tasks like processing squid, the quantity was so large that she couldn't do the main frying step by herself.

Although she does it alone and makes all the profits by herself, the money she can earn is limited.

After getting up, she went straight to the poultry wholesale market. This time, the boss saw that she wanted a lot and gave her a preferential price. This made Zhao Xiaojing feel that the world was full of sunshine again.

I was full of energy cooking and preparing food the whole morning. I had prepared all the dishes before nine o'clock and made two cups of strong tea for Master Sun and myself.

At first, Zhao Xiaojing drank tea just to refresh herself and prevent herself from falling asleep. Later, as she followed Sun Dehai, the tea became stronger and stronger, and she gradually began to like the bitter taste.

"Good morning, Master Sun. You're here just as I made the tea."

Seeing Sun Dehai coming in, Zhao Xiaojing greeted him happily, her knowledge base had arrived.

"Good morning, Xiao Zhao. You work so hard every day. I am just taking advantage of you."

"Hey, no way. Master Sun's class is very good. I just did a small thing and got a big advantage."

Sun Dehai was delighted when he heard this.

"Haha, you're so young and yet you're so good at coaxing people. Fine! If you want to listen, I'll tell you more. Tell me, what do you want to ask today?"

"Then I won't be polite." Zhao Xiaojing smiled triumphantly and raised the question from yesterday. "Master Sun, I saw that the ingredients of your roasted chicken nuggets seemed to have changed yesterday? I remember that there was no tangerine peel last time, and the white cardamom was replaced with nutmeg?"

"Well, Xiao Zhao, this time the material change is thanks to you!" Master Sun smiled.

"Me? Why?"

"I've been a chef for so many years, and I've always used the same seasonings for different dishes and the same seasonings for different flavors. Until you came, I saw your ingredients for the first time and I realized something was wrong."

"My ingredients? Is there something wrong?" Zhao Xiaojing was stunned.

"It's not that it's wrong, I just haven't seen it in all these years. The seasoning you use for deep-frying is different every time, and there are always some subtle adjustments, whether it's the ingredients or the proportions.

The adjustments you made were always just right, just enough to enhance the flavor of the ingredients you fried that day, and the degree of matching with the ingredients was simply amazing to me. "

Sun Dehai recalled the scene of that day, and he has not yet recovered from the impact on his chef career that day.

"Since that day, I have been thinking, have I learned too much over the years? I still use what I was taught to do when I was learning to be a chef, and I don't have any understanding of my own.

I have had some vague ideas these days. I want to try adding or subtracting two spices. What if I don’t want the light fragrance of chicken and want it to have a thicker aftertaste? Then can I use nutmeg and tangerine peel instead of white cardamom? "

Zhao Xiaojing seemed to understand, but nodded in admiration. "Master Sun, you speak like a chef!"

"I've learned to make steamed buns and noodle nests from Sister Geng and Sister Hou a few times, and I've discovered that even though we use the same seasoning, the final taste is completely different." Zhao Xiaojing asked thoughtfully, "What's the reason for this?"

"It's all about the mixing ratio of the various seasonings, the dosage, and the cooking habits, all of which will affect the final taste."

Sun Dehai took a sip of tea and thought about it.

"Let me give you an example. We have to add salt when cooking. As the saying goes, salt can adjust the flavor of everything. But there is a limit to how much salt we add. Too much salt makes the food salty, too little makes the food bland, and both affect the taste. This is the dosage.

If you want a sour taste with salt, you need vinegar.

If you have already put enough salt and then add a little bit of vinegar, the saltiness will become stronger, but if you add a lot of vinegar, the saltiness will become weaker.

Conversely, if you add a little salt to vinegar, the vinegar will taste stronger, but if you add a lot of salt, the sour taste will be weaker. This is the ratio.

Do you understand? "

Sun Dehai didn't remember the specific theoretical explanation. After thinking about it, he directly gave Zhao Xiaojing the most common example.

But when the problem fell on actual examples, Zhao Xiaojing suddenly had an epiphany.

"I understand, this is a really powerful example!"

"It's ok as long as you understand it, hehe, I have actually forgotten all those written rap things!

As for what I said just now, using white cardamom instead of nutmeg, and using this instead of that, this requires experience, and it depends on your familiarity with major and minor ingredients.

You need to know what flavor the seasoning will taste like, how much to add to achieve the flavor you want, and how the seasonings stimulate each other. You have to figure this out on your own.”

"Oh, that's what experience does."

Zhao Xiaojing nodded. After hearing what Sun Dehai said, she suddenly felt that she still had a long way to go in her culinary career.

Seeing that Zhao Xiaojing was thinking seriously, Sun Dehai thought for a moment and then continued talking.

"Let me give you an example. Take cassia bark and cassia bark. They are both spices made from the same tree, but they are different.

Although they smell a bit similar, cinnamon is a little sweeter than cassia, and its taste is mellow and soft, while cassia tastes bitter and astringent, and a little harsh.

Therefore, cinnamon is usually used in stewing soup, porridge, and stewing meat to remove fishy smell, relieve greasiness and enhance flavor.

Cinnamon is used in foods that need a mellow taste, usually in desserts and when making tea. It is also used in some stews, but cinnamon alone is not enough to stew meat. You also have to add cassia twigs. Once cassia twigs are added, cinnamon can fully release its fragrance and the meat will have a fragrant taste.

For example, the white cardamom and nutmeg you just mentioned, both of them...

These are the levels of familiarity with the seasonings.”

Sun Dehai searched his mind for the uses of the seasonings and tried his best to explain them to Zhao Xiaojing.

Zhao Xiaojing wrote it down in confusion, thinking about the two examples mentioned by Master Sun.

I remember that he used cinnamon last time when he stewed braised pork, and he did add cassia twigs at the same time.

When I was seasoning fried skewers before, some varieties also needed to add some cinnamon powder, and there were also cinnamon twigs in the seasoning...

The ingredients of Sister Geng’s tea eggs are also added with cinnamon, but the cassia twigs... are not added?

Zhao Xiaojing suddenly had an idea.