After skimming them out, he thought for a mont and also scooped out the few smallest ones.
"These are too small; they’re not suitable for soup or being red-braised. Doesn’t your shop have brine for duck products? After blanching them later, use so of the spicy brine for duck products and braise them for a good half hour. We’ll make whole spicy soft-shelled turtles."
Soon, Xie Baomin had made clear arrangents for the turtles.
"Since everything is arranged, let’s get started!"
Lin Xu understood his Senior Brother’s and father-in-law’s craving for such ingredients, so he took the turtles straight upstairs to the kitchen to prepare them.
"Red-braising doesn’t take that long. Let’s start with the turtle soup."
Xie Baomin took a cleaver and taught Lin Xu how to butcher the soft-shelled turtles.
This was a process that required skill because many people had been bitten by turtles while butchering them, and so had even cut their hands trying to avoid a bite.
"When butchering market-bought turtles, it’s best to chop off their heads in one stroke. Most of them are caught using hooks, and their heads often still contain the hook, which could easily injure a person’s mouth if eaten. However, for these turtles, since we know their source, there’s no need to chop off the heads. It is at, after all; it would be a pity to throw it away."
Xie Baomin placed a turtle on the cutting board, pressing down on it with his left hand while scratching its tail area with his fingers. As a result, the turtle’s head extended.
Placing his hand on the tail also effectively prevented bites.
Once the turtle’s head was fully extended, Xie Baomin took the cleaver and tapped the turtle’s neck with the tip of its blade.
Before Lin Xu could clearly see the action, the turtle stopped breathing.
Wei Qian, who was standing by hoping to learn a trick, couldn’t help but mutter, "Chef Xie, what was that technique? How did it die with just a light tap from the cleaver tip? Could it be that turtles also have a vital point?"
Xie Baomin held the turtle’s still-twitching neck and showed Wei Qian the cut, explaining, "This is the trachea. A light prick with the tip of the cleaver is enough to sever it. Once the trachea is broken, the turtle naturally dies."
"Such amazing knife skills! You were so close to the blood vessels... Oh, wait. Chef Xie, don’t we need to bleed the turtle?"
"No need. Turtle blood is flavorful, and retaining it enhances the dish."
There were diverse thods for cooking turtles, and the debate over whether to bleed them had always existed. But for Xie Baomin, a proponent of dicinal cuisine, turtle blood must absolutely not be discarded.
Once the turtle stopped struggling, he used the cleaver to cut off the carapace along the skirt.
He gutted the turtle, removing the internal organs, and also plucked out the large chunks of yellow fat from the belly. This fat had a strong, unpleasant fishy sll and was inedible.
After gutting the turtle and removing the fat, he placed it in a basin and poured water at about 85 degrees Celsius over it to scald it.
The turtle’s surface is covered with a mucous mbrane that protects against bacteria and viruses. This mbrane has a strong, fishy odor and must be carefully peeled off after scalding. However, the water cannot be boiling hot, or the skirt will be damaged.
Those who knew how to appreciate turtle at were aware that the skirt is a treasure.
Its gelatinous texture is comparable even to Cubilose and Fish Fin, which is why the skirt is listed as one of the Water Eight Treasures.
After soaking in 85-degree water for a minute, when the black mbrane on the turtle’s back shell ca off with a simple rub, it ant the scalding was perfect, and the shell could be carefully scrubbed clean.
However, the turtle’s belly wasn’t ready yet and needed to soak a bit longer.
The mbrane on the turtle’s belly is thick and tough, so it requires a longer soak before it can be peeled off.
Once the outer mbrane was stripped clean, Xie Baomin chopped the turtle into large pieces and placed them into a pot. After adding Cooking Wine, he began to blanch the pieces.
While the turtle pieces were blanching, he fetched a stewing pot and added a handful of washed goji berries, a small pinch of Cordyceps, angelica, and other dicinal herbs.
Finally, he added spring water, two small spoonfuls of salt, two small spoonfuls of black pepper, half a kitchen ladle of Floral Carving Wine, and a few pieces of Crystal Sugar to complete the seasoning.
By this ti, the water in the pot for blanching had also started to boil.
After skimming off the scum with a ladle, he removed the blanched turtle pieces, rinsed them, and then placed them into the stewing pot. He covered it with the lid and put it into the steaming cabinet to steam.
"In an hour, this soft-shelled turtle will be ready," Xie Baomin said to Lin Xu as he closed the door of the steaming cabinet.
"Blanching actually causes so nutrient loss. The best thod is to briefly fry the soft-shelled turtle in lard, using the lard to extract its fishy sll. This makes the soup even better, but the downside is it ruins a pot of lard."
Soft-shelled turtles are known for their strong fishy sll, especially inside the abdominal cavity. Even if thoroughly washed, frying them in oil would leave the fishy sll in the fat.
So Xie Baomin didn’t use this wasteful thod.
Besides, when drinking soup, sothing too greasy isn’t very pleasant; Clear Soup is more enjoyable to drink.
Once the soft-shelled turtle soup was set to simr, the free-range chicken was delivered.
It was ti to make the red-braised "Farewell My Concubine."
While busy, Xie Baomin said to Lin Xu, "In the soft-shelled turtle soup we just made, it would be even better if an old hen raised by a local farr could be added. Unfortunately, they’re not easy to buy now; the so-called old hens are usually just spent laying hens from comrcial poultry farms."
As he lanted the scarcity of good ingredients, he skillfully butchered the other soft-shelled turtle.
After butchering it, he chopped the turtle into large pieces and quartered the shell to make it easier to arrange attractively on the plate when serving.
The free-range chicken was also chopped into pieces similar in size to the turtle at.
Once the main ingredients were prepared, he cut a large piece of aged ginger into chunks, halved the garlic cloves, chopped scallions into inch-long sections, sliced Green and Red Peppers into rings, and set aside two Star Anise, a few Sichuan peppercorns, and several bay leaves.
With everything ready, he began to cook.
He set up a wok, added a large ladleful of lard, and heated it. Then, he added the soft-shelled turtle and chicken pieces, followed by a handful of Crystal Sugar, and began to stir-fry.
This stir-frying thod helps the soft-shelled turtle release its fishiness while allowing the Crystal Sugar to caralize and evenly color the ingredients.
When most of the moisture from the soft-shelled turtle and chicken pieces had cooked off, the Crystal Sugar had completely lted into caral, evenly coating all the ingredients.
Xie Baomin continued to stir-fry, imagining himself devouring wild soft-shelled turtle and feeling incredibly vigorous. He even proudly humd a tune from "Shajia Bang."
Just as he was getting into the rhythm, he turned and was startled to see Guo Weidong standing nearby.
"Damn it, Guo Weidong! What are you doing here?"
Guo Weidong nodded his head towards soone behind him. "Xinghai is in Beijing for tomorrow’s opening ceremony. I brought him to et Master Lin first. It’s just a soft-shelled turtle, Old Xie. Why are you acting like you’ve found an Elixir? If you have so health issue, go get it checked. Don’t just try to power through it."
Xie Baomin was speechless. Keep running your mouth, and I swear I’ll crack this wok ladle over your head!
————————
Whether or not to bleed a soft-shelled turtle before cooking is debatable. I’ve searched extensively but found no definitive answer, as everyone argues their thod is right. Personally, I always bleed and clean them thoroughly, as I feel they’d be fishy otherwise. This Chapter is 5,200 words. Brothers, please send your Monthly Tickets my way!
User Comments
0 comments from readers