Free Web NovelChapter 561: Chapter 473: Don’t Laugh! Hit Me If It’s Not Delicious!
"Finally, you’re here!"
"I almost fell asleep waiting."
"A job that you have to wait an entire afternoon for surely isn’t that easy, right?"
"I’m here to apply for a waiter position, not a chef, hopefully it’s not too troublesome."
Aside from a few people being slightly reluctant, most seemed indifferent.
The working environment here is good, and the pay is high. Based on today’s experience, there’s barely any workload, only two hours during breakfast and lunch each.
It’s still half of a normal eight-hour workday.
When there are no guests to serve, it’s okay to help out with some simple kitchen tasks.
Of course, it’s also okay not to do it, and at most, you’ll just be paid according to work hours.
Plus, if this goes on, those who don’t cooperate will definitely be the first to be kicked out.
People chosen for internships at the restaurant aren’t foolish; they know what to do and what not to do, and the requests aren’t unreasonable or made to intentionally cause them trouble.
Daniel had just parked the car, jumped out of the driver’s seat, and looked up to see a group of diversely styled beauties curiously watching him.
Never having experienced a situation like this, he was instantly stunned, his hands tugging at his shirt hem, somewhat at a loss.
At this time, the black face in the crowd raising eyebrows and nodding at him caught his attention.
Daniel blinked quickly, soon understanding his sister’s intent, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Rather than approach her to acknowledge, he directly walked over to open the cargo truck’s doors, starting to prepare to unload.
The delivery mainly consisted of dry goods and nuts, like black sesame, peanuts, mung beans, and red beans, not much fresh fruits and vegetables, focusing on garlic and pickled vegetables, the rest were for replenishing stock.
"Give me the list."
Dais reached out to take the list Daniel handed over, scanned it twice, and gestured to the crowd.
The few male waiters immediately pushed over the two small carts that had been prepared earlier.
"Five bags of black sesame."
"Three bags of peanuts."
"Five bags each of mung beans and red beans."
"Two bags of walnut kernels."
Whenever Dais announced a name, the men quickly found and loaded the corresponding goods onto the carts.
The carts full of items were handed to the girls to push to the area outside the food trucks where the chefs worked in the afternoon.
Once the last bag of goods was loaded onto the cart, Dais pulled a pen out from her chest, her red lips lightly gripping the cap, fluently signing her name on the bottom left of the list.
"Thank you for your hard work, Daniel, it must be tiring running two trips a day, right? If you’re not in a rush, I’ll ask Chen to get you something to eat?"
"No, no, that’s not necessary."
Daniel flashed a big white-tooth grin, waving his hands repeatedly, sneaking a glance towards the direction Lin left.
"That’s too much trouble for you."
"What trouble? We’re all old friends, besides, there are no orders tomorrow morning, so you can sleep in peace."
Dais didn’t give him a chance to refuse, grabbing his wrist and leading him outside.
"Turn off the heat, we’re about to test the breakfast we’ll be selling tomorrow morning, it’s made with the nuts along with milk or something, a Great Xia dessert, I’ve never tried it."
"You can give us some feedback, stay and have a taste, that’s settled."
Though Dais wasn’t much older than him, she fully exuded the elegance of a mature woman as a mother of several children.
Since learning of Daniel’s harsh background, she’s treated this hard-working young man as a brother, feeding him occasionally when Lin Chen wasn’t available, with no intention of discriminating against his skin color.
"Well, okay then."
Daniel foolishly smiled, patting his empty flat stomach, it wouldn’t be false to say he wasn’t hungry, it was dinner time after all.
To ensure delivering the goods to Lin Chen promptly, he didn’t even take a sip of water on the way here, worried about drinking too much and having to visit the toilet, which would waste time, let alone have a meal.
"Have you guys had dinner? Surely not only dessert?"
"Not yet, everyone just finished handling the fish for tomorrow’s use, chef arranged for Chen Xian to demonstrate once, getting ready to cook, just waiting for your supplies to arrive."
When the two of them arrived at the food truck, the goods were still piled on the carts, but the chefs and waiters had already gathered in a circle in front of the truck.
Old Chen’s forehead was slightly sweaty, appearing somewhat nervous.
Originally thinking he had almost adapted to the sight of a dozen or twenty people in the morning, but a new group of rookies suddenly appeared in the afternoon.
The pressure of twenty pairs of eyes compared to forty was utterly different, doubling the stress he felt.
"What’s the big deal?"
On his right side, Zhao Shun seemed completely unfazed, chopping a pickle into small pieces with a few quick cuts.
"Old Chen, didn’t you used to work at a small diner? You must have been watched by customers a lot, right?"
