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

Chapter 578-Wang Fan’s Secretly Recipe Four Joy Meatballs
Do you think that everyone in the world knows you?

Wang Fan stepped forward and extended his right hand: "Thank you, Master Xiaoliang."

Xiao Liang laughed and shook hands with Wang Fan. "I won't wash my hands for a month after shaking hands once. I'll go back and practice my skills. Who knows, my cooking skills will improve dramatically."

Aren't you a bit shameless?
Master Xiaoliang’s words left the other two masters and Director Geng stunned.

You're making it sound like this young man is a much better cook than you are? Is that possible?

You're the apprentice of our Sichuan cuisine master, Master Liu! Isn't that a bit too much?
Seeing the three people's puzzled expressions, Chef Xiaoliang quickly introduced them, "This is Boss Wang, known as the strongest outdoor food boss. My master has been talking about him every day since returning from France, saying that Boss Wang's cooking skills are not inferior to his, and in some aspects, he is even much better."

After that, he said to Wang Fan: "My master is Master Liu Fei Liu."

Wang Fan didn't expect that Master Xiaoliang was actually Master Liu's disciple. Sometimes he really felt that this world was quite small.

After hearing his words, the other two masters immediately put away their contempt. Master Xiaoliang was the absolute center among them. Even Master Liu praised this young man highly. What else could they dare to say?
Director Geng couldn't stop smiling. "Who would have thought I'd find such a capable and obedient person? Are you planning on making some sashimi?"

Wang Fan had just thought of what to cook. These were all elderly people, and there was a dish in the north that had a very good meaning and a mellow taste, which was very suitable for making for these elderly people.

"Auntie, I'm going to make four-happiness meatballs. These four meatballs represent "happiness, wealth, longevity, and happiness" respectively. The round shape of the meatballs symbolizes reunion and they are also soft and sticky. I think this dish is perfect for these grandpas and aunties."

Director Geng was very happy: "This is it, this is it. What you said makes me want to try it right away."

Wang Fan had already walked to the stove, with a lot of ingredients placed behind him.

Because of its beautiful meaning and crispy, mellow taste, Four Happiness Meatballs are very common in the north and can be seen at almost any banquet.

There is a dish in Huaiyang cuisine called Braised Lion’s Head that is a bit similar to this one, but the only difference is that they are both round in shape. The cooking methods and ingredients used are very different.

The ingredients used for Four Happiness Meatballs are very simple, namely pork, water chestnuts, steamed buns, eggs, green onions and ginger. Wang Fan just saw the water chestnuts, and the other ingredients are very common.

Wang Fan chose the front leg of pork, picked up the kitchen knife and lightly scraped the blade with his thumb. He could clearly hear the crisp "click" sound, which showed how sharp it was.

After laying the pork flat and simply trimming the edges, he quickly cut the entire front leg into thick slices, then cut the slices into shredded meat, and then cut the shredded meat into small pieces. The whole movement was so smooth and fast that Director Geng almost clapped his hands in approval.

The layman watches the excitement while the expert watches the details. Such swift knife skills cannot be achieved without years of practice.

Although Master Xiaoliang recognized Wang Fan and often heard his own master praise him, he felt a little dissatisfied in his heart.

He was also watching Wang Fan's operation very carefully. He really wanted to know how outstanding this other person's child was.

At least his knife skills are excellent when it comes to cutting. Each cut is not only accurate but also very steady. The slices, strips and pieces of meat are almost the same size, which has a huge impact on the finished dish.

Wang Fan counted the number of tables. There were 15 tables in total. He needed to make at least 60 four-happiness meatballs. Four meatballs would require more than 1 kilogram of meat, so he would have to cut out more than 15 kilograms of meat cubes.

For convenience, many chefs use a meat grinder to prepare the meat filling for this dish. However, the taste of the minced meat and the cut meat is very different, which is one of the key factors that distinguish between ordinary and fine products.

After cutting the meat into pieces, Wang Fan took out a basin, filled it with water, and then broke all 15 steamed buns into pieces and put them into the basin.

Although the three chefs are all Sichuan cuisine chefs, they have come across this dish with good meaning. However, Wang Fan's step-by-step method is very different from the steps they know, which makes the three of them look at each other in confusion.

"Master Xiaoliang, this feels different from what I learned?"

"What's this steamed bun for?"

"I don't know either. My master never taught me."

"Who is right then?"

After a moment of contemplation, Chef Xiaoliang whispered, "My master is a Sichuan chef, after all. This dish is from the north, after all. It should belong to Boss Wang, right?"

