Chapter 34 Inheritance
Yue Ning's dry fried beef noodles and Niu Hebang's dry fried beef noodles are served at the same time, which proves the old saying: It's not a problem if you don't know the goods, but it's a problem if you compare the goods.
In terms of aroma alone, Yue Ning's dish is the clear winner. In terms of color, both dishes are bright red, Yue Ning's dish has a silky luster, while Niu Hebang's dish is shiny.
"How many years have I not eaten this kind of dry fried beef noodles?" Grandpa Zhou happily came to serve the beef noodles himself, "Director Song, let's go. The beef noodles must be eaten while they are hot."
As they walked out, Yue Ning said to Yue Baohua, "Grandpa, you should go out first! I'll be right back when I make the fish soup."
Yue Ning turned around to make the fish soup. Behind her, Ma Yaoxing and several cooks were holding chopsticks to taste her fried beef noodles. They used to think that stir-fried beef noodles would definitely require more oil, and that it would be fine if they just fried it over high heat until the aroma came out. But what about now?
Luo Guoqiang had eaten Yue Ning's fried potato cakes last time, and tasted the flavor of dry fried beef noodles. But this time Yue Ning's dry fried beef noodles overturned his impression of dry fried beef noodles. It was fragrant but not greasy, the rice noodles were dry and crisp, the beef was tender, and the bean sprouts and chives were crisp and tender. In comparison, the ones he fried himself and Uncle Bang's fried beef noodles did not seem to be worthy of being called dry fried beef noodles.
Niu Hebang took a bite with a smile: "Ningning, you have inherited the true teachings of Brother Yue!"
"Uncle Abang, you can cook it to this level without any preparation, you must have inherited my father's teachings. You are just lazy."
“If I made it so troublesome, I would have to keep cooking all day long.” Niu Hebang continued to fry his pot of dry-fried beef noodles.
"Master Xiao Yue, these few drops of pearl oil you have left are useless, right? Can I use them to stir-fry?" a chef asked.
"Take it!"
The man took it excitedly and asked, "Let's fry the rice noodles first, right?"
"The rice noodles should be fried until they turn slightly yellow so that they will taste dry and refreshing when eaten." Yue Ning said.
While Yue Ning was cooking, she was also instructing the man how to stir-fry the rice noodles.
Suddenly, Luo Shichang rushed over like a madman: "Is that enough?"
He threw the remaining two or three mouthfuls of dry fried beef noodles onto the floor, along with the plate. The porcelain hit the terrazzo floor with a crisp cracking sound, and the rice noodles splashed and scattered all over the floor.
This scene interrupted the originally heated discussion. Luo Shichang rushed to Yue Ning, his face almost distorted: "Get out of here!"
Everyone was looking at her in bewilderment, stunned where they were. Only Yue Ning slowly poured the fish soup into the pot, stirring up a unique aroma. She said, "I'm a guest invited by your bureau leader. Go talk to your leader if you have the guts."
Luo Guoqiang rushed over and grabbed his father: "Dad, what are you doing? Ningning is here to communicate and help us."
"Is she?" Luo Shichang roared.
He received the news yesterday afternoon, and he didn't understand why Yue Baohua made him so embarrassed. He asked Guoqiang to marry Yue Ning because he felt that he had limited abilities and his son was talented. He hoped that Yue Baohua would teach his son everything he knew after he became the son-in-law of the Yue family. He also thought that Yue Ning had been living in the northwest, and a girl who grew up in a place like the northwest would definitely be ignorant and have no chance to learn anything. Besides, the kitchen has always been a man's world, and who has ever seen a woman as a chef? His son and her can be regarded as taking care of his daughter for Zhirong, and both sides are suitable. If she doesn't want to, then forget it, and don't force it. But why did the two of them do this?
From yesterday afternoon to this morning, their family was like a joke. Others could benefit from having relatives in Hong Kong, but what about their family? Were they just going to humiliate him like this?
Until the familiar aroma wafted up, Luo Shichang seemed to have returned to more than a decade ago. Both he and Zhirong's skills were taught by his father, but why was there such a big gap between him and Zhirong?
