Free Web NovelChapter 543: Chapter 455: You Call This Inexperienced? Aren’t the Requirements Too High?
After regaining her confidence, Lin stopped hesitating and immediately grabbed a large lump of dough from the plate and began kneading it.
With the rich experience of making dumplings the day before, her movements looked quite skillful. She didn’t even need to look with her eyes; she could tell just by the feel of her hands how much she needed to knead.
The irregular dough was quickly kneaded into a long strip in her hands, then pinched into individual pieces.
Sprinkling a handful of flour on top, she spread her palms open, and with seemingly casual circular movements, she magically kneaded these pieces back into round shapes.
Just with these few simple movements, she instantly set herself apart from the others.
The eight new chefs were still shaping each piece, while she had already moved on to rolling out the wrappers.
Pressing down with the palm of her hand a few times, she flattened the piece, then picked it up and balanced it on her four fingers. The rolling pin rolled back and forth in her right hand, while her left fingers lightly adjusted the position of the dough.
In just eight or nine seconds, a large, slightly translucent round dumpling wrapper lay quietly on the table.
Although the process was the same, the size difference created a slight variation in feel.
After rolling out two or three, Lin slowly got used to the size of these dumpling wrappers, and her speed gradually increased.
Originally, all the chefs were focused on their own tasks, and this brand-new rolling technique left them without a clue.
Their rolled pieces were either oval or irregularly shaped, and there were even square ones.
After several failed attempts, their instincts made them glance at how the people around them were rolling, hoping to find someone successful to learn from.
It wouldn’t have mattered if they hadn’t looked, but once they did, their hearts settled back down.
So, others can’t do it either!
Just then.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter——"
"Clatter, clatter, clatter——"
The crisp sound of wood being tapped came from the far left, prompting everyone to turn and look over, as this was clearly the sound of a knife hitting a cutting board.
Could it be that someone gave up on rolling out the dough and went to chop vegetables instead?
Lin, who was chopping chives, suddenly felt the scrutiny of several pairs of eyes, her hand on the knife trembled slightly, and she gritted her teeth silently, reminding herself to ignore their gazes and continue chopping.
Seeing that it was that youthful black-haired girl chopping vegetables, these people suddenly laughed, a hint of mockery at the corners of their mouths.
But the next second, as Lin poured the chopped chives into a bowl, the stack of dumpling wrappers on the table came into view.
"????"
"!??!"
The chef closest to her froze with wide eyes, full of disbelief. He took a quick step forward and stared intently at the dozen or so dumpling wrappers.
He didn’t dare to touch them because the chef had clearly stated earlier that touching other people’s ingredients without permission would result in automatic disqualification.
In the freshly risen morning sunlight, the surface of the dozen dumpling wrappers shimmered faintly.
The man couldn’t help but bend over, bringing his gaze parallel to the table, taking a few more glances at the side of the wrappers, and with a strange expression, he looked at Lin, said nothing, and quietly returned to his spot to pick up his rolling pin again.
His behavior aroused the curiosity of others, and one by one they crowded over to admire Lin’s work.
"Damn, I haven’t rolled a single one, and this little girl is almost done???"
"Each wrapper is rolled so thin and nearly a perfect circle. Have you worked at the Great Xia Restaurant before?"
"It must be! I used to be in charge of baking in a restaurant, and I can’t roll this well. She must have had specialized training."
"Didn’t they say her skills were basic? This is called basic?"
"Does the head chef consider this level basic?"
"My God, no, I need to hurry back. There’s no time to waste!"
Lin, who had been a bit nervous inside, straightened up when she saw the shocked gazes the chefs cast towards her, and she dared to turn her head to observe the situation on the tables next to her.
When she looked, she was dumbfounded.
Was there not even anyone who could roll a decent round dumpling wrapper?
Are the chefs applying to work at a five-star hotel this poor in skill?
She had never worked in a restaurant, with no concept in her little head, thinking that those applying would at least be like Zhao or Chen.
And this is all?
After a quick glance, she lost interest in watching further. Her inner confidence grew fuller, and a faint smile played on her lips.
No wonder the head chefs praised her talent; now it seems, she indeed has talent!
Quickly chopping the chives, she then cracked a dozen eggs into the pan to fry and scatter, then transferred them to a large plate to cool.
It was only after frying the eggs that she realized that if they needed to cool down, she should have fried the eggs before chopping the chives, right?
No wonder Zhao didn’t fry the eggs on the spot during his demonstration but had them prepared in advance.
A small oversight, remember next time!
