Chapter 337: Thickening

In the kitchen of Yunzhong Canteen, Tan Weian became the protagonist for the first time.

Master Tan, who had worked hard all day and eaten two big bowls of crab roe rice and one portion of crab roe noodles, was ready to go. If conditions didn't allow, he even wanted to roll up his sleeves to show his seriousness, tasting the crab roe sauce recommended by Xiao Qin and Xiao Zheng one by one.

Master Tan looked at Xiao Qin and Xiao Zheng standing on his sides and couldn't help but straighten his back.

Master Tan, who possessed a treasure bag and had loved eating crab roe rice since he was a child, knew very well that for crab roe rice to be delicious, crab roe sauce was very important.

For crab roe sauce to be delicious, the selection of ingredients was very important.

High-quality crab roe sauce should be made with fresh and plump crab roe, carefully stewed, stir-fried, and seasoned, making it orange-yellow and golden, looking oily and bright, being able to see large and plump crab roe, but in fact, it was delicious without too many complex and redundant flavors, without the fishy smell of crab roe, and at the same time being able to make the crab fragrance overflow.

Now the selection of ingredients was not good.

No fresh crab roe, only high-quality crab roe sauce.

The project of secondary processing of crab roe sauce involved some of Master Tan's knowledge blind spots.

But it didn't matter, Master Tan had confidence in himself.

Master Tan patted his chest in his heart, silently indicating what kind of person he was. He was a professional crab roe rice eater, with ancestral recipes and craftsmanship. Over the years, he had also made quite a few crab roe sauces himself. Although none were as good as the ones his grandfather made, but... but he also made quite a few.

Secondary processing, just a small problem.

Master Tan started making crab roe sauce according to his ancestral recipe.

Master Tan encountered the first problem. He found that secondary processing and making crab roe sauce with fresh crab roe were really completely different.

Master Tan found that it was also different when stewing.

Master Tan found that seasoning was simply as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Master Tan found that he seemed to have flipped the car.

Master Tan felt that the problem was not big, indicating that he was just not skilled and didn't play well just now. This pot was directly abandoned and ignored, and he started over.

Master Tan started all over again.

Master Tan encountered the exact same problem again.

Master Tan tried hard to overcome the difficulties.

Master Tan failed to overcome.

Master Tan flipped the car again.

Master Tan couldn't find an excuse.

Master Tan began to doubt life.

Master Tan began to think about how Zheng Siyuan managed to make these crab roe sauces into crab roe sauces with normal flavors after secondary processing before. Is the secondary processing of crab roe sauce reasonable? Is this difficulty too high? How to control this heat? How to re-season this?

No, how did Zheng Siyuan do it?

Are they perverts like Qin Huai?

That's right, they are all perverts.

Master Tan silently autistic.

Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan strongly watched Tan Weian's two flipped works, tasting and commenting while watching.

"Look, I said it. Although my heat control is not good, I could clearly see just now that it couldn't be stewed on such a high fire. The crab roe sauce has already been stewed once, and it must be stewed slowly on a low fire when stewing oil again." Qin Huai pointed and pointed.

Zheng Siyuan nodded in agreement: "It's like this. A recipe is a recipe, and practical operation is practical operation. My dad and my master's master both said that whether an apprentice can leave the master depends on whether they understand flexibility and have the ability to deal with problems and the strength to solve problems."

"If it were you, what would you do?" Zheng Siyuan asked.

Qin Huai tasted it shallowly again: "I'm not qualified to talk about heat control, but seasoning... if it were me, I wouldn't put such heavy ingredients."

"We are not using fresh crab roe, but directly using finished crab roe sauce. The steps of removing fishy smell have already been done by the original crab roe sauce. Theoretically, things like cooking wine and spices don't need to be added additionally. However, this crab roe sauce adds very few things, and the taste itself is very close to fresh crab roe sauce."

"Secondary stewing and stir-frying will cause the crab roe sauce to become thick, and the taste will change slightly. If it were me, I would put more effort into thickening."

