From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 220 Small details in cooking

Xia Hui served the dishes to the guests, but she did not go back to the kitchen immediately. Instead, she stood aside and watched.

The customer who ordered the stir-fried cabbage didn't pay much attention at first. Judging from his clothes, it was easy to tell that he was a painter who had just finished work, and there was still paint on his clothes.

When he saw the food on the table, the other party immediately took out a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick cage on the table and picked up the rice in front of him.

Pick up a large piece of stir-fried cabbage with chopsticks, place it on top of the rice and press it.

Then, together with the rice and cabbage, he took big gulps into his mouth.

Xia Hui looked a little nervous and stared at the other person eating.

She actually wanted to ask the other party if he was satisfied with the dish she cooked.

But seeing how the other person was eating voraciously, I felt it was impolite to disturb the other person's meal.

Xia Hui stood beside him like this, staring at the other person eating for a long time.

Finally, the painter who was eating felt someone staring at him and raised his head to look at Xia Hui, who was standing at the table and wearing a chef's uniform.

First, Xia Hui was startled, and then the other party panicked and almost dropped the bowl in his hand.

Xia Hui quickly said: "Be careful, I'm sorry for disturbing your meal."

The other person put down the rice bowl in his hand and asked strangely: "What are you looking at? What's so good about the way I eat?"

Xia Hui quickly said embarrassedly: "I just wanted to ask, what do you think of this dish?"

When Xia Hui asked this question, the other party was stunned for a moment, then looked at the dishes on the plate, smacked his mouth and said, "It's pretty good. It's very satisfying to eat."

Joy suddenly appeared on Xia Hui's face, and she smiled and said, "Thank you, then eat slowly."

After saying that, Xia Hui turned around and ran back to the kitchen quickly.

The painter who was eating was confused.

But he quickly picked up the bowl again and continued eating.

Xia Hui returned to the kitchen.

He came to Feng Zhengming and said, "Uncle, the customers are very satisfied with my plate of food."

After hearing this, Feng Zhengming and Yang Bin looked at each other.

Yang Bin said with a smile: "Hahaha, are you afraid that Uncle Feng will lecture you, so you wait outside and let the guests give an evaluation first, and then come back?"

Xia Hui was a little embarrassed by Yang Bin.

Feng Zhengming looked at Xia Hui and asked, "What do you think you did?"

When Xia Hui was asked this question, she immediately began to think carefully about the details in her cooking process that she had not noticed. Is there anything that was done poorly?

After thinking about it in detail, Xia Hui felt that there should be no problem with her.

But when she wanted to say that she had no problem stir-frying cabbage.

She noticed Feng Zhengming's gaze and was a little undecided. She wondered if she could say that she was fine?

Xia Hui hesitated for a while, still unable to make up her mind.

Yang Bin couldn't help but laugh again.

"Hahaha, you are so interesting, girl. Are you so unsure of yourself?"

Xia Hui smiled helplessly when Yang Bin said this with a smile.

"Uncle Yang, I really don't know if I'm doing a good job or not?"

Feng Zhengming said: "Don't guess what we think of you. Ask yourself first. Do you feel satisfied with the dish you just cooked?"

After Xia Hui listened to Feng Zhengming's words, she didn't hesitate much this time and nodded firmly: "I am satisfied."

Feng Zhengming said: "Okay, just be satisfied."

Xia Hui saw Feng Zhengming say this and turned around to continue the work they were doing with Yang Bin.

Even Sun Hai didn't express his opinions anymore.

This time, Xia Hui felt empty in her heart.

Seeing that Feng Zhengming and the others had no intention of saying anything else, Xia Hui couldn't help but ask: "Uncle Master, don't you have any advice for me?"

When Feng Zhengming and the others looked at themselves again.

Xia Hui asked again: "Uncle, what do you think of the dish I just cooked?"

Hearing Xia Hui ask this, Feng Zhengming and Yang Bin looked at each other and smiled.

Yang Bin said: "You are really not confident."

Feng Zhengming said: "The plate of stir-fried cabbage you made is generally fine, and it is in line with the cooking skills you learned in vocational school."

Yang Bin echoed: "That's right, you can do it all right."

Xia Hui thought for a while and then asked: "Is it just in line with what I learned in vocational school?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "What do you hope?"

Xia Hui was a little stunned by the question. After thinking for a long time, she asked, "Uncle, will it be different if you do it?"

Yang Bin said with a smile: "It seems that Xiaoxia's ambition is indeed not small."

Hearing Yang Bin's words, Xia Hui looked at Feng Zhengming.

Sun Hai also looked at Feng Zhengming and Yang Bin. He also wanted to know if Feng Zhengming or Yang Bin cooked this dish, would they be any different?

