Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 693 - 356: The Master of Intuition Teaches Live

After the first dish of stir-fried yam was off the stove, Qin Huai went on to stir-fry the second dish.

Actually, for demonstration purposes, just stir-frying one dish would suffice. The main reason is that Qin Huai has gotten used to it. If he doesn’t finish stir-frying these 10 yams, he feels uncomfortable all over; he just has to finish them all at once.

Zheng Siyuan and the other two stood on the side intently watching, all with their arms crossed over their chests, slightly furrowed brows, and focused eyes. Their gazes followed Qin Huai’s movements, and the three of them stood there as if they were copy-pasted.

Soon, the second dish of stir-fried yam was also off the stove.

Just like the first dish, it was a very qualified stir-fried yam. The knife skills were passable, the fire control was right, and it could even be called decent. The thickening was excellent, and together, this dish of stir-fried yam could get customer compliments even in an ordinary restaurant.

Don’t underestimate this adjective. You must know, given Qin Huai’s previous cooking skills, if he went to a regular diner to cook, customers would complain.

Every time Qin Huai and Qin Luo embezzled the meal budget and decided to cook at home themselves, it was a gamble.

Zang Liang carried the first dish of stir-fried yam, eating while watching Qin Huai cook, and the more he watched, the more he felt that Qin Huai was already a qualified community cafeteria chef.

In any case, Zang Liang felt that Qin Huai surpassing the two meat chefs at Yunzhong Restaurant was just a matter of time, as the two meat chefs in the cafeteria were really mediocre. Home-cooked stir-fries were okay, but once they got to big dishes, numerous flaws were exposed, especially with the braised pork with preserved vegetables.

Zang Liang still can’t understand how the braised pork with preserved vegetables could turn out that way.

During the few days Qin Huai was absent, Zang Liang had voluntarily taken over the staff meal duties. Initially, Zang Liang didn’t want to be responsible for the staff meals. In large restaurants, chefs mostly think this way; the staff meal is considered extra work and a tough task, usually handled by chefs who aren’t very skilled, on a rotating basis. Some of the master chefs wouldn’t even eat the staff meals, opting to fry themselves a couple of small dishes to eat casually.

Zang Liang never ate staff meals at his workplace, always eating his master’s small kitchen dishes.

But Zang Liang didn’t expect that the staff meals at Yunzhong Restaurant would be so unappetizing. Eating once or twice was fine, but after more, Zang Liang couldn’t take it.

He was different from kids like Qin Huai who grew up in ordinary families eating home-cooked meals. From a young age, Zang Liang had apprenticed under Zang Mu. His good palate was partly innate, and also developed from dish after dish of high-soup cuisine fed by Zang Mu.

Such teaching methods were prevalent among traditional masters. Whether it was Cao Guixiang, Zheng Da, or Huang Shengli, at the beginning of their learning, they ate a lot of exquisite meals. This was not only to broaden the apprentice’s vision and set goals but also to cultivate a refined palate.

Zang Liang, who had eaten top-level Huaiyang cuisine since childhood, had never gone through such hard times. On the second day of Qin Huai’s trip to Guangdong Province, without anyone suggesting it, Zang Liang voluntarily took on the task of making staff meals.

Of course, Zang Liang just casually made the staff meals. Fried rice, two vegetable dishes, a small stir-fry of meat constituted the staff meal he provided. For himself, he cooked a bit more meticulously; Zheng Siyuan, Tan Wei’an, and Zang Liang ate small kitchen dishes together.

Of course, the staff could choose not to eat the staff meals made by Zang Liang and eat regular dishes instead.

Then, after all the employees of Yunzhong tasted Zang Liang’s cooking, they all chose the stir-fried vegetables and small stir-fry of meat. Don’t ask—if asked, everyone was soon going to be slimming down for summer, so eating more vegetables was healthier.

Even Ouyang joined the cheerful ranks of eating staff meals, carrying his tray to sit at the kitchen entrance to eat every day.

Even the two meat chefs of Yunzhong Restaurant ate the staff meals made by Zang Liang.

When Zang Liang first came to Yunzhong Restaurant, he thought he was there to help and do some work for Qin Huai on the side. Besides studying crab yellow sauce thickening with Qin Huai every day, he was helping out by cooking a few simple side dishes in the back kitchen during his spare time.

As it turned out, the plans couldn’t keep pace with changes. Zang Liang first found that he couldn’t study the crab yellow sauce thickening at all because he hadn’t even grasped the feeling of crab yellow sauce. Then he discovered he didn’t have any spare time to help the back kitchen fry super simple side dishes, because he couldn’t even find the feeling; he was eager to find it every waking moment.

In the end, although he didn’t have any spare time, for the sake of his meals, he took on the staff meals at Yunzhong Restaurant.

Sometimes when Zang Liang reflects on what he did over the past few days, he feels like he’s actually Qin Huai’s special tutor for staff meals, brought from miles away to motivate Yunzhong Restaurant’s staff enthusiasm.

Don’t ask—if asked, it’s because of the benefits and good welfare, with all the staff meals being Huaiyang cuisine.

The three of them just stood next to Qin Huai, watching him stir-fry dish after dish, while Zang Liang kept eating dish after dish until he started hiccuping.

Finally, as Qin Huai was stir-frying the last dish, Tan Wei’an softly, and even a bit sheepishly, asked, "What’s Qin Huai’s thickening level now? How come I feel his thickening is normal, even better than mine..."

"Yes, you’re not mistaken," Zang Liang affirmed Tan Wei’an’s feeling, "Qin Huai’s thickening level is now higher than yours."

"He now has a very normal level of thickening, with no issues in practical control, starch water ratio, or mastery over the dish’s fire control. If you try stir-frying a dish of yam now, it’s not necessarily better than Qin Huai’s."

Tan Wei’an: ... Thank you, this is not the feeling we wanted.

Tan Wei’an said weakly, "I’m... a pastry chef, of course my fried yam is just average..."