"Oh... then let's watch carefully, maybe we can learn a thing or two, and then maybe show off our skills in front of our fellow apprentices, hehehe..."

"Yes, yes, yes. I just searched for this Boss Wang. He's quite famous and has even cooked in a Michelin restaurant. Let's take a closer look to see what's different from us."

After soaking the steamed buns, Wang Fan spread the meat filling evenly on the chopping board, and then gently and quickly beat the meat particles with the blade and the back of the knife until a layer of fine meat floss appeared between the meat particles.

The water chestnuts were soaked in clean water and had already been peeled. He had found that some dishes used water chestnuts when he was eating before, so this saved him the trouble of peeling them.

Take out the water chestnuts and cut them into small dices. The meat pieces should be the size of soybeans. The water chestnuts should be cut smaller than the meat pieces. The side dishes must be smaller than the main dishes, otherwise the taste will overshadow the main dishes. In addition, the taste will be richer.

Water chestnuts are good things. They can clear away heat, regulate the lungs, and resolve phlegm. Eating too much meat can easily cause phlegm, so this can also be considered as a way to neutralize the taste.

Master Xiaoliang suddenly looked around furtively, not missing any corner, which made the other two masters confused.

"Master Xiaoliang, what are you doing?"

Master Xiao Liang chuckled and replied quietly, "Let me see if there are any cameras around."

"?"

A big question mark appeared above the heads of the two masters at the same time.

"What camera? What did you say?"

Master Xiaoliang didn't explain: "Nothing, nothing, just look carefully."

He was simply puzzled as to why Boss Wang was so meticulous. It was just a simple banquet, a spur-of-the-moment show of skill. Was it really necessary to be so serious? The way he cut the horseshoe, if you didn't know better, you'd think he was participating in a competition.

After cutting the water chestnuts and covering the meat with the shredded water chestnuts, Wang Fan began to cut the green onion into shreds, and then cut the shredded green onion into diced green onions. His meticulous posture really made Master Xiaoliang scratch his head.

Do you have to be so serious?

What's the difference between cutting it this way and chopping it this way?
After chopping the green onions, he started chopping ginger, still changing the ginger slices to ginger shreds and then to ginger dices. This was because his hands were steady enough and his knife was accurate enough that he was able to do it quickly. Otherwise, in the time it took to chop the ginger, those uncles and aunts would have eaten their fill and left.

The ginger cubes are the smallest, about the size of rice grains. The golden ginger cubes are placed on the tender white chopped green onions, with white and tender water chestnuts and red and white pork cubes pressed underneath. It looks very layered.

After doing all this, I cut large pieces of green onion and ginger, then took out a handful of five-spice powder and sprinkled it into the bowl, beat the eggs and left only the yolks, a total of 7 and a half egg yolks were used, which were stirred evenly and then beaten into the bowl.

Then take out the steamed buns that have absorbed water from the basin and pinch them. At this time, the steamed buns have been thoroughly soaked in clean water and become very small when pinched. There is no hard core yet. After squeezing out the water, break them into very small pieces and put them in the basin.

The base is prepared with light soy sauce, chicken powder, sesame oil, cooking wine and a little bit of salt. In order to adapt to the taste of Sichuan people, Wang Fan also creatively added some pepper powder. Finally, after adding a little bit of sweet potato starch, he began to stir the meat filling.

It is very interesting to stir the meat filling. It is not stirred in one direction like the filling for buns and dumplings, but kneaded like dough. From time to time, pinch out a piece and throw it into the bowl. The "pa pa pa" sound is very interesting, which attracts the uncles and aunts not far away to look at it from time to time.

Zhuo Qianqian was busy eating when a lady beside her said with a smile, "Little sister, your boy is cooking. He looks quite serious."

After Zhuo Qianqian swallowed a large piece of pork elbow skin, she looked up and said with a smile, "Auntie, uncle, let me tell you, you've made a killing this time. The food he cooks is especially delicious. You should eat less now, otherwise you won't be able to finish it when the delicious food comes later."

The aunt laughed and said, "You are not modest, little sister. What if the food you cook is not tasty?"

Zhuo Qianqian is more confident than Wang Fan about whether the food Wang Fan cooks is delicious. In her opinion, her boss's cooking skills are definitely not inferior to any top master.

"Auntie, just sit back and enjoy the delicious food, the kind that will make your tongue drop."

Auntie picked up a few slices of bacon and put them into Zhuo Qianqian's bowl: "Okay, okay, okay, Auntie will wait. You ate so much, be careful that you won't have enough food when the food comes."

Zhuo Qianqian said sweetly, "Thank you, Auntie," and the wrinkles on the old woman's face seemed to glow.

