Chapter 212 Chen Jinying becomes popular
Lu Peide walked into the kitchen and said to Chen Jinying, "An old customer who has been away from Beijing for decades came in. After tasting my dishes, he mentioned Yuexianglou's stir-fried kidney. I wonder if you can make some?"
Chen Jinying readily agreed: "Okay."
Chen Jinying walked to the chopping board and took out two pork loins from the plate. With a slight turn of her wrist, the kitchen knife cut the pork loin like a dragon, and neatly removed the white smelly glands inside. Then, she tilted her wrist slightly, and the blade cut into the pork loin at a 45-degree angle, making a slanting cut, and then switched to a straight knife, staggered horizontally and vertically, and carved the wheat ear pattern evenly and neatly.
"Sister Jinying's knife skills are amazing!" said the young apprentice who was watching with admiration on his face.
Without even looking up, Chen Jinying soaked the cut kidneys in water with scallions and ginger. After soaking for a while, she took out the kidneys, squeezed out the water, poured in cooking wine and starch, and gently mixed them.
Chen Jinying came to the stove, opened the oil pan, and poured the kidney into the 90% hot oil. The hot oil instantly wrapped the kidney, making it curl up into a golden wheat ear shape. She was quick to fish out the kidney immediately, and the whole process took only a dozen seconds.
She left some oil in the pot, and after sautéing the ginger and garlic, she added green and red peppers, black fungus and blanched winter bamboo shoots, stir-fried them for a few times, and then poured in the kidneys.
"At this time, we need to stir-fry quickly over high heat." As soon as she finished speaking, a huge fire suddenly appeared in the pot. In the light of the fire, the iron spoon quickly flipped the kidneys and the ingredients in the pot. The sauce entered the pot and immediately wrapped each piece of kidney tightly, and the action was done in one go.
She saw that Lu Peide had already prepared the plating, with carrots made into wheat stalks and cucumber shreds made into ropes to tie the wheat ears. She piled kidneys in front of the wheat stalks and scattered two or three "wheat ears" on the sides, creating a vivid picture of a good harvest.
Lu Peide shouted loudly: "Serve the food!"
As soon as the waiter stepped into the compartment, Mr. Liu stared straight at the dish in his hand, and the aroma went straight into his nose.
The waiter put down the dish and said, "Chef Chen Jinying's stir-fried kidney."
"Chef Chen Jinying?" Mr. Lin didn't remember that Baohua Building had such a chef.
"Chef Chen is here for the first time today! He is Chef Wu Zhihai's master."
"oh!"
Mr. Liu looked at the stir-fried pork kidney on the plate, and his eyes suddenly felt sore. The carrot stalks stood upright on the edge of the plate, and the cucumber shreds were wrapped around like thin ropes. But the real protagonist, the pork kidney, was piled up into a full heap, and the glossy sauce seemed to be dripping.
He picked up a piece of kidney with trembling hands. The kidney meat was tender and chewy, and the smell of fish was completely removed, leaving only the mellow salty and fresh taste. The crispness of green and red peppers, the smoothness of black fungus, the sweetness of winter bamboo shoots, and the rich aroma of sauce were perfectly blended together.
"Stir-frying Shandong cuisine tests the chef's skill in using the iron wok. The success or failure of stir-frying kidney slices can be determined in three seconds. This skill is too good. This dish truly proves that Shandong cuisine is worthy of being the 'master of the eight major cuisines'. I would believe it if Chef Huang himself cooked it." Mr. Liu laughed. "Before in Beijing, you had to make an appointment two or three months in advance for Lu's cuisine, and you couldn't just enjoy the cooking of Chef Huang of Yuexianglou. Today, I can actually eat the signature dishes of both restaurants in Hong Kong. I am so lucky today!"
Just as I finished saying this, I heard the guest next to me say, "You have a new chef here? Is he Chef Wu's master? Why didn't you tell me? I want to eat stir-fried double crispy dishes."
Their seats were separated only by a person-high partition, forming a small space where they could not disturb each other, but their conversation could still be heard by the people next to them.
"Mr. Zhang, Chef Chen just arrived today and is getting familiar with the situation in the kitchen now! It will take at least a week before he can start cooking."
“But why can they eat stir-fried kidneys?”
"This... is Chef Lu's honor. The old man left Beijing for 35 years and missed the taste of Beijing."
