Chapter 167: Zheng Da

Although Zheng Da considered himself a low-key master, compared to a true master, he still had obvious shortcomings.

His language was very poor.

This could be seen from a long time ago when Zheng Da went to the Yunzhong Canteen to guide Qin Huai.

His language was basically limited to: "You understand this, right?", "I'm talking about this, not that", "The point of this is this", "It's just this feeling", "Yes, yes, yes, it's this, not that."

Purely encrypted communication.

This time, although Zheng Da was well-prepared, he still hadn't overcome the language barrier.

Zheng Da chose not to overcome it and gave up directly.

As long as there was no language in the teaching process, there were no barriers to overcome!

Using language to teach was something only a master like Huang Shengli, who had never taught a genius, would do. Zheng Da indicated that geniuses like them didn't need language; they could just demonstrate directly.

Zheng Da was very well-prepared.

To prevent his teaching content from being too boring, he even tried to show off some tricks while taking out the crab meat and roe, wanting to show Qin Huai his exquisite crab-taking technique, but he ended up taking out too much crab meat.

No matter, if there's too much flour, add water; if there's too much water, add flour. This formula applies to most dim sum.

Just add a bit more of the other ingredients.

The production process of dim sum filling is inherently full of uncertain factors. The simple ones are when a single filling isn't balanced well, and the more complex ones are when a single ingredient has a problem. For example, the sweet potato isn't sweet enough, the chili is too spicy, the carrot flavor is too heavy...

Making dim sum isn't like following a formula to solve a problem; once you learn the example, you can't just plug all similar problems into the formula. To be accurate, whether it's savory or pastry, the vast majority of dishes are like this. The higher the difficulty of the dish, the greater the uncertainty, and problems can occur at any time during the production process.

Just like the longevity noodle recipe Qin Huai obtained—it was clearly an S-grade longevity noodle recipe, but because the head chef had something to do and asked the assistant to watch the heat, and the assistant got distracted, the heat was botched, turning the S-grade longevity noodles into A-grade.

Zheng Da's situation couldn't even be considered a disaster; it was just a small interlude in dim sum production.

Ignoring these small interludes, Zheng Da's craftsmanship was impeccable.

In terms of kneading dough, Zheng Da's level of making simple shumai skins that are thick on the inside and thin on the outside was simply a dimensional strike. He didn't even need to be serious; just like Qin Huai kneading dough for ordinary pasta, he could rely on muscle memory while daydreaming.

In terms of seasoning the filling, Zheng Da's seasoning level was far above Zheng Siyuan and Qin Huai. Qin Huai's seasoning was certified as advanced by the game system, and based on the game system's rating, he felt Zheng Da's seasoning must be at the master level.

Just like Zheng Da's poor language during teaching, his seasoning basically relied on intuition.

A chef's intuition.

After processing the minced fresh shrimp meat, crab meat, and crab roe, he put them in a bowl. Zheng Da didn't even need to find a small bowl to season a small portion first to test the degree; he just added the ingredients—salt, Shaoxing wine, and sesame oil—directly. Watching his seasoning process, an outsider like Huang Anyao would definitely not be able to tell that seasoning crab roe shumai was difficult, because Zheng Da did it so casually.

Smooth and flowing, done in one go.

And it wasn't the kind of smooth and flowing that had a master's style. When watching Huang Shengli make Three-Set Duck, outsiders could clearly see that Huang Shengli was a master with superb skills because his process of making Three-Set Duck was very "high-class."

But watching Zheng Da make crab roe shumai, those who didn't understand wouldn't see the trick at all. They would think this middle-aged master was just so-so, and that he wasn't very serious about making dim sum. It felt like "do this, do that, do this, then do that," just stir it casually, and the filling was seasoned and ready to wrap the shumai.

Fortunately, Zheng Da's technique for wrapping shumai was very beautiful.

Fast movements, skilled technique; the wrapped shumai were all beautiful, similar in size and appearance, looking like they were produced on an assembly line.

Zheng Da hadn't lost the fundamentals he learned as a pastry chef at the state-run restaurant in his early years.

Focusing on high efficiency and fast work.

During the whole process of Zheng Da making crab roe shumai, until it was steamed, he didn't say much.

Purely making it.

Qin Huai watched very carefully from the side.

The crab roe shumai in the pot was still steaming. Qin Huai had never eaten crab roe shumai and didn't know the taste, nor could he imagine what it would taste like, but he was already looking forward to it.

It must be delicious!

Qin Huai had never so intuitively felt that Zheng Da was a top-tier pastry chef with superb skills.

