I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 802 - 351: A Braised Fish Dish That Satisfies Everyone’s Moving Day Cravings

Chapter 802: Chapter 351: A Braised Fish Dish That Satisfies Everyone’s Moving Day Cravings

The so-called Glazed Tofu is not like candied haws, which have a crunchy and sweet syrup coating on the surface.

Instead, it uses the characteristic of starch becoming transparent when heated to coat the tofu with a transparent layer of starch.

This makes the tofu look as bright as glass, hence the name Glazed Tofu. In fact, it’s just regular braised tofu with a glazed starch coating.

The whole process of making the dish is quite simple.

Place the wok on the stove, after sliding the wok, add cooking oil, and before it’s heated, throw in chopped scallion and ginger along with two star anise, and slowly fry until fragrant.

This dish requires the tofu to be intact and well-shaped, with transparent glazed starch, without too many broken ingredients, so the scallion, ginger, and star anise need to be fried in advance over low heat.

The saying ’eat scallions without seeing the scallions, eat ginger without seeing the ginger’ means frying them first to let their flavors infuse into the oil.

After frying, use a sieve to scoop out the scallion, ginger, and star anise.

Then turn to high heat, pour in the prepared minced meat and stir-fry.

After frying until it releases oil, scoop out the minced meat and set it aside in a bowl.

Reheat the oil, pour in the tofu, and start frying, using the oil infused with the aroma of pork fat and scallion ginger to fry the tofu, which enhances the fragrance of the tofu and enriches the texture.

The tofu shouldn’t be fried for too long; it can be turned over when the surface is slightly golden brown.

Next, add two tablespoons of Pork Bone Broth and simmer over low heat, allowing the broth’s aroma to infuse into the tofu.

In the meantime, start seasoning.

Salt, sugar, Light Soy Sauce, a little Dark Soy Sauce, and finally return the previously stir-fried minced meat to the pot to braise with the tofu.

"The old saying goes, simmer tofu a thousand times, fish ten thousand times; the longer tofu and fish are braised, the better they taste. Nowadays, restaurants mostly quick fry and serve, rarely braise for long,"

Wei Qian leaned over, looking at the pot with the tofu colored into a slightly reddish hue by the Dark Soy Sauce, curiously asked:

"How long before it can be served?"

"Soon, this professional stove has strong firepower, plus the tofu has been blanched, as long as the flavor is absorbed, it can be served on the plate,"

While the tofu was braising, Lin Xu occasionally held the wok and shook it.

At this point, the tofu is very tender; if recklessly stirred with a spatula, it could easily break apart.

But using the method of shaking the wok to stir is possible.

Holding the wok and gently shaking it, the tofu and broth inside would start moving in response to the shaking frequency.

This achieves the purpose of flipping the pot without breaking the tofu and effectively prevents sticking.

Besides tofu, this method of shaking the wok can also be used for frying fish and other dishes.

Five minutes later, the broth in the pot has mostly evaporated, with the aroma completely infusing into the tofu. Normally, at this point, you’d add half a spoonful of pork fat.

Using the rich texture of pork fat to enhance the deliciousness of the tofu.

The more oil used, the tastier the tofu, making it even more delightful than pork.

In fact, this dish was historically eaten by those who couldn’t afford meat; pork fat was cheap, a spoonful costs almost nothing, unlike meat, which was truly unaffordable.

But today, let’s skip it; the intention of eating tofu is to be somewhat light, if we use pork fat like this, why not just eat Braised Pork Belly?

Lin Xu holding the pot, uses a spatula to flip gently in the pot, ensuring the minimal remaining broth clings to the surface of the tofu.

Next, he holds the starch water adjusted with potato starch, stirs it twice, and pours it into the pot in a circular motion.

After pouring, it cannot be stirred immediately, or the starch sauce will not adhere to the tofu.

Wait a bit until the white starch in the pot turns transparent, drizzle in some Seasoning Oil, and use the spatula to stir a few times.

Once all the tofu pieces are coated with the transparent starch sauce, turn off the heat and serve.

Just starch sauce would not show the glazed effect distinctly; adding some Seasoning Oil allows the sauce to shine, giving it that feeling of a layer of glass coating.

Serve in a small bowl, each tofu piece still quivering, and every piece is crystal clear.

A single glance will instantly whet one’s appetite.

"Is everything ready? If it’s ready, let’s start eating!"

Today’s employee lunch is somewhat more sumptuous, besides Chestnut Braised Chicken and Glazed Tofu, there are also duck blood with chives stir-fry, Shengjian Chrysanthemum, vinegar-soaked peanuts, and Fish Scale Jelly.

In cold weather, eating some blood can cleanse the lungs, while Chrysanthemum can supply essential vitamins to the body, preventing dry lips and coarse skin.

As for Fish Scale Jelly, ever since it was made in the shop a few days ago, everyone took a keen interest in this clear and transparent jelly, so Lin Xu ordered the fish scales discarded by the fishmonger to make some Fish Scale Jelly daily to sell to customers.

"It’s meal time, why haven’t mom and dad come yet?"

Lin Xu carrying the dishes out of the kitchen, noticed Shen Guofu and Han Shuzhen weren’t there.

"I don’t know, they said they went shopping... no need to wait, let’s eat first; customers will arrive soon."

Just as saying this, Shen Guofu in a baseball jacket and jogger pants, along with Han Shuzhen in matching couple outfit, arrived upstairs. Shen Baobao’s eyes lit up upon seeing their attire:

"Wow, where did these handsome guy and gal come from?"

Shen Guofu wasn’t quite accustomed to these clothes, feeling everyone’s gazes, this billionaire unusually became a bit shy and even reached out to adjust his sleeves:

"I always feel these clothes should be worn by Xiao Xu; I’m at such an age, wearing these always feels a bit less mature and stable..."

Shen Baobao leaned over, surveyed him up and down, and nodded:

"Yes, once a man is over twenty, they should dress maturely, or maybe you should wear dress pants and a Polo shirt, remember to tuck the top into the pants, with a couple of key rings on the belt."