Since Li Qi came to the Northern Song Dynasty, he gradually felt a little disgusted with cooking indoors. After all, there are no exhaust fans these days. No matter how perfect the vents are, it will still be very suffocating.
The dish he was going to make today had a lot of irritating ingredients. If there was no exhaust fan, he would probably choke to death, so he moved his working place from the kitchen to the open space.
In the open space, in addition to Wu Xiaoliu and other cooks, there was also a mysterious man in black robe. This man was Yelu Guyu.
She has been in Beijing for some time, and although she has never left the house, she also learned from the servants in the manor that Li Qi was originally a cook, and he was also the famous Golden Knife Chef, which made her feel
She was very curious, knowing that it was rare for a cook to become a high-ranking official, so she wanted to come and see Li Qi cooking.
"Hey, Brother Six, do you know that person?" the little cook asked Wu Xiaoliu quietly.
Wu Xiaoliu secretly glanced at Yelu Gusu, who was standing motionless under the tree, shook his head and said, "I don't know him. But he looks scary."
"That's right, that's right. What's the relationship between him and Master?"
"I don't know, but she looks like a woman."
The little cook said blankly: "So what?"
"You are stupid. Since you are a woman, of course you can't talk about it everywhere. Don't say that master didn't tell you that your master is moody. If you offend him, your life will be over."
As soon as he finished speaking, a voice suddenly sounded from behind Wu Xiaoliu that made him frightened, "Really? Then why are you still standing here fine?"
Wu Xiaoliu trembled all over, turned his head, and said to the expressionless Li Qi with a flattering smile: "Brother Li, are you ready?"
Snap.
Li Qi slapped Wu Xiaoliu and the little cook hard on the head twice, and said sullenly: "I said you two are really annoying, and you can't calm down for a moment."
Wu Xiaoliu rubbed his head and cried: "It's unfair. Brother Li, he asked me first."
How dare the little cook speak out? One is the master and the other is the master. It is natural for him to take the blame.
"How dare you talk back?"
Li Qi sneered, pointed his hand to the left, and said: "Go, cut your fingers over there."
Wu Xiaoliu took a sharp breath of air and shouted before Li Qi finished speaking: "Brother Li, I know I was wrong. Don't cut my fingers."
The other little cooks were so frightened that their faces turned blue when they saw that Li Qi was going to cut off someone's fingers as soon as he opened his mouth.
Li Qi wanted to kick her over and said angrily: "Why are you yelling? I asked you to cut your nails, not your fingers, you idiot."
"What are you cutting? Fingernails?"
Wu Xiaoliu was stunned for a moment, raised his hands, waved them in front of Li Qi, and said with tears in his eyes: "Brother Li, you see, I have already cut my fingers very cleanly. If I cut them again now, I will really have to cut my fingers."
.”
Li Qi really had the urge to beat someone up. He closed his eyes and suppressed his anger and said, "I asked you two to cut the nails on that plate of duck paws."
Whizzing.
Wu Xiaoliu and the little cook disappeared in front of Li Qi in an instant. Wu Xiaoliu saw Li Qidu in this state and knew that if he said one more word, it would be the end.
Li Qi sighed heavily. He clapped his hands and said, "Okay, let's start working."
"yes."
Everyone answered in unison.
Li Qi first prepared the star anise, cinnamon, peppercorns, dogwood, nard, fennel, fennel, roux, amomum villosum, bay leaves, male cloves, female cloves, ginger, lemongrass, licorice, etc.
Eighteen kinds of ingredients are given to them for simple processing.
And he himself processes duck heads, duck necks, chicken skeletons, tube bones and other materials.
Wu Xiaoliu sniffed a few times, and while cutting his nails, he said anxiously: "Brother Li, are you going to make marinade again?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Oh, I see these ingredients are similar to what you used to make stinky tofu."
"Haha. You are observing more carefully, but I plan to make three kinds of marinades today."
"Three kinds?"
"Yeah. The characteristic of braised food is that it can change with the change of marinade, the taste can be diversified, and the way to eat it is quite simple, so it is very suitable for selling in chain stores."
