Chapter 28 Braised Pork Workshop
Mancheng, who got the secret recipe for braised pork, was like a poor man who suddenly picked up a gold ingot and became rich overnight.
This young man who came from a remote country straightened his back. The feeling of being overwhelmed when he first arrived in a big city seemed to have disappeared. He was carrying all kinds of spices he had just purchased from the market all over the city, his eyes sparkling. Full of confidence and hope for the future, I walk with wind.
The sky suddenly became overcast.
The sky in June is like a child's face, and the weather in Pingcheng changes at any time in summer.
The sun was shining brightly and the heat was steaming just now, but the clouds suddenly became dense. After a strange wind blew, big raindrops fell in a pitter-patter manner.
The raindrops made a popping sound on the arid land, stirring up a smell of dust that choked the nose. Then, as if a big hole had been poked in the sky, heavy rain poured down.
Yao Yuan picked up Xiao Hua'er and shouted, "Hello, run!" Then he ran as fast as he could towards the braised meat workshop in the small courtyard deep in the alley. The whole city followed him step by step, shouting "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" in his mouth, which was inexplicable. excited.
A heavy rain completely dissipated the summer afternoon heat, and the rainy weather was just the right time to close up and study cooking.
Braised pork is both a simple and complex matter for a professional chef.
It is said to be simple because anyone with a little bit of kitchen experience can make it. After the raw meat is boiled and soaked in a soup pot, it is ready to taste and color.
It is said to be complicated because the knowledge is all in that pot of old soup. The same ingredients, different soup bases, and the stewed flavor vary widely.
The final presentation of the color, flavor, and shape of the product is determined by the subtle differences in the chef's operating techniques.
There are no fewer than hundreds of spices used in Chinese food. Each chef has his own unique skills. Depending on the ingredients, heat, customer tastes and even weather, he can arbitrarily combine hundreds of spices and spices, and the final product will have its own unique taste.
Taste is very subjective, and personal tastes are different. There is no way to say who is superior and who is inferior. There is no unified evaluation standard at all.
But there is only one criterion for judging products that can be sold in the morning market, and that is market inspection.
The reason why Yao Yuan has confidence in his recipe is simply because this set of recipes has been tested by the market and is a ready-made recipe from a well-known company in later generations called "Fool's Smoked Chicken Sauce Meat Shop".
This "Fool's Smoked Chicken and Sauce Meat Shop" has become very famous in Pingcheng by selling smoked chicken and soy meat. There are hundreds of stores selling braised meat, and each of them is doing good business.
This kind of product, which has been fully tested by the market, has no reason not to be popular at this time.
Speaking of which, this is the value of a good chef. If you get the same ingredients and process them into gourmet food through your own technology, the value of the ingredients can be increased several times or even dozens of times.
In his two lifetimes, Yao Yuan has no knowledge of stock trends or lottery numbers, but he is a qualified cook, and kitchen skills are a powerful tool for him to change his living environment.
As a chef, you also have the advantage of being a latecomer. The catering market in the past thirty years has not remained static, but has continued to develop and change according to certain rules.
Nowadays, in Pingcheng, the streets are full of a "red braised mutton" hot pot that comes from Henan Province. The large pieces of mutton hot pot are boiling, the juice is thick, the sauce is thick, and the meat is plump. The thick taste immediately caught the attention of the north. The appetite of diners was so great that all restaurants followed suit, and for a time, restaurants of all sizes would offer this hot pot dish.
Even though everyone sells this dish, the ones that do the best business are the ones that first introduced "braised mutton".
Three to five years after this "braised mutton" trend hits, Cantonese cuisine and Chaozhou cuisine will become popular on the streets, and then there will be a sudden rise in the Sichuan cuisine "Tan Fish Head Hotpot".
Next, Sichuan cuisine's "boiled fish" became very popular.
The tastes of diners will change with the times, and the changes in the catering industry also have its own rules.
Mastering this rule is like mastering the code of wealth. It may be difficult to get rich overnight, but Yao Yuan finds it very easy to open a few restaurants to support his family.
So Yao Yuan is not in a hurry now.
"The core of the braised pork stall is the pot of braised soup. As the saying goes, 'a good cook needs a pot of soup.' This principle is even more true when it comes to braised pork stalls. The taste of the braised pork stall is the basis, and it can nourish a pot of braised pork. Laotang is the key!”
Yao Yuan pointed to the two large soup buckets on the stove and spoke. He talked a bit too much today, so much so that the large vat of jasmine tea had been consumed and had no flavor.
The little fat boy took the enamel jar from Yao Yuan's hand with great foresight, poured the remaining tea in the corner of the courtyard wall, grabbed a handful of tea leaves, and brewed it again, but kept his ears bent, listening carefully to him I was afraid of missing a word from that cheap master.
"The last thing to do every day after closing is to boil the stewed soup again. If it's summer, move the soup bucket to a ventilated and cool place outside the window. Remember! Don't cover it!"