No wonder Huang Shengli stepped on Zheng Da every day. Seeing his junior brother with outstanding skills give up the path of cooking to go into business, achieve financial freedom, live happily like a god every day, and have a son with excellent talent to inherit his skills—if he were Huang Shengli, he would also step on Zheng Da.

"Xiao Qin, how is it? Did you understand just now? It doesn't matter if you didn't; the seasoning of this crab roe shumai is indeed relatively complex. If you feel you didn't understand it the first time, taste the flavor after this batch of shumai is out of the pot, feel it, and I'll make it for you again, then you can try it yourself."

"Oh, it's already past three o'clock; if I make it again, you won't have time to try it yourself. No matter, you can learn and digest it today and try it tomorrow. Don't rush; your Master Huang also has to do physical therapy tomorrow afternoon and won't have time to come over."

"I have to talk to him; this back pain isn't a small problem. He needs to do more physical therapy. It's finally improved; what's the point of doing physical therapy for only these two days? He needs to do it for a few more days!"

Qin Huai:...

Is there a possibility that Huang Shengli wasn't seen every morning because he was doing physical therapy?

Qin Huai decided to chat for a while first.

"Master Zheng, I've actually always been a bit curious. How did you and Master Huang learn to cook back then? Was it learned like you're teaching me now?" Qin Huai asked.

It wasn't his fault for being curious; it was just that Zheng Da and Huang Shengli's teaching modes were too different, not at all like they were brought out by the same master.

"Back then." Zheng Da couldn't help but show a nostalgic look when Qin Huai asked this, "Has your Master Huang told you?"

Qin Huai shook his head.

Zheng Da immediately got excited and said, "Then I have to tell you properly!"

"My senior brother and I have known each other since we were kids. Our parents were in the same unit, both working at the silk weaving factory. Back then, there were many children in the family. In my family, only my dad had a job, and my mom could only do odd jobs; life was tight. My family had six brothers and sisters, and I was the fourth, stuck in the middle, hungry every day. Your Master Huang was about the same; his family had fewer children, only three, and he was the eldest, but his grandmother had tuberculosis and had to take medicine all year round, so his family situation was even worse than mine."

"Back then, being a master chef at a state-run restaurant was a good job. Although my master had injured his face and limped because of the war when he was young, his skills were good. At that time, among the several state-run restaurants in the city, my master's skills were the best. As long as it was an important banquet, my master had to be the one to do it. When foreign guests, foreign businessmen, or leaders came, they all named my master to cook. At that time, this area was full of state-run factories. We children of the state-run factories might not know who the factory director was, but absolutely no one didn't know who Master Jing was."

"One day, my master put out the word that he wanted to take in a few apprentices. Xiao Qin, you don't know how sensational that news was. My master was already over thirty then, unmarried, and the matchmakers had worn out his threshold, but they hadn't moved him. Back then, taking in apprentices was like taking in half a son. My master had no children, so taking in apprentices meant passing on his skills to them so they could support him in his old age. My senior brother and I were selected through layers of screening, even defeating the factory director's son, to stand out and become my master's apprentices!"

Zheng Da said this with a glowing face, just short of reminiscing about the past like Old Man Wang.

Qin Huai felt that Zheng Da wasn't clumsy with words; he was quite good at speaking, and he talked a lot. He asked Zheng Da how Master Jing taught his apprentices back then, and Zheng Da rattled off a bunch of stuff, but didn't say a single thing about the main point.

"Then how did Master Jing teach you and Master Huang?" Qin Huai asked.

"Just like I'm teaching you hand-in-hand today." Zheng Da said.

"First, practice the fundamentals: horse stance, hanging sandbags, moving bricks, practicing strength. Then cutting vegetables, kneading dough, flipping the pot, flipping sand. My master's way of teaching apprentices was actually very traditional and very luxurious. His philosophy was to let the apprentices eat their fill first, nourish their bodies, have nutrition, and then practice strength, eat good dishes, and practice their tongues."

"Back then, my senior brother and I were both skinny, half-grown boys. Master let me live in his house. For the first half year, I didn't learn anything; I just ate. A full bowl of white rice, two big bowls every day, and if it wasn't enough, I ate coarse grain steamed buns, corn, sweet potatoes. Not only was there rice, but there was also food. Every now and then, Master would cook secretly for us to eat meat. Back then, never mind calling him Master; if he asked me to call him Dad, I would have been happy to."

Qin Huai couldn't help but laugh.

Zheng Da also laughed and said, "Xiao Qin, don't laugh. It sounds funny, but in that situation, our master was really no different from a second parent."

