Cute Wife Gourmet

Chapter 51 Is it possible?

Ye Jiayao was concentrating on carving the radish in her hand. She hadn't played with it for a long time, so she was a little unfamiliar with it and her feel wasn't very good. However, after trying to carve a flower, she quickly regained the feeling.

While other children were busy learning piano, dancing and math Olympiad, Ye Jiayao was playing with radishes. At that time, she just envied the things her father carved and never thought that this was also a skill. After playing with it for a few years, when the things she carved were better than her father's, she no longer had any interest in playing with it.

"You can also do this?" Li Er Niang asked in surprise.

Ye Jiayao smiled and said, "I've learned it before."

Liu Qisheng, the second-class assistant chef, nudged Zhong Xiang, the first-class assistant chef, and whispered, "Brother Xiang, this guy is good at showing off."

Zhong Xiang looked cold and snorted. He had to admit that Li Yao was a strong opponent, but he did not think that he was weaker than Li Yao. What he lacked was only the opportunity. He had been an apprentice for four years and a kitchen helper for six years. He had climbed from the lowest level to his current position with real skills and ten years of hard work. However, Chef Niu was too independent and refused to promote his assistant. He waited until Chef Niu left. He thought his chance had finally come, but Shopkeeper Li still refused to use him and invited Li Er Niang instead. Now Li Er Niang brought Li Yao.

First of all, he signed him as a first-class kitchen assistant, putting him on an equal footing with him. Now, he is handing over such an important banquet to Li Yao. Even a fool can see what this means.

Is he destined to be a kitchen helper for the rest of his life?

Zhong Xiang secretly hated this kid and wondered what he could do.

Ye Jiayao carved the accessories for serving the dishes, and had people lay out the plates to be used tonight. They chose plates of different shapes and sizes according to the different dishes, including waist plates, round plates, square plates, fan-shaped plates... and then began to piece together the patterns.

Among color, aroma, taste and shape, shape comes last, but Ye Jiayao believes that color and shape should be put together and in the forefront, followed by aroma and taste, because the first thing guests see is the color and shape of the dish. The color of a dish combined with its appearance packaging can arouse guests' appetite when they see it, and is the first step to success.

From the moment you see the menu, it is not just the names of dishes written on paper, but a series of dishes, which dishes should be served on which plates, and which accessories should be paired with them. It is like a fashion designer who designs the drawings and then presents the clothes perfectly.

There are a total of eight cold dishes and eighteen hot dishes tonight.

Twenty-six plates and twenty-six combinations, no one repeated.

Li Erniang doesn't know which plate will hold which dish yet, but looking at these accessories with exquisite patterns and novel designs, she is already amazed. This Li Yao is really thoughtful.

Accessories are frequently used in Huaiyang cuisine, because Huaiyang cuisine emphasizes refinement, fine selection of ingredients, fine workmanship, and beautiful matching. But she has never seen any chef make such exquisite accessories.

The ingredients for the cold dishes have been prepared, and Ye Jiayao starts by arranging the cold dishes.

The duck tongues were neatly arranged and wrapped in rice dumplings leaves, the ten-spice braised beef was arranged in a crescent shape, decorated with carved carrots, honey yam, a few wolfberries, and garnished with coriander and purple cabbage...

She turned the smashed cucumber into cucumber rolls by slicing the cucumber into thin slices, shring the lettuce, and wrapping them inside. She then mixed a sauce with onions, garlic, chopped coriander, diced chili peppers, fish sauce, lime juice, etc. and poured it on top.

It looked great, but this was not what the customer ordered, so Li Er Niang tried a cucumber roll out of concern.

It just tastes particularly fragrant, crispy and refreshing, with the sweet and sour taste of lemon juice.

"What is this dish called?" Li Erniang asked, as she had never seen it before.

Ye Jiayao smiled and said, "Double Crunchy Rolls, how about that? Is it okay?"

Li Erniang smiled and nodded: "From now on, Tianshangju can have another signature cold dish."

Everyone was shocked. Being called a signature dish is the highest compliment. Cooking is not easy, and innovation is even harder. It is even harder to create a signature dish. Wow, this guy is amazing.

Ye Jiayao felt a little guilty. In fact, this was a Thai-style cold cucumber roll. She just modified it a little to make it more suitable for the taste of southerners.

"If this goes on, he might become the chef of Tianshangju." Liu Qisheng said sourly.

Zhong Xiang said sarcastically: "Do you think it's so easy to be a chef? You're just good at taking shortcuts."

Although he said this, he felt even more upset inside. The better Li Yao performed, the greater the threat he posed to him.

"Xiao Lu, ask the waiter to serve the food." Li Er Niang ordered.

The kitchen was busy in an intense and orderly manner, and guests were arriving one after another.

"Didn't they say that today is the day to celebrate the success of the Prince of Jing'an? Why hasn't Xia Chunyu come yet?" someone asked.

Zhao Qixuan laughed: "The so-called celebration banquet is just an excuse to invite everyone to get together. If I didn't borrow the name of Brother Chunyu, would everyone be able to come so well?"

Xia Chunyu was originally a leader among the children of wealthy families in the imperial capital. This time, he had been undercover in Black Wind Gang for more than half a year, and cooperated with Prince Helian to cut off the Black Wind Gang that had been causing His Majesty a lot of headaches. He made a great contribution and was promoted two levels from a fourth-rank Yunhui Envoy to a third-rank first-class guard. He was highly appreciated by the emperor and became the object of everyone's flattery. Everyone wanted to curry favor with him.

