Chapter 301 Chen Family
The finals for third and fourth place and the first and second place were held over two days. Cooking competitions require extensive preparation and long filming times, so they cannot be broadcast live. Fortunately, HTV is very efficient and broadcasted the third and fourth place finals at 8pm that evening.
The copyright of "MasterChef" has been purchased in Japan, Taiwan, China and Singapore, and it is broadcast simultaneously.
Chen Dexiang's Dexiang Hotel has been sold. He has been running a restaurant in Taiwan for nearly 30 years. He has earned this business with his skills, and it is not a problem to support a large family.
It's just that... I was once one of the most famous chefs in Beijing, but the restaurant was not doing well after being passed down to the second generation. Think about it, the Lu family in Beijing has been passed down for more than a hundred years.
He didn't want to watch "MasterChef", but when it was time to air, he couldn't help but ask his third wife to turn on the TV.
The MasterChef Contest is very popular in Taiwan. Although both Taiwanese teams were eliminated in the preliminary round, the show is still popular in Taiwan. In the eyes of the audience, Chen Jinying and Wu Zhihai represent Taiwan.
In the camera, Yue Ning sat with Zhu Liling. Chen Dexiang recognized Zhu Liling. When he was in Beijing, she was his old customer. Now she opened a restaurant in the United States and introduced Chinese food culture to Americans.
Chen Dexiang watched a TV documentary about Fuyuan Restaurant. Objectively speaking, the technological gap is too big and it is far from the real Chinese food culture.
On TV, the third and fourth place cold dish competition has ended, with Yufenglou slightly ahead in the cold dish segment. Now the hot dish competition begins.
Sun Yuke is preparing a camphor tea duck. She said: "Today I am just showing off my skills in front of an expert. Duck recipe is a classic Shandong cuisine and a dish from the Republic of China. Later, peach kernel duck recipe and glutinous rice duck recipe evolved. Cantonese cuisine has duck recipe stuffed with hundreds of flowers, and Sichuan cuisine has my hibiscus duck recipe. Today I am using tea-smoked camphor tea duck. Nowadays, people outside use camphor leaves and tea leaves to smoke duck. We also use camphor leaves to smoke duck in Fuyuan. But after entering Baohualou, Ningning and I learned how to make Baohualou's camphor tea duck, which is smoked purely with jasmine tea."
Crispy Duck with Peach Kernel Recipe is one of Chen Dexiang's specialties, so he is naturally very familiar with it.
This dish is made by steaming the duck, removing the head, tail, wings and legs, and leaving the whole duck body. The duck is laid flat on a plate with the skin facing down, and the meat from the wings and legs is removed and laid on the spread-out duck.
The cooked duck meat is loose, so Chen Dexiang usually applies a layer of starch slurry on it so that the loose duck meat can stick together after being steamed again.
Sun Yuke used a different method. Liu Yi pounded the steamed glutinous rice into a glutinous rice cake shape with a small stone mortar and handed it to her. Sun Yuke said: "The locals in Chongqing like to eat glutinous rice cakes, so I use glutinous rice cakes to make the paste. The duck meat is very fragrant, and the glutinous rice cakes are very soft. I then put shrimp paste on top, which is crispy and springy."
She looked at Liu Yi who was beating egg whites by hand, and said to the camera: "Add the egg white paste at the end, the egg white paste is very soft and tender."
She suddenly looked up and asked Master Zhou: "Master Zhou, why is the sound of you chopping fish paste so nice?"
Master Zhou looked up and smiled, "Girl, you don't know this. When we Shandong chefs chop meat, we pay attention to the sound of chopping meat. It has to be like the sound of horse hooves, da da da, da da, three on the left and two on the right."
"You have to be so particular about chopping meat?" Sun Yuke gasped, "Sister Jinying didn't tell me that!"
Speaking of Chen Jinying, the camera turned to the stands. Chen Dexiang saw a man sitting next to his daughter, who was talking to his daughter with his head down, and his daughter was smiling happily.
The eldest son of the Dong family is now a teenager, his appearance has changed a little, but he can still be recognized at a glance. Chen Dexiang watched Dong Jinkui looking at his daughter with loving eyes on TV, and his pupils suddenly contracted. He raised her for so many years, but she was so close to the three brothers of the Dong family who had never lived with her for a day?
Chen Jinying took the microphone and said: "The loud flipping of the spoon when slicing vegetables is indeed related to the heat, but what is the meaning of the pleasant sound when chopping meat?"
Dong Jinkui took the microphone from his sister and said, "This is because we have too many Shandong cuisine chefs, forcing you to learn some seemingly useless skills that actually distinguish the best from the worst. It has nothing to do with the quality of the dishes. Girl, if you really want to learn, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
"I understand." Sun Yuke replied.
The third wife came in with a teacup with a straw and saw this scene: "Jinying is so affectionate with this gentleman, does she have a boyfriend?"
Chen Dexiang looked at the third wife and said with a pout: "That's the eldest son of the Dong family."
