Eggplant is made from rough ingredients

Eggplant is a vegetable that is widely available in all parts of north and south China and can be supplied in large quantities from early summer to late autumn. It can be eaten raw or cooked, and the cooking methods are varied. , fine and rough. The most exquisite thing is "eggplant". This is the only dish in "Dream of Red Mansions" that Cao Xueqin specifically mentions the preparation method. Sister Feng explained it to Grandma Liu, which made Grandma Liu shake her head and stick out her tongue and say: 'My The Buddha had to pour a dozen chickens to go with it, and he thought it tasted strange. '"

According to Gengchen's version of "Dream of Red Mansions", the recipe for this dish is: "Put a handful of freshly harvested eggplants. If the skin is dry, just clean the meat, cut it into dices, fry it with chicken, then add the chicken breast meat with mushrooms, new bamboo shoots, mushrooms, five-spice dried bean curd, and various dried fruits, cut them into dices, and simmer them in chicken soup. . Collect the sesame oil and mix it with the vinegar, seal it tightly in a porcelain jar, and when you want to eat it, take it out and mix it with the fried chicken feet. "Because eggplant is good at absorbing various umami flavors, it is good at absorbing all kinds of flavors. Therefore, Cao Xueqin specially put ink on this kind of cooking method, which is in line with the spirit of rough and meticulous preparation of official dishes and adding splendor to each other, to increase the dramatic effect and make readers smile.

In addition to the name Luosu, the Cantonese people also call eggplant "dwarf melon". The preparation of fleshy dwarf melon is the same as fleshy tofu, and they are both famous Hakka dishes. This dish requires a pair of iron bars about a foot and a half long, and it all relies on fresh pork and the chef's skills.

It is said that after Chen Jiongming became the governor of Guangdong Province, he once returned to his hometown of Haifeng to visit his relatives. One night, he dined at Baihuazhou in the West Lake of Huizhou. A certain chef from Lianping served him a fleshy dwarf melon, which left his teeth and cheeks fragrant. It was a delicacy he had never tasted before. From then on, whenever he came to Huizhou, he would go to Baihuazhou to enjoy the dwarf melon. Chen Jiongming, who had a gun and a seal, felt guilty because it was always the cook who showed his filial piety. In order to thank the cook and make it easier for him to eat short melons, he came up with a plan and ordered the copywriter to write a letter of appointment as a regimental commander and seal it himself. Later, a messenger was sent to the chef, and a certain amount of salary was given every month.

Because this chef with the title of commander does not have to lead troops or go into battle, and he still gets a salary, he is really lucky. Those who knew about it privately nicknamed him "Commander Dwarf Melon", and the chef was very proud of him.

Chen Jiongming’s move is in line with what Xingning people call the principle of “convenience and benefit”. Each other is "convenient" and each receives its "benefits". The governor does not pay out of his own pocket, but the chef actually benefits from it.

Baihuazhou chef’s signature vegetable is short melon. The main meat filling is freshly slaughtered, faintly trembling top quality pork. The ratio of fat to lean is appropriate. After cutting into the required amount, it is served with a pair of irons. The strips are beaten into a velvet shape and mixed with other ingredients. It is fresh, tender and smooth. No wonder it was highly praised by Chen Jiongming.

Recently, I tasted the miso eggplant flavor at the "Shishan Japanese Restaurant" next to No. 4 Park in Zhonghe City. Cut the purple spherical eggplant in half, cut the middle with a knife and stuff it with stuffing, put a shrimp on top, and coat it with miso Sauce, bake the whole thing and serve. The eggplant meat is soft and smooth, and the shrimp is fragrant. It is very tasty and can be called a good product.

A casual talk about the feeling of "coarse materials and fine workmanship"

Author: Pan Senyang

The so-called low value means that the cooking raw materials used are common household raw materials, that is, Commonly referred to as "coarse ingredients" generally include fruits, vegetables, soy products, livestock, poultry, meat, common aquatic products and leftovers. The so-called high quality means that chefs use these common household raw materials and select and extract them. The ingredients are then cooked into delicious dishes that meet the nutritional needs of the human body using appropriate knife skills and cooking methods. This process is the "fine work" in our catering industry. How to cook coarse ingredients carefully? Let’s talk about several aspects below:

1. Change the shape of coarse ingredients;

There is a trick in the kitchen, which is called “Easy to make good dishes. "Rough dishes should be cooked carefully" means that delicious and high-end raw materials do not need to be processed in too complicated a shape. They should try to maintain their original shape, original juice, and original taste. As soon as the dish is served, customers will know that this is a well-known high-end raw material, thus reflecting The quality of the banquet depends on the coarse ingredients, and the coarse ingredients must be carefully prepared. Only by changing the appearance of the coarse ingredients, beautifying the shape, and increasing the inherent taste can the appetite of the guests be increased. For example, peel and seed the winter melon, cut it into a knife, steam it and blend it into a puree, then stir-fry the beaten egg whites, garnish it appropriately and beautify it into "winter melon snow", peel and puree the potato, and then stir-fry it with sugar and oil to make "winter melon snow". You can also make the steamed potato puree into a puree, add a little sugar and glutinous rice flour to form a dough, and then make it into a cake shape, add sesame seeds, and fry it into a "potato cake" pumpkin. Using the same method, you can make "pumpkin puree", "pumpkin cake", "tofu balls" and so on. All change the original appearance of the raw materials so that the guests cannot see them clearly at a glance, thereby making the guests feel novel and leave an impression.

