The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 18 Process Standards
Everyone should do whatever they want, Lao Tan left Wang Shulan, Cui Kai, and Li Xu behind.

"It's not over yet, don't rush away." Old Tan said.

"What else?" Cui Kai asked suspiciously.

"Now that I know how delicious pimple soup is, let me ask, if customers order pimple soup, what should they do?" Old Tan asked.

Everyone knows what to do just after learning. If you look at me and I look at you, whoever means it will say it first.

Old Tan asked Wang Shulan: "Sister Wang, now you have received an order for pimple soup, what should you do?"

Wang Shulan said: "Call the person in charge to knead the noodles, cut the ingredients, everything is ready, take it to Cui Kai, and he will do it."

"Okay, that's right, let me ask you, how long does it take from receiving the order to completing the distribution?" Old Tan asked.

Wang Shulan thought about it. In the past, it only took 5 minutes to knead the noodles, cut tomatoes and cabbage by one person to make pimple soup, but now she has to cut the king beans and diced potatoes, which takes 8 minutes, so she said: "8 minutes. "

Old Tan said: "Okay, let's say 8 minutes. After you deliver the pastry, send it to Cui Kai. Cui Kai, how long will it take for you to make it?"

Cui Kai said: "If there is no other dish, it can be prepared in 5 minutes."

Lao Tan didn't refute, and asked, "You seem to have overlooked a step. What about the crispy chicken? Who pickled it? Who fried it? Who cut it? It's also made right now? If that's the case, I probably won't be able to make it in an hour."

Yes, there is also crispy chicken, how can I forget it.Wang Shulan and Cui Kai looked at each other and began to think about the crispy chicken.

Wang Shulan thinks that Cui Kai should be in charge of marinated chicken and fried chicken.Cui Kai thinks that the pimple soup is the staple food, and all the preparation work should be done by the noodles, including the crispy chicken, and he can just do it.

Both of them are right, and it is often when they are both right that work is delayed.

Lao Tan knew what these two people were thinking. After working in the kitchen all these years, he understood the psychology of kitchen people too well.

Often when developing a new dish, or improving a dish, everyone will learn and make what they have learned into their own.However, when asked to operate according to the new process, they are unwilling to accept it, thinking that the workload will increase, and they can't do it even if they can do it.

To put it bluntly, it is to let myself learn the craft, and it is absolutely impossible to work more, unless it is a salary increase, otherwise there is no need to talk about it.

At this time, it is necessary to reset the process, decompose the work, refine it, and find the responsible person for each step.Only in this way can the work go on and be up to standard.

People only pay attention to the things they are responsible for, and try their best to do it well.

If there is a source of fire between the noodles, the job of pimple soup is easy to arrange. Just teach the noodles and tell them to operate according to the standard.The problem is that there is no fire source for pasta, so it has to be completed by two stalls, and the work has to be arranged in detail.

Lao Tan said: "Now that the gnocchi is solved, if the crispy chicken is solved, it is possible to make the pimple soup up in 8 minutes. Come on, let's smooth it out on the spot, fix the process, and set the standard, so that the work can be done quickly." Good job."

The three of them waited for him to continue.

"The first step is to mix the pasta. Every morning, make [-] copies and bring it to Cui Kai. Cui Kai is responsible for leaking all the noodles, then pouring cold water on them and sending them back to the pastry;

In the second step, the pastry divides the cooled noodles into bags, puts them in fresh-keeping boxes, and puts them in the fresh-keeping cabinet for storage;
In the third step, the noodles are responsible for cutting the king beans and diced potatoes, and sending them to Cui Kai. Cui Kai is responsible for frying them, and then sending them back to the noodles for safekeeping;

In the fourth step, Cui Kai is responsible for marinating the chicken drumsticks, frying them, cutting them, and delivering pasta for storage;
The fifth step is to prepare the tomatoes and cabbage for the noodles.

The sixth step, after the menu is down, the pastry will prepare all the main and auxiliary materials according to the feeding standards, and send them to Cui Kai for production.

This is the entire production process of pimple soup, and there will be no phenomenon of pressing vegetables and prompting vegetables according to this process.The preparation work is well done, it only takes 8 minutes from placing the menu to serving, did I make it clear? "

"Clear." The three answered at the same time.

"Sister Wang, the standard of pimple soup is based on today's standard, remember it?" Old Tan asked Wang Shulan.

"Remember, don't worry, I will teach them when I get back." Wang Shulan replied.

"As long as the preparations are in place, you don't have to worry about how many dishes you come in. You can cook one dish at a time, and you don't have to return the dishes without prompting." Old Tan said.

The three nodded in approval.

"Okay, I'll write the process and standards of the pimple soup, print it out, and form a standard recipe. Whoever makes it in the future will be able to read it. That's it for today, let's withdraw."

Lao Tan believes that the improved pimple soup will be a hit.He didn't want to use pimple soup to open up the situation, it was just the first step to improve the quality of the dishes.

The pimple soup is used to send a signal to the kitchen staff that every dish will be carefully crafted, meticulous in details, with procedures and standards, and all the dishes will be high-quality products.

Now there are [-] hot dishes, and many of these [-] dishes do not meet the taste requirements, and the quality needs to be improved.

Lao Tan wants to study, improve and standardize each dish one by one.From material selection, knife work, cutting and matching, feeding, auxiliary material matching to first-cooking processing, cooking techniques, fire and taste, to plate loading, tableware selection, etc., all links must be refined to formulate processes and standards.

