Gourd chicken is a famous Shaanxi delicacy that originated in the Tang Dynasty and is said to have been created by the home chef of Wei Zhi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, during the reign of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.

According to legend, Wei Zhi is a person with fine clothes and jade food, poor and luxurious, and is extremely particular about meals.

One day, Wei Zhi ordered the family chef to cook tender chicken, and the first chef made it by steaming and then frying it, Wei Zhi thought that the meat was too old and did not meet the tender taste standard, so he was very annoyed and ordered his family to whip the chef to death by fifty times.

The second chef cooks the chicken by boiling it, steaming it and then frying it, and the requirements for tenderness are met, but because the chicken has been tossed through three processes, the bone and flesh have been separated and broken into pieces. Wei Zhi suspected that the cook was stealing food, so he didn't allow the cook to argue, and ordered the cook to beat him to death.

The third chef learned the lessons of the last two cooking sessions, tying the chicken with string before cooking, then boiling, steaming and frying. The chicken cooked in this way is not only mellow and tender, but also the chicken body is complete like a gourd, which makes Wei Zhi satisfied.

Later, people called the chicken cooked in this way "gourd chicken", and its production method has been handed down to the end.

After listening to Feng Weiguo's introduction, Xu Zhuo didn't think that this dish was so novel, and he was a little speechless about the fact that the chef was beaten to death because he didn't do it well.

When will the chef really stand up? Can the world be better, and there is discrimination against chefs everywhere......

There are many ways to prove that you are extravagant, so why do you have to use the chef as a backdrop?

As he spoke, Feng Weiguo had already put away the chickens.

However, he was still a little dissatisfied with the chicken that Xu Zhuo bought: "To make gourd chicken, it is best to use the kind of gourd chicken produced in the suburbs of Xi'an, which is not big, more than two catties a year long, and the meat is delicate and firm, which is the best material for making gourd chicken." ”

After speaking, he carried the little hen that Xu Zhuo bought, and shook his head in disappointment: "Although this kind of chicken is good, it is too tender, and it is easy to become thin after boiling, steaming and frying." ”

Zhao Jinma next to him shouted dissatisfiedly: "It's just a chicken to see what you beep, if you can't do it, let me come, our fried eight pieces in the Central Plains are not inferior to gourd chicken!"

Fried eight pieces is really good, and even Lu Xun wrote an article to praise it.

But compared with the gourd chicken in the Tang Dynasty, it is a little less interesting in terms of cultural heritage and celebrity effect.

After all, celebrities and dignitaries who have been to Xi'an have tasted this delicacy, and even during the Xi'an Incident, at the "Peace Banquet" led by Premier Zhou, gourd chicken was still the main dish.

Feng Weiguo was babbling about the past of the gourd chicken, and at the same time cleaning up the fluff on the chicken.

Then, he picked up the kitchen knife, put the knife into the back of the chicken, broke the chicken's backbone through the middle, took out the internal organs, chopped off the chicken feet, and then soaked them in clean water.

One is to remove the blood, and the other is to relax the chicken's epidermis.

lest the chicken skin break when it is boiled in the pot later.

Half an hour later, Feng Weiguo slowly rolled up his sleeves and started to make.

However, his appearance as a master made Zhao Jinma unhappy again: "Hurry up, what kind of pose are you here, do you think you are Xu Jimin?"

Feng Weiguo fished the chicken out of the pot and prepared to cook it in the pot.

But before that, the chickens need to be tied with hemp rope first.

This prevents the chicken from breaking and chipping, and also allows the chicken to form a gourd shape during the cooking process.

The specific method is to take the hemp rope and start tying it from under the root of the chicken wings, until the root of the chicken thigh, that is, tie the whole part of the chicken belly with hemp rope in a circle.

After tying up, Feng Weiguo put the chicken in a pot of cold water, added green onion and ginger cooking wine, and started the fire.

When the water in the pot is boiling, he uses a spoon to skim off the foam, then turns down the heat, covers the pot, and continues to simmer for half an hour.

While doing it, he told Xu Zhuo about the precautions here, such as when cooking chicken, you should use water, and you can't put peppercorns in it, let alone salt, sugar and other seasonings.

Be sure to cook the chicken thoroughly with water first, so that the taste and texture of the chicken will be better.

And when it is cooked, it is steamed with the broth, and even if it is steamed for a long time, the taste of the broth will not be too heavy, and it will not suppress the tenderness of the chicken.

In addition, boiling it in water can also get the original chicken soup, and this chicken soup is the original soup that will be used to steam the chicken later.

After listening to Feng Weiguo's explanation, Xu Zhuo had a deeper understanding of the dish of gourd chicken.

I used to only know that this dish needs to be boiled first, then steamed and then fried, but I didn't expect that there are so many tricks in just one cooking.

Sure enough, the delicious dishes are tossed.

After the chicken was cooked, because they had to wait for half an hour, Feng Weiguo and Zhao Jinma had nothing to do, and began to instruct the apprentices in the back kitchen.

From the skills of stir-frying, the control of the heat, to the tricks of cutting piers and the mastery of strength, there are various instructions.

Anyway, when I see what everyone is doing, I will point out a few words.

Some of their words are clichés, and some are really the experiences that the two have summed up in their work practice.

After all, after a lifetime in the back kitchen, even if you are not good at observing, you can find a lot of rules.

And Xu Zhuo took advantage of this moment to eat something.

Although he was looking forward to eating gourd chicken, in addition to cooking this dish for half an hour, he had to steam it for an hour or two later, which was too long, and Xu Zhuo really couldn't wait.

And these lo-mei in my own store, although they are not the same style as gourd chicken, they are definitely not inferior to gourd chicken.

Half an hour later, Feng Weiguo came to the stove where the chicken was cooking, turned off the fire on the stove, and lifted the lid of the pot.

Suddenly, a delicious smell of chicken wafted out of the pot.

The chicken in the pot is thoroughly cooked, and the skin of the chicken has turned golden brown, which looks very tempting.

And the chicken broth from which the chicken is boiled is also floated with a thick layer of chicken fat.

Although there are no seasonings and spices in this chicken, it still smells quite gluttonous.

Feng Weiguo carefully fished out the chicken in the pot, and at this time, under the effect of the hemp rope, the chicken belly had already been put in.

The two thighs of the chicken are contracted and naturally curled up on both sides of the chicken, making the lower part of the chicken look rounded.

This shape is paired with the thin part of the hemp rope in the middle, and the chicken breast and chicken wings are slightly expanded, and it does look like a gourd.

This is probably the origin of the name gourd chicken.

Feng Weiguo fished out the chicken and put it directly into a basin.

Then put spices such as pepper, star anise, cinnamon, bayleaf grass, pulver, etc., and add condiments such as rock sugar, salt, light soy sauce, and cooking wine.

Then use a spoon to scoop in the original soup of the boiled chicken, and cover the chicken.

Then cover the mouth of the basin with a layer of plastic wrap, put it in the steamer and start steaming.