Upon hearing this, Lin Xu said:
"Alright, alright, I’ll make it for you when I get back, but let’s skip the fried chicken. We’ve had the crispy chicken cooked by our senior brother before, haven’t we? I’ll make you so Pot Roasted Elbow instead, tastier than fried chicken."
"Pot Roasted Elbow? Is it as crispy as fried chicken?"
Shen Jiayue wasn’t concerned about the taste; she just wanted to outdo Yan Baobao in crispiness.
"It’s much crispier than fried chicken, definitely won’t let you down."
"Okay then, hurry back and make it. I shot a VLOG of playing in the snow with Dundun this morning, it’s already uploaded, don’t forget to give it a triple like!"
"Alright, no problem!"
Lin Xu hung up the phone, drove out of the TV station gate, and headed back to the shop to prepare the Pot Roasted Elbow.
As one of the Jinan Three Elbows, Pot Roasted Elbow lacks the appearance of Crystal Pork Hock and the fa of Crystal Sugar Pork Hock, but it is a genuine banquet dish.
And it was unquestionably the main dish back then, holding a higher status at the banquet than the other two elbows.
But its high status cos with a complicated cooking process.
To make this dish tasty, it requires poaching, braising, steaming, and frying; the whole dish takes at least five hours before you can eat it.
Moreover, once it’s out of the pot, it’s best eaten within ten minutes; otherwise, it loses the essence of being crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with a mouthful of oil.
Cooking is about making simple dishes with high-end ingredients and complex ones with ordinary ingredients.
Elbow isn’t considered high-end, and you can buy it anywhere, so chefs have created endless variations with it.
Whether it’s the braised elbow of the Yanjing Region and Northeast Region, Tiger Skin Pork Knuckle from Jin Province, Sichuan ginger juice elbow, chopped chili elbow from the two lakes region, red stewed pork hock from the two Guangdong regions, or stewed pork shank from the Southeast region, all have developed elbow recipes to the extre.
Today Lin Xu decided to try the orthodox Shandong cuisine thod.
Back at the shop.
He went to the kitchen and asked the cart boy:
"Are there any fresh elbows today?"
"Yes, all the skin has been treated with fire, are you planning to cook, boss?"
"Yes, make a Pot Roasted Elbow."
Originally Lin Xu planned to make one elbow just for Shen Baobao, but he figured there would be quite a few people for dinner, and his father-in-law would co for beef tartare, so he’d better prepare more.
He took all eight elbows the cart boy had prepared.
These were front elbows, with more at and less bone, each weighing about two to three pounds.
The outer skin of the elbow had been carefully scorched with a torch, and all the bristles were burned clean, so Lin Xu put them directly in a pot for blanching.
When he said blanching, he ant cooking the elbow until just done.
Before blanching, use a kitchen knife to cut vertically through the elbow to expose the bone.
This makes it easy to cook through the elbow and helps the blood drain out.
After all the elbows were cut, they were put into cold water, with a handful of Sichuan peppercorns, several pieces of scallion and ginger, and a big scoop of rice wine.
Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, and boil for another twenty minutes.
While cooking the pork hocks, Lin Xu simred a simple braised broth.
He added sugar color, salt, crystal sugar, stir-fried dried soy paste, and sweet bean paste to the stock, then added spices similar to braised pork ribs and began simring it, so when the elbows were blanched, the aroma of the broth would just co out.
When the elbows were cooked so that a chopstick inserted didn’t produce bloody water, he scooped them out with a slotted spoon, rinsed them with hot water, and put them into the boiling braised broth.
Put them all in, bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down the heat and braise for two hours.
Braise the elbow thoroughly to make it tender and delicious when eaten.
If this step isn’t done well, it will directly affect the final taste and texture.
While braising, Lin Xu prepared other dishes and greeted so regular diners.
While busy, Aunt Qian and Aunt Wang ca over.
