Morning.
After freshening up, Huang Tao and Xuanxuan rode their electric scooter to the restaurant.
The kitchen was bustling with activity.
Xu Hao and Lin Zifeng were busy chopping pork and other ingredients, the ingredients for preserved egg and lean pork congee were marinated and cooking, and the eggs were steeping in the marinade.
Ding Suqin helped by soaking the lotus seeds, with their hearts removed, needed for the Honeyed Ham.
Additionally, other ingredients like pine nuts, honey dates, honey, white sugar, and rock sugar were also prepared for him.
As for the most important ingredient... the top-grade Jinhua Ham had already been delivered early by the vendors.
The so-called top-grade part is actually based on the construction of the ham.
A whole ham can be divided into five parts: dripping oil, middle section, upper section, heel, and trotter.
Each part has its own characteristics and features, so in cooking, each should be utilized for its advantages to bring out the best flavor of Jinhua Ham.
Since the ham is hung upside down to dry and fernt, all the oil and salt content pass through the dripping oil part, making it the saltiest and most oily.
Because of the high salt content, the dripping oil part is better suited for making soups or broths.
Next to the dripping oil part is the middle section.
The at quality here is good, rich in flavor, with a slightly higher fat content, about a four to six ratio with lean at.
This part is relatively greasy, and being close to the dripping oil part, it accumulates a lot of salt and oil, making it more suitable for stir-frying, or cutting into strips or slices to add aroma to dishes.
After the middle section cos the upper section.
The upper section is the best quality part of the ham; it’s not only well-marinated and thoroughly fernted but also tender with just the right fat to lean ratio, three parts fat to seven parts lean.
The salt and oil balance is also nearly perfect.
It can be said to be the essence of the whole ham.
Honeyed Ham uses this part, with a flavor that is deeply enticing and leaves a lingering taste.
The trotter is the pig’s foot, with the most skin and bone but the least at, and the lowest salt content, perfect for slow-cooked soups.
Huang Tao inspected these upper sections.
The quality was excellent, no inferior substitutes.
Great.
The vendors this year are very honest, worth continuing to work with.
Since the dish Honeyed Ham requires three long steaming sessions, it takes a long ti, at least over six hours, to achieve its delicious sweet and savory taste.
So Huang Tao, while preparing breakfast, wanted to get started on the preliminary work for Honeyed Ham.
He asked Ding Suqin and the others to scrape off the fine hairs and dirt from the upper section skin and clean it thoroughly.
Then he picked up a piece of the upper section, three parts fat and seven parts lean with red at and white fat, and placed it skin-side down on the cutting board.
Preparing to do the most important step...
The cut!
Actually, there is only one way to cut the upper section.
That’s to place the whole upper section skin-side down on the cutting board and score it on the top with a knife.
You need to score it in a crosshatch pattern 1.5 centiters apart.
The depth must cut into the fatty part but not go all the way through, leaving so fat.
This keeps the whole piece intact while making it easier to extract the salt from the at.
Lin Zifeng, who was assisting and observing from the side, noticed Huang Tao’s cutting technique was different from what his teacher taught and couldn’t help but ask in confusion, "Boss, I see many chefs making Honeyed Ham cut the upper section into pieces or slices, but you’re doing it..."
Those slice-and-dice thods.
According to the information given by the system, that’s just cutting corners.
This way, you can mix in a small amount of middle section to reduce the dish’s cost.
It’s a basic operation in many restaurants!
Huang Tao didn’t point it out, just smiled slightly and said, "When making Honeyed Ham, cutting it into slices or chunks is wrong. You must use the whole upper section to call it authentic Honeyed Ham."
Xu Hao, who knew a bit about so restaurant operations, nodded in agreent, "The boss is right. Those slice or chunk thods can’t really be called Honeyed Ham, at best Honeyed Upper Section Slices or Honeyed Upper Section Chunks."
"Haozi, your description is quite fitting!" Lin Zifeng chuckled.
After all the cuts were made, Huang Tao placed these upper section pieces, skin-side down, into the stainless steel basin that Lin Zifeng had prepared.
Huang Tao said to Lin Zifeng next to him, "Zifeng, pour hot water into this basin for , just enough to cover the upper section."
"Got it!"
Lin Zifeng quickly did as instructed and poured hot water into the basin.
Once the hot water covered the upper section, Huang Tao poured in an appropriate amount of yellow wine.
Next, it was ti to steam in the pot over high heat.
This step is mainly to awaken the flavor and umami of the at while extracting the salt from the at to reduce the saltiness of the upper section.
The yellow wine added can remove any off-flavors from the upper section, making it more aromatic and delicious.
Seeing Huang Tao put the upper section in the stear, Ding Suqin curiously asked, "Boss, once this is stead, is it ready to make Honeyed Ham?"
"Suqin, not so fast!"
Lin Zifeng looked at Ding Suqin with eyes that read "you’re too naive," smiled, and explained, "The dish Honeyed Ham takes a lot of work and ti, requiring three steaming and seasoning sessions, taking at least three hours before it can be served. This is just the first steaming! It still needs to be stead twice more!"
"Zifeng is right; only after three steaming and seasoning sessions can the saltiness, umami, sweetness, and aroma be perfectly balanced, lding sweet and savory, each elent essential, but..."
Huang Tao smiled and paused, slightly correcting, "The whole process takes at least six hours before it can be served, and each steaming and seasoning requires different ingredients and tis..."
Upon hearing this, Ding Suqin couldn’t help but show a small face of "I don’t quite understand, but I’m very impressed."
Of course, mostly thinking that making Honeyed Ham is such a hassle!
Lin Zifeng had a face of "listening to the boss is better than studying for ten years," enlightened expression.
This ti the steaming needs to thoroughly cook the upper section, so it takes a long ti, needing over an hour.
During this process, Huang Tao naturally couldn’t stay idle on the side.
He, along with the staff, started making Sheng Jian Bao to avoid missing the breakfast service.
With his growing skill in making Sheng Jian Bao, he was now very quick, each plump, round, powder white bun forming quickly in his hands, the tops twisted into flower shapes.
An hour later.
Huang Tao walked over to the stear and lifted the lid.
A puff of white steam, accompanied by a strong aroma, rose and wafted from the pot with his movent.
This aroma had the distinctive sll of cured at and the wine scent of yellow wine.
It slled quite pleasing!
Huang Tao took the upper section out of the stear, carefully pouring out the broth inside.
Of course, all this broth needed to be discarded in the end.
Because this broth is very salty and has the taste of fernted ham, it can’t be eaten.
After all the broth was drained.
Huang Tao placed an appropriate amount of rock sugar into each plate, then had Lin Zifeng pour in the prepared clear chicken broth to cover the at.
He continued to place it back in the stear.
This step is naturally to allow the sweetness of the rock sugar to slowly infuse into the at, so the at in the stear can achieve a sweet and savory blend.
This is the second steaming.
Of course, it takes even longer than before, needing about an hour and a half, otherwise, the at might not be thoroughly stead.
Once finished, Huang Tao began to fry Sheng Jian Bao.
He skillfully placed the prepared Sheng Jian Bao into the pan one by one.
The two batches of small Sheng Jian Bao seed to co alive in his hands, quickly becoming soft and crispy.
With the two batches of freshly made Sheng Jian Bao...
Custors queuing outside, drawn by the scent, walked into the store.
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