The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

14. Dishes Made of Tofu

Translator: Flying Lines Team

At this point, Zhao Hudong can tell for sure that Xu Zhiwei is not recommended by Chef Clique, and he does not even know what Chef Clique is. So he quickly steps forward and pulls Xu Zhiwei aside, whispering and telling him about Chef Clique. Only then does Xu Zhiwei know that there is such a gang-like organization in Wuxi’s catering industry, and he also understands why others respond so violently to what he just said. Although Xu was telling the truth, the heads of Chef Clique, who pride themselves on their high cooking skills, must feel that Xu is teasing them.

Finally, Zhao Hudong says to Xu Zhiwei helplessly: “Bro, I don’t know whether you were telling the truth or not, but they must have been against you after what you said. You have no choice but to compete with them. The feast is nothing, for which I can cover the cost. However, you could not endure the Three Punishments, including kneeling on the bottom of the pot, which is the hot pot bottom just removed from the stove, and catching a loach in the basket, the mouth of which is full of slanting strips. After the loach is caught, the back of the hand and the wrist will all be broken, and even your hand will be damaged. On top of that, you have to carry a jar of boiling oil on your back. The uncovered jar is filled with boiling oil and you need to carry it on your back without clothes. The jar is hot, so people can’t help shaking and twisting. But the more you shake and twist, the more oil will be spilled from the opening of the jar, directly splashing on your naked back.”

“I won’t compete with them, nor will I be punished by them. If they still push me, aren’t they afraid of being prosecuted?” Xu Zhiwei still does not believe that Chef Clique dares to force him.

“If so, it will be the biggest humiliation to Chef Clique in public, and then they will fight against you furtively. Three Punishments is just a physical suffering while being attacked furtively may mean you could die. Even if you survive, there will be no opportunity for you to carve out a place in Wuxi after that. Whoever adapts you is against Chef Clique. Even the beggars will not take you in. If they take you in, it means that all the beggars will no longer be able to get a grain of rice from any restaurant. ”

Xu Zhiwei is stunned. He has not expected that he would fall into such an awkward and dangerous dilemma. This makes him feel as if he were in the palace again with all kinds of helplessness dogging him again.

After a little consideration, Xu Zhiwei sighs deeply and turns to ask Wang Zhunian: “How to compete?”

“Cook in a small stove.” Wang zhunian raises his eyebrows.

Small stove is also called bucket stove which is usually used for cooking in small families because it occupies a small area and can be moved easily as well as save carbon materials. However, this stove is also a must for restaurants, and it is often used for boiling water and leavening work. [1]

A small stove is different from a big one. It has a small mouth, and weak firepower, so it takes much cooking time. If one uses it to cook, he can only make some home cooked dishes. But home cooking is actually the most difficult thing to do, and it is even more difficult to make a delicious main course with a small stove.

“How to judge?” Xu Zhiwei asks again.

“Judge each other and whoever recognizes the opponent’s weakness is the winner.” The way Wang mentions is the way to compete among experts. Judge each other, that is to say, you must make your own dishes without any flaws, so as to prevent the opponent from discovering the possible shortcomings from the subtle. In addition, this is not only to test the cooking ability of chefs, but also to test their taste identification ability. However, this should also be the most convincing way to judge, because the ability to discern the shortcomings of the opponent’s dishes that the opponent thinks are perfect proves that one can avoid the shortcomings in this dish and do better than the opponent.

“What kind of dish?”

“Let the spectators outside the hall go to the kitchen and order a main ingredient at will, and then use it to cook spontaneously.”

“If I win, then you won’t come and trouble me again?” Xu Zhiwei looks up slightly, with a little arrogance and complete confidence.

Wang Zhunian is slightly stunned. Not knowing why, he obviously feels that no matter how ferocious his people are, they could not suppress the momentum of the seemingly ordinary cook in front of him. So now he has a worry that has never occurred to him before. If he really loses the competition today, the whole Chef Clique would be completely disgraced.

“One on one, if you win, Chef Clique won’t stump you. You just have to leave on your own. I promise you will be safe and sound here. If you want to stay in Huiquan Hall, you have to compete with three. If one of the three finds out that your food is not good enough, you lose. And you have to find out the deficiency of all the dishes of the three people before we are considered a loser. If both sides figure out the opponents’ flaws or we all fail to do this, it’s a tie race. We’ll have to change the dishes and compete again.” Wang Zhunian gives two ways, one tight and one loose, in fact, to let Xu Zhiwei retreat.

