bookbashuk Chapter 38 Beef, Pig, and Chicken
Chapter 38 Beef, Pig, and Chicken
The next day, Teacher Lan talked about the grading and feeding of pigs in the morning.
Pork is the most common ingredient in all cuisines and is also a key focus of study.
"You've all eaten pork, right?" Teacher Lan had applied hair wax to the part of her head that covered her hair today, and it shimmered under the light. Yesterday, because he kept shaking his head, this section of hair that was combed from the side to cover the top of his head kept falling down, and he had to keep tucking it back up with his hands. Today, he didn't need to do that; it was stuck on perfectly.
Hui Muslim chefs usually teach privately and wouldn't attend a cooking class like this, but Teacher Lan still asked.
"Alright, let's begin today's lesson: the grading and preparation of pork. You're probably thinking, 'It's just pork, right? Buy it, cut it up, and stir-fry it. What's there to talk about?' Right? No, we're chefs, not home cooks. A pig is all meat, but knowing which cut is best for which purpose, how to cut it, and how to process it—you need to be proficient in all of these to make good dishes. The taste of the same dish will be completely different depending on the cut of meat from different regions."
"You can eat the whole pig, except for the bristles; there's nothing wasted. Bones? You can eat bones too, it depends on how you cook them."
"The book says how many parts a pig has? 15? Right? Oh, right, I made that up. It's the common division method in all chef's textbooks. But in fact, a pig can be divided into 18 parts. Besides the 15 shown in the book, there are ribs and the spine, which can be cooked separately, so you definitely have to count them, right? So where is the 18th? It's a whole piece of meat next to the tenderloin, above the spine, commonly called cucumber meat or small tenderloin. This meat can be eaten raw; it's the most tender part of the pig. That's the 18th."
"And internal organs? Hmm, then you can divide them yourself. Your pig can be divided into about forty parts."
"Let's not talk about pig's head, okay? Pig's head meat, upper jaw, tongue, ears, brain, and eyes are all served as separate dishes. But relatively speaking, there are only two ways to process pig's head, so there's not much to say. You'll know once you've eaten it. You haven't eaten it? Your life is truly pathetic."
"I won't talk about pig's feet anymore. As for the internal organs? I'll talk about them later, when we're cooking. It's pointless to talk about them now, you won't remember them anyway."
"Seems like there's not much to talk about. It all boils down to cooking, which is what comes next. If I talk about the rest now, what will the teacher do? Won't they fight me?"
"Let's talk about cutting pork. You guys have cut meat before, right? Zhang Wei, you've never cut meat before? Then what are you doing here? You've got guts, young man."
"When the pigs reach us, they are always half and half, but in reality, both sides are exactly the same."
"Each piece of meat is wrapped in connective tissue. Use a sharp knife or a slicing knife to separate the meat along the connective tissue, so that each part of the meat is intact. Once you've passed this step, you've mastered the basics of meat separation."
"After cutting it into pieces, remove the tendons and membranes from each piece of meat. Oh? You can eat that too, but you have to process it separately. If you cook it with the meat, you won't be able to chew it. If you cook a dish with the tendons and membranes, your restaurant will get smashed up."
"Pork belly can be used for braised pork belly, stir-fried vegetables, or even Sichuan-style twice-cooked pork. Tenderloin can be a separate dish. Twice-cooked pork? It's best not to use tenderloin for twice-cooked pork; it's too tough. You should use the rump, the tip of the buttock. Of course, as long as you don't use fatty cuts, it's fine; most people won't be able to tell the difference. But if you're competing or want to become a master chef, the choice of ingredients is very important. You're not going to be a master chef? You're just going to cook for your wife? Then you can disregard what I said. Are you really going to learn this and go back to cook for your wife? Don't talk to me; I'm afraid I'll pick up your silliness."
"I suddenly feel very confused and I don't have the enthusiasm to continue talking to you. Actually, being a chef requires hands-on experience. You have to practice and try constantly, and then you'll understand immediately when I explain it to you. You wouldn't understand even if I worked myself to death here, at most you'd just roll your eyes. I feel like all my hard work is meaningless."
"What are you laughing at? You're a kitchen idiot who's never even chopped vegetables or touched a knife, and you're sitting right in front of me in the front row. Who gave you the nerve? I only lost confidence because I saw you when I looked down. Do you even know where a pig's tail is?"
Zhang Wei sat there with a flushed face, while Xia Maosheng next to him was laughing so hard he was leaning on the table and smoking. The classroom was filled with laughter.
"Alright, let's talk about it anyway. There's a little rhyme about cutting meat that you all have to remember: 'Cut beef across the grain, cut chicken with the grain, cut pork diagonally.' What does that mean? When cutting beef, cut the knife across the grain. When cutting chicken, cut with the grain. For pork, it doesn't really matter how you cut it, but the standard way is to cut diagonally, so that there's an angle between the knife and the grain. This way, the dish will look better and taste better."
"Why? Beef has coarse fibers, and our human chewing strength isn't enough, meaning you can't chew it. Cutting it across the grain makes it easier to chew, and it falls apart easily. Chicken is the opposite; its muscle fibers are too fine. If you cut it across the grain, it falls apart as soon as it hits the pot. Pork is better; you can cut it however you like, and the firmness of the meat is just right for our chewing strength, so it tastes good no matter how you eat it."
"Sheep? What sheep? Are you a troublemaker sent by another training class? If you admit it now, I'll refund your tuition."
"There are too many types of meat to go through in detail. Beef, pork, and chicken are typical examples. Medium-sized animals like sheep and dogs are similar to pigs, while large animals like deer and horses are similar to cows. Poultry is similar to chicken. Just figure it out yourself. If you really can't understand it, just buy some and try it. That's easier to understand than me explaining it this way."
"Actually, it's not just meat that's divided like this, vegetables are too. Can you chew celery if you cut it lengthwise? Get lost, I'm talking about normal people."
"Cabbage is one of the most common and frequently eaten vegetables in our lives. In fact, cabbage is not suitable for being cut crosswise, as it will fall apart when stir-fried."
"Potatoes? Potatoes are like pork in a dish; you can cook them any way you want, and they'll taste good no matter how you cook them. If they don't taste good, it's because you don't know how to cook them."
……
Xiao Wei rode his bicycle with Xia Maosheng sitting on the back seat, and the two of them headed towards Sanhao Street.
Fengtian Sanhao Street is located next to Wulihe Stadium. It is a national-level high-tech development zone built in the same year as Zhongguancun in Beijing. It is a distribution center and technology center for IT software, hardware and electronic industrial products in the five northeastern provinces, covering an area of 30 hectares and with a street length of nearly 3 kilometers.
In 90, Sanhao Street was already very prosperous. To be honest, at that time, the development of Shanghai and Guangdong was still far behind that of Fengtian. The Ruhr of the East was not an empty name.
If it weren't for the government's strict regulations, and if each province were given the opportunity and power to develop independently, Fengtian would undoubtedly be the number one city in the country after Beijing, without exception. Unfortunately, it didn't have such an opportunity, and was only constantly being drained of resources. But even so, Fengtian is developing rapidly and unstoppably.
This is an ambitious city.
As you approach Sanhao Street, the road suddenly seems to narrow, an illusion created by the crowds of people and vehicles packed together. Only here do you truly understand what bustling crowds, shoulder-to-shoulder throngs, and the ocean of people mean, and only then do you realize firsthand just how many Chinese people there are.
Even the temperature felt several degrees higher than in other places. Xiao Wei unbuttoned his shirt and started sweating after being inside for a while.