The code of the Chaoshan brine goose
01.
The first dish of Shiochew cuisine
Teacher Zhang Xinmin once said: Chao cuisine is famous for cooking all kinds of seafood, but to push the first dish of Chao Cuisine, it should also be regarded as brine goose.
The broth is boiled with pork bones and yaozhu pillars, and the spices such as star anise, fennel, cinnamon, chili pepper, cardamom are stir-fried, and the marinade made of soy sauce, fish sauce, rock sugar, wine, galangal, coriander head, garlic head, etc. is called nan brine.
The lion's head goose tumbles in the marinade for one and a half to three hours, adjusting the time depending on the size and tenderness of the goose, chopping the pieces on the plate, with parsley, dipped in white vinegar garlic paste, this is the Chaoshan brine goose.
There is no uniform standard for Chaoshan brine goose, and the composition and proportion of spices are the trade secrets of each brine goose shop, and it is also one of the keys to the difference in their taste from other brine goose shops.
Chaozhou brine goose is a little sweeter, that is, the rock sugar is put a little more, the brine goose in Chenghai is a little saltier, nothing more than fish sauce, salt, soy sauce; the Hong Kong-style Chaoshan brine goose is light in color, selling better, and the amount of soy sauce can be easily mixed.
Although the flavor of the brine goose varies slightly from all over Chaoshan province, even in the same area, different brine goose shops have very different flavors, but the Chaoshan brine goose still has a common code that is different from the brine taste in other places.
02.
Code one: broth and old brine
Pig bone provides glutamic acid, Yaozhu provides nucleotides, and the two amino acids work together to increase the umami taste by twenty times.
Stir-fry spices, that is to awaken the fragrance molecules in the spices, because most of the fragrance compounds have the characteristics of heat volatilization; the old brine not only has the aroma of repeated boiling and precipitation, this fragrance is like the unique taste of each person, intimate people can easily perceive, the old brine is the same, and the familiar customers feel the stability and kindness of the taste because of it.
The old brine contains a layer of fat oil, pig bones and goose meat released fat, not only for the brine goose to provide fragrance, but also for the preservation of spices to provide a suitable environment: the fat in the spice is insoluble in water, but soluble in fat, a thick layer of goose oil, it is the hidden place of this type of spice, so that the brine out of the goose is fragrant enough.
The shop cuts a plate of brine goose, drizzles it with a little marinade, and if you also drizzle a little goose oil, it is to treat you as a regular customer. Mr. Cai Hao said that in the Chenghai sand to eat Wudi brine goose rice, the store poured a spoonful of goose oil into the rice, this treatment is really enviable, anyway, I have not met.
Code two: fish sauce and galangal
Fish sauce is a very delicious juice obtained after marinating, fermenting and refining small fish and shrimp and salt, with amber color and salt and salt as the taste.
Using the protease contained in the fish and the participation of a variety of microorganisms, the proteins, fats and other components in the raw fish are fermented and decomposed, resulting in glutamic acid and nucleotides, which are the source of the umami taste of fish sauce.
Chaoshan brine goose uses fish sauce instead of salt, providing a salty taste while also providing an umami taste.
Galangal is distributed in Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Taiwan and Yunnan, so it is also called southern ginger, this tropical subtropical spice, both ginger to fishy effect, but also with ginger very different special flavor, this flavor is more intense, more domineering. To what extent is it overbearing? Think of cool oil, golden oil, wind oil essence, there is southern ginger oil in it.
Code Three: Lion's Head Goose
Goose, domesticated by geese, is native to the lion's head goose in Raoping Floating, because the sarcoma on the top of the head is huge, resembling a lion's head, so it is named. Lion-headed goose can generally grow to more than 20 pounds, and the lion-headed goose king competition held in Chenghai this year has a maximum of 34.4 pounds. A 90-day lion-headed goose, in the case of stocking and no fattening, can grow to about 12 pounds, long and fast, and the cost of feeding is not high, which may be the reason why Chaoshan people like to eat brine geese.
Goose meat is less fat, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and rich in various amino acids, so it is sweet in the fragrance. The flesh is coarse and chewy, and the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes. The gap between the meat fibers is large, easy to taste, with Chaoshan brine, various spices add the aroma of goose meat to the bar, fragrant!
