Chapter 339

When it comes to buying plane tickets, Zang Liang is undoubtedly an absolute man of action.

He arrived at Yunzhong Canteen at noon the next day.

He even dragged his suitcase directly to Yunzhong Canteen, because Chen Huihong didn't expect him to come so early, and the air purifier in the room given to him hadn't been completely cleared out.

When Zang Liang arrived, Qin Huai was still cutting radishes.

Because Qin Huai was already asleep when Tan Weian replied to him last night, he couldn't inform everyone in the work group that a new exchange student would be coming to the canteen today. Qin Huai only briefly mentioned it to Huang Xi after arriving at the shop in the morning, so the vast majority of Yunzhong Canteen's employees didn't know who Zang Liang was, why he was coming today, or what he would do when he arrived.

And Zang Liang is undoubtedly a person who gets familiar quickly.

He was seen dragging his suitcase, greeting Qin Huai through the transparent glass, poking his head into the kitchen to ask Tan Weian where the changing room was and if there was a uniform for him, then dragging his suitcase into the changing room to change clothes, and then charging into the kitchen to watch Qin Huai cut radishes.

The series of actions could be described as smooth and done in one go; those who didn't know would think he was a formal employee of Yunzhong Canteen who had just been away on a business trip and was passionate about work, returning to work right after getting off the plane.

Pei Xing was stunned.

As a half-connected person, he only needed one look to see that Zang Liang, like him, was a connected person with professional training.

"Who is this again? Does Zhi Wei Ju have new connected people who are even more awesome than Tan Weian? They can actually parachute in directly!" Pei Xing muttered to Li Hua. If the tone of his quiet muttering hadn't been so sharp, it would have shown that his emotions didn't have such big ups and downs.

"Don't know," Li Hua shook his head, indicating that since even you, Pei Xing, don't know him, how could a graduate like me who came from an ordinary apprenticeship know him, "We just need to do our own job well."

Pei Xing's teeth were about to be crushed, and he said indignantly: "Of course you're fine; among the batch of apprentices from Zhi Wei Ju, the one who overlaps with you isn't as good as you."

"What I'm good at is exactly the same as Su Gan, and Master Qin didn't eat the shaomai I made this morning!"

Li Hua: "... Why do you insist on making shaomai?"

Li Hua almost wrote "Do you really think your shaomai can compare to Gu Li's golden thread shaomai?" on his face.

"The best thing I make for breakfast is shaomai," Pei Xing said.

Li Hua shook his head helplessly, sighed, and out of consideration that Pei Xing had been his colleague for a few months, was a nice person who couldn't roll as well as him, had a simple mind, and was easy to fool, he gave a friendly reminder: "You can't think like this; you can't look at what you are good at, you have to look at what Master Qin likes."

"I remember your char siu buns are also okay; if it really doesn't work, you can make char siu buns."

"Just practice leavening the dough."

On the other side, Tan Weian and Zang Liang were already chatting.

While Zang Liang chatted with Tan Weian about gossip they could usually chat about on WeChat, he watched Qin Huai cut radish shreds from afar. Seeing Qin Huai chatting on his phone while being able to steadily cut radish shreds, and that his knife skills had improved quite a bit compared to the last time in City A, he couldn't help but exclaim:

"Holy crap, how many hours a day does Qin Huai practice knife skills now? Does he want to transform? His progress is really a bit obvious. I remember the radish shreds I saw him cut last time were still a bit crooked, but now they look very apprentice-like."

Tan Weian was already used to this: "If you had eaten his Four Happiness Tangyuan before the New Year, you would be even more surprised... oh, I forgot you already ate it in City A."

Hearing Tan Weian mention Four Happiness Tangyuan, Zang Liang couldn't help but smack his lips, his face full of beautiful memories of the Four Happiness Tangyuan he ate on the day of the birthday banquet.

"That Four Happiness Tangyuan, don't even mention it. I tell you, I didn't like eating tangyuan at all before. But that tangyuan, really, oh my god, holy crap, it was truly speechless, awesome!"

