"Good evening, boss. Wang Ruoxi pushed open the wooden door and walked in. Behind her was a tall, noble-looking handsome boy.

"Good evening. Liu Mang, who was sitting on the bar chair and petting the cat, stood up and smiled.

Wang Ruoxi put the bag on the bar, hugged Xiao Liu, who had just broken free from Liu Mang's clutches, and rubbed it.

Liu Mang glanced at Wang Ruoxi's hand and found that she was not holding a mobile phone and a selfie stick, so he asked, "Aren't you broadcasting live today?"

Last time, after Wang Ruoxi left, Liu Mang searched for it with his mobile phone, and only then did he really figure out what the live broadcast was for.

"No, today I came here to eat the fat sausage made by the boss. ”

"I'm sorry, I didn't buy fat sausage today. Liu Mang replied.

"No, what is there to eat?" Wang Ruoxi was a little disappointed.

"For the time being, there are only dumplings, if you want to eat anything else, as long as there are ingredients, I can make them. Liu Mang replied.

"No, can you really do anything?" The young man who came with Wang Ruoxi was a little unconvinced.

"As long as I have the ingredients, I can make them. Liu Mang nodded affirmatively, and then added: "Moreover, I have done better than others." ”

"Haha, boss, you're blowing a bit of a cowhide. I've eaten half the world in Michelin and high-end restaurants, but I haven't heard a chef say he can do anything. The young man burst out laughing.

"Is this your boyfriend?" asked Liu Mang.

"Oh, no. Wang Ruoxi glanced at the young man and shook his head: "He is an ordinary friend of mine." ”

"Ordinary friends?" Hearing Wang Ruoxi say this, the young man's tone was obviously disappointed, and the words changed: "Boss, you really know everything?"

"Yes. ”

"Okay, I'll order a 'Twenty-Four Bridge Bright Moon Night'. ”

"What kind of dish is that?" Wang Ruoxi said in surprise.

"Xiaoxi, you don't know this. The young man's face showed a hint of pride: "I have eaten this dish in Hong Kong, and it tastes like the best in the world! It is made with a whole ham and then ......."

After a few words, the man stopped talking and joked: "Boss, have you ever heard of this dish?"

"Well, I've heard that. Liu Mang nodded: "'Twenty-four Bridges Bright Moon Night' is from martial arts, and Chef Dai Jili, who later copied this dish, asked me to help improve it." ”

"Let you help improve it?" The young man was stunned for a moment, and then laughed so hard that he almost fell: "Boss, if you can help others improve this dish, then you still have to nest in this broken restaurant?" Why don't you say that the president of the United States will invite you to the White House to cook for him?"

"President of the United States?" Liu Mang smiled faintly and did not refute. I thought to myself - it seems that the last time I went to the United States, the black president really invited me.

"Xiaoxi, let's change places, it's still early, let's drive directly to the upstairs in Jiangdong to eat, the dishes there are called real food. The young man said.

"Do you really want to try this dish?" Liu Mang asked after a moment's thought.

"Boss, as long as you do it, I'll eat it. The young man was sure.

"It's okay to make it, but the ingredients used in this dish are very precious, and the price may be ......"

"Boss, I'm a person who has seen the world, you don't have to worry that I can't afford it." The young man looked at Liu Mang meaningfully: "But then again, you are not allowed to fool around, I have eaten this dish, if the taste is not right, I will not pay for it." ”

"Yes, but this dish is a bit time-consuming, so you'll have to wait. ”

"No problem!" replied, clapping his hands.

Liu Mang came to the back kitchen, walked to the place where he slept, and entered the space to take out a Jinhua ham.

The kitchen space has the function of keeping fresh, so many of the ingredients brought by Liu Mang are stored in it.

The moonlit night of the twenty-four bridges is from the twelfth episode of Mr. Jin Yong's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "Kanglong has regrets", and Huang Rong lured Hong Qigong to collect Guo Jing as an apprentice with food.

In the book, Huang Rong made a dish "Twenty-four Bridges Bright Moon Night", the original text is as follows: "The tofu is extraordinary, first cut a ham, dig twenty-four round holes, cut the tofu into twenty-four small balls and put them into the holes, tie the ham and then steam, and wait until it is steamed, the umami of the ham has all reached the tofu, but the ham is discarded and not eaten." As soon as Hong Qigong tasted it, he was naturally overwhelmed. This steamed tofu also has a name for Tang poetry, called 'Twenty-four Bridges Bright Moon Night'.

