Food Intelligence King

Chapter 184 Making Small Pear Soup

The high value of this intelligence made Chen Zhou quite excited and thrilled when he arrived in the morning.

But after going out to buy groceries and coming back...
Looking at the community canteen from the customer's perspective, Chen Zhou felt calm again.

He adjusted his mood and continued to work diligently.

The task of making steamed buns was left to my aunt and the others.

Chen Zhou then began preparing the small bowl of pear soup.

Besides snow pears, the ingredients also include white fungus, goji berries, and red dates, which Chen Zhou already had.

Chen Zhou asked Sister Huang Yaoshi and the delivery guy who worked with the shop to help him with the remaining preserved plums and dried sugarcane.

It should arrive in a little while.

Preserved plums can provide a slightly salty and sour flavor, enriching the taste of pear soup.

Dried sugarcane is used to supplement sweetness and replace some of the rock sugar.

Of course, to make a delicious pear soup, you have to start by soaking and rehydrating the white fungus.

Soak the white fungus in cold water for an hour. After soaking, cut off the yellow root.

Then tear it into small pieces by hand. The smaller the pieces and the more finely you tear it, the easier it will be for the pear soup to release its gelatinous substance.

Next, we need to wash the snow pears.

Wet the pear skin with water, sprinkle with salt and rub the surface.

To remove the fruit wax and impurities, rinse thoroughly.

The reason why washing pears is so troublesome is because for making pear soup, the pears need to be cooked with the peel on.

Pear skin contains more nutrients and aromatic substances, which can make the soup darker and the flavor richer.

As mentioned in textbooks on physics, chemistry, and biology, essential oils can be extracted from things like orange peels and lemon peels.

In nature, fruit peels are used to attract small animals.

That's how plants grow.

It's not because I'm lazy or want to save trouble.

As Chen Zhou recalled the recipe on the copper kettle, he felt more and more strongly that:
The old recipes may not have explained the scientific principles in such detail, but the methods have been proven in practice and can withstand scrutiny.

The cookware is different for small-pot pear soup and sour plum soup.

The preserved plums used in Xiaodiao Pear Soup are very few, serving only as a finishing touch.

Therefore, cooking in a copper pot is mainly due to copper's better thermal conductivity, which allows the heat to be kept at a gentle simmer.

The old-fashioned clay pots in the shop, or modern kitchen utensils, are perfectly adequate.

As for plum juice, it's not suitable to use metal utensils.

Using a copper kettle for cooking may pose potential health risks.

After Chen Zhou finished his simple preparations, the deliveryman Zhang Jian delivered the remaining ingredients.

The young man has also been delivering meals to Mai Xiang Ji recently.

The braised pork rice that I used to love has gradually been expanded to include a variety of smaller dishes.

He was quite busy today and didn't go into the store; he handed the items over to Sister Zhao.

"I put the things Mr. Chen asked me to buy here for you, Sister Zhao."

"Slow down!"

The junior sister went into the kitchen and handed over two items: preserved plums and dried sugarcane.

"Senior brother, Zhang Jian brought this."

"it is good."

The junior sister was a little curious about the dried sugarcane inside.

"What is this? A small, yellowish-white stick, chopsticks? Bamboo?"

Chen Zhou smiled and accepted it; it was the first time he had ever seen dried sugarcane. Fortunately, Huang Yaoshi had a full range of medicines.

He answered:

"This is dried sugarcane, which can be steeped in water to quench thirst. I bought it to make a soup with pears."
-
"That"

The junior sister's chattering energy is about to kick in again.

But Chen Zhou had already been fooled once today, and he refused to give Zhao Yilin a second chance.

"I'll make it and you can try it in a bit, then you'll know."

"Okay then."

The junior sister obediently went back to doing her own thing.

Chen Zhou then began to simmer pear soup.

Now you can cut the cleaned snow pears into chunks and remove the cores. Except for the goji berries, which are added before serving, put all the other ingredients into the pot with water.

First, cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat.

After it boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for one hour.

This is necessary to successfully extract the gelatinous substance from the pear soup.

Chen Zhou used an old-fashioned earthenware pot, so he left a gap to prevent it from overflowing.

after an hour,
Add goji berries next, and add rock sugar as needed to balance the sweetness.

Once the rock sugar has fully dissolved, turn off the heat.

Chen Zhou left the task of keeping an eye on the pot to Xiao Hou.

He only glanced at it after turning off the stove.

The old clay pot itself is dark in color, so it will look more like amber than when it's in a glass.

The color is excellent; when you stir it with a spoon, you can see a noticeable consistency.

However, according to the old recipe, if you want to drink it, you have to let it sit overnight.

When Chen Zhou was at home, he and his wife and children had already compared the taste of the food on the same day and the next day.

The next day, the aroma of dates and pears became stronger, and the overall soup became thicker.

But the young women in the shop were somewhat expectant.

Because it was indeed what Chen Zhou had promised everyone a couple of days ago, and he really did cook a pot of it at the store today.

The aroma is sweet and fragrant; you can smell it as soon as you get close to the kitchen.

Very attractive.

But Chen Zhou was not seen selling them.

I've never seen the boss treat everyone to drinks during staff meals.

So much so that when Chen Zhou ate at the restaurant, he was met by two pairs of expectant eyes.

"Alright, alright, go get four cups."

The two little girls stood up together.

Chen Zhou glanced at Xiao Hou beside him casually, and Xiao Hou's face was full of anticipation.

Hou Wen explained, "I was helping to keep an eye on the heat in the kitchen, mainly out of curiosity."

Chen Zhou couldn't help but think about Aunt Zheng, who had brought him lunch home today.

It's her patience that's so admirable.

While drinking soup, Chen Zhou also briefly arranged the work to be done next.

He had to go and attend to the snow pear business.

While the store was being renovated, Chen Zhou arranged for several employees to take turns supervising it.

After lunch, Tian Tian's father, whom I had arranged to meet, came over.

Chen Zhou has a sketch he drew himself.

Based on the suggestions given by Teacher Li during his initial visit to the store, and taking into account the actual needs of the store, the drawing has been made more detailed.

Chen Zhou was quite proud of this.

Having worked in architectural design before, drawing a sketch by hand wasn't very difficult for me.

However, considering that interior design is somewhat different from his original profession.

Chen Zhou added many specific details.

This makes it more visually appealing, vivid, and concrete.

He could even imagine the approximate scene after the renovation was completed from the images.

Set aside a separate area to display smaller portions of dishes.

After the guests arrive, they choose their dishes and then find a seat to eat on their own.

The kitchen is where people make steamed buns, stir-fry vegetables, and process ingredients; it's separate from other areas.

Tian Tian's father took the blueprints, looked them over, and expressed some approval of Chen Zhou.

"Mr. Chen is quite professional," Old Liu praised.

Chen Zhou smiled and said, "I used to be a draftsman, working at a design institute."

He hasn't forgotten his old profession.

Looking at the sketch, Lao Liu said, "Let's knock down this wall from the kitchen. It'll make it brighter and save money. Leave this little job to me, you can rest assured."

Chen Zhou felt that he had also benefited from Chen Taotao's influence.

(End of this chapter)