"Back then, not only did we have full meals every meal, but we also had new clothes for the New Year. Huang Shengli was the eldest in his family; his younger brothers and sisters wore his old clothes, and he wore new clothes, not knowing the hunger of the poor. I was the fourth; by the time the clothes reached me, they had been passed down four times, basically clothes sewn on top of patches. Never mind new clothes; I hadn't even worn second-hand clothes. The first year Master made me a new set of clothes for the New Year, I couldn't bear to wear them. At night, when I slept, I secretly took them off and held them in my arms."

"Back then, I swore that when I became a master chef at the state-run restaurant and had a salary, I would also buy clothes for my master every New Year."

"Unfortunately..." Zheng Da sighed, "I didn't become a master chef at the state-run restaurant; they didn't look down on a pastry chef like me, so they let Huang Shengli become one. I didn't buy clothes for Master for many years before Master..."

"But it doesn't matter. Although I didn't take in apprentices, I have many junior fellow apprentices. Xiao Qin, you can ask Dong Shi and the others. That year, the red envelope I gave wasn't the biggest; Huang Shengli couldn't compare to me at all. Xiao Qin, don't worry, as long as you are willing to apprentice under me, your red envelope will definitely be the biggest, bigger than all of theirs combined!"

"Not only buying clothes for the New Year, we buy them every quarter, any brand can be bought. If you don't like those branded goods, we can find Gong Liang to customize them. He doesn't just do silk business; he also sells clothes, has his own brand, and you can wear whatever you want!"

Qin Huai felt the topic had drifted a bit, so he led it back: "Then after practicing the fundamentals, did Master Jing teach you and Master Huang like you're making crab roe shumai today?"

Zheng Da nodded: "About the same. My master was a traditional way of teaching apprentices, bringing them to his side to do odd jobs in the kitchen first, watching first, then learning. Watch with your eyes first; what you can learn by watching, you don't need to be taught. What you can't learn by watching, you ask. With the master demonstrating over and over again for years, even the stupidest apprentice can be led to the door." "After learning enough, the apprentice goes to work himself and takes charge of one side."

"When I first sold fermented rice steamed buns at the state-run restaurant, I was despised by the neighbors to death. Everyone said the fermented rice steamed buns I made weren't as good as Master's. I'm not afraid to tell you, back then I sold steamed buns at the state-run restaurant during the day and hid in my room at night to cry, feeling that I had lost Master's face."

"My senior brother was about the same; his dishes were also met with bad reviews."

"Actually, thinking about it later, the neighbors didn't say anything bad. Although everyone said my skills were far inferior to Master's, not a single steamed bun was sold less; there were still long queues every day. It's normal to be inferior to Master; never mind that I was just a hairy boy back then and my skills weren't good enough, even now I'm not as good as Master."

Zheng Da chatted about some interesting nonsense while his topic drifted infinitely, while making crab roe shumai.

While Zheng Da was making crab roe shumai, Qin Huai ate the shumai he had left for Huang Anyao.

A bit hungry.

Qin Huai:...

No, Master Zheng, you reminisce if you want to reminisce, why are you bringing in private goods?

Two batches of crab roe shumai were made, and the afternoon teaching also entered the end.

Qin Huai didn't have time to try it himself. Since he wanted to make crab roe shumai, the whole process of preparing materials had to be done by the chef himself. Qin Huai didn't make many dim sum with fresh shrimp filling, and crab meat and crab roe were even more of a knowledge blind spot for him. If you are not familiar with the ingredients, you have to contact the ingredients more.

In a long string of nonsense, the content related to teaching that Zheng Da emphasized again and again was that when making crab roe shumai, the chef must prepare the materials by hand throughout the process.

The preparation process wasn't troublesome, nothing more than taking shrimp meat, taking crab meat, and taking crab roe.

Only by preparing materials by hand can you be familiar with the ingredients in the shortest possible time, establish contact, and season better.

Qin Huai felt that what Zheng Da said was very reasonable.

He even felt that Zheng Da's teaching level was still okay.

The teacher's personal level is here; whether to teach is the teacher's business, and whether to learn is the student's ability.

Huang Shengli had textbooks with detailed explanations, Zheng Da had no textbooks with explanations, both were textbooks, as long as the student's comprehension was sufficient, they could learn.

"Thank you, Master Zheng, you've worked hard today. I have to trouble you to come earlier tomorrow afternoon. I'll go back and master it today, and start making crab roe shumai after lunch tomorrow. If there is anything wrong in the process, I have to trouble you to point it out in time." Qin Huai expressed his after-class speech.

