Food starts with Mapo Tofu

Chapter 436

Of course, Sun Fuquan didn't know that Chen Nian was actually the master of the two apprentices now, but when he saw Chen Nian commanding various affairs in the kitchen with ease, a strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart.

"If Chen Nian is allowed to work in a restaurant, will he grow faster? Or is he born to work in a restaurant instead of making big pots?"

After all, although cooking in a big pot and cooking in a restaurant are both cooking, there is an essential difference between the two.

Cooking in a restaurant allows you to meet more people and learn more, and the dishes you cook are exquisite and incomparable.

As for Sun Fuquan being treated so courteously by Shen San now, it actually also benefited from his experience in the restaurant in his early years.

But after he heard about Chen Nian's life experience, he also knew that Chen Nian was not the kind of fledgling person who didn't understand anything. He must also know which side was more beneficial to his future development.

But Chen Nian still made such a decision in the end, presumably everyone has his own ambitions.

It's just that what Sun Fuquan didn't know was that Chen Nian was all for him. If Chen Nian was really thrown into this world forever, Chen Nian would definitely go to the restaurant to seek development.

It's just that Chen Nian is now working as a cook in Jinwumen. In Sun Fuquan's eyes, this is completely fate.

Chen Nian handled all kinds of ingredients quickly there. Mao Hua originally listened to shopkeeper Ji's orders and wanted to help Chen Nian do something, such as chopping vegetables, making knives, pre-frying or blanching some ingredients.

But he didn't expect that all these jobs were arranged for a long time, and all he could do was cleaning.

At first, he thought that Chen Nian might be embarrassed, so he said directly: "Why don't you prepare something else, and I'll help you chop the vegetables. This thing is quite troublesome." Picking up tofu, "How are you going to make this?"

But Chen Nian shook his head politely and resistingly, and took the tofu from the other party's hand: "It's okay, I'll do it, Brother Mao, if you really want to help, can you clean the meat for me?"

This made Mao Hua feel a little astonished, because at that moment just now, he saw not only politeness, but also rejection in Chen Nian's eyes.

This is not a rejection out of embarrassment, but out of mistrust.

Mao Hua is very familiar with this kind of tone and expression. When he first came to Runfeng Building seven or eight years ago, Master Sun was still cooking here, and at that time he could be regarded as smart, so I thought about it more. Doing some work might win Master Sun's favor.

But at that time, Master Sun rejected him so politely.

As a result, Master Sun's disciples are now saying the same thing!

You must know that the current self is no longer the original self. After seven or eight years, even if he has not become the chef here, he can already cook some dishes independently.

Master Sun can treat me like a kid, but you don't look as old as me, yet you still talk to me in this tone?

This is too crazy!
Mao Hua quickly put a label on Chen Nian.

"By the way, Brother Mao, can I trouble you to prepare a few cold dishes first? What I plan to cook here are some hot dishes. When shopkeeper Ji's guests arrive, I will definitely serve some cold dishes first."

"Okay." Mao Hua nodded, washed the meat in his hands and put it in a basin, and then began to prepare cold dishes.

To be honest, he doesn't have any special ideas now, he just wants to see what shocking dishes can be made after a while.

Anyway, shopkeeper Ji asked him to cooperate with Chen Nian, but if this kid surnamed Chen didn't let him do it, it had nothing to do with him.

At the beginning, Chen Nian planned to make pickled meat with preserved vegetables first. After all, this dish takes a long time, and it will take more than an hour to make it.

Skillfully handle the pork, put the pork skin down into the pot, and then use various seasonings to prepare the sauce. There is no muddle in the whole process, and all steps are done in one go.

"Is this braised pork with preserved vegetables?" Naturally, Master Sun knew about this dish. Although this dish is considered a Hakka dish, it has already spread to the north by this time.

In addition, this dish itself is a big meat slice, so it is loved by many northerners.

It's just that Sun Fuquan saw that Chen Nian's method was different from what he would do, but he didn't say it, because he watched Chen Nian handle the ingredients and felt that it seemed to be okay to do so.

Although he doesn't know the exact strength of Chen Nian, he still understands the basic level of Chen Nian.

He watched from the side just to prevent Chen Nian from overturning while cooking.

But seeing that Chen Nian was so smooth, he didn't need to say anything more.

The way some people teach their apprentices is to chatter, even when there is no need to speak.

But Sun Fuquan is different. He doesn't like to talk too much. He likes to let others do it first. In many cases, even if he makes a mistake, there is still a chance to make up for it, but the key is to be willing to let go.

It's just that when Chen Nian was cooking here, Mao Hua, who was making cold dishes over there, would also look here from time to time. The dish of braised pork with pickled vegetables is actually not very technical, and it's nothing more than memorizing the steps.

So after seeing the old man steaming this dish at the end, he didn't show any special expression.

After steaming the pickled meat with preserved vegetables, Chen Nian began to prepare his next dish—Wensi Tofu.

After Mao Hua saw Chen Nian picking up the tofu, he couldn't help concentrating on it. Just now he was holding the tofu and wanted to cut everything for Chen Nian, but Chen Nian ruthlessly rejected him, which made him very embarrassed.

