Abandoned the Immortal Cultivator, returned to his hometown to farm and sing

Chapter 1230, 1219. Here, how delightful!
Let's ignore the old maid for now.

Anyway, the braised pork knuckle made with this 50-year-old Daughter Red wine is used.

A single jar costs tens of thousands of yuan, and even then, it's often unavailable and extremely difficult to find; most people keep them as collectibles.

The owner of Jiweilou used a lot of connections to get only twenty jars of food, and today's eight braised pork knuckles used up a whole jar.

The remaining nineteen jars are stored in the century-old wine cellar of Qingmuchuan. Every time we eat this braised beef knuckle, it will be better than the last time.

At this point, Nguyen Hoa Thai was caught red-handed.

There were only five tables tonight, so why are there eight pork knuckles?

Even though one of them had sampled the food in the afternoon, they were all drawn in by the braised pork knuckle.

There are still two left!

The two pork knuckles were obviously taken away by the boss behind the scenes.

One of them went to the Ping'an Gou canteen.

One of them went to the SWAT team to "do business".

A piece of pork knuckle in exchange for a unique cooking technique; one hand teaches the technique, the other hands over chopsticks.

The poor police instructors and elites, many of them succumbed to "temptation" and made decisions that "defied their ancestors"...

In any case, the police canteen's consumption of rice and steamed buns increased dramatically in the evenings, and the amount prepared according to the usual amount was simply not enough.

But that's a story for another time, and it has nothing to do with today.

There are many intricacies to this braised pork knuckle.

For example, its seasonings also include twelve kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs such as star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, fennel seeds, cardamom, amomum villosum, nutmeg, cloves, dried tangerine peel, galangal, angelica dahurica, and licorice.

In addition, Yongchuan's fermented black beans and Zigong's broad bean paste are not Pixian broad bean paste, and they must be aged for three years.

There is also Renshou sesame oil.

The Sichuan peppercorns from Hanyuan are not from Ping'angou.

It's not that the Sichuan peppercorns from Ping'angou are bad; it's that the Sichuan peppercorns from Hanyuan are one of the top ten geographical indication agricultural products in Sichuan Province, and are a special variety, not the same as those from Ping'angou.

These recipes are very particular; too much will make the medicinal flavor too strong, and too little will make the aroma insufficient.

It is Master Xu's exclusive secret recipe.

The utensils are also particular; they must be specially made earthenware jars.

The fire is lit using a rice husk charcoal stove. The charcoal needs to be preheated for two hours to turn it into white ash with a red core.

There's a specific technique to arranging charcoal. The temperature inside the earthenware pot must be kept just above boiling, around 80 degrees Celsius but less than 90 degrees Celsius. You often have to use fire tongs to adjust the position of the charcoal.

In addition, controlling the heat is as difficult as walking a tightrope. Slow baking over a low flame requires continuous addition of charcoal to control the temperature. Too high a heat will burn the bottom, while too low a heat will make it greasy. When the broth is concentrated, it is also very easy to burn, so you have to keep pouring broth over it.

You can't do this job if you're not strong enough.

Four chefs were specifically assigned to oversee the entire process of preparing these eight pork knuckles.

Even so, it still depends on fate.

Because raw pork hock shrinks after baking, the skin and flesh become so tight they look like they're about to crack. If you're not careful when turning it over, the skin and flesh will tear and become unrecognizable.

Fortunately, we were lucky today; only one out of eight pork knuckles turned out bad.

It's the one we ate during the afternoon's food tasting...
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Ruan Hetai introduced (×) and showed off () the work was completed, and then served another round of fragrant tea.

The group chatted for a while, continuing the topic from earlier.

The main conversation was between Mr. Hou and Mr. Liang about how they obtained the information.

Actually, she's the same as the chubby girl.

Jiweilou held a food tasting session more than half a month ago, and there were actually three groups of people.

Originally, they were regular customers of Fanrenju, chefs invited (or recruited) by Jiweilou, and experience officers for Maomaotou.

It can be approached from three dimensions: tradition, professionalism, and young people.