In the same kitchen, the aroma of Zhirong's dishes was so overwhelming that he couldn't breathe. Later, Yue Zhirong went to the northwest. His father was very distressed, but he felt more relaxed than ever before.
This fragrance made Luo Shichang, who had been suppressing his anger, finally burst out.
"This is the kitchen of Fuyunlou, get out of here!" Luo Shichang yelled with veins popping out on his forehead and he was hoarse.
Ma Yaoxing was afraid that the master would really go crazy, so he hugged Luo Shichang and said, "Master, Master, calm down. It was the leader who asked Master Xiaoyue to come. Didn't you also say that you can't do it?"
When Luo Shichang thought of how Ma Yaoxing had just learned how to remove chicken bones from Yue Ning, he wanted to kneel on the ground to please her. He was so angry that his teeth itched: "Get out too!"
Yue Ning was not affected at all. He added the side dishes and stirred the fish soup with a frying pan. He looked at Luo Shichang and said, "If Fuyunlou belonged to your Luo family, who cares whether you teach me or not? Anyway, if it closed down, it was your family that went bankrupt. But this is a state-owned enterprise and state-owned assets. Now that reform and opening up have taken place, Hong Kong and foreign businessmen will also come to open restaurants. Think about it, if Baohualou opened next to Fuyunlou, would anyone come to eat at Fuyunlou? Without business, where would the salaries of so many employees and retired employees come from?"
Yue Ning's father in her previous life was also such a person. He was very good at cooking and refused to teach her some recipes at first. He had no choice but to ask her to promise that she would stay in the family restaurant after learning. She immediately threw away the wok and let her father teach whoever he wanted.
She left the family restaurant. Her brother was incompetent, and her father had a stroke and was unable to run the restaurant. The restaurant gradually lost customers and was in debt. Her father asked her to save the restaurant, but she refused. Injecting funds into a restaurant without vitality was like feeding a walking corpse.
Her Ning Shaola has a standard process for all dishes, and the recipes are closely watched and learned; her Ning Yan, as a high-end restaurant, chefs are the key, and outsiders poach their chefs with high salaries. Ning Yan has indeed become a training school for Cantonese chefs. So what? Every restaurant scolds Ning Shaola, shouts about authentic Cantonese Shaola, and claims to be "Ning Yan's substitute" or "Ning Yan's chef in charge", but aren't they still taking advantage of her traffic?
Marketing methods are only auxiliary. Only by hiring outstanding talents, constantly innovating and strictly controlling quality can we maintain vitality.
Yue Ning scooped a spoonful of water chestnut powder and mixed it to thicken the fish soup. "Also, your family of four is all in Fuyun Building. Your two sons are old enough to find a partner. Have you ever thought about the consequences of your actions today? If you want to break the jar and throw it out, then make a scene! If you still want to have room for reversal, go get a broom and sweep the floor clean."
The whole family lives in Fuyun Building. A middle-aged man with a family is often the most vulnerable. Luo Shichang was so angry that he trembled all over: "You..."
"Do you think I'm going too far? I'm asking you to stop here and not let things get out of control. There are so many people on duty outside!" Yue Ning took the fish soup out of the pot and poured it into the soup bowl.
Such a big thing happened in the kitchen, someone ran to call Manager Zhang. When Manager Zhang came in, he ran into Yue Ning who was walking out with a bowl in his hand. Yue Ning said, "Manager Zhang, please do some ideological work for my Uncle Luo."
As soon as Yue Ning walked out of the kitchen door, he ran into Yue Baohua who came over worriedly. Yue Ning handed the bowl to Yue Baohua: "He has to accept reality."
I can, for the sake of Grandpa Luo's face, not care about Luo Shichang's intention to wipe out the whole family, but there are so many chefs, big and small, in the kitchen of Fuyunlou. If they are suppressed and lose their spirit, how can they live up to this old brand?