"Isn't it wrinkled like a piece of tofu? It seems like I can cut it up for you with a single knife." Although Mao Hua didn't know what Chen Nian would do with this tofu, he also didn't think that Chen Nian could make any flowers, after all This is just a block of tofu.

Just as he was thinking this way, he saw that Chen Nian had already picked up the tofu, peeled off the outer layer of old skin, cut the tofu with a horizontal knife, and then started to move the knife.

The sound of "beep beep beep" kept ringing, and Mao Hua couldn't help but subconsciously glanced over there, but just like that, he couldn't move his gaze away.

"What is he doing?" It's not clear what Chen Nian's intention is, "Is this not random cutting? It seems that there is no change with every cut." Mao Hua was a little confused, and he still didn't look at it until now. What kind of dishes do you want to cook when you are old?

Even the other chefs in the kitchen couldn't help but take a look here.

They heard what Chen Nian said just now, and they probably knew what Chen Nian was here for.

Everyone respects Master Sun.

But they didn't understand Chen Nian's words, they just thought this kid was crazy just like Mao Hua.

But just judging from the previous Mei Cai Bao Rou, the other party doesn't seem to have anything unique.

Now with the addition of aged cut tofu, they are in a fog.

That is to say, Sun Fuquan knew that Chen Nian was probably going to make Wensi tofu, and he had heard about this dish, and he knew that this dish was all about details.

Except for the fineness, there is nothing special about other places. Even if a person who doesn't know how to cook comes, he can make it according to the recipe, and the taste can be quite similar.

And now that he is the closest to Chen Nian, it can be seen at a glance that Chen Nian is not cutting randomly. Although the range of each movement is small, it is indeed moving!
After slicing the tofu, Chen Nian dipped some water on the knife, and spread out the thinly sliced ​​tender tofu, like falling dominoes, one on top of the other. body.

Soon the aged knife started to move again.

Except for Chen Nian and Sun Fuquan, none of the people in the kitchen thought about what Chen Nian was going to do. Anyway, in their eyes, it was only Chen Nian who wanted to cut tofu into minced tofu.

"Could this be to make tofu cake? First cut the tofu into mince, then mix noodles or something else to turn it into a pastry and steam it in a pan?" Someone began to speculate in a low voice.

"I think it's almost the same. Otherwise, what is he doing with the pot of water on the side? And the shredded cloud legs, radish, and green vegetables he cut may be put in the tofu cake at that time, just like It's like jelly."

These chefs began to use their imaginations to guess what dishes to cook.

Master Sun was dumbfounded when he was slicing, and he couldn't even close his mouth when he was shredding later!

It is one thing to hear about making Wensi tofu, but another thing to see it with your own eyes!

Sun Fuquan had never thought of cutting the tofu so finely before, although at first glance it looks like the tofu has been cut into slag and paste, but if you look closely, you can still see that the tofu is actually still thin shape!
It's just that it's still a little unclear now.

However, in the eyes of other people, this dish is not very good, because the tofu itself is soft and tender, and it tastes like it melts in the mouth, but you add shredded vegetables and radishes to match it. This is not another kind of dish. taste?

After putting this tofu in the mouth, others instinctively want to squeeze it open with the palate and tongue, only to find that there is a shredded radish inside. Is this feeling good?
It's like eating and finding a hair in the dish.

They couldn't help shaking their heads.

But when they shook their heads, Chen Nian had also cut the tofu. At this time, the pot had boiled away. Chen Nian had someone turn down the heat a little, and then picked up the tofu shreds with a kitchen knife and put them directly into the pot middle……

Such a step greatly exceeded those people's expectations.

After these shredded tofu were put into the pot, Sun Fuquan was the first to step forward to check, only to find that the shredded tofu began to scatter under the continuous and gentle stirring with chopsticks.

The individual filaments seem to be smaller than the hair!
This is the second time Sun Fuquan has seen this dish. The first time he saw this dish was decades ago, but now that I think about it, the chef who made this dish didn’t seem to have cut the tofu so finely, right?

From the perspective of knife skills alone, this apprentice seems to be ready to become a teacher!

Because he has nothing to teach him about the knife.

And at this moment, a chef was holding a radish in his hand and was about to carve flowers, but when he passed the stove, he also looked in curiously, and it didn't matter!

"Fuck! So awesome!" He exclaimed after seeing the state of the tofu in the pot!
He has never seen anyone cut tofu like this!
You must know that he was also one of the people who slandered Chen Nian in his heart just now, but now the way he looks at Chen Nian has changed!
As a result, after his exclamation, other people couldn't help becoming curious, and they put down their work and came here to take a look, because they were also curious about what the man saw in the pot!
Then it was: "Damn!"

"Damn it!"

"Turtle!"

"Mom!"

Voices like "wait for a while" sounded in the kitchen one after another.

