The aroma of beef wafts out faintly, at first it is faint and imperceptible, and then it sways lightly and gracefully like silk in the breeze, soothing people's hearts.

Su Miao removed the fat and foam from the washed beef, cut it into pieces, twisted it with a reamer, put it into the pot, added chicken bones and clear and cold well water at the same time, stirred the meat with a spoon a few times, put it in a cool place to marinate for more than a quarter of an hour, and then boiled the pot on the fire, skimmed off the foam, and moved to a slight fire to simmer slowly.

Peel and wash the carrots, celery and shallots, cut them into slices and put them in a soup pot, strain out three egg whites and put them in a bowl, add a little cold water and stir well, then stir lightly and pour them into the pot, cook over low heat, cook for 10 minutes and add a little salt to taste.

In addition, raise another pot, put it on a sieve, sift the soup through a sieve and then put it into the soup pot, the action must be gentle when passing through the sieve, too rough action will cause the substances in the soup to be destroyed.

After straining the soup through a sieve, clean the pot where the broth has been boiled, put a new clean cotton cloth on top, pour the soup into the pot through the cotton cloth, and sift it over and over again until the beef broth turns into a light amber broth, like a clear and clean tea soup, and then put the pot on the flame of the smallest fire, and slowly simmer with the smallest fire.

Beef tea, light color, clear and elegant. A small soup with three different parts of beef essence concentrated in it - beef tendon, beef brisket, and beef tenderloin. In order to make the most delicious beef consommé, different parts of the beef are added in different processes, first the beef tendon is boiled, then the beef brisket, and finally the beef tenderloin is ground into a meat puree and hanging soup. In this way, all the essence is refined in this soup. After that, it is slowly boiled with a variety of selected fresh spices, and the impurities in the soup are removed by a unique process, and the soup is rich in flavor. It is clear and transparent, and the color is as light as tea.

This series of processes seems simple, but the truth is true for everything, and the more you look at simple things, the more difficult it is to actually do them.

The beef used in the soup is the finest and is carefully selected and sifted. The skin of beef must be free of red spots, and the muscles on the meat must be shiny and elastic, and the red color must be uniform. The colors are vibrant. In addition, the fat on the beef must be as white as snow and have a shallow shiny. The taste of beef must have a slight flavor when touched. The beef is extremely elastic, and the depression will recover immediately after acupressure, and the surface of the meat is slightly moist and the texture is firm. Non-sticky.

The second is the heat. This is the most important of all soups, and it goes without saying that mastery of heat is the greatest indication of a chef's skill, and it is also an essential skill for a chef.

One of the most important keys to this beef soup is the secret spices.

The secret spice of beef tea is not fixed, and the recipe is different for each person in each store, although the boiled beef tea is commonly known as "beef tea", but the taste of each cup of beef tea is different. There are naturally good and bad, good and bad except for the material and heat of the beef. The rest is on this spice.

Su Miao was obviously prepared, and she used a spice bag that she had specially made in advance.

I was very surprised by the aftertaste, I didn't expect her to go out to swim in the lake for a clean repair, she actually changed her previous laziness and became aggressive, watching her slowly and calmly stir the soup pot with a soup spoon when cooking the soup, as if she was painting, it was false to say that she was not pleased, and she could see that her face once again appeared like a mountain and flowing water, and a trace of mixed feelings surged in his heart, as if something that had not been seen for a long time appeared again, surprise, relief, joy.

The corners of his lips hooked slightly, and he smiled.

Su Miao seems to be doing the most familiar thing in her life, comfortable and quiet.

Chop the Jiangnan chives of the real estate, put them in a baking tray, put them in the oven, and roast them on the upper and lower fires for a while, so that the clear and beautiful fragrance of the chives is unreservedly emanated. Heat the fresh milk, fill it with yeast and let it sit until the warm milk melts the yeast completely with its own heat.

Cut the butter softened at room temperature into small pieces and heat it in water until it melts into a liquid state. Put the flour, salt and yeast in a basin, pour in the melted butter, milk mixture and caster sugar, stir well and knead into a smooth dough. Add the drained chopped chives, and when the chopped chives are well mixed into the dough, cover the dough with a clean, moist cotton cloth and let the dough relax in the sun for two quarters of an hour.

