Siheyuan, counterattack from the proficiency panel

Chapter 22 Pingqiao Tofu confirms its status and seeks investment and follow-up reading
The average age of the kitchen staff in the Military Control Commission canteen is around 30 years old.
If you don't show your true abilities, you won't be able to convince others.

Chen Jinsong turned to He Yuzhu and said,

"Zhu Zi, you're new here, why don't you show us your skills? Just consider it a greeting."

He Yuzhu nodded.

He also sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Without further ado,

I looked around at the available ingredients.

He planned to make Pingqiao tofu, a Huaiyang dish.

He also dabbled in Huaiyang cuisine.

He picked up a piece of tofu, walked to the chopping board and looked around at the people in the kitchen.

"I'll just make you a dish of Pingqiao tofu. Sorry for the poor performance!"

When the people in the kitchen heard this,
Everyone understands that this is a demonstration for them.
To know,
The most challenging part of making Pingqiao Tofu is the knife skills and the heat.
A piece of soft tofu usually needs to be cut at least 88 times horizontally and 188 times vertically with a large knife.

A piece of fragile tofu is turned into thousands of tofu strands.
Place in clear water,
Each strand can be clear, uniform in thickness, and as thin as a hair.
It must also not stick or be broken or disconnected.

This skill may seem simple, but without more than ten years of knife training and thousands of times of experience,

It is really difficult to do.

When operating, chefs must not only be as careful as a hair, but also be as bold as a tiger.

But He Yuzhu was only 15 years old.

Could it be that he started practicing swordsmanship since he was born?
As for the temperature,
This is more particular
Pingqiao tofu needs to be cooked with broth.

If the tofu is overcooked, it will break and look bad, and all the previous efforts will be wasted.

If the tofu shreds are not cooked enough, they will not be flavorful and will not taste good.

Pingqiao tofu is a famous dish in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, and belongs to Huaiyang cuisine. As the masterpiece of Huaiyang cuisine, this dish has its own advantages. It uses fat tofu, cuts it into uniform diamond-shaped small pieces, and adds diced chicken, diced mushrooms, and chopped coriander. It is freshened with crucian carp brain. Because it is drizzled with a layer of bright oil when it is out of the pot, it seems not to be hot, but it is actually very hot, so you must be careful and use it slowly. Pingqiao tofu is economical, delicious, not greasy, and refreshing.

There are two unique features of Pingqiao tofu: one is that it is seasoned with crucian carp brain and chicken soup, which is the only one of its kind in the world. Regardless of how the soup tastes, it is incredible and a work of art to think of this; the second is that after the dish is served, it is slightly greasy and does not seem to be steaming, but it is actually very hot. You cannot lift it up with a spoon, and steam will rise if you lift it up. Therefore, you need to blow on it before eating, and eat it slowly and carefully.

Pingqiao tofu is rich in nutrition and has the effect of nourishing the five internal organs and curing deficiency. The effect is more significant in summer. Many Chinese and foreign customers have praised the delicious taste of this historical dish after tasting it. The meat is tender, fragrant and smooth, and the taste is fresh and salty. The tofu is fresh and tender, the soup is mellow, and the noodles are sealed in the soup, which is hot in the mouth. The tofu slices are white and tender, supplemented with chicken sauce and seafood, and the taste is delicious and thick, which is deeply loved by diners.

In 1984, the restaurant received overseas Chinese from the United States and Japan, and in 1986, it received representatives from 1981 countries at the Hongze Lake Development Conference. Pingqiao tofu was served on the table. Pingqiao tofu was highly praised by both Chinese and foreign guests. In 1984, it was rated as one of the top ten products in Huai'an. In , the Great Hall of the People in Beijing sent two chefs to Pingqiao to learn the production techniques.

Chen Jinsong and his colleagues were watching from the side, and saw that the other chefs all had very solemn expressions. The colleague asked curiously, "Old Chen, is this dish difficult to make? I see that they all have very heavy expressions."

Old Chen rolled his eyes and said, "Isn't that how you use heavy? I told you to read more, but you insisted on feeding the pigs."

"Don't talk nonsense, do you know?"

Chen Jinsong raised his eyebrows and said, "Although I haven't read much, I love food and know a lot about some dishes. Let me tell you the origin of this Pingqiao tofu..."

There are not many opportunities to show off in front of others or to act cool in front of your brothers.

“Ahem, Pingqiao tofu refers to the origin of this dish, and it is also related to Emperor Qianlong’s southern tour.

Pingqiao is an ancient town under the jurisdiction of Huai'an, bordering the east bank of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The quaint streets and the simple and honest folk customs make it a naturally interesting and desirable place.

It is said that when Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he passed by here in a dragon boat. At that time, a wealthy man named Lin Baiwan thought that this was a godsend and a great opportunity to please the emperor, so he relied on his millions of assets and ordered people to decorate the 40-mile road from Huai'an to Pingqiao Town with lanterns and grosgrain, and took the emperor home.

Lin Baiwan was a very scheming rich man. Long before the emperor came, he sent people to find out the emperor's food tastes, so he ordered his chef to treat Qianlong with crucian carp brain and old hen juice stewed with local specialty tofu. Although Qianlong had tasted all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, he had never tasted such a local flavor. So after tasting it, he praised it again and again.

After the emperor's arrival, the delicious Pingqiao tofu spread like wildfire and became famous throughout the Yangtze and Huaihe River regions, becoming a traditional delicacy in the Huaiyang cuisine.

Although Pingqiao tofu is very famous, its preparation method is not complicated. When stewing, use original chicken soup, add crucian carp brain and crab roe, lard, onion, ginger and other condiments, boil, then put the brine-removed fine tofu slices, cooked diced meat, dried shrimps and a little soy sauce into the pot. After boiling, thicken with water chestnut starch and add a little MSG before serving.

If you want to increase the flavor, you can also add a little sesame oil or pepper. In addition to the above-mentioned auxiliary ingredients, the key to judging whether it is Pingqiao tofu is the cutting skills of the tofu. The pieces of Pingqiao tofu are like melon seeds. The thinner they are cut, the more effort it takes and the more flavorful they are.

Nowadays, if you walk around Pingqiao Town, you can no longer find the descendants of Lin Baiwan, but the shops on the streets of Pingqiao Town still have signs of authentic Pingqiao tofu hanging everywhere. Passersby passing by here can't help but taste it.

In addition to the dishes being truly memorable, the rumors about Emperor Qianlong that have survived along with them, after hundreds of years of processing and fabrication, are also very interesting to hear at first glance.”

As Chen Jinsong spoke, he was already drooling with greed.

He Yuzhu's technique is still methodical.
He has a scale in his heart. He knows that there cannot be too much or too little of any ingredient, otherwise the taste of the Pingqiao tofu will change.

You work as hard as a tiger, but when you taste it, the taste is not satisfactory. You will definitely be ridiculed.

This situation will never happen to him.

Put the whole block of tofu into a pot of cold water and bring to a slight boil;
Remove the bean-smelling yellow pulp, take it out and slice it into sparrow tongue shape, put it into hot chicken soup, and repeat twice;

Cut the chicken breast, mushrooms, and sea cucumber into tofu-sized slices;

Wash the dried shrimps and soak them in warm water;
Wash the scallops, remove the old tendons, and put them in a bowl.

(End of this chapter)