Food: Taking the twins to kindergarten to be chefs

Thursday afternoon.

After finishing cooking lunch, Huang Jun did not choose to enjoy a moment of leisure, but immediately led his kitchen team to continue the intense and orderly cooking work.

The reason why I keep busy...

It's not about preparing for tonight's dinner, but about preparing for tomorrow's snacks.

No way!
Although the preparation process of tomorrow's dim sum is not complicated, it requires the use of marinade and clay pots for cooking, which makes it a time-consuming task. This forces Huang Jun to prepare early to avoid problems with tomorrow's dim sum.

Hey!
All we can say is that Huang Jun has to continue making the menu he chose himself, even with tears in his eyes.

This made life difficult for Qian Guoxiang and the other two, and they suffered along with him.

Uh…

Who made them grasshoppers on the same rope?
We can only "share the good times and the bad times together"...

Fortunately, the three of them share a common belief: in front of delicious food, all the hard work and fatigue are worth it...

therefore!

Pain and happiness!
"Wow~"

As the crisp sound of water echoed in the kitchen, Aunt Li and Aunt Lin were holding scouring pads, carefully washing smooth and round eggs.

With each wash, the stains on the eggshell gradually disappear, revealing its original pure luster.

"Chef Huang, why are these eggs green?" Aunt Lin asked curiously.

In their memory, the colors of chicken eggs are pink, white or brown, while duck egg shells are green.

This kind of green eggs was the first time they saw it.

Before Huang Jun could answer, Qian Guoxiang at the side smiled and said, "This egg is not the common eggs on the market. It is the egg of the five-black chicken, so it is naturally green!"

"Five-black chicken?" Aunt Li looked confused and asked, "What kind of chicken is that?"

Aunt Lin next to her also showed the same confused expression, and at the same time felt that she had too little experience.

Although they have worked in the kitchen for many years, tasted countless delicacies and seen various ingredients, since Huang Jun came to Dolaimi Kindergarten, they found that there are still many unknown ingredients and dishes waiting for them to explore.

Just like the green eggshell in front of them, if it weren’t for Qian Guoxiang’s explanation, they might have suspected that the egg was dyed by something?
Huang Jun smiled and replied: "The five-black chicken is actually what we often call the black-haired black-bone chicken. The eggs it lays are green-shelled eggs, which have higher nutritional value than ordinary ones and are particularly suitable for making five-spice eggs."

"Oh, it's a black-bone chicken!"

Aunt Li suddenly realized something and a look of sudden enlightenment appeared on her face: "I have tasted this kind of chicken before. The meat is delicious, the bones and meat are black, and it tastes really good. But this is the first time I have seen its eggs!"

Aunt Lin also smiled knowingly.

It’s not that they have long hair and little knowledge, but this kind of chicken has other names...

Seeing the excitement of "I know" on Aunt Li and Aunt Lin's faces, Huang Jun couldn't help but smile again: "This five-black chicken is not simple, not only its meat and bones are black, but also its feathers, skin and internal organs are black, hence the name 'five-black'.

"It is a unique breed of chicken in our country, and it is rare both at home and abroad..."

After a brief chat, Huang Jun began to prepare the spice recipe for the five-spice eggs.

The five spices are red pepper, star anise, cinnamon, fennel and cloves mixed together.

Although these spices may seem ordinary, once combined, they can create extraordinary flavors and become the secret to the delicious spiced eggs.

He placed the spices in a polished stainless steel basin and then poured in appropriate amounts of strong liquor and boiling water.

The amount of water should just cover the spices!

He covered the lid and let the spices rise quietly in the sealed environment for twenty minutes.

This step is crucial as it not only helps reduce the bitterness of the spices but also makes the aroma of the spices more delicate and rich.

When it’s time to wake up…

He washed the spices carefully, filtered out excess water, and put them one by one into the spice bags prepared in advance.

This is the end.

The seemingly simple but very sophisticated spice bag was ready. He gently put some crystal clear rock sugar into the hot pot, added a small amount of water with the light dance of the spatula, and began the prelude to stir-frying the sugar.

