Soak the starch water twice.
Qin Huai fell into deep thought upon hearing Cao Guixiang say this.
Soaking meat in starch water is a very common culinary technique, but it’s rarely used in pastry making because this method is usually meant to make the texture of the meat more tender and smooth, typically used in frying and stir-fry cooking methods.
When Qin Huai makes meat-filled snacks, he usually considers how to make the meat tighter and better at locking in the juices.
Qin Huai quietly contemplated for a few minutes, and during this time, Cao Guixiang didn’t speak, just stood by smiling, waiting for him to finish thinking.
"May I ask, how long should each soaking in starch water last?" Qin Huai asked.
"I don’t know," Cao Guixiang shook her head. "I don’t know how to make Four Happiness glutinous rice and can’t precisely tell you the time and amount. But I think it’s a great way to enhance the texture and flavor of the meat, much better than using dried scallop water."
"Dried scallop water is a good means to enhance freshness, but it’s not suitable for Four Happiness glutinous rice. The meat filling in Four Happiness glutinous rice generally plays a role of bridging and combining, not needing to overly emphasize its freshness."
Listening to Cao Guixiang speak, Qin Huai knew that although she couldn’t make Four Happiness glutinous rice, she must be a culinary master.
She really understands Four Happiness glutinous rice.
"Alright, thank you for the reminder, I’ll try it now."
In terms of recipe improvement, Qin Huai is a doer. Once he mentally decided that Cao Guixiang’s suggestion might be useful, he immediately set aside the freshly prepared meat filling and started looking around for any pre-cut meat filling.
Today, Aunt Wang wasn’t here; she had gone back to her hometown to celebrate the New Year, so the main person slicing the meat was the second son-in-law of the village chief’s house.
The new batch of meat filling wasn’t ready yet, so Qin Huai decided to wrap the glutinous rice dough instead. Before wrapping the dough, he went outside to check if Qin Luo was still arguing with Zhang Zhiyun, and if they were done arguing, to send the kid inside to do his assignments.
The tutor’s assignments were still unfinished.
Qin Huai went outside, but Cao Guixiang had no intention of leaving. She wandered around the kitchen, observing every finished filling without touching anything, and finally glanced from afar at the assistants chopping meat before approaching the big mom slicing preserved fruit with sleeve guards.
"Miss, do you have any spare sleeve guards?" Cao Guixiang asked.
The mom slicing preserved fruit didn’t recognize Cao Guixiang and thought she was a newly arrived helper, someone very close to Qin Huai who could chat before working. She warmly fetched a new pair of floral sleeve guards for her: "Also, we have aprons, I’ll get you one from over there!"
Two minutes later, wearing a red apron and floral sleeve guards, Cao Guixiang had seamlessly integrated into the back kitchen, just like all the household wives who found a position in Qin Family’s big kitchen during the New Year.
When Qin Huai returned to the kitchen after assigning Qin Luo the day’s assignments, he was shocked to see Cao Guixiang’s attire.
"Cao... Grandma Cao, you..."
"I’m here to help," Cao Guixiang said with a smile, taking a large cleaver from the knife rack and walking to the chopping board.
The helpers in the meat chopping group naturally made space for Cao Guixiang. With Aunt Wang absent today, everyone assumed she was yet another assistant Qin Huai had recruited to chop meat.
The village chief’s second son-in-law enthusiastically briefed Cao Guixiang on the task: "The meat needs to be first chopped and then minced, you must use great force, let me check if there are any other specific requirements."
The village chief’s second son-in-law started to forget his words and reached for his phone.
Cao Guixiang interjected: "The meat should be kept between tight and loose status. The filling doesn’t need to lock in the juices nor be too loose. It shouldn’t have the chewy texture of meatballs, nor be as soft and powerless as a crushed meat patty."
"Yes, yes, yes! That’s exactly it!" The village chief’s second son-in-law didn’t really remember the specifics but thought what Cao Guixiang said was spot on.
Seeing Qin Huai return, Cao Guixiang smiled at him, "I had nothing else to do, and my husband is still chatting with Qin Zhishu. I saw you’re a bit overwhelmed here, so I volunteered to help chop meat. You don’t mind, do you, Master Qin?"
"I don’t mind, I don’t mind," Qin Huai quickly replied, standing still and watching Cao Guixiang chop meat.
Before chopping, Cao Guixiang selected the meat.
The benefit of being in the countryside is the assurance of quality and freshness of ingredients. At Huang Ji, Huang An Yao would have to pay extra to get this quality of fresh pork from suppliers. He would need to call ahead to notify suppliers, emphasizing the importance of the banquet that day to ensure the best quality pork. Even then, it depended on the supplier’s inventory, and there was no guarantee of getting the best quality.
But in Qin Family Village, especially during New Year, if Qin Huai wanted, he could choose any pig from the village in the morning, and it would be expertly butchered and appear in Qin Family’s big kitchen by noon. An hour later, the pork would be turned into meat-filled glutinous rice and served to the household.
The produce and meat appearing in the Qin Family’s kitchen were rigorously selected by the villagers.
Cao Guixiang picked a few cuts of lean meat.
There was almost no fat, and the color and texture indicated it was excellent for quick stir-fried dishes.
The meat chunks were diced.
Although Cao Guixiang appeared to be an ordinary aging housewife, the moment she wielded the kitchen knife, her whole demeanor shifted. Her knife skills were sharp, and every chop was precise and forceful, making the village chief’s second son-in-law look like a lazy, dawdling apprentice.