The boss cooks, and the bankrupt company opens a state banquet restaurant

Chapter 86 Tasting dishes at a time-honored restaurant, disappointed but understanding
  When meeting Shang Mingke, the employees were stunned.

You didn’t even tell us this!
  The few people who were noisy at first all became quiet and a bit awkward after getting in the car.

Especially Liu Abao
  "Brother, master, are you okay?"

Shang Mingke tilted his head slightly, "Uncle Lu just asked you to follow Boss Su."

"Oh." After saying that, Liu Abao stopped talking.

The person he fears most is Lu Yongliang.

The second most feared person is definitely the eldest brother Shang Mingke!

Although Shang Mingke is not among Lu Yongliang's disciples, every disciple who learns cooking from Lu Yongliang respects this elder brother very much.

"Boss Su, you said you want to eat Shandong cuisine. Cuihua Restaurant in the capital is pretty good, but I don't know if it will catch your eye."

Shang Mingke had lost his composure many times when eating in Jingzhou before. This time it was no different than before. His reserved and calm temperament was particularly obvious among the people in the car.

Su Chen looked more casual, "Thank you, Mr. Shang, for the hospitality~ The Shandong cuisine in Cuihua Building must be good, but I don't know if there is anything I want to eat?"

Shang Mingke put away his smile and thought for a moment before speaking, "I'm pretty thin over there. If Boss Su wants to eat anything, you can tell me then."

The implication is also obvious.

If there's something you want to eat that's not on the menu, I can help find someone to make it.

Su Chen smiled and said, "I'm sorry for bothering you, Mr. Shang. Oh, yes, after leaving the capital this time, I decided to let A Bao stay in Taishui temporarily to help me for a while. The specific time depends on A Bao himself."

Su Chen said this deliberately.

It's the adult world. A boss like Shang Mingke would not put aside his own affairs to receive his group for no reason.

When people give you face like this, we have to show some respect.

Su Chen knew very well that he was able to chat and laugh with Shang Mingke because he had Lu Yongliang in the middle. Since the other party wanted A Bao to stay and study, it happened that he also needed such a chef.

It's better to be a favor that goes along with the flow.

Shang Mingke also understood this, "Thank you very much, Boss Su."

After saying that, he turned his head and said, "Abao, study hard with Boss Su. When I left, Uncle Lu said, wait until you feel you can take on the burden of E cuisine before you go back."

Likewise, this was also said to Su Chen.

Uncle Lu sent Abao there not as a coolie.
  They are trained as successors. As for how to teach them, it depends on your wishes, Boss Su.

Su Chen leaned back in his chair and smiled. It was really tiring to talk to these people, so it was more fun to tease Zhang Li.

The car drove through one street after another until it finally arrived at its destination around six o'clock.

The driver went to park the car, and Su Chen and his group followed Shang Mingke inside.

Stepping into the door, the decoration style of Cuihua Building is simple and simple, using old-fashioned wooden chandeliers, wooden window rails, tables and chairs.

The simple tones reveal a quiet and elegant atmosphere, as if telling everyone who walks in here: this is a time-honored brand.

At six o'clock, there were already many people dining here, and even a line began to form outside the door.

"This hotel is awesome! Doesn't this meal cost a lot of money?"

As expected of Zhang Li.

As soon as you enter the door, you look left and right, just like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

Shang Mingke smiled and said, "The most important thing is to eat well."

Although it was Xiaobai's first time on such an occasion, he still tried his best to show less stage fright, "It's not bad, but it's a bit worse than our company."

Shang Mingke was stunned for a moment, then laughed dumbly, "Indeed. Compared with the delicious food at Boss Su's place, it should be a bit different."

A group of people walked into the private room that Shang Mingke had reserved in advance and took their seats.

"Boss Su, do you want to drink?"

Su Chen shook his head, "I won't drink anymore. Let's just watch the food."

The waiter handed everyone a menu in a timely manner and stood aside waiting to order.

Su Chen didn't even look at it, "Dice fried chicken with soy sauce."

This is a dish that I have tried once and must be ordered.

"Double crispy in oil."

Shang Mingke on the side nodded slightly. Su Chen ordered all the classic dishes of Cuihua Building. In fact, few people eat these dishes now.

To be more precise, few people would specifically order this to eat.

In the past few years that he has been in the capital, he has had many reception meals at Cuihua Building. Nowadays, the number of people who come here to eat is really just tourists.

I don’t know whether it’s to cater to the market or something else, but Cuihualou now makes relatively few traditional dishes, but quite a lot of innovative dishes.

