Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 307 Dongpo Pork incognito

Lu Lang paused, then continued, "When I bought it, the shopkeeper told me that the steel used in this knife has been tempered several times and is extremely tough. As long as it is not used to cut bones, it will not be easily damaged."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Forget it. It's really broken. There's no one to buy in the county."

"Mr. Lu, please go and get busy. We are about to start cooking. The smell of fumes is strong. Please don't let your clothes smell foul."

Lu Lang just took some time to come and see Shen Yu. Thinking that he still had a lot of things waiting to be done, he could only nod and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Miss. I'll go get busy first."

After saying that, he turned and left the kitchen.

Shen Yu waited for Lu Lang to leave at the kitchen door, then washed his hands and rinsed the pork belly with water.

When Qi Xi saw Shen Yu starting to cook, he took some kindling from the big stove where the broth was boiled and lit the other stove on this side.

The steamed meat that Shen Yu told Lu Lang and the others about is actually the famous Dongpo pork.

However, she felt that if she called the dish Dongpo Pork, it would be difficult to explain if someone asked why it was called that, so she simply called it Steamed Pork in a Casserole.

Shen Yu held a large piece of pork belly in his hand. After the remaining water in the pot dried up, he placed the pork skin side down in the pot, pressed it against the bottom of the pot, and moved it little by little.

Don’t stop and take out the meat until the skin of the pork belly is roasted until it turns golden brown in the hot iron pan.

Shen Yu instructed Qixi: "Pour some water into the pot, clean the pot, and then add cold water again. You will use it to blanch the pork belly later."

Place the roasted pork belly in a basin of water, scrape the burnt skin repeatedly with a knife, and rinse it with clean water after scraping it clean.

She explained to Qixi: "People don't like to eat pork because it has a fishy smell. If it is not processed properly, the dishes made from it will be hard to eat."

"Put the meat skin-side down in a hot iron pan like I did, and sear it until the skin is slightly charred. This can effectively remove the unpleasant smell of pork."

"When cooking, add more onions, ginger, rice wine and other condiments to remove the fishy smell and enhance the freshness. After frying or stewing, there will be no unpleasant smell of raw pork at all."

Qi Xi listened carefully and suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

"My father had tried to cook dishes with pork before, but they turned out to be terrible."

"He himself once said that even though all the seasonings were used, the meat still had a faint unpleasant smell and was far inferior to mutton."

"It's okay to eat it at home, but I dare not give this kind of food to the master and others."

"My dad always thought that this is what pork tastes like when it's cooked. It turns out it's because the pork skin isn't roasted."

Shen Yu thought about it and added, "It's not just roasting in an iron pan that can remove the smell."

"If you have a grill at home, you can put the meat skin-side down on the grill and grill it directly with charcoal fire."

"After burning, soak it in water like this, scrape off the burnt layer with a knife, rinse it and you can cook with confidence."

"Also, if you don't want to keep the skin on, cut the meat into larger pieces in advance and put it in clean water, changing the water several times to soak out the blood."

"If you wait until you are ready to cook and cut it into the required slices or strips, it will taste much fresher and have no peculiar smell."

Shen Yu spoke as he did it. After cleaning the pork belly, he put it into the slightly warm water in the pot and added a spoonful of rice wine to the water.

Press with a spoon and cook until the meat turns white and is shaped as a whole, then you can take it out.

After taking it out, roll up a dozen prepared straws into a ball and soak them in the hot water in the pot for a while.

The piece of pork belly that Shen Yu brought weighed about three pounds. Although it shrunk a little after being shaped by boiling in water, it still looked quite large.

Use a knife to trim the edges of the meat, skin side down, and try to make the meat on top as smooth as possible.

Qi Xi looked on and asked, "Girl, are you going to throw away the cut meat? That would be such a pity. Can't you just not cut it evenly?"

Shen Yu didn't stop moving. He cut the meat into thin slices, put them on the plate beside him, and said with a smile: "Why throw away good meat?"

"This cooked meat is best used to stir-fry pork with garlic."

"Go to the kitchen next door and get me some garlic sprouts, rapeseed, green onions, chives, and some soaked black fungus. We'll need them later."

Qi Xi agreed and went to the kitchen next door.

I only heard the two people yelling at each other for a few times, and then an angry voice said, "Qi Xi, you little bastard, you took away all the washed vegetables. What will I use to cook later?"

Then I saw Qixi running over with a shallow round bamboo basket filled with various washed vegetables, smiling happily.

Later, he chased after a tall, thin old man in his fifties or sixties. He was so angry and anxious that his face turned red.

Qixi ran over and put the bamboo basket on the table, then turned around and said with a smile, "Chef Xu, why are you in such a hurry? We'll pick out the things we need and return the rest to you."

Then he urged Shen Yu, "Girl, pick out what you need. Just take it."

The old man called Chef Xu was cursing Qi Xi vigorously, but when he saw a young girl like Shen Yu in the kitchen, he had to restrain himself.

But he still said angrily: "Qi Xi, the vegetables are all on the shelf, and no one is stopping you. If you want to use something, why don't you wash it yourself? I just washed it and you snatched it away. Return it to me quickly."

Shen Yu looked at the basket full of cleanly washed vegetables dripping with water, then looked at the elderly Chef Xu standing there, jumping with anger, and realized what had just happened.

She hurriedly picked up the bamboo basket, walked to Chef Xu, and said apologetically: "Chef Xu, don't be angry, Qixi was just joking with you."

"Here are the vegetables you washed. We can wash whatever we need ourselves. Don't delay your cooking."

Chef Xu is old and has a stubborn temper.

Normally Qixi always complained that his cooking was bad. The two of them had always disliked each other and would quarrel whenever they got the chance.

Unexpectedly, the young cook who came to cook today turned out to be so kind-hearted.

After Shen Yu finished speaking, Chef Xu looked a little embarrassed. He muttered a few words that no one could hear clearly, took the basket of vegetables, turned around and left.

After he left, Shen Yu said to Qi Xi, "Chef Xu is so old, you should not make him angry."

"The county magistrate likes the vegetarian dishes he cooks. If you think the meat dishes are not tasty, you can discuss with him to improve them."

"If you can't come to an agreement through discussion, just figure it out on your own. Why bother making enemies with him?"

Qi Xi saw that Shen Yu had returned the basket of vegetables, but she was not annoyed. She continued to smile and said, "I was teasing him. I just couldn't stand his attitude of 'I'm the best cook in the world.'"