Chapter 492: The Essence of the Nation
Is there anything in this world that turns decay into magic?
Is there anyone who has the ability to turn stone into gold?
Do you have the ability to use one new trick to eat it all over the world?
In his previous life, Ning Weimin would not believe these things.
But he has seen it all in this life.
Like Kang Shude, who has a lot of business knowledge and a pair of wise eyes that are good at identifying treasures.
Like the lifelike grapes from "Grape Chang", the antique porcelain made by Liu Yongqing that is difficult to tell whether it is genuine or not, and the superb cooking skills of "Zhang Dashao"... they all belong to this category.
It stands to reason that after experiencing this, Ning Weimin should have developed some resistance and should not be particularly shocked by similar things.
But after getting the bottle of powder given by "Zhang Dashao".
When he went home and tried it, he was still shocked and surprised.
Because the effect is simply amazing!
No matter what kind of vegetables, even if they are just boiled in plain water, with this little powder, they are both fragrant and beautiful.
If used to make soup, it will be rich and delicious!
It can really be said that this little powder is enough to turn a person who can't cook into a person who has passed the cooking skills.
It’s enough to make many chefs feel ashamed of their craftsmanship.
Kang Shude was even more happy.
You know, it is the bitter summer now.
Everything the old man eats is tasteless and everything he does is troublesome.
The most frightening thing is to get angry for a long time, which can easily cause you to sweat all over.
So with this bottle of powder, the old man feels that summer will save him a lot of trouble.
In his words, this bottle of powder can turn ordinary white water to boil cabbage directly into a treasure that can be boiled with "boiling water cabbage".
Of course, such an evaluation must be somewhat exaggerated.
Because "boiled cabbage" is a representative dish made with soup stock. It was also the most unpretentious dish at the first banquet of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the most amazing dish in the mouth.
Then you have to use fat hens, lean pork, pork ribs, and scallops to make soup over slow heat and filter the soup.
Selected Northeast Chinese cabbage hearts are boiled and soaked in the stock. Finally, the stock is decanted, and the cabbage is put into the stock and steamed over high heat.
After the dish is ready, the soup will be clear and clear, just like a few cabbage hearts in a bowl of boiling water. The aroma is rich and the soup is rich, yet fragrant and refreshing, not greasy or greasy.
If this bottle of powder can have such a miraculous effect, how good is it?
I am afraid that "boiled cabbage" will fall from the altar immediately and will not be sold for a price!
The chef who knows how to make this dish has learned his cooking skills for nothing.
Then why are you so angry that you hit the wall, hang yourself, or jump into the river?
But to be honest, the taste of boiled vegetables made with these powders can be at least three or four times as good as that of boiled cabbage.
Anyway, it is definitely better than the thick soup that Ning Weimin bought in the supermarket in his previous life.
This is not easy!
In addition, the strangest thing is that this powder is definitely not a simple seasoning, nor is it a synthetic product.
There is absolutely no smell of MSG, chicken essence, artificial flavors and additives that can make people nauseated after eating too much.
Ning Weimin has a better say in this aspect, and he can be 100% sure of this once he eats it.
Why? Just because in his previous life, in order to save trouble, he often ate fast-selling foods such as instant noodles.
Sometimes when he was busy until late at night, he would make egg drop soup with a soup pot, and then soak cold rice in it to make a meal.
So after a long time, his stomach started to suffer from food problems.
After suffering from acute gastritis, he suffered from sequelae.
Just the smell of convenience food makes him sick.
From then on, he no longer had anything to do with convenience food. Even if he was extremely hungry and tried to eat it, he would definitely vomit.
However, when he ate the dishes with these powders in his stomach, he didn't feel anything like this.
How magical this is!
So the next day, he didn't waste any time and went directly to "Polar Bear" to find "Zhang Dashao" for the answer.
He couldn't wait until the weekend. If he didn't ask face to face what these powders were, he might not be able to sleep.
As soon as the old man announced the answer, he was dumbfounded.
It's interesting to say that Kang Shude is indeed a master, and he actually got it right. These things are really related to "boiled cabbage".
Because that is the soup stock that "Zhang Dashao" has cooked with chicken, duck, ribs and scallops.
Every time there is some stock left that is not needed, "Zhang Dashao" will add heat to boil it.
By the time it is cooked, all the meat in the pot will be rotten and the bones will be crispy.
Then the old man dried these things, dried them in the sun, and ground them into powder, which is what it is.
It’s no wonder it’s delicious, it’s all made from real ingredients!
So since there are no artificial seasonings, Ning Weimin will naturally not feel any discomfort in his appetite!
After Ning Weimin thought about it for a while, he realized that he was really elated and extremely happy.
Because he immediately realized the beauty of this method and why the old man said it could solve his cost problem of making soup stock.
As expected, the method "Zhang Dashao" said was exactly what he thought.
Like pig heart, pork belly, pork loin, pig lung, sheep head, sheep heart, sheep liver, sheep tripe, sheep loin, duck heart, duck liver, duck feet, duck tongue, chicken heart, chicken liver Broths that are less useful, such as chicken feet and chicken gizzards, can be preserved in disguised form in this way.
If you need to make these dishes, you can leave out the stock and only add this dry powder.
Although it is not as delicious as the soup stock, it has the effect of increasing the pure taste to some extent, and it is always a relatively economical compromise. The key is to do this, which can greatly reduce the number of soups consumed every day.
Of course there is no need to prepare nearly a hundred kinds of soup stock every day like the imperial kitchen of Yangxin Palace, fifty or sixty... no, maybe thirty or forty will be enough. .
At least half of the soup cost can be saved!
Nothing to say, Ning Weimin was so impressed that he wished he could give "Zhang Dashao" a kiss on the spot!
