The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

16. Defeating Three Opponents by Himself

Translator: Wang Mengmei

Xu Zhiwei continues to comment on the third dish—Shoulder Pole Tofu before Bai Dazui retorts. He knows there is nothing Bai can rebut.

“To be honest, I like Shoulder Pole Tofu the most. It is cooked in the lightest way—it’s fried with less oil, then thickened with mixture of cornstarch and water to retain its flavor. Although he doesn’t adopt better ways to help the flavor permeate into the tofu, the thick juice wrapping around it is cooked to perfection. It goes well with the original flavor of tofu, which is very refreshing and delicious.” Says Xu Zhiwei as if he has tasted it.

“However, the most striking feature of this dish is that the tofu never breaks even when you pick it with the chopsticks. However, this strength turns out to be the very shortcoming of it. To achieve this visually appealing feature, the cook must possess an excellent cutting technique to cut the tofu into slices. The first step is to cut the tofu with the knife carefully and move the blade slowly, maintaining a straight line of motion so that the surface of the tofu is smooth without any break. Then the cook should take into account the direction and the way of cutting and make use of the squeezing side, which is relatively tough and does not break easily.”

Xu Zhiwei stops and holds out the tofu in the well water gently. Then he cuts the tofu transversely, neither urgently nor slowly. There are still two squeezing sides on the tofu fetched out from the middle of the drawer. As the first cut falls on the tofu with the slicing technique of peeling and lifting, the top drops into the bucket. After the second cut that uses the same slicing technique, the tofu held in his hand seems to be unchanged, but the second layer sticking to his palm has been cut actually.

Xu Zhiwei puts down the knife and continues to say, “it’s exactly the need of preserving the squeezing side that makes this dish imperfect in its taste. It has destroyed the smooth taste of the tofu covered by the sauce. In such a case, the eaters have to chew the tofu for a while even though it should have melted in their mouths. So it is true of the Golden Rivers and Silver Mountains that its feature turns out to be the shortcoming of it.

The chefs nod as they think what Xu Zhiwei says is obviously to the point. However, the chef who has made this dish appears somewhat confused since he can’t figure out why the feature of this dish praised before becomes a flaw. But he can’t make any rebuttal as what Xu says seems to be right.

No matter how the people around him react at this moment, Xu Zhiwei just ignores it. His mind enters into an ethereal state again, and all his attention is paid to the temperature of the furnace, the oil, the salt changing in the oil, and the tofu held in his hand.

On the table lies a large porcelain bowl, which has been prepared for a long time. Xu Zhiwei shakes his hand, then a piece of white tofu, smooth and tender on all sides, falls into the bowl, leaving a thin layer of the squeezing side in his hand. With the scallions scattered on it, the dish looks particularly green and refreshing. He stirs in the pot to help the salt dissolve more quickly. Then he takes the pot from the fire, pours the oil into the spoon and then into the bowl. Then the spoonful of the heated, salt-melted oil is splashed over the scallions and the tofu.

As Xu Zhiwei pours the hot oil into the pot, the aroma of the scallions, beans and oil wafts up in the room. In order to prevent the scent from dissipating, he presses, cuts, turns the tofu up and down and mixes them with a pair of chopsticks, thus preserving the aroma in the tofu and melting the salt in the hot oil into it.

When the tofu falls into the bowl, the leader of the Chef Clique learns a lesson—the form should be used to the advantage of the taste, and the cook can reach the superb state only by integrating them together.

When the flavor of the scallions and beans rises with the hot oil, Bai Dazui realizes that it’s highlighting the original flavor of the main ingredient that counts the most. The cook should blend the main and accessory ingredients reasonably and arrange them well. The simpler the ingredients are, the more refreshing and appealing the dish will taste.

Old Sha also understands it when he sees the chopsticks being inserted into the bowl. He realizes that it can be very hard to flavor the tofu, but it’s not impossible. The salt can melt in the oil, so the grains of the salt will disappear, which is different from directly adding it into the dish. When the oil moves, the salty flavor follows. So it can stir evenly into every corner of the dish. The perfect blending of the flavor of scallions, beans and oil produces a special taste, leaving the eaters an endless aftertaste.

The ready-cooked tofu is put beside the three dishes. Almost everyone in Huiquan Hall knows it is nothing but a Bean Curd Mixed with Scallions. But the experts know that this is an extraordinary dish, which can defeat three excellent dishes by its own. The reason is that the one who cooks this dish has not only pointed out the missteps of other dishes, but also taught them a lesson in the course of cooking it. A person who can teach such a lesson will never leave any flaw in such a simple dish.