In her previous life, she bought a time-honored brand with a similar background to Fuyunlou. In 1983, the time-honored brand formed a joint venture with a Hong Kong businessman, but the business was not run well, so it was returned to state ownership in 1988. In the late 1990s, it formed a joint venture with another Hong Kong businessman, but failed again ten years later. Seeing that it was about to close, her fans shared their childhood memories in the comment section.
Not for the sake of making money, but for the sake of fans, she decided to acquire this debt-ridden old brand and merge it into Ningyan. She originally planned to be a real Ningyan substitute, but after getting it, she studied the history, inspected the dishes, interacted with fans, pursued the taste in their memories, and reproduced the old dishes one by one. Originally, she just wanted to pamper her fans, but she didn't expect that this old brand would be resurrected and live out what it should have been like, becoming a check-in point in Yuecheng.
She was willing to save an old brand that had nothing to do with her, not to mention that this was Fuyunlou! This was where Grandpa, Grandpa Luo, and Dad learned their crafts, and most of her skills in this life also came from the inheritance of Fuyunlou.
Can she still let Luo Shichang stay here?
Yue Ning came to the hall. Since the landlords were defeated, everyone was a working class, and there was no longer a concept of private rooms. Song Ziqiang and Mr. Zhou both looked in her direction.
Yue Baohua put the fish soup on the table and said to Mr. Zhou, "Mr. Zhou, try Ningning's fish soup."
Yue Ning saw that there was still a small portion of stir-fried beef noodles in the bowl in front of her. Yue Baohua said, "Your Grandpa Zhou left the first bite for you."
"Thank you, Grandpa Zhou!" Yue Ning lowered his head and ate the rice noodles.
"You cooked for me and you're thanking me?" Grandpa Zhou said as he scooped up the fish soup. "My dear, your cooking skills are just as good as your father's!"
Yue Ning shook his head: "In fact, if Uncle Bang is serious about stir-frying beef noodles, he can cook it better than me. He was lazy and fried it continuously to save trouble, so he compromised between overcooking the beef and not stir-frying the noodles dry. I think he has mastered the heat just right, and the name 'Beef Noodles Bang' is well-deserved."
"Oh! Him!" Old Master Zhou shook his head and sighed.
"Amazing! This fish soup is absolutely amazing." Director Hu was so surprised that he attracted the attention of the people at the nearby tables.
Mr. Zhou was also drinking it: "This fish soup tastes exactly the same as Xiaoyue's."
The fish soup that Yue Ning made in her previous life might have been different. In this life, her father made it for her and taught her. Later, her father passed away. She missed him, and when she was making it, she unconsciously tried to make it taste like her father's, thus creating this bowl of fish soup that had the most Yue Zhirong flavor.
Director Hu is a local, and Fuyunlou is a restaurant under their jurisdiction. How could he not be familiar with every signature dish of Fuyunlou? When Mr. Zhou drinks this fish soup, he is like an old tea drinker or an old smoker, and has reached the level of appreciation.
Song Ziqiang had just been transferred here from another place, so he couldn't taste much difference, but he felt that it was indeed quite different. The aftertaste lingered in his mouth, and he wanted to have another bowl.
Yue Baohua was sad, this bowl of fish soup was better than what he made himself. The old customers said it tasted like Zhirong.
Someone at the next table couldn't help but ask, "What is it like?"
Mr. Zhou said, "Bring your bowl here."
The man actually brought the bowl over, and Mr. Zhou took it and scooped a small half bowl for him. The man took the bowl and said, "Thank you!"
As soon as he got it, he smelled the aroma, which made his mouth water and his tongue couldn't help it. He drank a sip before he even had time to sit down. Is this really fish soup?
Seeing how cautious he was, he looked just like the beggars on the street who hadn't had a full meal for ten days or half a month. He cherished this small bowl of fish soup so much that the people at the same table were aroused by him. Someone asked, "Isn't it better than the bowl of shark's fin?"
"It's delicious. It tastes completely different from the bowl of chicken wings."
"Shall we also add a dish of fish soup?" the people at their table asked.
Mr. Zhou was very proud: "This is not made by the chef of Fuyunlou."
"If it's not made by the chef of Fuyunlou, how can we eat it in Fuyunlou?"
