Chapter 205 Chen Jinying Arrives in Hong Kong
It was only around nine o'clock in the morning and Baohua Building hadn't opened yet, but the entrance of the old building was already crowded with people.
"Good!" Applause broke out.
Fan Xiuqin, the cook at Baohualou, was doing a handstand on one hand. A young man next to her, who could do a handstand, failed after trying several times.
He Yunbang stood at the entrance of Baohua Building and shouted, "Fan Xiuqin, everyone is here."
Fan Xiuqin immediately turned down and said to the young man who was still trying: "My master called me, you practice slowly!"
She ran to the door with a smile: "Master, I'm here!"
These days, He Yunbang kept telling Lu Peide that he was on a pirate ship and that was why he accepted Fan Xiuqin as his disciple.
He said with a straight face, "Fan Xiuqin, how about this? I'll set up a stall for you in the morning and you can perform at the entrance of Baohua Building?"
"It would be better to sell pancakes in front of Baohua Building. They will definitely be more popular!" Fan Xiuqin responded with a grin.
Those who understood Mandarin immediately explained to others, and many people responded: "Yes!"
He Yunbang was about to hit her, and Fan Xiuqin jumped into the building. She suddenly thought of something, ran back, and said to everyone, "Everyone, the soybean paste has arrived. We have fried noodles with soybean paste today. Welcome to taste it."
"If you continue like this, Baohualou will no longer be called Baohualou, and it can be changed into an old Beijing snack bar. Speaking of which, I am your master, and now I cook mixed dishes for you every day. I think I should stop calling myself Niu Hebang and just call myself Hecaibang." He Yunbang complained unhappily.
Fan Xiuqin said with a smile: "It's okay, Master, as long as you don't ask Lao Caibang, it's fine."
"Go in!" He Yunbang urged unhappily.
The people watching at the door were laughing so hard that they were bent over.
He Yunbang asked her to go in and change her clothes quickly.
Fan Xiuqin changed into her chef uniform and came out. It was time for teaching. Some chefs had already learned how to make fried sauce from Fan Xiuqin in other shifts, so they didn't need to come early today. There were eight chefs in total, including the new partner Ma Yaoxing and Wu Zhihai.
He Yunbang, the chef on duty today, said: "Today Xiuqin taught us how to make Old Beijing Zhajiang. We thank Xiuqin for sharing."
The chefs applauded together, thanking other chefs for sharing their skills. Of course, such sharing comes with extra bonuses. In addition, Fan Xiuqin participated in the improvement of Lide's instant noodle recipe. Not long after she came to Hong Kong City, she received a recipe transfer fee of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars. 50,000 yuan! Even if her salary in Beijing was considered good, only 50 or 60 yuan a month, this money made her hands tremble.
Ever since the Qiao family came to Baohualou to eat fried noodles with soybean sauce, the fried noodles with soybean sauce made by Chef Fan from Beijing has become even more popular. Ning Yan has also launched fried noodles with soybean sauce in the past few days. There is no difference between the fried sauce and the toppings, but Ning Yan uses the hand-rolled noodles prepared by Fan Xiuqin herself.
Although the recipe is the same and the flour used is snowflake flour from Hetao in the mainland, the water absorption rate of each batch of flour is different. There is still a difference between the machine-pressed noodles made according to the standard ratio and the noodles that Fan Xiuqin personally tested for softness and hardness and then kneaded and rolled by hand.
But the biggest difference is the price, one is 12 dollars, the other is 128 dollars. It depends on your financial strength and find a suitable place to spend money.
The chefs in the kitchen formed a semicircle and watched Fan Xiuqin take out the fatty and lean pork belly from the plate. As the knife moved, the diced meat jumped into the basin like chess pieces. She said, "Remember, it's better to have fatter meat than too lean."
"Master, please pour out all three sauces for me so that everyone can taste them," said Fan Xiuqin.
