Chapter 55: Apprenticeship to a Temporary Worker at a State-Owned Hotel
Hu Laosan was wearing a sleeveless vest, with a white towel around his neck, and had a bit of anger on his face, looking a little scary.
He said in a deep and powerful voice: "Li Yang, come out and apologize."
"Yes, I'm sorry." Li Yang came out of the kitchen reluctantly and apologized in a low voice.
"Louder." Hu Laosan was not satisfied with this.
Li Yang closed his eyes and shouted, "I'm sorry! I was wrong!"
After yelling, he ran back to the kitchen.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, please sit down first. I'll go make you a new bowl of rice right away." Hu Laosan looked apologetic.
Yu Zhile and the other man helped the old man sit down, and he finally breathed smoothly after the breath that was stuck in his throat.
"Thank you, my friends." The old man thanked them. "I see you haven't ordered yet, so go ahead and order. Today's meal is on me, Old Chen."
"You're welcome, we've already had breakfast." Yu Zhile politely declined.
Chen Zhao nodded in agreement and suddenly said, "My last name is Chen too. Who knows, maybe we were relatives eight hundred years ago!"
"Fate." Old Chen chatted with him enthusiastically.
Not long after, Hu Laosan personally brought out a bowl of steaming noodles, plus a plate of braised pork head.
"Grandpa, I didn't teach my apprentice well and you suffered. It was my fault, Hu Laosan. This dish is a small apology. I hope you can be magnanimous." He apologized again.
Chen Zhao joked and said, "Old Chen, this is Brother Hu's private dish. Most people can't eat it."
"Then I have to try it carefully." Old Chen smiled heartily and picked up a piece of food with chopsticks.
Hu Laosan patted Chen Zhao on the shoulder.
"Old Chen, take your time eating. I need to talk to Third Brother Hu first." Chen Zhao waved goodbye to Old Chen.
Chen Zhao and Hu Laosan walked towards the kitchen side by side, and Yu Zhile followed behind them.
Hu Laosan was the first to speak: "Why did you ask me for help? And you brought so many seafood."
"Didn't you say you wanted to compete with my sister in cooking? I brought her here for you." Chen Zhao grinned, "But we have something else to discuss with you today."
Hu Laosan looked back at Yu Zhile, quite surprised, but his expression did not show any contempt.
"Hello, Brother Hu San." Yu Zhile greeted politely.
"Nier, your cooking skills have conquered me. Everything is negotiable." Hu Laosan wanted to return a friendly smile, but his fat face did not do so, like an adult intimidating a child.
Yu Zhile smiled and said, "Then let Brother Hu San taste my specialty today."
She planned to make three quick dishes: seafood noodle soup, small seafood in sauce and steamed yellow croaker.
As soon as he entered the kitchen, Yu Zhile asked for the location of the required ingredients and began to prepare the dishes in an orderly manner.
When going up the mountain, the shellfish are placed in a wooden basin and the sand is spit out for a while, and then they can be used directly.
On the way into the city, Yu Zhile sprinkled water from time to time to keep the yellow croaker fresh.
Delayed for a while by the farce, the yellow croaker was about to die, so she hurriedly scraped off the scales, cut open the belly and removed the internal organs.
"Xiao Zhao, process the octopus and abalone, peel off the shrimp heads and skins, and keep the shrimp heads for me." She assigned tasks to Chen Zhao.
Chen Zhaoying said yes and started working immediately.
Next, Yu Zhile cut the back of the yellow croaker, marinated it with ginger, scallion and cooking wine, and cut the scallion into shreds in advance, soaked them in water, and set them aside for later use.
Then she started to make a fire and boil water.
When the water boils, she processes all the small seafood, leaves some of them behind, and pours the rest into the water to blanch them.
"Xiao Zhao, look at the time." Yu Zhile gave up his seat in front of the stove.
She took a large bowl, chopped garlic and chili pepper, added coriander, aged vinegar, soy sauce and other seasonings, and half a bowl of boiled water and mixed well.
"It's cooked." Chen Zhao calculated the time and scooped the seafood into a large basin.
Yu Zhile poured in the sauce, squeezed half a lemon, added seeded lemon slices, and mixed the sauce and seafood evenly.
Steamed large yellow croaker and seafood soup noodles are made at the same time.
Put steam in a pot on the stove and steam the yellow croaker.
Heat a dry pan on another stove, add a thin layer of oil and sauté the scallions, ginger and garlic. Then pour in the shrimp heads and fry out the shrimp oil. Add the shellfish and stir-fry for half a minute.
"Water." As soon as Yu Zhile opened his mouth, Chen Zhao tacitly poured a spoonful of hot water into the pot.
The water came to a slight boil and she poured in the remaining seafood.
The shrimp turned orange-red and the octopus legs curled up. She picked out the shrimp heads with chopsticks and began to season them.
Finally, she added two bundles of thin rice noodles to the soup and covered it with a lid.
The timing is just right and the yellow croaker can be served.
A burst of steam spread through the kitchen, bringing out the fresh aroma of the fish.
Chen Zhao sprinkled chopped green onions on the surface of the fish, poured hot oil on it to stimulate the aroma, and then used the residual heat from the pot to heat the soy sauce and poured it on top.
At the same time, the casserole was off the stove, and the seafood soup noodles that were still bubbling were emitting a different delicious aroma.
Three dishes with different flavors were neatly placed on the table, and there was silence in the kitchen.
"Third brother, what new dishes are you working on? They smell so good." The waiter looked inside from the small window, but his view was blocked by Li Yang who was standing there in a daze.
Li Yang murmured, "How is it possible? How is it possible?"
