Food starts with Mapo Tofu

Chapter 663 Surprises again and again (I wish everyone a new year 666～
"It's so amazing. I didn't expect you to invite all the star chefs. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have lunch today."

"Hahaha, what are you talking about, auntie? How can a person live without eating? Today's banquet is not for the purpose of eating. The main purpose is to celebrate my grandma's birthday, and then we will take advantage of this opportunity to get together."

"That's right, today we mainly want to be happy!"

Chen Nian smiled: "Okay, then you guys chat first, I will go to work first, and we will meet again later."

"No problem, Master Chen, let's go to work first, I'll delay you for a while, I like chatting with people at this age." The aunt said with a smile.

"Don't delay, auntie, I also like chatting, mainly because I have work today."

After talking about the old age, I went back to the kitchen and got busy.

The outside is almost furnished, and the rest of the work should be left to Xue Yan's housekeeper and nanny.

"Pay the baby to the account of 100 million yuan..."

Not long after, the alarm clock set on Chen Nian's mobile phone rang, and the current time was five o'clock in the afternoon.

Just after turning off the alarm clock, Chen Nian's cell phone rang again, and after he connected, his cousin's voice came: "Chen Nian, I'm here, please find someone to come out and help me get something."

"Good."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Nian installed the phone: "Xiao Hai, come with me, my sister is here, let's bring in the snacks."

The two went outside and helped Lu Xiao bring in the snacks they brought.

"Are you busy here? Can you spare some time to help me? If I'm busy, I can do it myself."

"It's okay, I'm okay here, everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared." Chen Nian said.

Then he first brought a few plates and prepared several cold dishes to be used in this banquet, and asked Qiao Zhaomei to follow suit.

"Master, can it be done according to this?"

"Yes, just follow this and make it more refined."

The work of arranging dishes can also be safely handed over to Qiao Zhaomei. After all, Qiao Zhaomei was playing lottery when she applied for the job. Although he usually does some work in preparing and passing dishes in the store, his craftsmanship is still there.

After handing over the work at hand again, Chen Nian went to the side to help his cousin make the last dessert.

The two kinds of Chinese dim sum just need to be displayed, it’s not too difficult, but Lu Xiao’s western dim sum is only semi-finished, otherwise it’s not convenient to transport, and she also brought the rest of the raw materials. Over here to decorate.

"You help me spread the jam on it first, and the rest will be done before they serve the meal." Lu Xiao instructed.

Standing by the side, Chen Nian watched his cousin make two and said that he had almost learned it, and then began to help his cousin with the dim sum.

Afterwards, it is completely made by Chen Nian, while Lu Xiao is going to arrange the other dim sum, which has to be placed on the table outside in advance.

In this way, time passed slowly.

Until six o'clock in the evening.

Since it is now winter, it gets dark earlier, and the sky outside the window has turned blue.

At this time, the nanny of the family came here to spread the message: "Master Chen, Boss Xue said that the dishes are ready to be served, please prepare here."

"Okay." Chen Nian nodded, "Then come someone from your side to serve me the food."

This is also what they agreed in advance. The cooking is completely done by Chen Nian's team, and if necessary, the nanny can also be asked to help with the serving.

The main reason is that it is impossible for everyone here to leave the kitchen to serve food, someone has to watch the situation here.

From the beginning of the morning until the end of today's dinner party, there has always been a pot on the stove, so someone must be left to watch.

Then the nanny stayed here directly.

Started to help carry the dishes together.

This time, the dishes are specially designed by the old age. From the plate arrangement to the knife work and even the carving, some innovations have been made on the basis of the original traditional dishes. Although the taste is still the same, it looks different. A lot more upscale.

"Usually these are sold for 30 to [-] yuan in the store, but after such a display, at least they can't be sold for [-] or [-] yuan?" Xie Yu said with a smile.

"Of course, the purpose of eating in different environments is different. The purpose of eating at our place is purely to fill the stomach, but if it is cooked better and placed in a big restaurant, people may just do it for business or Banquet for leaders and the like." Chen Nian explained.

