Li Yue had previously invited Ye Tian to her home to celebrate the New Year, and Ye Tian had already agreed, but she saw that the restaurant was short of staff and that she would get triple pay on statutory holidays, so she decided to work in the restaurant during the New Year.
The underlying reason in my heart is, of course, that I don’t want to celebrate the New Year at someone else’s house. The whole family is having a lively time, and it would feel weird to have an outsider there.
I don’t know if this can be considered social phobia. Although Li Yue is her good friend, she still doesn’t feel comfortable thinking about spending the New Year with her family.
Being busy in the restaurant on New Year's Eve may seem a bit miserable, but those few feet of stove are like her territory, she is the king of her territory, the knife and shovel are her weapons, and she is invincible and unstoppable.
As a small boss, Chen Chi has been showing an easy-going image to his employees recently. Today, he finally became strong and should not be underestimated.
Chef Zhang was still in the kitchen, neither standing nor leaving, beginning to regret his actions. He'd thought that if he just vented his anger on Old Yu, Old Yu wouldn't dare do anything to him. With such a busy day, he'd definitely have to beg him to stay. He hadn't expected the young boss to show up and act so ruthlessly.
Master Zhang also knew that the recent employee meals were good, but he thought that it was just Daxiong and the others who put in some effort. He didn't expect that Ye Tian was the main force. Now she can actually take over his cooking directly. Letting such a little girl replace him is a great shame for him. He even feels that the young boss is mocking him.
Since Ye Tian had promised Chen Chi, she absolutely had to take responsibility. This was her consistent principle. She glanced at the menu and immediately made a reasonable arrangement. She already had a specific process in mind, which one to do first, which one to do later, and which ones could be done simultaneously.
"Three servings of preserved pork with preserved vegetables. Chef Yu has already prepared this. Just serve it in a bowl and add chopped green onions!"
"Baked Boston lobster. I've never made lobster before, but I've seen other chefs do it. Open the back of the processed lobster, add cheese, and put it in the oven. Big Bear, please help me set the temperature and time, and start baking..."
"Stir-fried spring bamboo shoots with bacon. This stir-fry is quick, so I'll make it now. Here, give me the bacon slices and fresh bamboo shoots... Remove from the pan, plate, and decorate. You can take it away..."
Ye Tian cooked with astonishing speed, yet in an orderly manner. She didn't seem impatient or flustered at all, and in a short while, she had finished preparing the dishes assigned to her. She looked more like a conductor, giving orders with confidence, and everything was very methodical.
Chef Zhang was utterly astonished. Wasn't this girl here as an intern? Hadn't she just helped Daxiong prepare the work meal? When did her cooking skills become so impressive? What was going on?
"Then what should I do?" Master Zhang looked around in confusion. Everyone was busy, and he was the only one who didn't know what to do. Standing aside, he was in the way.
There was no place for him on the stove. He had originally planned to watch Ye Tian's joke and then take back his own stove, but he didn't expect that someone else seemed to be doing a better job than him. He felt a sense of crisis, but he was unwilling to help cut vegetables.
At this moment, Chen Chi had already gone out to serve the dishes. He could only look at Old Yu and asked after a long pause, "Deputy Chef Yu, what else can I do?"
Old Yu looked around and couldn't decide what to do. After thinking for a while, he said, "Go prepare the broth for dinner. It's almost out."
"Okay, I'll go." This was the first time Master Zhang was so easy to talk to.
It's not easy to find a chef job outside with similar pay to Xiyuan Restaurant. He just lost his temper and felt good for a while, but now he has to desperately try to find a way to redeem himself from his stupid self-righteous behavior. Keeping his job is the most important thing.
Alas, this time he truly realized that no one in this world is completely irreplaceable, and no one should be underestimated. The fact that an 18 or 19-year-old college student was more reliable than him proved that he was not irreplaceable at all, but just a lackey of Chef Xu.
Finally, with everyone's joint efforts, the lunchtime New Year's Eve dinner was over. Everything went smoothly, but there was still a bigger battle to fight in the evening.
There was only a short break, so everyone quickly ate to recharge for the evening's work. Sous Chef Yu used this time to reshuffle the staff.
He tasted the two dishes that Ye Tian made today, and the taste was 90% similar to the restaurant's. This shows that Ye Tian has a strong learning ability and can make it just by watching.
The remaining 10% was not because she did not do it well, but because she added a different taste to the dish, which can also be said to be Ye Tian’s unique personal style.
Cooking is a mysterious art. Even if you use the same ingredients and similar methods, the taste of the dish can be very different. It's often just a small detail. Maybe it's just the temperature of your palm, or just a few extra seconds of waiting...