He suffered from hemiplegia on the left side of his body, and it took him more than a year to recover to this extent.
"Ah?" The third wife watched the TV carefully and found that Chen Jinying and the middle-aged man had similar eyebrows and eyes.
Now she was at a loss for words. Just as she was feeling awkward, she heard someone at the door say, "She has long forgotten her last name, Chen, and only remembers her last name, Dong. But what is her relationship with someone named Dong?"
The third wife said in a deep voice: "Fourth sister, isn't it said that girls will sooner or later become people of different surnames? Does it matter whether Jinying's surname is Chen or Dong?"
"You are still speaking for this ungrateful person."
"Go and do your own thing. I have nothing to do with you here." Chen Dexiang said. He didn't want to listen to the sarcastic words of the fourth wife, he just wanted to watch TV quietly with the third brother.
Last time, Jinlong made her so angry that she suffered from hemiplegia. The eldest and second daughters were so anxious that they went to Gangcheng to beg Jinying to come back. Although they did not succeed, at least they did their best.
The third and fourth daughters would come to visit, and the third wife would also stay by his bedside. On the contrary, the fourth wife always used the excuse of taking care of the children and would not come to the hospital if she could.
More than a year after he was discharged from the hospital, the third wife basically took care of him at home. The fourth wife came to visit occasionally and complained that he was often incontinent and made the room smell bad.
The fourth wife turned and left, and Chen Dexiang said, "Close the door."
The third wife closed the door and handed him the cup. Chen Dexiang took the cup with his moving hand, drank the water, and continued watching TV.
On TV, Sun Yuke took the beaten egg white from Liu Yi, seasoned it, and spread it on the duck stuffed with shrimp paste.
The duck was put into the steamer. Sun Yuke looked at Liu Yi who was chopping meat and said something. Liu Yi looked up with clear eyes, then looked down at the knife in his hand, counted to three with his left hand and two with his right hand, and his flustered look made the audience laugh.
At this time Sun Yuke told him that this was a useless technique, and Liu Yi's face immediately fell.
The host laughed: "Coco is so naughty!"
Sun Yuke kept working and asked Master Zhou: "Master Zhou, what are you doing? It feels similar to what we do."
"Sweet and sour golden yellow croaker. Girl, this dish is much more difficult than your lotus duck recipe. You are really good at it." Master Zhou stuffed the fish paste into the egg skin and rolled up the egg skin.
Chen Dexiang was watching TV, and on the screen Sun Yuke was taking out a steamed duck from the steamer. The duck was rectangular, with the skin on the bottom and the snow-white egg white on the top, just like the so-called "hibiscus".
Sun Yuke pushed the duck into a colander to drain the sauce, then heated the pan and poured in a lot of oil.
After the oil is hot, she pushes the duck into the pot. The oil only seeps into the duck meat layer without affecting the shrimp and egg white on the upper layer.
"Isn't this the royal duck recipe made by the master?" asked the third wife.
Chen Dexiang said: "Almost the same. I don't use glutinous rice balls in the middle, but stuff it with fat and shrimp paste, add walnuts, and fry it. She cooks it this way. The chef of Yufenglou makes authentic Shandong cuisine, sweet and sour golden croaker."
"Oh!" The third wife nodded.
On TV, both families were about to serve their dishes. Sun Yuke cut the fried duck and put it on a plate as usual, with fried potatoes, asparagus and broccoli. Two duck cubes, the lower one with the skin facing down and the lotus root facing up, and the upper one with the skin facing up, were placed crosswise, and finally a line of sauce was drawn on the plate with a spoon.
Chef Zhou’s dish is decorated with fish heads and tails. The fish rolls wrapped in egg skin are fried and stacked neatly in the middle, and finally topped with tomato sweet and sour sauce.
The two dishes were served at the same time. Chen Dexiang smiled and said to his third wife: "It seems that the old chef will lose to the young chef in this dish."
"Really? This girl is very powerful?" asked the third wife.
"When he first appeared, his cooking was only decent and his basic skills were not solid. But he got better and better afterwards, which showed that he is talented," commented Chen Dexiang.
The third wife shook her head: "I think it's just for fun."
Mr. Jin, a judge on TV, tasted two hot dishes in turn. He said: "First, let's look at Fuyuan's Furong duck recipe. It uses camphor tea duck as the base, and the combination of glutinous rice cake and minced duck meat is a masterpiece. The duck meat is wrapped in soft and glutinous rice cake, and the shrimp is chewy and sweet. The meringue on the top completely subverts the traditional method. After steaming, it has a delicate pudding-like texture. The lightness of the egg white and the firmness of the duck skin at the bottom form an interesting contrast."
He paused and looked at Yang Yuhe: "This Shandong dish of sweet and sour golden croaker is about 'crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with sweet and sour sauce'. Chef Zhou's egg skin fish rolls are fried just right, with golden egg skin wrapped around the snow-white fish meat, crispy on the outside and tender yellow croaker meat on the inside. The tomato sweet and sour sauce is just right, and the sauce hangs on the fish rolls like a piece of glass, sweet and sour but not covering up the original taste of the fish. The arrangement of the fish head and tail is traditional, but it is in line with the banquet convention of having a beginning and an end."