Zheng Siyuan nodded again: "I think so too, so I have repeatedly made crab roe sauce these days. The step I really practiced is actually thickening. But Tan Weian obviously didn't realize these. His two thickenings just now were very basic. It's obvious that he didn't find the core of the problem, nor did he think deeply or carve carefully."

After speaking, Zheng Siyuan even shook his head with some disappointment.

Standing between the two, Tan Weian, who could hear the conversation clearly and see the expressions on their faces, was:...

No, can you guys give me at least the most basic respect? Although the crab roe sauce I made today is indeed a bit...

Alright, but at least you guys shouldn't scold me directly to my face. You guys should at least turn your backs...

Forget it, I mean can you guys go home and gossip about me on WeChat? I, Tan Weian, also want...

Qin Huai interrupted Tan Weian's crazy inner monologue: "Speaking of thickening, I chatted a lot about thickening with Master Cao at noon today. Master Cao is also very good at thickening. She recommends that we use diluted starch water to thicken it thinly for the first time to see the state of the crab roe sauce."

"If the effect is ideal, for example, it doesn't affect the original crab taste of the crab roe sauce, and it also has the thickness that crab roe sauce should have, then try this thickening method and thicken it twice before and after."

As soon as these words came out, Tan Weian didn't crazily gossip in his heart anymore. He opened his eyes wide and showed an incredible expression: "Thicken twice? Can you thicken crab roe sauce twice? This is not making a dish. Besides, it's very rare to thicken twice when making a dish, right?"

Zheng Siyuan didn't speak at first, but lowered his head and thought for a while. Under Tan Weian's gaze, which was full of "This is too outrageous, this is too violating the ancestors' decision," he spoke slowly: "I probably understand what Master Cao means."

Tan Weian:?

You understand again?

"What we want to do is double-crab buns. Buns are different from crab roe noodles and rice. Buns need to make the finished crab roe sauce into filling, wrap it into the raw embryo, and then steam it again."

"This is also why my dad said that making double-crab buns into the taste of a dish is wrong, because it shouldn't be a dish. Making it into the taste of a dish shows that the thinking is wrong. What we want to do is steamed dessert. It should be the taste of flour food. Green pepper shredded pork is delicious when stir-fried in a pot. Stir-fried green pepper shredded pork wrapped in a bun and steamed again is not that taste."

"The crab roe sauce we are making now is actually for noodles and rice. This is the thinking of finding the correct crab roe sauce taste, but it is not the final purpose."

"In Tan Weian's recipe, the crab roe sauce for making crab roe buns and the crab roe sauce for rice are not the same recipe, which is also the reason."

Qin Huai nodded crazily: "Yes, Master Cao means this too."

Speaking of this, Tan Weian finally understood a little.

"So... this is the flexible flexibility you guys said just now? It's not that I have to learn to flexibly apply these recipes, but that different recipes applied to different desserts also have to be flexibly applied."

"No, you guys should understand this truth, then you guys just now... are you guys saying it to me on purpose?" Tan Weian looked at Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan in surprise.

Zheng Siyuan had no expression and looked at his eyes, already starting to empty. It was clear that he didn't listen to what Tan Weian said at all, and had already started to think about how to thicken twice to make the crab roe sauce suitable for double-crab buns.

Qin Huai looked at Tan Weian with a smile in his eyes, and even a few points of relief could be seen in his expression.

"Of course, you contributed so many recipes yesterday. If the two of us only took your recipes to research but didn't bring you along, and in the end only you were confused and didn't research anything, wouldn't you be at a big loss."

There can't be no Tan Weian in the small team. Without Tan Weian's treasure bag, how many detours would Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan have to take.

Hearing Qin Huai say this, Tan Weian was even a bit moved.

How to say it, he himself was very unwilling to just dig out recipes from the treasure bag for Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan to help them research new desserts.

