Sizing is an important link in the cooking process and one of the basic skills that chefs must master. Its quality directly affects the color, aroma, taste, shape and other quality indicators of the dishes. Do you know how to sizing? I'll learn with you. The following is the cooking basics I have compiled for you, I hope it can help you.

Introduction to sizing

Sizing, simply put, is to hang a layer of egg liquid on the outside of the raw materials, that is, using eggs, starch, water and other raw materials, after reasonable preparation, Make it form a slurry colloid, and then mix, hang, dip and other techniques to evenly wrap a layer of slurry colloid on the outside of the raw material so that it can form a layer on the outside of the raw material after heat treatment (oiling, steaming, water boiling, etc.) A protective layer is used to make the product smooth, tender and beautiful in color, and is an operational protection measure to protect or increase the shape, moisture, color, nutrition, etc. of the main ingredient. This operation technology is like putting a coat on the outside of the raw material, so some people also call this technology "clothing processing", "external beautification processing", etc.

Sizing technology requires strict requirements and is a practical operation technology that is difficult to master. So how can we learn, operate and apply this technology well? How to use sizing technology

Selection of raw materials

Raw materials suitable for sizing are generally striated muscle and part of visceral muscle of animal raw muscle tissue, such as pork, chicken, lobster meat, bullfrog meat, kidneys, liver and other raw materials, knife skills The forming is generally small-shaped raw materials such as dices, shreds, slices, and strips or small-shaped fresh whole materials, such as diced chicken, shredded pork, shrimp, fresh scallops and other raw materials. Since sizing is a delicate dish to make, try to choose raw materials that are high in freshness, free of mold and odor (for livestock and poultry raw materials, it is best to choose cooled meat or meat in the mature stage. At this time, the meat is soft, elastic, and the cut surface is moist. More, it has a special meat aroma and umami taste, is highly hydrophilic, and is easy to sizing; for aquatic products, it is easy to choose raw materials in the fresh or stiff period, when the meat is fresh and moist and full). For stale raw materials, In particular, spoiled raw materials should be banned. For pork, choose tenderloin, ribs, cucumber strips, marbles and other parts; for beef, choose tenderloin, beef tenderloin and other parts; for mutton, choose shoulder meat; for chicken, choose chicken breast; for fish, choose thick meat. Black fish, mandarin fish, grass carp and so on. Because the meat of these raw materials is tender and the fiber structure is neat in size, it is easy to shape with a knife and easy to sizing to meet the requirements of the finished product. Highly fresh shrimps, scallops and other small raw materials are also ideal raw materials for sizing. Use a clean towel to absorb the surface moisture before sizing.

Code smell treatment

Code smell is a process before the raw material is cut and formally sizing. Its quality has a direct effect on the sizing. Generally, the raw materials are put into the specifications after forming. In the container, add salt, cooking wine, green onion and ginger water and other seasonings and stir evenly to make basic seasoning. Under the electrolysis of salt, the hydration of muscle tissue is improved, mucus increases, and the surface of the muscle becomes sticky, which is conducive to sizing. , to achieve the effect of absorbing water and causing tenderness. For some slippery dishes that require a white color, they must be bleached, that is, the raw materials formed by knife work are soaked in clean water to remove the blood stains, so as to achieve a white and pure color; for mutton, because the meat contains free fatty acids, it is unpleasant. When coding the mutton smell, you should add an appropriate amount of baking soda to achieve the purpose of removing the mutton smell and make the meat product have a tender, smooth and refreshing texture; beef has rough muscle fibers and poor water retention when heated, so it is easy to lose weight. Water ages and makes the meat tough. It is advisable to add appropriate soda powder, meat tenderizer powder, etc. when coding to activate enzymes, improve the tenderness of the meat, and achieve the purpose of tenderization. In addition, fresh raw materials with high water content (such as shrimps, fresh shellfish, liver, etc.) should not be directly flavored by adding salt, otherwise they will easily lose water and reduce the flavor characteristics of the sizing.

Slurry mixing treatment

Slurry mixing refers to mixing starch (or wet starch) with egg liquid (or water), salt, cooking wine and other seasonings to form a slurry. Common egg liquids include egg white liquid, whole egg liquid, water powder liquid, soda liquid, etc.