The freshly fried eggs were still hot, and even placed in the plate to cool, they would take at least ten minutes to reach room temperature, during which time nothing else could be done.
Is there any way to speed this up?
She didn’t want to stand around for too long; that would make her appear weak in time management and operation steps, as well as lacking adaptability.
Remembering how she used to fan herself with newspapers or leaves when it was hot, her eyes lit up. She quickly grabbed the freshly washed cutting board and began rapidly waving it over the egg pieces.
This small cutting board was only the length of a forearm and the thickness of a finger, so waving it with small motions required hardly any effort.
As the cutting board was waved, a cool breeze flitted over the surface of the eggs, with some of the smaller pieces almost being blown away.
Everyone in the room immediately turned their attention to Lin’s actions, each with a puzzled look, not understanding why she was doing this.
Only Lin Chen and Zhao Shun, along with a few others, understood and nodded subtly, impressed with her quick reflexes.
When Zhao Shun previously demonstrated not frying the eggs on-site, it was not just for convenience; it was actually a deliberate trap to test the participants.
When Lin Chen explained, he only briefly mentioned that the eggs needed to cool before being added, speaking so quickly it could easily be overlooked.
However, he did not say whether to fry the eggs at the beginning or at the end, and even Zhao Shun’s preparation steps were deliberately mixed up to test the participants’ logical thinking to form the most time-efficient procedure.
Now, seeing Lin quickly respond and find suitable solutions, Lin Chen naturally added points for her.
Especially since she had no kitchen work experience, which emphasized her fast adaptability.
After fanning for a little over a minute, the egg pieces quickly cooled to a lukewarm temperature.
Lin dumped them directly into the chives, added various seasonings, and began mixing, finishing with a drizzle of oil.
While she didn’t understand the principles behind these steps, it didn’t matter. Her simple thought was that as long as she replicated the process exactly, she wouldn’t make a mistake.
After preparing the filling, only the wrapping step, which she excelled at, was left.
Five minutes later.
As eight chefs finally began to grasp some of the skills for rolling out dough, a faint aroma of chives wafted through the air.
Everyone turned their heads to look.
That Xiao Hei girl had already started frying???
"Unbelievable, how is she moving so fast?"
"It’s over, if this speed is considered slow, how could I possibly get hired?"
"Are the standards for a five-star hotel restaurant this high??"
"Wait, how was I even selected for the interview? Does that mean the other candidates were even worse?"
While the other candidates were feeling anxious, Lin was focused entirely on the frying pan before her, afraid that a single misstep would cause the large dumpling to burn.
Yesterday, she only wrapped them and didn’t have a chance to handle the pan, completely unaware that there would be an assessment today.
To say she wasn’t nervous would be a lie, especially since she was the first to reach this stage.
If it accidentally burned, the image she built up would crumble instantly.
Lin glanced around at the others, who were still sweating over rolling the wrappers, with not a single person chopping vegetables yet, and she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn’t dare to turn up the heat too high, maintaining it at medium and flipping every twenty to thirty seconds to ensure nothing went wrong.
There was hardly any oil in the pan, just a little to grease it.
The oil was quickly absorbed by the chive pockets, turning the surface a light golden brown that gradually deepened into an enticing golden-brown with more cooking time.
The shape of the chive pockets differed notably from yesterday’s dumplings, appearing flat and better able to evenly adhere to the pan.
Though called frying, it was more like pan-cooking, a concept not found in Western cuisine.
Another seven to eight minutes passed, and a plate of four crispy golden chive pockets was perfectly done.
Through the slightly transparent skin, the pale green chives and tender yellow eggs inside could be faintly seen.
Aside from those, there was an unusual ingredient in the filling.
Cellophane noodles.
These noodles were pre-soaked, only needing to be cut and mixed into the filling.
Even Lin, along with nearly all the chefs, thought these were noodles and found it baffling why they should be cut up and stuffed inside the filling and then wrapped with dough.
Couldn’t it just be made as a noodle dish directly?
When Lin raised her hand to signal with the steaming chive pockets, Lin Chen was already in front of her.
He picked up the knife from the table and swiftly halved the chive pockets on the plate.
Instantly, a rich aroma of vegetables emerged, carrying a slight sweetness.
As they were cut, a visible green juice slowly trickled from the cross-section onto the plate.
"Gulp."
Lin involuntarily swallowed her saliva.
"Try it, you have to taste your own creation."
Lin Chen picked up half and placed it in her hand, while he grabbed the other half, blew on it, and took a big bite.
