Chapter 153 Chinese people make Okonomiyaki
There were colorful posters everywhere in the Japanese supermarket, and there was a promotion booth every few steps. Instant noodles took up a large area, and they couldn't find Yuanzai noodles.
Fortunately, they came with Zhonggu this time. Zhonggu took them to the Southeast Asian flavor area, where they found Yuanzai Noodles and Ning Xiaochu’s co-branded noodles, which were drowned in a crowd of colorful Indonesian and Thai noodles.
Even so, from time to time, there are still young Japanese people who come specifically for Ning Xiaochu’s co-branded instant noodles.
"They said they bought it after seeing the advertisement," said the translator.
"That is, our own marketing is very good, but the downstream channels are not so good."
"For the Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets, we rely on Hongan, and I haven't put in much effort so far." Cui Huiyi felt depressed.
Seeing that she was unhappy, Yue Ning said, "Sister, why are you upset? How powerful are Hongan's supermarkets in Southeast Asia? How strong is their market layout? When the time comes, get the promotion plan from Hongan and let the general distributor follow the plan. If he is not capable, change the distributor."
"That's right." Cui Huiyi nodded. If you know the problem, then solve it.
After seeing their own products, they went together to look for the ingredients to make Okonomiyaki sauce.
Okonomiyaki is classified as Western food in Japanese cuisine, just like the old-fashioned steak in Hong Kong and the fried pork chop in Shanghai. Although it is called Western food, it actually incorporates the unique flavors of the local area.
The sauce recipes include Western seasonings such as Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste, as well as local flavors such as hon mirin, thick soy sauce, and bonito powder.
Cui Huiyi saw Yue Ning picking out Worcestershire sauce and said, "Ningning, Cui Ji has a Worcestershire sauce, you can try it."
Worcestershire sauce is called "Worcester sauce" in Hong Kong. Yue Ning said: "I know, our kitchen also uses Cui Ji's Worcestershire sauce. Japan may not have it. I will try it when I go back."
Yue Ning selected the ingredients for Okonomiyaki. She discussed with Nakatani and decided to make an Okonomiyaki according to her understanding.
The car first took Cui Huiyi back to the hotel. Nakajima Masako and the Japanese personnel had already arrived.
They came to Dotonbori again and saw the door of Nakatani's store. They realized that it was opposite the one they ate at yesterday and had already opened. The staff of both stores were shouting while holding colorful plastic-wrapped menus in their hands.
The layout of the two stores was actually a bit like Baohua Building and Shenghua Building. When the clerk from the other store saw that yesterday's filming crew had come again and was heading towards Zhonggu's store, he ran into their store.
A skinny Japanese old man came out of the store, and Nakatani also came out of the store. He bowed and nodded to the old man, who yelled and cursed. The translator said to Yue Ning, "The old man called Nakatani a thief for stealing their recipe. Nakatani said that if he stole their recipe, then the Okonomiyaki of both stores would taste the same. But the old man didn't care and kept cursing him as a thief. Wait, he cursed us! He said we took Nakatani's money and deliberately discredited their store."
Yue Ning asked: "Confirm?"
"Yes, he's still saying that you said Okonomiyaki is a poor, low-class food, and that you deliberately used less sauce yesterday..."
Yue Ning turned around and walked up to the old man: "Old man, what are you talking about?"
The old man was speaking excitedly. Yue Ning moved aside to avoid his spit on her face. She said, "Speak properly and don't spit."
The translator translated this sentence and repeated the old man's words to her, which were still the same repetitive words.
Yue Ning raised his eyebrows: "Old man, you said I accepted money? You'd better find out whether my wealth is worth the money you gave me."
The translator said a lot of gibberish, and Yue Ning exclaimed when he saw the people watching.
The translator said to Yue Ning: "Ms. Yue, I told him that you run the most expensive restaurant in Hong Kong City, and you are a junior of the Qiao family, a wealthy family in Hong Kong City."
"Too straightforward, not subtle at all." Yue Ning said with disdain.
"I'm afraid I'm too polite and this old man won't understand."
Yue Ning said, "Go on and tell him that I have told you the history of Okonomiyaki without any lies, and I have only praised it with all my heart. Okonomiyaki has evolved from a cheap Western food to a popular Japanese delicacy. It is also a must-eat for foreigners who visit Osaka. It is like a girl from a poor family who becomes beautiful when she grows up. I am a chef who knows a lot about Japanese cuisine. After tasting the Okonomiyaki from both of your restaurants, I personally think your Okonomiyaki is better."
After the translation, the old man probably didn't expect her to praise their Okonomiyaki. He was slightly stunned for a moment, and then he became angry again: "You are talking nonsense, you don't understand Okonomiyaki at all."
"What if I understand?" Yue Ning asked seriously, "Will you apologize?"
This question stunned the old man. Yue Ning turned to look at the takeout stand in Zhonggu's store and said, "I'm making Okonomiyaki at this takeout stand. Please eat it. Would you like to try it too?"
“Okonomiyaki is the simplest food in Japan, so it’s not strange to know how to make it.”
"One moment you say I don't understand, and the next moment you say this is the simplest food in Japan. Please sort out your thoughts first." Yue Ning sneered, "Let's go, let's go in."
Nakatani came running over and said a bunch of words, and the translator said it to him: "Ms. Yue, Nakatani said that you said you would treat everyone to Okonomiyaki, so we really treat everyone to it, okay? One is the recipe of Nakatani's own store, and the other is the recipe you helped to improve?"
