Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country-Chapter 376 - 377: Wang Fan’s Chili-Stuffed Shrimp Paste Lesson (Part 2)
Wang Fan never praises these children for being smart.
To children like them, being called smart is the most useless compliment.
When they think they are smart, they get too lazy to use straightforward methods, and with time, that laziness turns real.
Seriousness, perseverance, and diligence — these are the qualities that these children, or rather all children, should be praised for.
Upon hearing Wang Fan’s praise, Tuomuer became somewhat shy, not knowing what to say or do.
Wang Fan patted his shoulder: "Be a little man, keep going, you can definitely learn this dish, keep it up."
"Thank you... thank you, Teacher Wang, I can do it!"
Tuomuer felt like he had instantly been lifted up by a helium balloon, his whole being was about to soar.
Teacher Wang must be a capable person, someone so capable praised him...
Does it mean he might not be that bad after all?
"I did it!"
"I did it too!"
"Teacher Wang, look at mine, I finished it too!"
Wang Fan looked over each of them, giving them pats on the head and shoulder, encouraging each child through this physical contact.
Principal Qi could clearly feel the change in these children; it was a sense of inner acknowledgment.
Everyone had a joyful smile on their faces. As someone who had been there, he knew too well how formidable the learning ability could be in this state. It was genuine self-motivation from the heart, and even describing it as twice as effective with half the effort was an understatement.
He instinctively looked at Wang Fan, not quite understanding why he had such strong charisma.
After all the children succeeded, Wang Fan began teaching the next step.
This step was even simpler, merely cutting a slit in a pepper with a knife. Afraid the kids might cut themselves, he gave them scissors instead.
After snipping a slit, they cut the pepper into small segments, completing all the preparations.
"Next, squeeze the shrimp paste into the pepper. Follow me and don’t worry about overstuffing. In both life and business, we must be honest and genuine," Wang Fan said.
He then squeezed the piping bag filled with shrimp paste into the upright pepper segments.
The piping bag had a fairly big opening, allowing the shrimp paste to easily fill the peppers, creating a little tip on top.
Wang Fan pointed at the tip, smiling: "We all know the phrase ’no treachery, no business,’ does anyone know what it means?"
Several children immediately raised their hands. It was a common phrase in life, and many children knew it.
Wang Fan pointed at Tuomuer: "Tuomuer, you answer."
Tuomuer excitedly said, "It means that without cunning, one cannot do business."
Wang Fan clapped his hands: "Correct, you get a reward of a beef ball to take home and eat."
At this moment, Principal Qi was genuinely shocked — was this live teaching?
You’re teaching like this, and I’m wide awake now!
Wang Fan continued, "Actually, ’no treachery, no business’ in ancient times was ’no tip, no business’ — ’tip’ as in this little point. It means to make the rice form a peak above the edge of the measuring container, symbolizing honesty and trustworthiness in business. So when you do it, make a tip; we must be outstanding ’peak merchants’ and not deceitful ’treacherous merchants,’ understand?"
"Understood!"
Damn!
Principal Qi couldn’t help but want to curse.
You’re teaching cooking with some Chinese idioms; fine. But teaching philosophy of life under the guise of knowledge? The most incredible thing is that these kids clearly took it to heart!
Such young kids can understand this, and it will likely become a belief throughout their life!
Are you the educator, or am I the educator?
Principal Qi was deeply doubting himself.
Not blaming him, the gap felt vast with him; the children respected him, feared him, and saw him as an elder, but Wang Fan was like a brother next door, now becoming the children’s king, his words practically law to them.
Mrs. Zhuo was amazed too, feeling happy for the children: "These kids are so lucky to meet little Fan; they’ll all do well in the future."
A mother-in-law watching her son-in-law always sees him better. Well, not for those with ulterior motives.
Anyway, she found Wang Fan delightful, if he and Zhuo Qianqian weren’t so young, she’d want to discuss engagement with Wang Fan’s uncle right away.
Mr. Zhuo was also a bit silent, he hadn’t expected Wang Fan to teach so well.
Wang Fan, on the other hand, was not thinking much about it; he was saying goodbye to the children: "That’s it for today; once you’re all familiar, I’ll teach you how to turn these ingredients into delicious dishes."
With a wave, he carried a large tray of stuffed pepper segments and left.
The children watched Wang Fan leave with a bit of reluctance, mostly still eager to learn cooking today, which was suddenly out of reach.
Principal Qi clapped his hands and said, "Teacher Wang left you homework; you have to master what you learned today thoroughly."
He didn’t habitually ask further, seeing the children’s state; he knew that saying anything else would be superfluous, unnecessary to mention.
Preparing ingredients was relatively simple, while turning them into delicious food was more challenging, and for something especially tasty, there were even more nuances to consider.
Wang Fan didn’t want their enthusiasm to wane quickly, so he didn’t plan to teach them to cook yet, mainly because he didn’t teach everyone.
Too much at once won’t do; the main focus was on making beef balls. Making beef balls would solve hunger, allowing them to study with peace of mind.
Seeing Wang Fan finally return, the queued diners were relieved; if not for the large food truck’s presence, they’d think Boss Wang left early due to too many customers.
Wang Fan resumed simmering shrimp oil; after it was ready, he placed the extra-large pan on the fire.
But before lighting the fire, he arranged the stuffed peppers in the pan.
Once they were in, he turned on the fire, and poured the warm shrimp oil into the pan.
As the oil temperature rose, the sizzling sound of oil began.
Wang Fan held a tong in his hand, moving it swiftly around the pan; each stuffed pepper segment seared to a Maillard reaction color on the bottom, then he would flip it to sear another side.
After all three sides were golden brown, he laid the peppers flat, waiting for tiger skin patterns to appear on each before pouring a bowl of sauce over them.