It's easy to feel lonely when you get older. Your children all work outside and can only come home a few times a year. Seeing Zhuo Qianqian feels like seeing your own granddaughter and is particularly familiar.

The ladies at the table kept putting dishes into Zhuo Qianqian's bowl, and the uncles kept turning the table, putting several hard dishes in front of her in turn, as if they were afraid that she would not be able to eat any of the dishes. It can be said that she was the apple of everyone's eye.

Four-happiness meatballs are not boiled meatballs, so they cannot be over-stirred. Wang Fan only started to heat the oil after slightly stirring it. There was a lot of oil in the pan. Fried meatballs are not pan-fried, so you must use a lot of oil. This brings us to the Four-happiness meatballs made by Teacher Huang that Wang Fan had seen. It can be said that every step is surprising.

After pouring the oil, Wang Fan began to knead the meatballs, kneading them into balls while beating them in his hands. After kneading them into balls, he coated the outer skin with a layer of dry starch, and thus obtained a big meatball the size of a fist.

At this time, the oil temperature had risen to 6% hot, and Wang Fan put the meatballs into the oil pan.

Under the influence of the oil temperature, the surface of the meatballs quickly turned white and the shape became stable. After the second meatball was kneaded, the first meatball was taken out. In this way, four meatballs were placed on a plate, and soon 16 plates were arranged.

Heat oil in a pan, sauté scallions and ginger until fragrant, then add five-spice powder. When you smell the aroma of the spices, add boiling water until the water covers the meatballs.

If you want to make this dish well, the last step is to simmer it on low heat for 40 minutes. If you use high heat and the water bubbling, the meatballs can easily become a pot of meat soup. However, time does not allow it, so Wang Fan can only reduce the cooking time by relying on his superb control over the heat.

Seeing the huge bubbles bubbling in the pot, Xiaoliang and the other two chefs were shocked. Who would cook meatballs at such a high temperature? Are you afraid that you put glue in it to prevent the meatballs from falling apart?
Wang Fan also used all his skills. The colander in his hand never left the pot. He stirred it here and there to prevent any meatballs from falling apart.

Slow cooking over low heat can also avoid the embarrassing situation of the outside being cooked but the inside being raw. After all, the meatballs are so big that it is easy to have this result if they are not cooked for a short time, so it is best for most people to just simmer over low heat.

“Out of the pot.”

With a silent remark in his mind, Wang Fan gently scooped the meatballs out of the pot with the colander in his hand. The meatballs that had been cooked through were very soft and sticky, and they would fall apart with a little force, so he had to carefully control his strength.

After all 16 plates of meatballs were laid out, Wang Fan took out a small pot, thickened the soup used to cook the meatballs with some starch, and poured it evenly on the meatballs.

Four-happiness meatballs can be cooked in clear stew, red stew and braised. The difference between red stew and braised meatballs lies in the final thickening. For red stew, you can just pour the soup for stewing meatballs over it, while for braised meatballs, you need to thicken it.

Sichuan cuisine is traditionally heavier in flavor, and Wang Fan feels that braised flavor is more suitable for them.

After thickening the sauce, the soup in the pot began to bubble continuously. Wang Fan finally poured a spoonful of pepper oil on it and turned off the heat.

Master Xiaoliang and others kept staring at Wang Fan's movements. When the spoonful of sauce was poured onto the meatballs, they couldn't help but widen their eyes.

Four meatballs were placed on the same plate, and the rosy sauce poured all over them instantly elevated the appearance of each meatball by several levels. It was like four quadruplets wearing ordinary clothes, and suddenly one of them quickly changed into a high-end evening gown, and instantly became the most handsome person in the whole audience.

Wang Fan quickly garnished the meatballs with chopped green onions with a spoon, and the dish was completely done.

"Could you please help me with the dishes? They won't taste good if they get cold."

Hearing Wang Fan's call, the three masters quickly responded and ran over to help.

Master Xiaoliang couldn't help but take a deep breath when he picked up the meatballs. The meatballs were rich and mellow with a hint of fragrance, which was so refreshing that people couldn't wait to take a bite.

The rosy meatballs reflect the oily sheen, which contrasts sharply with the emerald green chopped onions. The combination of red and green looks extremely ugly when worn on the body, but they look extremely well matched on food.

Wang Fan pointed to the last plate of meatballs and said to Director Geng, "Auntie, this plate is reserved for you and the three chefs. You can try it when you are not busy."

Director Geng smiled from ear to ear: "You are so considerate, my dear. The lady will definitely taste your cooking skills later."

(End of this chapter)