“Well, I choose the latter.” Xu Zhiwei says with ease.

Wang zhunian’s heart trembles again. He doesn’t expect Xu Zhiwei to say that he wants to compete with three, which again drives Chef Clique into a corner where there is no maneuver, and Wang Zhunian begins to rethink what Xu Zhiwei has just said. If Xu does not tell lies and he is really am imperial chef who knows all the dishes in the world, then it may be humiliating for Chef Clique to force him to compete with them today.

When a person is timid, he will be calm; if he is calm, he will be thoughtful. Now that there is no room for maneuver, Wang Zhunian’s comprehensive approach is to retreat to the back and let the other three bosses compete with Xu Zhiwei on behalf of Chef Clique.

At this time, someone carries four small stoves from the kitchens of several restaurants nearby and puts them in the lobby of Huiquan Hall. For the sake of fairness, they don’t use the stove of Huiquan Hall. “Tofu, the main ingredient is tofu.” Someone says and it is selected by the landlady of a clay shop next door.

Wang Zhunian is relieved when he hears the main ingredient. He secretly estimates that this time Chef Clique’s chances of winning should be over eighty percent because one of the heads is Lao Sha, the chef of Mingjingtai vegetarian dish restaurant next to Nanchan temple in Nanchang Street. He is the leading figure of all the vegetarian cooks in Wuxi City. Tofu is the most commonly used ingredient in vegetarian dishes, so Lao Sha can make dozens of different dishes at random, regardless of the style or taste. In addition, Bai Dazui of Wanghu Tower is the leading figure of Tai Lake boat dishes. Among the best dishes, there is a Colorful Box of Tofu. The last one is the leading figure of Hui cuisine. He has a unique skill that is more ornamental than taste—Shoulder Pole Tofu.

The ingredients are all from Huiquan Hall. Competitors go in and pick them up. This is also for the sake of fairness. There is no difference in the ingredients from the same kitchen. Even if quality varies within the same kind, this also tests their ability to select ingredients, which is actually included in the competition.

The three leaders pick out the ingredients and subsidiary ingredients they need with baskets, and put the necessary seasonings in some bowls. The amount of ingredients and seasonings should be calculated in advance. They can neither take less, nor take more. All of them are just enough to finish a dish. Otherwise, in the process of cooking dishes, if one goes to the kitchen to get materials, or after a dish is finished, there are still many materials left on the Board, he will put himself at a disadvantage. On one hand, that will not only make people feel uncomfortable, but also shows the flaw others may take advantage of. In the end, when no one can identify the flaws of each other’s dishes, these may become the weak point to be criticized. Therefore, it’s also a kind of competition involved.

Xu Zhiwei first chooses a piece of tofu, which is necessary and most important. However, he does not take it in turn from the cut tofu, but moves the outer tofu and takes the middle part. When tofu is pressed into the drawer, the soybean juice is lost, but the soybean juice of the middle part is the least lost in the whole drawer, and the preserved original juice flavor is also the strongest. Moreover, this piece is not in contact with the surrounding drawer frame and has not been pressed by hard surface. So its density is very consistent and the taste is relatively the best.

When Xu Zhiwei selects the tofu in the middle, the three leaders beside him are surprised. When Xu Zhiwei puts the selected tofu into a bucket of well water, they are even more surprised. They do not know why Xu Zhiwei does like this. It is also because they don’t know what the opponent is going to do, so the three leaders start to get a little flustered.

Xu Zhiwei spends more time preparing subsidiary ingredients and sauces. He comes out slowly after the three have already started working fire in the lobby outside. However, Xu doesn’t take all kinds of materials in the basket, and just takes a large white porcelain plate with several rice onions and two small bowls, and no one can see clearly what is inside. When he puts the white porcelain plate and the bucket with soaked tofu on the Board, the people in the hall are surprised. Outside the lobby, there is a noisy discussion among the onlookers. More people are flustered, but this does not include Xu Zhiwei and the tree leaders.

Four people who compete are all masters, so no matter what moods they have just experienced, as long as they stand in front of the Board and cooking stove, they will soon enter into a state of concentration, like meditation.

