Feng Yifan coaxed his daughter home to sleep, and after the waiters left one after another, only a group of people from the kitchen and Su Ji's teachers and brothers were left in Su Ji.
We still need to discuss the preparation of dishes for tomorrow.
Feng Yifan also called his father-in-law and his fellow brothers together to start discussing tomorrow's dishes.
"The Three Heads Banquet, overall, should continue the preparations for the banquet that Grandfather prepared."
Naturally, no one had any objection.
According to the menu of the three-course banquet prepared by Mr. Su Quansheng, there are a total of 20 dishes, including cold and hot dishes and soups.
There are eight cold dishes, namely: fried sturgeon with scallion oil, cold crispy salad, boneless shark fin, salted gizzard, vegetarian eel with pepper and salt, agate salted egg, mustard tripe shreds, and crystal braised pork.
There are ten hot dishes: stir-fried shrimps, soft-shelled eel, abalone and pigeon eggs, ginkgo and choy sum, crispy red chicken, crispy crucian carp, fried rice with minced meat, roasted whole pig's head, braised lion's head with crab meat, and stewed silver carp head.
Two soup dishes: Wensi tofu and fish balls in clear soup.
There are also four other dim sum: Thousand Layer Cake, Sanding Buns, Double Sesame Pancakes, and Emerald Shaomai.
This menu was specially customized by Mr. Su Quansheng.
In other words, all the old man's lifelong learning was integrated into this table exercise.
It encompasses the most classic dishes of Su Ji, and even the entire Su Province and the entire Huaiyang cuisine.
Therefore, this banquet that year really opened the eyes of many people, and truly established the status of Mr. Su Quansheng as a master at that time, and made Su's business famous all over the world.
Later, Su Quansheng brought his apprentices to a foreign guest reception banquet held in the province, where they reproduced this three-head banquet in public, which amazed all the Chinese and foreign guests and earned the reputation of being the best banquet in Su Province.
Su Jinrong also took out the original reception menu.
The menu was sealed in a large file bag, and the national emblem was printed on the menu header.
This means that this menu is a real state banquet reception menu.
When Su Jinrong took out the menu again, the teachers and brothers couldn't help but shed tears.
As an eyewitness of that year, the moment I saw this menu again, it was as if I had returned to the past. I vaguely seemed to see Su Quansheng standing in the kitchen of Su Ji, scolding his apprentices.
Ma Wenjing was the first to lose control and burst into tears.
"Wuwuwu, Master, Master, Wenjing is so sorry."
Ma Wenjing burst into tears, and the teachers and brothers couldn't help crying as well.
Even Chen Wei, who has always been tough, couldn't help but burst into tears at this time.
Shi Jinbin finally couldn't help but scold his brothers again: "You bastards, if you hadn't left Su Ji, if you hadn't caused the separation, how could Master collapse all of a sudden? How could Master give up everything
It's all your fault, you bastards. It's you who ruined Su Ji. It's you who made Master completely disheartened.
Bastards, you bastards..."
After hearing Shi Jinbin's words, the fellow brothers were all silent, and everyone was also in tears.
For so many years, guilt has always been in the hearts of the brothers and sisters. They even did not dare to return to Huaicheng for a long time because of the guilt they felt towards their master and the former Su Ji.
Tonight, the brothers and sisters got together again and saw the menu from that year again. They really couldn't control their emotions.
Feng Yifan waited until Shi Jinbin finished speaking before he finally started to persuade him.
"Okay, uncle, calm down. I think all the uncles have realized their mistakes and regretted it. You just scolded them, so let's discuss this menu and how we can replicate Grandpa's Three-Head Feast."
The teachers and brothers looked at each other, and then Chen Wei said, "Lao Shi, everything that happened back then was my fault, and I have been punished. If you are not satisfied with scolding me, you can beat me up. I think I will not fight back."
Shi Jinbin wiped the tears from his face and said, "Why are you fighting? Everything is fine. Help our chef to discuss how to prepare the Three-Head Banquet."
After hearing Shi Jinbin's words, everyone nodded and began to discuss.
The first difficulty of the Three-Head Banquet is naturally the three-head part.
