Chapter 396: Version Answer

In order to seize this rare opportunity for Zheng Da to explode with potential (actually, it wasn't rare, because he had just made Double Crab Buns for a day two days ago), Qin Huai adopted a sweet-talking policy, making Zheng Da lose himself in the repeated calls of "Master Zheng."

Master Zheng still had some substance.

Even for the Four-Joy Roll, which Master Zheng was least good at, Master Zheng's level was still enough to kill a crowd of chefs.

Zheng Da was a little nervous.

He felt that he hadn't taught a class like this, teaching many people at once, for a long time. Zheng Da had never taken on apprentices. For so many years, the only two people who could truly be considered taught by Zheng Da were Zheng Siyuan and Qin Huai.

All of them were one-on-one teaching.

Zheng Da vaguely remembered that the last time he taught one-to-many was 10 years ago. At that time, the two brothers Dong Shi and Dong Li hadn't yet apprenticed to Huang Jia, and Huang Jia couldn't be considered to have finished his apprenticeship either. Huang Jia was young and strong at that time, at the peak of his culinary skills, and was often called to Hangzhou, Huaiyang, and other places to hold culinary seminars.

At that time, whenever Huang Jia went to hold a culinary seminar, all the apprentices would be entrusted to Zheng Da. Of course, Zheng Da couldn't teach anything; Zheng Da could only serve as an after-school class, taking care of the children and waiting for their parents to come and pick them up.

This was Zheng Da's entire experience of one-to-many guidance. In summary, it was no experience.

Zheng Da felt that the last time he was this nervous was when he taught Qin Huai to make crab roe shumai, memorizing his words at home all night, thinking about how to teach more eloquently the next day. At that time, he very much wanted to take Qin Huai as an apprentice, so he was very nervous. Now, there was no such problem, because it was impossible for Qin Huai to be his apprentice.

It was truly frustrating.

Zheng Da suddenly didn't want to teach anymore. He wanted to go home and lie down, and by the way, care about how the neighbor's dog was recovering.

Qin Huai saw Zheng Da's desire to retreat and spoke in time: "Master Zheng, how exactly should the forward roll of this cloud pattern be rolled to be correct?"

This question was completely unnecessary to ask, but the three words "Master Zheng" deeply warmed Zheng Da's heart. Zheng Da instantly didn't want to go home anymore. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain Qin Huai's question immediately, and then discovered that with his language skills, he couldn't explain it clearly at all.

Zheng Da began to regret what he had been doing in Sanya for the past month. How could he only think about practicing Double Crab Buns and forget to practice his language skills in Sanya by the way?

"Just... like this. I'll demonstrate it to everyone first. If there's anything you don't understand, ask at any time." Zheng Da thought of how Huang Jia taught apprentices in his early years and decided to fiercely plagiarize his senior brother's teaching method.

As he spoke, Zheng Da started doing it directly.

Qin Huai had already prepared the ingredients, the dough was kneaded, the green onions, ham cubes, and so on were all prepared, and even the small pot of sesame oil had been placed on the cooking station.

Zheng Da was stunned when he saw the ingredients Qin Huai had prepared. He even turned his head to look around, and found that there was indeed nothing else, before asking: "Just these?"

Qin Huai nodded.

"No fatty pork cubes?"

Only then did Qin Huai remember that the version Zheng Da knew was Master Jing's version. Master Jing's version of the Four-Joy Roll was more cost-effective, using fatty pork cubes to replace ham cubes.

In fact, fatty pork cubes weren't the best choice either. If one used minced meat with both fat and lean, it might taste better. However, there was a general lack of oil and water in that era. The Four-Joy Roll was originally made by Master Jing at his own expense. The purpose wasn't for it to be delicious, but to let the neighbors buy delicious dim sum at a low price during the New Year and taste the flavor of the New Year. Fatty pork cubes had more oil and water, and in that era, it would feel more cost-effective to eat, and it could be counted as a meat dish.

"Do Four-Joy Rolls need to use fatty pork cubes?" Qin Huai showed a confused expression, eyes wide, looking at Zheng Da, "The materials on the recipe I got don't have fatty pork cubes, only ham cubes."

Zheng Da was stunned, then fell into deep thought. He thought for a full two or three minutes before asking Qin Huai: "Your recipe... forget it."

"The recipe you got says ham cubes?"

"Yes." Qin Huai nodded affirmatively, "And the recipe has a general method. The Four-Joy Roll I made yesterday was made according to the method on the recipe. But I don't think the text expression is very clear. There should be many technique points and difficulties that are not written down. I can feel that my Four-Joy Roll must have problems, but I don't know where the problems are."

Qin Huai had said this much, and everyone present naturally believed that he must have the recipe for the Four-Joy Roll. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why Qin Huai could make a very failed version of the Four-Joy Roll so smoothly yesterday.

Zheng Da didn't ask any more questions. Qin Huai guessed that Zheng Da should have imagined that the recipe was given to him by Cao Guixiang, and with Zheng Da's emotional intelligence and professional quality, he would absolutely not ask about such private matters involving secret recipes or master-apprentice teaching.

