Have you ever seen braised pork belly that has been stead to a transparent state?
Well, Liao Feng certainly hasn’t.
Pork belly to this extent, let alone eating it, just looking at it doesn’t make you feel greasy; instead, it makes you feel like when you take a bite, it will surely have a jelly-like texture.
As for the skin of the pork belly, it appears to have been cooked by a thod involving ice-water contraction and high-temperature frying, forming a honeycombed tiger skin.
The lean at fibers separate longitudinally like silk, and Liao Feng couldn’t wait to put the exposed half of the at beyond the lotus leaf bun into his mouth.
"Oh my god."
At this mont, only one word appeared in Liao Feng’s mind: subversion!
Yes, as this piece of at entered his mouth, it felt as though sothing in his brain had been overturned.
"What on earth were those things I ate before?"
The pork skin did not lt imdiately upon entry but had a slightly resilient texture, and with a slight chew, it instantly turned into gelatin.
And the nearly transparent fat portion required no chewing at all—it only needed a light press to dissolve into at juice, with the lean at lting softly as well, leaving only a faint pinewood smoke fragrance lingering between the lips and teeth.
"Was this braised pork also smoked?"
Liao Feng keenly picked up a flavor he had never experienced before.
After a frenzy over several dishes, it’s clear that the guests’ minds are currently in a shutdown state. Each dish seems to be exploring the black hole of their taste buds, and this braised pork with preserved vegetables has thoroughly overturned their understanding of "braised pork."
Not to ntion the guests, even Hou Yao, who was behind the counter, was a bit stunned at this mont.
He ate two pieces in a row, and it was just the at without the lotus leaf bun! After two slices of braised pork, Hou Yao stood there dazed for several seconds, then turned around blankly, "Xiaochen, this braised pork of yours..."
"Delicious, right?"
Chen Mo grinned with such a sunny smile, but for so reason, Hou Yao found it sowhat infuriating.
"No, how did you make this thing? I an..." Hou Yao picked up another piece and shook it slightly, almost shaking it apart, "I an, can pork belly actually reach this level?"
It’s truly unbelievable.
For ordinary people, the most direct feeling might just be that it’s delicious, extrely delicious!
But for soone like Hou Yao, who’s often in the kitchen, this dish was not so simple and was even more magical than all the previous dishes!
From what he could taste, the initial note was the apricot aroma of Shaoxing rice wine. With a slight taste, the middle note was the savory flavor of preserved vegetables, but astonishingly, there was also the deep sea savory taste of scallops.
It was only then did Hou Yao understand why Chen Mo’s ingredient list included many types of seafood that weren’t seen in today’s banquet.
Turns out they were all used for seasoning?
Moreover, after eating a piece of at, one could distinctly feel the woody fragrance of cinnamon and nutg extracted at low temperature in lard, indicating that great effort was made from the outset during the cooking of the spices.
And after the at fragrance completely dissipated, there remained the bittersweet return to sweetness of caral, from the rock sugar caralized in the iron pan.
All of this was so natural, not contrived at all. It was all integrated into a piece of braised pork with preserved vegetables, which if not for an experienced kitchen veteran to carefully taste, would be impossible to discern so much detail.
Faced with Hou Yao’s curiosity, Chen Mo casually explained while busy with his work, "That’s why I say, cooking is also a science."
Back when at the bridgehead, Chen Mo had explained the principle of overnight rice to curious diners.
Since then, Chen Mo had also learned a lot about the microchemical and physical changes of ingredients online.
What process does an ingredient need to go through for its internal micro-molecules to undergo miraculous changes to satisfy human taste buds?
This thing is addictive, the more you learn, the more engrossed you beco. By the end, Chen Mo was so curious, wondering why there aren’t any university courses on this, it’s a pure course for cultivating advanced chefs!
"Scientific cooking?"
Chen Mo nodded, "What you think is smoking the at, is actually the Maillard reaction’s secondary activation when fried at is refrigerated and reheated."
"What you think is top umami, is actually the collaborative umami effect ford by the glutamic acid in the preserved vegetables with the inosinic acid in the pork."
"What you think is a lt-in-the-mouth texture, is actually active peptides from collagen hydrolyzing during steaming."
"What you think..."
Hou Yao’s mind was buzzing, being soone who dived into the kitchen right after elentary school, he couldn’t understand all these bizarre terms.
"Stop, stop! So now is it necessary to be educated to cook?"
Chen Mo playfully nodded, "Bachelor degree at minimum."
Hou Yao took a deep breath, half-believing, half-doubting, unsure how to respond. Finally, he looked at what Chen Mo was doing, "How about I make this dish?"
Five hearty at dishes had already been presented, and the remaining hot dishes were essentially moving towards being exquisite.
The dish Chen Mo was preparing was a vegetarian dish, exactly the one Hou Yao had ntioned earlier, and to put it plainly, whatever the al cost today, it would be worth it with this dish alone.
It was a classic Cantonese dish, familiar to Hou Yao, though he hadn’t made it for so ti. Even a restaurant like Yueyun Pavilion was hesitant to attempt it due to its complexity.
"Let handle it, I’ve done quite a bit of preparation for this dish."
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