Su Chen thought for a while and ordered several dishes at once.

"Fried tripe kernels in oil, braised four treasures, braised turtle eggs, hibiscus chicken slices, caoyu fish slices, first-grade bird's nest, and another banana fried in a pot!"

This operation of ordering without looking at the menu made the waiter a little confused.

"Sir, there are several dishes you have here that are not on our menu."

Shang Mingke said, "Please tell Manager Wang, we can wait." While speaking, he handed over a business card.

Manager Wang.
  The waiter nodded immediately, took the business card and said, "Please wait a moment."

Cuihua Building, back kitchen.

Wang Peixin rarely wore a chef's uniform today and was guiding the work in the kitchen.

After sitting in the position of general manager, he actually no longer needs to come to the kitchen in person most of the time. However, after being a head chef for so many years, his bones are still itchy if he is not in the kitchen every few days.

"All the customers outside have queued up to Chang'an Street! Xiao Liu, what's the matter with you? Why did the fish skin disappear during frying!!!"

"Who is that? Where did you put the cheese slices?"

Wang Peixin walked around the kitchen, sometimes getting angry, but there was really nothing he could do, there were too many guests!

The turnover rate determines the turnover, he must be fast!
  At this time, a waiter ran in anxiously, "Mr. Wang!"

"Who let you in?" Wang Peixin frowned, "Don't you understand the rules?"

The waiter whispered, "This customer ordered some dishes that we don't have. He asked me to tell you that he can wait."

Wang Peixin took the business card, looked at it, and said to himself, "Mr. Shang?"

"Okay, you go."

Anyone who opens a restaurant will inevitably have to establish good relationships with major companies and units in the city. Cuihua Building has in-depth cooperation with the Urban Construction Group, and Shang Mingke is a frequent visitor.

Because many of the dishes were not on the menu, the menu the waiter brought was handwritten, and Wang Peixin looked at it one by one.

"Sauce fried chicken?"

Just looking at the first one, his eyes narrowed.

There is no longer a dish called Sauce-fried Chicken in Cuihua Building. The dish currently on sale is called [Sauce-fried Peach Kernel Chicken].

"Double crispy?" Wang Peixin's eyes narrowed even more, and his brows also wrinkled.

This is a dish that extremely tests knife skills and heat, and it’s also difficult to choose ingredients. Making such a dish is enough to make three other dishes!

Although Cuihualou is now on sale, there are not many people ordering it, and it is not recommended because Wang Peixin raised the price of this dish to 289 per dish!
  Most people rarely spend this price to eat a dish called [Pork Belly and Stir-fried Duck Gizzards].

Keep looking down.

The more he looked at it, the more Wang Peixin frowned, "Who did Mr. Shang bring to dinner? Are they here to cause trouble?"

Not to mention braised turtle eggs, hibiscus chicken fillets, and cano fish fillets, these three dishes are now the signature dishes of Cuihua House.

What happened to that first-grade official Yan?

Let’s not talk about the bird’s nest. You ordered the braised four treasures just to embarrass others, right?

Maybe the cooks of the new era don’t know that there is a cooking method called []. Although the braised four treasures have the word braised in them, they are not really braised food, but are made using this technique!
  Not only is it difficult to process the ingredients, but it also takes a long time!

Wang Peixin has also modified this dish. Now he only makes duck feet without mixing in the other three treasures. It’s too difficult!
  Seeing these two dishes, Wang Peixin even doubted that he was really here to eat and not to cause trouble?

"Master, what's wrong?"

Zeng Ming had just made a fried prawn dish, and now he had some spare time on his hands, so he approached Wang Peixin and asked.

Wang Peixin sighed, "Follow this list and make room for me."

Now that the customers have ordered it, they have to make it. Not only must they make it, Wang Peixin has decided that the store’s signature dishes can be left to his apprentices, but he has to cook these dishes himself!

Seeing Manager Wang personally attending the battle, several cooks with idle hands came around to see Wang Peixin cooking. If Manager Wang was happy, he would give a few words.

That’s a free advanced course!

First up is the fried chicken with soy sauce! Seeing that Wang Peixin wanted to cook such a simple dish himself, his apprentice Zeng Ming whispered, "Master, how about I do it?"

"You go about your business." Wang Peixin started cutting the chicken breast very seriously.

As time passed, one dish after another was delivered to the private room. Wang Peixin prepared the last four treasures, clapped his hands and said to Zeng Ming, "I will send another cheese and fried dumplings. Just say that I can't be a first-class official today." Yan, we’re out of materials.”