"That day at noon, my master was clearly full, but he still forced himself to eat two more. You tell me if it's awesome or not? It was the first time I saw my master eat until he was that stuffed."

Tan Weian:?

Where did you study flattery?

Qin Huai's Four Happiness Tangyuan is quite delicious now, but it's not exaggerated to that extent, right? No, buddy, are you going to sacrifice your master's reputation just to flatter him?

Does Master Zang know about this?

Seeing the expression on Zang Liang's face that didn't look fake, Tan Weian felt that he no longer recognized this good brother of many years; your level of flattery is so high that it makes me feel like a stranger.

"When do we start making crab roe sauce?" Zang Liang asked.

"We can start now," Zheng Siyuan, who had been silently eavesdropping on the side, said suddenly, "I'll adjust the seasoning, you do the thickening."

"Okay," Zang Liang was already impatient, "It's not that I'm bragging, but apart from outstanding knife skills, my thickening level is also quite good. Tan Weian told me on WeChat yesterday about the thickening requirements for your crab roe sauce; it's a bit difficult, but don't worry, leave it to me, there will definitely be no problem."

Zheng Siyuan didn't have much reaction, just nodded faintly: "Then let's start."

At the same time, Cao Guixiang, who was chatting with Qin Huai about daily life, suddenly said with a smile: "Assistant Xiao Qin, you invited foreign aid because the thickening isn't going smoothly."

Qin Huai didn't expect Cao Guixiang's ears to be so good; she could hear Zang Liang's bragging on the side through the phone.

Although Zang Liang's bragging voice was indeed a bit loud just now.

Qin Huai smiled, his hand movements unchanged: "We tried the method you gave for thickening the crab roe sauce yesterday, and it was indeed useful. After tasting it, I also felt that such crab roe sauce is more suitable for making buns. But the thickening requirements you mentioned are too difficult; we pastry chefs can't do it. It just so happens that a friend who is very good at savory dishes is willing to come and help, so I invited him over."

Cao Guixiang became interested and asked: "Which cuisine does this friend of yours do?"

"Huaiyang cuisine."

Cao Guixiang revealed a meaningful smile.

"Then he probably has a lot to practice."

"Ah?" Qin Huai was stunned.

"It's probably a bit difficult for a Huaiyang cuisine chef to achieve the kind of thickening I mentioned. If it were a Lu cuisine chef, they might be slightly more skilled. Assistant Xiao Qin, you aren't good at thickening, so you don't know the tricks and difficulties involved."

"This thickening is just like the recipe for cold sea cucumber I gave you; it looks easy, but you'll find that the things you make aren't very good once you actually do it. If the level is slightly off, the final product will be very different."

Qin Huai smiled bitterly: "Then Master Cao, aren't you deliberately making things difficult for us? I don't have any friends who are good at Lu cuisine either."

Cao Guixiang said with a smile: "Who says you don't? I'm also slightly proficient in some Lu cuisine. Haven't you noticed that your knife skills have improved very quickly recently? I think it won't be long, at most two weeks, before you should come back to Quxian and let me check your learning results."

"When the time comes, you make the request, and I'll do the thickening, won't that work?"

"Let's agree first, when the double crab bun is made, I want to be the first to eat it. I've really never eaten buns made with crab roe and sea cucumber together. If I had known there were such buns in Gusu, I would have gone to Gusu to play when I was young."

Zhang Chu muttered on the side: "When we were young, we were so poor we couldn't even afford the train ticket back to Beiping, and we had to borrow stamps from the branch secretary to send a letter, let alone go to Gusu to play."

Cao Guixiang glared at her husband who was tearing down her stage: "Pick the green beans properly, don't think about fishing every day. I haven't seen you catch many fish either. You even went out fishing with an umbrella in such heavy rain yesterday. Now it's good, you have a cold. Stay at home honestly, and if you really have nothing to do, make a few more molds for Assistant Xiao Qin."

"Assistant Xiao Qin, are you used to using the molds that Grandpa Zhang made for you?"

"Used to it, used to it," Qin Huai said repeatedly, Zhang Chu's carpentry skills are absolutely speechless, "It's just that I've been busy recently and haven't used them much."

