Chapter 300: Professional

Corn flour, a flour that is relatively difficult for ordinary chefs to handle.

For novice beginners, corn flour is even hell-level difficulty, because corn flour is very difficult to form into a ball when kneading dough. The purer the corn flour, the harder it is to form into a ball. This can be seen from the cornmeal buns Hui Niang made with moldy corn flour in Chen Huihong's first life.

Don't even talk about styling those buns; it's good enough to be able to roughly knead them into an irregular ball and put them in the pot to steam.

If a chef can overcome this hurdle of kneading dough with superb dough-kneading skills, they will encounter a brand new and more challenging problem in the subsequent production process—it's unpalatable.

People who often watch movies and TV shows are very familiar with it. In movies and TV shows, it is often highlighted that the protagonist is so poor that they can only eat cornmeal buns to highlight the embarrassment of life. Corn flour has a rough texture. Even if it is ground very finely, not the kind of corn flour eaten during the real famine period that is ground with corn cobs and is hard to swallow, the texture is also very poor, and it feels like it's scratching the throat when eaten.

Not only does it scratch the throat, but it is also dry and hard to eat, and it's hard on the teeth.

The normal corn flour that can be bought on the market today is basically mixed with white flour. Corn flour mixed with white flour can improve its terrible texture, make the dough fluffy and easy to shape, and taste sweeter than pure white flour, with a rich corn fragrance.

Of course, the cornmeal buns sold on the market that taste sweet in one bite are likely to have extra sugar added.

In summary, considering the inherent characteristics of corn flour, how to make dumplings with corn flour products that have both the flavor of corn flour and are delicious, how much white flour to mix becomes the key to production.

Qin Huai carefully considered for seven or eight minutes before starting to knead the dough.

Thanks to the experience of making buckwheat steamed buns before, Qin Huai has deep insights into mixing white flour. Corn flour and buckwheat have similar advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are poor texture, difficulty in shaping, and difficulty in swallowing. The advantages are that coarse grains are good for the body (at least many people think so), have their own unique flavor, are suitable for some groups with special tastes, and corn flour has its own sweetness, which is more acceptable than buckwheat steamed buns.

Qin Huai cautiously mixed in white flour and then started kneading the dough.

The strength of kneading dough must be great. It's not the kind of great strength that uses clever force, but great strength in the true sense, while using clever force to knead the dough thoroughly and softly in all aspects, so that the dough can be as soft as white flour dough.

Zang Liang has returned to Zang Mu's side to help Zang Mu. Although the vegetarian dishes Zang Mu is responsible for look relatively simple, they are all good dishes with mysteries inside. Basically, every dish is simmered with high-quality soup, and the production steps are complex.

Zang Mu is also a chef who is extremely focused during the cooking process, and basically didn't look anywhere else the whole time.

On the contrary, Tong Deyan, who exudes a "strangers stay away" aura, glanced at Qin Huai a few times when Qin Huai was making snacks.

Qin Huai didn't notice either.

All his attention was on the pickled vegetable dumplings.

The texture of pickled vegetable dumplings can be changed by mixing white flour, but the flavor is very difficult to change. Its flavor all depends on the pickled vegetables. The quality of the pickled vegetables prepared by the restaurant is relatively average, or rather normal; there is no kind that makes people amazed at first bite.

The final flavor of the pickled vegetable dumplings will likely be very normal.

Soon, a pot of pickled vegetable dumplings with normal appearance came out of the pot.

Qin Huai made 4, each pickled vegetable dumpling the size of half an adult's fist. According to General Manager Han's request, it was a solid dumpling made of dead dough. Han Guishan's original description was that each pickled vegetable dumpling was the size of more than half an adult's fist, but now Qin Huai didn't dare to make them big, nor did he dare to make many, for fear that General Manager Han would have a big appetite and eat a few more, really eating himself into the hospital.

It is not a good thing to eat the gold-master father into the hospital the day before the birthday banquet.

Seeing the pickled vegetable dumplings come out of the pot, Han Guishan, who had been playing with his phone on the chair for a long time, stood up excitedly again and went straight to the pot.

Uncover the lid.

Steam fills the air.

Four pickled vegetable dumplings with upright appearance, good appearance, smooth surface, and looking at them, you know they are not dry, hard, or rough, lie obediently in the steamer.

Qin Huai is full of confidence.

It's not that he is bragging; ordinary chefs, even chefs with better levels than him, may not be able to make pickled vegetable dumplings so beautifully.

Not every chef has rich experience in making buckwheat steamed buns. Many pastry chefs who are good at white flour will be blind as soon as they make pure coarse grains. There is a specialty in the art industry. This pickled vegetable dumpling of General Manager Han can be regarded as hitting Qin Huai's professional specialty that he has been working on for a while.

Qin Huai looked at Han Guishan, waiting for his eyes to light up.

Waited for one second, two seconds, three seconds...

It never lit up.

Qin Huai:?

Bad contact?

Han Guishan chewed silently. Not only did his eyes not light up, but his brows wrinkled as he chewed.