In fact, it has been written very clearly in the practice book, but in practice, it is not the case at all, because this dish is made up by Mr. Jin Yong at all, and there is no one in reality.

It wasn't until later, through trial and error that Dai Jili, a master of Cantonese cuisine, turned the dish from the book into reality, but the taste was never as delicious as he imagined.

Just before Liu Mang went to the United States, Dai Jili deliberately found Liu Mang. After discussion, the two changed several processes before this 'Twenty-four Bridge Bright Moon Night' became like a medium, and after tasting it, it was overwhelming.

"Huh?" Seeing Liu Mang take out a golden and brilliant ham, the young man was obviously taken aback.

"I'm sorry, I need to go buy something. Liu Mang put the ham down and opened the refrigerator, only to find that the tofu had long since run out.

"Boss, go ahead. Wang Ruoxi replied.

Liu Mang walked out of the shop, but fortunately it was only seven o'clock in the evening, and the supermarket across the alley had not yet closed. He bought a few boxes of inner fat tofu from the supermarket and hurried back immediately.

The ham that Liu Mang took out today is smaller than the ham sold on the market, and the shape is a little thinner, and it doesn't look so plump.

The ham was given to Liu Mang last time when Dai Jili came, and the origin was not ordinary, and it was not sold on the market at all. In the mouth of people in the industry, it has a different name - 戌 (xu) leg.

There is a legend about the origin of the legs: it is said that there was a shopkeeper who specialized in making Jinhua ham, and hired a long-term worker to guard the large vat of cured ham. One day, the long-term worker was bored, looking at the ham in the tank drooling, but the store was strict in guarding, the number of hams in the tank and the number of out of the tank should correspond one by one, and he wanted to eat but did not dare to eat, so he stole the dog outside to satisfy his hunger.

Once a long-term worker stole a yellow dog, skinned and ate meat for a few days, he was unhappy, and when he had to feast on one leg left, the shopkeeper came to see the situation of the ham curing.

Changgong was worried that the shopkeeper said that he didn't do anything to steal dog meat to eat, so in a hurry, he hid the yellow dog leg in the jar of cured ham, but after a few days the ham was out of the tank, and the long worker fished out the dog leg and found that the dog leg and the ham were marinated together with the strange fragrance.

And the shopkeeper then found that there is a vat of ham finished unusually good, I want to find out, under the heavy reward, the long worker of the pickled dog leg said that maybe it is the effect of the dog leg, and the shopkeeper tested it, and sure enough, the ham cured with the dog leg is more delicious. Since then, the rule has been set, a vat of 10 pork legs, put a dog leg with pickle.

Some people say that in the pickling of several hams, there must be a dog leg (dog leg) to enhance the freshness, but if you ask the master who makes the legs, they will definitely smile and neither admit nor deny. What's so greasy in it, the layman is even more unfathomable.

In fact, the reason is very simple, many people nowadays do not eat dog meat, and they also hate others eating dog meat. If you know that the best Jinhua ham needs to be made fresh by dog meat, it is estimated that many people will stay away.

Of course, this secret recipe is only limited to the top Jinhua ham, and it is circulated in the hands of some masters who follow the ancient method of production, and as for the Jinhua ham sold on the market now, it is estimated that there should be no need to add.

The general leg is dark red in color, all lean meat, a bit like the green sauce meat in Beiping. The fleshy wood residue has no umami at all. This is because the essence of the pork leg is absorbed by the pork leg during the pickling process, so it tastes like firewood, and it definitely can't be used in the dish.

However, this leg in Liu Mang's hand is specially made, and when its umami is not dispersed, it is taken out and used in the dish, and the umami is several grades higher than that of ordinary ham, which can be called an excellent product for freshness.

Only with such a high freshness can the flavor penetrate into the tofu during the steaming process, making the 'Twenty-four Bridges Bright Moon Night' in this dish.

Scrape and wash the ham and blanch it whole in a pot of boiling water.

The inner fat tofu is removed from the box, scooped into a ball with a scoop that scoops up the ice cream, and soaked in the chicken broth that boils slightly.

Clear chicken soup is a must-have in Liu Mang's shop, and he usually doesn't put chicken essence and monosodium glutamate in any dish he makes, all relying on this clear chicken soup to increase freshness.

Tofu is soaked in the chicken soup, and the legs in the pot sink up and down in the pot of boiling water.