"I am also from Beijing. I have been away from Beijing for 30 years. I chose to come when Chef Lu is here, isn't it just to taste the flavor of Beijing? You should also ask Chef Lu to come for me. I want to see if Chef Lu will give me face?" The guest thought for a while, "If not, I will call Ningning."
Ning Yan has always adhered to the principle of "customer first". Yue Ning has a good relationship with the guests. Since the guests said so, the waiter did not dare to refuse and quickly said, "Please wait a moment, I will go and ask."
The waiter reported the situation to the manager on duty, who had no choice but to go to the kitchen. Lu Peide was embarrassed when he heard this: "This... is all my fault. I thought too simply."
"It's a simple thing. I have to cook at the stove sooner or later. What's the harm in doing it a day or two earlier? What's the big deal if I cook it one more time?" Chen Jinying said, "Take the order."
"Chef Chen, thank you so much!" the manager on duty said quickly.
After a plate of fried crispy double-fried meat with a fiery aroma was served, the guests at the next table exclaimed: "Chef Wu's fried crispy double-fried meat is at the chef level, and Chef Chen's is at the master level."
"What what? What are you talking about?"
"Today, a Shandong cuisine master came to the Ningyan kitchen. Chef Lu is very good at stewing, roasting, and braising, and his soup is even more amazing, but he lacks the skill of cooking. Chef Chen's stir-frying skills..."
"Better than Niuhebang?"
"Each has its merits. After all, Cantonese cuisine and Shandong cuisine are different. Niu Hebang's mixed dishes still have some Cantonese flavor. Chef Chen's is authentic Beijing-Shandong cuisine. If you want to eat authentic Shandong cuisine, go and order it."
"Then I'll try it too."
At this time, another surprised voice came: "You mean, Chef Chen is here?"
The person who spoke was Yue Ning's old friend Yang Yuhe. The talented Yang said, "Go ask for me. I want to eat stir-fried abalone with coriander."
Yang Yuhe is the number one "golden mouth" in Hong Kong's food world. Not only did he order the dishes himself, he also introduced the exquisiteness of Shandong cuisine stir-frying to everyone, recommending stir-fried pork with green onions, stir-fried three kinds of food, and stir-fried fresh squid. He also said: "Let me tell you, both Sichuan cuisine and Shandong cuisine have Kung Pao Chicken. When Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, went to Sichuan, he brought Shandong's stir-fried chicken with sauce to Sichuan, and then the dish Kung Pao Chicken came into being. Later, Shandong cuisine also called stir-fried chicken with dried chili peppers Kung Pao Chicken. The Kung Pao Chicken in Shandong cuisine is not that spicy and does not contain Sichuan peppercorns, which is more in line with our taste. You can also try it."
The waiter was almost crying because this guest ate it himself and recommended it to others. Now Mr. Yang Yuhe recommended it, and all the diners in the hall heard it.
Every table had to add to their bills, which scared the manager on duty so much that he was sweating on his forehead.
The manager on duty ran to the kitchen and described the lively scene outside. Chen Jinying smiled and said, "What can we do? We can only fry it."
Lu Peide said, "Sister Jinying, it looks like you'll be busy for a month. When I first came, everyone was chasing after me to order my dishes. I was busy for a month, but slowly the novelty wore off and everything got better."
Chen Jinying nodded: "It's okay, I'm used to being busy in Taiwan."
Her father seldom taught the chefs, so they all relied on their own learning and their skills varied greatly. Most of the dishes were prepared by her and Azhi alone.
Lu Peide assigned her the people to cut the meat and serve the food.
Orders were brought in one after another, and Chen Jinying's stove in the kitchen became the hottest place. As the flames shot up and went out again and again, dishes were served one after another.
After the dinner market was over, the chef went around the tables and almost all the stir-fried dishes ordered by each table were eaten up.
The kitchen has always relied on its cooking skills. Chen Jinying is so skilled, who can resist? Who doesn't want to be close to her? Everyone calls her "A Ying" and "Jinying Jie".
The company's shuttle bus first stopped at Repulse Bay, then went to Central and Causeway Bay to pick up people. As soon as Wu Zhihai got on the bus, a young apprentice couldn't wait to say to him: "Brother Wu, your master is your master, Sister Jinying is so amazing. Her move..."