2. Change the commonly used cooking methods for coarse ingredients;

The cooking method of a common raw material has formed a psychological stereotype in people's minds, and most people will not change its cooking method. Other dishes. To innovate, one must break the psychological stereotype. For example, winter melon is generally used to steam, stew or make soup. Then we will change the commonly used cooking methods. Is it possible to fry, braise or simmer? The answer is yes, for example, peel the winter melon, cut the seeds into strips, and use After the salt is tasted, squeeze out the water, then add MSG and white pepper powder, and then add crispy skin to make "crispy-skinned vegetarian fish sticks" or add egg paste to make "snow-coated vegetarian fish sticks". Cut the winter melon into cubes, scoop out part of the flesh from the middle, fill it with meat fillings, beat it into powder, fry it and then braise it to make "braised winter melon" and so on. So trying to use different ingredients to make dishes is another way to make coarse ingredients and make fine ones.

3. Clever combination with other raw materials;

Clever combination of coarse materials with other raw materials to make them appear elegant is one of the ways to make fine materials from coarse materials, such as "Shepherd's purse tofu soup" is generally used in family dishes. If you add some clams or other seafood to make a "green seafood tofu soup" that is delicious, delicious and tasty, it can be used at banquets. Another example is the raw material "river mussel", which is very effective in curing diseases and enhancing physical fitness. The mussel meat can "quench thirst and remove heat, detoxify the red eyes with wine, and clear the body temperature. If you use river mussels and bullwhip to make a The dishes are euphemistically called "Heavenly Pairing". Others include "boiled cabbage", "winter melon and fish paste soup", "mustard fish balls", "lotus fish maw", "bergamot cabbage rolls", "money winter melon box", "pumpkin dumplings" ", "Hometown Crispy", Mustard Green Ham Fried Rice, etc. are all the results of skillfully stir-frying the coarse ingredients with other raw materials.

4. Give the coarse ingredients a unique taste:

The coarse ingredients can be beautified with knife skills, beautified in shape, and beautified in taste before they can become flavored dishes, colorful dishes, or craft dishes, thereby improving the quality of the dishes. The unique seasoning method mentioned here means that the raw materials are different from the usual methods. The taste is like "Hong Kong-style fried tofu", which is tofu cut into thick slices, fried until golden brown and then served with carrot slices, apple slices, etc., with tomato sauce, curry powder, barbecued pork sauce, five-spice powder, MSG, A unique compound flavor made from salt and other seasonings. Winter melon and egg yolk are usually used as the main ingredients to make a fresh-flavored dish. Nowadays, "Lemon Winter Melon Strips" are sour and sweet, and "Hong Kong-style Egg Yolk" is sweet and savory. Another example is using milk to stew radish balls, using curry oil, dry chili powder flakes, using milk, lard, stone powder, tofu to make "fresh milk tofu box", etc., which are all made from coarse ingredients and carefully prepared with unique seasoning methods. The rough ingredients also include a type of special raw materials: scraps or scraps, which are mainly discarded or unshaped raw materials during processing, such as lettuce leaves, celery leaves, fish heads, etc. Fish intestines, shrimp shells, shrimp heads, fish bones, chicken blood, duck blood, etc. Therefore, these raw materials are rarely used in cooking to truly make the best use of them. For example, lettuce leaves can be used to make "spicy" dishes. "Lettuce leaves", "fried lettuce leaves", "ham lettuce leaves rice", etc. Lettuce leaves contain protein, fat, grains and minerals such as C 2 , P, Ee, etc., which are beneficial to the five internal organs, open the meridians, open the chest and lungs, and promote qi. , strengthen muscles and bones, and release milk. Use leftovers such as "braised silver carp head", "roasted whole pig head", "braised fish head", "roasted fish head", "fish head tofu", "roasted fish head with pickles". ", "bone-grabbing chicken feet", "red fish intestines", "boiled duck blood" and other dishes, so the leftovers have good economic value and edible value, as long as the leftovers are processed cleanly, they can be used to make dishes. In short, the chef must exert maximum effort and energy to make coarse ingredients into fine dishes. This is the need for banquet reform and economic development. It is also the need to promote the continuous improvement of cooking skills by chefs, and it is also the need for kitchens to control catering costs. It is important to find out how to implement it, and to do it carefully with rough materials is a topic that will never be finished.