A group of chefs in the kitchen of Honglou Hotel went on strike. Just then, an important guest of the hotel arrived and was ordering. Pan Qingguo, who was in charge of the waiter management, looked helpless. These guests were very important to the hotel. If they offended them once, it might cause a lot of damage to the hotel's reputation and profits. Therefore, Pan Qingguo and a group of waiters looked anxious.
However, at this moment Ye Chui stood up and said to Pan Qingguo with a smile: "If that's the case, why not let me cook."
Ye Chui's words made everyone in the kitchen stunned.
The chefs looked at Ye Chui and Lin Wei for the first time. They looked no more than 17 or 18 years old. Although they looked mature and steady, they still had a bit of childishness on their faces. What did the boy say just now? Did he want to cook
Lu Bing and the other chefs were stunned for a moment, then they seemed to suddenly react and started laughing.
"This young man is so arrogant!"
"Who do you think you are?"
"He's actually going to cook for us? Is this kidding?"
"Haha, this is so funny."
After understanding what Ye Chui meant, Pan Qingguo, Su Xin and other waiters all looked very unhappy. It was not like they had never seen a young chef before. In fact, among the chefs including Lu Bing, there was a young man of 18 or 19 years old who had great talent, but he was only an assistant in the kitchen and was not even qualified to work on the stove. But Ye Chui, this young man...
You actually plan to cook for Lu Bing and others
This was simply ridiculous. Pan Qingguo came back to his senses, smiled bitterly, looked at Ye Chui and said, "My dear brother, we appreciate your kindness, but... Boss Xu has a very picky mouth. Without a chef of four-star standard or above, there is no way to satisfy his taste..."
"Brother Pan, how can we know if we don't try?" Ye Chui smiled confidently, and even rolled up his sleeves to show that he was ready to do something big. "At least you can let me try it first. If the dish I cook is really unbearable, then you can just not serve it out. It's already this time, why bother with so much?"
Pan Qingguo intuitively didn't believe that Ye Cui could do anything, but what he said made a lot of sense. Given the current situation, he could only try his best...
So he nodded: "Okay then."
Seeing that Pan Qingguo agreed, Lu Bing and others nearby showed contemptuous and mocking expressions and started talking in a low voice.
"Pan Qingguo actually intends to let this ignorant boy have a try? I think he is just dreaming. It would be better for him to come and beg us for a few more words than to count on this boy."
"This young man is really brave. Who does he think he is? He actually dares to take this job to entertain such an important guest."
"Look at this young man, he's full of confidence, but does he know what he's doing?"
The group of chefs in the kitchen stood in the corner, looking like they were watching a show and talking a lot. The leader was naturally Lu Bing.
When Lin Wei heard their discussion, she looked a little unhappy. She looked at Lu Bing and thought: We are both fat chefs, but Tian Xiaodu is so kind and amiable, but why is Lu Bing so annoying
A waiter quickly walked into the kitchen and handed the registration book to Pan Qingguo: "This is the dish that Boss Xu ordered."
The waiter looked embarrassed. Pan Qingguo hurriedly checked the name of the dish on the register. When he saw the first name, his face turned a little ugly: "Steamed sea bass... Boss Xu actually ordered this signature dish of Honglou!"
Hearing the name of steamed sea bass, Lu Bing and other chefs immediately burst into sarcastic laughter.
"Boss Xu's favorite dish is the steamed sea bass made by Master Lu. This dish was created by Master Lu a year ago and is now the signature dish of our Honglou. No one else can make this dish!"
"Hehe, although the method of steaming sea bass is not complicated, not everyone can make it. Let me see how they do it."
"Boss Xu has a very good tongue. He can tell the difference in the fish if it's not cooked by Master Lu. Hehe, it will be a pity then, because Boss Xu came here just to show his support for Master Lu."
Amidst these discussions, Lu Bing felt indescribably proud.
Pan Qingguo's face looked very ugly, because the truth was just as these chefs said, steamed sea bass was a dish created by Lu Bing a year ago, and it quickly became the signature dish of Hong Lou. When Lu Bing cooked this dish, he seldom allowed other people to be present. It could be said that Lu Bing was the only one in the entire Hong Lou who knew how to cook this dish. Although the dish was called steamed, it was obviously not as simple as steaming.
If this dish is not cooked well, Boss Xu will definitely be angry.
Pan Qingguo sighed and looked at Ye Chui.
He thought that after hearing the discussion of Lu Bing and others, Ye Chui would show a look of great shock, but to his surprise and astonishment, Ye Chui just smiled faintly: "Steamed sea bass? Then... where is the fish?"