Ruan Hetai was originally a chef in Yangzhou. He was an apprentice of one of Liang Lao's former colleagues at a state-run restaurant. They had met a few times and had a friendly relationship by calling each other during holidays.

After trying the dishes, I stayed at Jiweilou.

Liang Yue and the others also mentioned that they would have experienced the same thing. That food tasting was supposed to be a secret, but everyone has friends and family involved...

Have a cup of tea and chat.

Finally, the penultimate dish arrived, which was the grand finale.

The last one is called the "big axis".

When this dish was served, Nguyen Hoa Thai didn't come over because it didn't need an introduction.

Two male waiters arrived, carrying a huge celadon soup platter like they were carrying a sedan chair.
He put it on the table with a thud.

This celadon soup plate is huge! It's at least forty centimeters in diameter, almost half a meter!

A huge bowl was placed on top of a plate? It should be called a basin.

Lift the large bowl, and with a splash, all sorts of ingredients pour out, piling up like a small mountain on the plate.

Large beads and small beads fall on a jade plate.

The mountain delicacies and meat ingredients are piled up into a tower, the soup is golden and clear, and the aroma is irresistible when it is served. It is a very large dish, which can be the grand finale of a banquet, showing the grandeur of "one dish making up the whole feast".

And this is the grand finale of today's exquisite banquet.

"Please enjoy the assorted mountain delicacies stew."

The two waiters gave their instructions and reluctantly took the large bowl and retreated to the side.

One of them unconsciously swallowed hard.

But none of the people at the table paid any attention.

Because the feeling I had when I first opened the lid of the braised pork knuckle came back to me.

The white mist, carrying a rich aroma, was seeping into my nostrils.

Unlike the braised pork knuckle of Niufu, which is a harmonious blend of five flavors including meat aroma, soy sauce aroma, wine aroma, and Sichuan pepper aroma.

Although the aroma of this mixed mountain delicacies dish is not as rich as that of the roasted beef knuckle, it is more complex, so complex that it is impossible to distinguish exactly what it is; it only feels like it is wrapped in the scent of the mountains and fields.

It seems to have transcended technique and approached the Tao.

At first glance, this mixed stew looks like a hodgepodge, a pork stew, or a random medley.

It's basically like throwing a whole bunch of ingredients into a pot and stewing them.

But take a closer look.

It's so beautiful! It's so radiant!

The crimson of the ham contrasts with the ivory white of the matsutake mushrooms, while the emerald green of the lettuce sets off the dark jade color of the rock ear mushrooms.

The mushroom oil floats on the surface like gold leaf, and the soup surface shows no steam; only when gently shaken does the creamy ripple appear.

Just like a silk dress that costs 49.9 yuan with free shipping and a Shu brocade dress that costs 499,000 yuan, although they are both made of silk, even the colors and patterns can be made almost the same.

But it's just different.

This dish, while boasting excellent color, aroma, and taste, is most notably its flavor.

Scoop up a spoonful, mixing all the ingredients together, and put it into your mouth.

Chewing, chewing...

The pork belly is springy and chewy like glue, the bamboo fungus bursts with mushroom mud between your teeth; the rock ear fungus is smooth and glutinous like melted black jade, and the cured meat is crisp and crumbly like an ancient temple pastry.

Boletus mushrooms are thick and fleshy like foie gras, while wild lettuce has a crisp sound like biting into ice.

The first taste is a burst of salty and savory flavor from the ham, followed by the complex aroma of matsutake mushrooms mixed with mushroom oil that spreads across the back of the tongue.

Savoring it slowly, the sweetness of the dried bamboo shoots intertwines with the slight bitterness of the bracken fern, all underpinned by the rich flavor of the ten-hour-old broth. Most delightful is the subtle smoky aroma that lingers in the aftertaste…

This is a dish that brings out the best in both texture and flavor, condensing the essence of the mountains and forests into a single soup.

Drink another glass of Qingmu Zui, its mellow body can balance the sweetness of the mountain delicacies, creating a symphony of flavors.

The taste of mountains, the taste of water, the taste of forests, the taste of earth, a lively taste, a mellow taste.

All of humanity's memories of flavors are gathered here.

How delightful this place is!
(End of this chapter)