I am not the only one who is good at marketing in this world. Nakatani can also be considered an expert.
People of the same trade appreciate each other. Yue Ning readily agreed: "Okay!"
Upon hearing this, the owner of the shop next door jumped up again and started cursing Nakatani.
Nakatani just invited Yue Ning in. Yue Ning entered their store. The store was very small, with only a circle of seats around the iron plate. Four chefs were making Okonomiyaki. No wonder they wanted to set up a take-out stall.
They have a kitchen at the back, which is also very cramped. According to Nakatani's explanation, this is used for preparing ingredients.
He took out a brand new chef uniform and said, "Please change into it, Miss Yue."
Yue Ning changed into their restaurant's chef uniform and the translator whispered to her, "Miss Yue, this Zhonggu clerk is outside saying that he has invited Miss Yue Ning, a Cantonese cuisine master from Gangcheng, to guide the restaurant today."
Ning Xiaochu wants to enter the Japanese market and Yuanzai Noodles needs to be placed in a prominent position. Yue Ning certainly needs a reputation for having a deep understanding of Japanese food.
Zhonggu brought the original sauce recipe from their store and also brought all the ingredients purchased today.
The TV program started filming and the cameraman was a little confused. They were clearly here to film Japanese food, so how did it become Yue Ning who was making Japanese food?
Yue Ning tasted the ingredients one by one and discussed with him. Worcestershire sauce has a sweet, sour and slightly spicy taste, which is very refreshing. Each factory has slight differences. If you want to choose the authentic one, use Lipalin from the UK. If you want good quality and low price, Yue Ning liked the yellow-label spicy soy sauce produced in Shanghai the most in his previous life.
The same goes for tomato paste. The sweetness and sourness of each one is slightly different, so choose the ingredients you think are suitable.
She explained to the audience in front of the TV why these ingredients were used.
Yue Ning picked up the pot and added Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and hon mirin into the small pot. The small pot was bathed in warm water and stirred slowly to mix. This is the base flavor of Okonomiyaki sauce.
She asked Zhonggu to grind the dried fish for making the juice into powder.
She used a fine sieve to sift the fine dried fish powder into the mixed sauce, continued stirring until it was fine and free of particles, and then added bonito powder.
“I only add bonito powder,” Nakatani said.
"I add our Guangdong province's specialty seasoning, bigeye fish powder, to my noodles. Does it taste very similar to your noodle soup, but also different?" Yue Ning asked.
Zhong Gu nodded: "I asked your people at the time, and they said they didn't know, because the seasonings were delivered by you, and they just needed to cook according to the steps."
Yue Ning added thick soy sauce to the sauce, turned on the stove, made eight-shaped cuts in the pot with a wooden spatula, added triple-temperature sugar, and then added water starch and konjac flour solution.
The sauce had gradually become thick. Yue Ning turned off the fire and added honey and maple syrup. Maple syrup is not a common use in Okonomiyaki, but it is one of the little tricks of the Japanese food master.
Whether it is teriyaki sauce or Okonomiyaki sauce, Yue Ning always has a headache when learning. The sauce is really salty and sweet, plus the greasy mayonnaise, which is really unbearable for people in most parts of China.
With this sauce, Nakatani said in his exaggerated tone: "How can this sauce be so delicious?"
Yue Ning, who was mixing the batter, could only laugh helplessly.
Yue Ning mixed the two batters and said to Zhong Gu, "Let's try it?"
"OK."
The two of them took the mixed ingredients to the stall in front of the store. Zhonggu said that Yue Ning would treat everyone to teppanyaki, so he would not accept any orders from customers.
He came over to explain to Yue Ning how to use the iron plate, and Yue Ning thanked him.
The iron plate heated up, and Yue Ning held her hand in the air to feel the temperature. She poured the oil she had just mixed on it. Because it contained lard, the plate was solidified, and the oil quickly melted on the iron plate.
It's done. Yue Ning picked up the ceramic bowl and used a spatula to scoop out the batter. The moment the batter fell onto the plate, "sizzle"
She used the spatula to roll out a perfect circle. This familiar technique made people think that she was a chef making Okonomiyaki for customers in a restaurant on this street.
It was lunchtime and Nakatani was shouting there.
The crowd quickly gathered here. Yue Ningka didn't think that people came here because her cooking was delicious, but the translator told her that Nakatani said that everyone would have free Okonomiyaki at noon.
Yue Ning made six Okonomiyaki on the iron plate, topped with fatty and lean pork belly slices, and with a light touch of the spatula, the Okonomiyaki was perfectly flipped over. Under the hot grill, the aroma filled the air, and the taste also had the unique wok flavor of Cantonese chefs cooking.
The first one was done. Yue Ning poured her freshly prepared sauce and mayonnaise on it, and added bonito flakes and shredded seaweed.
Nakatani came over happily, cut an Okonomiyaki in half with a spatula, packed it into small paper boxes, and asked the waiter to give them to the customers who were eating in the store first.
Yue Ning asked him: "Why don't you try it?"
"Ms. Yue's cooking must be delicious. I hope my guests can also taste such delicious food."
Nakatani was cutting the second piece of okonomiyaki when a customer in the store turned around and said something. The other customers also turned around and started talking.
Yue Ning asked the translator: "What are they saying?"
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