Yang Yuhe nodded: "In terms of technical inheritance, Yufenglou's sweet and sour golden yellow croaker is a textbook interpretation. From knife skills to battering to sauce collection, every step reflects the essence of Shandong cuisine's 'never tire of fine food'. Fuyuan's lotus duck recipe is more creative, combining four ingredients: camphor tea duck, glutinous rice cake, shrimp paste, and meringue, with rich layers and progressive layers."
The final scores came out, and Sun Yuke's dish won by a large margin over Chef Zhou's.
Master Zhou admitted defeat calmly and gave Sun Yuke a thumbs up: "Girl, you are awesome!"
Sun Yuke made a gesture of thanks: "Thank you, Master Zhou."
She looked at her grandmother again: "Grandma, Master Zhou said I'm really good."
Zhu Liling stood up and said, "Keke, I am proud of you. You are amazing. I want to be proud of Liu Yi too."
"Why are other people's children so amazing?" Chen Dexiang sighed.
"Is Jinying not as good as her?" asked the third wife. "I saw everyone on the show saying that Jinying and her apprentices had never met an opponent."
Chen Dexiang was touched at the heart, and the teacup in his hand trembled slightly.
At this moment, the sound of porcelain breaking came from the living room, followed by the sharp scolding of the fourth wife: "You are a jinx! How can you be so meddling in the affairs of your man when he is out there making his way in the world?"
Chen Dexiang frowned and looked at the door. The third wife was about to get up and open the door, but he stopped her with his eyes. If they dragged her in, it would only make things more chaotic. If they closed their eyes and pretended not to hear anything, they could still get by.
Since the restaurant closed and he fell ill, Chen Jinlong has been fooling around outside all day under the pretext of going out to discuss business. His daughter-in-law and he have quarreled countless times.
He didn't want to blame his son for what happened to him, but he couldn't stand his son being like this. Every time he talked to him, Chen Jinlong would always bring it up with Jinying.
Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid it even though he wanted to. The door was soon opened, and the son with a violent face dragged his crying daughter-in-law into the inner room.
Leaving his daughter-in-law in the house, Chen Jinlong's shirt collar was askew, his cuffs were stained with wine, and he pulled his daughter-in-law and said, "Don't you want to complain to Dad? I'll give you a chance, go ahead!"
He spitted and said, "I was out there talking to clients about business, and you brought your brothers from your mother's family to mess things up! Do you think the Chen family is easy to bully?"
"Business?" The daughter-in-law wiped her tears and said hoarsely, "What kind of business requires hugging and kissing with a dancer? Mrs. Wang told me that you rented a house in Beitou for that vixen!"
"Bullshit!" Chen Jinlong raised his hand to hit him.
A child rushed in, hugged his daughter-in-law, and cried, "Dad, don't hit Mom, please don't hit Mom!"
The fourth wife pulled the child away and said, "Ayao, children should not interfere in adult matters."
She held the child with one hand and pointed at her daughter-in-law's nose with the other and scolded: "What's wrong with a man playing around? You married into the Chen family to carry on the family line, why do you care so much? If you make trouble again, go back to your parents' home!"
Chen Dexiang watched the farce, his paralyzed left face twitching uncontrollably: "Get out!"
He pounded the armrest of his wheelchair with his still-moving hand: "I don't want to hear any of your crap."
The third wife pushed the fourth wife and said, "The master is like this because he is angry with Jinlong. Do you want to anger him again? If you want to quarrel, go outside and quarrel."
Chen Jinlong was watching TV, where the third and fourth place finalists were being awarded. Sun Yuke performed well, defeating Chef Zhou to win the third place. She choked up and thanked Baohualou, especially Chen Jinying who had coached her with great care. At this time, the camera swept across the audience, and Chen Jinying stood up. She smiled and said, "It is your hard work that has made you what you are today. In addition, I want to say that skills are easy to learn, but the virtues of a chef are more difficult to learn. We should learn from Chef Zhou, learn from his open-mindedness, and learn from his unreservedness. Yesterday he came to participate in the competition, and also came to our store to exchange ideas and teach his skills wholeheartedly. Skills become obsolete if you keep them for a long time, but skills get better and better if you teach them."
Sun Yuke immediately turned around and threw herself on Master Zhou: "Master Zhou, I like you so much. You are the best old man."
Chen Jinlong watched this scene. His father watched every game without missing a single episode. How could he not know what he was thinking?
He gritted his teeth and said, "Are you still not giving up? She will never come back."
The third wife drove everyone out, locked the door, and came back and said, "Master, your health is the most important thing."
"I know." Chen Dexiang's eyes were filled with tears. "I feel sorry for you three, and I feel sorry for Jinying. Please help me go to the law firm tomorrow. I want to change my will."
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