"No trouble, no trouble." Zheng Da said happily, "Ask me anytime if you have anything you don't understand when you go back, and tell me anytime if there is anything uncomfortable about the house. Next time you lack furniture, don't tell Gong Liang, tell me directly. This house is rented by me, and I will equip it for you."

Qin Huai happily got off work. Although he didn't do anything in the afternoon and ate 6 crab roe shumai, it was still hard for him.

After getting off work, Qin Huai went to the bone-setting shop for routine bone-setting, and then went home to rest.

When Qin Huai was setting bones, Gong Liang received the news that Zheng Da had made two batches of crab roe shumai this afternoon to teach Qin Huai.

Gong Liang felt that the sky had collapsed.

The longevity noodles in the morning made him happy and relaxed his vigilance, thinking that eating it in the morning was a big gain, but he didn't expect there would be more in the afternoon.

A miscalculation!

Zheng Da's heart is really dirty!

Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, playing tactics with him, playing military strategy with him!

Aren't they childhood friends? Isn't he an angel investor? Everyone in the Huang Ji kitchen basically ate it, but he, as an original shareholder of Huang Ji, didn't eat it!

He hadn't eaten crab roe shumai for a whole year!

Zheng Da is really not a thing; he clearly knew that he liked eating this crab roe shumai the most, but he didn't call him when he rarely cooked.

Gong Liang wanted to contact Qin Huai, beating around the bush, hinting that he hadn't eaten crab roe shumai for a whole year.

By the way, reveal his glorious battle record of eating crab roe shumai made by Master Jing for a month, proving that he is the most authoritative appraiser of crab roe shumai, and no one understands crab roe shumai better than him.

No one!

If Qin Huai needed a gourmet who could sit at the kitchen entrance to help him refer during the teaching process, and by the way eat some crab roe shumai made by Zheng Da, he, Gong Liang, must be the best candidate.

Although he couldn't speak, nor could he write.

But he could eat.

He could taste whether it was delicious or not!

Gong Liang wanted to send a message to Qin Huai.

But he held back after thinking about it.

As a gold-medal salesman, Gong Liang knew very well how to stop when he was ahead, and that he couldn't be too pestering, and that different relationships do different things.

His relationship with Qin Huai hadn't reached the point of being able to pester.

Assistant Xiao Qin was already very good, letting him sit at the kitchen entrance to eat longevity noodles. Such a good relationship couldn't be destroyed by his eagerness for quick success, so he had to endure it.

Gong Liang felt that based on his understanding of Zheng Da, he wouldn't do it tomorrow since he made so much crab roe shumai today.

He underestimated the enemy this time, so he must sit at the kitchen entrance to eat next time!

Then the next afternoon, Gong Liang got the news that Qin Huai made a batch of crab roe shumai, and Zheng Da made another batch of crab roe shumai.

According to informed sources, Qin Huai's crab roe shumai had a certain degree of disaster, which was normal. If Qin Huai succeeded once without a disaster when he first learned crab roe shumai, Gong Liang would have to consider whether to buy the house next to the one Qin Huai rented and move in.

But Zheng Da's crab roe shumai performed normally.

Everyone who ate it said it was good.

This news made Gong Liang a bit unable to sit still.

No, why doesn't Zheng Da follow the routine?

I don't care who you are, don't get off Zheng Da, can you make crab roe shumai for two more days?

On the third day, Gong Liang didn't leave after eating lunch at Huang Ji. After the guests were almost gone, he moved a small stool and consciously sat at the kitchen entrance.

Huang Ji crowd:...

This day finally came.

It's not that he can't sit inside the kitchen with a small stool.

Today Qin Huai made it first, then Zheng Da made it.

After yesterday's disaster, Qin Huai had a further understanding of the difficulty of seasoning crab roe shumai.

He didn't have an ordinary disaster yesterday.

It was a super big disaster.

Let's put it this way: if the crab roe shumai made yesterday was given to Qin Luo to eat, Qin Luo would definitely widen her eyes and loudly question who made this?!

This is definitely not my brother's craftsmanship. Who is slandering my brother's reputation? Stand out, I, Qin Luo, want to fight him to the end!

It's fortunate that it wasn't crab roe shumai made at the Yunzhong Canteen, otherwise it would be a huge shame.

Qin Huai also finally understood why the vast majority of chefs would rather use the second method, which was several times more troublesome, to make crab roe shumai, and absolutely not touch the first one.

It's too difficult.

This disaster is really fierce.

That's not shumai for people to eat.