"Yes! Yes! That's really strange. We ate at Fuyunlou, but it wasn't cooked by the chef of Fuyunlou. Then who cooked it?"
Song Ziqiang stood up and said, "Comrades, listen to me. I'm from the superior unit of Fuyunlou. Fuyunlou's skills have declined over the years, so we invited the younger brother of the late national famous chef Luo Changfa, the owner of Gangcheng Baohualou, Chef Yue Baohua, to come here to give us guidance. This fish soup is made by his granddaughter. The dry fried beef noodles that you just said were very fragrant were also made by her. I hope that with their help, Fuyunlou can reproduce the glory of the past."
"Today's dry fried beef noodles are really different. My plate is much more fragrant, and the beef is tender and delicious!"
"Is it the same here? Aren't they all fried by Niu Hebang?"
"No, no, no, it's not the one cooked by Niu He Bang. I can taste the difference between the beef noodles cooked by Niu He Bang and this one is more fragrant, the beef is more tender, and it has more flavor. It's not as oily as the one cooked by Niu He Bang."
“…”
Mr. Zhou asked Yue Ning: "Did you cook the beef noodles on their table as well?"
"No, the young man asked me for the remaining dripping oil to stir-fry beef noodles. I gave him a few pointers and he cooked it." Yue Ning scooped up the fish soup and said, "There are actually quite a few people in the kitchen who have skills and abilities. Ma Yaoxing's basic skills are very good, and I will try his cooking skills this afternoon. Uncle Abang is even better. The young man who asked me to use the dripping oil to stir-fry beef noodles also has a good control of the heat. With a little guidance on a few common dishes, they can reach a higher level."
Manager Zhang came over hurriedly and sat down next to Song Ziqiang. Song Ziqiang asked, "How is it?"
"I told him to go back and think it over carefully," Manager Zhang said with a headache, "but now it will be very troublesome if Fuyunlou's kitchen is gone. Who can take over this business?"
"Transfer Yao Yuanfu back from the retirement home, and transfer Luo Shichang to the retirement home. Luo Shichang's skills are definitely enough for the retirement home. There is not much development in the retirement home, but his level is not low. Yao Yuanfu has only been in the retirement home for seven or eight years. He is familiar with Fuyun Building and can get started right away. Talk to Yao Yuanfu about the current situation of Fuyun Building." Old Man Zhou leaned sideways to Song Ziqiang and said softly.
The reason why Song Ziqiang was transferred from another place to take up the post was because of his achievements in local affairs. The business system needs to be changed, especially the hospitality industry such as hotels and restaurants, which are in urgent need of reform. The leaders will support this transfer.
"I would like to thank Mr. Zhou first."
Yue Ning couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. Only now, only state-owned enterprises would consider a way out for Luo Shichang. If it were a private enterprise, such a person would have been kicked out long ago.
Yue Ning quickly ate a few mouthfuls of rice, then stood up and said, "You guys eat slowly, I'm going to fry the glutinous rice."
"I'll go too."
Yue Baohua stood up and went back to the kitchen with Yue Ning.
As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, the cook who had taken her dripping pearl oil almost burst into tears: "Master Xiao Yue, more than ten portions of rice noodles were served to me at once, and your dripping pearl oil has been used up."
"Let Master Yue cook more for you. After the lunch market is over, let him teach you in detail, how about it?" Yue Ning looked at Yue Baohua.
"Master Xiao Yue, are you trying to turn Tian Gang upside down? How dare you arrange things for Master Lao Yue?" Ma Yaoxing ran over and teased.
"Axing, when you have a granddaughter, her skills will be almost as good as yours at a young age. I wonder if you would like to be arranged by her?" Niu Hebang said with a smile.
Yue Baohua poured brown sugar into the pot and said with a smile: "Ningning is much better than me. She knows how to integrate and master the same as her father. I was born a beggar. Back then, Boss Jiang of Fuyunlou gave us a bite to eat and let us come in to do odd jobs. My master saw that I was smart and took me in as his apprentice. I have been learning from him ever since. I am indeed getting better and better at cooking, but I am not like Ningning and her father, who borrowed from other cuisines and integrated and mastered them."
