Life is full of surprises, reasonable and unexpected. Summit 23S.
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With the speed with which Gungan captured the Osmanthus cicada, the results would be expected soon, so Lin Chou had to prepare the pot of brine quickly.
Although Osmanthus cicada is small, the brine used to brine it is more complicated.
Basic seasonings such as Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, ginger and garlic are absolutely indispensable.
(ps, let me tell you here, when I often see various recipes and programs introducing the spices used in dishes, they will say: star anise, anise, cumin, etc.
In fact, the star anise we most commonly use is commonly known as anise, which is very embarrassing.)
Then there are cumin, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, angelica root, tangerine peel, bay leaves, grass fruit, hawthorn, sand ginger, and cloves.
Among them, angelica and clove are used in the least amount, just a little bit is enough.
One is because Angelica sinensis has strong medicinal properties, and the other is because the clove flavor is too strong.
There are not many spices, only 16 kinds, which is at least 12 less than ordinary braised food, but these flavors are enough.
From the perspective of some chefs who pursued the ultimate taste before the Cataclysm, the twenty-eight flavors were just the beginning. Often the spices used would far exceed this number. Refined, essence and ultimate were their goals.
But there is another type of people who even use the types of spices as gimmicks in dishes. The more spices they have, the more they appear to be superior to others, but in fact this has deviated from the real "seasoning".
Although the taste never stops, so what if hundreds or thousands of spices are used to make a dish? The human tongue is not a taste computer.
Normal people's evaluation of dishes is nothing more than "very delicious", "delicious", "average", "unpalatable", well, maybe there is also "extremely unpleasant";
The evaluation of the taste is nothing more than "sweet, sour, spicy, salty".
The five-flavor blend can actually turn into a sensational one. It has to be said that this is really like the bunker coming to grandma's house.
Of course, the reason why Lin Chou thinks this way can also be understood as the shortage of spices after the catastrophe was too serious. He simply couldn't find so many spices. If he couldn't eat the grapes, he would say the grapes were sour.
After boiling a pot of water, add Sichuan peppercorns and cook until the color develops. Then wrap other spices into gauze bags and put them into the pot. Chop up a few old roots of lemongrass and add them to the boil.
The older the lemongrass root, the better. The harder it is, the more flavorful the brine will be.
Boil the brine for an hour, let it cool and then add a tablespoon of salty soy sauce.
The taste and color of salty soy sauce are thicker than ordinary soy sauce, making it more suitable for long-term use. However, because of the characteristics of salty soy sauce, Lin Chou had to crush half a rock sugar into the brine to blend the salty and sweet taste.
At this time, Mr. Gungun ran back with a bump, with a large number of sweet-scented osmanthus cicadas floating in front of him. They were densely packed, and their claws and limbs made clicking and hissing sounds.
There is nothing to say next. The best way to deal with the Osmanthus cicada is to freeze it to death in ice water and wash it.
Well, this is a very humane way of massacre. The osmanthus cicada's thin legs shivered and huddled together, looking extremely helpless. In fact, they had long lost consciousness at this moment.
This method is also applicable to all types of seafood, shrimps, crabs, and insect ingredients, maximizing respect for the meat quality and taste.
freeze to death...
In other words, the frozen half-dead Osmanthus cicada is soaked for one hour with rice wine and Qingquanshan wine in a ratio of 2:1, which is delicious and sterilizing.
Unlike other insect ingredients, osmanthus cicada can be braised in cast iron pots because the flavor of osmanthus cicada itself is very rich and not so pretentious that you have to be picky about the utensils.
In fact, marinating Osmanthus cicada in a cast iron pot will have an extra "salt and iron" taste, and Lin Chou is more accustomed to calling this taste a "homely" taste.
A large pot of sweet-scented osmanthus cicadas looks like it weighs dozens or even hundreds of kilograms. If this pot had been placed before the catastrophe, Lin Chou could still have made a fortune.
At that time, the price of sweet-scented osmanthus cicadas of average quality was already priced by the piece, ranging from fifteen to tens of yuan with no upper limit.
It is said that the top-quality sweet-scented osmanthus cicada costs hundreds of yuan apiece, and there are still foodies who are eager to find it.
The ones in Lin Chou's pot are each about half the length of a palm, long and narrow in shape and full of shells. They can be called perfect Osmanthus cicadas.
Lin Chou stared at the pot for a full minute before he had to admire Gungunlai.
In this pot of sweet-scented osmanthus cicadas, none of them are plump female cicadas, they are all slender male cicadas.
The male cicada of Osmanthus cicada is delicious, but the female cicada looks very fat and tender, but is actually tasteless.
The rolling nose is so smart!
It doesn't take long, 45 minutes of stewing is ready, but the cooking of the sweet-scented osmanthus cicada is still not finished.
"Stewed", "drunk" and "bad", to a certain extent, are different paths leading to the same destination.
The key point of braised cooking is not the word "cook", but the word "braised".
Red brine, yellow brine, white brine are brine, hot brine and cold brine are also brine.
Osmanthus cicada still needs to undergo the most important and simplest process, which is to let it cool naturally and continue to soak in brine for a day and night before you can enjoy it.
The source of flavor is penetration. Simple cooking cannot bring the perfect taste to Osmanthus cicada. It also needs time to be thoroughly baptized by the marinade.
Lin Chou's method is very simple. Put the big pot of osmanthus cicada into the hot air box, select only the time but not the heat, take it out after one minute, and you're done.
Bring to a boil over high heat, take out a plate and serve.
Everyone at the table looked at Lin Chou busy working in the kitchen, and they had long winked and smiled without saying a word.
However, before they could stretch out their chopsticks, and before they could see clearly what was on the plate they had just put down, it flew up and floated out the door.
His big billowing face blocked the door, bared his teeth, and showed a threatening expression before he turned around and walked away triumphantly.
"..."
This time, even Shan Ye didn't have the courage to snatch the sweet-scented osmanthus cicada from a certain rolling palm.
"Ahem, brother Lin, let's have another plate."
Lin Chou was obviously in a good mood and brought out another plate, even with a small plate of salt and pepper.
"What...is this thing?"
The well-informed Shan Ye is at a loss this time, he doesn’t know him!
Lin Chou said,
"Osmanthus cicada, even though it doesn't look good, it tastes pretty good."
If a cook can say that the food he cooks is good, it already means that he has full confidence in the dish.
Master Shan absolutely believed in Lin Chou's food and character, so he grabbed one and opened his mouth to eat it.
Lin Chou waved his hand, picked up one and said,
"Pinch the tip of the abdomen and pull it out like this... This black thing is all its internal organs. Pinch off the head and tail and then tear off the wings... Well, the wings are actually edible. The ones in the flat belly are edible.
Soft meat tastes best..."
"oh oh."
Everyone nodded repeatedly, indicating that they had been taught.
Even Wen Chongjiu put down the wine jar, picked up an osmanthus cicada, tossed it like this, put it in his mouth and tasted it.
"!!!"
Wen Chongjiu's face was filled with the word "exclamation". He even chewed up the insect shell and swallowed it before saying with shining eyes,
"This sweet-scented osmanthus cicada can hold a jar of wine with one leg, which is more than enough!"