The person in front of him was really the God on the Stove. This trick was so brilliant!
Unexpectedly, "Zhang Dashao" refused to take credit. Instead, he told him that the real historical origin of this trick was that the imperial chef learned it from the eunuchs in the palace.
In the palace where Daqing went, only the eunuchs who were not in power had leftover food.
Because there were so many things thrown away in the palace, many eunuchs who came from poor backgrounds felt really distressed to see them.
I also figured out how to dry and grind the leftover meat into powder, which can be eaten with white porridge and noodles.
As a result, this skill was discovered by the imperial chefs and they learned it.
Since then, Yushanfang has mastered a technology that can purify the aroma and thicken the taste.
The imperial chefs can use it to prevent the soup from being too bland and making it inconvenient to work on the stove.
It is also suitable for public and private use. You can take this powder home and enjoy it yourself.
Later, some imperial chefs were good at discovering business opportunities, and dried onions, ginger, pepper, and soy sauce into powder, made seasoning paper, and sold it to the Ouchi guards through the eunuchs of Kunning Palace for a profit.
You know, according to the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, two pigs must be cooked in the two large pots of Kunning Palace every morning and evening to offer sacrifices to the gods.
And these "blessing meats" are the "grain food" given to the imperial guards by the emperor.
(Note, "Keshi" means "giving favors and bestowing" in Manchu. It also means extra meals besides the main meal. The nobles of the Qing Dynasty have always had the affinity of "dining with the benefactor and the generals". Tradition, later, it even became a fixed system of giving food to ministers in the Qing Dynasty.)
Although it is glorious, because boiled meat without any condiments is difficult to swallow, Ouchi guards have always been very fond of it. Terrified.
So, because of this seasoning paper, the Ouchi guards were relieved.
From then on, eating "fortunate meat" was really regarded as a privilege.
Even after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, this method of spreading powder helped the imperial chefs who were looking for a living outside to become famous.
For example, the Fengzeyuan Restaurant later established by Luan Xuetang became famous in the capital because the roasted sea cucumber cooked with green onions by an imperial chef was particularly delicious, rich and overflowing with the aroma of green onions...
Hearing this, Ning Weimin finally couldn't help but interrupt.
“I know, I know, does the imperial chef have some powder hidden in his sleeves, and secretly sprinkles it every time he finishes cooking... But, Master Zhang, why did I hear that the powder was sprinkled with sea intestines? Where’s the powder? They say it’s natural MSG..."
It should be said that it was not surprising at all that Ning Weimin expressed doubts at the end.
Who told him that he had watched the TV series "The Legendary Shopkeeper" in his previous life, and he had also listened to the storytelling of "Fengzeyuan and Luan Catabao", which all said this.
But what he knew was wrong.
"Zhang Dashao" sneered unabashedly and called him "bullshit" on the spot.
"You, you have been confused by the rumors that have been spread in the market. After thinking about it, you know it is impossible. Sea intestines? Or natural MSG? Fengzeyuan opened in 1930, a Japanese trading company in Peiping I’ve already sold ‘Ajinomoto’. Do you still need this?”
"Besides, the taste of sea cucumbers is very ordinary. If you fry the sea cucumbers, they won't be very delicious. They are the lowest-quality seafood."
"Besides, why do sea cucumbers need MSG? I am a Shandong cook. You know, the difficulty in making sea cucumbers is not to enhance the freshness, but to enhance the flavor. When roasting sea cucumbers with green onions, the onion must be fragrant but not the green onions. The first step is to braise the sea cucumbers with green onions. The second step is to enhance the flavor of the chicken soup. There are ham and scallops in the stock? . Who knows how to use something as cheap as sea intestines?”
“If you don’t believe it, just try it yourself. If you want to make it delicious with sea intestines powder, I’ll give you my head. That’s all. What’s sprinkled is definitely this broth powder and scallion powder. This is a typical method that the imperial chef has used for more than a hundred years..."
Sure! I am so convinced!
Ning Weimin couldn't say anything and could only raise his thumb in the direction of "Zhang Dashao".
Even after returning with this unexpected historical truth.
He couldn't let go of this matter all day long. He thought about it over and over in his heart, and couldn't help but be excited and emotional, and even felt a little lost.
It’s not that he is making a fuss, this seemingly insignificant thing is actually of great use! It can be said that it is a golden mountain waiting to be excavated!
He can't help but admire the wisdom of the Chinese people. He is so smart! So smart!
Don’t think he is a eunuch, don’t think he is a cook, don’t think he is a waiter, don’t think he is an ancient person.
But just because they are Chinese, they can have such wisdom.
What are Westerners so awesome about? What are the Oriental cows? modern? science and technology?
An instant noodle and a thick soup, that’s all.
All of these combined are not as good as the mere dust that our five-thousand-year-old civilization has shed casually.
TM, I get excited just thinking about it.
What is the quintessence of the country? That's not just Peking Opera, this is also!
Who said that Chinese food cannot be quantitatively managed and cannot be applied to fast food?
If you want to use this method to set up an instant noodle factory, it will be absolutely invincible if it can make such a taste.
Nissin ramen is nothing.
Can a kid jump off a wall? Can you make seafood noodles with chicken soup?
But the most annoying thing is that they rely on these crappy artificial flavors.
While destroying our health, the foreign devils actually made so much money from us.
When I looked back, I realized that these were all leftovers from our own play. We had the means more than a hundred years ago, and there was no need to pay such a price.
It’s sad that the essence of yourself has been fiddled with, and you actually use other people’s dross as a good thing.
I am afraid that most Chinese people are far from aware of this truth and would never think of it...
(End of this chapter)