Perhaps among these three heads, only the lion head is relatively simple.
The rest, whether it is roasting a whole pig's head or stewing a silver carp head, are really dishes that require a lot of skill, especially the deboning process, which really tests the chef's skills.
There are two ways to braise a whole pig's head. One is to debone the pig's head first, then boil it, stew it, and finally steam it once to ensure that the pig's head is soft and tasty while retaining its complete shape.
Another method is to remove the bones while the meat is still hot after stewing, and then steam it for the final time.
Both approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The first method is to remove the bones first, which naturally makes it easier for the pig head to absorb the flavor, but the disadvantage is that because there is no bone support, the complete appearance of the pig head may be destroyed if you are not careful during the cooking process.
The second method, which involves boiling and stewing the meat first and then removing the bones while they are still hot, requires more patience and ability to remove the bones, and the boiling and stewing process also takes longer.
Chen Wei first said: "I think we should remove the bones first. Although removing the bones may damage the integrity of the pig head, if we remove the bones first, we can cook, stew and steam it directly without having to worry about removing the bones. Otherwise, removing the bones while it is still hot will be a huge challenge."
This point was also agreed by the teachers and brothers present.
Including Su Jinrong also said: "Indeed, if you remove the bones first, it may save a lot of trouble later, and the process of removing the bones while they are still hot is indeed very painful."
Feng Yifan also agreed with his teachers and brothers, because it is indeed not so easy to remove the bones while they are hot, and it is indeed difficult to do it when it is hot.
Shi Jinbin said at this time: "But removing the bones from a pig's head is a job that requires both skills and strength. Yifan, do you think you can do it?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Uncle Master, you don't believe in my ability?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone burst into laughter.
Shi Jinbin said with a smile: "I believe it. How can I not believe in your ability, Chef Feng?"
Su Jinrong said: "Yifan's skills are trustworthy. When the time comes, we will need a lot of help from all the senior brothers. After all, cooking three pig heads together is indeed very time-consuming."
Chen Wei said: "This is easy. After the bones are removed, we will set up three stoves and work together. I will work with Ma Wenjing and Dai Feng, and Shi Jinbin, you and Jinrong will take Sun Mingxing and Lu Yongjun."
Hearing this, Shi Jinbin smiled and said, "Are you letting Yifan handle it alone?"
Feng Yifan said, "It's okay. I can handle it by myself. My fellow masters, please help me deal with the other two pig heads. I will take care of the single one."
Su Jinrong also said: "Well, it should be OK to let Yifan take charge of one."
But Su Jinrong continued, "However, you all have to be responsible for yourselves, and you also have to be careful about the ingredients you prepared. You have to strictly follow the requirements, or else the three of you will end up with different flavors when you grill a whole pig's head."
Chen Wei and others smiled and said, "Don't worry, we will listen to the chef."
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll tell you the ratio of ingredients when the time comes. If you add the ingredients according to my ratio and cook, stew and steam them for the same amount of time, there shouldn't be any problem."
Shi Jinbin then asked: "What about the silver carp head? Are you going to do all three heads and Yifan by yourself?"
Feng Yifan nodded and said, "I guess I have to come alone."
When deboning the silver carp head, the bones must be removed while it is still hot.
There is no way to change this, and when removing the bones, the fish head must be immersed in warm water, using the buoyancy of the water to float the entire fish head to ensure that the silver carp head will not be broken during the deboning process, thereby trying to ensure the integrity of the silver carp head after deboning.
It can be said that the skill of disassembling and stewing silver carp head has definitely surpassed many dishes.
Just the task of removing the bones while they are still hot may take many chefs years to complete.
Chen Wei thought for a moment and said, "If you come alone, Yifan, wouldn't it be too much trouble to carry three fish heads? Besides, fish heads are not like pig heads. They can break completely if you are not careful."
Feng Yifan smiled and asked, "Master, how about you come and have one?"
Chen Wei was stunned for a moment, then he laughed awkwardly and said, "I'd better forget it. I haven't done it for many years. I really can't do it. I'm really not good at the bone removal step."
At this time, Shi Jinbin said, "I'll help you deal with one."
