Chef at the University Canteen

Chapter 523 - 285: Locally-Improved Stir-Fried Fly Heads (Part 2)

The authentic washed noodle liangpi emphasizes four major features: "Jin" (firmness), "Bo" (thinness), "Xi" (thin cuts), and "Rang" (softness).

"Jin" refers to its chewiness; "Bo" means steamed thin; "Xi" indicates thinly sliced; "Rang" refers to softness.

To achieve these characteristics manually without adequate training is extremely difficult.

Of course, the most critical aspect is the final seasoning step, how to make delicious liangpi, which is the biggest challenge.

After Jiang Yu proposed the challenge, to prevent the Red Chefs and Bakery Chefs from influencing each other, he straightforwardly asked Yan Tongtong to take the three Bakery Chefs to the second-floor kitchen to make liangpi, while the seven Red Chefs stayed on the first floor to begin cooking.

While Jiang Yu was presenting the task to the Bakery Chefs, the seven chefs selected their dishes and started preparing.

Lu Shuwu, Ma Guoqiang, He Chunxiao, and others went to the second floor to watch the three Bakery Chefs work on making liangpi.

Jiang Yu and Jia Dequan stayed on the first floor, calmly following behind several Red Chefs, observing them select ingredients, wash, and slice vegetables.

The seven Red Chefs suddenly became busy.

...

Since learning to cook, Xiong Zhengtao has been in Jiangzhou, and has not worked outside the province.

Because of this, he specializes in local Jiangzhou dishes, as well as locally modified Xiang Cuisine and Sichuan Cuisine, which are also the marquee dishes of the Qingshan Restaurant.

After seeing the menu printed by Jiang Yu, without thinking, he chose one of the flower-based dishes—sauteed minced meat with garlic sprouts.

Once he decided on the dish to test, Xiong Zhengtao took a deep breath, cleared his mind of anxious thoughts, and focused entirely on perfecting the dish.

He didn’t even pay attention to what other dishes the other chefs were selecting.

Along with the other chefs in the preparation area, Xiong Zhengtao fetched a large bunch of garlic sprouts from the fridge, washed them, removed the old roots, and cut them into fine pieces.

Initially, when he heard Jiang Yu requiring a big pot dish, Xiong Zhengtao was somewhat nervous and uneasy, as he seldom prepared big pot dishes.

Apart from the times he studied at the hotel’s nearby school cafeteria and occasionally returned to his hometown for family events like birthdays and weddings, he rarely had experience with big pot dishes.

In such circumstances, it’s natural for him to feel uneasy.

However, Xiong Zhengtao has the advantage that once he gets into his work, he quickly becomes engrossed, and his previous nerves and uneasiness vanish.

At this moment, as Xiong Zhengtao grabs the knife to chop vegetables, he’s in this focused state.

With one hand pressing the garlic sprouts and the other holding the knife, his eyes slightly lowered, he sliced meticulously, neither too hard nor too soft, just enough to cut without exerting excess energy. A rhythmic "thud-thud-thud-thud" echoed, and soon, the long garlic sprouts were chopped into tiny uniform pieces.

If observed closely, one might be amazed to find these tiny pieces almost identical in length, pleasing to the eyes.

Even a perfectionist would give a thumbs-up and commend, "Beautiful!"

After chopping the garlic sprouts, Xiong Zhengtao fetched a large piece of pork belly, washed and drained it, then swiftly diced it into minced meat.

He placed the minced meat in a bowl, adding cooking wine, light soy sauce, starch, a hint of sugar, and cooking oil, mixing them evenly to marinate the meat.

Next, Xiong Zhengtao prepared green and red peppers, scallions, and garlic, washed them, sliced the peppers into fine pieces, and chopped the scallions and garlic into mince.

With these steps, the preparation for his sauteed minced meat with garlic sprouts was complete.

Placing the chopped garlic sprouts, minced meat, diced green and red peppers, scallion and garlic mince, along with black fermented soybeans on a food cart, Xiong Zhengtao pushed the cart to the stove to start cooking.

Beside the stove, chefs handling simpler ingredients had already begun cooking.

The kitchen resonated with the hum of blowers, flames flared under the stove, licking the pan, chefs sweated profusely, occasionally grabbing the wet towels around their necks to wipe off sweat, lifting their ladles, and continuously stir-frying various ingredients in the pot, with the aroma of dishes wafting through the air.

At this moment, Xiong Zhengtao was not in a rush. He walked to an empty stove, not immediately starting the fire, instead re-washing the seemingly clean pot, and checking the overhead exhaust hood for functionality.

After this, he checked the condiments beside the stove, such as salt, monosodium glutamate, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and cooking wine, ensuring everything was ready, even tasting the salt for its level of saltiness.

During his inspection, standing not far away, Jia Dequan couldn’t help but nod approvingly.

He turned slightly, glancing at Jiang Yu beside him, and quietly explained:

"This is the meticulousness of a chef in kitchen operations, ensuring familiarity with everything on the stove to prevent chaos during stir-frying. Personally tasting the seasonings gives a sense of control, avoiding the mistake of adding too much or too little during seasoning.