Chapter 17 017 Sesame Paste Gluten [Second Update]
Mr. Wen nervously wrung his hands: "Can I do this?"
These past few days, his daughter has taught him how to make several cold dishes. Mr. Wen's knife skills are excellent, and the only difficult part of making cold dishes is seasoning.
However, this time, unlike when she was cooking, my daughter didn't use whatever she had on hand. Instead, she became picky about the ingredients and seasonings, which made the entire lesson more complex and dense with knowledge points.
How to pick and choose vegetables, how to grind seasoning powder, what temperature to heat the oil, even my daughter bought sugar from three or four different stores, picked through them after they came back, and finally chose one of them.
"The candy from those two shops wasn't sweet enough."
Wen Fan even wanted to make his own soy sauce.
"The soy sauce on the market generally doesn't taste very good."
In the end, Wen's father said that there was no space at home and that the large vat Wen Fan wanted could not be moved upstairs, so the matter was dropped.
Wen's mother was also curious about why her daughter was suddenly being picky. Wen Fan tasted the sauce she had made before saying, "I used to make stir-fries, so I could adjust the seasonings accordingly, but my dad probably can't."
Although each brand of seasoning comes from a stable factory, Wen Fan's exceptional sense of taste can still detect subtle differences in each bag of seasoning. Sometimes, if a manufacturer simply changes the source of a particular batch of chili spices or cannot process them properly, she can adjust accordingly.
"Besides, cold dishes naturally require higher quality vegetables."
Some stale vegetables can be cooked without being detected, but cold dishes are particularly noticeable. Wen Fan gradually passed on his experience to his father.
Wen's father was being trained intensively by his daughter, and he even dreamed about the fineness and coarseness of the powder at night.
The training has only lasted a few days, and Wen's father is still unsure of what to expect, when his daughter sends him to the battlefield.
"I'm just afraid... I won't do a good job."
Wen Fan glanced at his father indifferently: "I'll scrap it if I don't do it well, don't worry."
What a joke! She wouldn't let Wen's father's terrible results affect her reputation!
Besides, Wen Fan didn't think his father would do a bad job.
The seasoning powder she makes is the final version that she has refined countless times in her past life and consulted with many master chefs who are skilled in this field.
Now she has been tasting the dishes for several days in a row. Although Wen's mother can't say exactly what the reasons are, her evaluation is getting better day by day.
Wen Fan's words did not calm Wen's father down; he felt like he was about to break out in a cold sweat.
Scrap it?
If you have to mix so much food for one meal, how much money would it cost to waste it all?
Father Wen gritted his teeth: "I will definitely do my best!"
...
The next day, the regular customers of Wen's restaurant noticed the change as soon as they entered.
The original solid wood counter was moved to the side, and a transparent cabinet was added where the counter used to be. The cabinet did not have any preservation function; it was just a simple transparent cabinet with LED strip lighting.
Inside, four large stainless steel square plates were arranged in a row, each plate containing a different cold dish.
From left to right: sesame paste gluten, stir-fried green beans, cold lotus root slices, and salted peanuts.
A printed sheet of paper was pasted on the upper right side of the transparent cabinet.
[Cold dish platter, choose any 15]
The landlady, Yang Hong, who came to check in every few days, praised when she saw it: "Finally, some dishes have been served."
Although the rice and noodles with toppings are delicious, they contain too many carbohydrates. Yang Hong ate them here for five or six days in a row and didn't even dare to look at the scale.
She pointed directly at a few items inside: "Give me a cold platter!"
Wen's mother responded crisply, took out a square plate from the side, put a little of each item on it, and arranged the sizzling cold dish on Yang Hong's table.
Smelling the refreshing aroma of the cold dishes, Yang Hong praised, "Xiao Fan's cooking skills are still so good."
Mother Wen: "This wasn't made by Xiao Fan, it was my husband Wen who mixed it."
Upon hearing this, Yang Hong's expression immediately froze.
She looked at Wen's mother, the words stuck in her throat.
It wasn't your daughter who made this cold dish, and you want me to pay fifteen?
It's just a plate of cold dish, at most it costs ten yuan. You can get a whole bowl for only eleven or twelve yuan at a small stall in the market!
Yang Hong was a little unhappy. She had many houses to rent out, but she was always frugal and thrifty. She was willing to pay fifteen yuan for Wen Fan's cooking skills, but she always felt she was losing out if she bought Lao Wen's cooking skills!
Yang Hong pursed her lips, picked up a piece of gluten, and thought to herself that the Wen family had become cunning now. Their daughter was good at cooking, so they wanted to take advantage of the situation to sell things that weren't very tasty... Hmm?
Yang Hong's pupils dilated instantly.
She had eaten sesame paste gluten countless times, but never like this before!
The gluten soaks up the sesame sauce, which has a rich, slightly salty-sweet flavor. While the sweetness is prominent, it doesn't overpower the original savory taste at all! In fact, the added sweetness makes it even more delicious!
Take another bite of the dry-fried green beans. The green beans, fried until they have a tiger-skin pattern, are infused with the numbing spiciness and fresh aroma of dried Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers. The white sesame seeds sprinkled on top are just right. You can't stop eating them.
Even the ordinary boiled peanuts taste better than those from other places!
The peanuts are plump, the seasoning is just right, and the saltiness is perfect – they're the perfect snack to enjoy with drinks!
Yang Hong ate half a plate before realizing what had happened.
Honestly, with Wen Fan around, what difference does it make whether it was Wen's father or Wen Fan who did it? Wen Fan definitely taught her father!
Yang Hong finished the whole plate without even having time to order any staple food.
Yang Hong was truly impressed. Looking at the small shop again, she suddenly felt a sense of crisis.