After taking two people out with the dishes, put the dishes on the table first.

Then he started to introduce.

Looking at the jewels that everyone on the two big tables wore, and many of them looked old at a glance, but whether it was skin or anything else, they looked very young.

"Sure enough, one has to be rich. After being rich, people don't age so quickly." Chen Nian couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

My mother is well taken care of by my father, but after all, she also needs to help in the restaurant, so she still looks a bit old at the age of more than 50.

Compared with the ladies on the table, one can tell at a glance that my mother has worked.

However, compared with the aunts in my hometown, my mother looks much younger.

"Hey, I still have to work hard. This year is about to end. If the business can get better next year, I will hire another aunt, and my mother will be responsible for collecting money."

Chen Nian soon finished introducing the cold dishes that just came up. The portion of each cold dish has been carefully considered by Chen Nian. It can not only ensure that the plate looks good, but also ensure that everyone can eat enough. Don't use two chopsticks per person. After eating, it will be ugly.

After returning home, Chen Nian started to prepare the next dish to be served. The first hot dish was lion head with crab powder. Although this dish is more complicated to prepare and it is more labor-intensive to chop the stuffing, but It doesn't need to be too complicated on the plate.

Because Xue Yan paid more attention to this banquet, he also told Chen Nian that if he needed any tableware, he could ask people to buy it in advance, so the lion head utensils used by Chen Nian this time were made of white porcelain. Put a small alcohol lamp in the middle, then put the lion's head into a bowl, and then pour the clear soup that has been filtered several times into it, soaking it to about three-fifths of the lion's head.

Immediately after that, put a piece of emerald freshly blanched rapeseed heart in it, and finally put the prepared crab roe on top of the lion's head, and it is considered ready.

"Come on, just do it like this, be careful, if there is any soup dripping outside, remember to wipe it off, and pay attention to the alcohol lamp underneath, don't burn yourself."

Just like that, it took them 5 minutes to get the dish all done.

Then went out to serve food.

This time, Chen Nian still introduces as before: "Everyone should be familiar with this dish. Crab powder lion head is a famous Huaiyang dish. This dish is completely made by hand, so eat it in your mouth. There will be some graininess when cooking, but the lion’s head itself is still very soft, and this dish is round, which also implies a family reunion.”

"This dish is good! It's round and round, and it looks light and beautiful!"

The old man laughed from ear to ear after hearing this. The main reason is that people have nothing else to look forward to when they are old. People like the old lady don’t have to worry about eating and drinking, so the biggest wish in their hearts is the family reunion.

Chen Nian's words reached her heart.

Moreover, Chen Nian also specifically mentioned the pure manual method, which made the old lady feel good: "Nowadays, there are too many people who use machines to cook. How could we have so many machines? Everything is done by hand. Come and do it, there are not many young people as down-to-earth as you.”

The old lady praised the old age again.

"Grandma, you are welcome. Traditional crafts always need someone to continue to pass them on."

"Okay, okay." The old lady nodded repeatedly when she heard it: "Then let's stop watching, eat, and taste the little master's craftsmanship."

In the end, Chen Nian left after saying hello, and went back to prepare the next dish.

"Master, how is it?" Xie Yu has been guarding in the back kitchen, and asked quickly after seeing Chen Nian come back, "What else can I do, it must be that the old lady likes it very much."

And He Hai went out to serve food with Chen Nian: "Master is also very good at talking, a few words made the old lady happy."

"Of course, this is my master!" Xie Yu pulled him up again.

In the end, He Hai rolled his eyes: "Brother Xie, look at what you said, it's your master, isn't it also my master?"

"Okay, okay, stop flattering, hurry up and prepare sea cucumbers with green onions, you have seen them in the store before, and you have eaten them that day, the method of arranging the dishes is still one example per person, I will prepare the next One."

Speaking of old age, he started to deal with a vegetarian dish.