"Normal, learning to cook can't be rushed; you have to take it step by step, slowly. First do what you want to do. Build a solid foundation first, then go study finger techniques, thickening, flipping the spoon, and these things. These are just icing on the cake; building a solid foundation is the hard truth."

"Look, you're distracted again as soon as we talk about content. Those two radish shreds just now weren't as good as before."

Qin Huai:...

Qin Huai had to continue focusing on cutting radishes.

During the time Qin Huai was seriously cutting radishes, Zang Liang had an accident as expected.

Admittedly, Zang Liang's thickening level is better than Zheng Siyuan and Tan Weian combined. After all, he is an authentic savory dish chef, professionally trained, and practiced the childhood skills. Although there were some elements of bragging in his words just now, as a Huaiyang cuisine chef, his thickening level is already considered quite good.

Thickening is a technique that must be practiced hard with a good foundation.

Zang Liang felt his thickening was okay.

Although the movements weren't so flashy, not exaggerated enough, not nimble enough, not falling from the sky, not like filming a TV series, everything else was okay.

This requirement was met.

Thicken thinly, thicken twice.

The purpose of thickening is to make the taste of the crab roe sauce not so rich, using starch water to dilute it, while also giving the crab roe sauce a thick texture, so that it won't be abrupt when it becomes bun filling, and can give better feedback after being steamed in the pot.

Zang Liang felt his comprehension wasn't bad, and his understanding of crab roe sauce shouldn't have any deviation.

But Zheng Siyuan and Tan Weian both felt it wasn't good.

Zheng Siyuan felt it wasn't good because he had made a lot of crab roe sauce during this period. Plus, he himself knew how to make the crab roe sauce version of the double crab bun, and the more he made it, the more he understood what kind of crab roe sauce he needed. It was hard for him to say where Zang Liang was not good, but he knew it just wasn't good. Tan Weian felt it wasn't good because he understood crab roe dim sum.

He has the most sincere love for crab roe dim sum. From the perspective of a chef, he affirms Zang Liang's skills, but from the perspective of a diner, he feels this is not good.

To this, Zang Liang:...

No, are you pastry chefs all like this now?

You don't even say the reason, just a "I feel" and you dismiss me.

Zang Liang could only grab Qin Huai, who had just finished cutting radishes, to judge.

Qin Huai came over very skillfully with a spoon.

Although he hadn't made a single jar of crab roe sauce during this period, and his research on double crab buns was limited to theoretical analysis and making cold sea cucumber, he had very rich tasting experience.

Whether the crab roe sauce is right or not, he can taste it in one bite.

If you ask him where it's wrong, Qin Huai can only tell you: he feels it's wrong.

That's right, under Qin Huai's leadership, the double crab bun research team has become a complete "feeling" faction.

Under normal circumstances, if you feel there is a problem during the dim sum research stage, you should point it out, explain it, analyze it, and discuss it.

This is a very normal process, because when researching, especially when many people are researching together, everyone has their own ideas, and it's hard to reach a consensus without convincing the other party with reason and evidence.

Previously, when researching the Four Happiness Tangyuan hundred-fruit filling at Huang Ji, Zheng Siyuan and Zheng Da almost turned against each other as father and son because of conflicting ideas.

But now, the members of the double crab bun research team obviously don't have this problem. You just need to say "I feel it's not good," and that's enough. No need to ask why; if you ask, it's just a feeling.

As for whether you understand this "feeling," that's your business; anyway, those who understand, understand.

Qin Huai tasted all the crab roe sauce Zang Liang made one by one, was silent for more than ten seconds, and said: "I feel it's not right."

"Right!" Tan Weian echoed frantically, "I said the same thing just now, Zang Liang just wouldn't believe it."

Zang Liang:? No, what did you say just now?

However, Zang Liang still respected Qin Huai very much; after all, he wanted to learn a little feeling from Qin Huai: "Then Qin Huai, where do you feel it's not right?"

"I don't know," Qin Huai shook his head.

Zang Liang:?

