Chapter 195: Testing Out Dong’an Chicken
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xu Le listened attentively and vaguely heard Xu Tian’s weak and indignant reply.
“It’s black because it’s burnt.”
“These are two chopsticks and a straw.”
“… I do eat. Is there something wrong with my drawing?”
Lu Yuxi was quite patient, but after tutoring Xu Tian for ten minutes, she gradually gave up.
Xu Le whistled and washed away the soap foam on his hands in a good mood. Although the house was not as peaceful as he had imagined, this kind of chaos could also dispel fear and loneliness.
“Of course I respect the naivety of children, but, Tiantian, if you continue to do whatever you want, this poster will be exactly the same as the previous one!”
Lu Yuxi was so angry that she got up to pour some water to distract herself.
Xu Le looked at the mysterious cuisine his sister had drawn and did not know whether to laugh or cry. He said, “Use a pencil to draw a grid on the blank space beside it. I’ll teach you how to draw a recipe book.”
In the end, after spending most of the night, Xu Tian finally finished her poster. Halfway through washing up, she fell asleep with her toothbrush in her mouth.
Lu Yuxi looked helpless. After looking at Xu Le, the two of them laughed at the same time.
“Your sister is so stubborn.”
“But the final product is not bad.”
After taking care of Tiantian, it was already late at night. Thinking that he would definitely talk about the dishes when he was going to discuss the collaboration with Zhang Heng the next day, he needed to find a dish that was suitable for both old and young to test the waters.
He closed his eyes and entered the system. The familiar decor and kitchenware made Xu Le feel confident. The fish meat was tender but prickly. It was difficult to preserve the texture of the fish meat and it was easy to become mushy.
The cost price of beef and mutton was high, so the dish price would definitely soar. If the price was too high, it would definitely create a controversy. At first, Xu Le was worried that the technology was not advanced enough, so he wanted to use a conservative method to cook.
It was not easy to choose a dish that was famous, had a good texture, and was easy to preserve. How could it be easy to restore the taste of a dish after opening the packaging as though it was freshly cooked?
He flipped through almost half the recipe book before he saw a dish that would be served at the state banquet—Dong’an Chicken.
The earliest records of Dong’an Chicken originated from the ancient tomb that was unearthed in Changsha. Archaeologists discovered the vinegar chicken recorded on bamboo slips.
The cooking of this dish originated from the Western Jin Dynasty. It was because a chef had accidentally added vinegar, thinking that it was seasoning wine. However, he was afraid that the county magistrate would blame him, so in order to remove the vinegar, he put in a lot of ginger and pepper. Unexpectedly, by a freak combination of factors, he even created a delicious dish.
In order to distinguish this dish from “Kung Pao Chicken”, everyone specially named it “Vinegar Chicken”.
Later on, it was added to the state banquet and ranked first among the eight Hunan dishes.
Xu Le had tried this dish at a five-star hotel before. The Dong’an Chicken perfectly demonstrated the taste of sour, spicy, and tender. It was not overly spicy and bitter, but it was extremely refreshing and suited the taste of the public.
He had to choose a hen that weighed less than 500 grams as the ingredient. It was best if it had never laid an egg. Just this step alone made Xu Le feel that it was “picky” to choose the raw ingredients.
It was very difficult to buy raw materials in bulk outside. If he wanted to produce the dish in bulk, they would have to discuss it with the breeding ground, furher complicating the process.
Xu Le casually clicked on the ingredients on the transparent crystal board and realized that a long string of numbers followed closely behind.
“Can I exchange it from the system?”
“Oh right! Since I can do it for the dishes in the past, I’m sure I can do it now.”
After taking a look at his gold coin balance, Xu Le was full of confidence. After washing his hands, he began to deal with the chicken. He did not know if it was his imagination, but the chicken was still warm to the touch and it seemed to be freshly slaughtered. It was extremely fresh. According to the recipe, after removing the chicken oil, he would boil a pot of water. After the water temperature boiled, he would throw a few pieces of ginger with skin to remove the fishy smell.
Then, he heated the meat by holding onto the chicken feet and turned it to low heat. Then, he put it into the pot and cooked until it was 80% cooked.
The chicken bones were removed and torn into strips. Each strip need not be too wide or thin and about two centimeters would produce the best texture to chew and savor.
The chicken was placed in the pot for stir-frying after the chilli oil was removed. After the oil seeped out, he threw away the chicken oil that had hardened.
After adding the dried chili and ginger shreds to the pot, he poured in the chicken that was 70% cooked. Then, he added a little chicken soup, yellow wine, MSG, salt, and stewed over low heat. Finally, he sprinkled white pepper, oil, and pepper noodles. He poured a full bowl of Dong’an white vinegar from the side of the pot.
After all the fragrance entered the chicken, he made his own gravy. The chicken that was served was smooth, fragrant, and full.
Xu Le looked at the finished dish and couldn’t help but frown. He remembered that the dish he had eaten previously didn’t look like this.
He picked up his chopsticks hesitantly and tasted it. The chicken was oily and fragrant with vinegar. It was sour, spicy, and refreshing. It was an appetizing dish!
However, he felt that something was missing… Xu Le casually flipped through the recipe. Just as he was about to flip to the next dish to take a look, he realized that there was another cooking method.
It turned out that in the thousands of years that it had been passed down, it had long developed different cooking methods. Although the ingredients were similar, the taste was polarized.
Xu Le immediately tried the next method. He still had to blanch the chicken and remove the bones.
He first placed a little MSG and yellow wine on the shredded meat. Once the salt was added, it was difficult for the other seasonings to marinate the taste.
He added pepper powder, half an egg white, some starch, and evenly mixed them.
He poured oil into the pot and slid the chicken down. He used chopsticks to pull it apart, then served it aside.
The oil was left in the pot. At a low temperature, the chili and ginger shreds would be fried until the fragrance came out. When it was stir-fried until it was 80-90% cooked, half a bowl of vinegar would be poured in. After the fragrance of the vinegar was gathered into the chicken pieces,green and red pepper and white onion shreds were added.
Before it was taken out of the pot the second time, ginger was added. This would make the dish have the fragrance of both cooked ginger and raw ginger. At this time, one could taste the chicken. If there was not enough vinegar fragrance in the meat, it meant that the dish had failed.
When it was about to be served, half a spoonful of vinegar was poured over the side of the pot. As it evaporated, it slid down. When it reached the chicken strips, all that was left was the dry fragrance of the vinegar.
There was still some soup left at the bottom of the pot. He used the starch from before to stir-fry with bright oil, making the color of the dish brighter.
Finally, a small handful of peppercorns was crushed with the back of a knife and sprinkled on the dishes. After stir-frying them evenly, it could be put on a plate.
The crab leg was combined with the taste of bullfrog. The chicken was smooth and tender, and the gravy was smooth. It made the sour and spicy taste wrap tightly around the meat and it was delicious.
The second method produced a dry and fragrant taste. The texture was also slightly crispy. They were both not bad, but he did not know which one the customers would be more willing to accept.
Xu Le tried ten more times. He was so accurate that he counted the grams of vinegar, ginger, and dried chili peppers. Then, he recorded the amount of each portion.
The next morning, he arrived at the Giant Crab Company. Ever since Xu Le made an appointment, Zhang Heng could not hide his excitement. He waited on the sofa by the counter in advance and kept confirming the time with his assistant.
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