There is no fixed standard to decide which cook has the best culinary skills. Every cook can reach the peak that he pursues by all kinds of means. However, almost all cooks regard it as a must to know “the greatest truths are the simplest” before they arrive at the highest level in this field.

The word “simplest” is generally viewed as cooking the dish in the simplest way and displaying the natural tastes of the ingredients. So it’s not difficult to cook many of the dishes in Chinese cuisine, which is why many people think they have become masters only after a few days of learning to cook.

But the word “simplest” doesn’t only refer to “easy”, but also means “not easy”. In fact, the simpler the cooking process is, the more complex the details are and the more technical capabilities it contains. For example, the first step of becoming a chef is to learn to put an appropriate amount of salt into the dish at the right time, but “the art of putting salt” will remain the biggest problem even after you become a master.

Xu Zhiwei has impressed and conquered the leaders of the Chef Clique just by the way he puts salt into his dish. When the oil moves, the salt and the salty flavor follow, which is completely beyond the imagination of those conformist cooks, let alone trying it.

But there is another highlight of his dish that can impress those who have tasted it and be appreciated and even admired deeply by them. Only Old Sha, Bai Dazui and Wang Zhunian are lucky enough to taste this dish.

The chef who cooked the Shoulder Pole Tofu admits defeat and leaves without tasting the dish cooked by Xu Zhiwei.

Bai Dazui goes away, but stamps and returns back quickly. He feels so discomfited as the weakness of the Colored Bean Curd that he is so proud of has been pinpointed. So he comes back to taste the dish cooked by his opponent even though he knows the die is cast. But after tasting the dish, he calms down and leaves with poise.

Old Sha tastes the dish slowly, then nods and heaves a sigh and makes his way out of the restaurant.

Up to now, Xu Zhiwei has already won the game, so he picks up the bowl and pours it into the slop bucket. It’s an accepted practice that the winner can pour his dish into the swill bucket to avoid being tasted and commented on negatively by the onlookers. That’s because even if other cooks lose, they will never distort the facts to belittle his opponents as they believe that to belittle the opponents is to belittle themselves. However, the onlookers of the game may disrespect and distort the facts and even belittle the cooks as they have tasted the dishes in person.

The instant Xu Zhiwei pours the dish, Wang Zhunian rushes over and parries the arms of Xu Zhiwei so that Xu fails to pour out all the tofu in the bowl, leaving some minced tofu on the edge of the bowl.

Wang Zhunian snatches a glance at Xu Zhiwei, then Xu gets it at once. As they are both highly skilled cooks who pursue the highest level of this field, they can understand each other with just one glance.

Seeing Xu Zhiwei nodding to him, Wang Zhunian gently picks up the remaining minced tofu on the edge of the bowl and puts it into his mouth and savors it with a stone-faced expression. But as the muscle in his jaw moves, others can know that there are some intricate and subtle movements going on inside his closed mouth.

“The flavor of the ingredients has been displayed to the fullest. But there is something else beside the taste, which can intoxicate the heart of the eaters.” Says Wang Zhunian after he finally swallows the tofu.

“Yeah, it’s a kind of feeling rather than taste.” Xu Zhiwei replies.

“It’s the coolness, a kind of comforting coolness.” Wang Zhunian finds another pleasant aspect of this dish.

“Exactly. That’s because the tofu has been soaked in the well water. But once you pick it into your mouth, you will feel more than cool. It’s muggy in the afternoon of early summer, so the leaders may be somewhat irritable. Especially those three chefs cooking beside the hearth are even more whiny as they care so much about winning the game. But the refreshing feeling brought by the cool and light tofu can sweep away all the troubles and worries in the world and help them feel calm and comfortable.”

Wang Zhunian stands there in a daze. After a long while he says slowly, “It tastes really good.” Then he strides off through the crowd at the entrance to the restaurant.

“What? Is it over?”

“Does Chef Clique lose? ”

“Of course not! The Bean Curd Mixed with Scallions is surely no equal to each of the dishes cooked by the three chefs from Chef Clique. ” The crowd at the gate begin to talk noisily.

“Why do you think the tofu cooked by the chef of the clique is more delicious? I do think the Bean Curd Mixed with Scallions tastes better. Their ingredients and cooking are not affordable for me, but the Bean Curd Mixed with Scallions is so cheap that I can eat it whenever I want. But why do you think the expensive dish tastes better than the cheap one? ” says a woman who speaks in a high voice that muffles that of others. She seems to be the owner of the clay figurine shop next door who chooses tofu as the main material of this game.

