Reborn in 1977

Chapter 27: First Time Teaching

The turtles were soaking in cold water. They used rice straw to scrub them clean, placing the washed ones in a wooden basin, and then taking a dirty one from the wicker basket to wash.

It was unclear if they had gone to dig in the pond early in the morning, but the wicker basket was piled with dozens of large turtles, and even palm-sized small ones.

Chen Fan held up the small turtle, turned his head to look at Captain Yang, "Why did you bring back such small ones?"

Captain Yang tilted his head, grinned, and said, "It's not like hunting or fishing, where you catch the big ones and release the small ones. These things eat fish fry, they're pests, so of course we have to wipe them out."

Chen Fan squeezed his face, his eyes fixed on the small turtle, "But these things don't have any meat."

Accountant Liu puffed on his self-rolled cigarette, "If there's no meat, we'll stew them in soup."

Chen Fan's eyes twitched slightly. Truly ruthless.

However, he didn't dare to say more. Captain Yang had already said they were "pests."

Turtles eat fish fry, and 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, replaced it with a large one, and continued the one-on-one teaching with Liu Jujiang, "Be sure to wash it clean before slaughtering it. If it's not washed clean, it won't taste good."

Liu Jujiang nodded with a smile, "I know, no matter what you're killing, you have to rinse off the mud before you start."

At this time, the water was almost boiled, and Chen Fan began to slaughter.

Chopping off the head, cutting the shell, soaking, tearing off the skin, removing the fat and internal organs, and then rinsing with warm water.

He killed several in a row. Except for the first one that Chen Fan did himself, Liu Jujiang did the rest. He became more and more skilled, and soon a large basin was filled.

The whole village had more than forty households, nearly three hundred people in total, and at least half of them came, all crowded around, craning their necks to look.

"Wow, what a big basin of meat."

"I've never seen so much meat even at wedding banquets."

"The blood has been collected in several large bowls, enough to make a lot of blood tofu."

"Even when we ate in the communal dining hall more than ten years ago, it wasn't this rich."

"Such a large basin, it's worth at least five or six chickens. Add some potatoes and radishes, and it can fill a dozen bowls. Which family is so rich?"

These days, rural banquets are still a bit particular. Whether it's a wedding or a funeral, only the immediate family, or close siblings, can bring the whole family. Other families only send one person. There are only so many households in the village, at most five or six tables, so preparing two or three chickens and a few fish is more than enough. Such a large basin of meat chunks is indeed rare, and some people have never even seen it before.

Even though the unprocessed 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 and looked around, and said loudly, "Those who went to dig turtles earlier, bring a bowl over. When the dishes are ready, everyone can take a bowl back."

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 in the pond to see if they could find a few more large turtles.

What about the women?

They were all waiting to see Chen Fan cook and then learn from him.

Even if they didn't cook as well as Chen Fan, as long as it wasn't as fishy as before and they could eat it, they could catch turtles and cook them at home in the future. This couldn't be delayed.

After boiling another pot of water, Chen Fan was about to start, when Liu Jujiang took the initiative to pick up the large wooden basin, "Master Chen, is it time to blanch the meat now?"

Chen Fan threw in the large pieces of ginger and scallion knots that Jiang Lili had prepared, and nodded, "There are also tricks 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 there's no cooking wine, white wine or rice wine will also work, and the effect will be better."

Captain Yang immediately pointed to his eldest daughter, "Xiaoju, bring a bowl of wine."

Chen Fan was just about to say that so much wasn't needed, but when he saw the large pot, he immediately closed his mouth and said nothing. He was afraid that a bowl of wine was really needed.

Liu Jujiang secretly kept Chen Fan's words in mind, and at the same time poured all the turtle meat into the large 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 control it at 80 degrees, and you have to keep stirring to force out the blood in the meat. Meat treated in this way will not only not have a fishy smell, but also the meat will not be too old, and it will be softer and more glutinous after stewing."

Accountant Liu stood behind Captain Yang and whispered to the parallel-standing Huang Baoguan, "There are so many tricks to eating meat, can you guess what his background is?"

Huang Baoguan said without turning his head, "I won't guess. I guessed all day yesterday and couldn't figure it out. Anyway, his background can't be small. Look at Liu Jujiang, who has been doing one-stop service for more than twenty years, and even for just blanching the meat, he can't wait to take notes. But this Chen Fan is fair-skinned and tender, and it's obvious that he's not someone who does kitchen work. Anyway, I can't guess his background."

Captain Yang looked back at them and said softly, "Guess my ass. Who cares what his background is? Just the fact that he can cook a turtle is worth saving him. Anything more in the future is extra profit, and if there isn't, we won't lose anything."

The two nodded in unison, "Captain is still insightful."

After a while, the blanching was finished, and all the turtle meat was put into a wooden basin. At this time, a gust of wind blew, and the aroma of meat filled half the village. The villagers' eyes lit up one by one.

"Oh, it really doesn't have any fishy smell."

"The meat is so fragrant. If it's made into a dish, it must be good."

"In the early years, many turtles were chopped up and fed to pigs. What a waste."

Chen Fan smelled the smell of turtle meat, twitched his nose. The fishy smell of this meat is not small, can't they smell it?

At this time, Chen Fan had also successfully completed his task, and said to Liu Jujiang, "Master Liu, these are the steps to remove the fishy smell of turtles. Anyway, it's about the same. The rest is cooking. You are an old master, so I won't embarrass myself."

"Don't, don't, don't."

Liu Jujiang rubbed his hands and smiled, "Do a good deed to the end. I really haven't made this turtle before. Please, Master Chen, make one or two dishes for me to learn from."

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 turtle meat, I can't control the heat."

This turtle meat is six or seven times more than yesterday's. With the current 5 points of strength, how can he stir-fry it?!

Liu Jujiang thought for a while, "How about this, you make small-pot dishes, and I'll learn and sell on the spot next to you, and make a big-pot dish."

Chen Fan looked at Captain Yang.

Captain Yang waved his hand without thinking, "My kitchen has a double stove, you can do it here."

Seeing that the captain had said so, Chen Fan no longer declined, "Okay."

Then the two transferred their positions and moved into the kitchen next door. Other villagers wanted to squeeze in to watch, but Captain Yang drove them away, and they could only guard not far from the door, and had to make way for a passage.

The stove here is a double stove, which means there are two stove mouths, and naturally there are two large pots. There is a pottery urn between the two stove mouths, which can be heated from both sides at the same time.

In addition, there is also a charcoal stove in the corner of the kitchen. This small stove made of pottery clay is only about thirty centimeters high. The upper half is a fire pit, and the lower half is a bracket, like a tripod. The fire pit can burn both charcoal and firewood.

Chen Fan asked Yang Ju to take out the stove and stew a casserole of turtle. Then he made a small pot of braised turtle on the big stove.

For this dish, Captain Yang went all out and used a full two ounces of soybean oil, which was equivalent to half a month's ration for an adult in the city.

However, Chen Fan was a little worried when he looked at the little oil. Could this turtle meat be delicious with so little oil?

Then he heard a "ding" in his head.

"First time imparting knowledge, teaching experience +20, current teaching skill LV2 (20/50); made two portions of turtle, cooking experience +10, current cooking skill LV4 (20/200)"

Chen Fan was a little confused. The teaching level is actually 2? When did I become a teacher?