The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 25
In the provincial capital in May, it's early summer, the leaves of the poplar trees on both sides of the road stretch out, and the grass on the ground is all green.

Green represents life and hope. With green in people's vision, people feel happy. Coupled with colorful flowers, it is full of vitality.

Feng Shimin wanted to find a companion, and Yanzi wanted to find someone to rely on. They both liked each other, and they felt good after being together for a while.They are all adults, without those words, Yanzi moved to Feng Shimin's house to live together.

It's very common and normal for them to have a partner together later. We can't say that this is not love, and two people can't get together if they don't appreciate each other.Of course, there must be no deep feelings, this has to be cultivated slowly.When the two get along well and live harmoniously together, they will last for a long time. Otherwise, separation is just a moment of thought.

Through Feng Shimin, Yanhua also got a job, working as a cleaner in the office of Tianyitun Village, working half a day.The office and the elderly activity center are together, and she is responsible for the sanitation of the two places. Together, she works for two hours and gets off work at one o'clock in the afternoon.

This day, I walked home along Wanfang Road after get off work, and looked inside when I passed by a house in Guandong.The courtyard was full of cars, and from time to time, customers who had finished their meal would come out of the store, and the waiter who followed behind would yell kindly: "Go slowly, come visit us when you have time—"

Hehe, interesting, I have time to drop by, who thought of it?Yanhua said in her heart, and continued to walk forward, first went to the big market to buy vegetables, and then went home.

When I got home, I lay in bed and took a nap, and woke up at five o'clock and wanted to cook.

Lao Deng sometimes came back to eat, and if he didn't come back, he would leave the food on the table and warm it up for him when he came back.

If Lao Deng doesn't come back, there will be a drinking party. Every time he finishes drinking, he has to eat a mouthful of food, which has become a habit. A 48-year-old man does not drink alcohol.It's not like the young ones, who drink too much and sleep well, and they are still alive and well the next day.If Lao Deng drank too much, he would have to slow down for a few days.

Lao Deng didn't drink much before, but he still drank when he got old.Yanhua tried to persuade him a few times, but he said he didn't want to drink, because there were so many people asking him to drink.Those who can be pushed will be pushed, and those who cannot be pushed have to be accompanied.Besides, you can't always ask others to invite you, sometimes you have to invite them back, because of the relationship between people.

Yanhua wanted to have a child, but Lao Deng said that she was almost fifty, so what kind of child would she want?When I got married, I really didn't want children. At that time, I was young, and I felt that it was good to have no children, and I was at ease.Now that I am forty, I feel a little lonely. I think about how good it is to have a child by my side, so I won't be so lonely.

Having a baby is a matter between two people, and no one can have a baby. Lao Deng doesn't want it, so he can't go to the street to catch a man and have a baby.

Hey, no kids, no kids.

When it was time to cook, Lao Deng called and said that he would not come back for dinner, and he had to eat dinner alone again.

It's boring to eat alone, and I don't want to do it, so I can eat a bowl of instant noodles for a while, and wait for Lao Deng to come back and give him a bowl of noodles.

When preparing to order instant noodles, Yanzi called and said to go out to eat barbecue, and agreed after thinking about it.The job was found through Yanzi, and I had wanted to treat her and Feng Shimin to a meal for a long time, and I just bought the bill for the barbecue, which was considered a favor.

So I cleaned myself up, dressed up, and left the house after six o'clock.

There are two kinds of steamed dumplings in Kanto people, one is cornmeal sauerkraut stuffing, and the other is pork and celery.Wang Hong's dumplings are fine, but she is not very familiar with the fillings. Lao Tan sorted out the recipes of the two kinds of dumpling fillings for her, and she became familiar with them within two days.

Niu Hongtai was refining big oil, and the refined oil shuttle exuded an attractive aroma.

Seeing oil shuttle, Old Tan suddenly remembered the sauerkraut oil shuttle stuffed dumplings made by his mother when he was a child. The taste still lingers in his mouth.So he said to Niu Hongtai: "This is all made of suet. It smells good, but it doesn't taste very good. Next time, I will make pig fat and grind it with a stuffing machine before refining."