"Master Lao Yue! Don't be sad when you look at Ningning. Brother Zhirong will be happy to see you and your grandchildren together." Niu Hebang said after cooking a plate of beef noodles, "It's rare! No one has designated me to cook beef noodles."
"They all went to Ajian's place."
Niu Hebang took out a cigarette, lit it with the fire from the stove, and started smoking.
While he was smoking, Yue Baohua's dripping oil was ready. Yue Ning said, "Grandpa, divide it into two bowls, one for Ajian and one for Uncle Bang."
"Little girl, what are you doing?" Niu Hebang shouted.
"Let Weimin Hotel have no food to eat, and let the whole of Guangdong City know that Fuyunlou is still the same Fuyunlou."
Niu Hebang put half a bowl of dripping oil on the side of his table and took a few orders for dry fried beef noodles. Yue Ning said, "Make one more, I want to try it too."
Niu Hebang said to the waiter, "Three portions, put all three together and I'll fry them together. Too much will affect the taste."
"Uncle Bang, there is always a way to be lazy." Yue Ning turned to Ma Yaoxing and said, "Axing, bring me the soaked mushrooms, dried shrimps, scallops, as well as the stock and chicken soup."
Yue Ning filtered the water used to soak the mushrooms and dried shrimps, and poured it into the pot together with the original soup from steaming the scallops and the chicken soup. These three ingredients were very fresh. After the soup in the pot boiled, she said, "Bring the eight treasures over. Put the eight treasures in the soup and simmer..."
"This is really troublesome!" said the little chef who had been watching.
"No problem. How could this dish be lost?" Ma Yaoxing shook his head and said, "I used to stir-fry the eight-treasure ingredients and then mix them into the glutinous rice. This way, the eight-treasures can also absorb the flavor of the broth."
"The flavors of ingredients such as ham and bamboo shoots will also be integrated into the broth. Filter out the broth and then stir-fry the glutinous rice so that the flavors can be fully integrated into the glutinous rice."
“So that’s how it is!”
They were cooking the eight-treasure sticky rice in the chicken's stomach, and Niuhebang started to stir-fry beef noodles. This was a big deal, and orders came in like snowflakes, and every table ordered dry fried beef noodles.
Niu Hebang's thick lips opened and closed: "That's good. Our brother unit has no food to eat. Are you satisfied?"
Manager Zhang put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it for him personally: "Master Abang, thank you for your hard work."
As for Yue Ning, the apprentice really didn't have much experience. Seeing that she had cooked the eight ingredients and then continued to stir-fry them, he said, "It's too much trouble just to eat a chicken like this."
Mr. Zhou said, "What do you know? In the late 1950s, a table of food at Fuyunlou cost more than 90 yuan, and this chicken was only worth more than 30 yuan!"
"Ah? A chicken is more valuable than my monthly salary?" The young man was completely stunned.
Niu Hebang held a cigarette in his mouth and said as he cooked, "This dish is not for you. It was for the landlords in the past. They just like to make trouble and mess around."
"Please be careful not to drop cigarette ash into the pot." Yue Ning rolled his eyes. "Even if you are cooking for working people, you have to be more careful."
"Master, if you keep cooking like this, there won't be enough beef for dinner to sell at lunch," the apprentice who was cutting the meat reminded.
Niu Hebang said to the waiter, "Go tell the waiter not to take any more orders for stir-fried beef noodles."
Song Ziqiang smiled and said to Director Hu, "Old Hu, call the meat processing factory and ask them to send beef over right away. I want to see how popular our Fuyunlou can be when we really cook."
Niu Hebang threw away his cigarette butt and continued to stir-fry beef noodles helplessly. Was he going to stir-fry the same amount of beef noodles he had stir-fried the previous week today? And he had to stir-fry it in such a troublesome way.
At Yue Ning's place, the glutinous rice was almost done. The chefs watching felt that they could see it with their eyes, but their hands could not do it at all. They had to boil and fry, this one had a lighter flavor, that one had a stronger flavor, this one was put in first, that one was put in later, and those with slow brains could not remember at all.
