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> I think there's a reason very few restaurants serve this style of dish It is in fact quite common in some parts of China, as the OP mentions. But it's just a
by jrochkind1 4y ago
> I think there's a reason very few restaurants serve this style of dish
It is in fact quite common in some parts of China, as the OP mentions. But it's just a stock, used in other dishes, not a dish of it's own.
> more specifically in the cuisines of Canton and Fujian, where there’s a rich tradition of making lou mei, or master stock, which is used to braise and poach meats.
I had read about this before, I recall an article about maybe a US restaurant where the chef had brought the lou mei over from China, and the sous chefs who were tasked with keeping it going. I can't seem to track down the article now. But my understanding is that in fact very many restuarants in China do this, it's standard.
- darth_avocado 4y agoNot sure about China, but I’ve encountered local restaurants boasting broth that has continuously been cooked for decades in both Thailand and in Philippines.
- hnfong 4y agoYep. The thing is you don't "drink" the stock (lou mei) because it's too salty. So the solid foods are taken out without much of the liquid, and when you've served all the food in a batch, you're left with ~50% volume of the stock. It's still flavorful, arguably even more so since it absorbed the other food flavors in addition to the original spices etc. So if you're operating a restaurant, you just keep the liquid, replenish it with a bit more spices and condiments, and use it again and again...
- jrochkind1 4y agoNice, thanks for the context! I hadn't totally realized you're cooking food in it, removing the food, then re-using the broth! i guess you must have to strain it periodically. That is admittedly a really odd practice to me! It seems like it's origin might be at least in part just to not waste the stock? But people really believe it is important for flavor? (I am not suggesting it's not, how would I know?)