"Even if you haven’t experienced it, let me tell you, just pretend they don’t exist. Do what you need to do; take a deep breath and relax."
"If that’s still not enough, just remind yourself that you’re doing this for the glory of the nation, to promote the culture of Great Xia."
After a few simple words of encouragement from Zhao Shun, Old Chen slowly calmed down, and the tension in his brows gradually eased.
"Alright, I got it."
Once he had adjusted his mindset, he quickly scanned the ingredients at hand, and, after confirming nothing was missing, he turned on the stove. A bluish flame whooshed up instantly.
Since the height of the food truck made it hard to see clearly up close, Lucas specially connected a projector to display the scene inside the truck on a TV outside for everyone to watch.
When the air inside the iron pot began to shimmer slightly, Old Chen picked up a bucket of deep brown oil and poured it directly into the pot.
At the same time, Lucas lifted a small loudspeaker to explain to the crowd,
"First step, heat the pan. Heat it until you can feel the air is hot to the touch and you visually see it shimmering, then add the oil."
"Because this is an iron pot, not a non-stick pan. If you don’t heat the pot, the ingredients can stick. Heating the pot before adding cool oil is one of the most basic techniques in Chinese cooking. Please remember this."
He might seem like he’s just been making videos lately, but he’s actually learned a lot about this subject, and every video comes with a relevant explanation.
If you really think about it, he can just barely be considered a walking encyclopedia.
The chefs stared intently at the TV screen, committing Lucas’s words to memory.
This technique was something they hadn’t really encountered before, or if they had, they hadn’t paid attention to it.
When using a non-stick pot, the timing of adding ingredients doesn’t really affect the final product, so naturally, no one cared about whether the pot was hot or not.
"This oil is called rapeseed oil, extracted from a special plant in Great Xia. It has a strong aroma, and you’ll smell it in a moment."
As soon as Lucas finished speaking, as the oil temperature gradually rose, a captivating fragrance wafted out of the window.
"Hiss..."
The crowd collectively craned their necks and took deep breaths, their eyes widening in astonishment at the intense aroma.
"How can this oil smell so good??"
"I used to think butter was the most aromatic oil in the world, but butter is actually a dairy product. I never thought plant oil could emit such a strong fragrance."
Before they could be in awe for long, Old Chen picked up a small plate, showed it to the camera for a few seconds, and then flipped it into the pot.
"Sizzle——"
In an instant, the fragrance of garlic and ginger rose, accompanied by a faint sourness and a slight spiciness.
Old Chen swiftly stirred the ingredients with a spatula to prevent them from sticking, then added the pickles, shaking his left wrist in a short and brisk motion to start tossing the pot.
As various ingredients danced through the air, the sour and spicy aroma intensified with each toss.
While he was sautéing the base ingredients, Zhao Shun wasn’t idle either. He demonstrated to the audience, in a relatively gradual manner, how to marinate fish slices.
"Remember this method, everyone. It’s the most basic marinating technique in Great Xia. Whether it’s fish, pork, beef, chicken, or any other meat, you can marinate it using this method."
"The marinated meat will become incredibly tender, whether you fry, roast, or boil it, it’s sure to exceed your expectations and imagination."
The simultaneous operations from both sides nearly dazzled the audience; some slower individuals didn’t even know where to look, afraid of missing some crucial step with just a blink.
Fortunately, the marinating technique wasn’t difficult. The key was to first wash the fish slices, absorb enough water into them, then add the seasonings and mix evenly, and finally add egg whites and starch to coat them.
While Zhao Shun was stirring the fish slices, Old Chen picked up a basin of still-warm fish soup and poured it into the pot.
The moment the originally milky white fish soup entered, a layer of golden oil floated to the surface, and the rich smell of fish replaced the earlier pungent sour-spicy aroma, spreading through the air.
This bowl of fish soup was the result of simmering leftovers from over three hundred black fish for more than an hour. Even though it hadn’t been simmered long enough, the taste of the final product wasn’t affected, only the richness of the fish flavor was slightly lacking.
Lucas’s commentary came at just the right time.
"According to the standard process in Great Xia, fish heads, bones, and other scraps should be fried at this point, then add hot water and combine with the previously sautéed ingredients to stew together."
"But because Western diners don’t eat bones, our chef modified the method by separately boiling a broth with black fish, then filtering it out, so it’s more convenient for diners and shortens cooking time."
"Most importantly, this dish can be enjoyed with soup. Pour this fish soup over rice and eat it together, and the taste...slurp."
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but swallow, and the amplified sound from the loudspeaker had the ladies present giggling uncontrollably.
"Stop laughing!"
Lucas shot them a slightly embarrassed glare.
"You’ll see when you taste it, if it isn’t delicious, you can come hit me!"