"Her cooking is absolutely delicious." He silently sighed in his heart: "Alas, where did this child come from? Who is her apprentice? Why can't I find such a talented successor? Of course, it may be because my master couldn't find anyone better, so he had to pass on his cooking skills to me. I can't carry forward his skills!"
He couldn't even think of a more appropriate word to describe Ye Tian. She was so talented that she could make every dish taste unique to her. The dishes were so delicious and had such distinct personal characteristics.
"Xiao Ye, you should prepare a big pot of pickled pork with preserved vegetables in advance. This dish is included in the New Year's Eve dinner set meal. It takes a long time to prepare, so you have to prepare it in advance. Thank you for your hard work!" Lao Yu did not expect that he would make this decision.
Pickled pork with preserved vegetables is Xiyuan’s signature dish. He makes it himself at noon and doesn’t even trust any of his apprentices to make it.
"Yan Du Xian", as the name suggests, "yan" refers to the bacon in the dish, "du" is the requirement for the heat, and "xian" refers to spring bamboo shoots. Only by truly understanding the connotation of this dish can you dig out its soul when making it.
Ye Tian watched Sous Chef Yu prepare this dish at lunch. Of course, she'd made it countless times herself, and she'd found the perfect proportions and cooking time for the dish's freshest flavor. She preferred lighter pork belly for the salty meat, and preferred spare ribs to pork belly, which tended to be a bit greasy.
She also couldn't accept the use of MSG in this dish. "A lotus flower emerges from clear water, naturally free of embellishment." This applies to the scenery, the people, and the dish itself. A few slices of high-quality Jinhua ham enhance the flavor, along with the natural freshness of spring bamboo shoots. As long as the cooking time is right, this dish is already good enough; there's no need for any unnecessary industrial additions.
Ye Tian delightfully cut the peeled bamboo shoots into dice, sliced the salted pork belly into thick slices, and then tied the knots with the traditional thousand-sheet knots. She first blanched the thousand-sheet knots and bamboo shoots together, then the spareribs and salted pork together. Then, she washed them all and placed them in a large pot in the kitchen, adding hot water. After bringing the mixture to a boil over high heat, she simmered it over low heat, allowing the flavors of each ingredient to slowly release.
While waiting for the preserved pork with preserved vegetables to mature, Ye Tian worked with the other chefs to wash, cut, mix the dumpling fillings, and prepare various other dishes for dinner in advance. Assistant Chef Yu was also preparing more time-consuming dishes such as braised pork with bamboo shoots and braised pork belly.
"Sister, give me a bowl of pickled pork with preserved vegetables first. I need to replenish my energy. This is the first time I work as a waiter in my life. I didn't expect it to be so tiring! My legs are weak from standing, and there's still a whole night to go!" Chen Chi had just gone to the office area to rest alone and came out just now.
Ye Tian picked up a large spoon and filled a bowl with bamboo shoots and meat, then sprinkled a few chopped green onions in the bowl, placed it on the stove, and turned to get a spoon.
Chen Chi couldn't wait to pick it up, but the bowl was so hot that he pinched his earlobe in pain. Ye Tian handed him a spoon with a smile, and he couldn't wait to scoop it up and fish out a piece of tender bamboo shoots.
"So delicious! A piece of bamboo shoot, a sip of soup, and all my tiredness from today is gone!" He squinted his eyes, enjoying it immensely. Taking another bite of bacon, he had a different feeling: it turned out that bacon cooked with bamboo shoots could also be so delicious.
Sous Chef Yu knew Chen Chi was a picky eater, so if he praised the dish, it must be a sure thing! But he still followed curiously, took a spoonful, and tasted the soup first.
He was stunned!
He believed that the pickled pork with preserved vegetables he made was already top-notch, and he had thought about it for a long time before letting Ye Tian make this dish today. He wanted to give face to the young boss and also to give Ye Tian a difficult problem, which was equivalent to testing her again.
Unexpectedly, this little girl is so amazing! To say that the food is so delicious that it makes people's eyebrows drop is just the same.
Fortunately, he had no intention of harming anyone, otherwise he would have shot himself in the foot.
Lao Yu thought her cooking was nothing special; everyone did it the same way. The extra freshness was probably due to her precise control of the heat and the exact ratio of meat to bamboo shoots. Or was it just because she was the one making the dish, she could make it taste this way?
Deputy Chef Yu is not worried about the taste of the pickled pork with preserved vegetables, but he has other worries: many old diners will come tonight, what if they can taste it?
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