"Anyway, it's just not quite right. This isn't the taste and texture of the crab roe sauce we want. Of course, it's better than what we made before, but we still haven't found the most correct feeling. You know that feeling, right? Anyway, it's that kind of feeling. It should still be a problem when thickening. Master Cao told me just now that the thickening requirements she mentioned are actually quite high."

Zang Liang:??

Looking at the question marks on Zang Liang's face, Tan Weian only felt that he had vented his anger from last night. I thought you understood the feeling Qin Huai was talking about; it turns out you only understand a little bit of the feeling too.

"How about you do it again and let me see?" Qin Huai suggested.

"Okay," Zang Liang agreed very readily. He was here to help anyway, and he was already prepared to thicken in Yunzhong Canteen every day until he vomited.

"However," Zang Liang glanced at Qin Huai somewhat hesitantly, "Do you know what it should look like when thickened?"

Qin Huai smiled: "I know a little bit."

"Although I can't thicken, I saw Master Cao cooking and thickening during the New Year, so I roughly understand what kind of state and effect she was talking about."

"You do it, I'll watch from the side."

"Okay," Zang Liang nodded, preparing to go all out one more time to let everyone see the strength of a professional savory dish chef.

The previous steps were still done by Zheng Siyuan, boiling the crab roe sauce until the crab roe sauce in the pot boiled and released oil.

Zang Liang had already adjusted the starch water.

Zang Liang aimed at the timing, a stylish big movement.

The starch water poured down along the pot. It might not be enough to watch in a TV series, but in real life, Zang Liang felt that the movement just now was cool enough.

If he did this in the kitchen usually, he would definitely be scolded by his master.

Adjust the heat.

Stir.

Perfect!

Perfect first thickening.

Zheng Siyuan took over the subsequent steps, seasoning and stir-frying the crab roe sauce, stir-frying the crab roe sauce in the pot until it was fragrant, with a golden and oily color.

Soon the steps proceeded to the end.

Zang Liang held the prepared starch water, aimed at the timing again, and another stylish big movement.

It was a bit too stylish, and it wasn't even when it poured down, but the problem wasn't big; his movements just now were nimble enough.

Stir.

Stir-fry.

Adjust the heat.

End.

Zang Liang was quite satisfied with his performance just now. Except for a small mistake in the second time, the first time was simply perfect. If the full score was 100, Zang Liang felt that giving himself 95 points shouldn't be a problem.

"How is it?" Zang Liang asked confidently.

Qin Huai frowned slightly: "I don't know how to describe it to you, but... when I watched Master Cao thicken, her movements were more exaggerated than yours, and the range was larger."

"It's not that kind of exaggeration, it's a very natural movement, because she has to do it that way, so the range of movement must be large."

"The speed must also be fast."

"Actually, I don't understand thickening very well either, but... that's because I don't understand, right? I feel thickening isn't very difficult."

Qin Huai wanted to scratch his head again, forcibly holding back.

At this moment, he really hated his clumsy mouth; he clearly knew what it was like, but he just couldn't describe it.

Qin Huai suggested: "How about this."

"I'll try to learn from Master Cao and thicken it for you once. It will definitely be a failure, but you can roughly see what the state is."

"If it still doesn't work, I'll ask Master Cao if she can demonstrate it for you once via video. It's not that Master Cao is hiding her skills; she has been retired for many years and is unwilling to take apprentices, and I haven't mentioned it because I feel it might not be very good..."

Qin Huai didn't finish his sentence, but Zang Liang understood Qin Huai's meaning.

This is also very normal; a master chef has skills, but the master chef has no relationship with others, so there is no need to show her skills, let alone teach them.

"I'll demonstrate, Zheng Siyuan, please do the previous part again," Qin Huai said.

"Okay."

Zang Liang moved silently to Tan Weian's side, covering his mouth and asking in a low voice: "Is Qin Huai always like this? He doesn't even dare to demonstrate."

Tan Weian replied calmly: "Just get used to it; I wouldn't be surprised by anything he does."

"Even if he succeeds in thickening later, I wouldn't be surprised."

Zang Liang:?

(End of chapter)