Forgot Chapter 171? Then let's reread it.
Bamboo shoots are an extremely delicate ingredient.
After fresh bamboo shoots are harvested, their respiration and enzymatic reactions intensify, leading to water loss and sugar consumption, which gradually reduces the sweetness of the shoots. At the same time, the cell wall substances of the bamboo shoots also rapidly lignify, making the texture increasingly coarse. In order to preserve the fresh, sweet, and crisp texture of the bamboo shoots as much as possible, they were sent out that afternoon.
The food arrived at the Little Star Cafeteria the next day at noon.
Usually, the ingredients are shipped out in the early morning and received in the evening. Today, I received the ingredients at noon. The familiar packaging box is definitely from the supplier I usually use.
Amid everyone's doubts, An Fusheng said, "It must have been the fresh bamboo shoots that Director Jiang sent to us."
"There are fresh bamboo shoots this season?" Everyone shared the same question as An Fusheng.
An Fusheng: "Director Jiang said that this is a special kind of bamboo shoot from their hometown, called Fangzhu bamboo shoot, which is produced in this season."
"Wow!" everyone exclaimed curiously. "Quick, open it and take a look!"
Ah Yao volunteered to open the packaging box.
A whole box full of bamboo shoots, still in their husks, with dew clinging to them, looking incredibly fresh.
"How fresh!"
"They were just picked yesterday."
"Wow! This is the first time I've ever seen bamboo shoots with their shells on in real life."
"Should we peel them now?" Wen Yue asked An Fusheng.
An Fusheng: "Peel them, boil them after peeling, and eat them tonight, otherwise they'll get tough if left for too long."
Lunchtime had passed, and there was still some time before dinner. Since everyone had nothing to do, they moved stools to the open space in front of the restaurant and formed a circle to start peeling bamboo shoots.
As we peeled the bamboo shoots, we naturally started talking about them, from the varieties of bamboo shoots to their growing environment and cooking methods. Before we knew it, we were drooling.
Xu San Nian thought back to when she was learning to cook from An Fusheng, how her master taught her about ingredients was like doing academic research, including bamboo shoots. Now her master has more and more disciples, but no matter how the sect grows, she will always be the senior sister. Xu San Nian couldn't help but feel a little proud, so she began to test her junior brothers and sisters with the demeanor of a senior sister: "Then tell me why fresh bamboo shoots taste so sweet and crisp?"
The group of people who had learned to cook from An Fusheng suddenly looked at Xu Sannian.
Why does this sound so familiar? Oh, right, Master asks me questions like this all the time!
The group then turned to look at An Fusheng; their movements were so synchronized that it was as if they had rehearsed.
An Fusheng glanced at them, said nothing, but a smile played on his lips.
The relaxed atmosphere instantly became tense.
Then, Wen Yue felt several anxious gazes secretly glancing at her. Why were they glancing at me? I can't remember either!
With no one to rely on, Wen Yue could only rack her brains to recall what she had learned before, saying whatever came to mind: "Because bamboo shoots contain a lot of sugar, they taste sweet."
Seeing the bewildered expressions on their junior classmates' faces, Xu Sannian was overjoyed. "I asked about freshness, sweetness, crispness, and tenderness. Yueyue only mentioned why bamboo shoots are sweet. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"
Ji Qingqing: "Zhaolin!"
Zhaolin: "I'm not cooking anymore, so why do I still have to answer questions?"
Ji Qingqing: "Didn't you always proclaim that you are your master's only male disciple? What, the only male disciple doesn't even know such a simple question?"
Zhaolin: "...Bamboo shoots are delicious because they contain...a variety of amino acids, that's right."
Okay, he did his best, but he couldn't possibly say which amino acids were involved.
The others were engrossed in peeling bamboo shoots, seemingly too busy to answer questions.
An Fusheng said, "Bamboo shoots contain more than a dozen amino acids, among which glutamic acid and aspartic acid are the ones that ensure the freshness of bamboo shoots. Some amino acids are actually responsible for the bitterness. The crispness of bamboo shoots is because they also contain dietary fiber, protein and a lot of water."
"Actually, bamboo shoots have a very rich flavor. In addition to being fresh, sweet, crisp and tender, they also have a bitter and astringent taste. It's just that we remove the bitterness and astringency through various cooking methods, so they taste fresh, sweet, crisp and tender."