In Sun Hai's opinion, there is nothing wrong with Xia Hui stir-frying cabbage. It can be said that all vocational school teachers should do the same.

Feng Zhengming looked at Xia Hui and Sun Hai with curiosity.

He smiled and said: "If I make it, I will fry the chili segments and Sichuan peppercorns together to make them fragrant. I will add a little more salt to the bowl of juice and less vinegar. I will cook the vinegar first after the cabbage is put into the pot." , when stir-frying, use high heat throughout the process and stir-fry quickly.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Xia Hui and Sun Hai were stunned.

It seems to be no different from what Xia Hui did?

But soon both of them caught the different little details.

For example, dry chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns are fried together to get only the aroma.

There is also the option of boiling the vinegar first, then pouring the bowl of juice, and setting high heat the entire time.

When Xia Hui is stir-fried, there is no full fire in the middle, so there is no fire around the pot during the stir-frying process.

Although it is not necessary to cause flames around the pot, igniting the flames around the pot will add a unique stove aroma to the dish.

Moreover, stir-fried dishes need to be stir-fried over high heat to bring out the best flavor.

Especially for vegetables such as cabbage, during the stir-frying process, the whole process must be high, and the rapid high temperature allows the oil and juice to coat the vegetable leaves, and the vegetable leaves must be matured quickly.

Keep the vegetable leaves crispy and prevent them from becoming watery.

This process sounds simple, but it is not easy to do in practice.

Stir-fried cabbage will cause the entire dish to fail.

And if it is not fried enough, the cabbage will not be mature enough and it will not taste good.

The reason why Xia Hui didn't dare to cook the whole meal was actually because she was a little nervous and worried that the fire would fry the cabbage directly.

Feng Zhengming then comforted Xia Hui: "Don't think too much. Cooking skills need to be practiced constantly. Practice makes perfect. As long as you keep doing it, make sure you practice the most traditional methods until you are very proficient, and then make some appropriate improvements. , that is the icing on the cake, making the dish more beautiful and delicious.”

Yang Bin also agreed with Feng Zhengming's statement.

"Yes, if you can't even do the basics well, then you start thinking about how to improve it and create your own characteristics. That will only make the dishes nondescript."

Feng Zhengming continued: "So if you didn't ask, I wouldn't have given you any advice because there was nothing wrong with what you did."

Yang Bin added: "If you don't do well, you won't be allowed to serve."

Xia Hui and Sun Hai both relaxed.

Knowing that what she was doing was fine, Xia Hui naturally gained confidence.

At this time, someone else was ordering food from the dry rice shop, stir-frying slices of meat. Feng Zhengming looked at Sun Hai and said, "You come this time."

Sun Hai was somewhat surprised. He didn't expect that he would be put on the stove.

Yang Bin saw Sun Hai's surprised face and said with a smile: "Don't be stunned, hurry up and get ready."

Sun Hai immediately responded: "Okay, uncle."

This time, Feng Zhengming and Yang Bin worked together to help Sun Hai.

Help him prepare all the ingredients except the meat slices.

He threw a piece of tenderloin to Sun Hai.

When Sun Hai was about to cut it, Feng Zhengming reminded: "Don't cut it, just slice it."

Sun Hai was stunned for a moment, but he immediately understood what Feng Zhengming meant.

He immediately followed Feng Zhengming's words.

Cut a strip of tenderloin in half and cut into thin slices with a razor blade diagonally.

The reason why I use Sun Hai slices is because the tenderloin is relatively tender. If you cut it into thin slices with a top knife, the meat slices may fall into pieces during the stir-frying process.

Sun Hai quickly washed the sliced ​​meat, then placed each piece on a clean towel and wiped away the water on the surface.

Wipe off the water on the surface, add a little salt to the meat slices, mix well, then add egg white and starch, apply a thin paste to the meat slices, mix evenly and seal with oil.

Next, Sun Hai, like Xia Hui before, went to make a bowl of juice by himself.

When everything was ready, Sun Hai moistened the pot first.

This will ensure that the pan won't stick when frying the meat.

After moistening the pot, first grease the meat slices.

Feng Zhengming was standing by to help him blanch the side dishes, including Chinese cabbage, bamboo shoots, and fungus.

Among them, the Chinese cabbage is only cut into stems without leaves, and the stems are cut into slices by Feng Zhengming in the same way as meat slices.

Sun Hai's meat slices were smooth, and Feng Zhengming's side dishes were blanched and fished out for him.

Everything is ready for Sun Hai.

Sun Hai poured out the smoothed meat slices, leaving the oil in the pot and sauteing onions, ginger, garlic and rice until fragrant.

This time Sun Hai learned from Xia Hui's lesson and cooked the vinegar first after adding the meat slices and side dishes.