After all, Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan's level was much higher than his, and they were willing to take him along when researching desserts without hiding their secrets. If there were recipes, they would share them with him, and if there were techniques, they would tell him. Everyone researched together. If he couldn't learn it, it was entirely his bad, his comprehension was poor, not Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan hiding their secrets.

Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan also had no responsibility or obligation to make sure he learned, understood, thoroughly understood, and understood.

"If you are bad, practice more" these four words would run through every pastry chef's career.

The master teaches the same way. If you can't learn it, it must be the apprentice's problem. Perhaps there will be very good masters who are very patient and willing to dismantle all their skills and techniques and teach them to the apprentice step by step, but this kind of good master is actually not common. Because most masters have more than one apprentice. If this apprentice can't learn, naturally there are other apprentices who can learn. Unless this apprentice is a direct grandson or son like Tan Weian.

This kind of similar treatment, Tan Weian only enjoyed when his grandfather, Master Tan, was still alive.

Now he actually enjoyed it with two friends.

For a time, Tan Weian's eyes were moist.

He was mixed with feelings, only feeling that tears were about to gush out of his eyes, inexplicable emotion and more complex emotions were suppressed in his chest and about to gush out. Some sentimental words he didn't want to say on weekdays, and now didn't know how to say, were all on his lips, just waiting to be said.

He just wanted to take out his phone now, take out his treasure bag for his two good brothers to see, and tell them to pick whatever recipes they liked.

Tan Weian moved his lips.

"You guys are really..."

"So thickening twice is thickening once when stewing oil for the first time, and thickening again when adding water and stewing again after stir-frying is finished?" Zheng Siyuan didn't look at Tan Weian from beginning to end, and after thinking, he looked up directly and asked Qin Huai.

"Master Cao means this, but Master Cao actually hasn't made crab roe sauce. She is just very good at thickening, so she gave suggestions through the experience of thickening."

"She suggests that we try the first type first, only thicken once. The starch water should be poured down along the edge of the pot in a circle. The speed must be fast, and the action must be clean and neat."

"Anyway, it's said like this. After all, I really don't know how to thicken, mainly it depends on you to operate." Qin Huai said, and wanted to scratch his head again, but because he was in the kitchen, he had to endure it.

Every time he reached this kind of test of whether the chef is a six-sided warrior, the extremely biased Qin Huai would be a bit embarrassed.

After all, his current savory dish level was still at the stage of practicing knife skills, and thickening, which could be called a technique, was a bit too out of bounds for him.

Zheng Siyuan showed a thoughtful expression again, muttering: "I probably understand a little, but... the difficulty should be quite high, can try."

"I'll prepare the starch water first."

"I'll go get the crab roe sauce for you!"

The two moved.

Tan Weian, who was still standing in place without moving:...

Wasn't I the protagonist today?

Can you guys pay attention to the protagonist?

My emotion was just brewed, and the moving words were on my lips. Can you at least let me finish?

Alas, what was I just about to say?

In the matter of researching desserts, Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan already had a tacit understanding. After all, they had already conquered many high-difficulty desserts, and they knew each other's level very well.

Qin Huai directly moved a high stool, left a distance of several meters, and sat down, watching Zheng Siyuan make crab roe sauce from afar. Tan Weian stood by his side and watched together.

Zheng Siyuan made it while Qin Huai explained to Tan Weian.

"After Zheng Siyuan and my research during this period, double-crab buns are different from ordinary crab roe buns. Ordinary crab roe buns don't have such high requirements for crab roe sauce. They only need to be slightly thickened so that the crab roe sauce won't have too heavy a taste due to water evaporation during the steaming process."

"There is also a very important member in the filling

"Sea cucumber itself has no flavor, but having no flavor is actually a kind of flavor in itself. The crab roe sauce must not only encompass it but also pair well with it. This will lead to the double crab bun easily becoming just a single dish if it fails, because the combination of crab roe and sea cucumber sounds very much like a single dish."

"What we need to do is use the savory dish approach to process the filling, and use the pastry chef approach to make the dim sum. By combining the two, we will ultimately create a dim sum with a unique flavor."