Chaoshan brine goose chooses the largest lion's head goose among the geese, although there are economic reasons for the rapid growth of lion's head goose, it is also related to the Chaoshan worship of gods and ancestor culture. Chaoshan people worship the gods and worship the ancestors, the world's first, the sacrifice pays attention to the complete one, the cost of the whole pig, cattle and sheep is too high, it is not convenient to eat after the sacrifice, the ordinary chickens, geese and ducks are stingy, and the large lion-headed goose is just the right choice.
Chinese goose breeding has a history of 4,000 years, of which the most love of geese is none other than Wang Xizhi! He believes that raising geese can cultivate sentiments, and from the posture, walking posture and swimming posture of the goose, he can experience the mystery of calligraphy and pen movement, and understand the principle of calligraphy and pen movement. He also said that when writing, the index finger should be as high and slightly curved as the head of the goose, and when the pen is transported, it should be like a goose paw plucking water, so that the spirit can be concentrated on the end of the pen.
(Xizhi) loves geese, will have a lonely grandmother to raise a goose, good at singing. When he could not get it, he took his relatives and friends to watch. Smell that Xi zhi is coming, cook it, and sigh and pity the day.
- The Biography of Wang Xi of the Book of Jin
The gist of it is: Wang Xizhi heard that there was an old lady who raised a goose that was good at chirping, and wanted to buy it but could not get it, so he quickly led a group of relatives and friends to rush to watch it. Unexpectedly, the old lady heard that the famous Wang Xizhi was going to come to the door as a guest, so she killed the goose and cooked to entertain the distinguished guests. When Wang Xizhi saw this scene, he sighed in chagrin for several days.
Although the goose breeding time is long, but in addition to the old Guangzhou more eat geese, other places are still relatively rare, Gai because the goose needs ponds, there are not many places that meet the conditions for the growth of geese, "red palm dials the waves", this condition excludes two-thirds of the motherland.
The muscle fibers of the goose are relatively thick, the muscle protein forms a muscle bundle, the muscle bundle is surrounded by a layer of connective tissue, this structure allows the goose to cook for a long time, and the long-term stew will make the flavor substance of the goose meat run out, so the meat becomes both chai and tasteless. Geese are herbivores, and herbivores have short-chain fatty acids, so they have a smell.
Chaoshan brine goose with marinade to increase the flavor, a long time of stew to make the coarse fiber of the goose meat become soft and tender, broth and spices also make the goose meat flavor, this cooking method, the strengths and avoid the shortcomings, very clever!
The brine goose is done well, there are Shantou's Ri rixiang, Chenghai's Wudi, Andgu goose meat, Shantou Donghai Restaurant Old Uncle Zhong is also good at making brine goose, but unfortunately he does not do it now. With the change of modern people's taste preferences, Chaoshan brine goose has also shifted from salty to light, from the original salty to sweet, some feel that the old marinade is salty, so they give up the old brine, which is acceptable.
03.
When you meet such a unique brine goose
Don't worry too much about the price
Some brine goose shops, in order to reduce costs and make goose meat smell more fragrant, have taken the lead and used meat essence "a drop of incense". This flavor, to put it bluntly, is that the meat gets amino acids, polypeptides, carbohydrates, amino acids and reducing sugars in the case of heating, which is not harmful, but can reduce costs.
The production process of meat flavor is as follows:
The meat is cut small, cooked, and then ground into a meat paste, and papain is added, which is the main ingredient in the tender meat powder;
Work at 60 degrees for 12 hours, when the meat paste has become broth, and then boil the broth, kill the protease, remove the residue and oil by centrifugation, and get the meat protein hydrolysate;
Adjust the yeast to partial acidity, work at 50 degrees for 24 hours, and then kill the yeast with 85 degrees, and remove the yeast extract by centrifugation to remove the slag;
The meat protein hydrolysate, yeast extract, cysteine hydrochloride, glucose are mixed proportionally, the acidity is adjusted to PH6, reacted at 90 degrees for two hours, and then spray dried to get meat essence.
From this production process, as long as the manufacturer operates according to the specifications, there is no problem with food safety, but also the meat aroma is expressed to the extreme, adding some meat essence to the marinade, saving the broth and the old brine, both to reduce costs, but also to be fragrant and unwanted, not to be experts who can't taste any difference at all. I regret to tell you that many of the brine goose brands you praise use meat essence.
Can't say that the brine goose with meat essence is not good, reduce costs, the price is lower, for consumers who are not so picky in taste, it is a good choice, but I need to clearly tell everyone that I have added meat essence. There are also many Chaoshan brine goose shops, adhere to the traditional approach, at the expense of work, excellence, when you meet such a unique brine goose, do not worry too much about the price.