Niu Hongtai asked: "Master Tan, do you use a thick grate when twisting?"

"Yes, use the thickest one."

"What are you doing with the refined oil shuttle?"

"What are you doing? Make dumplings for you." Old Tan laughed.

Seeing the oil shuttle, Lao Tan thought that the sauerkraut stuffing should be changed to sauerkraut oil shuttle, and the guests would probably like it.

Dumplings stuffed with sauerkraut oil shuttle are fragrant and not greasy, and have a pure rural flavor. People over 30 years old have a special affection for dumplings stuffed with oil shuttle, which is a memory of an era.

"Yes, Master Tan, the dumplings stuffed with oil shuttle are delicious. I ate them made by my grandma when I was a child. They are delicious. I can eat them during the Chinese New Year, and I don't kill pigs in normal days." Niu Hongtai said aftertaste.

After Lao Tan and Niu Hongtai studied the oil shuttle, they moved behind Ma Shunren.

Ma Shunren is making braised pork, it is almost ready, and is collecting the juice.

A pot of bright red and attractive braised pork is bubbling and exuding a tempting aroma. Just look at it and you want to eat it.After collecting the juice, the young man turned off the fire, poured the braised pork into the prepared stainless steel square plate, then immediately sealed it with plastic wrap, and poked a few small holes in the plastic wrap with a bamboo stick for ventilation.

In the past, no matter how much it sold every day, it was [-] catties of braised pork, and it was guaranteed to be empty at night.It looks like braised pork is selling well, but in fact everyone is told to steal a piece of it.Now no one dares to steal.

It is the tension and busyness before the meal.

The sound of the fan on the stove, the sound of the fire, the roar of the exhaust fan, all kinds of sounds mixed together, making the whole kitchen in a mess.

Old Tan is used to this kind of loud sound, and he doesn't feel the noise in his ears, but it's like listening to a symphony. Once it quiets down, he's still not used to it.

Working in the kitchen, in addition to getting used to the noise, you also have to get used to the heat.

Once the stove is turned on, the kitchen is hot in Sanya even in the cold winter.Everyone's face is covered with sweat when they get busy, and they can't wear cotton clothes.Especially the cooking chef on the stove, the upper body is just a work uniform, and the lower body is at most wearing a pair of line pants under the work pants, and it will not be able to wear any more.When the sweaty clothes bind the body, the discomfort is not something ordinary people can bear.

Summer is the worst time, and even the best kitchen temperature is above [-].It was even hotter on the stove, and the temperature in front of the master was at least [-] degrees.Everyone is sweating profusely, and the towel around the neck must be changed once a week, otherwise the strong smell of sweat cannot be washed off.The lower body can only wear big trousers, and the trouser pockets are full of sweat after a meal, and the younger brothers suffer accordingly.

Lao Tan is like everyone else, although he doesn't need to cook on the stove, he is busier than anyone else.Especially when eating food, I will check the hot dishes for a while, and go to the cold dishes for command.When he is busy, he can do everything from chopping boards, lotus tables, cooks, cold dishes, and stews. He is a flexible and versatile hand.

At the same time, always pay attention to each product, and immediately take it back to redo if it is found to be unqualified.

It is also necessary to maintain communication with the front desk at all times, and the front desk will urge the food to be resolved as soon as possible.

His loud voice can always be heard in the kitchen, sometimes anxious, sometimes angry, sometimes shouting like a bandit.As long as he scolded and the whole kitchen was quiet, it meant that Old Tan was impatient and the consequences would be serious.

Shouting, scolding, scolding, once the work is done, nothing will happen.He walked out of the kitchen as if nothing had happened, and strolled to the front.Take a look at the big pot stewing, take a look at the tofu shop, chat with Lao Zhu for a while by the Jijia fish pond, and ask how many chickens, fish, and how many catties of loach are sold.Then go to the rough processing room to visit the two big brothers, and go to the dishwashing room to see the big sister who washes the dishes.