Yue Ning served the glutinous rice and said, "I like to put chestnut meat in it. Of course, there is no fixed combination of eight ingredients in glutinous rice, and it can be adjusted according to the season. Now let's fill the chicken's stomach. Bring the chicken over."
Ma Yaoxing brought the chicken over, and Yue Ning said, "You fill the chicken's belly. Just fill it to 80% full. If you fill it too full, it will easily burst when you roast it later."
After Ma Yaoxing stuffed the chicken, he waited on the side. Yue Ning went over to teach him how to tie a knot around the chicken head and wings, saying, "The Eight Treasure Gourd Duck is sewn with thread, so let's be lazy and just tie the knot directly. Okay, then scald the skin, dry it, and then add crispy skin water. The recipe for the crispy skin water is right there, so I don't need to teach you anymore, right?"
"Then I'll do it." Ma Yaoxing went happily.
Yue Ning went to look for ingredients and brought back a basket of fruits, radishes and sweet potatoes.
"Master Xiaoyue, are you going to prepare the dish?" someone asked.
"That's right!" Yue Ning took out a set of carving knives and put them aside, then went to look for a plate.
She first used slices of cucumber to create a dragon and a phoenix, with the center just right for the glutinous rice and chicken. Then she mixed the sauce and used chopsticks to dip into the sauce and write "Eight Delicacies Dragon and Phoenix, This is Beyond Dragon and Phoenix" on the side of the plate.
Not to mention that other people were stunned, even Yue Baohua, although he had been with his granddaughter for quite some time, did not expect that she had this skill. After all, as an old chef, he did not know these things.
Grandpa Zhou shook his head and recited, "'Eight delicacies, dragon and phoenix, this is beyond dragon and phoenix. Lychee and river (left worm, right omen), just boasting about the flavor.' This is a line from the Song Dynasty poet Bai Ting praising the eight delicacies. The first two lines are used on this crispy eight-treasure glutinous rice chicken, which is quite appropriate. However, even in the heyday of Fuyunlou, no chef had your skills!"
Holding a radish carved into a peony, Yue Ning said, "The chef who wanted to learn this craft went to the northwest. There happened to be an intellectual in the northwest who was good at calligraphy and painting. After the two of them discussed it, they placed their hopes on a fat girl like me. My father talked about the prosperity of Huaiyang cuisine. The top chefs of Huaiyang cuisine not only have to cook well, but also have cultural background. Some of them are both masters of calligraphy and painting."
The border of the duck feet stuffed with various flowers is shaped like a peony, and for the dish of sweet and sour pork, cucumbers are used to form a gourd shape, and carrots are used to carve ropes and tassels.
When Yue Ning finished decorating several plates, the lunch market at Fuyunlou was almost over.
Niu Hebang threw the pot and said, "Whoever wants to cook tonight can cook. I won't cook."
Manager Zhang hurried over to hand over a cigarette and said, "Abang, you are the one who was selected as the advanced worker this year?"
Ah Bang took the cigarette and said, "There is still half a year left until the end of the year. I work so hard every day that my waist is almost broken. If I am rated as an advanced worker, I will only get a few hundred yuan bonus a year, plus a certificate. What problem can this solve for me?"
He walked to Yue Ning, looked at the dishes that shocked a group of young men who had never seen the world and were speechless, and continued: "I am not like this girl. When she cooks in Hong Kong in the future, let alone selling a chicken for thirty yuan, even if it is sold for three hundred or three thousand, as long as it is well cooked and has enough gimmicks, people will still be willing to pay. I entered Fuyun Building when I was sixteen, and I am thirty-four this year, and my salary is only forty-three and a half yuan. Until now, I still squeeze into a ten-square-meter bamboo house with my parents and brother. Can this certificate be exchanged for a house? Can you help me find a wife?"
He glanced at Song Ziqiang and said, "Director, I speak directly, please don't mind."
After saying that, he walked out. Who the hell doesn't want to work hard? But doesn't working hard have to have something to look forward to?
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