He Yunbang helped her pour out the sauces, and she continued, "Dry yellow sauce, soybean sauce, and sweet noodle sauce. Taste them first and tell them apart."
Fan Xiuqin cut the meat into cubes, looked up and asked, "Have you tasted it?"
Everyone nodded. Fan Xiuqin took a clean bowl and began to mix the three sauces: "Dry yellow sauce, with a strong salty flavor and a heavier taste; soybean sauce, with a smooth taste and a slightly fermented aroma; sweet noodle sauce, with a prominent sweetness and a softer taste. Of the three sauces, I like to use two parts of dry yellow sauce, one part of soybean sauce and one part of sweet noodle sauce."
She extended her hand and gestured: "Hua Diao wine."
He Yunbang handed it to her, and she poured the Huadiao wine while saying, "Dissolve it with the Huadiao wine, and then add water with ginger juice."
She stirred the sauce in the bowl and said, "That's about it. Let's start frying the sauce."
She took the ingredients to the table, the iron pot was smoking, and she scooped a spoonful of rapeseed oil and a spoonful of peanut oil: "Blend the two oils. Of course, you can also use only one. It's a personal preference."
The oil temperature rose, the diced meat was put into the pan, and she added a few star anise. Fan Xiuqin said as she stir-fried, "Now we need to lower the heat so that the fat in the meat can be forced out. Take your time, don't rush."
Seeing the meat start to turn golden, she added crushed rock sugar, picked up a full pot of chopped green onions, and put a third of the chopped green onions and minced green garlic in: "The first time, let the oil bring out the aroma of the chopped green onions."
The rock sugar turned into caramel color, and she poured the sauce mixed with water into the pot. The sauce and oil collided with each other and made a "sizzling" sound, and the aroma of the sauce instantly spread in the kitchen.
She lowered the heat and added the second serving of chopped green onions and minced green garlic: "Making fried sauce is a slow frying process, just like kneading dough. You have to be patient. You can't make good sauce if you're impatient."
She slowly stirred the sauce in the pot: "Good fried sauce needs to be stirred three times and four times, and it must be fried for enough time so that the sauce can fully absorb the aroma of the meat."
The sauce has started to turn bright red, and the aroma is getting stronger and stronger. The young chefs can't help but swallow their saliva. Fan Xiuqin adds the last chopped green onions and green garlic.
"The process of adding chopped green onions is really similar to how Ningning makes Yangzhou fried rice. She also adds it one piece at a time." said a young chef.
Fan Xiuqin turned off the fire: "That's right, the minced garlic in the old Beijing fried liver must be added in several times to make the taste layered."
She scooped a mouthful of sauce into the small bowl and asked: "Can you help me taste the saltiness?"
Wu Zhihai came up, took a small spoon, and scooped out the sauce with a piece of diced meat. He opened his mouth, and as soon as the tip of his tongue touched the sauce, his eyes immediately lit up, salty and sweet, and the aroma of the sauce swirled around the root of his tongue.
He gave a thumbs up: "Delicious."
Fan Xiuqin said proudly: "Old Beijing fried sauce is about 'thin yellow sauce, dry yellow sauce', which means it has to be made by mixing dry yellow sauce that takes half a year to ferment, soybean paste that takes three months to ferment, and sweet bean paste that takes seven days to ferment. According to Ningning, it's like French perfume, with top notes, middle notes, and base notes."
A cook said, "I'm going to cook noodles."
Fan Xiuqin said: "Okay, I'll prepare the code."
The noodles were served with cucumber shreds, radish shreds, celery segments, bean sprouts, and green beans. Fan Xiuqin scooped a spoonful of fried sauce over the noodles and said with regret: "If it were in Beijing, this is the season when Chinese toon is on the market, and adding Chinese toon would give it a different flavor."
