Chapter 879: Of Course There's a Secret_2

If Fu Yu hadn’t thought of using gluten to substitute for pork loin in cooking sweet and sour pork, according to their previous ideas, replacing it with fish or shrimp would definitely not have been as perfect in terms of taste or presentation.

Fu Yu was able to immediately think of a substitute ingredient and directly start cooking, which made Sun Mingze extremely impressed from the bottom of his heart!

Although he had only been in the kitchen for two days, Sun Mingze always seemed a bit naturally sociable and felt he had talked with Fu Yu, so he boldly approached and seriously asked, “Chef Fu, how did you think of using gluten to substitute for pork loin in this dish? At first, I thought of using fish or tofu for a substitute… but now that I think about it, it’s indeed not as effective as gluten.”

Fu Yu looked at Sun Mingze, the chubby boy’s eyes were full of curiosity, and couldn’t help but say, “The most crucial step in choosing substitute ingredients for cooking is ‘similar appearance, close taste.’

“Actually, if you want pork to be softer, you can choose to use tenderizing powder, but unlike other dishes, using tenderizing powder in sweet and sour pork results in a significantly different texture of fiber. Comparatively, gluten, after cooking, tastes more like the texture of pork.”

“As for thinking of gluten, it’s because I have some knowledge of vegetarian cooking.”

“For us who regularly handle cooking, we shouldn’t be limited to commonly used ingredients; we also need some understanding in other areas.”

“Knowing more makes responding to various sudden situations much easier. Just like today, I was able to think of using gluten because I know that in vegetarian cooking, it’s possible to substitute pork with gluten.”

At this time, Sun Mingze couldn’t help but ask, “Then… Chef Fu, how did you think of studying vegetarian cooking?”

Fu Yu’s reasoning was sound and also shared his culinary experience.

First, choose suitable substitute ingredients based on the dish’s flavor characteristics.

Then, based on your experience, determine the most appropriate choice and decisively proceed with cooking.

Fu Yu’s simple act of substituting ingredients in cooking made Sun Mingze suddenly realize that to improve one’s culinary skills, one needs to broaden relevant knowledge.

Only by knowing more, when faced with problems, can you develop a logical thinking framework.

Fu Yu smiled: “It’s not just vegetarian cooking; in fact, the scope of cooking is very wide. When you’ve accumulated a certain level of knowledge, a cooking mindset will develop.”

Sun Mingze was taken aback.

As a chef, it turns out you also need to cultivate a cooking mindset?

It’s like solving a problem; it needs to be deduced through formulas.

Sun Mingze suddenly felt enlightened, as if he had crossed a foggy area and caught a glimpse of the road ahead.

However, Sun Mingze was still very curious about his previous question.

“Chef Fu, why did you think of learning vegetarian cooking in the first place?”

“Did you graduate from the same school as us? Our school doesn’t have this major, and Qianlima doesn’t have related recipes either?”

Fu Yu chuckled awkwardly and reiterated an old excuse: “My mom likes vegetarian food, and we often make it at home, so I have some understanding of this area.”

So that’s it.

Sun Mingze suddenly understood, but he then asked, “Chef Fu, how did you quickly decide not to substitute with fish or tofu? Have you tried it before?”

Fu Yu shook his head: “I haven’t, but I thought about it and felt that the outcome from cooking those ingredients might not be ideal.”

Sun Mingze’s eyes immediately lit up: “Chef Fu, how did you judge? Is there a secret?”

Looking at Sun Mingze, Fu Yu smiled: “Of course, there’s a secret.”

Sun Mingze quickly perked up his ears with a posture ready for serious listening.

This is all “valuable information!”

Solid experience sharing!

Seeing this, Fu Yu was also very willing to share.

What’s the saying?

Sharing and disseminating knowledge can help others, make friends, earn others’ praise, increase various opportunities, gain certain “benefits,” and improve one’s level and abilities.

So knowledge isn’t personal; one is merely a user and disseminator of knowledge.

“In fact, the more you cook, the deeper your understanding of various ingredients becomes.”

“Did you notice that when choosing substitute ingredients, I first dismissed fish and tofu as the most obvious choices?”

Sun Mingze nodded: “Yes, I noticed that, but… the texture of cooked fish and tofu wouldn’t differ too much, right?”

At this point, Fu Yu said to Zhang Jinyu: “Jin Yu, how did the gluten sweet and sour pork I cooked taste to you?”

Zhang Jinyu promptly said: “It’s delicious! You can’t tell it used gluten at all; the texture is very similar to pork but slightly softer on chewing. However, though soft, you can still feel the texture of the fibers.”

“If it weren’t for knowing the ingredients were substituted, you wouldn’t be able to tell.”

Fu Yu nodded and said to Sun Mingze: “In fact, there are many meat and vegetable types in cooking where you can find substitute ingredients. Even when ingredients are incomplete, you can completely use ingredients with similar tastes or appearances to achieve a similar texture for cooking.”

“Using gluten to replace pork is a perfect example.”

Sun Mingze quickly nodded, getting more serious in attitude.

“To perfectly choose substitute ingredients, the primary considerations should be taste and appearance. Both aspects are initially based on the dish’s cooking method and original taste.”

“We all know sweet and sour pork is a household dish. Whether or not people frequently eat out, customers are very familiar and understanding of the dish’s style and flavor.”

Fu Yu’s mention of a household name seems exaggerated, but it’s true that sweet and sour pork is almost a must-order dish in restaurants.

Fu Yu continued: “This dish’s characteristics are too prominent: golden color, appropriate thickness of meat slices, strong nasal vinegar aroma upon entry, crispy batter on the outside, and very thin pork inside that’s chewy, perfectly balancing the strong sweet and sour batter taste.”

“So to make a substitution, the first requirement is that after frying, the substitute needs to be softer than pork but still have some chewiness, which the fiber texture of fish and tofu cannot achieve.”

“Moreover, whether fish or tofu, both have their unique tastes. After the strong sweet and sour taste stimulation, the taste buds become particularly sensitive, and it’s easy to detect the taste of fish or tofu upon careful chewing, creating a sense of detachment for the customers.”

“Knowing it’s not pork, there’s a subconscious belief that the sweet and sour pork isn’t authentic because the ingredients were substituted, affecting the dining experience.”

“Gluten doesn’t have this concern because it carries only a mild flavor. The batter’s taste can integrate well with it. When customers taste it, neither the texture nor the flavor has a noticeable detachment, even though they’re aware the ingredient was substituted, they subconsciously overlook this fact because they can’t figure out what the actual ingredient is.”

These are all experiences Fu Yu has gradually summarized through cooking, which can be learned and applied, so when Fu Yu talked about it, he described it with great precision.

If it weren’t for being so confident about this matter, he would have spoken more cautiously and wouldn’t have explained it so comprehensively.