Although everyone was a little disappointed that the main person didn't come, Zhao Qixuan was very good at creating an atmosphere, and soon the scene became lively. Everyone drank tea and chatted about everything under the sun. One moment, the sons of two families were fighting over a young prostitute, and the next moment, the daughter of a certain family was about to get stuck in a pile of cow dung.

Helian Jing was dragged by Zhao Qixuan to swim in the Qinhuai River for an afternoon. He was drowsy from listening to the music and was completely out of his mind. When someone approached him, he hummed a few times. He thought to himself: Sure enough, Dayaoyao's absurd hero song is more refreshing.

The waiter came to serve the food. Eight cold dishes were placed around the round table.

Zhao Qixuan's eyes lit up, he put away his fan, and tapped his left palm. "Hey, were these cold dishes also made by the new chef?"

The waiter replied with a smile: "My Lord, this was made by the new cook."

Zhao Qixuan picked up a double crispy roll and tasted it, and said, "Not bad, not bad. What is this called? It seems that the master did not order this dish."

The waiter said, "This is called Double Crispy Roll, it's a new dish in our restaurant. The new chef made it specially for you, the princes and the gentlemen, to try."

Everyone started to eat and try the new food, but Helian Jing was not interested. No matter how delicious it was, it couldn't be as good as Dayaoyao's.

"It's really double crisp."

"This taste is very special, sour and sweet."

"good to eat……"

Everyone liked it one after another.

Zhao Qixuan said, "I've been eating at big restaurants for so many years, and finally I've seen something new. Give me a treat!"

He took out a silver ingot and placed it on the waiter's tray: "For the new cook. When the hot dishes come up, if I am satisfied, I will give you a reward."

This really alarmed Shopkeeper Li. To be honest, he was worried tonight. After Chef Niu was poached, the business of Tianshangju plummeted. The turnover in five days was not as much as the turnover in one day during the previous slow period. It was not easy to get a prince. If he could catch this wave of customers, it would be a good turnaround.

Handing the banquet over to Li Yao was somewhat risky, a bit like a risky move, a surprising move. He also looked at the cold dishes just now, the presentation was very novel, and there were two dishes he had never seen before. It looked good, but he didn't know how it would taste, so he was very nervous.

Now, all the rewards have come out, and Shopkeeper Li feels relieved, as the climax is yet to come.

The waiter returned to the kitchen and brought the reward to Ye Jiayao with a smile: "Congratulations, Brother Yao, this is the reward from the prince."

Suddenly everyone's eyes lit up. This prince was famous for his generosity. He would give tips every time he came back. Sometimes he would give tips to the doorman, and sometimes to the waiter who was responsible for serving food and pouring wine in the private room. But he had never given tips to the chefs. Even Chef Niu had never received a tip, but Li Yao got one as soon as he arrived today.

What does this mean? It means recognition, and not just ordinary recognition.

The kitchen helpers, who were still a little bit unwilling to accept the result, began to wonder: Should they try to get close to Li Yao?

Ye Jiayao was busy making double-flavor duck rolls, not even looking at the reward money, and said, "This is everyone's credit. Go exchange it for change and share it among us!"

The clerk was stunned. This ingot of silver weighed five taels. How could it be divided just like that?
He looked at Li Er Niang hesitantly, and Li Er Niang nodded slightly.

"Hey!" The guy happily took the reward and went out to exchange it.

Ye Jiayao said loudly: "Everyone, work harder and better. Everyone will get a share of the reward money in the future."

Suddenly, everyone's enthusiasm was aroused, and the sound of chopping vegetables became more frequent.

Li Erniang smiled with relief. It seemed that she didn't need to worry anymore. Li Yao was not only good at cooking but also good at being a good person. He was not arrogant and shared the rewards with everyone. He was not like those famous chefs who were arrogant and proud.

The hot dishes were served one after another, each one looked like an exquisite work of handicraft, which was an eye-opener. It made people salivate just by looking at them, and the taste was even better after taking a bite.

Everyone said it was delicious. Helian Jing reluctantly picked up the chopsticks and picked up the stir-fried eel shreds. It was tender and smooth in the mouth, and extremely fresh and fragrant. He couldn't help but pick up three pinches of it.

It is indeed good, no worse than what Dayaoyao did.

"Double-flavor duck rolls..." the waiter sang out the name of the dish and brought it up.

Helian Jing looked over subconsciously and was stunned.

The hibiscus flowers made of shredded tomatoes and the green leaves made of shredded cucumbers, why do they look so familiar?

New cook, new cook... He seemed to have thought of something, and looked up and asked the waiter: "How old is your new cook?"

The waiter smiled and said, "He may be young, but he is very skilled. How is it? Are you satisfied?"

Zhao Qixuan said, "When the dishes are served, please ask him to come over and offer a toast to all the gentlemen."

Helian Jing wanted to ask a few more questions, but the waiter had already gone downstairs.

His mind was full of questions. Is it possible? Is it possible?

I felt like there were thousands of ants crawling in my heart, and I wanted to rush into the kitchen to see what was going on, but I felt that doing so would be too abrupt and impetuous. Anyway, the chef would come to toast later, so I might as well endure it for now.

(End of this chapter)