The younger brother has already figured out his temper, and when he is busy, he will swear a few times, and he is not in a hurry, just smile and let it go.When he finished his work and saw him slowly walking out of the kitchen, these boys sneaked outside, seized the time to smoke a cigarette to have a good time, chat a few words, and then returned quickly before he came back.

Old Tan and these boys seem to have reached such a tacit understanding that can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words. It is often when he returns to the kitchen and these boys come back after smoking.

Every night at nine o'clock, Lao Tan called the bosses of all the stalls together for a meeting, summed up the work of the day, and solved the existing problems that day.Then arrange the work for the next day.

Under his leadership, the work of several bosses began to be standardized.

The one who has improved the most is Wang Gang. Although he is not always in the kitchen, he always attends meetings and speaks actively to help Lao Tan do a good job. He has learned a lot in the process and his work is much more rigorous than before.

"Today, three customers reported that you are big, what's the matter Li Xu?" Old Tan asked.

"That's the thing. Hua Qing was in a hurry when he was making it, and he used the fat intestines and belly slices together." Li Xu explained.

"Are you still watching?" Old Tan asked.

Li Xu blushed a little, smacked his lips and said, "I'm busy at that time, so I'll just pull it out because I think the guests won't be able to eat it."

Old Tan smiled and said: "Typical fluke mentality. Let me tell you that our family's three-way dish is now famous in Santaizi, and even Chishan Restaurant can't do it like us. Most of the three-way dishes are Repeat customers, they come back to order after eating well in the past. Ten dishes can accommodate one customer, and one dish can leave a table with customers, which is rare.”

"My dereliction of duty, I just didn't let him do it at that time." Li Xu said sincerely.

Old Tan didn't blame Li Xu, and said with some earnestness: "Tell everyone, why are some restaurants very popular when they open, but they are not popular when they are open? The reason is very simple, just like this trick. If it’s delicious, it’s good for the guests, but if it’s not well done, the guests will eat it in one bite, and there will be feedback immediately. To be honest, it’s good for the guests to have feedback, and we can know what’s wrong. If there is no feedback, it’s over, and we don’t know anything. I thought it was a good job, but the customers didn’t come, is that the reason?”

Everyone nodded.

"Don't take chances. I haven't heard people say that the eyes of the masses are discerning." Old Tan laughed.

Everyone also smiled.

Immediately afterwards, Lao Tan changed the topic to a lighter topic and asked about the preparations for the dance competition. Everyone became active, saying that the fourth floor is very lively during the break time from [-]:[-] to [-]:[-] in the afternoon these days, and they are all practicing there. Dancing, and each team practiced different forms and chanted slogans, preparing to catch people's attention on the day of the game and win the championship in one fell swoop.

It is very good that this situation can happen, which means that the hearts of employees have been won.

After the small meeting, Lao Tan left Wang Gang and Wang Shulan behind, and told them about his idea of ​​changing the sauerkraut stuffing into sauerkraut oil shuttle. Both of them agreed, and the matter was settled.

Then the three of them left the office together, and Wang Gang said he had left beforehand.

Lao Tan and Wang Shulan returned to the kitchen.

Wang Hong came out of the pastry room after tidying up, and saw Lao Tan standing at the door of the kitchen, walked over and asked, "Just now our boss said that we should change the sauerkraut stuffing into sauerkraut oil shuttle, and the oil shuttle can be refined by ourselves?"

"No need, hot dishes are refined every day and will be sent to you after training." Old Tan said.

"When I was young, I always ate dumplings stuffed with oily shuttlecocks. I think they are better than meat stuffed." Wang Hong said.

"Well, but you have to adjust the taste, you can't adjust it according to the restaurant's method, put less seasoning, the more homely the better."

"I made it at home. My mother and brother said it was delicious. I'll make a plate for you to try tomorrow."

"Okay." Old Tan nodded, and continued: "I haven't treated you to a meal when I called you. Today I treat you."

Wang Hong looked at Lao Tan and said, "That's what you said, I'll wait for you after get off work."

(End of this chapter)