Chapter 14: Tradition but no authenticity
Yue Baohua hesitated for only two seconds before picking up the spoon and putting a spoonful of fish soup into his mouth.
The fish meat is only fresh and fragrant, without any fishy smell. Crucian carp meat is more tender than silver carp, and when you taste it carefully, you can taste the tempting sweetness. The side dishes are cut as thin as hair, but he can still taste the crispness, sweetness, fragrance and smoothness of each ingredient, with distinct layers but complementing each other. This mellow fragrance that captures people's hearts, this smoothness in the mouth...
Fish soup is the signature dish of Baohualou. He has been doing it for decades, and has been fine-tuning every step, striving for perfection through repeated practice. Yue Baohua is sure that Ding Shengqiang's way of making fish soup may be effective in the short term, but in the long run, it will undoubtedly damage the reputation of Baohualou.
But his granddaughter's fish soup was different. The ingredients were obviously very different from his own. He tasted a spoonful of it carefully and couldn't tell whether his traditional fish soup was better or Ningning's fish soup, which had almost all the ingredients changed, was better.
Qiao Junxian next to him kept putting the spoon into his mouth. Yue Baohua remembered that once he happened to be out for a while, this young master came with a few friends, and it was his third apprentice Lou Jiafu who made him a fish soup. Lou Jiafu's cooking skills were comparable to Ding Shengqiang. The young master didn't say anything on the spot, but called him after returning and asked if he was not in Baohualou today. He felt strange at the time, and the young master said that the fish soup tasted wrong and the aroma was not right.
For this purpose, he specially made a bowl of fish soup with Lou Jiafu. After careful comparison, he found that Lou Jiafu's was still a little short of the right temperature. Such a picky mouth was now enjoying the meal.
Qiao Junxian took one mouthful after another, and soon the bowl of fish soup was finished.
He also found it strange. When he was studying abroad, he made fish soup with ingredients he found himself, but it tasted fishy and unpalatable. He also ate fish soup in Cantonese restaurants in Chinatown. The ingredients used in those restaurants were almost the same as those in Baohualou, but the taste was just wrong. Either the umami flavor of the soup came from MSG, or the fish had an earthy smell, and the side dishes had no layers.
Every time he returned to Hong Kong, he would go to Baohualou to eat this bowl of fish soup. Even though the chefs of Baohualou made different dishes, only the fish soup made by Uncle Hua tasted the way he remembered it. But the fish soup made by Miss Yue had different ingredients. If he hadn't seen Yue Ning make this soup himself, he would have thought it was made by Yue Baohua.
"Uncle Hua, Miss Yue's bowl of fish soup tastes like Baohualou." said Qiao Junxian.
"Mr. Qiao, when you have the chance you must go to Fuyunlou in Yuecheng. The fish soup in Fuyunlou is made with particularly fine ingredients and follows ancient methods, so it is the most authentic. The fish soup made by our Guoqiang is very popular with customers." Zhang Lifen took the opportunity to invite Qiao Junxian.
"Mom, what Mr. Qiao was talking about was not the ingredients, but the flavor. Can't you tell that? If Ningning's dish is served in our Fu Yun Lou, can you say it doesn't taste like the food in Fu Yun Lou?" Luo Guoqiang interrupted his mother.
He felt that this fish soup was very familiar the first time he took a sip. Isn't the taste of Baohualou the taste of Fuyunlou? But he was taught how to choose fish and what side dishes to use since he was a child, and insisted on using water chestnut powder to thicken the soup. Now this bowl of fish soup has changed even the fish, and the taste is different. But he felt that this should be a dish on the menu of Fuyunlou.
Zhang Lifen opened her mouth slightly, the smell of fish still lingering in her mouth. The taste seemed different, but not that different.
Yang Fugen and his friends were not guests, so they just took a big spoon and started cooking. Yue Ning pointed to a salt plate and a bowl of chili oil on the table and said, "Comrade Chen, Uncle Fugen, if you think it's too bland, add salt and chili yourself."
Yue Baohua was still thinking about how his granddaughter managed to cook a dish similar to his with different ingredients. When he heard that his granddaughter had someone add chili oil to the fish soup, he looked up at her. As a Cantonese chef, he really couldn't accept adding chili oil to the fish soup, but his mind was filled with his granddaughter's smooth knife skills and the aroma of minced fish that had not yet dissipated in his mouth.
He is not the child's chef. At this moment, he is just a diner. He can judge the quality of the dishes, but he should not judge other chefs' understanding of their own dishes.
Yue Baohua tried to resist the urge, but Luo Guoqiang couldn't help himself: "It's better not to add chili oil, it will ruin the flavor of this bowl of soup. Ningning's bowl of soup can't be added or subtracted, it's just right."
Luo Guoqiang's sincere expression stopped several hands that were about to add seasoning.
"It's okay, add according to your own taste." Yue Ning picked up the chili oil dish and scooped a spoonful into Yang Fugen's bowl. "My father told me that the land and water nurture the people. If a person lives in one place all the time, his taste will be very monotonous. We grew up in the northwest, so we like to eat salty and spicy food. This bowl of fish soup is too bland for most people who are used to eating heavy flavors. Will they think it tastes good? There is nothing that cannot be added or subtracted. Add it if you like. Make it as delicious as you want."
She put the salt shaker in front of Director Chen again: "Comrade Chen, you have been to many places and can accept dishes from all over the world. But the taste in Beijing is heavier than that in Guangdong. If you think it is too bland, add some salt."
Director Chen took a sip of the soup, then added a few grains of salt into the bowl and stirred it.
Yue Baohua fell into silence as he looked at the people over there enjoying the spicy and salty fish soup.
