Chapter 194 Miscalculation
First, the food made by Mrs. Chen is indeed of many varieties, but the workmanship is rough, the ingredients are not particular, and they are only fancy, without any quality to speak of. Did you taste the wraps she made? The sauce and salt inside were too salty and had a bitter taste? For the last bowl of noodle dumpling soup, her hands were not strong enough and the noodle dumplings fell apart. ”
Hearing this, everyone fell silent. Mrs. Chen's face turned pale and blue, but she was so blocked that she couldn't utter a word.
Having said that, the leading leader continued seriously.
"As chefs, we don't ask you to make fancy food, but we ask you to use limited ingredients to make amazing food. Chen Hongyan has obviously done this. She simply made a fried dumpling with thin skin, large fillings and rich juice, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The seaweed and egg soup she cooked has the best taste. Everyone can taste this!"
At this point, everyone understood that the pan-fried dumplings and seaweed egg soup made by Chen Hongyan were indeed very delicious.
Next, the leader continued to comment on the dishes made by Liu Daqian.
"As for the third candidate, Liu Daqian, strictly speaking, the appearance of your steamed buns and vegetable fried noodles is good enough, but unfortunately, the taste and the cooking time are not well controlled. First, the steamed buns were not fermented enough, and too much edible alkali was added. Secondly, the noodles were not chewy enough, and too few eggs were added, so the steamed buns tasted alkaline, and the noodles were very loose."
At this point, the leader wisely stopped the topic. Liu Daqian lowered his head in shame and admitted it himself.
"That's right, the boss's comments are absolutely correct. I haven't made these dumplings for a long time. I didn't control the amount of edible alkali and put too much at once. When I was making ramen, I didn't have enough time, so I was a bit rushed."
Therefore, everyone present finally understood that the leader was not partial, but was adhering to the principle of fairness and justice. In the first competition, the breakfast made by Chen Hongyan was indeed slightly better.
Mrs. Chen stood in the crowd, listening to everyone talking about hygiene, and her eyes became colder and colder.
She thought bitterly in her heart, if she had known that she could get first place by making just a crappy dumpling, why did she make it so fancy?
It's really like a boat capsized in a ditch.
At this moment, Bai Yichen, who was standing in the crowd, announced again.
"Okay, now that the results of the first written test have been announced, let's move on to the second round."
Someone immediately took the initiative to call out to the crowd.
"Alright, alright, now that the first round of competition is over, everyone please make way and let the three contestants continue with the second round."
Hearing this person's voice, everyone walked to the side. When An Xin passed by Chen Hongyan, she whispered to cheer up her old mother.
"Come on, Mom. I'm rooting for you."
As long as she can win the first round of breakfast, I believe Chen Hongyan will have no trouble in the second and third rounds.
The second round of competition is naturally about cooking a full meal. In other words, you will cook two of your best dishes and let the leaders present taste and observe, so that the fittest will survive.
"Next, we will have the second round of competition. The three candidates will be required to prepare a full meal. In order to save ingredients, we will prepare two dishes and one soup. You can choose the ingredients and staple food yourself. It will take one and a half hours to prepare the full meal."
Anyway, there are so many people present, so just make two dishes and a soup to feed the onlookers. If you make too much, it would seem like a waste of food. After all, which unit is not rich these days?
Sure enough, as soon as Bai Yichen finished speaking, someone in the crowd started shouting.
"Two dishes and a soup, we're in for a treat."
"Oh, you are the only one who knows how to eat all day long."
"Hahaha, aren't you here to visit the chef selection just for that bite of food?"
"Yes, we are all here to watch the game and eat and drink for free."
Amid the laughter and jokes of the crowd, three candidates came to the chopping board with heavy faces and began to select ingredients.
Compared with the mistakes in the first round, Liu Daqian and Chen Saozi were much more cautious when choosing ingredients and chose rice. Only Chen Hongyan continued to choose flour.
An Xin looked at her old mother. Perhaps because of her victory in the first round, her face and mentality seemed calmer. She took flour, some meat and vegetables and went back to her chopping board to start making staple food.
