Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 415 - 368: Sichuan-Style Braising Sauce (Part 2)
There are at least five boxes of pig trotters in the refrigerator!
These boxed pig trotters are frozen and quite cleanly processed. Buying freshly slaughtered pig trotters would be more trouble. The average person can’t really taste the difference in quality between the two, but the effort required for fresh ones is significant.
"Two boxes should be enough."
Brother Niu looked at the pig trotters in the refrigerator and said, "Why don’t you just braise all of them, keep what’s needed for tomorrow’s big banquet, and sell the rest to me?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Outside, braised pig trotters are 18 per pound. Yours must taste better. I’ll give you 20, just sell them to me."
Seeing Brother Niu was sincere about buying, Chen Mo thought, the three big pots of stock are quite a lot, so braising the pig trotters now, and later adding more seasonings to braise beef is doable.
Even old shops that officially sell braised meat don’t change the stock every time; a pot of stock is used many times before being replaced.
"Alright, don’t give 20, just 15, to cover the cost."
Brother Niu then happily took all the pig trotters out of the freezer, "Deal."
The villagers watching found it quite amusing. Liu Ping sat at the table, smoking, "Xiao Niu, how can you be so greedy? It’s just braised pig trotters, does it make you drool so much?"
Brother Niu couldn’t be bothered to explain further.
Even though he hadn’t eaten Chen Mo’s lamb tripe and buns, the aroma wafting from the three pots of stock Master Hou was eyeing was a scent Xiao Niu had never encountered.
With a stock like this, the pig trotters cannot possibly taste bad!
He drove a coal truck in the village, going out in the morning and returning at night. He had no time to eat during the day, so buying such delicious pig trotters to bring along would be a real treat!
The pig trotters were soaking in water to defrost, and Chen Mo continued preparing new dishes.
Garlic White Pork is also a cold dish; it can’t be made in advance and has to be prepared on the spot tomorrow, so it was noted down for now.
There’s no need to talk much about Husband and Wife Lung Slices; such a classic Sichuan dish will definitely be the shining star among cold dishes at the Jingzhou banquet!
Chen Mo took out the needed beef, ox heart, ox tripe, ox tongue, ox head, and ox hooves.
Unlike pig trotters, these are genuinely fresh ingredients, which can also be braised in the stock.
When in Hanyang, Chen Mo had made this dish and tasted the version made by Lu Yingqiu’s father. The final taste and texture of this dish depend on how meticulously the ingredients are handled and the timing of the cooking.
Chen Mo felt confident about handling this part himself.
The other crucial factor is the seasoning, and as for how to handle it... Chen Mo already had some ideas.
’We have some business in Hanyang, hehe...’
A pot for three purposes, adding Garlic White Pork made it four dishes.
Then, two more vegetarian cold dishes, along with two seafood cold dishes, made up the eight cold dishes Chen Mo was preparing.
The meat dishes emphasize grandness and classics, the cold dishes are refreshing and appetizing, and the seafood can elevate the banquet’s class, making it very comprehensive!
Vegetable dishes don’t need to be rushed and can be prepared on the spot.
The same with seafood.
With that, the cold dishes were almost figured out, and next were the hot dishes.
There were ten hot dishes to prepare, and a lot of thought had to go into them.
Chicken, duck, fish, pork, and lamb, none can be missing!
These alone took up half, and the other half needed to have a vegetable dish, a quick stir-fry, and three seafood dishes: done!
Chen Mo pondered the logical order of preparing the hot dishes, when Hou Yao glanced at his watch, "Boss Xiao Chen, the stock is about ready."
"Oh?" Chen Mo returned to the stove, scooping up a ladle of stock and pouring it back into the pot, the broth now showing a somewhat rich soy sauce color.
This color looked just right, "The pig trotters are also defrosted."
"Alright."
Chen Mo started up another pot.
This time using the black pot connected to his own bloodline!
Unlike beef, pig trotters have a layer of skin, so they must be blanched to remove odors and then caramelized with sugar color before braising.
The black pot was swapped for a large iron pot, with a generous amount of clear water added, directly heating from a cold start!
A total of five boxes of pig trotters, a hundred in all!
The big pot was filled with white pig trotters, and before he even started, the villagers couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
It was spectacular!
A lot of ginger slices and cooking wine were added to the pot, and a big fire was started.
The black pot transferred heat quickly and evenly, and soon a layer of foam floated to the surface, which was the remaining blood not cleaned from inside the pig trotters.
He shifted to medium heat to slow the boiling water and continued skimming off the foam until no more appeared as the water was about to boil, then Chen Mo turned off the heat.
He took all the pig trotters out, "Master Hou, could you lend a hand?"
"You brat..." Hou Yao thought he would be helping with cooking, yet Chen Mo was asking him to wash pig trotters?
Darn.
Though annoyed, he willingly rinsed all the pig trotters in warm water.
Anyone not knowledgeable might use cold water, which would cause the pig’s skin to shrink and toughen, resulting in poorly braised trotters.
This is why Chen Mo liked working with experienced chefs, communication wasn’t needed; they just knew what and how to do it.
Oh, that’s right.
After a while, Chen Mo realized it had become much quieter around him, where was Mu Mu?
He looked around and didn’t see any sign of her.
"Maybe she was tired and took a rest?"
No matter, Chen Mo finished cleaning the black pot and added a little bit of...
Actually, it wasn’t a little; since there were so many pig trotters, a lot of oil and rock sugar was added as if there was no cost.
"I’ll get a tool."
Hou Yao didn’t respond to Chen Mo, continuing to wash the pig trotters by himself.
Chen Mo quickly ran through the crowd and out of the courtyard; approaching his food truck, checking his surroundings, he enlarged the black spoon in his hand instantly!
"Now it’s enough, haha!"
The black spoon became enormous, resembling a shovel!
Seeing Chen Mo returning with such a large iron shovel, neighbors couldn’t help but gasp in amazement and let out exclamations of surprise.
Over low heat, the ice sugar in the oil was melted, then continued to stir. Seeing Chen Mo casually stirring the large iron shovel with one hand, Hou Yao couldn’t help but feel envious.
"Young folks indeed have good stamina and strong arm strength!"
Brother Niu sighed, "Mo, it’s time to find a wife."
Chen Mo paused, "Why?"
What does cooking have to do with finding a wife?
Brother Niu regretfully looked at Chen Mo, "With such arm strength, if you don’t find a wife soon, who knows what it’ll become?"
Liu Ping and others burst into laughter, making Chen Mo blush a bit.
Chen Jinping walked up to the crowd and gave everyone a look, calming the laughter.
Such banter was common in the countryside, but Chen Mo just found it a bit awkward.
Chen Mo gave Brother Niu a bored look, seeing that the rock sugar had been caramelized to a deep amber color.
"Boiling water!"
Chen Jinping moved quickly, having already prepared a makeshift earthen stove at the corner, with little firewood slowly burning underneath. Above it, a kettle sat, and every time the water boiled, he’d fill a thermos, already filling several. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Hearing Chen Mo, Chen Jinping was the first to grab two thermoses to bring over.
Chen Mo took the thermos, casting a meaningful glance at his father.
At this moment, he felt like he was truly in charge.
Giving his father a reassuring look, Chen Mo unscrewed the thermos cap.
"Sizzle!"
The boiling water hit the hot oil and sugar, producing a fierce sizzling sound and splattering liquid everywhere, but Chen Mo remained unflustered.
The black spoon thoroughly stirred the water and caramelized sugar in the pot.
"Start braising!"