Yao Yuan blew on the teapot, took a sip of tea, looked at the searching eyes all over the city, and explained: "If you cover the pot lid, the water vapor will condense on the pot lid and flow back into the stew. It is extremely easy. Deterioration and fermentation.”
"But if the lid is not covered, what will happen if so many mosquitoes and flying insects fall in?" It seems that the little fat boy has begun to pay attention to food hygiene.
Yao Yuan pointed to a few bamboo grates in the corner: "Well, just use that one. From now on, when you start work, boil the stewed soup first, test the taste, and then add new stewed ingredients. Generally speaking, maltose and Rock sugar needs to be replenished every day. As for salt, our kitchen calls it 'Shuai Kou'. Only with salt as the base flavor can the aroma of spices be more prominent, so you must be careful about how much salt you add every day. As long as you use it carefully, Over time, this pot of old soup will become a priceless treasure for us! Did you know that there is a 'Texas Braised Chicken' in Shandong? That pot of old soup has been passed down since the Qing Dynasty!"
Everyone in the city was confused: "But how much salt and rock sugar should be added?"
"What our Chinese cooks value is experience. If you ask how much salt to add, I can only tell you a little. This is related to the variety and quantity of your ingredients. Don't worry, you can master it by slowly exploring. ."
There is really no food in the world that is easier to cook than braised pork. As long as you follow the process requirements step by step and the taste can be accurately controlled, the only thing left is to open the pot and cook the meat. After Yao Yuan’s detailed explanation, Mancheng He and Xiaopang'er also seemed to have some confidence.
I made a lot of braised pork today. With the busy work of three people, hundreds of kilograms of braised pork have begun to fill the air with an alluring aroma.
Yao Yuan washed his hands, swung the water, and tapped Mancheng with his fingers.
"I will take care of you during the summer vacation before school starts. In this little month, you will probably be able to get started in the city. From now on, this braised pork workshop will be dominated by you!"
Yao Yuan stared at Mancheng.
The city is a bit cramped.
This day felt like a big pie fell from the sky, making the whole city feel dizzy.
It can be said that I have no money and no knowledge of shit. I never expected that when I came to Pingcheng, one day someone would teach me how to make money step by step, and then said that I would hand over this ready-made braised pork workshop to me. .
Yao Yuan ignored Mancheng's reaction and continued to talk about his plan.
"This workshop is not given to you for free. You will be an apprentice before I start school, and your task is to study hard. During this period, I will give you a salary, and all the remaining income will be used to support Xie Laozhaoer. When I go to school, You are the main one here, and you will take the lion’s share of the income! I am responsible for quality control and new product development, so you have to leave me 20% of the profits. Do you think that’s okay?”
Yao Yuan made it very clear, but Mancheng was still confused.
"What?! You give me 20% and give me 80%, that's not okay! You are the master, we should at least split it half and half, right?!"
Well, Mancheng has sincerely recognized Yao Yuan as a cheap master.
Yao Yuan waved his hand: "You don't need to say more about this. When I start school, I won't be able to help you. The catering industry is a hard-working business. If you want to do it well, you need to work hard. I've already taken 20% of it." It's quite a bit. It's considered a technical investment. After all, you have little experience. I can give you a lot of guidance on product changes in the future, and I can also give you some ideas on sales, so 20% is very reasonable. You will know it when you start working in the future. ”
Yao Yuan ended the debate in the city with a few words.
On one side, the little fat boy's eyes flickered: "Then what will happen to our stew stall after school starts?"
Yao Yuan stretched out his hand and gave the little fat boy a ladle on his head: "Let's talk about the braised pork stall! Then don't you have to go to school obediently?!"
The little fat boy Hu Lutou said: "I get out of school at 3:30 every day, so I have plenty of time to cook braised vegetables..."
…
The work in the kitchen is hard, but the process of making money is really addictive. Seeing the stew in the pot being cooked and sold bowl after bowl, and the change in the bag getting more and more, the sense of accomplishment is really fascinating.
At such a young age, Hu Xiaopang'er has completely lost money and can't get out of it.
Yao Yuan didn't know if he was helping or hurting this teenage boy by dragging him into trouble.
…
Xie Laozhaoer, who got up early to set up a stall, had a full afternoon's sleep after closing the stall. Now full of energy, he also came to the small courtyard. As soon as he entered the door, he started shouting and taking Little Fatty to prepare for the stall in the evening.
Seeing that the preparations were almost done, Yao Yuan walked out of the courtyard with little Hua'er, who had been impatient for a long time, and walked towards the Qianjiakou bus station.
Tram No. 103 starts from the zoo and runs through Qianjiakou to the city center.
The American fried chicken fast food restaurant that Xiao Hua'er has always longed for opened in the bustling business district of the city center. Now that the summer vacation is over, Yao Yuan is suffering from headaches due to Xiao Hua'er's nagging and accusations every day.
There was really no reason to procrastinate any longer, so I had to take some time today to take Xiao Hua'er to the front door, and take my unruly sister to have a meal of American fried chicken so that she could shut her mouth.
