The story of a cook

Chapter 448 Little Tofu

Do you have any tips for cooking?
I don't think so.

Chefs go through several stages of cooking.The first is to know what is cooking; the second is to know what to cook; the third is to know why to cook; the fourth is to know what to cook; the fifth is to know how to cook.

There are three stages when we look at things. The first stage is to see mountains as mountains, the second stage is to see whether mountains are not mountains, and the third stage is to see mountains as mountains.

The same is true for cooks who cook. They will experience whether a dish is a dish, then whether a dish is a dish, and finally whether a dish is a dish.

When I first learned to be a chef, I saw the chefs cooking very well. What they cook is the dishes. I tried my best to learn the dishes made by others. I felt that after learning the dishes made by others, I was a chef and I could go out to cook. Yes, and I can earn the money from other people.After learning other people's dishes, I went out to cook by myself, and suddenly found that I can only cook these dishes, but I don't know why I make these dishes, and I don't know why these dishes are made. , That's right, this is the dish.But after making it, I found that what I made was other people's dishes, and I felt that what I made was not a dish, and I had no soul at all.In the end, I realized that everything is always the same. All dishes are eaten in the mouth. Only when the original flavor is eaten is the dish, and the essence is the dish.

It is the same as seeing a mountain as a mountain, seeing a mountain as not a mountain, and seeing a mountain as a mountain.

On the other hand, the principle is the same, cooking is the same as being a human being. If a person cooks well, the food will be well-cooked;

It is said that living in the world is a practice, a process of understanding, enlightening and cultivating the Tao, so the chef can also enter the Tao.Martial arts into martial arts, tea art into tea ceremony, so what chefs into is cooking.

There is also a way to cook.

What is Tao?
Tao is humanity, which can be taught but not accepted, learned but not obtained.

Both are chefs, but they are also three thousand ways, each of which is different.

To do the same is to be human.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, the Tao is originally easy and simple, and the Tao is not esoteric, it is all common principles.

The ultimate goal of cooking is to return to the basics, to pursue the original taste of raw materials, and to return to the original is the right way.The same is true of being a human being. In any case, it is the right way to go back to the beginning, to be true, kind, and beautiful.

What is true?Just the original intention.

What is good?Don't be evil.

What is beauty?To be true, to be good, to be beautiful.

After taking the two dishes from Master Li, I started to make improvements.Bao Peng expressed his dissatisfaction with Master Li's dishes, and told me that he gave away all the good dishes he sold to others, and had to cook their bad dishes, which was not worthwhile.I understand his reaction, if it is a new dish I serve, he will be very happy to accept it, now he cooks his own good dishes for others, and takes others’ bad dishes to cook himself, he still has to It's natural to feel uncomfortable.

"Bao Peng, if we cook these two dishes, they will be very powerful." I said.

"The main reason is that these two dishes have been on the market for almost a month, and they haven't sold well," he said.

I asked: "Do you know why it is not sold?"

"It doesn't taste good." He was fine, telling the truth directly.

I said: "Not necessarily. There are two reasons for the poor sales. One is that the presentation is not good. This is the main reason. The main reason why our dishes sell well is that you have arranged them well. Customers like it. And One reason is that what you said and what you did were not good."

He still muttered emotionally: "Master, how do you arrange these two dishes? You can arrange one for me to see first, and then I will follow your arrangement." After saying this, he muttered in a low voice: "Last time Just give out two dishes, and now I’ll give them back, I’ll give them all.”

He thought I didn't hear it, but I heard it clearly.

I couldn't help laughing, and said in my heart that I was still a child, and I cared too much about gains and losses.

In order to coax him, I personally re-arranged the "Mom's eggplant" and "stir-fried chicken gizzards" that Master Li gave me, and showed him after finishing the arrangement. "

I said: "So the stalls are very important. Whether the vegetables sell well depends mainly on you, the chopping board, followed by me, the cook. Your work is very important, don't underestimate yourself."

"Master, just put it this way, even if it sells well, it's not our food, it's someone else's." He was still a little resentful.

I smiled and said to him: "Aren't they all kitchen dishes? Now I am a chef, what if I am the head chef? What if you are the boss of the chopping board?"

He thought for a while and said, "Aren't we right?"

"If you always think this way, you can only be a chopping board in this life, you can't be the boss of the chopping board, and you can't be a chef, you know?" I continued: "If you don't stretch your stomach, you will always be a slut. You only know that you are full. In this life, I will be a wine bag and rice bag."