Add the vinegar and stir-fry quickly to enhance the flavor.

While the vinegar smell was rising, Sun Hai quickly stirred the bowl of juice with a spoon and poured it evenly into the pot.

What follows is a full-scale stir-fry.

Stir-fry a few times to let the sauce evenly coat the dishes in the pot. Turn off the heat and stir-fry the meat slices.

Sun Hai's cooking process is obviously more neat.

After all, with Xia Hui backing him up, Sun Hai should be more confident.

After loading the dishes, Sun Hai also looked at Feng Zhengming, waiting for Feng Zhengming to give the order whether to serve the dishes or not.

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Go and serve the food."

A smile instantly appeared on Sun Hai's usually dull face, and he quickly ran out with the plate of dishes to serve.

After serving the dishes to the guests, Sun Hai did not wait for the guests to comment like Xia Hui did.

After he served the food, he turned around and went back to the kitchen.

I saw Sun Hai coming back soon.

Yang Bin said happily: "It seems that Xiao Sun is more confident than Xiao Xia."

Sun Hai immediately said: "No, I, I'm not very embarrassed."

Yang Bin asked strangely: "Excuse me? Why?"

Sun Hai hesitated and said, "When the food was served, everyone looked at me, which made me feel embarrassed."

These words made Yang Bin laugh uncontrollably: "Hahaha, I didn't expect you to be shy when serving food."

Sun Hai explained: "Uncle Master, I'm not embarrassed about the food you cooked. But today I'm serving the food I cooked. I'm embarrassed because I'm worried that it's not done well."

Feng Zhengming comforted him: "I didn't do anything bad, you did a good job."

Xia Hui echoed: "Yes, you did a good job."

Yang Bin nodded: "Very good, the stir-fried pork slices look better than what I made."

After hearing Yang Bin's words, Sun Hai quickly said: "No, I am not as good as Master Yang."

Yang Bin laughed again: "Why are you more nervous than Xiao Xia? Isn't it okay to say you did a good job?"

Xia Hui said: "Yes, don't be nervous, you did a good job."

Feng Zhengming used Sun Hai's dish to tell Xia Hui again.

"Did you notice a small detail about Sun Hai?"

Xia Hui asked: "What small details?"

Feng Zhengming said: "When Sun Hai mixed the bowl of juice, he tasted it himself. This is a detail. When he is not completely sure of the taste, he has to taste it himself first."

After hearing this, Xia Hui quickly took note of it carefully: "I remembered it, and I will definitely pay attention to it next time."

Feng Zhengming stretched his head and took a look outside.

I'm sure the business is almost over at noon, and the meat and pig's trotters are basically sold out.

He clapped his hands and said, "Okay, that's it for business at noon today. Let's clean up. Sun Hai and Xia Hui performed very well at noon today. It seems that we can let you two work more in the future."

Sun Hai and Xia Hui were naturally very happy to receive such recognition.

"Thank you, uncle."

Yang Bin smiled and said: "Hahaha, if you two can go to the stove more often, then I can have a rest."

Xia Hui immediately said: "Uncle Yang, you can't rest. Our craftsmanship is not very good yet, and we still need to learn from Uncle Yang."

Sun Hai echoed: "Yes, we should learn more from Master Yang."

"You two are too direct in your flattery." Yang Bin was somewhat impressed by the words of the two of them.

Feng Zhengming closed his business at noon. After everyone finished cleaning, he said a few words to Shen Rongsen and Chen Anbang.

"Lao Shen, you should do a good job in cutting and matching in the future. You should also practice your knife skills more. The cutting and matching should be accurate. Don't just pursue speed. The thickness and length should be as even as possible."

Shen Rongsen responded respectfully: "I know boss, I will pay more attention in the future."

Feng Zhengming said to Shen Rongsen again: "Thank you for your hard work."

Looking at Chen Anbang again, Feng Zhengming said seriously: "Anbang, you still have to watch more, learn more and practice more. Knife skills are the foundation. You must first practice the knife skills well. When you master the knife skills, you can learn other things."

Chen Anbang didn't complain. He still knew that his foundation was relatively poor.

Although Chen Anbang also cooked in the countryside before, there is still a big difference between cooking at home and in the kitchen.

Knowing his current abilities, Chen Anbang said: "I will work hard."

In the next period of time, Sun Hai and Xia Hui had more opportunities to cook on the stove, especially when the kitchen behind the dry rice shop was busy, most of the time the two of them would cook together.

Because Xia Hui and Sun Hai were there, Shen Rongsen had little chance to get involved, but he had no complaints and would carefully match the match.

Chen Anbang is working harder to practice his knife skills and looks forward to learning more cooking skills in the future.

(End of this chapter)