Chapter 27: First Time Teaching
The soft-shelled turtles were soaked in cold water and scrubbed clean with rice straw brushes. The washed ones were placed in a wooden basin, and then a dirty one was taken from the bamboo basket and washed.
I don't know if they went to dig the pond early in the morning, but there were dozens of large soft-shelled turtles piled up in the bamboo basket, and even small ones the size of a palm.
Chen Fan held up the small soft-shelled turtle, turned his head, and looked at Captain Yang, "Why did you catch even these small ones?"
Captain Yang tilted his head and grinned, "It's not like hunting or fishing, where you catch the big ones and let the small ones go. These things eat fish fry, they're harmful pests, so of course we have to catch them all."
Chen Fan made a face, his eyes fixed on the small soft-shelled turtle, "But these things don't have any meat."
Accountant Liu puffed on his self-rolled cigarette, "If there's no meat, we'll make soup."
Chen Fan's eyes twitched slightly, that's really something.
But he didn't dare to say more, Captain Yang had already said that they were "harmful pests."
Soft-shelled turtles eat fish fry, so if he dared to say to release the small ones, everyone would definitely spit in his face.
He threw the small one back into the basket, exchanged it for a large one, and continued the one-on-one teaching with Liu Ju Jiang, "Be sure to wash them clean before slaughtering them. If they aren't washed clean, they won't taste good."
Liu Ju Jiang nodded with a smile, "I know, no matter what you're slaughtering, you have to rinse off the mud before you start."
At this time, the water was almost boiling, so Chen Fan began to slaughter them.
Chopping off the head, cutting the shell, soaking, skinning, removing the fat and internal organs, and then washing with warm water.
He slaughtered several in a row. Chen Fan did the first one, but Liu Ju Jiang did the rest. He became more and more skilled, and soon a large basin was filled.
There were more than forty households and nearly three hundred people in the whole village. At least half of them had come, all crowded around, craning their necks to look.
"Wow, what a big basin of meat."
"I've never seen so much meat even at a banquet."
"Several large bowls of blood have been collected. We can make a lot of blood tofu."
"It wasn't even this rich when we ate in the communal dining hall more than ten years ago."
"Such a big basin must be worth at least five or six chickens. Add some potatoes and radishes, and you can fill more than a dozen bowls. Which family is so rich?"
These days, there was still a bit of etiquette when eating at rural banquets. Whether it was for weddings or funerals, only the family members, like close brothers, could all go. Other families only sent one person. There were only so many households in the village, so at most five or six tables would be set up. Therefore, preparing two or three chickens and some fish was more than enough. Such a large basin of meat was really rare, and some people had never even seen it.
Even though the unprocessed soft-shelled turtles had a bit of a fishy smell, it still made many people swallow their saliva.
Captain Yang was also very excited to see such a large basin of meat. He turned his head, looked around, and said loudly, "Those who went to dig for soft-shelled turtles earlier, bring a bowl over. When the dishes are ready, everyone will take a bowl home."
As soon as these words came out, a small half of the people quickly ran out, mostly men. Some went to get bowls, while others ran to dig the pond to see if they could find a few more large soft-shelled turtles.
What about the women?
They were all waiting to watch Chen Fan cook and then learn from him.
Even if what they made wasn't as delicious as what Chen Fan made, as long as it didn't have such a strong fishy smell as before and they could eat it, they could catch soft-shelled turtles and cook them at home in the future. They couldn't afford to delay this.
After boiling another pot of water, Chen Fan was about to start cooking, when Liu Ju Jiang took the initiative to take the large wooden basin, "Master Chen, are we blanching the meat now?"
Chen Fan put in the large pieces of ginger and scallion knots that Jiang Lili had prepared and nodded, "There are also subtleties to blanching. First, you have to add ginger and scallion knots to remove the fishy smell. If possible, it's best to add some cooking wine. If you don't have cooking wine, white wine or rice wine will also work, and the effect will be better."
Captain Yang immediately pointed to his eldest daughter, "Xiao Ju, get a bowl of wine."
Chen Fan was about to say that they didn't need that much, but when he saw the big pot, he immediately shut his mouth. They probably really needed a bowl of wine.
Liu Ju Jiang secretly kept Chen Fan's words in mind, while pouring all the soft-shelled turtle meat into the big pot, and then asked, "One is to remove the fishy smell, what else?"