With such skills, I'm afraid the Wen family will soon be dissatisfied with just opening a small shop near the school.
The thought that the Wen family might terminate the lease and leave at any time made Yang Hong feel like half a piece of her heart was missing.
"Yingzhi, your husband Wen's cooking skills have improved quite a bit! How do you make these cold dishes so delicious? What's the secret?" Yang Hong couldn't help but ask.
If a suspicious person heard this, they would surely think that the landlord was asking for the secret recipe. Yang Hong realized that there was a misunderstanding after she finished speaking, and was about to say a few words to make amends, when she heard Wen's mother say crisply, "There's no secret. If you want to make it, I'll tell you."
Immediately, several customers who were also engrossed in their food perked up their ears.
Wen's mother counted on her fingers.
"For sesame paste gluten, the most important thing is that the gluten itself is of good quality. Gluten made with local flour is often unusable. It's best to buy dried gluten made with this year's new flour, without adding anything to it. The soaking water temperature also needs to be controlled..."
"The sesame paste is made from sesame seeds that we harvest ourselves, so it's pure. When making the sesame paste, you have to be careful to add water in small amounts several times, in one direction."
"The peanuts were also collected by us from the countryside; we specifically selected the best local peanuts."
"The sauce is too complex now, you must..."
Before Wen's mother could finish speaking, Yang Hong felt dizzy and lightheaded.
"Stop, stop, stop... I'll eat here instead."
These things are so troublesome, it's a real headache. Who has the time to do them themselves?
Wen's mother said helplessly, "That's right. If it weren't so complicated, I wouldn't have set the price at fifteen."
All of Wen's mother's previous words were a prelude to this final sentence.
When the price was set, Mrs. Wen knew it would be too expensive for regular customers.
The market price for a plate of cold appetizers is usually ten yuan, but we sell it for fifteen. Sure, some people will buy it, but many will also feel that we're being dishonest. We raise prices just as business is starting to pick up.
But her daughter's words still echoed in her ears.
Wen Fan: "Mom, don't think it's expensive. My dad has a lot of trouble chopping vegetables, and the cost of the ingredients we use is also high. Selling it for fifteen is just a fair price. If we don't make much profit, it won't be worth it in a few days."
Yes, if you don't earn much, you might as well prepare more rice and noodles every day; at least it's easier.
As Wen's mother calmly explained how to do it, she was subtly telling her regular customers that it wasn't that her prices were high, but rather that her products were different from others.
As expected, Yang Hong's anger vanished instantly, and she even felt sorry for Wen's mother.
"It's too much trouble, selling it for fifteen is already cheap."
She thought to herself, what if this plate of cold appetizers were served in a fancy hotel...
It's probably worth at least forty!
Moreover, those big hotels will definitely keep telling her how complicated the chef's preparation of this dish is.
With a change in mindset, Yang Hong suddenly felt that she had benefited from the situation.
Fortunately, the Wen couple's shop was located here, and fortunately, I had the foresight to recognize its value; otherwise, it would have cost much more money.
Most of the others were the same; several regular customers who hadn't spoken earlier were now in the mood to chat with Wen's mother.
"This stir-fried green beans are so delicious, I can never make them taste like this at home."
"And these lotus root slices are much better than the ones from the wedding banquet I ate at a few days ago."
"Hey, why don't you serve stir-fried dishes?"
Mother Wen quickly waved her hand: "We can't do it all, we're already very busy."
The shop only has eight small tables, and there's not enough room for more people. She'll be cooking, and if the place is full, she won't be able to serve the food!
"That's true, your venue is too small."
Upon hearing that the venue was small, Yang Hong immediately felt uncomfortable.
"...Where, where is it small? Look at you, always finding fault with others!"
"..."
Yang Hong pulled Wen's mother aside: "Yingzhi, just relax and use this place. If you have any complaints, just tell me, and we can discuss it. Also, if you don't have enough room tonight, you can set up a few tables outside..."
Wen's mother: "...Didn't you say before..."
Yang Hong quickly interrupted, "Were you worried that we would affect the business of the two neighboring businesses? Now that I see you two are getting along well, as long as Song Hui and Qu Qingqing have no objections, you can set up your stall whenever you want. Just make sure to clean up properly when you close up shop at night!"
Yang Hong's enthusiasm was too much for Wen's mother to handle.
But the thought of being able to set up a stall outdoors made Wen's mother a little happy.
"That's great! We'll be serving braised dishes tonight, so we can set up a few low tables outside and sell some beer and stuff there too."
Braised dishes?
Yang Hong's eyes lit up instantly.
"Sure, sure, when do we open for business tonight?"
Wen's mother: "Six o'clock, I guess."
Yang Hong: "Okay, save me a table. By the way, could you please have Xiao Fan make me some fried rice? It's okay if it's a bit pricey!"
Wen's mother went into the kitchen to ask Wen Fan, and only agreed after receiving Wen Fan's confirmation.
"Xiao Fan said there's no need to charge extra. You installed the air conditioner before, and I haven't thanked you yet." If it weren't for that air conditioner, with the repeated red alerts for high temperatures this year, I really don't know how we would have survived the summer.
Yang Hong: "Oh, I have to calculate it. Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Fan."
Yang Hong turned around, thinking to herself, "It's time to let my card-playing partners see what I'm made of."
Since her failed attempt to order fried rice last time, Yang Hong has tried ordering takeout to the mahjong table several times, but each time the dishes were either unavailable or insufficient. Today, however, there is finally an occasion for everyone to get together.
Yang Hong decided to bring those people over that night!
Let them see for themselves if this is the legendary magical fried rice!
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Author's note: One more chapter to go!
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