Egg white slurry is made from egg whites and an appropriate amount of starch. The finished product is pure in color, white, and tender in texture. It is suitable for making white raw materials or sizing dishes, such as stir-fried shrimps, stir-fried fish fillets, etc.; whole egg slurry is made with eggs and an appropriate amount of starch. Made from starch, it has beautiful color and smooth texture, and is suitable for sizing of colored dishes; gouache slurry is made by adding appropriate amount of water to starch. It is the most convenient and protective slurry. It is an economical slurry and has a wide range of applications. It is often used for sizing raw materials such as heart, liver, kidney, shredded meat; soda slurry is prepared by adding an appropriate amount of baking soda to water powder slurry (egg slurry), and is often used for sizing beef and mutton. When preparing various slurries, the following points should be noted: 1. The starch used is generally wet powder, which is easy to mix evenly with egg liquid and water. 2. When stirring, stir gently and do not use force, otherwise the egg liquid will foam, the denatured viscosity will decrease, and the flavor will be lost. 3. The concentration of the pulp used should be adjusted according to the different properties of the raw materials. 4. The pulp should be mixed appropriately according to the amount of raw materials to prevent waste.

Sizing treatment

Sizing is to mix the flavored raw materials and the prepared slurry evenly so that there is a layer of slurry on the surface of the raw materials. There are two methods:

1. Mix evenly directly, that is, pour the slurry directly into the raw materials with good taste and mix evenly or add the raw materials with good taste directly into the egg liquid, and mix the starch evenly. This method is generally used for sizing;

2. Hanging and pouring method, that is, drag the delicious raw materials through the slurry one by one, place them neatly on the plate according to certain specifications and patterns, and then put them on the surface. Pour a layer of slurry. This method is a special sizing method. In addition, for some raw materials that require special colors, in order to increase the aesthetics during the sizing process, colored condiments should be added appropriately. For example, to make the meat have a red sauce, appropriate dark soy sauce can be added to the slurry. Sauce, etc.; in order to make the meat red, you can add an appropriate amount of tomato sauce, etc. to the slurry; in order to make the meat yellow, you can add an appropriate amount of custard powder, etc. to the slurry.

Post-processing of slurry

After the raw materials are stirred and sizing, they generally need to stand for a period of time. This is similar to the dough-saving process, also called "bite strength". It mainly makes the slurry Wrap evenly on the surface of the raw material. Generally, after slurry, the raw materials are placed in a refrigerator at about 0 to 2 degrees for 0.5 to 2 hours. Since the raw materials are stirred in a dynamic movement, the static state prevents the diffusion of moisture, but it should not be left for too long.

In order to facilitate lubrication and increase the lubrication, taste and luster of sizing raw materials, a small amount of oil (such as salad oil, sesame oil, etc.) is often added before sizing raw lubricating oil to make the raw lubricating oil disperse easily. Increase the beauty of the finished product. Detailed operation demonstration of fish fillets and shredded pork

Fish fillets:

1. Cut the black fish into boneless slices and rinse with water to make the texture white and transparent

2. Dry the water. The fish itself contains a lot of water. If there is too much water during the slurry process, water will come out after a long time and the slurry on the surface will become ineffective.

3. Add salt, ginger water, and cooking wine, and stir in the same direction to create "Shangjin". Shangjin refers to the layer of viscous liquid formed on the surface of the fish fillets under the action of salt. This process is very important. The salt must be controlled well. If it is too little, it will not be as strong as it is. It cannot be too much, leaving room for subsequent processing. Be gentle and don't break the fish fillets.

4. Add egg white and starch and stir evenly.

5. Put it in a crisper box, put a little salad oil on it and put it in the refrigerator.

The method of slurrying shredded pork is much simpler than other methods. It is similar to the fish fillet above. Let’s talk about the difference between it and slurry fish fillet.

1. No shredded pork is required. Rinse it with water, because the shredded meat has no fishy smell, but flushing it will make the shredded meat white. Unlike fish fillets, this whiteness is more like dead pork and the color is weird.

2. During the slurry process, the shredded pork is more watery than the fish fillet. We need to add water when adding salt and stirring to increase the moisture and tenderness of the shredded pork.

3. Use whole eggs to increase the color of the shredded meat

4. Add starch, mix well and put in a crisper, put a little salad oil on the surface and put it in the refrigerator