NFBE Chapter 208: Curly Ear Lotus Root Slices
Chapter 208: Curly Ear Lotus Root Slices
"Peel the taro and lotus root." Su Jinjin picked up the taro and lotus root and handed them to Teng Yiyi.
Teng Yi took it with both hands and asked, "What kind of dishes are these two making?"
Su Jinjin: "Taro is used to make taro cake, and lotus root is used to make lotus root slices."
"I know taro cake, but what are lotus root slices with curled ears?" Teng Yi asked puzzledly.
Su Jinjin took out the meat she was going to use from the refrigerator and said, "It's lotus root slices fried with black fungus and white fungus. I saw it in a book."
Teng Yiyi: "You've only seen it in books, but you've never done it?"
Su Jinjin: "Well, I haven't done it before. I want to try it today."
Teng Yiyi was very skeptical: "Will it be delicious? Why do I suddenly feel a little unsure? How about waiting for Uncle An to come back and make it?"
Although I've watched Su Jinjin's livestreams before, making dumplings, cookies, and other dishes with impressive skill, and the dishes she posts on her WeChat Moments look appetizing, I've always wanted to go eat there. But, will trying something new all of a sudden really be good? Black fungus, white fungus, and lotus root don't go together; it feels like a dark dish.
"Don't worry, I won't let you get poisoned. Guyu likes the food I cook. Please trust my cooking skills." Su Jinjin gave her a reassuring look.
"Okay." Teng Yi turned around and looked for a peeler. "If this dish doesn't taste good, I won't eat it. I'll eat something else. There will always be something delicious, like the smashed cucumber you made yesterday. It was very good."
Su Jinjin laughed: "How come you're both putting down and praising me when you say that?"
Teng Yi looked around but couldn't find the peeler. This was Su Jinjin's house after all. She had only come in to wash dishes at the sink before, so now she couldn't find a small thing.
"Where's the paring knife?"
Su Jinjin had already taken out all the dishes she wanted to cook from the refrigerator. Seeing that Teng Yiyi couldn't find the peeler, she asked Teng Yiyi to move aside a little while she went to look for it.
In less than two seconds, Su Jinjin took out a paring knife from the side of the iron rack where knives were hung: "Here, it's."
"Oh, and this." Su Jinjin took out a pair of disposable gloves and gave them to Teng Yiyi: "If you peel the taro with gloves on and touch it directly, your hands will itch."
"Okay." Teng Yi took it, put on gloves for his fair little hands, then squatted next to the trash can and peeled the taro and lotus root.
Today, Su Jinjin planned to make six dishes in total. Besides the braised spareribs she'd agreed to with Cheng Guyu, and the taro cake and lotus root slices she'd just mentioned with Teng Yiyi, she also planned to make chicken soup, stir-fried beef with onions and bell peppers, and stir-fried corn with minced meat.
After she made arrangements with Teng Yiyi, she steamed the rice, soaked the black fungus and white fungus, and then stewed the chicken soup.
Because soup always takes longer to cook, make the soup first.
For today's soup, Su Jinjin planned to make something healthy and refreshing, so she put not only mushrooms and carrots, but also coix seed and poria cocos in the pressure cooker for making chicken soup.
She closed the lid of the pressure cooker and plugged it in, letting Teng Yi finish peeling the skin.
Teng Yi asked her, "What should I do next?"
“Can you cut vegetables?”
Teng Yiyi: "What do you think? After leaving home, I rely on takeout and dining in restaurants."
"Okay." It's true that one can't ask too much of Teng Yi, a kitchen rookie. His knife skills were so messy at the beginning that he couldn't even figure out how to cut a potato.
"Then you peel the corn." Su Jinjin handed Teng Yi a small vegetable basket and two sweet corns: "This is for making fried corn with minced meat."
Teng Yi knew how to peel corn, so she took it happily.
Su Jinjin chopped up the peeled taro and lotus root, cutting the taro into small dices the size of an index finger and the lotus root into slices. She also prepared the ingredients for the stir-fry: onions, bell peppers, chopped green onions, minced garlic, minced ginger, etc.
Su Jinjin moved very quickly. It didn't take her long to prepare each ingredient, clean it up, put it in a small bowl, and then arrange it in two rows, as neat as a trained queue.
Teng Yi was shocked when she saw this. She had only peeled one corn when Su Jinjin made a bunch of things. "Were you a chef in your previous life? How come you are so skillful?"
Su Jinjin said as she cut the beef slices, "You'll get it once you get used to it."
She enjoys the process of cooking, so she learns quickly.
After cutting the beef, it's time to process the pork.
The pork they bought was pork belly, which was of very good quality. Su Jinjin divided it into two halves. One half was put into a meat grinder and minced into minced meat for sweet corn stir-fry, and the other half was cut into small cubes the same size as the taro cubes she had just cut to make taro cake.
After she finished cutting the meat, Teng Yiyi had just peeled the sweet rice, and after washing it, the dishes were ready.
"You can go out now." Su Jinjin said to Teng Yi.
Teng Yiyi: "Can't I watch you cook here?" She wanted to see how Su Jinjin prepared dinner tonight.
Su Jinjin: "Of course it is possible, but the smoke might be a bit heavy."
"It's okay, the range hood is on, it won't be a big deal."
"Well, you can stand and watch if you like."
Su Jinjin poured the rice flour needed to make taro cake into a large basin, added water little by little, made the rice flour into a thick rice paste, then added a little vegetable oil and stirred it evenly, then set it aside.
Then heat oil in a pan and fry the diced meat until the skin is slightly charred. Then add minced garlic and diced taro, stir-fry for a few times and add salt and soy sauce to taste.
At this time, the aroma of meat and taro had fully mixed together, stimulating the fragrance. Teng Yiyi smelled it and said to her, "I think it's ready to eat. I can eat it with rice."
Su Jinjin didn't think so: "It tastes better if it's made into taro cake."
As she spoke, Su Jinjin added the fried diced meat and diced taro into the rice paste she had just prepared, mixed well, poured it into a mold, and put it into the steamer to steam.
Then make the next dish, braised pork ribs. After blanching the ribs, fry them with sugar to coat them with sugar color. Then fry star anise, bay leaves and other small ingredients. After they are fragrant, add the ribs coated with sugar color over low heat, color them with light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, then add cooking wine and a bowl of hot water to stew. Finally, add a little salt and reduce the sauce.
Su Jinjin did each step in an orderly manner. Teng Yiyi was amazed and said, "That's amazing. It's like she got the true teachings from Uncle An."
The next dishes to be made include lotus root slices with curled ears, stir-fried beef with onions and bell peppers, and stir-fried sweet corn with minced meat. These are all very common dishes and are very easy to make.
After heating the oil in a pan, sauté the small ingredients until fragrant, then add the vegetables to be stir-fried in order, and finally season.
After Su Jinjin finished cooking the stir-fried beef with lotus root slices and onions and bell peppers, the braised spareribs that had been stewing earlier could be reduced in sauce.
Now there are not only Su Jinjin and Teng Yiyi in the kitchen, but also two little guys, Cheng Guyu and Ling Yun.
They smelled the aroma of the food and came over to see.
Bai Mengyan and Su Beian were also standing at the kitchen door. If there weren't already so many people in the kitchen, they would have gone in too.
Although I knew my daughter could cook, I was still surprised to see her cook so much.
Su Beian had just returned home and hadn't even put away his fishing nets when he came over to take a look.