After eating the lion's head, I need a vegetarian dish to relieve the greasy, and after eating this dish, the next dish is sea cucumber with green onion, which can also clear other tastes in the mouth.

The dish to be processed in the old age is called phoenix celery. In fact, the taste is not very complicated. It is a simple cold sauce made with vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, salt, a little mustard oil and other seasonings.

The main difficulty lies in knife skill and plate arrangement.

But this can only be regarded as okay for the old age. In terms of aesthetics, the old age is very precise.

I quickly made two plates of anchovy and celery. This dish was served on a particularly huge plate. After all, more than 20 people at a table must be able to eat it. Put it in a small plate, let alone eat it. , one bite may not be enough for one person.

And if you put it on a big plate like this, it looks good on the one hand, and the weight is enough on the other.

"Come here, Xiao Hai, this plate is a bit big, and it may be a bit difficult for auntie to hold it." Then Chen Nian called He Hai out to serve the dishes.

When everyone saw this dish, they were shocked.

Although Xue Yan had seen this on the menu, he didn't order it when he tried the dish, so it was the first time he saw this dish.

The celery has been aged and cut into the shape of a phoenix, and the beard-like threads cut out of celery are as lifelike as real feathers.

On the head of the phoenix, Chen Nian also made a simple adjustment with tomatoes, and then formed a phoenix lying on the ground, but the head is still standing upright.

"This dish is beautiful, little master, what's the name of this dish?" The old lady's eyes lit up when she saw this dish, and then she asked proactively.

Hearing these words, everyone couldn't help turning their eyes from this dish to Chen Nian, and the old lady asked about this dish herself, obviously she liked it more.

It is estimated that I have eaten the lion's head just now, and now I want to eat some light vegetarian dishes.

"Grandma, this dish is called You Feng Lai Yi. Today is your birthday. This dish is also to wish you good luck. After all, an old family is like a treasure." Chen Nian said.

Then put this dish in the most central position.

"That's very good, the name of this dish is also good, and it goes well with grandma, and just now I ate a lion's head, and I just had a vegetarian dish for a change of taste." Xue Yan also said at this time.

"I propose, I propose, let's toast grandma again. On the one hand, it is to celebrate her birthday again, and on the other hand, it is also for this dish."

While everyone was toasting, Chen Nian quietly left here.

When he returned, the disciples had already heated up the plates: "Master, can the sea cucumbers with green onions be served on plates now?"

"Okay, let's put it on, but the action must be agile, don't wait to put it in the back, the front is cold." Speaking of Chen Nian, he took a plate and started to put it on the plate first. All the flavors have been soaked into the sea cucumbers, and the sea cucumbers are also stewed extremely soft. You even have to be careful when serving them. If you accidentally break one, it will cost thousands of dollars.

After setting up the plate, Chen Nian checked it again, and found that there was no extra spilled soup on the plate, and then called the apprentices and nannies to come over together and go out to serve the dishes.

It is best to serve this kind of dish separately. If it is placed in the middle, it is not easy to hold, and it is not easy to arrange.

"Excuse me, everyone, we are here to serve again. This dish is sea cucumber with green onion, which is a traditional Shandong dish in our country. The current recipe of this dish is the authentic method that I have learned from the master before, and the sea cucumber The nutritional value of this dish is particularly high, and it lives in the crevices of sea vegetables and rocks. I don’t care about the envy of the Dragon King. I hope everyone can taste this dish carefully. I will go to work first.”

When he was leaving, Chen Nian heard the children on the table curious about the words Chen Nian just said: "Mom, what is the poem that uncle said just now? Why didn't I recite it in school before?"

"There are too many verses in our country, how can you memorize them all, not to mention you, even my mother, a university professor, has never heard of this line, but this line is really well written, this young man There is still something, I don’t look like a cook, but more like a scholar.”

At this time, Xue Yan explained to Chen Nian again: "Sister, although Chen Nian is a chef now, he was a serious college student before, but because of his hobby, he studied food-related majors, and he is quite right. Straight A student."

(End of this chapter)