Hearing what the landlady says, Xu Zhiwei is totally shocked. Something new hits upon him.

The members of Chef Clique and onlookers leave, and the cooks and waiters of the Huiquan Hall go ahead with their own stuffs respectively. The lobby quiets down again, except for several sparrows that stop on the doorsteps and twitter on the eaves occasionally.

The owner of the restaurant is just like a sparrow, whispering in the ear of Zhao Donghu beside the counter. Zhao appears in a dilemma, and it seems that the boss is persuading him to make a particularly difficult decision.

Xu Zhiwei seats himself on a spool, feeling emotionally exhausted. It’s more tiring to cook this dish than to prepare ten full tables of dishes. He bears an unimaginable pressure in such a tense atmosphere as it is so difficult to battle the whole Chef Clique on his own. He also feels frightened since the game today begins suddenly and is totally out of control. If there is any flaw in his dish, he will absolutely get into trouble.

Zhao Hudong makes the difficult decision finally. He makes a cup of tea, and goes over to Xu Zhiwei, patting him on the shoulder and handing the tea to him. “Chef Xu, you should take a rest for a few days. Go home, please. I will order other cooks to finish your tasks if there is any.”

Xu Zhiwei looks up at Zhao Hudong and says, “I don’t need to rest. Chef Clique has lost the game, and the cooks dare not to make any trouble again. Take it easy, Sir. The problem is caused by me as I am not clear about the rules, but it has been solved now and will not disturb our business any more.”

“Ah, you’d better rest for several days to see how it goes on, Chef Xu. If you lose today, there may be some room for maneuver. But you have won this game, thus leaving Chef Clique in an embarrassing situation. So I do think that you should keep a low profile and go somewhere else since they may retaliate against you to save face. ” Without hiding the veiled attitude of Zhao Hudong, the restaurant manager comes to the point and tells Xu why they want him to leave for the time being.

“The cooks of Chef Clique won’t be so dishonest, will they? Are they going to continue to frame me up?” Xu Zhiwei is so surprised as things seem not to work out the way he has imagined.

“Although Chef Clique is a faction, its members care little about the code of the brotherhood and credit. And what you have destroyed in this game is those signature dishes which they feel proud of. So the deep resentment may drive them to retaliate against you.” Explains Zhao Donghu.

” Exactly. They are not a gang, but are even crueler than the real gangs. You must have heard about “eating the urn-cooked dish” (1), “burning the chicken feet” (2) and “stabbing through the live meat” (3). If they lay more murderous hands on you, maybe you will be tortured to death. Take the landlord’s words, Chef Xu! Go home for several days, please. I will send for you if things get better. ” The manager wheedles and blusters Xu, hoping him to go home at once. It’s obvious that he now regards Xu as a jinx rather than a cash cow.

“If so, I won’t go back certainly. I’ve just told the cooks of the clique that I’m from Eighteen-Bay Village, and I’m sure they’ll find me there if they do not want to let me off. And if I go back alone, they will seize the opportunity to strike a vicious blow on me.

Besides, I stay at Mr. Fan’s home where there are old and young members, so I can’t get them into trouble. I think maybe I should stay at the shop these days since there are a lot of people in the shop and many shops in the street so they dare not to attack me in such places.” Xu Zhiwei is still clear-minded rather than confused even after so many things have happened.

“But you can not get our restaurant into troubles！You have put the Chef Clique in such an embarrassing situation, so they will definitely retaliate against our restaurant if you still stay here as they dare to do nothing to you. All cooks here except you are in contact with the clique, so they can ruin our business with just a word. If it happens, by no means can you save us no matter how talented you are! ” Realizing Xu Zhiwei is not willing to leave, the manager simply tells the truth regardless of how harsh it may be.

Hearing this, Xu Zhiwei understands what they mean totally. They are trying to get rid of him rather than getting him away from trouble. In other words, they are throwing him to the lions. But what they are doing is acceptable and reasonable anyway since the restaurant will only incur less loss if he leaves, which is nothing but a mere lack of some specialties. However, if he continues to stay here, the business of this restaurant will be destroyed no matter what delicious dishes it serves.

Xu Zhiwei catches a glimpse of Zhao Hudong, hoping that he could be responsible so that he can provide him with an essential security as he has been toiling and moiling here. But Zhao just avoids his eyes and shakes his head and sighs towards the corner.

[1] It means hitting the head with the urn bowl, just like the gangs who always throw bricks at others’ head.

[2] It means burning someone’s hands, and the perpetrator will also hit, stab or peel the person’s hands if the fire is not available.

[3] It originally means using a knife to pierce the tongue or the limbs.