He saw that I didn't say anything, and brought the two dishes that had been set to the front stall.

Seeing that Master Ma and Master Li did not go out to smoke and chat like every day, but were doing preparation work with the cutting board, I was very happy, and I hope they can persevere.

I told Master Li that I want to study the dish of small tofu, so I took over all the small tofu.Let Bao Peng steam the bean curd dregs on the steamer for 15 minutes, and when the bean curd dregs are steaming, go to the green vegetable room and bring the washed Chinese cabbage.The cabbage was very tender, and it was covered with water just after washing. Bao Peng asked Bao Peng to take the cabbage outside to dry in the courtyard, and blow it to dry the water.There was no such step before. The reason why I took it out to dry is that I feel that the watery pak choy is fried directly with too much water, and the fragrance of the pak choi cannot be reflected. It smells fishy.

After being steamed for 15 minutes, the bean curd dregs were taken out and looked a little yellow. When Bao Peng was asked which layer of the steamer was steamed, he said it was the third layer, and the rice was steamed on the upper two layers.Looking at the yellowing of the bean curd residue, it is estimated that the distilled water of the rice dripped on the bean curd residue, otherwise it would not turn yellow.Tell him to steam the bean curd residue on the first layer in the future.

I tasted the bean curd residue and it was okay, the tofu flavor was very strong.

Then Li Fushun, who was called Dahe, chopped more green onions, finer than usual.He asked how much to cut, and I said to cut ten scallions first.He stared at me blankly for a long time, and said, master, three trees are enough for us every day, can it be used if we cut ten trees?I said it works, cut it.

The cabbage was left to dry outside for an hour, and the water was gone when it was brought back, so it was cut into pieces and ready to be prepared.The pak choi without moisture tastes very good after being cut, and there is a unique fragrance of pak choy.But I feel that the cabbage is too tender, it would be better if it was older.I thought I would stir-fry first today, and feel it. If I feel bad, I will try to buy some Chinese cabbage tomorrow.The second cabbage is bigger and older than the small cabbage. The common people say that it is boiled and rotten.

I intuitively feel that it is better to use two cabbage than small cabbage.

After these are prepared, it is time to wait for the guests to order.

I was very excited when I ordered the first small tofu for lunch, and I was finally able to try it.

First put in the large oil, after the large oil is slightly hot, add a large handful of chopped green onions, stir-fry on a low heat until the aroma is released, then add the half-cut Chinese cabbage and stir-fry for a while.At this time, the fragrance of cabbage floats out of the pot, and then the steamed tofu dregs are added.Immediately after the bean curd dregs are put in, the water that comes out when frying the cabbage is absorbed, and the phenomenon of dry pot quickly appears.

If you find that there is a dry pot phenomenon, immediately remove the stir-fry pot from the heat, continue to stir-fry slowly after removing from the heat, then add the crushed tofu, and stir-fry the tofu residue and tofu evenly in the state of removing from the heat.The tofu contains water, and it will become mushy after being stir-fried with the tofu dregs. Then turn the stir-fry pan on high heat and stir-fry slowly on low heat.Stir quickly with a hand spoon to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.While frying, add refined salt, and the rest don't need to be added.

When frying, turn the stir pot quickly, and at the same time stir quickly with the hand spoon, and drain the moisture in the tofu during the slow heating process, stimulating the aroma of the cabbage.

When frying small tofu, I remembered the scene of frying mashed potatoes at Heyuxuan. Stir-frying small tofu is almost the same as stir-frying mashed potatoes. What you need is a lot of effort, low fire, fast manual operation, and frequent turning of the spoon to ensure that the pot does not burn. It is necessary to fry out the pan gas, and only after the pan gas is fried out can it be considered successful.

The unique aroma of small tofu slowly floats out of the pot, which is very similar to the aroma when my mother made lazy tofu when I was a child. At this time, the small tofu in the pot has been fully fused and flocculent.When it feels like it is ready to be fried, pour in a little cooking oil, stir-fry quickly and evenly, sprinkle a little chopped green onion just before it comes out of the pan, and then put it on a plate.

When it was served on the plate, the aroma of the small tofu began to hit the nostrils. The aroma that only those who have eaten lazy tofu know is very attractive and rich.

I left a little in the pot and tasted it. To be honest, it was really delicious, and I felt like I was eating lazy tofu.