As soon as An Fusheng spoke, those who had been busy peeling bamboo shoots suddenly stopped, raised their heads one by one, and stared at An Fusheng with their big, round eyes.
An Fusheng finally understood a sentence his teachers often said to them when he was in school: Why are you all looking at me? Do I have the answer?
Teacher An is just like my teachers back in school. After complaining, she continued teaching: "You have to understand the characteristics of the ingredients to know how to make them into a delicious dish. Take bamboo shoot stew with pork as an example. Fresh bamboo shoots are rich in glutamic acid, while meat contains inosinic acid and guanylic acid. Glutamic acid combines with inosinic acid and guanylic acid to produce a synergistic effect, which further amplifies the umami flavor. In addition, the slow-cooking method allows the pork fat and meaty aroma to fully infuse into the bamboo shoot fibers, neutralizing the astringency of the bamboo shoots, making the umami flavor more prominent and mellow. This is how bamboo shoot stew with pork became such a delicious dish."
These theories and knowledge were gradually learned and accumulated by An Fusheng after he came into this world. In the past, he cooked according to the methods and rules of his predecessors.
After learning these things, he suddenly realized that every practice of the ancients contained profound principles. Once he understood those principles, he could follow their patterns to discover new principles.
...
After peeling and cooking the bamboo shoots, everyone began preparing dinner.
After discussing bamboo shoots all afternoon, everyone learned a lot of specific knowledge about them. An Fusheng said that we would eat bamboo shoots tonight, and everyone was looking forward to dinner.
That evening, An Fusheng prepared a table full of dishes, all made with bamboo shoots. When the dishes were placed on the table, everyone exclaimed "Wow!" in surprise.
"Try it. If it's good, we can buy more from Director Jiang and make some seasonal dishes for our guests to try."
"Yay!"
"Let's eat! Let's eat!"
"Delicious! Delicious!"
"The stewed cured pork with bamboo shoots is so delicious! Is this what Master meant by 'synergistic effect'? This soup is so... delicious it's making my eyebrows fall off!"
"Cold bamboo shoot salad is also delicious. Dipping it in our homemade chili oil is simply divine—it's fresh, spicy, fragrant, and crunchy!"
"I love this stir-fried bamboo shoots with eggs. It goes so well with rice. I'm going to eat three bowls of rice with this meal."
"There's plenty of food, eat as much as you want."
"Wow, the braised pork belly is delicious too! The bamboo shoots are great, and the pork is delicious too!"
"Without bamboo, one becomes vulgar; without meat, one becomes thin. To be neither vulgar nor thin, one should braise pork with bamboo shoots."
"Hahaha!"
...
After a frenzy of showing off, everyone's stomachs were bulging, and the pace of showing off food finally slowed down.
Ji Qingqing: "This meal was so great! What kind of bamboo shoots have I eaten before? They're always half-cooked and crumbly. How come these bamboo shoots are so tender?"
An Fusheng: "Probably because it was delivered quickly, these bamboo shoots were picked by Director Jiang's villagers yesterday afternoon. When Director Jiang packed them, he wrapped them in straw to block out the light and keep them moist, so the moisture and sugar content were not lost much."
Ji Qingqing: "I absolutely adore Director Jiang. We'll definitely do business with her again in the future because she's such a shrewd businesswoman."
Wen Yue: "Didn't you say that bamboo shoots have a bitter taste, and that blanching is to remove the bitterness? Why doesn't the bamboo shoot bits in the scrambled eggs taste bitter at all, even though they weren't blanched?"
An Fusheng: "Taxocyanate, tannins and flavonoids are the main sources of astringency in bamboo shoots. If the bamboo shoots are not exposed to the sun during their growth, they will not produce these substances. Director Jiang said that there was a lot of rain in their area this year, with almost continuous rain throughout the autumn. I wanted to test whether the bamboo shoots grown in this environment were really not astringent, so I left some unblanched and used them to stir-fry with eggs. It seems that the astringency is really low, so it disappeared after a little oil. It tastes even crisper and more tender than blanched bamboo shoots. It's really good."
...
That very evening, An Fusheng ordered a batch of fresh bamboo shoots from Jiang Manzhi.
“Actually, there aren’t many wild bamboo shoots. Do you want to order them all? This kind of seasonal ingredient has a short supply period, and I’m too lazy to find other partners,” Jiang Manzhi said.