Hu Laosan came back to his senses and clapped his hands in admiration: "Amazing! You are worthy of conquering little Chen Zhao's cooking skills."
He had worked as the head chef in a state-owned restaurant for nearly ten years and had eaten many of his colleagues' specialties, but this was the first time he met someone who was so good at cooking seafood.
"Brother Hu San, try it, I guarantee it's delicious." Chen Zhao handed over the chopsticks.
Yu Zhile reminds: "Small seafood tastes best if you soak it for one to two hours before eating it."
It took more than ten minutes from the time the seafood in sauce was ready to the time the other two dishes were completed. The seafood was not yet fully flavored, but the sour and spicy taste made Hu Laosan's eyes light up.
He commented: "It's sour and spicy and appetizing, very suitable for summer."
The steamed yellow croaker is smooth and tender, with a crispy texture from the green onion ribbons.
"The seasoning and taste are just right." Hu Laosan shook his head and sighed.
The seafood noodle soup has a delicious broth, and the thin rice noodles have absorbed the broth, making it smooth, chewy and chewy, leaving a lasting aftertaste.
"Nier, are you interested in working in a state-owned hotel?" Hu Laosan immediately made a job offer.
Yu Zhile shook his head and got to the point: "Brother Hu, we came to you today because we want to use your connections to negotiate with the slaughterhouse for the supply of large shanks and lean meat. Our village wants to set up a sideline group and set up a stall at the market."
"Is that so?" Hu Laosan said with regret, "How much do you need? It's okay if it's big bones, no one wants to buy them, but if it's too much meat, it's hard to negotiate."
Yu Zhile told him about the restructuring of the market and stated the needs.
She had estimated in advance that she would only need five pounds of large bones and three pounds of pure lean meat per week.
"Well, it's not much. This is easy to handle." Hu Laosan touched his chin and agreed with her.
The next second, he changed the subject: "But, I also have something I want to ask you for help with."
"Brother Hu San, just tell me. I will definitely help if I can." Yu Zhile said straightforwardly.
"Can you take me in as your apprentice?" Hu Laosan scratched his head uncomfortably. "This is the first time I've met someone who is so good at cooking seafood. I want to learn some new dishes and update the menu of the restaurant."
After saying this, he realized that his request was a bit outrageous, and quickly added: "Just learn one or two questions a month."
"No problem, I will come to the State-owned Hotel every Wednesday from now on." Yu Zhile agreed readily.
Hu Laosan was ecstatic, but after calming down, he felt that he was asking for repayment and that he owed Yu Zhile something.
"Nier, you can work as a temporary worker in the store, earning 15 yuan a month, and the benefits will be the same as those of regular workers." He thought for a while and came up with a solution.
"Okay." Yu Zhile responded.
The two continued discussing the details for a while until they were suddenly interrupted by the waiter.
"Third brother, what delicious food are you hiding?" She couldn't see the food through the small window, but the smell made her itchy, so she went into the kitchen when no one was around.
As soon as she entered the store, she went straight to the seafood in sauce, took a bite, was amazed, and praised: "This is a new dish. People in the county have to come here if they want to eat this."
"The little girl's craftsmanship is amazing." Hu Laosan laughed and praised Yu Zhile.
The waitress grew up with him and they were used to joking with each other. She said, "Come on, let the little girl cook from now on."
The atmosphere became light because of her jokes.
"Hey, Third Brother, give me some of the seafood. I'll ask Old Chen to try some." Chen Zhao slapped his head and said, "I'll promote it to you guys."
Hu Laosan filled a bowl and handed it to him.
Mr. Chen ate in a very polite manner, and had only finished half a bowl of noodles.
After tasting it, he praised it highly and seemed very happy to learn that the restaurant would have this dish on its menu.
Afterwards, Yu Zhile and his friend said goodbye to Hu Laosan and rode back to the village.
When she returned to the courtyard, Zhang Wenxin and Ge Tai were waiting for her.
Thanks to the hard work of the three Zhang brothers in promoting the cuisine, villagers now believe that Zhile’s cooking skills are better than those of chefs from state-owned restaurants.
In the past two days, Ge Tai has been running around the kiln factories in the nearby villages.
The price is the same, four dollars for fifty small clay pots, with two large clay pots given as a gift, and they will be delivered to your door.
He went to the commune to inquire about the delivery service, and the commune officials believed that it was not a violation of regulations.
"For this stove, I found a bricklayer from Datao Village. The materials are included and he charges one dollar." Ge Tai pulled out a blueprint. "The master looked at our drawing and made some improvements."
The initial blueprint was drawn by Yu Zhile, a movable six-burner wood-burning stove with a wooden cart embedded at the bottom.
"The issue of bones and meat has been resolved." Yu Zhile stated the final negotiation results.
Pure lean meat does not require meat coupons, but the price is two cents higher than the market price, and large bones are free.
Zhang Wenxin said happily: "This price is not bad."
Afterwards, Yu Zhile briefly explained to them the entire process of setting up a stall and raised the issue of manpower.
When setting up the stall, she and Zhang Wenxin control the stove, Ge Tai is responsible for delivery, and currently they still need people to wash the pots and clean up.
"The three sisters of Zhang Haimei." Ge Tai proposed the candidates.
The two were puzzled because, in their memory, there was no one with that name in the village.
Ge Tai said: "Zhang Zhaodi and her sister work hard."
"But——" Zhang Wenxin hesitated.
Yu Zhile agreed immediately.
At this point, the preliminary preparations are completed.
The three of them plan to formally propose their side business plan at the morning meeting tomorrow.
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