"Smack!" A bamboo basket paused heavily on the board, Liu Mang wiped a handful of fine sweat on his head, and poured out the contents of the contents. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In the bamboo basket are dozens of sparrow-like birds. Liu Mang had been busy for more than an hour before washing and dissecting the birds and removing their hair.

The grass finch is a small bird that is smaller than a sparrow. Its bones are relatively crispy, you can take one bite at a time, and the meat is relatively tender and juicy, which is very delicious.

And there are many cooking techniques, there are more than 10 kinds in total, most of them are Cantonese cuisine processing techniques, including sweet and sour, salt-baked, jelly, fried ginger and shallots, braised and so on.

And today, Liu Mang is going to use these flowers and sparrows to try to make one of the eighteen secret dishes of the Manhan Mansion - the return of the swallow in spring.

The processed grass finch is first marinated with cooking wine, refined salt, onion juice and ginger powder.

"Master, do you want to help?" Ding Xiaobao asked on tiptoe.

Ding Xiaobao asked the school for a few days off when he came, so Liu Mang simply asked him to stay upstairs for a few days, and then send him back after the holiday.

"No, you can just watch from the sidelines, and you can eat it in a while. ”

"Oh. Ding Xiaobao responded, lowered his head and looked at the new shoes on his feet, very happy.

This morning, Li Ruonan took him to buy special purchases in the largest department store in Jiangdong early in the morning, and changed his whole body from clothes to socks. By the way, I also bought a lot of them for Ding Xiaobao's sister and mother.

No matter who or what happens, as long as it is related to Liu Mang, Li Ruonan will never be stingy.

The grass finch was pickled in the pot, and Liu Mang took another big bowl and put in red dates, longan, wolfberries, and black beans...... Add water and soak.

Then he opened a large bamboo tube, poured out some green rice grains inside, and began to wash it.

These green grains of rice are not rice, but extremely rare bamboo rice.

Bamboo rice is the seed of bamboo, and bamboo rarely blooms, because after the bamboo flower, the bamboo forest will die in pieces.

Its flowers are small and have many colors, and when you smell it closely, it has a faint fragrance. After the bamboo flowers bloom, they produce bamboo rice, that is, the seeds of bamboo, which is the most traditional way for bamboo to continue to future generations.

In many ancient books, it is recorded that bamboo rice is the food of the phoenix, and there is a saying that the phoenix does not inhabit the sycamore, and does not eat the bamboo.

Because it takes 50 to 100 years for bamboo to bloom and bear fruit, and not all bamboos can bloom. So it takes luck and chance to find it.

Remove the crust, wash the bamboo and rice shallots are cute, just like jadeite. And there is also a fragrance of bamboo, which smells very good.

The soaked red dates and other dried goods were mixed with the washed bamboo rice, and Liu Mang chopped a little pork belly and mixed it into the filling to make it.

Carefully fill the filling into the flowers, use a toothpick to sew the mouth on the abdominal cavity, and Liu Mang carried it to the stove.

In the stainless steel bucket on the stovetop, the brine is steaming slightly. Liu Mang soaked all the grass finches and marinated them over slow fire.

"Master, it's so fragrant!" Ding Xiaobao sniffed.

"Come, taste. Liu Mang scooped a little brine with an iron spoon and brought it to his mouth.

"Wow! it's so salty!" Ding Xiaobao took a sip, immediately stuck out his tongue, and said.

"What else does it taste like besides salty?"

"Well, it's very fragrant! It's also very fresh! I think it's pork bones and old chicken. ”

"What else?"

"And star anise, cinnamon, fennel... As for the rest, I can't taste it. Ding Xiaobao replied embarrassedly.

"Yes! You haven't tasted the other spices before, and it's normal that you can't taste them. Liu Mang nodded with satisfaction: "What is the most important thing for a chef? It is the sense of taste! This is as important as the pianist's ears." In the future, you have to learn more and practice more and lay a good foundation. ”

"Master, how do you practice?"

"Attentively!"

"Intentions, how to intentions?" Ding Xiaobao was a little puzzled.

"In the future, you can't eat everything just to satisfy your appetite and stomach. It's about tasting with your heart, carefully distinguishing each ingredient and condiment, and remembering their taste. Habits become natural, and a good sense of taste can be cultivated slowly!"

"I see, master. Ding Xiaobao nodded solemnly.

"It's Master, not Master. Liu Mang corrected: "When your master comes back, you can officially apprentice." ”

After 40 minutes of marinating them in the brine, Liu Mang fished them out and prepared for the next step.

Boil hot water in a pot, add red wine vinegar and honey to mix into crispy water, and then carry the grass and flower finches and pour them evenly with a frying spoon.

The effect of this is to color the finch, and after it is fried in the pan, it will have a layer of crispy skin with a dry fragrance.

"Brother Liu, okay, no. Lin Xiao ran in and asked.

"What's in a hurry, I'm anxious to eat hot tofu. Liu Mang said slowly.

"Don't you be in a hurry, I'll spend a lot of money on bamboo rice for you. In the end, he became a gentleman on the beam for a while, and went to Manhan Mansion to empty their last bit of inventory. ”

"Okay, you can eat a few more in a minute. Liu Mang shook his head with a smile, tied the grass flower finch that had taught crispy water with a red rope, and hung it above the stove to dry.

The process of air-drying is also indispensable, because the scalded grass sparrow, the skin will more or less appear to be water, and it is difficult to hang the crispy water directly. If you fry it immediately, the oil will wash away the crispy water, which will not work as well as it should, and it will also cause uneven coloring when frying.

This method is similar to the Cantonese-style crispy pigeon, which is first marinated and then air-dried, and finally fried in an oil pan, using a series of physical and chemical reactions produced by various ingredients in the crispy water during frying to obtain the effect of crispy skin and fragrant meat, red and bright color.

It's just that the filling is also added to the belly of this flowery bird, and the layering of this taste is even deeper.

"Well, this dish is rarely made even in Manhan Lou, because the best bamboo rice is so rare. Lin Xiao poked the He Huaqi on the stove with his hand and said.

"Can something else replace it?"

"No, this spring swallow returns, and what I taste is the fragrance of bamboo rice in the belly of the flowery bird, and it is not worthy of the name if it is replaced with other ingredients. ”

When the hot air on the stove dried the crispy water on the grass finch, Liu Mang poured cold oil into the pot and prepared to start frying.

When frying, oil temperature is quite important. If the oil temperature is too high, it will cause the finished product to turn black and produce a bitter taste. If the oil temperature is too low, it will not be able to produce enough chemical reaction at the right time, and the effect of crispy and red skin will not be achieved.

Generally speaking, the optimal temperature of the oil is 60% hot, and this is all determined by the chef's eye and experience.

"Well, it's time to get off the pot. When the oil at the bottom of the pot bubbled slightly, Liu Mang lifted the flower finch and gently put it along the edge of the pot.