Su Ji’s autumn banquet is mainly based on seasonal ingredients, and at the beginning of October, the most seasonal and fresh ingredient, how can crab be missing
The deliciousness of crab has been talked about by countless literati, poets and foodies.
Most of them believe that crabs are best cooked by steaming or boiling and must not be processed in any way.
But this was generally limited by some cooking restrictions at the time.
Later, as the deliciousness of crab was further developed, some crab meat dishes naturally emerged.
The so-called crab meat dishes are made by steaming crabs in advance, separating the crab meat, crab roe and crab paste, and then processing them.
The most famous dish may be the crab meat stew in Huaiyang cuisine.
Of course, there are also crab meat dishes such as soft-fried crab dippers and snowflake crab dippers.
Today at Su Ji, Feng Yifan used crab roe to present several diverse dishes to diners.
In addition to soft fried crab bucket and snowflake crab bucket.
Feng Yifan’s crab stuffed with orange is also a crab roe dish and a state banquet dish.
That's why it was so popular all of a sudden, and the diners on the first floor almost bought out all the crabs prepared by Feng Yifan.
Of course, in addition to crab stuffed with orange, Feng Yifan also has an original dish, which is "Gourd Shrimp and Crab".
This dish combines the delicious flavors of crabs, shrimps and other river fish.
At the same time, it also has a very modern cooking style.
And it is also paired with a very exquisite shape.
It is a very unique dish indeed.
Since it is a crab roe dish, naturally you have to prepare the crab roe first.
Season and stir-fry the crab roe in a pan.
Prepare freshly peeled shrimps.
Season the stir-fried crab roe and shrimp together, wrap them in a piece of oil, tie them into a gourd shape, put them into a frying pan and fry them on low heat until they are set.
After taking it out, remove the string that ties the gourd, dip it in a layer of egg liquid and bread crumbs, put it back into the pan and fry it at high temperature until golden and crispy.
When serving, tie green onion segments around the middle of the gourd and arrange it into shape on the plate. This completes the dish.
After plating the dishes, Feng Yifan would immediately have them delivered to the diners’ tables.
As the saying goes, “One hot dish is worth three fresh dishes.”
Therefore, this dish should be eaten while hot. Otherwise, after it gets cold, the crab meat and shrimp will lose their freshness and become greasy and fishy.
When the dish was served to the table, the diners found it very exquisite and interesting.
Each little gourd looks particularly pleasing to the eye.
Especially the mouth of the small gourd. If you look closely, you will see that it is made of shrimp tails. It is really delicate and beautiful.
The person serving the food will also follow Feng Yifan's instructions and give instructions to the guests at the table.
"Please eat it while it's hot, and please eat from the end of the gourd so that you can enjoy the dish better."
After hearing what the waiter said, Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said, "Hahaha, it seems that Yifan is really considerate. He knows how to remind the diners how to eat such a dish. Then let's all try it together."
After Zhuang Daozhong said this, naturally everyone picked one up.
There is just one small gourd for each person at the table.
He brought it in front of him and looked at it carefully again.
Then, according to what Feng Yifan had asked the waiter to do, he cut into the gourd from the tail.
As soon as you take a bite, the crispy outer shell starts to crumble away instantly, and then the slightly hot inside reveals the very delicious filling.
When you chew it gently in your mouth, the freshness of the crab roe, the chewy texture of the shrimp, plus some seasoning, really makes you feel extremely delicious.
In the next room, three little girls also had the dish.
Children naturally prefer fried foods.
So after eating it, the three little girls loved this dish very much.
"Mom, grandma, this is delicious."
“It’s delicious, so crispy and soft inside.”
“It has shrimp in it, and it’s still bouncy.”
Lu Cuiling smiled and said, "Haha, as long as you three like it, this is a dish specially created by your father Feng. It can only be eaten in this season. You won't be able to eat it after this season."
Feng Ruoruo asked curiously, "Grandma, why can't we eat it after this season?"
Lu Cuiling explained: "Because after this season, there are no crabs, so this dish can't be made."
