Chapter 283: Chapter 282: Stumbling by Mistake
Braised Pork Feet in Red Fermented Tofu is a famous Cantonese dish, and is also currently one of the signature dishes at Jubao Building. Unlike the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, several apprentices of Sun Guanyun make Braised Pork Feet in Red Fermented Tofu quite well, and it’s very famous nationwide.
Red fermented tofu is made by fermenting with red yeast rice. This type of fermented tofu contains not only a large amount of high-quality protein and various amino acids required by the human body but also has a unique wine fragrance.
Because Braised Pork Feet in Red Fermented Tofu has a rich aroma and mellow taste, it is commonly found in tea restaurants and is often eaten with noodles and vermicelli. A good portion of Braised Pork Feet in Red Fermented Tofu has a reddish color, a savory taste, tender and well-flavored, and most importantly, doesn’t require added salt.
The kitchen at Taifeng Building definitely has pig’s feet in stock, after all, Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s fried pig’s feet and cured pig’s feet sell quite well.
The pig’s feet are ready, cleaned, and have been soaked in clean water overnight. Sun Jikai picked one that was relatively small and stewed it with scallions, ginger, and other spices over gentle heat.
While stewing the pig’s feet, he didn’t stay idle, continuing to practice the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, tackling both tasks at once.
Wu Minqi seldom participated in the practice of Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon before, basically just watching them do it. At most, she helped Sun Jikai with whole-pigeon deboning when Jiang Feng wasn’t around; after all, Sun Jikai’s knife skills were not up to par, and his status on the staff display panel was still only senior. But this doesn’t mean that she is inferior to Sun Jikai in making Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon. Among the three, she has the strongest foundation; she has watched the most, and with some’ practice, she could quickly go from unaccustomed to proficient.
From last night’s epiphany to today’s practice, Jiang Feng suddenly felt vaguely that he seemed to have found some feeling.
The three of them quickly finished preparing a pigeon each, nearly at the same time, with only about two minutes difference between them.
Tasting each other’s dishes, Sun Jikai sadly found that he was the one who had performed the worst.
Why?!
Sun Jikai shouted internally. It was fine that Jiang Feng did better than him since Jiang Feng practiced more and was the first to find the knack and method, but why did Wu Minqi, who never lifted a finger and only watched, also do better than him?
Isn’t Wu Minqi just slightly better than him in knife skills, seasoning, and fire control…
Alright, thinking about it this way, it seems Wu Minqi is stronger than him in every aspect.
He was actually the worst of them all.
Sun Jikai couldn’t accept it.
Tears welled up before he could speak.
Jiang Feng, on the other hand, didn’t notice that Sun Jikai’s inner drama was so rich; they were still just tasting the filling, and as they ate, he felt…
The flavor seemed to be much better than the original.
It wasn’t just because of the chicken fat, but Jiang Feng didn’t understand the specific reason. He felt like they had accidentally stimulated some other qualities of the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon.
The flavor of the vegetarian filling had clearly changed, becoming richer and also carrying a hint of pigeon’s fresh aroma. Compared to the previous ones, the taste had improved not just a little. With more practice to improve their’ culinary skills, they would soon catch up with the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon made by Master Sun.
Qiqi, do you feel that the taste of the vegetarian filling is a bit different from before?” Jiang Feng asked.
“It’s different. When I had the portion made by Sun Jikai before, I only vaguely sensed a difference, but the one you made now is clearly different,” Wu Minqi said with certainty. “The one you made is already very close to what Sir Sun made before.”
But what exactly is the reason?
Jiang Feng’s epiphany last night was that the pigeon meat of the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon should also ensure its texture and flavor, but why did the flavor of the filling also become better?
“What are you all doing here?” Zhang Guanghang walked into the kitchen and saw the three of them huddled together.
Zhang Guanghang usually arrived later because he lived far away.
The work hours in Taifeng Building’s kitchen were somewhat flexible, especially for furnace chefs. As long as they didn’t arrive later than 1030 AM, it was fine. If you come early, you leave early; if you arrive late, you leave late; as long as the required hours are fulfilled, it’s okay.
Recently, Zhang Guanghang’s presence in the kitchen had been quite low-key. Jiang Feng barely noticed him, partly because Zhang had taken a long leave, but more so because Jiang Feng, Wu Minqi, and Sun Jikai had formed a small group that isolated him.
Jiang Feng reflected on his own bad behavior of isolating Zhang Guanghang and felt a little thrilled about it.
Isolating a 1.92-meter tall, long-legged, Franco-Chinese mixed-race, wealthy young man with a spotlight-grabbing special skill (master level) feels really amazing—try it to know it.
Whether Zhang Guanghang had noticed that he was being isolated, or whether they really had isolated Zhang Guanghang, was another matter.
“Want a taste?” Jiang Feng made room within their small group, allowing Zhang Guanghang to join in.
Zhang Guanghang picked up a small spoon from the table and took a scoop of the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon that Jiang Feng had made. After tasting it, he praised, “Not bad at all. Any problems?”
