SFS Chapter 105: Hanging Oven Roast Duck
Chapter 105: Hanging Oven Roast Duck
After the oven was officially put into use, Cheng Yuntao baked a plate of walnut crisps in the first batch.
If you want to make delicious walnut crisps, choosing high-quality walnuts is a crucial step.
A good walnut must be plump and round, just like pearls in your hands, heavy and substantial. The shell is not only smooth, but also has fine and even texture, complete and undamaged. If the shell is rough, bumpy or cracked, the internal kernel will most likely be affected, and the taste and texture will be greatly reduced.
Secondly, you have to carefully observe the color. If the skin is naturally light brown or light brown, it is mostly freshly picked. If the color is too dark, almost black, or there are strange spots, it is very likely that it has been stored for too long, or even infested with insects and mold.
Gently shake a walnut, pinch it with two fingers, place it next to your ear and listen. The best walnuts have a firm kernel and make almost no sound when shaken. On the contrary, if you hear the kernel shaking and colliding inside the shell, you know that the walnut either has a shriveled kernel or there is a gap between the shell and the kernel, and it is definitely not a top-quality walnut.
Finally, smell it closely; it should emit a light woody aroma. If there is a musty, rotten, or pungent odor, it must be damp or spoiled, and should never be chosen.
Cheng Yuntao carefully picked plump walnut kernels, poured them into the pot, and stir-fried them over low heat. The firewood in the pot crackled, and the walnut kernels gradually turned from light yellow to golden yellow, exuding a rich aroma.
When the heat reaches the right temperature, you need to quickly scoop out the walnut kernels with a spoon, grind them finely with a mortar and pestle, pound them into fine powder, and set them aside for later use.
Take the sifted all-purpose flour, pour it into a ceramic bowl, then add lard. If the lard solidifies, move the bowl closer to the fire and wait for it to melt slightly. Then stir quickly with bamboo chopsticks until the sugar particles gradually disappear and the mixture expands slightly.
Then beat in the eggs, and after mixing well, add the ground peach kernels and continue stirring. Finally, add flour and knead gently with both hands. After a while, the dough will be soft and hard enough.
Divide the dough into small balls, roll them into balls and flatten them. Take a brush, dip it in egg liquid, and lightly brush a layer on the surface of the dough.
Finally, just put it into the oven and bake it. When the temperature gradually rises and after about an incense stick of time, the color of the walnut cake begins to change from light yellow to golden yellow and the aroma permeates the oven, it is done.
With a light bite, the skin breaks into pieces with a crisp sound, and the crumbs fall down.
Savor the aroma carefully, and the rich wheat aroma unique to roasted grains will hit you first, followed by the mellow aroma emitted by the oil seeping out during baking.
When people are children, their taste buds are particularly sensitive to sweetness, which makes them keen on sweets.
As we age, our sense of taste gradually deteriorates, and the ability to perceive flavors such as salty, bitter, and sour declines more significantly. In comparison, the taste of sweets becomes more prominent in the already declining taste experience.
The pleasure brought by sweets can also make up for some of the loss of eating pleasure due to taste decline, making the elderly more attached to sweets within their limited taste perception.
Therefore, people tend to be more fond of sweets in childhood and old age, but are less fond of sweets in youth and middle age.
Based on this general habit, Cheng Yuntao specially baked two walnut cakes with different sweetness. The slightly sweeter one was for Xiaoli to take to the private school, and the less sweet one was kept for herself.
After Cheng Yueli packed up these walnut cakes and brought them to the school, they immediately received a lot of praise. Even Lin Xuejiu, who was usually the most serious, couldn't help but eat a few more pieces with his gray beard shaking.
The walnut cakes were out of the oven. Cheng Yuntao naturally did not forget the old lady Su next door. She specially picked out the best ones and sent them to her. After tasting them, the old lady Su praised them highly.
