Chapter 735 Four Banquets
Hao Libao has been a chef all his life, and he can tell the quality of ingredients at a glance.
These ingredients, without exception, are all top quality.
Fresh chickens and ducks are all native chickens and ducks, with golden fat and firm meat.
Pork is also native pig, with bright red meat color and full bone marrow.
Ham is the top-grade Jinhua ham, used to enhance the quality of soup.
It goes without saying that abalone, sea cucumber, scallops and other dried products are all top-notch ingredients.
The two ends of the abalone had already been soaked. He stepped forward and picked up one from the basin, pinched both ends, and squeezed hard. The abalone bowed up, and the skirts of the two ends touched together.
This means that the abalone has been cooked in place.
Following that, he picked up another sea cucumber, looked at it carefully, nodded with satisfaction, and then put the abalone and sea cucumber back.
“We have to start stewing abalone later, otherwise we won’t be able to make it tomorrow.”
Li Yi saw Hao Libao looking at the ingredients, stopped and said casually.
“The hair is well made.”
Hao Libao praised him and then asked: "What kind of work did you do?"
"no."
Li Yi raised his finger and pointed at Liu Yifei, who was busy in front of the steamer, and explained: "She is responsible for the hair-making of dry goods. I told her all the hair-making methods, and she was watching."
"good."
Hao Libao nodded, then smiled and said: "I didn't expect you to lead this grassroots team and do a decent job."
Looking all the way, Hao Libao found that although it looked a bit chaotic and the artists' way of handling the ingredients was a bit clumsy, the final products were surprisingly good.
“They are really not a grassroots team.”
Li Yi explained with a smile, but his tone was more serious: "They were guests in every previous program. When recording the program, although they didn't understand cooking, they were willing to learn it, as long as they were told clearly what to do. Whatever they do, they will try their best to do it well.”
Hearing what he said, Hao Libao fell silent, and then smiled and said: "You have such skill, wouldn't it be better to have a few more disciples?"
“This is a variety show, not a real restaurant.”
Li Yi smiled, stretched out his hand and pushed open the door of the operation room.
Suddenly, a dull thumping sound was heard, as if something heavy was hitting something.
The operating room is the area where various kitchen machines are located, and is filled with various kitchen appliances sponsored by manufacturers.
But in the center of the operation room, there is an old-fashioned wooden rice cake machine. Driven by the motor, the wooden hammer head is constantly raised and lowered, smashing a ball of gray paste in the stone mortar.
The sound of banging on the wall came from the stone mortar.
Li Yi came closer, shut down the machine, then dug out a ball of paste from the stone mortar, spread it with his fingers, observed the state of the paste, then took a large basin and dug out the paste Go in.
Looking at this gray paste, Hao Libao was a little confused.
Nearly all ingredients cannot escape his eyes.
But he really didn’t know what this mass of paste was.
Step forward, he reached out and scooped out a bunch, lowered his head and smelled it.
The paste does not have a big smell, only a light woody fragrance.
He had no clue about the taste. He followed Li Yi's example and spread the paste with his fingers, observing its condition.
The paste has been pounded very finely, but the tiny fibers can still be seen.
These fiber strands have a slight texture, not as hard as wood strands, and not as soft as celery shreds.
Since he couldn't find any clues by looking at it, Hao Libao thought for a while, then dipped his other hand into some paste, put it into his mouth, licked it and tasted it.
But this fragrance is not like wood, but like bamboo. Finally, Hao Libao recognized its identity and asked in surprise: "Is this a bamboo shoot?"
"right."
Li Yi responded without raising his head.
“What do you want to cook by smashing the bamboo shoots like this?”
Hao Libao was full of doubts.
“[Phoenix Clothes].”
Li Yi still answered without raising his head.
“[Phoenix Clothes]?”
Hao Libao looked at him with a hint of probing in his tone: "Are you really going to make a dragon and phoenix banquet?"
"if not?"
Li Yi looked back at him and filled the big basin with water.
“How do you know how the dragon and phoenix banquet is made?”
Hao Libao was very curious: "The menu of the Dragon and Phoenix Banquet is not complete, and only five dishes have been handed down. Where did you learn about the other dishes?"
The reason why he changed his mind and made an exception to participate in this variety show was because of the menu he was given.
The menu completely recorded all the dishes of the entire [Dragon and Phoenix Banquet], including the five dishes he knew.
【Dragon and Phoenix Banquet】is one of the top four banquets in the culinary world.
But like the other three tables [Eight Treasures Banquet], [Horse Fake Banquet], and [Manchu-Han Banquet], the methods and dishes have all been lost.
Hao Libao has been a chef all his life. He knows all the cuisines from all over the world and all major schools of cuisine.
He can make famous dishes of any cuisine more authentic and delicious than those of local famous chefs.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the field of Chinese food, he has reached the pinnacle of success and is alone in seeking defeat.
Any person who stands at the top of any industry can understand what it means to be at a high place.
In the process of climbing, because there is an ultimate goal to surpass, people can always maintain their fighting spirit.
But when the ultimate goal is surpassed and replaced by standing at the top, people often feel hesitant, frightened, and even paralyzed by it.
For people like Hao Libao, the most painful thing is not to be surpassed by future generations, but to lose the goal and the direction of struggle, so that they stand still and no longer make progress.
A few years before he became the executive chef of the State Guesthouse, Hao Libao once suffered from insomnia all night and lost a lot of hair.
It’s not because the work is stressful, but because he can’t find a direction to strive for.
Later, when receiving experts from the museum, he accidentally heard an expert who studied the daily life of ancient emperors mention that the "Oolong Spitting Pearls" he cooked belonged to the "Dragon and Phoenix Banquet", one of the four major banquets in ancient times.
This was the first time he heard this statement.
After returning home, he searched various information and found this so-called [Dragon and Phoenix Banquet].
It turns out that this "Dragon and Phoenix Banquet" is the New Year's Eve dinner that the ancient royal family had during the Chinese New Year.
Different dynasties have different specifications. During the Qianlong period, the most gluttonous emperor in the Qing Dynasty, the "Dragon and Phoenix Banquet" also reached its peak.
According to records, the Dragon and Phoenix Banquet during the Qianlong period had a main banquet table and nine secondary banquet tables.
There will be a total of 18 main dishes in the main banquet, including nine dragon dishes with dragon as the metaphor and nine phoenix dishes with phoenix as the theme.
At the second banquet, there will be nine dragon and phoenix dishes with dragon and phoenix themes.
In addition, the appetizers and main dishes of the main banquet and the second banquet are also based on dragon and phoenix themes.
Unfortunately, the information is incomplete, so I only recorded five of the dishes, and [Oolong Tuzhu] is one of them.
3
(End of this chapter)