“The problem is we don’t know why it suddenly became so good,” Jiang Feng said.
Zhang Guanghang: ???
The three of them chattered away, each adding their bits as they explained their research progress on the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon to Zhang Guanghang. After listening, Zhang Guanghang fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
“Although I haven’t tasted the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon made by Master Sun, I know that he innovated this dish inspired by ‘Pigeon Swallowing Swallow’s Nest.’ That dish involves stuffing swallow’s nest inside the pigeon and braising both wrapped in gauze paper. The pigeon is not only the container but also the key to ensuring its special flavor,” Zhang Guanghang said, “So I think the same principle applies to the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon. The temperature ensures the flavor and texture of the pigeon, while the pigeon in turn ensures the filling’s flavor and texture. The two are inherently complementary. By improving the flavor of the pigeon, you naturally enhanced the flavor of the filling as well.” This was Zhang Guanghang’s guess and understanding.
“That seems reasonable,” Jiang Feng thought they might have stumbled upon the correct method by accident.
“It must be so,” Sun Jikai nodded in agreement. “Shall we try making it again?” “Make what again? Aren’t your braised pork feet almost ready?” Jiang Feng said.
Oh, the pork feet,” Sun Jikai had completely forgotten about the pork feet.
“Pork feet?”
Jiang Feng then gave Zhang Guanghang a detailed and exaggerated account of how Ji Yue had sprained her foot that morning, twisting it into a ‘pork trotter’ while trying to grab two beans buns.
“Mom asked me to take her to the hospital after the lunch rush. Her foot swelled up pretty badly after just a short while, and it’s the top of her foot that’s swollen, not the ankle. It’s likely she injured the bone,” said Jiang Feng. “Sprains can be dangerous. How about I go with you this afternoon? I’m quite familiar with the hospital,” Zhang Guanghang offered.
Jiang Feng was about to say that he planned to take Ji Yue to the hospital where Jiang Shoucheng did his residency training, but he recalled that Xia Mushi had also stayed at the same hospital. Given Zhang Guanghang’s reputation, he’d probably be well acquainted with all the nurses there. Jiang Feng just wasn’t sure which department Jiang Shoucheng had transferred to.
Sun Jikai went to tend to the pork feet, cutting them into small pieces and frying them in a pot with some green onion, ginger, bay leaves, cinnamon, and angelica dahurica in a bit of oil for fragrance.
He then added the pork feet to the pot along with dark soy sauce, rock sugar, and a little bit of chicken bouillon, and stir-fried everything together.
Jiang Feng watched for a while from the side, feeling that it didn’t seem all that difficult. The dish truly paled in comparison to the difficulty of Sir’s Fengjing Pig’s Trotters or Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s Dongpo Pork Knuckle. After watching for a bit, he went to attend to his own tasks.
Everyone was diligently working on their own responsibilities, except for the two elderly Sirs who were observing from a corner.
“This morning, watching them make the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, I thought that Feng, the no-account, finally had a breakthrough. Turns out it was just a fluke,” Jiang Weiguo said from the corner.
“Even if it was a fluke, it must mean he’s had a breakthrough to have stumbled upon it. I’ve said before that Feng is a talented kid. To have improved so much in his cooking skills in just half a year, he’s already far better than we were back in our day,” Jiang Weiming said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Weiguo also felt somewhat puzzled. “Speaking of which, it’s odd. This kid has made such rapid advancements in culinary skills over the past year, as if he’s taken some sort of elixir. I never thought he had such high potential. Could it be that I’m not teaching right?”
Jiang Weiming:…
If he may be so bold, he thought his younger brother really didn’t know how to teach apprentices.
“Third brother, even Master Sun Guanyun himself called to ask us to teach them how to make the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon. He spilled all his years of secret recipes to us, yet you still insist on not letting me tell them,” Jiang Weiguo said.
“As the saying goes, ‘A master leads you to the door, but learning is up to you.’ When daddy was teaching us cooking, when did he ever hold our hands through everything? These kids are not dumb; there’s no need to tell them everything. Some things are better figured out on their own than being taught,” Jiang Weiming said with a beaming smile.
“That’s true. Discovering things by oneself is definitely better than being taught hand-m-hand,” agreed Jiang Weiguo, nodding. “I’ll call that old man later and have him take his grandson back.”
“Take him back?” Jiang Weiming was somewhat perplexed.
He said to call him once his grandson learned to make the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, and he would take his grandson back. I don’t know what he’s thinking,” said Jiang Weiguo. “But before that, we need to teach Sun Jikai how to stew sugar in oil, so that old man can’t accuse me of breaking my word.”
“After all, we profited greatly from their secret Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, and both Feng and Qiqi have learned it. It’s only right that we teach Sun Jikai how to stew sugar in oil,” said Jiang Weiming, nodding in agreement. Looking at Jiang Feng, his eyes filled with satisfaction, “Starting tomorrow, I’ll teach Feng how to make Sea Cucumber Dish.”
“Starting tomorrow?”
“Yes, starting tomorrow. It’s time,” said Jiang Weiming.
If they didn t start now, it would be too late..