Turn to low heat and heat slowly to allow the rock sugar to slowly melt in the pot and become liquid.

As the sugar melts...

He lowered the heat to medium to keep the syrup warm.

At this time, if the temperature is slightly lower, the rock sugar will re-crystallize, destroying the perfect color of the sugar.

He continued to watch the syrup change color...

When the syrup turned an attractive deep red and began to bubble up, he quickly added water and continued to cook.

This action is to remove the burnt smell that may remain in the syrup, making the sugar color purer and the aroma more fragrant.

After cooking for one minute, he took out the fried sugar-colored water from the pot.

High-quality sugar color water will dilute its own sweetness during the caramelization process, so he takes out the sugar color at the optimal time to ensure that it is brown-red in color, neither bitter nor sweet, presenting a perfect balance.

"Chef Huang, the water in the clay pots has boiled..." Qian Guoxiang saw that the water in the large clay pots was boiling and making gurgling sounds, so he reminded.

"okay, I get it!"

Huang Jun sprinkled an appropriate amount of salt into each large earthenware jar one by one, adjusting the saltiness of the water to just right so that the eggs can better absorb the flavor of the brine.

Then, he added the bright red sugar water and fragrant spice bags that had been boiled earlier into the earthenware jar one by one.

In order to make the taste more harmonious, I added a few pieces of rock sugar, and finally threw in a few red peppers to enhance the flavor.

Now, the brine for the spiced eggs is ready!
Do not add chicken essence or MSG to the marinade, otherwise it will not only fail to enhance the flavor, but will infinitely amplify the fishy smell of the eggs and affect the final taste.

He turned on a low heat and simmered it slowly for fifteen minutes, allowing the flavor of the spices to penetrate into the soup. The eggs braised in this way are fragrant from the inside out. One bite and your mouth is filled with the aroma, leaving you with an endless aftertaste!
Fifteen minutes passed in a flash...

During this time, the soup has quietly transformed into wisps of tempting aroma, floating in the operation room and permeating every corner.

Huang Jun extinguished the fire at the right time, allowing the water temperature of the brine to drop naturally.

Because eggs cannot be put directly into boiling water, otherwise the egg liquid will expand rapidly due to the high temperature, causing the eggshell to crack and affecting the appearance.

This is one of the key factors to ensure that the eggs do not explode or crack during the marinating process.

"Chef Huang, we have cleaned the eggs." Aunt Li and Aunt Lin together put all the cleaned eggs of the five-black chickens onto the operating table.

"Okay! Good job!"

Huang Jun picked up the egg and knocked on the round part of the egg, making a crisp sound.

It is crucial to control the force so that the eggshell can be broken without damaging the eggshell.

In this way, the cracks on the eggshell will form a natural vent during cooking, helping to release the pressure inside the egg liquid and preventing the eggshell from cracking due to excessive pressure. This is another key step to ensure the integrity of the egg.

He sank the processed eggs one by one into the deep and fragrant brine in the large earthenware jar.

He adjusted the heat to medium-low and let the marinade slowly boil.

Here, do not use high heat, otherwise the heat will be too high, the water temperature will rise too quickly, the egg liquid will solidify quickly and expand and break the eggshell. This is the third key factor in preventing the egg from exploding.

Wait until the marinade begins to ripple like a whisper, continue to keep the heat low and gently embrace the eggs. Marinate for five minutes, allowing every drop of marinade aroma to slowly penetrate. The egg liquid will slowly solidify in the warmth and its shape will begin to take shape.

When the time comes…

Huang Jun fished them out one by one.

Use chopsticks as a pen to gently tap the surface of the egg. Each touch contains subtle changes in strength and angle, as if performing a silent but delicate carving.

The eggshell cracks with a sound, and the cracks are natural and smooth, like carefully carved textures, which not only promotes the penetration of the fragrance, but also gives the egg a unique artistic beauty.

Next, put the eggs, which have already taken shape and have cracks like a painting, back into the brine and continue to simmer over low heat.

During this process, the aroma of the five-spice and the brown-red color of the sugar gradually penetrated into the cracks of the eggshell... (End of this chapter)