Sprinkle a little flour on the board to prevent adhesion, roll out the loose dough into a round dough sheet with a thickness of two millimeters, cut the dough sheet into equal rectangles with a slender knife, brush a thin layer of meat oil on the dough sheet, insert some breathable holes in the dough sheet with the tip of the knife, let the dough stand and ferment for about half a quarter of an hour, put it into the iron plate with clear oil in turn, put the iron plate into the oven, and bake it over the upper and lower heat for about half an hour, and a plate of fragrant and crispy soda biscuits is made.

That's right, this is what Su Miao is best at, although it is rarely used because of the restrictions of ingredients and regions, but it is the subject she is best at and the subject she focused on in her previous life. It was just yesterday, on Shihu, that is, after hearing the story of the boatman's mother who brought the sour soup from Qianzhou to Suzhou, and after the boatman told her that when the sour soup first entered Suzhou, it was also a transformation process from no one to being tried to accept and then to becoming popular, she suddenly realized that she was going to follow the food culture of Yueliang for too long, so long that she had forgotten that she had a lot of things, so long that she began to subconsciously suppress the knowledge she had learned before. After a long time, she began to habitually hypnotize herself Yue Liangguo's food culture could not accept her overly modern things, so while using the traditional food techniques she had learned, she gradually forgot her former self, she began to be assimilated, she began to localize, she began to give up what she originally had, and she began to discard the furnishings she once had as useless in the corner of her heart.

Deep down, she has always been worried that Yue Liangguo's food culture will conflict with the food culture she has practiced and adhered to, because it will conflict, so it will not be popular, especially after trying a few small experiments that are not unsuccessful but not successful, and the rejection of her by the local culture makes her dare not try again. Perhaps since then, she has become stagnant.

Because people won't take it, they don't do it anymore. Because people love local food. So she began to learn to localize. Because she learned to localize, she unconsciously gave up her original one. Because she abandoned the glorious path she had already walked and plunged headlong into an unknown road full of thorns, she took the aura of once brilliance and walked on a road that should have been practiced as a rookie but deliberately pretended to be a master, giving up the past, but not learning to understand the future. That's why she became stagnant.

Maybe she came alone because she was too lonely, in order to integrate herself into the world as soon as possible, so she subconsciously gave up those novel and unacceptable things. Instead of learning and working hard for those localized things, all this is just because she wants to become the same person as the people around her quickly, she is no longer alone, she is the same as everyone else. It's like a native of Yueliang. She is no different from others, she is her, a Su Miao who was born in the prosperous era of Qingyuan to make money to support her family, beautiful as a flower, happy and chic.

Perhaps this idea is too strong, so she forgot the meaning of being a chef, that is, to turn her novel food that she thinks is delicious but people feel strange and repulsed into a symbol of the times that is popular all over the streets and alleys, leaving a strong mark in the history of food.

Aftertaste watched in amazement as she threw away all the spices and beef, leaving only a bowl of consommé, which was incredible. Ask:

"Don't you even have meat left?" This beef is stewed so deliciously and softly that it will definitely be a plus when placed in a soup cup. However, she discarded them all without cherishing them, and even he felt very sorry for him, who had always been calm.

Su Miao shook her head and said lightly, "This is beef tea." As he spoke, he poured a spoonful of amber soup into the cylindrical white porcelain soup cup, and when it was eight minutes full, he covered it with a snow-white porcelain lid, and then placed two crispy and sweet soda biscuits in a snow-white porcelain dish that went with the soup cup.

"Beef tea?" Aftertaste was stunned, and went to see the bowl of clear soup, because he watched her make it, so he knew that this soup was made of beef, so he didn't think, listening to her say this, and then looking at the clear soup, it was really like tea, and then he understood the meaning of "beef tea" she said, even he couldn't help but exclaim, "It's really like tea!" ”

Su Miao hooked her lips and smiled.

A beef consommé boiled with the highest quality of fresh and tender beef and several spices, the soup is like tea, not a grain of oil star, this is a soup with a long history and profound heritage, Su Miao drank this drink in a foreign country in the coldest time when she was on a study tour, at that time it was the time when the water and soil were not accustomed to the sick body, a kind old man who opened a delicate western restaurant gave her a cup of steaming beef tea, when a mouthful of mellow and delicious beef tea entered the throat, As if there was a beautiful and desolate piece of music that evoked memories that had long been forgotten, she remembered many memories that she had forgotten for a long time, her childhood, her grandfather who had passed away, and her parents who had died young.