The young apprentice started talking, and the others all started talking. Wu Zhihai sat in the front and looked back at Chen Jinying, feeling happy for her. After he entered Baohua Building, he was looking forward to the master coming soon. He believed that the master's craftsmanship would surely amaze everyone.
Chen Jinying looked at her apprentice and thought that without his unconditional trust and support, she might not have been able to make it this far.
As she watched, she realized that her apprentice's eyes were too focused, so she turned her head slightly and avoided looking at him.
Wu Zhihai saw the master turned his head away, so he also turned his head away. He was just a country boy who graduated from junior high school in Tainan. In an environment like De Xiang Hotel, he was honored to be taught by the master with all his heart. The master had superb skills and was a graduate of National Taiwan University. How could he dare to have other ideas?
When the car arrived at the dormitory building, we happened to meet my colleagues who were walking back.
Asong's apprentice saw Fan Xiuqin and shouted, "Xiuqin, I want to tell you..."
Fan Xiuqin immediately ran over to listen to their story. This was bad, and I was afraid that all the cooks in Baohualou knew about it.
It was true. After the dinner market ended, the manager on duty, Lu Peide and Asong took turns calling Yue Ning and excitedly reported the news.
Yue Ningke was proud: "That's right! When was my vision wrong?"
That night, everyone in Baohua Building knew about this.
The next morning, an article by Yang Yuhe appeared in the newspaper, talking about how he had eaten authentic Beijing and Shandong cuisine at Ningyan yesterday and appreciated the wonderful cooking skills.
He wrote several hundred words in a very eloquent manner, making readers salivate.
Yue Ning has been busy with exams recently and will be going to France next week. According to her, this is called sharpening the spear before the battle. She has been studying in seclusion for a while and even stopped dating Qiao Junxian, so there is no gossip about her.
At this time, Ning Yan's article instantly caused a sensation.
HTV naturally enjoys exclusive reporting rights, and Yue Ning took time out to accept an exclusive interview with HTV.
Yue Ning started with Shandong cuisine: "Shandong cuisine is the foundation of northern cuisine, the source of imperial cuisine, and the only cuisine among the eight major cuisines that can conquer both the streets and the imperial tables. From the poetic ginkgo at the Confucius Mansion Banquet to the deep-fried double crispy dishes on the common people's tables, Shandong cuisine teaches us that real food does not care about its origin, but only about whether it is made with care. The stir-frying that Uncle Yuhe mentioned is only a part of Shandong cuisine. Sister Jinying is a chef who is proficient in Shandong cuisine. You can slowly discover her specialties in the future."
"How about her versus you? Who has better skills?"
"I knew you would ask that. Wait until I finish the exam, okay?" Yue Ning said with a helpless smile, "Since Uncle Yuhe mentioned Kung Pao Chicken, then Sister Jinying and I will use the techniques of the Sichuan and Shandong schools to make Kung Pao Chicken. How about we have a cooking competition?"
"Okay. We're looking forward to it."
Yue Ning's appearance further increased the popularity.
Chen Jinying had been a chef in Taipei for many years, but she was not famous. But as soon as she joined Ningyan, she became famous in Hong Kong.
Baohualou immediately put her introduction card on the chef introduction board. Diners came here to admire her reputation and gave her rave reviews.
Yue Ning has already gained a certain degree of popularity in Taiwan. The new chef of Baohualou is from Taiwan and has become very popular in Hong Kong. Naturally, Taiwanese TV stations are competing to reprint and broadcast the relevant news.
At this time, a famous Taiwanese commentator said in a sober tone: "This chef Chen Jinying is the daughter of Shandong cuisine master Chen Dexiang and the elder sister of Shandong cuisine chef Chen Jinlong. If she is really that outstanding, there is no reason why she is not famous in Taipei, right? It can only be said that Hong Kong is a small place with few good chefs, so that a chef who can't even rank in Taiwan can be hailed as a master in Hong Kong. Please look at this chef calmly, and there is no need to praise her when you travel to Hong Kong. I even suspect that Yue Ning, a chef who is less than 20 years old, is not worthy of his reputation."
Qiao Junxian drove Yue Ning to the examination room. When Yue Ning got out of the car, she was blocked by reporters, who asked her a few questions about her feelings about the exam.
A reporter asked, "Ningning, what do you think of people in Taiwan saying that you are not worthy of your reputation?"
Yue Ning smiled and said, "The function of the mouth is not only to speak, but also to taste food. Is it that difficult to taste it?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com