Sweet and sour fish is not difficult to make, as long as ordinary housewives practice a little, it is not difficult to make delicious sweet and sour fish, but the practice of West Lake vinegar fish is not so simple.

First of all, the ingredients are different, even if they are all chosen, but the grass carp grown in different environments has a world of difference in taste and texture.

As a simple example, they are all grass carp, and the West Lake vinegar fish made from grass carp in rivers and grass carp in lakes are completely different in taste.

The reason is not difficult to understand, grass carp is a migratory herbivorous fish, whether it lives in rivers or lakes, they like to live in water and grass.

In addition, the grass carp in the lake has no absolute natural enemies, and the food is relatively abundant, so the life of the grass carp is relatively relaxed.

As a result, the meat quality of the grass carp living in the lake has lost the original firmness and fineness of the grass carp in the river, but has accumulated more body fat, making the meat of the grass carp more soft and fat, and slightly better in texture and taste.

From a chef's point of view, the flavor of grass carp meat is relatively light, and it is easier to absorb the flavor when cooked, so it is the best ingredient for vinegar fish.

In terms of the production method, there is nothing surprising about the normal method, and the general process can be simply summarized into three steps: washing the fish, boiling the fish and refining the sauce.

The flavoring required for seasoning is also relatively simple, and it is nothing more than the most common seasoning such as green onion and ginger vinegar.

However, there is a clear difference in the taste between the home-cooked vinegar fish made by ordinary people and the real West Lake vinegar fish, which is why some secret cooking techniques play a key role.

In Yang Huairen's opinion, the other Zhejiang dishes in the Wenwu Building on South Street are cooked quite well, and it can be said that under the conditions of this era, they have reached a very high level, but only this most representative West Lake vinegar fish, they make a big gap with Yang Huairen's expectations.

Thinking of the people outside saying that they would come to Wenwulou to eat vinegar fish in West Lake, Yang Huairen was very puzzled, if one or two people don't know the goods, forget it, what is the matter with tourists and people near West Lake?

Could it be that he is in the wrong place? The Wenwu Building on North Street is the authentic Wenwu Building, and the Wenwu Building on South Street is the martial arts competitor who has no real craftsmanship but deliberately imitates others?

But it's not quite right to think about it, if the chef of Wenwu Building on South Street does not have enough level, and it is impossible for several other West Lake dishes to satisfy Yang Huairen, then why can't this most representative West Lake vinegar fish taste good?

Yang Huairen tasted the West Lake vinegar fish carefully, and found that there was no big problem with the processing of the fish, it was delicious enough, but the taste of the vinegar sauce was much worse, which lowered the level of the whole dish.

Seeing Yang Huairen's suspicious face, the old monk asked, "What's wrong?" Isn't the food delicious? I think it's pretty good. ”

Yang Huairen pointed to the West Lake vinegar fish, "Master taste this West Lake vinegar fish, tell me your opinion." ”

The old monk Wuneng smiled and took a mouthful of vinegar fish and stuffed it in his mouth, and after tasting it carefully, he still smiled, "The taste is okay, although it is a little different from the taste of sweet and sour fish, but in general...... That's pretty much what it tastes like. ”

Yang Huairen nodded, "Here's the problem, West Lake vinegar fish is a dish with extremely local characteristics, if as the master said, it tastes similar to ordinary sweet and sour fish, then where are its characteristics?" ”

The old monk also realized the problem, "Then what do you mean?" ”

The old monk said and looked at the Wenwu Building across the street, which obviously meant that we went to the wrong place and came to the Wenwu Building in the cottage?

Yang Huairen shook his head, "That's not it, the other dishes have already shown that the master chef of the back kitchen of this Wenwu Building has good cooking skills, and it is not appropriate to just use one dish to praise and disparage." ”

"That may be a momentary miss, but this game is not doing well?"

Yang Huairen shook his head again, "That's not it, since Wenwulou uses West Lake vinegar fish as its signature dish, he doesn't dare to be sloppy in cooking, he will smash the signboard."

In addition, if I say an example, the master can understand that our chef's cooking is actually somewhat similar to the master's martial arts, and making a certain dish is like a master practicing a certain move.

When the chef becomes proficient in the same dish, the feeling will be integrated into the body's muscle memory in the subsequent repetition.

When a master practices martial arts, he fights hundreds or thousands of times with one move, and he doesn't think a lot in advance when he usually uses it, but also performs it according to the memory and habits of the muscles, right? ”

The old monk nodded, "That's true. According to what you say, this vinegar fish usually made by the chef of this Wenwu Building is the current taste? ”

"Not bad."

Yang Huairen said, "The memory of muscles will not deceive, only one dish, when he gets used to a method, whether it is the habit of cooking or seasoning, there will not be much change."

Therefore, the chef's cooking of this West Lake vinegar fish will always taste like this, and unless someone can point out the wrong or imperfect aspects of his practice, he will not change his inherent habits and techniques. ”

The old monk laughed, "That's weird, let's inquire all the way, and they all say that the vinegar fish in Wenwulou's West Lake is a local must, and now I find that the name is not true, but you also said that the chef's skills are good, why is this?" ”

Yang Huairen smashed his mouth, "I didn't think it clearly for a while, so it's better to find the shopkeeper to come and inquire." ”

After speaking, he instructed a personal soldier to call the shopkeeper to come over, and asked kindly, "Shopkeeper, may I ask if the signature dish of your Wenwulou is the vinegar fish of the West Lake?" ”

The shopkeeper's eyes rolled, and he replied with a smile, "What the big official said is right, the vinegar fish in West Lake is indeed one of the signature dishes of my family's Wenwu Building, and of course there are several other local specialties of West Lake." ”

Yang Huairen asked again, "Are you sure?" ”

The shopkeeper seemed to be a little embarrassed, but he still said stiffly, "That's natural, my West Lake vinegar fish is a must in West Lake, and everyone in Hangzhou City knows it, if the big officials don't believe it, you can go out and inquire." ”

Yang Huairen sneered, "To say that it is so, it can be said to be a must, and it is an exaggeration." ”

The shopkeeper's face was a little ugly, but he didn't dare to offend the guests, so he forced his face and asked, "The big official has eaten West Lake vinegar fish before, but do you think that my West Lake vinegar fish tastes different from what I have eaten before?"

If so, it should be that I have eaten the inauthentic West Lake vinegar fish before, and my West Lake vinegar fish is the purest taste of this dish. ”

The shopkeeper said very confidently, and by the way, he glanced at the Wenwu Building on the opposite street with disdain, he probably thought that Yang Huairen had been to the Wenwu Building on North Street before, so he ate the different taste of his West Lake vinegar fish.