Free Web NovelChapter 389: Chapter 249: Literary Thinking Tofu
Wen Si tofu, this is a traditional Huaxia dish, and it’s also one that demands a high level of knife skills from the chef. Generally speaking, through Wen Si tofu, one can roughly gauge a chef’s knife skills.
Chen Ze looked at his phone, somewhat indecisive.
He was well aware of his own situation. Chen Ze understood that although his knife skills had improved significantly compared to before, he still wasn’t very confident about being able to cut tofu and ham into strands as fine as hair.
"Give it a try, after all, trying it out won’t get me pregnant." Chen Ze clapped his hands and decided to give it a try at last, for not attempting it meant not knowing the outcome at all.
Wen Si tofu is a part of Huaiyang cuisine, demanding delicate knife work, and the quality of ingredients is also critical. In the past, consuming a complete Wen Si tofu had specific seasonal requirements, but now it has gotten a lot easier.
Chen Ze opened the fridge, took out a large block of tofu, then reached for winter bamboo shoots, chicken breast, ham, shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, and other ingredients—these were the materials for the Wen Si tofu.
The cooking method for Wen Si tofu is not complex; it can even be said to be very simple. However, even so, Chen Ze didn’t feel very confident.
Chen Ze placed a block of tofu on the cutting board, gripped the kitchen knife tightly, took a deep breath, and relaxed his mind. freewёbnoνel.com
It is best to slice Wen Si tofu quickly and continuously, and you have to be steady-handed. An unsteady hand might cut ingredients larger than hair strands.
Chen Ze focused intently on the tofu on the cutting board, starting to slice the tofu rapidly. It took a while because Chen Ze made many cuts before moving back a little to reveal more of the tofu.
Chen Ze was very serious. His first impression of Wen Si tofu came from the culinary documentary "A Bite of China." When Chen Ze saw the seemingly intact block of tofu placed in the water that burst open like a flower, he was astounded.
A block of tofu isn’t very big. Chen Ze, though meticulous, finished cutting the block in just a short while.
"Whew..." Chen Ze slowly exhaled, having been holding his breath all this time, and now he felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Chen Ze twisted his neck, then scooped a bowl of hot water from a pot nearby and immersed the tofu in it, then he watched as the tofu slowly drifted apart.
Chen Ze didn’t keep watching; the making of Wen Si tofu was not over yet, he had to continue.
Then Chen Ze followed the recipe strictly, slicing the shiitake mushrooms finely, winter bamboo shoots finely, boiled chicken breast finely, and cutting lettuce and cooked ham into fine strips...
"I feel like I’ve been sliced thin myself," Chen Ze shook his head, but the most challenging part had passed. Now it was just a matter of following the steps to finish the Wen Si tofu.
Looking at the steaming chicken soup, Chen Ze felt calm. Then he scooped out the tofu strands that had been set aside and put them into the soup pot to heat up.
Watching the Wen Si tofu strands float to the surface of the chicken soup, Chen Ze nodded in satisfaction, then scooped them out and transferred them into a bowl of chicken soup assembled with various ingredients.
[You’ve made a fairly good Wen Si tofu. Huaxia Cuisine crafting experience has increased by 7 points.]
"Mission Accomplished!" Chen Ze was visibly delighted, having finally succeeded in making the Wen Si tofu. He had been as focused as when he was trying to secure the Dragon in a game of League of Legends.
"Boss, what did you make?" Suddenly, a voice rang out, almost startling Chen Ze into jumping.
Chen Ze looked up and realized that there were a few more customers in the restaurant.
Sebastian and Dragone were curiously leaning over the counter, looking at the Wen Si tofu in Chen Ze’s bowl, while Riesel was calmly sipping on Coca Cola.
"Sebastian? When did you guys get here?" Chen Ze was a bit confused; he hadn’t even noticed their arrival.
"We’ve been here for a while, but I saw you were busy cooking and didn’t want to disturb you," Dragone explained, though his eyes were still fixed on the Wen Si tofu in the bowl.
"Hehe, Boss, what’s the name of this dish?" Before Chen Ze had time to ponder if he had been too focused, Sebastian asked.
"It’s Wen Si tofu, a rather delicate dish." Chen Ze was quite proud, having succeeded in making Wen Si tofu on his first try, and it seemed to have turned out well.
"Boss, the dish you served us last time was really tasty, but it was too small and not quite satisfying enough," Sebastian licked his lips, recalling the spicy crayfish from the last time and feeling his mouth watering again.
Chen Ze looked up at him, remembering that his first pot of gold had come from Sebastian, the ambergris, which now seemed to be with a certain teacher at No. 1 Middle School.
"Would you like to eat something?" Chen Ze clapped his hands with a smile, looking at the few regular customers before him.
"I’ll have a serving of Wen Si tofu and then something to fill my stomach," Dragone stated, his gaze still on the Wen Si tofu. Sprite Dragons always liked things that looked attractive.
"I’m not so particular. Ten servings of light cheesecake, then five servings of curry pork cutlet rice, and finally add three servings of Magical Mapo Tofu," Sebastian licked his lips; he intended to feast to his heart’s content today.
"Boss, I’ll have the usual, with more veggies. I really liked that tripe last time. This time I brought you a cow’s stomach, could you cut it up for me?" Riesel chimed in and then tossed in a big piece of cow stomach.
"Alright, but next time don’t bring me such a big piece. I only need a part of it," Chen Ze’s mouth twitched as he spoke, knowing that not all parts of the cow stomach could be cut into tripe.
Tripe is particular; it usually refers to the rumen of the cow. Of course, some places also consider the omasum, or the "book stomach," to be tripe.
Chen Ze cut open the cow stomach and trimmed out all the parts that could be used for the tripe, then cut a full plate of it.
Chen Ze looked at the tripe in front of him and nodded in satisfaction. The tripe was still of good quality, blackened in color.
Generally speaking, cows fed with fodder have yellow tripe, those fed with grain crops have darkened tripe, and white tripe is usually a frozen product.
Chen Ze twisted his neck. Every time these dragons visited, he became extremely busy, but he preferred being busy to almost falling asleep with idleness.
Chen Ze geared up and started cooking for Sebastian and the others.
First, he brought out Riesel’s hot pot, then quickly prepared a large variety of ingredients for the hot pot, asking Betty to serve them.
Next, Chen Ze started making curry in a large pot, and after that, he just needed to prepare the rice and pork cutlets.
"Betty, come in and serve the dishes!"