Feng Ruoruo looked at the golden gourd in the small bowl in surprise. After examining it for a long time, she asked, "Grandma, this isn't a crab crab? I've seen crab crabs before. My dad and I went to buy crab crabs. Those crabs were all baring their claws. This isn't a crab crab."
Su Lanxin decisively took the initiative to explain to the little girl.
"Although this doesn't look like a crab, it's made of crab. This season is the right time to eat crab, so this dish can be made. In other seasons, when there are no crabs, this dish cannot be made."
Feng Ruoruo's eyes widened after hearing this, and she looked at the golden gourd in the bowl in her hand in disbelief.
"Oh, is there a crab in this? But crabs are so big, how can they fit in this?"
After hearing this, Yang Xiaoxi and Chen Yaofei also stared at it with curiosity.
The three little girls were all confused at this time, wondering how the crab was put into the small gourd
When the adults saw this, they were stunned for a moment, and then they all couldn't help laughing.
Yang Zhiyi laughed and said, "Hahaha, you three are stupid, right? We don't put the whole crab in here, we steam the crab, take out the meat, and then put the meat in here."
Li Feier immediately slapped her husband and said, "Shut up. You're the only one who's smart, right? You always say your daughter is stupid. I think you're the stupid one. How can your daughter be smart with a stupid father like you?"
After Li Feier said this, Yang Zhiyi quickly changed his words: "No, no, I said the wrong thing. The three darlings are not stupid. They just didn't understand."
The conversation between the couple also made everyone laugh.
But the three little girls can't bypass Yang Zhiyi.
Yang Xiaoxi immediately raised her hands and shouted, "Dad, you idiot, don't talk about us."
Feng Ruoruo and Chen Yaofei also raised their fists to protest: "Uncle Yang is bad, don't call us stupid."
Chen Shoulin said, "Okay, Xiao Yang, why don't you apologize to the children right away?"
Naturally, Yang Zhiyi could only apologize to the children.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called the three babies stupid. The three babies are the smartest ones."
Li Feier directly took the food from Yang Zhiyi's bowl and put it into her daughter's bowl.
"Okay, Daddy did something wrong. Daddy is not allowed to eat this. Xixi, you, Ruoruo, and Feifei share it. Don't give it to Daddy."
Yang Zhiyi looked depressed, feeling that he was really asking for trouble.
Fortunately, Feng Yifan took special care of his daughter's table and prepared more food for them so that the children could eat more.
So Yang Zhiyi also ate one, so he got to taste this dish.
If the restaurant closes first in the evening.
After all, if the restaurant takes reservations, once the reserved guests arrive, they will start preparing dinner.
Although dinner takes a long time, the restaurant basically closes at around nine o'clock and guests leave one after another.
Catherine and the others were originally going to come here to help, but were stopped by Feng Yifan.
"Su Ji can still handle it for now, but Su Ji will definitely need to clean tonight, so it will be very busy. So the people here can't come over to help you clean. You don't have to come over to help, just clean the restaurant well."
Catherine, Hans and Tom naturally agreed immediately.
Then, Catherine, the sous chef, directed everyone to start cleaning the restaurant.
Cleaning here is not easy. Every table needs to be tidied up, and then the tabletop needs to be cleaned and wiped. The chairs and the sofas against the wall also need to be cleaned.
Once everything is cleaned up, the chairs need to be turned over on the dining table, and then the floor needs to be cleaned.
Finally, after the outside restaurant part was cleaned, it was time to start the busier cleaning in the kitchen.
In addition to washing various kitchen utensils and tableware, some garbage needs to be sorted and packed.
Finally, of course, the cleaned kitchen utensils and tableware should be put into the disinfection cabinet, and then the countertops and floors in the kitchen should be cleaned.
Usually, these are cleaned up very quickly because Feng Yifan and others help.
But Su Ji's business next door hasn't ended yet, so naturally only Catherine, Hans and Tom can do the business here.
There are waiters to help in the front of the restaurant, but some of the cleaning in the kitchen is mostly done by the three of them themselves, especially the packing of various food waste, which really takes up a lot of their time and energy.