"Stewed meat? Brother Li, is there any difference between the braised meat you make and what we usually eat?"
"It depends on what kind of braised food you are eating. If it is made from a century-old marinated sauce, then I still can't compare with it." The implication is that the rest is irrelevant.
"I've never tasted century-old marinade."
Li Qi smiled and said nothing.
After he finished processing, the disciples and grandchildren also processed all the spices.
He took out a small scale he specially made and began to take measurements. The so-called special small scale only had a few unconventional lines on the scale. No one could understand it except him. What he did was nothing more than just a few unconventional lines.
If you want to keep it secret, after all, people's hearts are unpredictable, and you have to guard against what you should guard against.
He prepared three combinations of twenty-eight spices, put them into loose gauze bags and tied the mouth of the bag tightly with a string. Then he started to make the stew. He first put the chicken skeleton and hammered pig bones, and used
Boil cold water until it boils, remove the blood foam, rinse with clean water, add water again, add chopped old ginger, and leave the full-length green onions. After boiling, simmer slowly over low heat.
Li Qi asked a little cook to control the heat and said: "You remember, if you cook it over low heat, it will be clear soup, and if you cook it on high heat, it will be thick soup, so you must be able to control the heat skillfully."
"Yeah. Remember that."
Li Qi nodded, took out the fine powdered rock sugar that he had prepared earlier, put a little oil in the pot, added the powdered rock sugar, and stir-fried slowly over medium heat. When the sugar turned from white to yellow, use low heat. Gradually, the sugar oil
It started to turn yellow and have big bubbles. He quickly took the pot away from the fire and continued to stir-fry. This step seemed simple, but in fact, it was all about fast, otherwise it would easily become bitter. If you want to master this skill, you have to go through it.
Repeated training will do. Then turn on the heat and wait until the sugar oil turns from yellow to dark brown. When the bubbles turn from large to small, add a little cold water, then stir-fry over low heat until the paste smell is gone, then the sugar will be golden in color and edible.
It's neither sweet nor bitter.
Then he boiled the spice packets separately in boiling water for 5 minutes, took them out and put them into the brine. Add salt and appropriate amount of sugar color and cornel powder to one part, cook it over medium and small fire to get the fragrance, and make the primary embryo red brine, while the other part
The portion does not include chili pepper and sugar, which is the so-called white marinade.
As for the third package of spices, they were naturally used to make yellow marinade, but Li Qi was not doing it for the general public. He also added five kinds of cooking wine that he made himself and mixed them together.
The red, white, and yellow marinades were produced at the same time, and the aroma was immediately overflowing. The three aromas blended together and instantly covered the entire backyard. Even Yelu Gu, who was standing under the tree and watching from a distance, couldn't help but twitch his index finger.
Some servants passing by couldn't help but also stopped and twitched their noses several times.
At this moment, a servant came over and said respectfully: "Master Li, Mr. Fan and the shopkeeper of the chain store are all here."
Li Qi hummed and said, "Let them wait a little longer."
"yes."
As soon as the servant left, Wu Xiaoliu hurriedly came over and asked curiously: "Brother Li, what are they here for?"
"Of course I'll give it a try."
Wu Xiaoliu curled his lips and said: "They are too careful. Brother Li, can the dishes you cook be bad?"
Li Qi rolled his eyes and said, "I asked them to come. Fortunately, you are learning to cook. If you were asked to do business, you would lose so much that you wouldn't even be able to wear your underwear."
Wu Xiaoliu stuck out his tongue and did not dare to say any more.
Next comes the last step, marinating. This step is very simple. Li Qi first asked them to put the duck neck, duck feet, and duck head into boiling water and blanch them for a while. Drain them and put them in three kinds of boiling water.
Boil it in brine for a while. Pull out the firewood and soak it for more than half an hour.
"Okay. Huh? What are you doing?"
Li Qi suddenly found that the group of disciples and disciples were all trying to come over, staring straight into the pot and swallowing saliva.
Wu Xiaoliu swallowed his saliva and said, "Brother Li, can you eat it?"
"It will take a while."