Wu Zhihai picked up the noodles with chopsticks, and the sauce wrapped around the noodles like silk. The aroma of fried sauce mixed with the freshness of cucumber hit his face. The noodles slid into his mouth, salty and fresh with a slight sweetness. The diced meat was stewed until crispy, the aroma of fat wrapped around the mellowness of yellow sauce, the topping was crispy, and it neutralized the richness of the fried sauce, and it was not greasy at all.
It has only been a short time since he came to Baohualou, and not only Ma Yaoxing, who brought him, but also people like Lu Peide and He Yunbang, who did not bring him, showed off their unique skills one by one. That's not all. Everyone said that if Ningning hadn't been taking an exam recently, she would have been even more dedicated to them when she was in the kitchen.
There is also Uncle Hua who is often in the kitchen. Uncle Hua and Chen Dexiang are of the same generation, right? One went to Taiwan to open a restaurant, and the other went to Hong Kong to open a restaurant. He heard from Uncle Hua's disciples that Uncle Hua treated his disciples as his sons, taught them without reservation, and even helped them marry wives and buy houses. It is said that two of his disciples actually treated Uncle Hua like that. They really don't know how to appreciate their blessings.
Did Wu Zhihai really want those two to try out under Chen Dexiang? His master was a good master, but he was also in a difficult position. He had to talk to Chen Dexiang for a few more dollars in salary.
Thinking of this, he put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at his watch. The master came with Chen Dexiang, and the master said that she would not leave now that she was here, and she would tell Chen Dexiang in front of him that she was staying here.
He said to Ma Yaoxing: "Axing, I'm going to pick up my master."
"Go!" Ma Yaoxing nodded.
Wu Zhihai walked out of Baohua Building and took a taxi to the airport.
He waited for a while at the terminal, and saw the arrival information on the notice board, so he stood up and walked to the arrival area, looking for the master in the crowd. However, the first person he saw was Chen Dexiang, and the second was Chen Dexiang's fourth wife. Behind them was the master.
He had always thought that his master had endless energy, and he was used to listening to his master, so he didn't think his master was small. With this comparison, he realized that compared with the tall and strong Chen Dexiang and the wealthy and graceful Fourth Wife, his master was really small.
He smiled and waved: "Master, here."
Chen Jinying saw Azhi’s smiling face and happily walked past Chen Dexiang.
When the fourth wife saw this, she looked up and said to Chen Dexiang, "Don't blame Jinlong for misunderstanding. Look at the two of them. Do they look like nothing happened?"
"Jinying graduated from university and joined the store at the same time as Wu Zhihai came in. She took him with her at that time. If there was anything, it would have been there long ago." Chen Dexiang said.
Wu Zhihai was surprised to find that the master had only brought a small suitcase. Didn't the master say that he would not leave after he came? How could this be a move?
Chen Jinying said, "I just took a small suitcase. Please help the fourth wife carry the luggage."
"Okay." Wu Zhihai didn't think much about it and took the suitcase from the Fourth Madam. The Fourth Madam was holding a large suitcase of 30 inches.
He extended his hand and asked them to leave the airport together.
Chen Jinying chatted with him as they walked: "You've only been here for a short time, and you've already become the chef of Baohualou?"
Wu Zhihai nodded: "It is because of the skills I learned from you that I have this opportunity as soon as I entered Baohua Building."
"The TV said your new chef is Chef Ma who is so good at knife skills?"
"Yeah! Ah Xing is not only good at knife skills, he is also very good in other aspects and taught me a lot." He said with a smile, "Ah Xing said that I am about the same age as him and he doesn't want me to call him master."
Chen Dexiang laughed slightly mockingly: "He just made up an excuse because he doesn't want to teach you real skills."
Wu Zhihai shook his head: "That's not the case. Not to mention Ah Xing, even colleagues who don't have a mentoring relationship will share skills with each other. I just came from Baohua Building, and Chef Lu's sister is teaching everyone how to make noodles with soybean paste. Everyone is teaching very hard."
Chen Dexiang suddenly became anxious and asked, "They taught you how to make noodles with soybean paste, but you didn't teach them our unique skills, did you?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
