"Mom, does the meaty flavor in the vermicelli come from the broth?"

Shen Jiayue looked at the prepared ingredients and ingredients. She always felt that the meaty taste of the vermicelli was a bit exaggerated. The broth was used here. If it were broth, wouldn't the aroma be more bland?

Although she is a novice in the kitchen, Shen Jiayue has been with Lin Xu for so long, and she understands some cooking theory knowledge under the influence.

Chen Meijuan smiled and said:

“In the past, when making vermicelli balls at home, it was best to have broth. But we only eat meat three or two times a year, and we don’t have broth every time we eat meat, so most of the time, we don’t even use broth.

.If you can use broth, it’s already a high-end recipe.”

Shen Jiayue was even more surprised. She didn't even use broth to taste meat?

She felt that she was getting in touch with an incredible knowledge, cooking vegetarian and meat dishes. Isn’t this the main dish of Gongdelin?

Chen Meijuan took the star anise powder she ground in the store and said:

"Put in star anise powder. Star anise can give the ingredients a meaty aroma. If you add onion, ginger and five-spice powder, the taste will be even more fragrant."

In fact, five-spice powder contains star anise, but the amount is not outstanding, so you need to add more so that the aroma of the meat can come out and the vermicelli will be completely transformed.

Star anise powder?

It feels so magical.

Chen Meijuan poured the minced ginger chopped by Lin Xu into the vermicelli and couldn't help but praise:

"My son's knife skills are getting better and better."

Lin Xu smiled:

"Yueyue doesn't like ginger, but I have to put ginger in it, so I try to chop it up as much as possible to give the vermicelli a ginger flavor but not the taste of ginger."

When adding onion and ginger to the filling, the ginger can be cut as finely as possible so that the aroma can be released more perfectly.

Of course, you can also use ginger juice, but it is not suitable for this delicacy. It will be easily absorbed by the vermicelli, resulting in uneven ginger flavor, so it is more suitable to use ground ginger.

When preparing the stuffing, ginger can be put in first, but onions cannot be put in. The onions must be left until the end.

Because it is cooked too early, the salt in the stuffing will kill the moisture in the onions, causing the stuffing to be filled with the unique smell of raw onions. If it is stuffed into the meatballs during frying, it will not taste interesting.

Add the minced ginger, then add salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, star anise powder, pepper powder, and five-spice powder. Stir evenly first, then add half a bowl of broth and continue stirring.

The reason why the vermicelli balls served in my hometown in the past were so delicious was because the meat broth was added to the filling.

Now that there is stock in the store, it is natural to add some.

When the broth is first added, the vermicelli filling is a little thin, but as you stir, the broth is absorbed by the vermicelli, and the vermicelli filling becomes thicker and thicker.

This is actually the same as making a lion head to make the meat stuffing gel.

When the consistency is about ready, bring over the soaked sweet potato starch, skim off the water on top of the starch, scoop out the starch settled at the bottom, and add it to the vermicelli filling.

The amount of starch does not need to be too much, half a pot of vermicelli filling and two handfuls of starch are enough.

If there are too many, the fried meatballs will not have that soft and tender feeling.

Although this is a "poor food" in the Central Plains, used by the poor to satisfy their cravings, the method is also very particular. The minimum amount of starch must be used to find the critical point where the vermicelli sticks together without falling apart.

Only in this way will the fried vermicelli balls be more delicious and delicious.

Lin Xu can actually do these steps, and even does them better than Chen Meijuan.

But I don’t know why, when I watch my mother making sweet potato vermicelli, I always feel the same sense of urgency as when I was celebrating the New Year at home, waiting in front of the stove to eat.

No matter whether it's fried meatballs, vermicelli balls, crispy meat, or chicken nuggets and ribs, as soon as it comes out of the pan, you'll grab a piece and stuff it into your mouth.

And what you get is often a slap that is not heavy:

"Are you being asked to live by a starving ghost? You even robbed the Stove Lord of his food. You will be hungry in the future!"

According to the rules in my hometown, when the first pot of fried food is ready, you should not eat it immediately, but pinch a little and stuff it into the stove. This is meant to be eaten by the Stove Lord, so that you will not be hungry in the coming year.

When Lin Xu was a child, he often snatched the Stove Lord's food rations and received many scoldings.

But now, not only is he not hungry, but he has become a chef who "has not gone hungry for three years after a drought".

Shen Jiayue stood aside, listening to Chen Meijuan's story about how Lin Xu was punished for being greedy when he was a child, and said to Lin Xu with a smile:

"Our mother is really good at cooking. If my mother were frying food in the kitchen, I would most likely stay away and not dare to get close, for fear that the oil would burst into my face..."

Gee, in front of my mother-in-law, I really don’t want to save face for my mother.

Fortunately, Han Shuzhen can't come at noon today and can only have dinner with her in-laws in the evening. Otherwise, she will definitely be hurt internally by what this girl said.

