The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World-Chapter 79 - 78: The Catering Industry Is Highly Profitable
Yao Shi reached out and tapped the steel basin holding the wild chicken meat: "The wild chickens I have here are at least a year and a half old, forest-grown, not the kind that get sold after just four months."
Yao Shi let Fu Yu look at the quality of the chicken meat: "See it? This kind of chicken meat is the firmest. The texture when cooked is both chewy and richly flavored with gameiness."
Fu Yu was a bit curious: "Chef Yao, how much does one wild chicken cost?"
Yao Shi said: "Normally, a chicken on the market costs about a hundred or so, but the ones I get are a bit more expensive. After all, they are older and forest-raised. The current cost price is one hundred and eighty."
Fu Yu was taken aback: "One hundred and eighty?"
Yao Shi smiled: "And that’s because I’m an old customer, with long-term cooperation, and high volume. For those not in the know, buying even one would cost over two hundred."
Fu Yu was instantly dumbfounded.
A wild chicken costing over two hundred, how much would it have to sell for after cooking?
No wonder Qianlima Restaurant didn’t include this dish.
Those in the know recognize this wild chicken is valuable.
Those who don’t, spending a few hundred for one chicken, wouldn’t they feel duped?
Yao Shi saw Fu Yu’s stunned expression and laughed: "You need to know, common farmed chicken and those free-ranged in the forest have a big difference in taste and texture. If you want ordinary wild chicken, you might as well buy domestic chicken. Guests spend the money to taste the gamey flavor."
Fu Yu silently clicked his tongue, the rich really know how to indulge!
Yao Shi laughed: "Like this set menu of mine for 1888, if there aren’t a couple of standout dishes, the price wouldn’t stand. If customers eat well and feel it’s worth it, they’ll think of coming back next time they need it right away."
Fu Yu nodded, thinking it made a lot of sense.
Yao Shi picked up a piece of chicken breast meat with a smile and said: "I’m telling you this because I want you to know that being a chef, if done well, can be a highly profitable profession. Once you’ve mastered the skills, how much skill you have is how much money you can make."
"The same cooking, in a small eatery, a dish can sell for tens, but at a big restaurant, with some tech improvements, some presentation enhancements, it can sell for hundreds."
"Why do we work hard all day long? Isn’t it just to make money?"
"As long as you refine your culinary skills, you won’t have to worry about not having money in the future."
Fu Yu wholeheartedly agreed with this.
"Come on, let me tell you about this dish."
Yao Shi placed the cleaned chicken breast meat on the cutting board.
"This Yulan wild chicken slice is a famous dish of the Han nationality, belonging to the Xiang cuisine."
Fu Yu listened very attentively.
Yao Shi held a knife and began to process the chicken meat.
"See it? First, remove these membranes, then slice it thinly. The slices shouldn’t be too thin nor too thick. Too thin, there’s no chewiness; too thick, the meat will be dry."
Fu Yu nodded, watching intently as Yao Shi wielded the knife.
Having sliced the wild chicken, Yao Shi began to mix sauce with cooking wine and clear water.
The wild chicken slices soaked in the sauce, which could remove the fishy smell.
The Yulan flower had already been cleaned, and Yao Shi took it in hand, showing Fu Yu how to handle it.
"Slice off both ends of each petal, cut the top petal into four slices."
Fu Yu memorized it firmly.
"The mushrooms need to be cut into small pieces."
Yao Shi’s knife skills were exquisite, watching him cut vegetables was like an art performance. His knife speed and cut mushroom pieces were particularly aesthetic.
With mushrooms sliced, the soaked chicken slices were then squeezed dry.
Add refined salt, egg whites, and starch according to the ratio, then mix well to coat.
Yao Shi’s method of coating was quite unique.
He placed the chicken slices in the batter, soaked through, then picked them up and gently shook five times before placing them in the prepped dish tray.
"If the batter coat is too thick, the fried chicken slices are fine hot, but when cooled, the fishy smell can emerge."
Yao Shi processed all the chicken slices in a dish, then turned to Fu Yu with reminders.
This batch was a large order; when all 120 tables’ dishes were prepared and served to guests, almost all dishes would be cold.
With no way to control time and temperature, they could only compensate during the cooking process.
Ingredients were ready.
Yao Shi cleaned the wok, and poured in cooked peanut oil.
Heated to 140°C, he added chicken slices and mushrooms, stir-frying until eighty percent cooked.
Then added the Yulan slices, stirred briefly, and poured into a colander to drain oil.
When the colander was done, Yao Shi habitually reached out towards Fu Yu nearby.
Fu Yu, observant, received it and placed it into a dedicated wash basin for used utensils.
Fu Yu’s movement was quick, Yao Shi focused on cooking, thus didn’t notice the already oil-coated colander, when Fu Yu received it, instantly, all the oil slid off, dripping into the wash basin.
By the time it reached the wash basin, the colander was spotlessly clean without a trace of oil left.
Returning the original fried wok, he added cooking wine.
Adding clear broth, refined salt, and MSG, thickening with wet starch.
Finally tipping in the chicken slices, mushrooms, and Yulan flower slices, quickly stir-frying a few times.
All the ingredients were served and plated.
"The feature of this dish is its pure white color and delicate fragrance, so when plating, focus on highlighting this."
Yao Shi used a rectangular white porcelain plate for presentation.
He took a cucumber, peeled, and cut into thin, long strips, spread evenly in a lacy pattern at the plate bottom.
Then added chicken slices and Yulan slices.
Each chicken slice overlapped with a Yulan slice.
The lush plate bottom accentuated the lily-white chicken slices.
While the Yulan slices’ flavor was elegantly faint, harmoniously blending with the intense gamey taste of the chicken slices.
One chicken breast could make two sets of presentation.
Watching Yao Shi skillfully overlap the chicken and Yulan slices.
Fu Yu couldn’t help but calculate mentally.
With a wild chicken costing 180, making two dishes, the cost per dish was only ninety.
Factoring in other ingredients and labor, a dish’s cost was at most a hundred and twenty or thirty.
A banquet at 1888, with this dish as a standout, even considered as two hundred, could still net a profit of seventy to eighty per dish.
With an order of 120 tables, how much profit was that?
Fu Yu’s breath was already rapid.
He knew the catering industry to be highly profitable.
A dish in a small eatery might sell for tens, but at a grand restaurant for hundreds, in luxurious dining clubs, sometimes thousands or even tens of thousands.
That’s the disparity!
Still caught up in calculating Yao Shi’s order earnings.
Yao Shi had finished plating the Yulan wild chicken slices.
Yao Shi asked: "How do you feel? Can you handle it?"
Fu Yu nodded: "I’ll give it a try."
Yao Shi advised: "This dish mainly focuses on slicing and oil-blanching, be sure to pay attention to the knife technique, controlling the strength while cutting. For blanching, controlling the heat is key."
Fu Yu was confident in his knife skills and heat control.
Especially since he recently acquired a knife sharp as iron, and hadn’t had the chance to practice with it yet.