Tan Weian seemed to understand, but from Qin Huai's words, he only heard two words.

Showing off.

"How could you use crab roe and sea cucumber to make buns for no reason?" Tan Weian couldn't help but exclaim, "This is too willful."

Qin Huai gave Tan Weian a deep look: "If nothing goes wrong, the creator of the double crab bun should be your great-grandfather. It was your great-grandfather who sold the recipe later."

Tan Weian immediately changed his tune: "So it was my great-grandfather who was so creative, that makes sense. My grandfather also told me that my great-grandfather had his own ideas and insights when it came to making dim sum. The only problem was that it was too poor back then, and my great-grandfather loved to spend money, so basically all the good recipes were sold off."

"But I should actually thank my great-grandfather. If it weren't for my great-grandfather loving to spend money, my family wouldn't have shares in Zhi Wei Ju."

Qin Huai:?

"Your family has shares in Zhi Wei Ju?" Qin Huai was shocked.

"Yeah," Tan Weian nodded, "but very few, less than 10%. So several of my senior fellow apprentices can leave Zhi Wei Ju to go out and make a name for themselves, but I can't. Even if I wanted to go, other restaurants wouldn't take me; they would definitely think I'm there to steal their techniques."

Qin Huai: I am truly disrespectful, Young Master Tan.

Ah no, Shareholder Tan.

During the two's conversation, Zheng Siyuan's crab roe sauce had already reached the thickening step.

Cao Guixiang said that this thin thickening action must be fast, and the hands and feet must be nimble. At first glance, it looks very intimidating, and in reality, it is indeed very intimidating. The flashier the movements, the more beautiful the thickening.

Qin Huai didn't understand, because he couldn't thicken at all.

However, he felt that Zheng Siyuan's movements weren't very flashy, but this couldn't be blamed entirely on Zheng Siyuan; he might just be the type of person who can't perform those very exaggerated and flashy movements.

The crab roe sauce was ready.

"How is it?" Qin Huai went up with a spoon.

"I don't know, I feel like I can't produce the effect that your Master Cao wants," Zheng Siyuan said, scooping up a little crab roe sauce, not blowing on it, and quietly holding the spoon to wait for it to cool.

Qin Huai couldn't wait, blew on it quickly for a while, and started to taste it.

Hmm.

The taste of crab roe sauce.

Master Cao was right, the thickening of the crab roe sauce is very important.

None of the steps were changed, only the thickening step was altered, and the crab roe sauce in front of him was no longer very suitable for mixing with rice or noodles.

Qin Huai felt it was more suitable to be poured into a pot and cooked with tofu to make a pot of crab roe tofu.

Is this the legendary use of the savory dish approach to process the filling? Now, all that's missing is using the pastry chef approach to make the dim sum.

Soon, the bit of crab roe sauce in Zheng Siyuan's spoon also reached a palatable temperature, and he took a small taste.

"This approach should be correct," Zheng Siyuan said, "but my thickening level isn't good enough."

Qin Huai asked Tan Weian: "Does your Zhi Wei Ju have anyone with a better thickening level than Zheng Siyuan?"

Tan Weian shook his head frantically.

Zheng Siyuan is already a leader among the young generation of pastry chefs, an absolute all-rounder among pastry chefs. Having this level of thickening is already amazing. Which pastry chef practices thickening at home when they have nothing to do?

Although the thickening level of a normal pastry chef isn't as bad as Qin Huai's, it isn't much better either.

"Among people like us, it's impossible to find a pastry chef with better thickening skills than Zheng Siyuan, unless they are specifically trained in savory dishes," Tan Weian said, "or we grab Master Zheng."

"Boss Su and Master Zhou have both said that Master Zheng is a pastry chef with a very good foundation in savory dishes; it's just that he is too unreliable and too distracted. Otherwise, his level would definitely not be inferior to Master Zhou's."

Qin Huai nodded thoughtfully.

(End of chapter)