It was an experience she will never forget for the rest of her life, and now she remembers it little by little.

Orthodox beef tea is stewed at a low temperature, very similar to the hanging soup in Chinese food, very elegant, during which the foam is constantly skimmed, and finally the beef puree, chicken puree, egg white and eggshell powder are added to absorb the tiniest impurities, so as to hang out the clear soup without oil, impurities, clear enough to sink a copper plate at the bottom of the soup and even read the casting year on it.

Naturally, the judges didn't throw copper plates into the soup, but when the painted porcelain spoon was put into the soup and the tiniest pattern on the porcelain spoon could be seen, everyone was shocked, they couldn't believe that it was actually beef soup made from beef. When I scooped up a spoonful and took a sip of it hot, the comfortable taste smoothed my taste buds, and I had never been so calm, never so free, never so happy.

A cup of clear as tea but rich and mellow beef tea, with two crispy and luscious soda biscuits, seems to be light, but in fact it is thick, clear but not thin, thick but not greasy, sweet wheat fragrance sets off the true and pure beef consommé, even if there has never been a memory of being in a foreign land, but can empathize with that touch of nostalgia, so that after tasting a sip, she frowned, and asked her suspiciously:

"What are you missing?"

Su Miao just laughed, laughing and not speaking.

"Little master, why are your eye circles red?" Zhao He looked at Su Yan's moist eyes and asked in surprise.

Su Yan pursed a pair of small mouths, wiped his eyes, and said as if crying: "I suddenly miss my mother." ”

"...... "How old are you this year, Zhao He was speechless.

Under the stage, on the judges' bench, Xia Chang looked at Guo Xi, who had a white beard, hanging his head in disbelief, a thin-skinned and snow-white old face was red, and even the corners of his eyes were red, and asked in surprise:

"Old Guo, are you okay?"

Guo Xi was silent for a while, suddenly raised his head to the sky, closed his eyes, and after a long while, sighed faintly:

"The river is more than white, and the mountains and blue flowers are burning ......"

“…… This spring has passed and passed, and when is the year of return. A lament, also full of emotion and poignant, sounded with a natural sharp sound, and continued faintly.

Guo Xi glanced at Shen Erniang, who was sitting on the special judging bench and also looked up at the sky, and was surprised, not understanding why she, a woman in a wealthy state, had such a sigh.

Shen Erniang quietly looked at the sky, then picked up the soup cup and took a sip slowly, as if there was no one around, as if she was immersed in her own world.

On the stage, Tong Ran, who was complacent and had a winning expression on his face, saw this incredible scene that happened under the stage, the hand that gently shook the folding fan paused, his eyes were slightly sunken, and his eyebrows that flew obliquely into his temples frowned.

After standing and drinking a cup of beef tea, Master Jiang wiped his mouth and put it down, walked to the golden gong with a smile, struck it with the golden mallet, and said with a loud smile:

"In the second game of the third round, please judge Miss Su and Tong Sigongzi!"

There was no hesitation in this rating, and all the judges took the scoring cards and naturally raised their cards when it was their turn, without any pause.

Shark fin soup, four, five, five, four, five, five......

Beef tea, five, five, five, five, four, five......

In the second match of the third round of the Qin'an Division Finals of the Kitchen Competition, shark fin soup VS beef tea, with a total score of 72 points to 75 points, Su Miao completed a reversal that surprised everyone by three points!

A bowl of seemingly ordinary beef tea actually defeated Tianjiu Wings, one of the eight treasures of Yue Liang Kingdom, I don't know whether to say that her craftsmanship is really outstanding, or whether she is bold enough to dare to fight Tian Jiu Wings with beef, or is it that the fourth prince of Tong is playing abnormally today?

Whether it is abnormal or not, only Tong Ran himself knows, he casually shook the folding fan in his hand, a pair of willow eyes fell on the judges who were still talking, the corners of his lips were tensed, and he was silent. (To be continued.) )