Chapter 136

Li Xuewu was the most polite person. He introduced Wen San'er separately first, because Wen San'er was an elder.

No matter what kind of person Wen San'er was, as long as Li Xuewu recognized Lao Biaozi as his brother, then he had to recognize Wen San'er as his Third Uncle. They could joke around in private, but they had to be respectful in formal occasions.

Sha Zhu shook hands with Lao Biaozi and the others one by one, being polite to each other.

"I seem to have seen these brothers before. Did you often come to find you to play?"

Li Xuewu nodded, watched them shake hands and greet each other, and introduced them from the side, "This is an old resident in our courtyard, whose name is He Yuzhu. I call him Brother Zhuzi. You should call him that too."

Old Biaozi and the others all called out 'Brother Zhuzi' in unison.

Sha Zhu liked this the most, grinned and smiled, "Good, good, you're too polite. It's really good that you, Xuewu, have this group of brothers."

Li Xuewu continued, "Brother Zhuzi is the head chef of our steel mill and also the chef class monitor. We all live in the same courtyard. In the future, if Brother Zhuzi has anything to do, you all think about helping him."

Seeing that they agreed, Sha Zhu was even more polite and shook hands with them again.

Li Xuewu smiled and said to Sha Zhu, "Brother Zhuzi, as we agreed at noon, I'll prepare the ingredients tonight, and you teach me the craft. It just so happens that the house has just been renovated, and my brothers have just moved in. This meal is considered a housewarming. How about it? Take this opportunity to have a drink together?"

Sha Zhu saw that the brothers were indeed sincerely inviting him, so he agreed and followed Li Xuewu into the kitchen to visit.

"Brother Zhuzi, I listened to you and went to the second-hand market after work last night to scrounge for this set of stuff. How about it?" Li Xuewu led Sha Zhu to visit the kitchen and introduced it.

Sha Zhu looked at the seasonings on the chopping board, and then looked at the knives and cutting board in the cabinet.

"Did you buy this as a set?"

Li Xuewu smiled and replied, "Yes, I just happened to run into a chef who was selling his stuff."

Sha Zhu smiled and said, "The cutting board is good, top-notch goods. The rolling pin is also a good piece of stuff. This knife..."

Seeing Sha Zhu hesitate, Li Xuewu asked, "What? Did I buy the wrong one? Or was I cheated?"

Sha Zhu shook his head and said, "A knife is a knife. There is no right or wrong, true or false. It's just that this is the stuff used by palace cuisine chefs to cook, and it's not the same path as mine."

Midnight.

Sha Zhu also tapped the frying pan and the double-eared cast iron pot, saying, "This stuff is the object that the master relies on to eat. Just like the gun on your waist, how could it be sold?"

Li Xuewu shook his head and said, "I really don't know about this, but I left an address, so I can visit later."

Sha Zhu fiddled with the kitchenware box in the cabinet and said, "Looking at this box, I am even more certain that this is the stuff of a palace cuisine chef."

Seeing that everyone in the room was looking at him in confusion, Sha Zhu grinned and explained, "I am a chef who cooks Sichuan cuisine. A chef like me only cooks authentic Sichuan cuisine. I cook whatever the guest orders. What I pay attention to is authentic taste and Sichuan flavor."

"In the past, when wealthy families invited guests, they invited chefs to their homes to set up banquets, which is different from restaurant chefs like us. We all have separate cuisines, and most of the chefs invited to the mansion don't have a 'unit', so they are not affected by the cuisine."

Li Xuewu asked with a smile, "What's the difference?"

Sha Zhu explained to everyone, "What they pay attention to is different. The dishes made by palace cuisine chefs are all-encompassing from all over the world, and most of the famous palace cuisine chefs don't accept 'ordering dishes'."

Seeing that Li Xuewu and the others were all confused, Sha Zhu touched his face and said, "For example, if your family wants to entertain guests and invites a 'palace cuisine chef' to set up a banquet at home, and says they want to eat Sichuan cuisine that is not too spicy, this requirement is enough to make Sichuan cuisine chefs like us curse. But palace cuisine chefs have their own set of coping methods."

Li Xuewu and the others were all amazed and asked, "How do you say that?"

Sha Zhu tapped the sandalwood box and said, "The dishes made by palace cuisine are all-encompassing, and most of the famous palace cuisine chefs don't accept 'ordering dishes'."

"After knowing how much money the host gives and how many people are coming to eat, they start to draw up a menu, but they don't show it to the host. Before the dishes are served, the people eating don't know what dishes are there."

Lao Biaozi said indignantly, "How can there be such a reason? It's like inviting an ancestor."

Sha Zhu saw that this brother was also a straightforward person, so he didn't care and said with a smile, "These are the rules of the early years. Not only that, the banquets hosted by palace cuisine chefs are at most two tables."

"And when the chef is working, he only brings two apprentices to do odd jobs. One apprentice is responsible for purchasing, cutting, stir-frying, sliding, and deep-frying, and the other is responsible for carving flowers, hanging soup, boiling, cooking, and braising."

The Great Aunt held a cigarette bag and marveled, "This is really the life of an official or a noble in the early days."

Sha Zhu touched the sandalwood box with envy and said, "It is precisely because of these rules that palace cuisine chefs are more valuable than us, and their skills are also higher than ours."

Li Xuewu roughly knew what was going on and said, "Not necessarily. It's all about eating with skills. How can there be high or low?"

Sha Zhu shook his head and said, "The palace cuisine chefs I just mentioned go out to cook with two apprentices. Before the apprentice finishes his apprenticeship, no one can leave anyone."

"After finishing the apprenticeship, the one who is not skilled in learning goes to major restaurants to be a 'head chef', and the other inherits the teacher's mantle and continues to cook palace cuisine."

"I am the kind who is not skilled in learning, and I will never be able to compare with the kind who cooks palace cuisine."

Li Xuewu saw that Sha Zhu could think of so much when he saw this set of stuff, and persuaded, "Not necessarily. Doesn't the small cafeteria of our steel mill rely on you to support the facade?"

Sha Zhu didn't explain either, recalled, and narrated, "I only ate palace cuisine once when I was a child, and I also saw the legendary palace cuisine chef. Hey, an old man, thin and dry, his hands trembling, with a sandalwood box like this hanging on his waist. I heard my father tell me that it contained the 'stuff to eat' of the chef."

"Palace cuisine chefs never let people see them cooking, but the purchase list of the apprentices is handed over to the host at the end."

"And they don't buy a few more seasonings because they are afraid that others will learn it. Even if people get the recipe, they can't make the 'palace cuisine taste'."

"The dishes at the banquet were all things I had never seen before. Some I didn't even know what they were when I ate them, but they were all delicious. The one that left the deepest impression was a 'Silver Bud Silver Spine'. I remember it seemed to be called that name."

"It's just bean sprouts stir-fried with shredded chicken. The shredded chicken has a rich onion and ginger flavor, smooth, tender, and elastic, with a hint of sweetness. If you eat it carefully, there is also a plum flavor."

This made Li Xuewu and the others drool, especially when he said there was a plum flavor. Lao Biaozi swallowed his saliva directly.

Li Xuewu said, "Brother Zhuzi, I have chicken, and the bean sprouts were grown by my mother's family. Why don't you make a plate for us to taste?"