Ever since they helped promote the roasted chicken and found accommodation for Wang Ziqiang and Yang Lin, these two aunts considered themselves part of Lin Ji.
When they have ti, they help with promotion.
However, today they looked a bit off when they ca upstairs.
"Little Lin, how do the aunties treat you usually?"
Lin Xu brought them tea, smiling:
"You treat super well, what’s the matter?"
Aunt Qian snorted:
"Since you know we’re good to you, why did you make Autumn Pear Paste without saving so for us? Are you afraid we can’t afford it?"
Aunt Wang chid in:
"You don’t know, since Old Yu got the Autumn Pear Paste you gave him yesterday, he’s been flaunting it, showing it to everyone, purposely making the water sip loudly, wouldn’t say where it ca from until Old Sun tricked it out of him, turned out you brewed it... We’re all old neighbors, it’s not right to favor so over others, Little Lin!"
Lin Xu looked at the two elderly ladies, amused.
Never thought a jar of Autumn Pear Paste could cause such a stir.
And Old Sun used interrogation techniques to trick Old Yu, seriously?
He chuckled:
"Don’t worry, both of you, there’ll be three thousand pounds of snow pears coming soon, once they’re here, I’ll make it, everyone will get so; if it’s not enough, I’ll just contract a cold storage and buy all the snow pears inside."
Just then, Shu Yun ca down from the third floor and said to the two elderly ladies:
"We only made seven jars of Autumn Pear Paste yesterday, Old Yu pre-ordered one by paying half the price for snow pears, the rest were given to Yueyue’s grandma, grandpa, and Mr. Lishan, even the boss’s in-laws didn’t get any... Sorry, we made too little."
With these enthusiastic custors, you naturally have to appease them.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Qian bead:
"Oh, I see, it’s all Old Yu’s fault, got all worked up... Let’s do this, I’ll pre-order five jars for a thousand bucks, so I won’t miss out this ti."
When Aunt Wang heard this, she wanted to pay too:
"Then I’ll also buy five jars, Yun girl, make sure to rember, we’ve paid early, don’t forget, still waiting to tease Old Yu."
Shu Yun helped her and said:
"Don’t worry, when it’s done, I won’t tell anyone else, I’ll notify you two first."
"Yun girl is so good with words, if my daughter was half as considerate as Yun girl..."
Seeing off the two elderly ladies, Lin Xu continued working.
Two hours passed quickly, he turned off the stove and let the elbows soak for another half an hour.
Then took out each elbow from the pot, removed the now wobbly bones, and started cutting the elbows.
Slice the thick parts, and support the thin ones so that the elbow at resembles evenly thick pork belly with the pork skin fully spread out.
Once cut, place the elbow skin-side down on a plate, sprinkle with scallion and ginger, and steam it in the steaming cabinet.
Through steaming, the fat in the elbow at will seep out, and the braised flavor will perate thoroughly.
Most importantly, through steaming, the elbow will beco completely soft and tender.
This kind of elbow, when coated in batter and fried, taste becos exceptional.
While busy in the kitchen, Shen Jiayue, eager to show off, found a picture of Pot Roasted Elbow online and posted it on her feed:
"A beauty can be wronged, but so people are not allowed to steal my Pot Roasted Elbow!"
Chen Yan initially wanted to mock it, but upon seeing the look of Pot Roasted Elbow, she changed her tone:
"Don’t worry Yueyue, with here, no one can take your Pot Roasted Elbow away!"
Shen Jiayue replied with a sweating emoji:
"Yan Bao, is there a chance this comnt is actually ant for you?"
"Ha, Yueyue, you’re being naughty again. By the way, I just bought you a pair of boots online, they really suit your style, want to try them later?"
Haha, she is eyeing my Pot Roasted Elbow.
But considering how attentive you are, I’ll spare you a bite!
Shen Jiayue replied:
"Thanks, Yan Bao!"
"No need to thank, our sisterhood is too deep for thanks..."
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This Chapter is 5,600 words, asking for monthly tickets, brothers!
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