Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country-Chapter 329 - 330: There’s a Bit of a Gap Between You and Him
Luo Yongduo heard his apprentice’s question and looked at this group of apprentices feeling a rush of frustration.
If someone were to say that you held back in teaching, then perhaps it was the master’s fault for not teaching well if his apprentices couldn’t match up to others, but he asked himself honestly, and he had not held back anything while teaching his apprentices. Everything he learned from his master and what he had understood and summarized over the years was taught without reservation to these apprentices.
But the result?
He was outdone by a youngster in his twenties, and his Hakka-style preserved vegetable pork belly had become just a side dish to someone’s three-cup chicken!
"You useless bunch, starting tomorrow, each of you is to fry a portion of ’Guangdong fried noodles with beef’ to your utmost satisfaction. Also, remember to use traditional methods to fry it. If anyone dares to use dark soy sauce to cut corners, I’ll throw them out! I’ll check your results one by one in a month, and whoever comes last will get double punishment!"
Having finished speaking, he huffed angrily towards his car. Being older and just out of surgery, standing for so long was a bit much for his body, leaving the group of apprentices looking at each other.
Although the master didn’t say whether it was good or bad, judging by the master’s level of anger, it was obvious that the young man had surpassed them. Otherwise, the master wouldn’t be so furious.
Xue Master shook his head, saying helplessly, "Is master not trying to kill me? Already managing the entire kitchen is overwhelming, and now I have to fry a satisfactory ’Guangdong fried noodles with beef’, how can being satisfied be easy?"
Turning his head towards his son, Xue Feng, he asked, "Xiao Feng, you’ve had contact with that person, how do you think my culinary skills compare to his?"
"Uh..."
Xue Feng looked at his father, too torn to speak, as he felt that telling the truth might seem like betraying his teacher.
There’s no way he could tell his dad, "Where do you find the courage to compare yourself with him? He’s nearly on par with our grandmaster, just keep practicing cooking!"
If that came out, he’d surely get into trouble, not to mention receive a round of ’tough love’ education.
"There is... some gap."
Xue Feng carefully gestured with his thumb and finger.
Xue Master nodded in satisfaction but appeared perplexed again, "What’s with the anger if there’s just some gap? Surely he’s not comparing to my age-level, right? I was just entering the industry back then."
The other brothers were equally puzzled: "Who wasn’t, though? I was in my twenties when I started."
"I entered relatively early, and in my twenties, I had just started dealing with cooking."
"It’s a bit unfair for the master to compare by the same age, maybe he’s been practicing since childhood."
"Exactly, yet telling each of us to fry a satisfactory ’Guangdong fried noodles with beef’, what if it never turns out satisfactory?"
Xue Feng saw his dad and uncles misunderstanding and wanted to explain, but even after building up the courage a few times, he couldn’t open his mouth. Just as these folks were ready to approach the grandmaster about it, he hastily spoke up, "Dad, uncles, what I meant by some gap... is between you and Master Wang..."
He couldn’t dare not to speak, for if they truly went to the grandmaster, the grandmaster would certainly rage, and then nobody would come out unscathed.
"What?!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"You dare say that again?!"
Xue Feng felt melancholy, knowing this would be the result. Whether it was his father or these uncles, they were all executive chefs at major hotels. Telling them their culinary skills couldn’t match a young man in his twenties was bound to be unacceptable.
"I think his cooking is comparable to the grandmaster’s. If you don’t believe me, just try that three-cup chicken yourselves."
The group of more than a dozen people, hearing this, moved collectively towards Wang Fan, whose second pot was nearly ready.
Wang Fan looked at the sudden appearance of the group, quite puzzled as to why they were all staring at him so strangely.
Xue Master stepped forward, smiling: "Young Master Wang, we’d like to each try a piece of this pot of three-cup chicken, would that be okay?"
All of them were individuals of status, so they naturally wouldn’t come to cause trouble for a youngster. It’s the culinary skills that reveal true craftsmanship in cooking; saying it is not as worthy as tasting a piece of meat itself.
Wang Fan thought nothing of it, sniffing the aroma and said, "Another minute and it should be ready, please wait a bit longer."
People had come from afar, bringing supplies and helping with cooking. Giving them a piece of meat or even treating them to a meal was only right.
Xue Master nodded: "At what age did you start learning to cook, Young Master Wang? Your skills are very refined."
Wang Fan thought for a moment, probably started at 8, helping the second uncle with meals?
"Can’t quite remember, likely around 8."
As expected.
They fell silent, waiting for the three-cup chicken to be fully cooked.
Without the lid on, they could clearly see inside the pot where the broth simmered incessantly, the chicken pieces appearing more and more vibrant.
Wang Fan occasionally stirred with a large spatula, letting the fragrant aroma of succulent chicken continuously waft under their noses, even causing these battle-hardened old chefs to involuntarily salivate.
"Alright, Brother Cheng, bring some bowls over."
At Wang Fan’s words, Cheng Dong brought over a stack of bowls, and Wang Fan ladled a serving of chicken into each bowl, which Xue Master and the others accepted one by one.
"Please enjoy slowly, while we take the meals over there first."
Having said this, Wang Fan and Cheng Dong lifted the pot and moved toward the meal distribution area not far away, where the large basin had just emptied, and this refill came at the perfect time, making for a smooth transition.
This brightened the countenance of the villagers waiting for food.
"Oh thank goodness, if we only ate those meals, it wouldn’t feel right."
"They said those were good too, better get a little to try."
"Sure, a bit’s fine, but that three-cup chicken smells better; not as flavorful as the young fella’s dish."
Master Liang and the others took out chopsticks from their inner jacket pockets, a traditional practice from their circle.
Picking up a shiny piece of chicken from the bowl beneath their noses, its aroma was several times more robust than before.
Huangjiu, soy sauce, five-spice powder, chili pepper...
Just one sniff, and they could identify all the ingredients used in the three-cup chicken.
Laymen watch the fun, experts watch the skill; each of them belonged to the top experts, and just with this smell, they no longer questioned Wang Fan’s culinary skills.
His culinary skills absolutely surpassed theirs.
"The chicken tastes like chicken!"
Though it was only four words, achieving such a feat was remarkably challenging.
No matter the chicken, it invariably has some fishy taste, and removing this requires seasoning, but too much of it overshadows the chicken’s own delicacy, severely testing the chef’s understanding of seasonings.
