Free Web NovelChapter 1101: Chapter 449: A Bite of Oil Braised Bamboo Shoots, Even the Coldest Winter Feels Like Spring! The Ultimate Weapon of the Fishing Guy!
As soon as he heard "Ginkgo Garden," Xie Baomin was immediately moved.
He himself didn’t have much feeling for that kind of place, but his own Teacher Su especially loved those slightly artsy spots.
Especially when the ground was covered in ginkgo leaves, she could stand there sighing and getting sentimental for half the day.
But Old Xie was different; every time he saw a carpet of ginkgo leaves, the only thought in his mind was:
"If only ginkgo fruit didn’t stink so much, then I could pick some up and take them home to make salted baked Ginkgo..."
He was a chef, after all—everything he saw turned into ingredients.
Since it was a Ginkgo Garden, they might as well go together on the weekend.
Let his wife and kid get some air, and he could also scratch that itch for fishing.
In the kitchen.
Lin Xu had just fished out the blanched bamboo shoots when he saw his senior brother walking into the kitchen.
"You’re just in time. Yesterday I had Old Huang dig us a basket of yellow-mud shoots. At noon today we’re doing Stewed Bamboo Shoots and Braised Pork Belly—stay and have some later."
Xie Baomin glanced at the pot of Braised Pork Belly that was simmering in the stock pot and, seeing the heat had already been turned to the lowest, said a bit regretfully:
"The firepower on our professional stoves is still too strong. If we used a small charcoal stove to slowly simmer it, the Braised Pork Belly would come out even better."
He skimmed off the scum and fat floating on top with a ladle, and took the chance to taste the soup:
"Not bad, pretty fresh. But next time you make Braised Pork Belly, remember not to use the middle or upper section of the Ham. Use the Ham Heel instead—the shank part of the Ham. That’s the cut best suited for stewing this stuff, and because it comes with bone, you can cook that bone aroma right into the broth."
Really?
Lin Xu hadn’t expected there to be such particularity to it. He nodded and agreed:
"Got it, Senior Brother, I’ll try it next time... Besides this, what else can you make with the Ham Heel?"
Since it was the shank of the Ham, it ought to be pretty versatile.
Xie Baomin said:
"You can make a classic Zhejiang dish—Fire Heel Immortal Duck. You stew duck with Ham Heel; the flavor is absolutely amazing."
He’d have to try that sometime, anyway. There were several Hams hanging in the storeroom now: Xuanwei Ham, Jinhua Ham, Huzhou Ham, and cured pork legs from Sichuan and Chongqing.
These ingredients couldn’t just hang there forever; they had to be turned into dishes and tasted.
Chatting with his senior brother, Lin Xu began preparing the Stewed Bamboo Shoots.
At home, you’d just stir-fry the shoots, then add Light Soy Sauce, Dark Soy Sauce, and sugar, and give it a short braise before serving.
But that was only the home-style way; in a restaurant, this dish required passing the bamboo shoots through oil first.
Hot oil was used to drive off the excess moisture inside the shoots, and at the same time the high heat helped bring out their freshness.
He set a wok of oil on the stove, heated it to about sixty percent hot, and then added the bamboo shoots in batches to pass them through the oil.
The oil-bath didn’t need to be long, around two minutes or so. As soon as the surface of the shoots turned slightly yellow, he could fish them out and set them aside to drain.
Once all the shoots had been fried once, Lin Xu poured the oil out of the wok and added a spoonful of lard.
This was the key to making Stewed Bamboo Shoots delicious. With lard, the shoots gained a fresh yet rich mouthfeel and became a true Divine Artifact of a rice companion.
Without lard, the texture of this dish would drop a notch.
When the oil was hot, he added the pre-fried Spring Bamboo Shoots, then the prepared Crystal Sugar, Light Soy Sauce, and Dark Soy Sauce.
The ratio of the three was 2:2:1. The Dark Soy Sauce was mainly for color, so you used half as much of it as Light Soy Sauce. As for why Crystal Sugar, it was because it produced the best glaze.
The seasoning for Stewed Bamboo Shoots was extremely simple. Once those three condiments were in, all you had to do was keep stir-frying; things like Scallion and Ginger or garlic were completely unnecessary. freёweɓnovel.com
This dish was all about the pure freshness of the shoots—any extra ingredients would only get in the way of that final flavor.
This was the "greatness of simplicity" in cooking.
Also what their master called "subtraction" in seasoning.
In the past, some chef would surely have experimented with adding all kinds of condiments, but in the end they were all removed, pared down to just these three.
Yet it was precisely these three seasonings that turned bamboo shoots into a taste many Jiangnan people couldn’t stop thinking about.
Every spring, when bamboo shoots came into season, almost every household would be filled with the aroma of Stewed Bamboo Shoots.
The method was simple, the nutrition rich, and it went insanely well with rice.
Once the Crystal Sugar in the wok melted, Lin Xu ladled in two bowls of stock, poured them into the wok, covered it with a lid, and began braising.
Stewed Bamboo Shoots, like Oil-Braised Large Shrimp, needed a bit of water for a short braise. When the water in the wok had evaporated and only the oil and sauce remained, the dish was done.
While he was busy, Xie Baomin stood by watching:
"These shoots are really well done. One of these days I’ll have to ask Old Huang to send some over to the Fishing Platform as well."
Not long after, when most of the liquid in the wok had boiled away, Lin Xu lifted the lid, turned the heat to high, grabbed the wok handle, and tossed the shoots a few times so the thick sauce clung to them.
Then he turned off the heat and plated the dish.
The Stewed Bamboo Shoots were ready, and the Braised Pork Belly was just about done as well.
He stirred the pot with a ladle, and an aroma of freshness instantly spread through the air.
The freshness of the shoots, the freshness of the pork, the freshness of the Ham—all those flavors together could hook you before you even took a bite.
"Wei Qian, time to eat. Dish out some Stewed Bamboo Shoots and Braised Pork Belly and keep them warm in the steamer; I’ve got to take some to the hospital for Yueyue later."
"Okay, I’ll start plating now."
After giving Wei Qian his instructions, Lin Xu put on heatproof gloves, opened the steamer, and took out the tray of Skin Residue Steamed Pork inside.
Seeing this, Xie Baomin couldn’t help asking curiously: freewebnøvel.coɱ
"Is that Steamed Starch?"
"No, it’s Skin Residue, a specialty from my hometown, kind of similar in method to Steamed Starch."
"Smells pretty darn good. I’ll have to give that a proper taste in a bit."
Lin Xu set aside two portions to take to the hospital and brought out the rest.