"Ham cubes?" Zheng Da muttered, staring at the ham cubes, "It's actually ham cubes. How did I never think of that? I've used pork belly, pure lean meat, minced meat. That's right, how did I not think it was ham cubes!"

Zheng Da slapped his thigh in annoyance: "Ham cubes, yes, it's ham cubes! It should be ham cubes!"

Then Zheng Da ignored Qin Huai and the others and started making Four-Joy Rolls with his head down.

Zheng Siyuan gave Qin Huai a puzzled look, his eyes full of: What's wrong with my dad? Is he really possessed? Should I take him to the hospital to see?

Qin Huai waved his hand, indicating that this was normal.

The Four-Joy Roll had caused such deep psychological trauma to Zheng Da that it reached the point where he didn't make it usually, but secretly made it at home every day during the New Year.

Zheng Da himself knew very well that the recipe for the Four-Joy Roll had problems, but he couldn't find the answer for many years. Today, he was pointed out the version answer by Qin Huai. Could he not be excited?

Qin Huai looked at Zheng Da, who was buried in making Four-Joy Rolls. Qin Huai couldn't help but sigh in his heart at Xu Nuo's culinary level—no, to be precise, his culinary thinking—which was even higher than he had imagined.

The recipe that Zheng Da hadn't understood for decades, Xu Nuo had long ago found the version answer, and made it himself at home every year, producing and selling it himself.

And Xu Nuo's version answer was likely not told to him by Master Jing, because Master Jing hadn't even told his own direct disciple the version answer, let alone Xu Nuo, an outsider.

Regardless of whether Xu Nuo's version answer was bought at a high price outside like the Double Crab Bun, or realized by himself, it was amazing.

The former was amazingly rich, the latter amazingly awesome.

Zheng Da had completely immersed himself in the art of making Four-Joy Rolls.

He made them very fast.

If all the materials were prepared, especially on the basis that the dough had been kneaded, Four-Joy Rolls were fast to make.

To put it bluntly, the Four-Joy Roll was a fancy and highly difficult flower roll, with the core difficulty in rolling.

One forward roll, one reverse roll. The finished product obtained after two rolls could not see the direct effect. It had to be steamed in a pot before being cut open to see if the cloud patterns in the middle were clear and beautiful, thereby judging whether the Four-Joy Roll was successful.

An inexperienced chef could not judge whether the cloud patterns were beautiful based on the Four-Joy Roll that had just been rolled. This thing was purely practice makes perfect, and it was a completely independent technique. No matter how high the proficiency of basic skills like heat control and filling seasoning was, it was useless. It had to be practiced from scratch.

Qin Huai could see that Zheng Da must have persisted in practicing Four-Joy Rolls over the years, but not many times.

Because he made them fast, but at the same time, he often hesitated. When rolling forward, he looked very skilled, but when it came to the reverse roll, he would get stuck and pause, as if thinking about something.

He almost wrote in the process what part he was good at, what part he was not good at, and why he was cursed by neighbors for not making Four-Joy Rolls well in his early years.

So Master Zheng was not bad at making cloud patterns; Master Zheng was bad at the reverse roll in the Four-Joy Roll.

The advanced version of not knowing cloud patterns. Zheng Da rolled the first one at a very fast speed, and then started rolling the second one.

Like the first one, the forward roll was smooth, and the reverse roll got stuck.

Qin Huai stared at Zheng Da's hand movements, but what came to mind was what Gu Li said when he was teaching them to roll yesterday.

Tan Weian's forward roll always had an arc that was too large, and it was too large at the end, and he always couldn't control his bad habit of wanting to press it.

In Tan Weian's words, he felt that pressing it would make the Four-Joy Roll look better.

Then Gu Li told him that pressing it would press the cloud patterns away. However, Qin Huai felt that it wasn't that exaggerated; this was completely a problem with the concepts of the two brothers.

Tan Weian wanted to press it because his arc was always too large. Pressing it on the basis of an arc that was too large was no problem. From this matter, one could actually see that Tan Weian's talent was indeed very good. His first reaction, or even subconscious reaction, when problems appeared in the process of making dim sum was actually to correct the problem. This was talent.

And Gu Li didn't have talent in this regard, so Gu Li chose to do it completely according to what he learned back then.

He would correct every problem of everyone he could see in time, but he didn't understand that many people's problems were actually to correct the previous problems.

Because Zheng Da's technique was sufficient, his method was more like the standard answer Gu Li talked about yesterday.

Especially the forward roll part.

It could be called perfect, tight, and standard like a textbook from the beginning of spreading ham cubes and green onions. Every arc of the roll seemed to be carefully designed. One could see that Zheng Da must have put in hard work on the Four-Joy Roll in his early years; otherwise, it would be impossible to roll it so standardly and beautifully.

Then, in sharp contrast to it was the reverse roll part.

