piratefiction Chapter 625 - 582: Meticulously Detailed Boiled Beef
Chapter 625 - 582: Meticulously Detailed Boiled Beef
Teacher Wen praised, "Cooking seems not to be difficult, yet it’s full of details everywhere."
After Wang Fan poured the ginger and scallion water, he started to mix the beef by hand, even for the dish he was preparing for the children.
Compared to various plastic and rubber gloves, hands are actually cleaner, because even unopened gloves are hard to guarantee to be clean, and it’s especially hard to wash off the things that stick to gloves from the food, especially meat.
Hands are different; the sticky feeling after handling food is quite unpleasant, prompting frequent washing. If anything on the hands ends up on kitchen tools like knives or woks, no responsible chef could tolerate it.
Wang Fan gently mixed with one hand while cracking eggs with the other, pouring egg whites into the bowl and putting egg yolks into another small bowl to use later for cooking.
After cracking the eggs, he washed his hands and picked up the prepared soda water, slowly pouring it over the beef to continue mixing, then added the milky white cornstarch to finish marinating the beef.
Teacher Wen couldn’t help but praise, "No wonder the water-boiled beef I made before didn’t taste good. I never thought there’d be so much preparation to do beforehand."
At this time, the little tangerines also washed their hands and walked over, eagerly watching Wang Fan’s operation, truly getting a bit hungry after wandering around for so long.
Other visitors had long noticed what was happening here; some even came for Wang Fan’s food, but none approached rashly, instead, they started lining up a bit away, having a protective attitude towards the nation’s little buds.
After marinating the beef, Wang Fan washed his hands again, dried them, placed the pot on the stove, and poured in oil. The water-boiled meat needed base vegetables, which were sautéed first at this moment.
Tender lettuce tips, celery segments, and garlic chive segments were stir-fried with salt until just cooked. Zhuo Qianqian took out rows of large bowls from the sterilization cabinet, and Wang Fan placed the sautéed base vegetables onto the bottom of the bowls.
A dish, after reaching a certain score, relies entirely on details to enhance its taste and texture, from the ingredients’ seasoning to the minutiae of oil and heat, each detail determines the final taste of the dish.
The combination of rapeseed oil and lard is undoubtedly one of the trump cards to enhance the flavor of this dish. The addition of Doubanjiang, ginger powder, and minced garlic released an intoxicating aroma even before the beef hit the pan.
With the er jingtiao-made diced chili, high broth was poured in for simmering, a rich and fresh scent filled the air, making everyone nearby who smelled it couldn’t help but lick their lips and swallow.
"Even with just this soup base, I’m afraid cooking slippers or belts in it would taste incredible?"
No one doubted this statement, although they had never cooked slippers or belts to eat, they would never doubt this broth.
The smell of spices and essence from meat cooked into the high broth, together with the top-tier aroma of er jingtiao, and with the addition of lard and rapeseed oil, releases a fragrance at high temperature that is tempting like a celestial delicacy.
It’s too fragrant, incredibly fragrant!
"Hiss... This strongest wild gourmet boss is simply terrifying; just making a soup base makes my mouth water profusely."
"A person’s reputation and the shadow of a tree; I feel like my saliva secretion rate now has surpassed the flow rate of the Dadu River."
"Initially thinking Boss Wang’s culinary skills might be a bit higher than those at regular eateries, given how unreliable stuff online can be, but being on site reveals it’s truly not just a bit higher, at least as high as a small spire."
"Many of the water-boiled meat dishes I had before simply used hot pot base, and they were terribly expensive, just thinking about it is frustrating!"
"Although ’clean and hygienic’ isn’t a catchy term anymore, I still want to describe Boss Wang’s preparation process with it."
"He hasn’t even finished cooking yet and he has washed his hands four or five times; no wonder Boss Wang’s hands are so white. Honestly, I’ve never been so mindful of hygiene when cooking at home..."
Smelling the enchanting aroma elevates one’s happiness; when people feel happy, they become more excited, and talk more. People from different places and backgrounds who are strangers can chat enthusiastically together, commenting on Wang Fan’s cooking process and dishes, as if they were long-lost friends, perhaps this is the unique charm of good food.
By now, the beef slices are in the pot, the bright red broth quickly dyes the beef, making it even more appealing.
Wang Fan’s cooking process did not involve showing off techniques, flamboyant flames, or theatrical tricks. He simply used a spoon to gently push the beef slices around in the pot, ensuring they cooked evenly.
Pouring a spoonful of starch onto it makes the broth thicker, better adhering to the beef.
Wang Fan believes that 80% cooked is the perfect level of doneness.
70% cooked is extremely tender but leaves a slight rawness, unsuitable for children, whereas 90% to fully cooked is safe, but the beef inevitably becomes dry. However, 80% retains a tender texture while being fully cooked, making it the most suitable doneness level, though reaching this precise point indeed requires skill and concentration.
Conveniently, Wang Fan is not lacking in either.
The beef goes into the pot in sequence; Wang Fan carefully controls them staying in their spots so they cook progressively; the first piece to reach 80% cooked was quickly scooped out and placed into the bowl with the base vegetables.
By now, the beef had turned a dark brown, with the dense sauce clinging tightly to the beef, spreading slowly toward the base, and with the curling steam rising, it was tantalizing just to watch.
In another pot, oil was already heating up; after Wang Fan plated 15 portions of beef, the oil had reached 70% hot.
Ground Sichuan pepper, diced chili powder, minced garlic, and scallions were quickly tossed onto the meat, and a brand new metal spoon was already reaching into the oil pot.
Seeing this action, the onlookers became instantly excited, and everyone knew what Wang Fan was about to do, eagerly anticipating his next move.
"Here it comes! Ultimate leap to perfection!"
"Quick, pour it into my heart!"
"Sizzle! This sound is the most beautiful sound in the world, no arguments."
"Come on, let me feel that aroma instantly released by the hot oil!"
Compared to the adult diners’ excitement, the little tangerines were quite quiet because they really didn’t know what Wang Fan was going to do.
But their pupils couldn’t help but dilate, and they couldn’t refrain from exclaiming, "Wow!"
Wang Fan flipped the metal spoon in his hand, pouring the 70% hot oil over the plated water-boiled beef in an instant, with a light "sizzle" sound, releasing a rich onion-garlic aroma instantly.
Various ingredients also had their flavors reactivated under the hot oil’s effect.
The sound, although light, was like a demon’s whisper, making many people involuntarily shiver.
And the richness of the aroma released a second time even far exceeded when it had just come out of the pot, with some people unexpectedly feeling a slight wetness at the corners of their mouths.
"Slurp... wtf, this must be the ceiling of Sichuan Cuisine?"
"Boss Wang truly is the local food terminator, where he goes, the chefs in that place must be nervous."
"The boiled beef slices I ate yesterday didn’t have any aroma unless pressed against my nose, completely unlike Boss Wang’s, which you can smell from dozens of meters away, it’s truly astonishing."
Given the reaction from diners dozens of meters away, one can imagine the little tangerines standing outside the caravan, several of whom were already unknowingly biting their tongues between their lips.
But, given their shorter heights, they couldn’t see the finished dish; while Teacher Wen, as the only adult able to see it, felt that this was definitely not a place for ordinary people to stay.