An Fusheng was conflicted. He wanted to order all of them. These bamboo shoots were not only tender, but also rare to grow in this season. Customers would definitely like them. The store was currently busy with customers, so there was no worry about selling them. However, there weren't enough chefs to make them all. Using them to make pickled bamboo shoots would be too expensive and not worth it.
Jiang Manzhi, understanding An Fusheng's reason, asked, "What are your standards for hiring chefs?"
"Standards?" An Fusheng had never thought about it.
"Do I need a chef's certificate or something?"
"That's not necessary. As long as you're healthy, clean, and can cook well, that's fine," An Fusheng added. "But you'll have to go through my interview first."
Jiang Manzhi: "I know someone who is a good cook. She used to cook for her husband's family, and everyone liked to ask her to cook. But after the divorce, she couldn't cook anymore because she was raising her daughter alone. I suggested she come to your place and try cooking. Would that be alright?"
An Fusheng: "It's so far away, would she be willing to come to Nancheng?"
Jiang Manzhi sighed: "You don't know, she got divorced, her husband's family won't let her stay, and her own family won't let her stay either. She doesn't even have a place to belong. Now she and her daughter rent a small house in town and set up a stall at the school gate every day to earn a living. She would be more than happy to have a stable job."
An Fusheng: "I'm not very clear about her cooking skills. If her cooking skills don't meet our requirements, it probably won't work. But if she's willing, she can work as a waitress in our restaurant."
"Then I'll go to town and ask her."
"Um."
...
The next morning, Jiang Manzhi replied to An Fusheng, saying that the man was willing to give it a try.
The woman's daughter had some eye problems and had been seeking treatment for years. She had visited local hospitals and hospitals in the provincial capital, and even had surgery, but without much success. Nanshi was an economically developed city with a relatively high level of medical care, so she was planning to take her daughter to a hospital there. She thought she could try An Fusheng's clinic while she was there. If it worked, she would have it done there; if not, it would be a convenient option and wouldn't waste travel costs.
This also reduced the psychological pressure on An Fusheng.
However, she had booked an appointment for five days later. She was afraid that if she came too early, she wouldn't be able to start the trial work, and by then it would be too late for her medical appointment. She would have to wait in Nancheng, which would waste a lot of money on food and lodging. So she asked An Fusheng if she could wait until after her medical appointment to start the trial work, and An Fusheng said yes.
...
As expected, the limited-time supply of fresh bamboo shoots attracted many customers. Fortunately, Director Zhang had recently given An Fusheng four people, otherwise they would have been too busy to handle the situation.
There were so many customers who wanted to eat bamboo shoots that An Fusheng only thought about making all the best ways to cook bamboo shoots so that the customers would be completely satisfied. So he listed about ten dishes made with bamboo shoots. As a result, the customers ate to their hearts' content, but An Fusheng was exhausted.
Impulsiveness is the devil (>﹏<)……
The dozen or so dishes included various cooking methods such as frying, stir-frying, steaming, boiling, stewing, and cold dishes. Ji Qingqing and Wen Yue could cook some of them, while only An Fusheng could cook others. After only two days, An Fusheng was so exhausted that he felt dizzy. If this continued, he would probably collapse. An Fusheng had no choice but to limit the supply of bamboo shoot dishes, stipulating that each table could only order one bamboo shoot dish.
This limited quantity only fueled the guests' enthusiasm for eating bamboo shoots.
If you can't eat this meal, eat it next time.
This led to people eating at the Little Star Cafeteria for every meal, vividly demonstrating the amazing effect of scarcity marketing.
That's not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing is:
Some guests tried all the bamboo shoot dishes and wondered: what did the first bamboo shoot dish taste like?
Forgot?
Let's review it again then.
And so the loop continues.
For a while, the restaurant's business improved a lot, and other dishes also became popular. But no matter what the customers ordered, the same few people were still cooking!
Now things are really messed up; Wen Yue and Ji Qingqing are also yelling that they can't take it anymore...
-----------------------
The author says: "Without bamboo, one becomes vulgar; without meat, one becomes thin; to be neither vulgar nor thin, one must braise pork with bamboo shoots." This is a doggerel written by Su Dongpo.
That's right, even great poets occasionally write doggerel [winking emoji]
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