Hearing Feng Yifan seriously talk about his experience working in the kitchen of a restaurant under Su Lanxin's company abroad, not only Zhuang Daozhong and Zhuang Zhebin were a little surprised, but Su Jinrong also frowned.
After Feng Yifan finished his narration, he smiled calmly and said to Zhuang Daozhong, "Uncle Master, I won't comment on the good or bad practices of my aunt's restaurants, but I think if she gets the old plaque of Su Ji, she will probably use her own management style to run it.
If that is the case, Uncle Master, do you think that Su Ji is still Su Ji under such operation?"
Feng Yifan's question made Zhuang Daozhong fall into deep thought, and also made Zhuang Zhebin, who had always favored Su Lanxin, fall into deep thought.
In Zhuang Zhebin's mind, he recalled the Yi Fu noodles he had eaten at Su Ji today, the unique taste of the crystal braised pork, and the deep-fried meatballs with fillings.
If it were a restaurant under Su Lanxin Catering Group, none of these would appear, right
Because these are not up to the restaurant's standards.
But these do not meet the standards of standardized restaurants. They are completely created by the chefs based on their experience and sudden inspiration. Don’t they taste good
No, they are delicious.
It allows diners to taste a different flavor, one that retains tradition but at the same time breaks through tradition.
Zhuang Zhebin pondered and suddenly understood why Su Ji was unwilling to cooperate with Su Lanxin. Because in Su Ji's inheritance, in addition to the adherence to tradition, there is also an innovation and change to tradition.
This is in irreconcilable conflict with Su Lanxin's ideas.
Zhuang Daozhong sighed and said, "It seems that Lan Xin's ideas are fundamentally different from ours."
Su Jinrong spoke up at this time: "Su Ji, this is a private kitchen restaurant, we can't do that."
Zhuang Daozhong also nodded in agreement: "Yes, Su Ji really can't be scaled up like that. Su Ji should retain its unique flavor. If it becomes a chain restaurant like that, it will lose the flavor that Su Ji should have."
At this moment, Mr. Zhuang Daozhong finally made up his mind: "Jinrong, don't worry, I will tell Lan Xin about this. You won the inheritance right of this old plaque, so it belongs to you. I also believe that you and your son-in-law will carry it forward again."
Feng Yifan immediately stood up and saluted to Master Zhuang Daozhong very respectfully: "Thank you for your help, Uncle Master. Feng Yifan will definitely stick to Su Ji."
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said, "Okay, Yifan, your energy makes me feel like I've seen my old brother Su."
Recalling the scenes of those years, Zhuang Daozhong was quite emotional, his eyes full of longing.
Lu Cuiling couldn't help but say, "Master, can you tell us about your experience with the chef at Su Ji at the state banquet?"
When Zhuang Daozhong heard Lu Cuiling's question and saw Feng Yifan, Su Ruoxi, and especially his great-grandson Zhuang Zhebin, all looking yearning, he smiled and agreed, "Okay, then I'll tell you."
The state banquet that Mr. Su attended was also a very famous state banquet. The guests attending the state banquet were all dignitaries from various countries.
At that time, the selection of chefs was also nationwide.
The open selection is conducted from among the elite culinary professionals across the country, which is almost equivalent to picking one in a million.
According to the specifications of the state banquet, it was divided into four groups: Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, and Huai.
At that time, Grandpa Su was the leader of Huai's group. He was responsible for menu customization, supervising the production of dishes, and even the selection of all ingredients, especially all kinds of seasonings.
When Zhuang Daozhong mentioned that passage, he became full of energy and enthusiasm.
"At that time, I was probably Yifan's age. I was really lucky to be noticed by Brother Su and became his assistant. However, I would rather call him an apprentice than an assistant."
Speaking of this, Zhuang Daozhong's face was also full of smiles.
"You may not know that every chef who was able to participate in the state banquet at that time was selected from thousands of people. They were considered the top chefs in the culinary world, so they were all a bit arrogant."
Just as Zhuang Daozhong said, it was not easy to be the coordinating team leader of each group at that time, because you were leading a group of top people, so you needed to have the ability to surpass everyone else.
Zhuang Daozhong said a little embarrassedly: "I was also very proud when I entered. At the beginning, I was asked to be an assistant, so I was definitely a little unconvinced. But after really fighting with Brother Su, I realized that there was a big gap between us."
Although Zhuang Daozhong was only in his thirties at the time, he had to go through rounds of selection before he could join the state banquet team.
However, Zhuang Daozhong, who thought he was very powerful, felt inferior and had to admit defeat after meeting the chef of Su Ji.
"Back then, Yifan and Ruoxi, your grandfather was really the best in everything, whether it was knife skills or cooking skills. The most important thing was seasoning. Your grandfather had a special skill, adding fruits to dishes to increase the layering of the dishes."
At this point, Zhuang Daozhong smiled and asked, "Have you ever thought about adding pineapple to scallion oil before frying?"
Zhuang Zhebin couldn't help but exclaimed: "Did Grandpa make a mistake? Why is there pineapple in frying scallion oil?"
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said, "This is your great grandfather Su's unique skill. Add pineapple to the scallion oil and fry it at the end. This blends the fruity aroma into the scallion oil, making it instantly more layered."
Zhuang Zhebin could only shake his head helplessly and said that it was really hard for him to think of it.
Feng Yifan was also a little surprised: "I didn't expect it. I thought only foreign countries would incorporate fruits into dishes. I didn't expect that grandpa had already started doing this."
Zhuang Daozhong nodded: "Yes, so those top culinary experts from all over the world had to admire your grandfather."
At this moment, in front of Feng Yifan and the others, it seemed as if the scene in the state banquet kitchen appeared, where Grandpa Su led a group of top chefs and did their best to display their culinary skills to the extreme.
I have to say that at this moment Feng Yifan's heart was filled with admiration.
As Zhuang Daozhong spoke, the state banquet scene that originally existed only in everyone's imagination suddenly became vivid.
After talking about the state banquet, Zhuang Daozhong couldn't help but sigh and said, "Nowadays, chefs always think that their dishes are not cooked well. Is it because their master has something hidden? Or do they want to peek at other people's family dishes
But in reality, how can there be so many secrets in cooking? How can there be so many secret recipes that are not passed on
A so-called master is just someone who works harder than others, spends more time studying, and treats cooking as an art, not just cooking."
After listening to what Zhuang Daozhong said, Feng Yifan nodded continuously, thinking that what Mr. Zhuang said made sense.
Zhuang Zhebin thought for a moment and asked, "Grandpa, what you said means that there is actually no such thing as an ancestral menu?"
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said, "Aren't the so-called ancestral menus also the result of research by our ancestors? Moreover, there is actually no secret in the various so-called ancestral menus. Most of them are just records of our ancestors' experience."
After hearing this, Feng Yifan said, "I understand what Uncle Master means. Cooking well does not necessarily require any secret recipes passed down from ancestors. It is more about the research of each chef."
Zhuang Daozhong nodded: "Yes, just like you, Yifan, the various toppings of Yifu noodles and the deep-fried meatballs with molten pork, aren't they all your own research? As a chef, you must have this kind of research spirit to continuously make good dishes."