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Master Gao, who has always been "unforgiving in his mouth",
And in the circle of friends "firing",
Criticize the Eight Treasure Duck at a restaurant
"Looks like quail"
"The filling is too hard and the soup tastes good"
"Ducks are not enough"
"The sauce also uses orange powder",
Even bluntly:
This is not a "eight treasure duck" made by a Cantonese chef!
In fact
Master Gao has been "mad" many times because of the Eight Treasure Duck.
result
What should the "Eight Treasure Duck" in traditional Cantonese cuisine look like?
traceability
Big-name dishes at the feast
According to research, the Eight Treasure Duck has appeared as early as the Qing Dynasty. In the old days, the Imperial Diet of the Qing Dynasty included eight treasure duck soup, eight treasure pot roast duck hot pot one product, boiled eight treasure duck one product, eight immortal duck and other dishes, which were often eaten by the emperor and empress. Some restaurant connoisseurs pointed out that the current Cantonese-style Eight Treasure Duck was also handed down from that time. In the past, chickens, geese and ducks had to be feasted on, and the feast of big fish and big meat was magnificent, so the eight treasure duck was also a well-known festive feast dish at that time. And because of its strong flavor, Cantonese people who "spring and summer are light, autumn and winter are happy" prefer to enjoy eight treasure ducks in autumn and winter.
At the same time, Babao duck is also a complicated handmade dish, which usually needs to be booked in advance to be freshly prepared. But as people's tastes change, today's Eight Treasure Duck doesn't have to wait until the big feast in autumn and winter to eat it.
Eight treasure ducks made by Master Gao himself
Chef Gao said that a traditional Cantonese-style Eight Treasure Duck, its color should be as attractive as a roast goose, duck meat should be fragrant and smooth, the filling requires soft and smooth taste, and complements the duck meat. In a word: full of color and fragrance!
Deconstruction
Five key points are indispensable
So, what key points should the traditional "Eight Treasure Duck" pay attention to when selecting materials and making in order to achieve the standard of full color and flavor? Listen to Master Gao's explanation.
Key one: you must use "enough" fresh duck
Cantonese cuisine pays attention to "not fresh and not eaten", and the production of Cantonese-style eight treasure duck, duck must also be freshly slaughtered. Master Gao introduced that in the past, the duck used in Hong Kong was rice duck, and Guangzhou used local mud duck, but whether it was rice duck or mud duck, it was required to use ducks that were raised for 120-130 days and weighed about 1.5 kg, because such duck meat was fragrant and smooth enough, the taste was fresh and sweet and there was no smell, and it was relatively easy to bone.
Key two: the filling should be soft enough
Traditional Cantonese-style Eight Treasure Duck fillings include dried lotus seeds, lilies, fuguo, barley, chestnuts, plum meat, shiitake mushrooms, ham and so on. However, Master Gao said that in fact, the filling of the eight treasure duck can be ever-changing, and it is not limited to eight kinds, it can be four, six, ten, twelve, but no matter how many materials are selected and what kind of materials are selected, it is necessary to remember one point: after the filling is completed, it must be soft, and the fillings can have complementary effects with each other, and cannot grab each other's taste.
He believes that the traditional filling has more starch and is easy to eat, so he prefers lotus seeds, shiitake mushrooms, pillars, plum meat, aged ham, sea cucumber, horseshoe, salted egg yolk these eight materials, and the taste is rich and layered. At the same time, all kinds of fillings should be "fried", "seasoned" and "buried" with top soup, and each step cannot be sloppy, and finally it can be brewed into the duck cavity.
Key three: to "raise the four pillars"
Cantonese-style Eight Treasure Duck emphasizes "eating meat" and cannot have a single bone, which requires the maker to "remove the bones" of the duck, and also requires that the skin cannot be broken. Master Gao proudly said, "I will be able to pick up a boneless duck in seven or eight minutes after the fruit array"!
First, the knife is inserted from under the neck of the duck (but not beyond the shoulder position), and the neck bone is slowly removed; then, the shoulder bone and chest cavity are removed; and then the "four pillars" are started. The "four pillars" are the tip of the duck wing and the duck foot (1 pair each), which should be cut off, and then the bones of the duck wings and duck legs are slightly broken and continued to be removed; followed by the removal of the duck jaw bones, and then the duck beak is cut in half; finally, in the thick chest cavity and legs of the meat, the crosses should be cut inside, and a little salt should be added to make the duck meat more flavorful.
This Eight Treasure Duck, which did not have the "Four Pillars", was completely unqualified in Master Gao's eyes
Master Gao especially explained that the "four pillars" are very critical, one is for the good look, and the other is for the balance of the overall taste, because the "four pillars" are difficult to stew soft parts. Cutting off the duck's beak in half is the same thing.
At this point, it is possible to "topping". Fill the filling from the duck into the knife until it is 80% full, and then seal the knife edge with the "knotting" method. The whole process can not use a needle and a thread, to ensure that the duck is round and full as if there is no opening.
Key four: The color must be as attractive as a roast goose
Master Gao continued to introduce that after completing the "tie duck", the cooking of the Eight Treasure Duck officially began. First, the duck body is colored with old soy sauce, and the color is required to be evenly colored, and then the oil that is drizzled with cold water is drizzled with cold water. He said that it is also very important to remove the oil, and now many people do not know how to use cold water to remove the oil, and the eight treasure ducks that come out of this way will become very greasy in the mouth.
The oiled duck can be placed in a steaming dish, then add ginger, green onion, rice wine, top soup and steam for more than 1 hour (depending on the size of the duck). Before serving, drizzle with the sauce made from the top soup and you're done. Master Gao said that it takes at least half a day to make an Eight Treasure Duck.
Key five: the whole process should be used to use top soup
If you read the whole text carefully, you can find that whether it is stir-fried stuffing, steamed duck or finally hooked, these key steps are indispensable to the "top soup".
Chef Gao said that most Cantonese restaurants now can't make the flavor of traditional Babao duck - duck meat is smooth, the filling is soft and smooth, and the key is that the top soup is not used. Some restaurants don't even have broth. The so-called "cavity of the play, the soup of the chef", a good top soup must be boiled with ham, chicken and other ingredients for more than 6 hours to complete. The golden top soup only takes a little bit to ignite the whole Eight Treasure Duck, closely linking all the ingredients to achieve the effect of harmony.
END
Text | Gong Zhinan
Figure | Provided by respondents, partly from the Internet
Edit | Peng Rouqi