Chen Hongyan put carrots and purple sweet potatoes into the pot and cooked them thoroughly. Then she mashed the carrots into carrot puree and the purple sweet potatoes into purple sweet potato puree. She then added flour and eggs to knead the dough.
When a red dough and a purple dough were placed on the wooden board to ferment, An Xin probably guessed that her mother might be planning to make colorful steamed buns.
The staple food is colorful steamed buns that are a mixture of carrot and purple sweet potato. As for the dishes, An Xin roughly guessed after looking at the ingredients and meat placed in front of her mother that next, Chen Hongyan might make braised potatoes, stir-fried green beans, and finally scrambled eggs with green peppers.
Two dishes and one soup are ready. The ingredients are simple but nutritious and comprehensive. I stood in the crowd with peace of mind and couldn't help but silently give a thumbs up to Chen Hongyan.
The ingredients her mother chose are not very expensive, but they are nutritious and delicious, and their simplicity can capture everyone's hearts.
At this moment, Mrs. Chen and Liu Daqian were busy preparing two dishes and a soup. Perhaps because they had lost the first game so badly, this time Mrs. Chen and Liu Daqian were both ready to fight hard and had no time to pay attention to Chen Hongyan.
Just like that, in everyone's anticipation, an hour and a half passed quickly. Chen Hongyan lived up to everyone's expectations and steamed out a tray of red and purple steamed buns, which were placed there in a juicy emerald color, paired with the hot and fragrant braised pork offal, scrambled eggs with green peppers, and dried flat green beans. Looking from a distance, the red and green colors looked very appetizing.
Mrs. Chen was busy with her head down for most of the day, making egg fried rice as the staple food, stir-fried pork liver with green onions, braised beef, and finally a Chinese cabbage soup with fresh lean meat, white mushrooms, and Chinese cabbage and tofu. It looked very delicious, and it probably looked like that when it was served on the table.
Chen Daqian prepared the main course this time with great quality.
His staple food was white rice, which was good, but he also made an extra portion of glutinous rice steamed buns. For the main course, he made himself a spicy and sour pig's trotter, fried beef jerky, and a shrimp and seaweed soup. It was full of meat and gave people a very luxurious visual feast.
When the food in the hands of the three candidates was placed on the table, the leaders on the rostrum tasted it one by one, and soon the results of the evaluation came out.
In view of the fact that Mrs. Chen was not convinced last time, the leaders on the rostrum did not rush to announce the results after tasting the food this time. Instead, they organized the people from last time, including the three people who cooked, to taste the food again one by one.
Finally, the leader stood on a high place and spoke to the people participating in the tasting.
"This time, everyone has tasted the food, so we won't comment on them one by one. You can vote by raising your hands or express your opinions. Who do you think is the best?"
Anyway, most of the people present today are employees of the exploration team. After this chef was hired, he also cooked for everyone. Of course, the ones who benefited the most were these employees. After discussion just now, the leaders decided to give the right to speak to the employees present.
The three employees who participated in the tasting looked at each other and finally pointed their fingers at Chen Hongyan and said in a decisive tone.
"Since the leader has spoken, we won't hide anything. We think the food cooked by Chen Hongyan is most to our liking."
After all, ordinary employees like them may not always be able to eat the meals prepared by the other two, because the canteen’s funds are there, so items such as pig offal and eggs can be bought frequently.
Chen Hongyan was very down-to-earth in cooking for their canteen. The meals were affordable for people on weekdays and they were delicious and tasty.
Although the ingredients prepared by Mrs. Chen and Liu Daqian tasted very good, they were specially bought for today's chef competition and might not be available in the cafeteria on ordinary days.
If we choose Chen Saozi and Liu Daqian as chefs, we will definitely have the ingredients for their cooking. Will people still be able to eat? Are you still alive?
Seeing that everyone's fingers were pointing at Chen Hongyan, Mrs. Chen couldn't stand it anymore and jumped up and down on the spot.
"What? Is the food we cooked not good? Isn't it fragrant enough?"
This time she showed off her best skills and used all the tricks she had learned, so why didn't people choose her? I clearly tasted the dish she cooked just now, and it tasted very good, not too much salt, and the seasonings were just right. Although the dish Chen Hongyan cooked tasted good, it wasn't much better than hers, right?