Chen Meijuan smiled:

"No one is born with good cooking skills. I still remember when Xiaoxu was four years old, we moved to Yinzhou City. The neighbors were frying food early to prepare New Year's goods. Our company didn't have annual leave, so we couldn't go back to our hometown. Then

Xiaoxu is greedy for their vermicelli balls and is clamoring to eat them."

After mixing the vermicelli evenly, she set it aside to dry, then put the oil pan on the stand and started to heat the oil.

"If the child wants to eat it, it must be cooked. I recalled the ways of my elders and tried to fry a pot of vermicelli balls. I fried Xiaoxu and ate them. When I finished frying, I realized that the inside was not fried at all.

It’s still Starch Lake. Xiaoxu, the stupid kid, didn’t eat it. He kept saying that my fried food was delicious and even went to show off to the neighbor’s kids..."

She took a deep breath and then said:

"From that moment on, I started to learn how to cook seriously. Whatever Xiaoxu wanted to eat, I asked your grandma and grandma to learn it. If they didn't know how, they would just ask the elders in their hometown or the neighbors. If they didn't learn it, they wouldn't give up...

…Then I became the best cook in the family.”

Lin Xuzheng was so moved that he came back to his senses after hearing the last sentence.

Mom, are you in Versailles?

Shen Jiayue quickly flattered her:

"My mom is so awesome. No wonder Xu Bao's cooking skills are so good. It turns out he inherited it from my mom... And it's not my fault that my cooking skills are not good. It's all my mom's problem."

Lin Xu said:

"You are already very good. You have learned how to cook several kinds of delicious food in the air fryer."

"Oh, yes, I use the air fryer very well. I will make delicious food for my mother tonight. You have to help me prepare the ingredients."

Ever since Shen Jiayue learned how to make sugar stir-fry last time, she has become more and more fond of the air fryer.

But the prerequisite for her to use the air fryer is that Lin Xu has to prepare the ingredients, or buy semi-finished marinated chicken wings, chicken fillets, chicken steaks and other snacks.

Well, Baby Shen has mastered the use of the air fryer, but in terms of seasoning, he is still at the level of a kindergarten class.

Soon, the oil temperature rises.

Chen Meijuan poured the chopped green onions into the vermicelli, stirred evenly, then brought a bowl of water and started preparing fried vermicelli balls.

"Mom, what are you doing with the water?"

"It's for dipping your hands. The starch and vermicelli are too sticky and will stick to your hands if you grab them directly, so you need to dip them in water before making them so that the vermicelli can form into a ball."

When the oil was 50% hot, Chen Meijuan dipped her hands in the water and then scooped out a fist-sized ball of vermicelli from the basin.

Gather it quickly with your hands, form into a ball, and then slowly throw it into the pot along the edge of the pot.

She didn't do the next one immediately, but checked and confirmed that the oil temperature was OK, then continued to do it, saying while doing it:

"If the oil temperature is low, it will spread. 50% is basically the minimum. If you want the temperature to be lower, you can only increase the amount of starch, otherwise the vermicelli will be broken in the pot."

In fact, when you cook it now, there will still be two or three vermicelli scattered in the pot.

But this is no longer relevant, it is a normal phenomenon when cooking.

After the vermicelli meatballs are put into the pot, don't worry about it. Continue frying until the surface turns golden brown, then you can gently flip it with a spoon to make the meatballs fry more evenly.

When the surface of the meatballs turns brown, use a slotted spoon to take the meatballs out, bump them over the oil pan a few times, and then put them back into the pan.

"Xubao, what does this mean? Another explosion?"

Shen Jiayue felt that her mother-in-law's method of frying meatballs was a little different.

Lin Xu said:

"There are two reasons for doing this. The first is to feel the weight of the meatballs. If they are light and fluffy, it means they are thoroughly fried. If they are a little bouncy, it means there is raw starch in them... The second is that the balls collide with each other, which will cause the inside to explode.

It becomes looser and more conducive to frying."

The vermicelli are held together by starch. Using the method of twisting can create gaps inside, so that the heat can be more easily transferred to the deepest part of the meatballs.

In addition, after being bumped like this, the surface of the meatballs will be more uneven.

After deep-frying, the texture will be crispier and more delicious.

Shen Jiayue didn't expect that frying meatballs would be so knowledgeable. Looking at the meatballs floating in the pot, she, the air fryer fairy, couldn't hold back:

"Can I use an air fryer?"

After saying that, she opened the cabinet and took out her air fryer.

This really stumped Lin Xu. He had never delved into such unorthodox practices, so he washed his hands and said:

"I don't know either, let's try it."

In order to prevent the meatballs from spreading, he specially laid a layer of tin foil in the air fryer, then rolled two meatballs and put them in. After turning on the fire, he began to wait for a long time.
To be continued...