Li Qi ordered them to take out all the duck's paws and put them in a big basin. They saw that the duck's paws had turned golden yellow, the duck's head was golden red, and the long duck neck was maroon red.
, extremely tempting.
Snapped.
Li Qi mercilessly slapped Wu Xiaoliu's ghost hand away and said displeasedly: "Why are you so impatient? Wait a little longer and let it dry for the best taste."
Wu Xiaoliu rubbed the back of his hands, nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I'll wait for them to dry." But his eyes were still fixed on the duck's head.
After a while, Li Qi handed out a basin and said, "Don't grab it, everyone has a share."
Before he could finish his words, Li Qi felt his eyes flash, and there was only an empty basin left in front of him. This reminded him of the scene when Uncle Tang ordered Qiuxiang. He shook his head helplessly and ordered a few servants to put the remaining
He carried it to the front hall, and he walked to the tree with a plate in his hand. He looked at the petrified Yelv Gu and said with a smile: "Aren't you bored?"
Yelu Gu wanted to shake his head.
"Then why don't you say something? If I'm not mistaken, you've said three words today. Um, oh, okay."
Yelu Guyu was stunned for a moment and asked: "What did the deputy commander want me to say?"
Damn it! Li Qi sighed, handed her the plate, and said, "If you can't speak, can you eat?"
Yelu Guwan smiled, took the plate, and said with a smile: "Thank you."
"This is the fifth sentence." Li Qi smiled bitterly and said, "You eat first, I have something to do in the front hall, and I will come back later."
Yelu Guyu nodded.
After Li Qi left, Yelv Guyu picked up a duck neck on the plate, put it into his mouth and took a bite. He was stunned for a moment, nodded again, and started eating quietly.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this duck head is really delicious. I didn't eat it before. It's a pity."
"You can't say that. Whether the duck head is delicious or not depends on who made it. This is made by my master, can it be the same?"
"Yes Yes Yes."
.
When he came to the front hall, before Li Qi entered the door, he heard a clicking sound coming from inside. When he went in, he was shocked by the sight in front of him. He saw that the shopkeepers were holding a duck paw in one hand and a duck paw in the other.
Holding a duck head or neck, his mouth is full of oil.
Those who ate the braised duck neck were so spicy that they gasped, their faces turned red, and they were sweating profusely, but they still ate it with gusto.
"Master Li."
When everyone saw Li Qi coming, they stood up quickly, but because they were holding duck paws, duck necks, etc. in both hands, it was difficult to salute.
Li Qi hummed and said with a smile: "Everyone, how do you like these three dishes?"
Fan Shaobai laughed and said: "It's made by King Jin Dao Chef. Of course I have nothing to say. Let's talk about the duck feet. It has a beautiful color, soft skin and crispy meat. It's also chewy and has a rich and mellow taste. It tastes very interesting. It's really good.
"
Another shopkeeper laughed and said: "This duck neck is not bad at all. It tastes spicy and chewy. The spicier it is, the more you want to eat it. The more you eat it, the spicier it becomes. It's so satisfying. It's so satisfying."
"No, no, no, let me tell you, the best thing about this is the duck head. Usually when we eat duck, we usually don't eat the head, but Master Li's duck head really transforms decay into magic. Just look at it.
The first glance will whet your appetite, and not only does it not have a fishy smell, but it tastes mellow, especially the piece of skin on the top of the head, which is delicate and refreshing, it is really amazing."
Everyone nodded frequently and applauded.
Li Qi smiled slightly and said, "Do you think it is feasible to sell these in chain stores?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then their eyebrows rose with joy and they shouted: "Okay. It's absolutely okay."
"I wonder how long it will take Master Li to put these in our store."
"Yes, yes, we have been ready for a long time."
Li Qi pressed his hands and said: "Please be patient, this is just a part of it. There will be more varieties in the future, and the prices are cheap, but I guess it will take a while."
After everyone heard this, they felt a little disappointed, but their confidence doubled.
At this moment, a maid suddenly stumbled in from outside. It was Xing'er, Bai Qiannuo's personal maid. Xing'er gasped slightly and said: "Master Li, Sister Qi'er wants you to go to the group company immediately." (To be completed.)