After all the ingredients were prepared, Lin Xu set up the frying pan, poured some salad oil and lard into the pan, and prepared to oil the chicken cakes.

When making Mapo tofu, there is a step to blanching the tofu.

However, the chicken cake cannot be soaked in water, so it can only be soaked in hot oil. This can not only increase the flexibility of the appearance of the chicken cake, but also make the chicken cake more fragrant.

While the oil was burning, Lin Xu cut the almost-dried chicken cake into square cubes with a side length of 1.5 centimeters, which is the standard requirement for Mapo Tofu.

Carefully put the cut chicken cake into a large colander, then put it into a 30% hot oil pan and start frying.

Don't rush this step, fry it slowly to dry up the moisture on the surface of the chicken cake, otherwise it will be like "I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry".

When it's almost fried, take it out and rinse it with hot water to remove the fat on the surface of the chicken cake.

After brewing, set aside for later use.

Next comes the cooking process.

Lin Xu set up the wok, moistened it first, and then added cooking oil to the wok.

After the oil is hot, add the beef cubes and stir-fry quickly. While frying, tap the beef cubes in the pot with the back of a spoon to allow the moisture inside to dissipate faster and achieve the purpose of drying out quickly.

Don't be in a hurry when stir-frying the beef cubes. Stir-fry patiently until there is a rustling sound when you turn it. This means that the surface has been fried.

You can proceed to the next step.

Lin Xu poured the prepared chili noodles into the pot.

Continue to stir-fry to bring out the dryness and pungency of the chili peppers, until the spicy flavor is obtained.

Stir-fry until the aroma comes out, then add the bean paste.

Adding bean paste at this time can not only prevent the chili noodles from being fried, but also make the red oil more effective.

After frying the red oil, add a large bowl of beef bone stock.

Use stock to increase the fragrance of Mapo Tofu. This is the "fragrance" required in the eight-character motto.

But the aroma of beef bone broth alone is not enough, it is too thin. It also needs the aroma of beef cubes, watercress, tofu, garlic sprouts, pepper, etc.

All fragrances combined together can become the real "fragrance".

After pouring in the beef bone soup, add some dark soy sauce to the pot to increase the background color, and then add a spoonful of sugar to let the flavors blend.

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Stir it and pour the chicken cake in the large colander.

Here comes the most critical step.

Lin Xu slowly pushed the chicken cakes in the pot with the back of the spoon, fearing that the fragile chicken cakes would be scattered by the back of the spoon.

Fortunately, he had good control over his strength and had done the steps of sliding the pan properly before frying, so the chicken cakes just slipped on the bottom of the pan and were then mixed with the soup.

The first step was successful!

Lin Xu covered the pot and let the soup in the pot completely soak into the inside of the chicken cake.

At the same time, it also allows heat to be transferred in.

The "scalding" in the eight-character motto requires that every bite of the tofu must be scalded after it comes out of the pot, so it must be cooked properly when cooking.

If the tofu you eat is still cold, it means a huge failure.

According to the nature of the system, it is estimated that it will not even reach the passing level.

While the pot was simmering, Lin Xu brought over the pea starch that he had soaked in when making chicken cakes.

After cooking, it is the most classic step of the Mapo Tofu dish, and it is also the most difficult step - Gouqian.

For those who know how to cook, settling debts is not difficult.

The difficulty is that it has to be ticked three times, and the effect is different each time.

As for the interval time, the amount of debt and the concentration of each debt, they are also different from time to time.

Without the help of a master chef, this dish would never be available.

Lifting the lid of the pot, Lin Xu scooped out the starch water with a spoon. At this time, the pea starch in the pot had precipitated and the water powder separated, so it needed to be stirred before use.

When stirring for the first time, scoop up half a spoonful of starch and stir the water in the upper layer into starch water.

After stirring, scoop out half a spoonful and pour it into the pot in a fan shape.

This step is to make the soup thicker, so the amount should be large and the soup should be poured evenly.

After pouring, use the back of a spoon to push the chicken cake to mix the soup in the pot evenly and let the water starch do its work.

Wait until the soup in the pot becomes thicker, then use a spoon to dip into the starch water, dig out the precipitated starch below and stir it with a spoon, so that the slightly thick starch water becomes thicker.

Scoop up half of the frying spoon and pour it into the pot again.

This step is to make the ingredients tender, so pour as much as possible on the chicken cakes in the pot.

Let the pieces of chicken cake be covered with starch, which not only locks in moisture, but also makes the surface of the ingredients tender and smooth. This is the "tender" in the eight-character motto.

Lin Xu pushed and turned the pot again, and finally used a spoon to dig out a little starch on the bottom of the pot. After digging out, he decanted the excess water on the spoon, and then hooked the thick starch in the spoon into the pot.

This step is to allow the soup to coat the ingredients.

It is also a well-known technique of "wrapping sauce" in Sichuan cuisine.

The so-called wrapping is a cooking method in which the soup is wrapped on the surface of the ingredients. The fish-flavored shredded pork in Sichuan cuisine is a typical representative of this type of dish.

After completing this step, the soup in the pot has completely tightened and is all tightly wrapped on the chicken cake.

The ruddy color and rich fragrance make people want to try it.

But I can’t taste it yet.

Lin Xu poured in the chopped garlic sprouts, stirred twice, and then poured the food in the pot into a large bowl.

The authentic recipe of Mapo Tofu must be served in a bowl. Only in this way can the "hot" in the eight-character motto be achieved, and your mouth will always be hot when you eat it.

If it is served on a plate, the heat will dissipate early, and the feeling of burning your mouth will disappear within a few minutes, and the essence of Mapo Tofu will be lost.

After serving, use a small spoon to scoop out the freshly ground Sichuan peppercorn powder and sprinkle it on top. The word "Ma" in the eight-character motto will return to its place, and it is ready to be served and tasted.

"Holy crap! What kind of dish is this?"

While Lin Xu was cooking just now, although Zhuang Yizhou and the others were watching, no one dared to speak for fear of disturbing Lin Xu.

Now that the dishes are out of the oven, everyone feels like they can finally breathe.

"Holy crap, I actually use chicken cakes to make Mapo Tofu. This is amazing!"

"I witnessed a miracle!"

“This tastes absolutely amazing!”

Wei Qian sniffed and shouted not far away:

"Che boy, come on to Kuanfan, you have to try the boss's cooking today!"

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I'm sorry, everyone. When I was writing, I just wanted to write out this dish so that everyone can enjoy it. As a result, I accidentally ended up writing it till now, and the word count is nearly 7,000. I wanted to put a poison in the easter egg chapter, but it turned out

After searching for a long time, I couldn’t find a satisfactory picture of Mapo Tofu, which was quite disappointing.
Chapter completed!