It can be seen that General Manager Han is very satisfied with all the snacks today, but he is not satisfied enough with the pickled vegetable dumplings.

"General Manager Han, is there any problem with the flavor? If there is any place that needs improvement, you can mention it at will. There is still time. After tomorrow's birthday banquet, I still have time to make a batch for you." Qin Huai asked.

Han Guishan swallowed the pickled vegetable dumpling in his mouth, shook his head and waved his hand, indicating that it was not Qin Huai's problem: "It's quite delicious."

"It's really quite delicious. If I could eat such delicious pickled vegetable dumplings when I was a child, I would be able to laugh out loud."

"It's just..." Han Guishan frowned. "It's not the flavor I want. Actually, I don't know exactly what flavor it is; I ate it when I was very young and forgot it long ago. Anyway... it's not this flavor."

Qin Huai:...?

So, what exactly is the flavor? Say the words, General Manager Han, say the words!

Can all Party A in the world avoid being dissatisfied with this plan but not being able to put forward any modification opinions?

Han Guishan finished a pickled vegetable dumpling silently, sat back with some disappointment, didn't eat the rest, and waited to eat other dishes.

Zang Mu's dishes are already in the final stage.

Zang Liang keenly smelled the breath of gossip, abandoned his master, and secretly slipped to Qin Huai's side, asking in a low voice: "What's wrong? Is there any problem with the dish?"

"The dish is fine; tomorrow's dishes were tested long ago." Qin Huai pointed to the pickled vegetable dumplings. "General Manager Han wanted to eat pickled vegetable dumplings, so I tried to make some, but it seems it doesn't quite suit General Manager Han's taste."

"Can you eat it? If you can eat it, help me taste it." Qin Huai even had a moment of doubt about his craftsmanship in making coarse grains.

It shouldn't be; he is the "Little Prince of Buckwheat Noodles," he shouldn't overturn in corn flour.

Zang Liang tried the dish very actively, grabbed a pickled vegetable dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth, then chewed hard.

Pickled vegetable dumplings are dead dough, which is much harder to chew than normal flour snacks. Diners who like chewy flour food might like it, otherwise they will complain that it is too tiring to eat and wastes the cheeks.

Zang Liang obviously doesn't eat this kind of chewy food much, and it took a long time to swallow it.

After swallowing, Zang Liang commented very objectively: "It's okay."

"Although it's not delicious, this is just a dead dough dumpling made of corn flour mixed with pickled vegetables. It's already very delicious to be able to make it like this. The texture is okay, not rough, has the sweetness of corn flour, and the salty and spicy taste of pickled vegetables. It's no problem to eat it as an ordinary snack. How delicious can this kind of snack be made?"

Hearing Zang Liang say this, Qin Huai only felt warm in his heart.

"I'll take one for my master to taste."

After Qin Huai nodded in agreement, Zang Liang picked up another pickled vegetable dumpling and flew to Zang Mu's side, happily saying a sentence that Qin Huai felt was probably: Master, come and help Qin Huai taste this pickled vegetable dumpling or something. Zang Mu couldn't free his hands, so Zang Liang stuffed the pickled vegetable dumpling directly into his master's mouth, almost choking his master to death.

Zang Mu could only chew frantically while staring at the heat, then couldn't swallow it, and let Zang Liang bring him a cup of water.

It's not that the pickled vegetable dumpling is too hard to swallow, but that the bite Zang Mu took was a bit too big. After all, the pickled vegetable dumpling was delivered to his mouth, and it was really hard to resist not taking a hard bite.

After Zang Mu finished the first bite of the pickled vegetable dumpling, he whispered a few words to Zang Liang, signaling Zang Liang to put the pickled vegetable dumpling on the empty plate on the side, and he would eat it himself without feeding.

Zang Liang put down the dumpling, ran to Qin Huai happily again, and very rarely lowered his voice and covered his mouth to Qin Huai: "My master said your pickled vegetable dumplings are made quite well, and it's already very difficult to make them better than this."

"He told you not to care about General Manager Han's words. Some Party A is like this, likes to make some messy opinions to make things difficult for others, just ignore it."

Qin Huai:...

It seems that the taciturn Zang Mu is a chef with a lot of stories.

Just how many difficult Party A did he meet when going out for catering to be able to say such experienced comforting words.

Not far away, Tong Deyan, who had just put the dishes on the plate and out of the pot, looked up and glanced at Zang Liang, who was whispering, and frowned.

Tong Deyan's dishes came out of the pot first.

Qin Huai vaguely remembered that there were big dishes like pork knuckles at tomorrow's birthday banquet, but there wasn't enough time for dish testing this afternoon, and Tong Deyan only arrived in City A in the afternoon and didn't prepare dishes in advance, so he couldn't make dishes that required long-term stewing or braising.

When eating at noon, Chen Gong mentioned that after eating the dishes this afternoon, Qin Huai and Zang Liang could go back to do their own things, but Tong Deyan needed to stay in Yushianfang's kitchen to continue preparing dishes.

