Free Web NovelChapter 1150: Chapter 465: Gourd Means Fortune—A Legit Homonym Dish: Eight Treasure Gourd Duck!
Lin Xu rinsed the boned duck, trying to remove as much blood as possible.
Then he placed it in a basin, adding scallion, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and rice wine, for a simple marination.
This step is mainly to remove the duck’s odor, so there’s no need to add other seasonings, just use these to remove the smell and odd taste.
While marinating the duck, he began preparing the Eight Treasure filling.
First, he scooped out the soaked glutinous rice.
This aged glutinous rice had been soaked for about a dozen hours, fully soaked through, and after draining the water, Lin Xu put it into a wok, slowly frying it over medium heat.
When the moisture quickly dried up, he added some star anise and a few bay leaves to enhance the aroma of the glutinous rice.
When using glutinous rice as a filling, it’s best to fry it this way, to release the rice’s own fragrance and to mix in the aroma of the spices, making the rice’s fragrance richer.
Once the surface of the glutinous rice showed a slight golden brown, he turned off the heat, poured it out, and spread it out on a tray to cool.
Next, he cut all the ingredients into little cubes, each about one centimeter square, and broke the soaked sea scallops in half so that their fresh and fragrant taste could be released more thoroughly.
Having everything ready, he blanched the shiitake mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots, then added some lard into the pot and stir-fried all the fillings.
When stir-frying the filling, you shouldn’t dump everything in at once; each should be fried to release its fragrance before adding the next.
First, fry the ham cubes, then tendons, followed by shiitake mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots.
Shrimp and sea cucumber are added last; if added too early, the shrimp would toughen, and the sea cucumber would dissolve.
Once the Eight Treasure filling is done, add a bit of dark soy sauce to adjust the color, there’s no need for anything else, as the ham cubes and sea scallops are already salty enough.
With the filling done, remove the spices from the fried glutinous rice and mix it into the filling, stirring well.
Once the duck is marinated enough, start preparing it.
Remove the scallion, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns from the duck’s surface and discard them, then take a piece of cattail grass and tie up the opening at the duck’s tail from the inside.
This way, the duck won’t spill or leak, and the tied-up tail area gives the look of a gourd base.
If not tied, or if the duck’s tail isn’t removed, the result would be pointed at both ends, and it couldn’t be called a gourd.
Once tied, flip the duck legs and wings inside, arrange them, and turn the duck right side up.
At this point, the whole duck becomes a soft, limp sack.
The areas of the wings and legs become small indentations, completely hiding the previous long legs and wings.
After flipping it, start stuffing it with the fried filling.
This step is called stuffing.
Stuffing means completely enclosing the filling so that it can’t be seen from the outside.
Lin Xu used a small spoon to spoon the filling inside, being careful not to overfill, about seventy percent full is enough, too much filling would burst the duck’s skin.
Once filled, tuck the duck’s head along with its skin into the cavity, wrapping the skin around the head, leaving only the beak outside.
Then tie it with a rope.
This way, the duck’s head looks like the stem of a gourd.
Finish by tying some cattail grass just below the wings, turning the whole duck into a soft gourd.
At this point, the gourd shape isn’t very pronounced; the duck skin needs to be blanched to make it swell up, which would give it the gourd shape.
Seeing this, Xie Baomin couldn’t help but remind:
"Blanching the duck is particular, junior brother, don’t put it straight in the pot, or the duck skin would burst from the boiling water."
Lin Xu nodded and said:
"I know, senior brother, it needs to be put on a plate and poured over with hot water."
As he spoke, he boiled a pot of water, and when it was almost boiling, he carefully placed the prepared gourd duck on a long platter, holding it with one hand, while using the other hand to scoop hot water from the pot and pour it over the duck skin.
After blanching, the duck noticeably swelled.
Continue pouring, and soon the duck appeared plump and round.
Use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the parts that puffed up, releasing the excess heat, and continue pouring until the duck skin is smooth and shiny.
At this time, transfer the duck to another plate, use kitchen paper to wipe away the surface moisture, and apply a layer of maltose water.
Next is the oiling part; to make the duck’s skin more vibrant, maltose water needs to be applied.
Moreover, it shouldn’t be applied just once; after the first application dries, apply again to ensure even coloring.
After the second application, Lin Xu set up the oil pot and started heating the oil.
He looked at the prepared cooking oils: only peanut oil, canola oil, corn germ oil, and olive oil were available, so he curiously asked:
"Didn’t prepare lard?"
He had brought some with him, but there was at most a bowl of it, fine for cooking but not enough for deep frying.
Xiaowei’s voice came over:
"Prepared, but didn’t bring it out, worried the fans would say it’s unhealthy."
Lin Xu chuckled and said:
"Others may say that, but as legitimate Chinese chefs, the more misunderstood lard is, the more we should stand up for it, otherwise, these rumors will only get more exaggerated."
Soon, Xiaowei brought out a basin of white lard from a nearby cabinet.
"This was brought by Master Qi Siming in the morning when he helped organize the seasonings."
Xie Baomin leaned over to take a look:
"Not bad, this lard is rendered quite well."
Lin Xu started heating the oil, and soon the lard melted, its aroma wafting through the air.
When it was at fifty percent heat, he placed the gourd-shaped duck onto a large fryer scoop, and gently placed it into the oil pot.
This step requires caution, constantly watching the duck skin; at the first sign of small bubbles, swiftly pierce them with a toothpick.
Fry one side, then switch to the other.
Once the gourd’s surface turned red, take it out.
"There’s steaming, braising, and roasting for gourd duck, junior brother, how do you plan to do it?"
Xie Baomin carefully examined Lin Xu’s fried duck and considered it visually impressive, thinking he himself could only do as well.
"Steam it, the method in Shandong cuisine is to steam."
He brought over a clean clay pot, lined it with a large bamboo mat, and placed the fried duck inside.
He poured in chicken soup, added rice wine, scallion segments, ginger slices, star anise, half a bowl of sugar color, a bit of light soy sauce, a bit of dark soy sauce, sprinkled some pepper, then added a few pieces of crystal sugar and a slice of aged tangerine peel.
The addition of aged tangerine peel is purely to remove the duck skin’s fishiness and enhance the duck’s aroma.
Once everything was prepared, he covered the clay pot and placed it into a large steamer, starting the steaming process.
Meanwhile, in the TV station’s original food recording room, the new program director quietly muttered to himself while watching the chef debone ducks:
"Where did Old Liu find this chef? Already ruined three ducks... is he here to sabotage things?"
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This Chapter is 5,200 words. Asking for monthly tickets, brothers, there will be only two updates today, once I’m adjusted, I’ll add more!