"Hey! Is there anyone who wants to order that dish?"

Wang Peixin waved his hand to signal Zeng Ming not to talk, and he stepped outside to find the waiter in charge of the private room.

"Keep an eye on it and tell me if anything happens."

This situation obviously often occurs in Cuihua Building. The waiter nodded understandingly and trotted to the door of the private room.

Looking at the exquisitely prepared dishes on the table, Bai Xiaobo and others started to swallow their saliva already!
  However, neither Su Chen nor Shang Mingke took action, and it was difficult for everyone to do anything.

"Boss Su, would you like to try it?"

Shang Mingke still has some confidence in the dishes here.

"Boss, can I take a photo?" He Shuting waved her phone.

"What's so interesting about taking pictures here? Places like Cuihua Building are almost ruined by store explorers, so there's no need to take pictures here."

"Oh." He Shuting put away her phone.

"Then I'm welcome!" Su Chen picked up the chopsticks and aimed at it with the first move to get the fried chicken.

When he was on the train, he tried to make this dish. He just made it casually according to the old recipe, and it got an A-level rating. This is enough to show the status of this dish in Shandong cuisine!

It's simple and delicious!

Evenly sized chicken pieces were wrapped in a rich sauce. The sauce covered the chicken pieces but did not stick to the plate. This alone is enough to show how skilled the chef is.

Put a piece of diced chicken in your mouth.

In the mouth, it has a sweet and salty taste, and the chicken tastes crisp and tender, without any peculiar smell.

Overall, qualified!
  But the only thing that made Su Chen a little uncomfortable was that
  There is a strong smell of cooking wine in the back of the mouth
  It may be difficult for ordinary people to taste it, and many people even think that this taste is normal because they also experience it when cooking at home!

But for Su Chen, who often tastes food in the gourmet practice room, just this little taste is enough for the practice room to downgrade the rating from A to B!

"What? Boss Su, you don't seem satisfied?" Shang Mingke didn't eat and kept looking at Su Chen.

He would really like to hear Su Chen's evaluation of this time-honored restaurant that was just awarded one Michelin star this year.

"Perfunctory." Su Chen thought for a while and summed it up in one word, "It's just very perfunctory."

"The most taboo thing about cooking chicken is blanching. Once blanched, the freshness of the chicken will be lost."

Everyone listened to Su Chen's words, especially the employees at Delicious Food. Every time Boss Su summarized his experience, they listened carefully and found it quite interesting.

There is a sense of satisfaction that I have mastered another technique!
  When talking about professionalism, Liu Abao couldn't help but interject. After all, he is familiar with Shandong cuisine and has some say, "So when Boss Su makes fried chicken, he uses a slow fire method to heat up the chicken before the water temperature has fully risen. Take out the chicken quickly?"

This is what Liu Abao admires most about Su Chen.

He can always think of a simple method to replace the original time-consuming and labor-intensive method, but the methods he uses test the chef's skill and IQ!

Most people can't think of it, and even if they think of it, they really can't do it.

As for the job of boiling chicken in warm water, Liu Abao messed up several times under Su Chen's guidance before he got the hang of it.

Su Chen nodded, "Yes! There are family ways of doing things at home, and restaurants have ways of doing things."

"This is a dish. Because chicken cannot be blanched, it stands to reason that the chicken breasts should be soaked in cold water for several hours before cooking. This chef directly used cooking wine to solve this problem. In addition, the last part of this dish is [explosion] 】The time used is extremely short, and it is impossible to completely evaporate the cooking wine, so "

Cooking wine needs to be added, it is added to the sauce to remove the odor, but it is not used to remove the odor from the chicken.

Su Chen's evaluation fell into the ears of the waiter outside the door word for word.

"Oops, you're really here to cause trouble!"

The waiter quickly ran to the corner and told Wang Peixin word for word what Su Chen said.

"Explore again!"

Wang Peixin gave the order and immediately held his chin and fell into deep thought. Isn't this too picky?
  Isn’t it common practice in restaurants to use cooking wine to remove the smell?

This is how it has been done since he took over and learned this dish!
  After Su Chen finished speaking, everyone took a bite, and no one touched the dish again.

Bai Xiaobo said seriously, "It seemed that the first bite was pretty good, but after I swallowed it, I felt that it was a little bit less interesting."

He Shuting also pursed her lips and nodded, "Well said, boss!"

Su Chen was speechless and rolled his eyes.