Pan Qingguo was stunned for a moment, and pointed to the room on the side of the kitchen: "We have a special room here for raising fish... Meng Gang, Huang Yong, the two of you go catch a perch."
Meng Gang and Huang Yong are two waiters. There is an internal conflict in Hong Lou. The chefs led by Lu Bing are in one camp, while the waiters led by Pan Qingguo belong to another camp and stand on the side of the boss Peng Hong.
Meng Gang and Huang Yong entered the room, and soon there was a sound of splashing water. A moment later, the two men came out holding a one-foot-long perch. The fish was still fresh and kept struggling in their hands. Their chef uniforms were wet in large areas, and they looked very embarrassed.
Seeing this scene, Lu Bing and other chefs laughed again—
"It's obvious that these two are fishing for the first time."
"I want to see how that boy is going to cook the fish."
"You've probably never killed a fish before at such a young age. I wonder if you can do it?"
"Let's just wait and see the joke. Fish is not that easy to cook. The first time I killed a fish, I almost got tortured to death by it."
Amid the discussions of these people, Pan Qingguo, Su Xin, and several other waiters who came to watch the fun also showed some worry on their faces and looked at Ye Chui.
And they didn’t know if it was because Ye Chui’s calm demeanor had infected them that they all began to choose to trust Ye Chui at this time.
Lin Wei walked to Ye Chui with some concern: "Ye Chui, can you do it?"
"You've seen me cook fish before, right? Don't worry, this dish is child's play for me." Ye Chui gave Lin Wei a confident smile, then picked up a kitchen knife and walked towards the struggling sea bass.
Meng Gang and Huang Yong pressed the fish tightly on the chopping board, and sweat began to appear on their faces.
Anyone who cooks for the first time will feel reluctant to kill fish and chickens. Many people will be shocked by the sight of the living chickens and fish struggling under the knife. Chefs like Lu Bing naturally understood this, so they all looked like they were watching a joke, waiting for Ye Chui to show his weakness.
However, they were destined to be disappointed.
Ye Chui walked to the chopping board and pressed the middle of the sea bass with one hand, motioning Meng Gang and Huang Yong to go away. The two were naturally happy with this and hurriedly left the chopping board.
The sea bass held down by Ye Chui with one hand struggled hard, its tail and head slapping the chopping board, making a series of "bang bang bang" and "bang bang bang" sounds, which were very powerful and imposing.
The expression on Ye Chui's face was still very calm. He raised the kitchen knife with his other hand, but with the back of the knife facing down, and hit the fish head with a "pa" sound.
The most important point when killing a fish is to knock it unconscious first.
Ye Chui then began to cook the sea bass, scraping off the scales with the back of a knife. Ye Chui's movements were extremely skillful, and it took him less than a minute to clean the scales completely. The fish body was incredibly smooth, and the meat was not damaged at all. Then Ye Chui used the kitchen knife to cut open the fish's belly and clean out the internal organs - this should have been a bloody scene, but no one in the kitchen felt that way at all. Instead, they felt an indescribable beauty as they watched Ye Chui's smooth movements.
In the kitchens of large restaurants, in order to ensure the freshness of the ingredients, in addition to the meat of large animals such as pork, cattle, and sheep, chickens, ducks, and fish are often slaughtered on the spot. This requires the chef to have the ability to cook live chickens and fish. Of course, because of the vegetarian movement, the way of killing chickens and fish is far less standardized than Ye Chui's previous life - the fish must be knocked unconscious before killing. Although this is just a simple step, few people in this world can think of this.
As for Ye Chui's subsequent steps of scraping the scales, removing the internal organs, and removing the fishy thread, etc., not only are his movements swift and dazzling, but each step also makes many chefs feel like they have suddenly realized something: it turns out that fish can be killed this way!
At this moment, Lu Bing and others were already stunned. The previous ridicule and contempt had quietly disappeared. In contrast, there was surprise on the faces of Pan Qingguo, Su Xin and other waiters.
I didn't expect that I had put all my eggs in one basket and let Ye Chui give it a try, but he ended up bringing such a big surprise!
"This kid kills the fish in one go, just like he's performing a show. It's amazing..." a chef on Lu Bing's side couldn't help but exclaimed in a low voice.
"Bullshit!" Lu Bing came to his senses and said coldly, "It's just killing a fish. I guess he used to do this in the restaurant. No wonder he is so good at cooking fish... But that's all. I don't believe he can make my steamed sea bass."
After Ye Chui cooked the sea bass, he made some cuts on both sides of the sea bass, sprinkled some seasonings on it, and then left it alone for a simple marinating process.
He looked at Pan Qingguo and said, "What other dishes did Mr. Xu order? I can make the other dishes first." (~^~)