Seeing Shi Jinbin speak, his fellow disciples all looked at him.
Su Jinrong thought for a moment and said, "How about this, Senior Brother Shi and I will be together. The two of us should be able to handle it."
Shi Jinbin did not refuse: "Okay, then Jinrong and I will have a fish head."
Feng Yifan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take care of the remaining two myself."
The other teachers and brothers really didn't dare to take on this job.
To disassemble and stew the silver carp head, you need to cook the fish head first, then use a bamboo net to hold it in warm water, and disassemble the fish bones bit by bit while it is hot. Finally, drag it out and put it into the stewed white soup to stew it again to complete the dish.
The entire process, it can be said that all the skills, are in the step of removing the bones.
If you are not careful, the fish head will definitely be broken, and once it is broken, the dish will be ruined.
Back then, old man Su Quansheng also did it himself, and the teachers and brothers actually had little contact with it.
Perhaps only Shi Jinbin and Su Jinrong practiced with the master for a while after the separation.
Shi Jinbin later went to Beijing, where he worked at a state banquet. Later, when he was at the Red Maple Hotel, he also received important guests, so he had some experience.
After all the assignments were completed, Feng Yifan said, "Okay, Dad, and all the seniors, let's stop here for today. We will start early tomorrow morning, so let's all go back and rest."
Su Jinrong also said: "Yes, yes, brothers, go back and have a rest."
When Chen Wei was leaving, he asked, "Jin Bin, what are you doing tonight..."
Before he could finish his question, Shi Jinbin said directly: "You guys go your own way. I'm not going to the hotel. I'm going to Jinrong's place tonight. We two old men can stay here and chat in the evening."
After hearing this, the other brothers also wanted to go together.
After so many years, the teachers and brothers still have some things they want to say.
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "My fellow teachers, you should follow our master back to rest. Only if you rest well tonight can you properly handle the Three-Head Banquet tomorrow. Besides, after the banquet is over tomorrow, you and your teachers and brothers will have plenty of time to chat together."
Su Jinrong also said, "Yes, yes, brothers, go back and have a rest."
In the end, Chen Wei also took Ma Wenjing, Dai Feng and Lu Yongjun to stay in the hotel.
Sun Mingxing went back to Fujing Tower. He was going to come to Su Ji tomorrow, so he had to go back to Fujing Tower in the evening to give instructions to his apprentices there. Some of his tools were also in Fujing Tower.
Feng Yifan and his friends finished their meeting and came down from the private room on the second floor.
On the first floor, Shi Jiahui and Catherine were still discussing their menu for tomorrow.
Feng Yifan saw Tian Lang dozing off, so he could only say, "Okay, didn't you guys agree on the menu before? No need to discuss it so late, go back and rest first. Senior Sister, look at Tian Lang, he's about to fall asleep, go back."
In fact, after the three-head banquet was confirmed, Feng Yifan had already asked everyone to prepare the menu.
He also made centralized purchases based on the dishes everyone wanted to make.
In fact, Shi Jiahui and his team did not have any ideas for improving the menu. The reason they discussed it until so late was that they were thinking about how to cook the pig and fish that were given to them.
Because whether it is a pig or a fish, even though it no longer has a head, it still has many parts.
Therefore, this temporary addition of dishes also gave everyone more ideas.
Feng Yifan finally said with a smile: "Actually, if you really can't think of any innovations, then you can stew more spare ribs, and then make braised pork, or stew pork elbows, etc. You can also make large intestines, pig lung soup, etc., all are fine."
Shi Jiahui laughed and said, "Hahaha, is our chef so perfunctory? If this gets out, the guests who come tomorrow will scold you to death, right?"
Feng Yifan said seriously, "It's not easy to make these home-cooked dishes well, okay?"
Shi Jiahui thought for a moment and said, "That's true. Okay, let's do this for now. We all go back and rest. Everyone has to get up early tomorrow and there are so many things to prepare."
Everyone walked out of Su Ji and prepared to go home to rest.
And tomorrow is the first day of the new year, and everyone in Su Ji and Ruo Restaurant will open a new chapter.