The three leaders are in a state of preoccupation and busyness. Their hands, eyes and minds move with the knife, spoon, pot and fire. Every movement of the body, every rise and fall of the hand, every rolling of ingredients, and every dropping of seasoning into the pot are strictly controlled both mentally and physically. It is also because they all immerse themselves into cooking, their foreheads beginning to sweat slightly even though they’re just cooking a dish, and they’re just starting.

Xu Zhiwei, on the contrary, looks relaxed because he doesn’t do anything. He just stands between the Board and the stove, with his eyes half closed and he remains motionless as if he had really entered into a meditation state similar to the practice of monks and Taoists. This state is similar to that of “Neon Covering Golden Beams” on the third day of “To Emperor’s Taste Feast”. Moreover, it seems that he is more determined and calmer today than that day. He even does not face the cooking stove and Board, completely ignoring all the things he wants to operate.

However, if one looks carefully, he can still see that Xu Zhiwei’s forehead also has slightly sweated. Is standing too tiring? Is the stove too hot? Is it because people surround the entrance of the hall? No one knows why.

Lao Sha cooks “Golden River around Silver Mountain”, which is not a traditional dish in the vegetarian dish, but his unique dish. He uses this means because he is sure to win.

The key to this dish is egg floss, which is the so-called Golden River. Deep fried egg floss does not break and it tastes soft, with egg and oil aroma wrapped in it. He uses this rich oil and flavor of the egg floss to spice up tofu and use agaric, mushroom, tender cabbage so that the Silver Mountain made of tofu will be delicious, just like a treasure mountain with a variety of flavors. In addition, the egg floss in the soup stew will also absorb the rich flavor of ingredients and the essence of tofu fresh flavor, and it is full of soup juice, which feels smooth when tasted. Therefore, although it is a vegetarian dish, it tastes more delicious and smoother than meat dishes.

Wanghu Tower’s Bai Dazui’s Color Box of Tofu is another kind of wonder. It is different from others in terms of ingredient selection. Although the main ingredient is tofu, it is oil box tofu. The so-called oil box tofu is fried tofu in lard. Generally, oil box tofu is made directly in tofu shop, because the amount of oil and heat are required. It should be fried in a big pot or it will become a broken box tofu if it is not fried well. Tofu shops would make all kinds of oil tofu, and dried camellia, so they have such big ready-made pot stoves.

But the tofu of Bai Dazui is fried by himself, and fried in a small pot and stove. He not only fries it with a crispy taste, but also infiltrates the oil into the tofu; meanwhile, his dish also keeps the original taste of tofu, retaining the bean flavor and a certain tenderness and smoothness. In fact, all of these requirements are realized on the thin outer layer of the tofu, because the middle part of it is eventually gouged out and then filled with minced meat and then cooked with juice.

In fact, his key skill is frying oil box tofu. Heating oil with small fire and putting tofu slowly, then lifting it quickly, which is called “Lift, Fry and Skillful Turn” [2]. This not only entails high requirements on the fire and oil temperature, but also unique skills. Otherwise, the tofu will be damaged before entering the oil, or it will stick to the pan and be burned.

The last one cooks Shoulder Pole Toufu, which is a local dish in Anhui Province. It is known for knife skill and delicacy. But this dish was once called a wonder dish by the kitchen industry for a time, not that its taste is wonderful, but that the finished dish can show an almost impossible spectacle.

The selected ingredient of Shoulder Pole Tofu is opposite to Xu Zhiwei’s. The tofu around the four sides of the drawer frame is selected. It bears the greatest pressure and its water has nearly lost. It is also squeezed by the top, bottom and four sides, so it is a little more resilient. Then, when slicing tofu, skillfully use those squeezing surfaces, and the long tofu blocks cut out are connected by the extrusion surface. Slightly fry it with less oil and slightly solidify the four sides of the bean curd. Then cook the subsidiary ingredients and thicken the sauce, then put the fried tofu into the pot. Put tofu carefully, so that it can be covered with thick juice. In this way, when the tofu is cooled down slightly, it can be picked up from the middle with chopsticks. The long strips of tofu, though hung on both sides, will not break, just like a shoulder pole carrying heavy loads at both ends.

[1] It means to leaven dried ingredients by using water or oil.

[2] a kind of kitchen technique. Put half of tofu into oil when it is fried to be solidified, then turn it over by virtue of the buoyancy of the oil to fry the other half of tofu.