Food: Random stalls, customers chase me all over the country

Chapter 325 - Applying What You've Learned: Improved Pork and Cabbage Stew with Vermicelli

"You smell the aroma. When the fragrance starts to appear and the base oil appears in the pot, you start adding spices, mainly star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves. The proportions must be controlled so that they don't dominate the pot."

"People in Meizhou also like spicy food, and the weather is humid now, so you can add a few more dried chilies and then some brown sugar and continue stir-frying until the sugar has a caramel aroma and a gelatinous texture."

Ever since he cooked up the traditional dry-fried beef noodles, Wang Fan’s use of brown sugar has reached a new level, and he even incorporated it directly into the stew in front of him.

Cheng Dong and the others couldn't help but nod their heads as they listened. It felt like a new world had been opened up to them.

In the past, they would just pour water into the stew and then throw in the spices and seasonings all at once. No one had ever divided them into such detailed categories.

Wang Fan continued to stir-fry the pork belly in the pot. At this moment, the pork belly had turned slightly amber on both sides. The rich aroma of meat was wafting out of the pot. Jia Fengyue and other aunties who were helping to wash cabbage not far away could not help but twitch their noses.

Wang Fan fished out some stir-fried lard from the pot and put it directly into another pot before continuing, "Once it turns an amber color, you can add the scallions and ginger. When you can smell the aroma of scallions and ginger, you can add the Huadiao wine."

"The key is to wait until you can smell the fragrance of each item before moving on to the next step."

Wang Fan was talking as he was doing it, and Cheng Dong and the others pricked up their ears, watching and taking notes in their minds.

“When you smell a faint aroma of wine, add soy sauce; when you smell the aroma of fermented black beans, add hot water.”

Cheng Dong compared Wang Fan's cooking steps with what he had in his mind one by one. He felt that Wang Fan seemed to have forgotten to add the dark soy sauce?

"Should we add some dark soy sauce to enhance the color?"

Wang Fan shook his head: "The brown sugar already gives it enough color, and the dark soy sauce will make the cabbage a bit sour."

"Hiss... is there such a thing?"

"I seem to have felt that the stewed food had a slightly sour taste before. I thought it was the cabbage itself. Could it be because I added too much dark soy sauce?"

"Brother Xiao Wang's skills are truly top-notch at such a young age, and he has also learned a lot of great knowledge."

At this time, the washed and drained cabbage was brought over by Zhong Pingmei and other half-grown children. Several children put down their basins and walked away while looking at the meat in the pot reluctantly. Some of them even began to swallow their saliva.

Wang Fan smiled and said, "It's not cooked yet, so you can't eat it. Just be patient and wait."

The children blushed and ran back to where they were washing vegetables.

Wang Fan picked up the cabbage and poured it into another pot, sprinkling a handful of salt on it. The fire in the pot had just been turned on and the aroma of lard began to waft out.

As the cabbage was put into the pot, the sound of splashing oil was immediately heard from the pot, and a refreshing vegetable aroma followed.

Cheng Dong was confused. Did he need to stir-fry the cabbage separately? Shouldn't he just stew it in the pot?

"Brother Wang, what does this step mean? Shouldn't we just put it in the pot and stew it?"

Wang Fan said: "The main purpose of this step is to remove excess water from the vegetables, so that the stewed cabbage will be more fragrant." This is what he realized when he was making stir-fried choy sum before.

Wang Fan now really admires those ancestors. These steps may seem complicated, but each step has its own meaning, and no step is redundant. This is the culinary craft condensed to the extreme. It is very difficult for the younger generations like them to innovate.

The debut is the peak!
Just like Chinese characters, which have not evolved substantially for thousands of years, they are still stuck in the first generation of native characters.

It’s not that later generations don’t have the energy to evolve, it’s really that our ancestors laid such a good foundation that there is no need for further evolution.

Basically, Chinese can easily and happily repeat any meaning that humans want to express, but the Chinese language is completely unable to do this. If you don’t believe me, ask them to translate Monday, March 32nd?
The same goes for cooking. Our ancestors have mastered the art of cooking, leaving no room for improvement for future generations.

When Cheng Dong and the others heard Wang Fan's words, they felt like their heads were cracked. Who would have thought of these details when cooking before?

Yesterday, their stew was just like this: they fried the ingredients, added water, and then poured all the meat and vegetables, seasoned them, into the pot to stew, and then took it out of the pot when it was done. Now when I think about it, I feel like Zhu Bajie eating the ginseng fruit!
The most important thing is that although there are many steps, the movements are not slow at all. Each step is completed in an orderly manner, which is pleasing to the eye.

What was put into the pot were cabbage leaves. When I asked Aunt Fengyue to wash the vegetables, I specifically told her to separate the cabbage leaves and cabbage stalks and tear them apart with her hands. It was not a difficult task for those aunties.

"Another benefit of this step is that you can stew the meat and cabbage separately, so the meat will become soft and glutinous faster."

Cheng Dong couldn't help but grin. He was a little confused about who was the chef of the fire department.

It tastes good, but you also took the time saving into account?!

It's off the charts, okay?!

After the moisture of the cabbage was fried out, the amount of cabbage became much smaller. Wang Fan took out a large colander to scoop out the cabbage and poured it all into the pot where the meat was cooking.

"Brother Cheng, you can take out the vermicelli and put it in the pot now."

After hearing what Cheng Dong said, he quickly took the vermicelli out of the water and put it into the pot. After everything was done, Wang Fan covered the pot.

"Then just simmer for another 15 minutes."

Wang Fan said this and waved to Zhuo Qianqian who was counting supplies in the distance. Zhuo Qianqian nodded and said to the uncles, "Uncles, we are ready to eat. Please notify the neighbors. I will go prepare the tables and bowls."

Now she is covered in moisture, sweat and rain. Her bangs are stuck to her forehead, her face is covered in mud spots and her sportswear is wrinkled. How can she look like she did before?
But in the eyes of several old men, if this little girl was their eldest granddaughter, they would have to burn the ancestral grave if smoke didn't come out of it.

"Okay, let's go now and let those young guys eat first. We are still strong and healthy."

"That's right, the youngsters nowadays are really worse than the previous generation. They are not as energetic as us old guys."

Several old men in their fifties and sixties walked towards the tents with arrogance. Many people who were tired from work were resting in the tents.

Zhuo Qianqian moved the table out and placed it next to Wang Fan, and then carefully wiped the mud off her hands and face. One cannot be dirty when serving food to others.

Cheng Dong and his companions were both impressed and pleased. If today's college students and young people were like this, there would be no worries about the country's prosperity.
(End of this chapter)