The only thing missing is that the pak choy is too tender and fresh, it tastes delicious when it is hot, but it will smell a bit beany when the temperature is lowered.At the same time, I feel that the heat is still lacking when the tofu dregs are fried, and it will be fine if they are fried for another ten seconds.

10 minutes after the first small tofu, the second one came. When the second one was made, the tofu dregs were fried for enough time. I tasted it better than the first one, and the beany smell was much less. .

When frying the third portion, I added a little more chopped green onion, and the time to sauté the chopped green onion was about five seconds longer. When the fragrance of the chopped green onion was strong, add the Chinese cabbage. It is too tender, and the small tofu will appear in the soup after about 15 minutes on the table. Once the soup is poured, it will be unloaded, and the taste will be gone.Although the guests have almost eaten in 15 minutes, there are still shortcomings. What if the guests don’t eat much within 15 minutes?

Be sure to replace the small cabbage with the second cabbage.

When the eighth serving of lunch was served, Manager Zhang’s voice from the front desk came from the food distribution department: “The small tofu that was ordered just now is the second serving after the customer has finished eating. Want the taste just now."

To be honest, I was very excited when I heard this voice, and I felt a sense of accomplishment, a little proud.Everyone in the kitchen heard it, but none of them looked at me. They all looked at Master Li in unison——

Master Li was very embarrassed and said loudly: "Don't look at me, I didn't do it, Brother Tan did it, look at him!"

To be honest, not many people looked at me at this time, and everyone thought it was normal if this happened to me, and there was nothing to be surprised about.

I feel beautiful when no one looks at me. For a chef, there is nothing more gratifying than being well-received by customers for his dishes. He is even happier than getting a 500 yuan bonus.

This is an affirmation of one's cooking skills, and this kind of affirmation is more important than participating in a cooking competition to get a ranking.

Vanity flashed by at this moment, and a smug expression appeared on his face. Although no one saw this expression, he was still beautiful in his heart.

Any kind of encouragement will make people continue to do the right things, and do better and better.

The next day I bought the second cabbage. The small tofu made with the second cabbage is more delicious than the one made with the small cabbage. The fragrance of the cabbage is stronger, and the combination with the original taste of the tofu has completely reached the level of lazy tofu. It tastes like my mother when I was a child.

On the third day, adjust the steaming time of the bean curd to 8 minutes, so that the steamed bean curd is very fluffy and can be eaten directly.

On the fourth day, I changed the procedure of adding refined salt, instead of adding it directly when frying, but adding refined salt when crushing the tofu, and then mixing it with chopsticks, so that the saltiness and lightness are even, and it is more convenient when frying.

On the fifth day, I tried steaming the tofu in a steamer for 15 minutes, and then fried it. The taste was even better. At this time, I felt very delicious when I ate small tofu, and I could eat a portion.

In the past, wooden barrels were used to serve small tofu, which has a rustic atmosphere.But the wooden barrel is a bit deep, and it will be a bit difficult for the guests to eat half of it, and it will be cold at the same time, and the taste will be halved.The wooden barrel is changed to a stone pot, and the stone pot is heated in advance, so that the small tofu that goes up is still hot at the end of the meal, the temperature can be maintained, and the guests will not feel uneasy at the end of the meal.

It took a week, and the small tofu has increased from 35 servings per day to 40 servings, and it is still rising.Many customers said it was good after eating it, especially those over [-] years old who liked it very much. After eating one, they ordered a second one, saying that it tasted like the taste of the past. I ate it when I was young, and I have a deep memory. After I returned to the city, I couldn’t eat it. I’ve been wanting to eat it all these years, but I didn’t have it.
A small tofu carries the memories of a generation.

After the success of the small tofu, the production process and standards were fixed, and then handed over to Master Li.I told him the essentials of production and the matters needing attention, and took him to make three copies. After seeing that he had reached the standard, he was completely responsible for it.

Master Li later asked me what is the secret of cooking, and I told him two words - rigorous.

When I was exchanging dishes with Master Li, Master Du told me that it is best to get Lao Zhao's permission, otherwise Lao Zhao will get angry.I really didn't expect this. I thought it would be a good thing for the two masters to exchange dishes with each other. When a master rests, his dishes will be prepared.When I was at Linjiangxuan, I directly unified the production standards of the dishes, which is much better than making their own.

I am helping Lao Zhao with work, he should understand.

(End of this chapter)