Tong Deyan is a chef at Beiping's Babaozhai. Han Guishan tasted his craftsmanship when he went to Beiping and was very satisfied and confident in Tong Deyan's craftsmanship. This afternoon's dish testing was actually prepared for Qin Huai and Zang Mu. Bringing Tong Deyan was just because he was afraid that this eccentric Master Tong would be unhappy, thinking that General Manager Han looked down on him and didn't call him for dish testing.

It can only be said that Tong Deyan's bad temper is indeed well-known in the industry, and even a pure diner like Han Guishan knows it.

Tong Deyan made four dishes: sweet and sour carp, scallion-braised sea cucumber, oil-braised prawns, and oil-popped double crisp. Among them, oil-popped double crisp is a very famous fire-work dish in Lu cuisine, and it is also the dish that Tong Deyan just stir-fried out of the pot.

These four dishes are basically out of the pot one after another at the same time, and can be tasted together. Qin Huai has reason to suspect that Tong Deyan chose these four dishes just to prove his excellent time-carding technology.

It was indeed carded very well.

Being able to card the time well when making banquet dishes is also a plus.

I don't know how many banquets Tong Deyan has held to be able to card the time so accurately. Chen Gong really chose the right person to choose Tong Deyan as the head chef. The gold content of the golden-medal assistant is still rising.

Qin Huai looked at the four freshly cooked dishes from afar and showed an expression of wanting to eat.

He really wants to eat.

When at Huang Ji, Qin Huai ate a lot of big dishes and good dishes, but most of them were Huaiyang cuisine. Huang Shengli also knows part of Lu cuisine, but he certainly doesn't make it as well as a master like Tong Deyan who specializes in Lu cuisine.

When at Cao Guixiang's house, Qin Huai ate authentic Tan family cuisine, but what he ate the most was actually home-cooked dishes.

Among the four dishes Tong Deyan made, except for scallion-braised sea cucumber and oil-braised prawns that Qin Huai had eaten at Cao Guixiang's house, he hadn't even seen the other two dishes, let alone eaten them.

Chen Gong looked at Qin Huai's expression from afar and guessed that Qin Huai also wanted to taste it. Just as he was about to tell Han Guishan about this, and then walk up to invite Qin Huai and Han Guishan to taste it together, Tong Deyan moved first.

Tong Deyan didn't care about the dishes he had just made at all and walked straight towards Qin Huai. He walked to the plate of pickled vegetable dumplings.

"I also want to taste it." Tong Deyan said expressionlessly, his tone very calm, without any ups and downs.

Qin Huai, however, inexplicably heard a bit of dissatisfaction from this calm tone, like "you guys are forming a small group and not bringing me."

Qin Huai:?

Was their small group forming so obvious? Tong Deyan discovered it from so far away.

"Eat at will." Qin Huai said hurriedly. "Do you eat buns? Do you eat steamed buns? Do you eat tangyuan... ah no, Four-Joy Tangyuan?"

Hearing Qin Huai's enthusiastic invitation, Tong Deyan's face eased a lot. Although no visual changes could be seen, it was obvious that his mood was much better.

"Eat." Tong Deyan said.

Qin Huai took out the fermented rice steamed buns, San Ding Bao, and Four-Joy Tangyuan that he had hidden for Tong Deyan. They were all warm and could be eaten.

"That... Master Tong, can I go taste the dishes you just made?" Qin Huai asked.

Tong Deyan had already started eating pickled vegetable dumplings and said vaguely: "You have to ask General Manager Han about this."

It can be seen that Tong Deyan is a professional banquet chef.

Qin Huai walked towards Han Guishan and asked directly. Han Guishan was eating oil-popped double crisp and had no mouth to answer Qin Huai's question, so he directly stuffed him a pair of chopsticks and also gave him a bowl, signaling Qin Huai to eat at will.

After giving Qin Huai chopsticks and a bowl, Han Guishan didn't forget to give Chen Gong a pair, and the three stood in a row and started eating.

Han Guishan and Qin Huai ate happily together. When their mouths were empty, they didn't forget to communicate about which one was delicious and which one was delicious, making Chen Gong look like a worker who was reserved by their side.

He is indeed a worker.

Zang Liang looked at it dumbfounded, feeling that Han Guishan and Qin Huai would be brothers in the next second.

Zang Liang was confused. He wanted to complain to Tong Deyan directly, but opened his mouth and held it back. He walked to Zang Mu's side and whispered: "Master."

"Is dish testing like this? Can chefs eat with the boss?"

Zang Mu said faintly: "General Manager Han doesn't mind."

Then Zang Mu looked up and silently glanced at Qin Huai and Han Guishan, finding that Han Guishan was already handing Qin Huai a bone plate to facilitate Qin Huai spitting out shrimp shells.

Qin Huai held the bone plate and bowl back and touched a fermented rice steamed bun and handed it to Han Guishan, telling General Manager Han to take it easy, fermented rice steamed buns go better with dishes.

"Qin Huai... should not understand."

"Didn't Tan Weian say it? He is a pure wild-road background."

"And he is the boss of the community canteen himself, so he doesn't need to understand these."

"Zang Liang, come back here; you are not allowed to go over and eat!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 301 =====