Are you blowing a rainbow fart on such an occasion?
  Only Zhang Li lowered her head silently, wanting to eat another piece but feeling embarrassed.

It's obviously quite delicious.
  Why does everyone say it’s not delicious?
  If she said this, Sister Shengnan would definitely tell her: Your time at Delicious Food is still short. You will know after you eat the boss's meal for a month.

For the second dish, Su Chen looked at the braised four treasures. He was also quite interested in this dish.

If someone customizes Shandong cuisine in the future, this dish will definitely shock them!
  Su Chen picked up a piece of duck paw and looked at it, "Duck paw, duck wings, duck tongue and duck waist are the four treasures."

Looking carefully, the edge of the duck's feet was a little sticky. Su Chen smiled and put the duck's feet back on the plate.

"The chef is a little impatient in cooking this dish."

"What should I say?" Shang Mingke looked at Su Chen with interest. He felt that it was getting more and more interesting.

If possible, Shang Mingke would even think of doing nothing these days and taking Su Chen to eat every day!
  When Boss Su gives a good evaluation of which restaurant, he will be in good luck in the future.

Su Chen didn't even want to eat it, because just looking at it, it didn't meet his basic cooking standards.

"The four treasures are cooked." Seeing everyone's confusion, Su Chen added a few more words, "It means that the juice must be slowly absorbed over low heat to absorb the flavor of the juice into the ingredients, but the heat must be low because the four treasures are cooked." Bao's preparation is considered cooked, if the heat is a little too high, the ingredients will be rotten."

Su Chen pointed at the piece of duck paw with chopsticks, "When it's cooked, the texture will change. What kind of flavor can duck paw have? Isn't it just the texture and seasoning that you eat? If the taste is gone, the dish will be boring. .”

Liu Abao felt like he had some epiphany again, "I was obsessed with this technique when I was learning Shandong cuisine. It's better alive, but the cooked heat is really torturous. I have to keep an eye on it and never leave it."

Su Chen nodded, "Either this master was too hasty. Instead, he lost the most important thing."

The waiter at the door ran down quickly and quickly reported again.

"Explore again! Report again!"

Wang Peixin said this through clenched teeth!

When the waiter walked back, she happened to meet a group of people in the private room walking out, and she was immediately confused.

This is leaving?
  Just listen to the young man who was surrounded by everyone say, "The food here is just like that. I know a good place, let's go to that restaurant instead!"

And the man next to him who looked mature and steady said, "Oh? Boss Su also knows about Beijing? Which company is it?"

The young man smiled and said, "I'll take you to eat fried rice dumplings."

Fried pimples?
  Shang Mingke has heard about this a bit in the few years he has been in Beijing, but he has no interest in this kind of snack pasta, so he has never eaten one.

Liu Shengnan asked abruptly, "Is it the same as our speculation?"

Su Chen shook his head, "That's different. You'll know after eating it."

After that, Su Chen led everyone out of Cuihua Building.

Needless to say, Su Chen was still a little disappointed with this food tasting, but he understood it very well.

For example, one of the unique skills of Shandong cuisine is the source of umami, which is a professional capability that other cuisines do not have.

According to famous recipes, in the past, many Shandong cuisine restaurants would boil fresh soup in advance, and many restaurants would even close because they ran out of soup stock.

Even if we have all the ingredients, we will never cook a dish without dashi, even if the customer requests it.

Today's restaurants simply can't do this. Anyway, sprinkle in a handful of MSG and chicken essence, and everything is there. Ordinary people can't taste the difference at all.

On the way, Shang Mingke asked Su Chen curiously, "You haven't tasted several dishes yet. Do you think Cuihua Building is not worth it?"

Su Chen sighed, "I think they are Michelin-starred, they serve traditional dishes, they are time-honored, and their dishes are all sold at that price, so they ended up doing this. It's a bit inappropriate."

After a pause, Su Chen added, "Of course, they are doing fine, it's just business. It can only be said that everyone has different ideas."

Not long after, under Su Chen's guidance, the car stopped at the bottom of a viaduct. Shang Mingke was a little unsure of where it was.

Not only were there few people and cars, but even the light from the street lights was very weak. Looking around, there was no restaurant at all.

Su Chen pointed to the side of the road. On the edge of the shadow under the bridge, a tricycle could be vaguely seen.

Standing behind the car was a bloated woman, wrapped in a headscarf, looking around from time to time.

"This is this?" This was the first time Shang Mingke knew that there were people setting up stalls in such a place in the capital.

Su Chen grinned and said the same old saying.

“You’ll know after you try it!”

(End of this chapter)