……
With the new tools, Cheng Yuntao got itchy hands and immediately stuffed a duck into the oven after baking the walnut cakes.
Hanging oven roast duck is roasted over an open flame. The fruit wood used is not only smokeless when burned, but also has a strong bottom fire, which lays the foundation for the formation of the unique flavor of roast duck.
The high temperature generated by the burning fruit wood can quickly lock the moisture of the duck meat, making the roasted duck crispy skin and tender meat. The smokeless feature prevents the roast duck from being contaminated with smoky smell, allowing the original deliciousness of the duck meat to be fully displayed.
The fat and tender duck was hung steadily on the iron hook. The fruit wood was burning fiercely, and the stove was orange-red, reflecting the duck skin, which was even more shiny.
The duck has rich fat under its skin. When roasted over an open flame, the fat gradually melts and the oil drips down, filling the air with an irresistible aroma of barbecue.
The freshly baked duck has an attractive reddish-brown color, and its skin is covered with a layer of honey, making it shiny and translucent, making you salivate.
Cheng Yuntao's technique was deft. With a flash of the knife, the bright red roast duck was transformed into delicate thin slices and neatly arranged on a white porcelain plate.
The duck meat is tender, and the orange-red duck skin is extremely thin, tightly clinging to the white meat. It is served with a variety of side dishes, including thin and soft lotus leaf pancakes, thin strands of scallion, thick sweet noodle sauce, crisp cucumber strips, and refreshing radish strips...
The roast duck has crispy, thin skin, tender and moist meat, and the subcutaneous fat is roasted until it is crispy and plump. It melts in your mouth with a light bite, and the duck fat overflows, adding a rich and lingering aroma.
Each piece of roast duck contains three textures: fat, lean meat and skin. It is mellow and crispy, and the aroma of oil permeates every inch between the lips and teeth. The rich and fatty aroma is also faintly tinged with a fresh fruity fragrance.
Cheng Yuntao carefully selected a piece of lotus leaf pancake, which was baked soft, thin and tender, exuding a faint flour aroma. She spread sweet noodle sauce on it, added three or four slices of roast duck, and then put in the green onion, and rolled up the lotus leaf pancake.
The salty and sweet taste of the sweet noodle sauce adds a touch of freshness to the roast duck. After biting into the crust, the roast duck with crispy skin and tender inside is intertwined with the sweet and crispy white scallions to create a rich taste.
The unique feature of hanging oven roast duck is that water needs to be poured into the duck cavity before roasting. Once the fire is on, the steam will inflate the duck cavity. The duck meat roasted in this way is tender, plump and juicy.
Filling the duck's chest with water not only locks in the fresh and tender juice of the duck meat, but also uses steam to expand the duck skin, making it extremely thin and transparent. When roasted over an open flame, the duck oil overflows, making the duck skin crispy and fragrant. This is the essence of roast duck.
The duck skin is crispy and delicious, and is completely soaked in oil. It is crispy and thin, but has a soft and tough texture. Compared with the plump duck meat, Cheng Yuntao actually prefers to eat this crispy and tough duck skin.
Cheng Jingzhu and Cheng Yueli were very interested in this delicate way of eating, and they kept making roast duck rolls for everyone. However, the portion of a whole duck was not too much for everyone, and it was divided up in no time, leaving only some scattered duck bones on the plates.
"Sister, this roast duck is so delicious. When can you make it again?"
Cheng Yuntao gnawed on the duck leg in her hand and raised her chin towards the oven: "I can make it anytime you want, even if you're tired of it!"
Hearing this, Cheng Jingzhu suddenly felt that the hard work he had done in the past two days was not tiring at all, and immediately cheered.
Cheng Yuntao threw the bones into the bone dish, picked up a handkerchief and wiped his hands slowly, thinking to himself that he had almost finished dealing with trivial matters during this period of time, and it was time to consider the serious matter of making a living.
Tonight, I will go to Nanfang City to conduct market research.