Is Master Sun's apprentice so terrifying?
No wonder Master Sun didn't want to accept apprentices when he was in Runfeng Building, because he didn't like it!
Look at this apprentice's knife skill, it's simply superb!
They wondered if Master Sun brought Chen Nian here this time to show off?
But after thinking about it again, even if this thing wants to show off, it must have the capital to show off, how can you show off if you have nothing?

So far, they didn't dare to underestimate Chen Nian anymore, including Mao Hua who hadn't recovered from the shock. The worthless Chen Nian who was belittled by him just now was so strong!
"What kind of soup is this?" Mao Hua asked.

"Wensi Tofu." Chen Nian said.

Then everyone started talking again.

Wensi tofu is also a slow dish, which needs to be boiled slowly with a low fire.

Therefore, after this dish was also sitting on the pot, Aged Nian continued to prepare the rest of the dish.

And Mao Hua has already prepared a few cold dishes, and at this time he is willing to help Chen Nian clean the ingredients.

Master Sun felt the eyes of the people around him, and he was very proud. Although he didn't say anything, he was already shouting loudly in his heart: "Look, this is my apprentice. I didn't like you back then. With half the level of my apprentices, maybe I will accept you as apprentices!"

Then Chen Nian started to clean up the ribs, cut the brisket, and cut the radishes. He had to prepare all the side dishes, and then cook them one by one, because some ingredients needed to be marinated in advance.

Prepare it ahead of time so you don't have to waste time marinating it when the time comes.

The words are divided into two parts.

Shopkeeper Ji is going to host a banquet today for his friends in the business field.

Shopkeeper Ji's name is Ji Xin.

Ji's family has a family business. They not only run restaurants, but also run grain stores, cloth stores, etc., and they are considered to be a big family business. However, because there are many people in the family, Ji Xin usually It is to hand over these industries to the brothers to take care of them.

But the decision-making work still needs to be done by Ji Xin, including negotiating some major cooperation with the outside world.

It's just that this time they are planning to come to Ji Xin to get in touch with each other, hoping to get a more favorable price in the follow-up cooperation.

It was equivalent to asking Ji Xin, so Ji Xin didn't particularly care about it, so he let Chen Nian do it with confidence. Of course, if it was that kind of important partner, Ji Xin would definitely not say such a thing.

Even if he believes in Sun Fuquan again, he still has to consider his family's property. Doing business is not only the transfer and exchange of benefits, but also a lot of personal emotions.

Soon after the first few cold dishes came out, Ji Xin could tell at a glance that they must be made by Mao Hua, because Mao Hua has been here for seven or eight years, and the taste of the dishes and the way they are arranged are very easy to identify.

They ate and chatted like this, but it didn't take long for hot dishes to be served.

Looking at these dishes, Ji Xin was very sure that they were definitely not made by the cooks in his own restaurant, because they didn't have these dishes in the restaurant at all.

"If I'm not mistaken, this dish is boiled dried shredded rice?" One of shopkeeper Ji's partners looked at the newly served dish and said speculatively.

Mao Hua, who was serving the dish, nodded: "Shopkeeper Ma, this dish is indeed boiled dry silk."

At this time, Ji Xin also greeted everyone and began to move their chopsticks: "Come here, try this dish, you can eat the dried shreds, and you can also drink the soup."

As he spoke, he first put some dried silk on his plate, and then filled some soup with a spoon.

Others followed suit.

As the dried shredded rice enters the mouth and the fresh soup enters the belly, there is a sound of admiration on the dining table!
"This is too fresh!"

"This dish is delicious!"

"Treasurer Ji, where did you invite such a Huaiyang cuisine chef? It seems that we are here today!"

But Ji Xin only said in the face of their inquiries: "You can just like it, and the rest will be kept secret for the time being, but be careful, don't rush to eat, there are still many dishes in the future."

This portion of boiled dried shredded silk really surprised Ji Xin, thinking: "Old Sun, Old Sun, you have taken in a good apprentice!"

Not long after, dishes such as squirrel mandarin fish, soft pocket long fish, lion head, and white robe shrimp were served.

There are not many dishes, but every dish can be called delicious.

Ji Xin also became more and more startled. He wondered if Sun Fuquan learned to cook Huaiyang cuisine after leaving Runfeng Building?
Looking at the quality of these dishes, and then tasting the taste of these dishes, it doesn't seem like an apprentice can make them.

Even if this kind of dish is placed in Yangzhou, it must be produced by a restaurant of the level of Runfenglou.

Otherwise, cooks with this level generally would not go to some small workshops, and diners who go to eat in small workshops generally cannot enjoy these dishes.

Just when Ji Xin's partners thought that Ji Xin had found a Huaiyang cuisine chef from nowhere, suddenly the next dish came up, which was pickled pork with preserved vegetables.

Followed by stewed radish and beef brisket, steamed pork ribs with glutinous rice, white-cut chicken...

"Why are there still Cantonese cooks?" All the people present here are business people, who have traveled all over the world, and naturally they can guess the names of the dishes pretty well just by looking at them.

And although Ji Xin still kept a mysterious faint smile on his face, he couldn't help muttering in his heart.

(End of this chapter)