Chen Fan didn't hide anything and taught everything he should, "Second, the water temperature should not be too high. It's best to keep it at 80 degrees Celsius, and you must keep stirring to force out the blood in the meat. Meat that has been treated this way will not only not have a fishy smell, but also will not be too tough. After stewing until tender, it will be softer and more glutinous."
Accountant Liu stood behind Captain Yang and whispered to Keeper Huang, who was standing next to him, "There are so many things to pay attention to when eating meat. What do you think his background is?"
Keeper Huang replied without turning his head, "I'm not guessing. I guessed all day yesterday and couldn't figure it out. Anyway, his background can't be small. Look at Liu Ju Jiang, who has been doing one-stop banquets for twenty years, and he's taking notes for just one step of blanching the meat. But this Chen Fan is fair-skinned and tender, and doesn't look like someone who does kitchen work. Anyway, I can't guess his background."
Captain Yang turned his head and glanced at them, whispering, "Guess what? Who cares what his background is? One soft-shelled turtle dish is worth saving him. If there's more in the future, that's extra profit. If there isn't, it's not a loss."
The two nodded together, "Team Captain still has vision."
After a while, the blanching was completed, and all the soft-shelled turtle meat was put into a wooden basin. At this time, a gust of wind blew, and the aroma of the meat filled half the village. The villagers' eyes lit up.
"Oh, there's really no fishy smell at all."
"What fragrant meat! If this is made into a dish, it must be good."
"We used to chop up so many soft-shelled turtles to feed the pigs in the early years. What a waste."
Chen Fan smelled the scent of the soft-shelled turtle meat and twitched his nose. The meat had a strong fishy smell. Couldn't they smell it?
At this point, Chen Fan had completed his task, and said to Liu Ju Jiang, "Master Liu, these are the steps for removing the fishy smell from soft-shelled turtles. Anyway, it's about the same. The rest is cooking. You're an experienced chef, so I won't embarrass myself."
"Don't, don't, don't."
Liu Ju Jiang rubbed his hands and said with a smile, "Do a good deed to the end. I haven't really made this soft-shelled turtle dish before. Please, Master Chen, make one or two dishes so I can learn."
But Chen Fan seemed a little embarrassed, "Master Liu, it's not that I'm unwilling to do it, it's just that I can only make small pot dishes. With so much soft-shelled turtle meat, I can't control the heat."
There was six or seven times more soft-shelled turtle meat than yesterday. With his current 5 points of strength, how could he stir it?
Liu Ju Jiang thought for a moment, "How about this? You make a small pot dish, and I'll learn from you and make a big pot dish."
Chen Fan looked at Captain Yang.
Captain Yang didn't hesitate, and waved his hand, "My kitchen has a double stove, you can do it here."
Seeing that the Team Captain had said so, Chen Fan didn't refuse anymore, "Okay."
Then the two transferred their position and moved into the kitchen next door. The other villagers wanted to squeeze in to watch, but Captain Yang shouted at them, so they could only stand guard not far from the door, and they had to leave a passage.
The stove here was a double stove, which meant there were two fireboxes and two large pots. There was an urn in the middle of the two fireboxes, which could be heated from both sides at the same time.
In addition, there was also a charcoal stove in the corner of the kitchen. This small stove made of pottery was only about thirty centimeters high. The upper half was a fire pit, and the lower half was a bracket, like a tripod. Both charcoal and firewood could be burned in the fire pit.
Chen Fan asked Yang Ju to take out the stove and stew a casserole of soft-shelled turtle. Then he made a small pot of braised soft-shelled turtle on the large stove.
For this dish, Captain Yang went all out and took out a full two ounces of soybean oil, which was equal to half a month's ration for an adult in the city.
But Chen Fan was a little worried looking at the little bit of oil. With so little oil, could the soft-shelled turtle meat taste good?
Then he heard a "ding" in his head.
"For the first time imparting knowledge, teaching experience +20, current Teaching Skill LV2 (20/50); made two portions of soft-shelled turtle, cooking experience +10, current Cooking Skill LV4 (20/200)"
Chen Fan was a little confused. His teaching level was actually 2? When had he ever been a teacher?
(End of Chapter)
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