This is an arduous task with a long way to go, and it cannot be completed in three months.

I have to do it if I can't finish it. I have worked hard in the catering industry for 16 years, and I am 37 years old.It stands to reason that most chefs of this age have opened their own restaurants, and those who don't open restaurants have made achievements in the catering industry with outstanding achievements.

Guandong Renjia is the first restaurant Lao Tan took over when he returned to the provincial capital. If he wants to gain a firm foothold in the provincial capital and open up the situation, he must do it well so that everyone in the provincial capital knows that there is a farmhouse called Guandong Renjia in Santaizi. The hospital has been recognized by all catering people.

To achieve this, the job now is to lay the foundation.

Lao Tan plans to upgrade the standard and quality of the dishes first, and at the same time eliminate some dishes that are not selling well, and add some local dishes with a rural flavor.Such as farm fried dried vegetables, scrambled eggs with sweet potato skin, fried bone meat with dried pepper skin, home-made tofu and so on.

In addition, Sichuan and Hunan cuisine are not authentic enough and need to be strengthened. We are going to make old oil and spicy ingredients, and then add small fried yellow beef and dry pot dishes to enrich the varieties of Hunan cuisine and make it unique.

The small fried yellow beef needs to be purchased from Changsha.For dishes to be distinctive, the ingredients are very important, and only those from the place of origin can make the original taste.If you buy from the couch, communicate with Wang Gang first, it is estimated that the problem is not big.

The cold dishes have already been ordered, and the farm handmade products are waiting for the completion of the small kitchen in the back.

Put the noodles first, and then start the noodles after the hot and cold dishes are stabilized.

After Lao Tan roughly planned the entire kitchen work in his mind, his thoughts returned to the dishes.All dishes have to be like pimple soup, with processes and standards, so as to ensure the quality of the product and the speed of serving.

Standardizing the dishes requires time and effort, so don't rush.

Every time a dish is standardized, the production process and standards are made to form a recipe file.Hot dishes are hot dishes, noodles are pasta dishes, and cold dishes are cold dishes.Let each employee memorize the processes and standards they are responsible for, and operate them proficiently.

Then check and assess from time to time, let employees form memories, develop the habit of operating according to the process, and meet the standards, so that the production will be stable.

Only with stable production can we get repeat customers, hold the main road, and then lock in customers.

When the locked-in customers start to make repeated consumption, there will be word-of-mouth, and with word-of-mouth, the business will become popular.

The quality of dishes is the root of a restaurant, the most important thing, the more important it is, the less anxious it is.

Lao Tan is well aware of the truth that haste makes waste, and he is ready for a protracted war.

In addition to the dishes, what he faces is the problem of technical strength.In the kitchen, apart from Li Xu and Li Zhongqing, who are better skilled, the rest of the chefs are not good, let alone the four chefs.

But being a chef is very difficult, and I didn't think about it. The reason is the same as Wang Gang said. The salary is too low and no one can come.

Hey, just use the existing ones, the technology can’t be taught, there is no other way.Now the dishes are distributed among individuals, and there is no requirement for anything else, just that everyone should do what they are responsible for.

After thinking about the dishes, start thinking about the management of the entire kitchen.

Now he is in charge with Wang Gang. Although he is the one who really manages himself and Wang Gang is in charge of peripheral affairs, he cannot be left behind in any decision.The kitchen was built by him with hard work. He has worked with the boss for so many years. He is a senior figure, and he is not as prestigious as him in terms of prestige.

On this point, Lao Tan still has self-knowledge. He is a kitchen worker, so there are some things that need not be said.Try to put Wang Gang up as much as possible, so that he doesn't feel that he has no place, or doesn't take him seriously.

They are all working for the boss, there is no conflict of interests, the reason is obvious, the cooperation will benefit the two, and the two will suffer.Only when two people work together as one can they carry out their work and make achievements.

Lao Tan went through what he had just thought in his head again, feeling that there was nothing missing, so he found Wang Gang and told him his plan.Wang Gang approved of Lao Tan's plan, and after the two of them set the general direction, they talked about importing yellow beef from Changsha.

"Then go in. You don't need to tell Mr. Xu about the raw materials. You can see that he is stingy on his salary and willing to spend money on raw materials. He doesn't care what kind of raw materials he buys. There is only one principle, just make the dishes well. .” Wang Gang said.

Old Tan said, "That's fine. I'll give you the phone number. You can contact Changsha directly. I'll make a list of what you need."

"Okay, Master Tan. Also, I found that the old-fashioned pot-wrapped meat is very popular now, so we also make it." Wang Gang said.

"Okay, now people don't like to eat tomato sauce, they eat it again and again."

"I haven't learned the old-fashioned pot-wrapped meat, do I have to use potato flour?"

"Well, wet potato flour, you can make it yourself and make it delicious. It seems that our provincial capital does not have it, so it has to be shipped in Jilin." Old Tan said.

"Tomorrow, I'll go out to inquire after pulling the cement and sand. Some buddies are making old-fashioned pot-packed meat now. Ask them where they get it. Let's get some." Wang Gang said.

"Okay, you can do this. I'll start to improve it when I come back. This is my strong point." Old Tan laughed.

Wang Gang said: "Master Tan, as long as it is cooking, you can let it go. Tell me what you need. I can't cook, but I can do other things. It's my strength."

"We have a good time working together!"

"Happy cooperation!"

(End of this chapter)