Liu Daqian on the side also agreed with a serious face.
"Yes, you all unanimously chose Chen Hongyan as your chef, you should give a reason!"
After all, he was busy for most of the day but didn't even get any results. He was upset. After all, he used to be a chef in the county town. How could he be worse than a country woman?
As far as he knew, Chen Hongyan's family was not as well-off as his, and the dishes she cooked were all home-cooked meals. He had just tasted the dishes he cooked, and the taste and the cooking time were just right. How could Chen Hongyan's cooking skills surpass his?
The three employees who had just pointed their fingers at Chen Hongyan looked at each other, and finally someone stood up and spoke.
"We chose Chen Hongyan because her dishes are very down-to-earth and homely. On weekdays, the kitchen can afford these dishes, and our employees can easily eat them. The dishes you two make may look high-end and taste good, but on weekdays, the kitchen doesn't have the funds to buy so many good ingredients. If we choose you two as chefs, I guess we will have no food to eat."
As soon as the man finished speaking, a shout broke out from the crowd.
"Well said, you are worthy of being an ordinary employee of ours, standing on the same line with us."
"Yes, Mrs. Chen and Liu Daqian make such expensive dishes, but do they really think that we ordinary workers eat beef and shrimp soup every day?"
"It's really Chen Hongyan who thinks about us and makes something that we can afford to eat. We like such down-to-earth chefs. She can also innovatively use carrot puree and purple sweet potato puree to make two-color steamed buns. The kitchen doesn't have to spend extra money to buy sugar. The sugar in the carrots and purple sweet potatoes is enough to make the steamed buns sweet. It's really innovative."
They were on the periphery just now, but they could see clearly that the ingredients chosen by Mrs. Chen and Liu Daqian were either expensive beef and seafood. Although it was just dried shrimps, for cities in the south like theirs, dried shrimps are also very expensive.
On weekdays, they can only eat dried shrimps during festivals. The dried shrimps today were what the kitchen intended to keep for the employees to eat during the New Year, but because of the competition, they were taken out and used up in advance, so there was nothing to eat during the New Year.
Listening to the discussions of the crowd, the leading leader looked at Mrs. Chen and Liu Daqian meaningfully and spoke slowly.
"Now you understand why everyone chose Chen Hongyan as the chef, right?"
Mrs. Chen and Liu Daqian lowered their heads in silence. Although they hated her in their hearts, they dared not show it!
Now they finally understand where they lost: they lost because they did not consider the employees and were unpopular!
Mrs. Chen's face was full of despair. She had spent a lot of time preparing for the competition and worked hard at home, but she didn't expect that she still failed to get the job of this crappy chef.
Liu Daqian was relatively calm. Since he couldn't be elected, he would just go home and continue digging the ground!
Next, after discussion with the general leadership, it was decided on the spot to keep Chen Hongyan as the team’s chef.
Of course, in view of Chen Hongyan's good performance this time, the leaders on site also discussed and decided to only pay this extra-staff chef a monthly salary of 30 yuan.
But since everyone liked the food cooked by Chen Hongyan so much, from the first month of her employment, Chen Hongyan did not have a probation period and was directly promoted to chef, receiving a formal salary set at 400 yuan per month.
As soon as this matter was announced, Chen Hongyan thanked all the leaders with a smile on her face, while Mrs. Chen was furious.
If she had known that these leaders would get a salary increase on the spot after choosing this crappy chef, she would have asked her husband Chen to bribe these leaders. What a miscalculation.
So, Mrs. Chen, who had miscalculated, went home in a rage. It is said that she did not cook for Old Chen at home that day, so Old Chen had to make noodles for himself to fill his stomach.
As the daughter of a newly promoted chef, An Xin personally cooked a table full of delicious meals at noon that day to reward all the leaders who came. She also secretly took out two bottles of good wine from her personal warehouse to help Bai Yichen entertain these leaders.
As a result, the guests naturally enjoyed the meal very much, and Bai Yichen was drunk by the leaders.
After helping the drunk Bai Yichen to bed to rest, An Xin personally drove the team's jeep to take the drunk leaders back to the provincial capital.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com