Qin Huai could see where the problem was.

The reverse roll was not simply rolling the Four-Joy Roll back again to be successful. The reverse roll tested technique more, and also tested the chef's adaptability more. Logically speaking, Zheng Da absolutely had these abilities, but I don't know if the psychological trauma of the past had too much influence, or if Zheng Da was simply very bad at feeling. Every time Zheng Da got stuck, he was declaring that he had a problem. Stuck a few times, a few problems.

It couldn't be more obvious.

Although Zheng Da had completely immersed himself in his own world and couldn't extricate himself from making Four-Joy Rolls, Qin Huai still felt that this was actually a very good teaching, because Master Zheng showed both the perfect Four-Joy Roll and the Four-Joy Roll that would have problems at the same time.

One demonstration, two effects, double the harvest.

If there could be an objective commentator on the side to explain at this moment, that would be even better.

Qin Huai looked at Gu Li.

Gu Li watched very seriously. He was the one who cherished this learning opportunity the most in the Four-Joy Roll research team. Because for Gu Li, a master who could teach him cloud patterns, not to say completely none, could also be said to be countable on one's fingers.

Otherwise, Gu Li wouldn't have mistaken Zheng Da's fault-finding for the help of Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan this morning.

"Gu Li." Qin Huai spoke, "Master Zheng is doing it a bit too fast. Actually, we don't quite understand. Can you help explain it?"

"Ah?" Gu Li was a bit confused. He didn't understand why Zheng Da making dim sum needed him to explain, but Master Qin said so, so he must have his intentions. Gu Li nodded without any hesitation and started to explain.

He focused his attention even more on Zheng Da's hand movements.

"Master Zheng's ham cubes are spread very well. The ham cubes of the Four-Joy Roll must not be spread thick, but they must not be too thin either. This state of a thin layer with a little gap between each other is the best, and it is also the state Master Qin said yesterday."

"The amount of sesame oil brushed is also very good, sticking to a layer, and it cannot be soaked into the dough too much."

"Senior brother, did you see? The start of the forward roll needs this arc. You must use your little finger to control the position of the dough. Every time your little finger moves just for the sake of it, this step is meaningful."

"Master Zheng's forward roll is really done very well. Master Qin, look, his final finished product is very beautiful. You asked me yesterday why your forward roll looked weird. It's because every roll of the cloud pattern is superimposed. If you can control the arc of every roll well, the final result will be what Master Zheng rolled out. But if every time there is a problem, the final finished product will look very strange."

"Senior brother, look, you can't press it at the end. You don't need to press it at all."

"Master Xiao Zheng, look at the side of this Ruyi Roll now. The ratio of green onions and ham is very beautiful, perfectly divided into two, and the thickness of each layer when rolled up is also the same. If you can make the arc bigger when you roll it, you can also roll out this effect."

"Master Zheng's reverse roll now has a small problem."

"His arc just now was a bit big, no, it's less now. The arc of the reverse roll should be more exaggerated than the forward roll, but it cannot be too exaggerated, especially it cannot be pressed. Ah, Master Zheng pressed it."

"Master Zheng's roll also has a problem, but I'm not very sure where the specific problem lies. However, my master said that no matter what method is used to make cloud patterns, the final finished product cannot be too bulging; otherwise, the cloud patterns cut out at the end will definitely be deformed."

"Master Zheng pressed it again."

"However, this pressing has no problem. The reverse roll can be pressed a little at the end."

Gu Li was simply a conscientious commentator. He didn't let go of any of Zheng Da's movements, nor did he let go of Zheng Da.

Zheng Da didn't care at all, because he didn't listen to what Gu Li was saying at all.

He was still immersed in his own world and couldn't extricate himself.

But someone heard it.

Huang Jia crossed his arms in front of his chest, watching Zheng Da make Four-Joy Rolls with relish, Gu Li explaining, and smiled and said to Gong Liang, who had mixed into the back kitchen again at some point:

"This mode is quite good. Zheng Da teaching people to make dim sum with a commentary on the side perfectly solves the problem of his clumsy mouth."

Gong Liang's focus was completely different: "When will the Four-Joy Roll Zheng Da made be put into the pot to steam?"

"I ate two Four-Joy Rolls made by Master Xiao Qin last night, and I was so greedy that I thought about it all night."

"Don't say, the Four-Joy Roll made by Master Xiao Qin, although it is the same as a flower roll, is really delicious. It feels much better than what Zheng Da made back then."

"I see he made a lot, so it should be put into the pot to steam soon." Huang Jia said, also smacking his lips, "I'm a bit greedy after what you said."

"I haven't eaten the Four-Joy Roll made by Zheng Da for many years either. This kid has a glass heart. He would rather secretly make it at home every New Year and eat it himself. If he can't finish it, he secretly feeds it to the neighbor's dog, making the puppy have gastroenteritis and be hospitalized, and he won't share it with us, for fear that we will know he is still secretly making Four-Joy Rolls at home."

"Tsk."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 397 =====