Yue Ning's method broke Luo Guoqiang's cognition. Luo Guoqiang asked: "Ningning, is the spicy fish soup still Cantonese food?"
"It shouldn't be considered as such, right? But my dad said, it's like a person drinking tea. When he first starts drinking it, no matter how good the tea is, it's bitter. So you can't just give him whatever you say is good, but you should start with light tea so that he can drink it. Only after drinking it many times, he will slowly learn to taste it and know whether it's good or bad. When he was at Fuyunlou, if there were guests from other places, he would ask the waiter to ask where the guests were from, and then make slight adjustments to the taste. Because of this, he was scolded by Grandpa Luo several times, but he never changed his ways."
These words were indeed said by her father. Thinking of this, Yue Ning felt annoyed again. Her father in her previous life saw foreign tourists complaining about the bad food in their restaurant on social platforms. He was furious and scolded them back with his second account: "Eat your twice-cooked pork, chicken, and raw chili. Don't eat fresh ones. You have to eat strong flavors."
She advised her father in her previous life that tourists from other places have their own tastes, and she thought that she could provide everyone with taste choices on the menu, just like choosing the sugar content of drinks. The old man almost jumped up and scolded her angrily, saying that the coffin lid of the ancestors of Cantonese cuisine could not be held down.
In this life, when her father taught her how to cook, he said that a chef should not force all customers to be satisfied, but at least satisfy most of them. Guangdong is a place of commerce, with many customers coming from all over the country and with different tastes, so it is necessary to adjust the taste according to the customers. When she regained her memory, she found that her father's philosophy was the same as hers in her previous life. In her previous life, she was able to open Cantonese fast food restaurants around the world, mainly roasted pork and rice, by adjusting the taste according to the region, while not losing the Cantonese flavor.
Yue Baohua fell into deep thought, and Yue Ning reminded him: "Grandpa, don't you want to eat potato cakes?"
After being reminded by his granddaughter, Yue Baohua reached out his chopsticks. The potato pancake was brought to his mouth, and the rich aroma of sauce mixed with a faint fragrance rushed into his nose, and his mouth was immediately full of saliva. The potato pancake was in his mouth, and the soft and elastic dough had a faint crisp feeling. Wait! This potato pancake made him feel very familiar, so familiar that it reminded him of a bowl of beef noodles he fried himself.
"Yuen Ning, this soup is so delicious. A few crucian carps can make such a delicious soup. I will go back and ask your aunt to make it for me too." Yang Fugen said.
"Secretary Fugen, didn't you see what Yue Ning did just now? Your Xiu Di's cooking skills are only slightly better than mine. If you ask her to make this soup for you, your sister-in-law will definitely ask you if you are awake?" Li Qiaomei said quickly.
Yang Fugen looked at Yang Danian and said, "Then let your Danian make it for you."
Yang Danian came over with the fried pumpkin tips and when he heard his name mentioned, he asked, "What are you talking about?"
Yang Fugen took the fried pumpkin tips from his hand and said, "Your Qiaomei asked you to make this soup for her."
Yang Danian stretched out his hands to show everyone: "My ten fingers are so short and thick, so I can only make dishes for the working people. This fish soup is very troublesome, only the exploiting class such as landlords and capitalists would make people suffer like this..."
The leader who came this time was accompanied by the capitalist. Li Qiaomei kicked her man under the table.
After his leg was kicked, Yang Danian lowered his head and glared at his wife: "Why did you kick me? The most I can do is cook some mutton and fry some potato pancakes, and you can't even fry potato pancakes properly."
Li Qiaomei picked up a fried potato pancake with chopsticks and said, "Do you really think you can make good potato pancakes? You are just a little better than me, but you are far behind Yue Ning."
Yang Danian was not convinced by this, and before he sat down, he picked up a piece of potato cake with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. After eating it, Yang Danian put his chopsticks into the plate of potato cakes and searched for it.
What kind of occasion is this? Li Qiaomei quickly hit his hand with her chopsticks: "Just eat it, why are you flipping it?"
Yang Danian retracted his hand. There were only green and red peppers, garlic slices, and eggs in it. There was nothing else! He remembered that he brought all the seasonings himself. Why did Yue Ning's stir-fry smell so good?
At this time, Yue Ning picked up a piece of mutton head meat and put it in his grandfather's bowl: "Grandpa, garlic mutton head meat is Uncle Da Nian's specialty. Our Northwest lamb meat is not fishy or smelly. After being marinated with spices and then cooked with garlic, it tastes very good. Would you like to try it?"
Yang Danian waited for her to finish speaking and then asked, "Yuening, what spices did you put in your potato pancakes?"
"Wok smell." Yue Ning answered him.
"What?" Yang Danian didn't understand. "What are you angry about?"
Yue Ning explained to him: "The aroma brought by stir-frying over high heat is like the smell of smoke, which is the right temperature for cooking."
Yang Danian is a country chef, and he cooks simple country dishes, so he is naturally not so particular. However, the ingredients in the countryside are naturally fresh and taste good. Forget about the smell and fire.
Yue Baohua ate the mutton head meat, which had soft skin and tender meat without any fishy smell. The garlic sauce was just right without overpowering the main dish, and the chili and cumin added a rugged northwest flavor to the mutton head meat.
The potato pancake he had just eaten had a Cantonese flavor, which was unique to the northwest. It was completely different from the lamb head he was eating now. If Ning Ning cooked this lamb head, the taste might be similar, but it would definitely have a Cantonese flavor.
Using local ingredients without losing the flavor of Cantonese cuisine. Is this the "traditional but not authentic" aspect of Cantonese cuisine?
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