Liu Mang turned off the fire and fished it out, took a quick knife, first scraped the grease precipitated by the heat on the legs, and then cut off the whole skin on one side of the legs, and then put two cold water into the pot again.

"Xiaoxi, do you often come here to eat?" The young man who had been watching the cooking behind the bar became more and more surprised, and couldn't help but ask.

"No, I've only been here once. Wang Ruoxi licked her lips: "Last time, the boss made me a 'Nine Turns of the Large Intestine, that kind of taste!' It's really only seen in my life!"

"Nine turns of the large intestine?" the young man was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly whispered, "What is it like?"

"Well, the skin is crispy, chewy and fragrant, the color is red and bright, and there are several layers inside. Wang Ruoxi recalled.

"Master!" The young man's eyes when he looked at Liu Mang were immediately very different: "The most authentic 'Nine Turns of the Large Intestine' is indeed exactly the same as what you described, this boss may really be a master of cooking!"

"Cut! I said it when I came, the boss's craftsmanship is amazing!" Wang Ruoxi pursed her lips and replied.

"But why did he live in such a dilapidated little shop, so good-handicraft?

"Everyone has their own ambitions, and the boss must be a person with a story!" Wang Ruoxi looked at Liu Mang, who was busy inside, and said thoughtfully.

Wash the ginger, mash it in a bowl and strain the residue with gauze, leaving only the ginger juice.

The tofu soaked in the boiling chicken broth is carefully removed with a colander and then immersed in ginger juice.

After the chicken broth is soaked, the astringency in the tofu has been completely removed, leaving only the soft texture and sweet taste of the beans.

After soaking in ginger juice, the original color of the ginger is absorbed by the tofu and gradually dyed with a layer of color. This color is like the moon in the night sky, with a serene yellow.

Remove the hot and cold legs from the pot and use a clean towel to carefully wipe off the remaining moisture on them.

Next, Liu Mang took a sharp knife, cut out twelve round holes on the peeled side of the leg, put the prepared tofu into it, sprinkled with a little pepper, covered the whole skin that was cut at the beginning, and finally tied it up with thin cotton threads and sent it to the steamer.

After doing all this, Liu Mang took a white radish and carved it with a carving knife.

"Boss, what level of chef are you?" the young man couldn't help but ask.

"Level?"

"I mean, what level of chef are you? level 1 or special level?"

"Oh, I didn't take it. Liu Mang didn't raise his head, only focused on the radish in his hand: "Cooking is very intuitive, you can know it when you try it, and you don't need to take those useless certificates." ”

"And how many years have you been cooking?" asked the young man again.

"This is the fourth year. Liu Mang replied.

"Isn't it, it's only the fourth year?" the young man sighed, feeling that he had made a big fuss.

Studying cooking for four years should be considered an entry point in the culinary world.

However, when he glanced at Liu Mang's hand, his eyes immediately widened.

As Liu Mang's carving knife turned up and down, an exquisite arch bridge was taking shape in his hand.

"Boss, can you show me?" Seeing that Liu Mang's arch bridge was carved and ready to be put into the basin next to it to soak in water, the young man said.

"Hello, here you go. Liu Mang shook the arch bridge in his hand and handed it over.

"Really...... It's so beautiful!" the young man took the arched bridge carved by Liu Mang, looked left and right, and couldn't put it down.

Different from the arch bridge carved by ordinary chefs for plating, the arch bridge carved by Liu Mang just now is simply extremely fine.

Come closer and take a closer look, there are 12 round holes on the bridge body, and the railings, arches, and cornerstones on it are all available. Even Liu Mang carved small stone lions on the piers of the arched bridge, each stone lion is only the size of peanuts, with full eyebrows and eyes, and different expressions, which is simply vivid and breathtaking.

"Show me, show me. Wang Ruoxi on the side couldn't help but stretch out her hand and said.

"Be careful, don't fall off the ground. The young man gently placed the arch bridge on the bar.

"Wow, boss, you used to specialize in carving, right? How else could you carve such exquisite food carvings in such a short period of time!" Wang Ruoxi sighed.

"It's nothing, usually practice a lot, and you can get familiar with it. Liu Mang smiled disappreliantly, took another cucumber, and carved it.

"Boss, with this skill, you really don't need to take any chef certificates!

"Uh...... Is it?" Liu Mang pushed the old-fashioned glasses on his face with some weakness and laughed dryly.