It took almost an hour to clean the entire restaurant.
At the same time, Su Ji’s dinner was coming to an end and there were no more people queuing outside the door.
Because many people know that Su Ji closes at 10 o'clock, people who come late will not continue to queue.
The diners who ate at Su Ji's tonight left with satisfied smiles on their faces.
After most of the guests had left, Feng Yifan asked the kitchen staff and waiters to start clearing and cleaning, while he went upstairs to take a look at the two tables of relatives and friends.
In the two private rooms upstairs, where the mother, wife and daughter were staying, almost everyone had left.
Mainly because the three children need to go to bed and cannot wait until Su Ji Dinner closes.
So Feng Yifan went directly to his grandfather and father.
When I pushed the door open and entered, the first thing that sounded was Zhuang Daozhong's laughter: "Hahaha, our Chef Feng is finally here. Let's applaud and welcome him."
Feng Yifan walked in with a smile and quickly bowed to everyone in the room.
"Thank you, Uncle Master, all the state banquet masters, uncles, and my grandpa. I am really flattered that you all came to support me today. I don't deserve the title of Chef Feng. Uncle Master, please don't call me that."
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said, "You deserve it, Yifan, you cooked really well tonight."
Feng Yifan said modestly: "Master uncle, you are too kind. There are still some things I need to pay attention to. Tonight is the first night of opening, and many preparations are still not sufficient and need to be improved."
An invited state banquet chef smiled and said, "Very good, neither humble nor overbearing, and able to understand his own shortcomings. He is indeed a great chef."
At this time, Chen Xu's master, a top pastry chef who had come specially for the state banquet, said, "Yifan, after tasting your banquet today, I can finally rest assured and let Chen Xu learn from you."
Feng Yifan hurriedly asked, "Should I call Chen Xu up so you can meet him?"
The other party waved his hand: "No, I will stay here for a few days, and I still have time to meet Chen Xu, so let him be busy today."
Feng Yifan nodded: "Okay, how about I let Chen Xu and Luo Yu take a day off tomorrow? So they can accompany you?"
The other party laughed and said, "Hahaha, that won't do. They are your employees. It's against the rules to give them a holiday like this."
Zhuang Daozhong said, "Okay, Yifan, you guys just do your business. In the next few days, we old guys will go and have fun. You don't have to worry about us. You lead the young people to run Su Ji well, and we old guys will be happy."
Feng Yifan said seriously: "Yes, Uncle Master, we will definitely do it."
Seeing Feng Yifan's serious response, everyone in the room started laughing.
Then, everyone expressed their opinions on Feng Yifan’s autumn banquet.
Several state banquet masters also gave some opinions.
Of course, the opinions given are more of a personal idea, and I didn't force Feng Yifan to do it.
Shi Jinbin finally said, "Yifan, how to do it depends on you. After all, you are the chef, so you still have to maintain your own style. You can't just follow our experience and ideas. Su Ji still has to focus on you."
Feng Yifan smiled and responded: "Don't worry, Master, I will definitely take in some advice, but I will stick to my style more."
Zhuang Daozhong nodded: "That's right, you have to remember that you are now the chef of Su Ji, so naturally your style is Su Ji's style. The words of us old guys are just some suggestions. You can absorb them, but you can't listen to them all."
Several state banquet masters present also nodded in agreement with this view.
If you want to become a top chef, you do need to have your own personality and characteristics.
If you just try to cater to diners or imitate some former masters, you will never become a truly top chef.
Nowadays, Feng Yifan actually has his own distinctive style and is a chef with a strong personality.
Whether it's the fried rice with noodles at noon or the various dishes at night, everyone can clearly taste his personality and characteristics.
So many people come to Su Ji, mostly for Feng Yifan's personality and style.
Therefore, he just listened to other people's suggestions.
Dinner finally ended and everyone stood up to leave.
Feng Yifan also personally saw the group of elders in the room off, and watched them leave one after another in front of Su Ji's door.
Then he has to go back to the emergency room and complete the cleaning with everyone. After completing the cleaning, he needs to hold a small summary meeting with everyone.