Siheyuan: I, an ordinary resident, the king of chefs

"I thought the braised pork trotters that Uncle Wang had just had were delicious enough, but I didn't expect that the sour soup fish would be even more tempting."

When Uncle Wang heard what Chen Xueru said, he also leaned in to smell it:

"Don't tell me, it's true. I can tell from the smell that the boss used plenty of pickled cabbage and chili peppers."

"And the fish slices are thin, so they must be very tasty."

When they said this, Uncle Wang and Chen Xueru couldn't help but pick up the chopsticks beside them and quickly picked up a piece of fish and started eating.

I only heard Chen Xueru exclaiming:

"Delicious, delicious. This fish is so flavorful. The aroma of the chili and pickled cabbage in the pot is concentrated on this piece of fish!"

"This is even better than braised pork trotters!"

Uncle Wang ate the fish in sour soup and nodded in praise:

"It's really delicious. The fish meat is tender and smooth, and just like pig's trotters, there's no fishy smell at all."

"I think this dish of fish in sour soup is so delicious that even people who don't normally eat fish will be reluctant to leave."

Chen Xueru heard Uncle Wang's comments and nodded in agreement:

"Yeah, I don't usually eat fish because it tastes fishy. If I hadn't just smelled the aroma and couldn't resist, I wouldn't have eaten any of the fish."

"I didn't expect it to taste fishy at all, only the aroma of pickled cabbage and chili blended together, plus the tender fish meat is really delicious."

While tasting the fish, Uncle Wang analyzed:

"If you want the fish to be tender and refreshing, you have to add egg white when marinating it. I'm afraid that the old version of the fish I eat has a little starch added to it."

"If you taste the fish fillet carefully, you can taste the obvious pepper flavor, but it doesn't take away the flavor of the fish at all. The marinating process and the seasonings are just right."

"When the fish is out of the pot, drizzle some hot oil squeezed from Sichuan peppercorns on it. In one word, it's delicious!"

Chen Xueru was eating fish, watching Uncle Wang's analysis, and said to him with a smile:

"You are a gourmet. When someone puts a dish in front of you, you can describe the process. I think you have eaten in so many restaurants. You must be better than most people in being a chef!"

Master Wang smiled and waved his hand:

"I am a person who is suitable to be a free-spirited person. I go to eat some delicious food. Let me say that the cooking method of this dish is pretty good. I really can't make it myself."

When Chen Xueru heard what Uncle Wang said, she smiled and turned to look at Zhang Liang:

"Boss, are the production processes that the old man just described the same as the methods you used to make them?"

Zhang Liang naturally heard the conversation between Uncle Wang and Chen Xueru, and nodded with a smile:

"Exactly the same! The old man didn't miss a single detail in his analysis. It's like he watched the entire cooking process!"

When Chen Xueru heard Zhang Liang's words, she clapped her hands and said to Uncle Wang:

"Oh, old man, you are amazing!"

"You actually described the process of making fish in sour soup correctly! From now on, no matter which restaurant I go to, I will have to ask you in advance, otherwise I will waste my money!"

Uncle Wang heard her words and nodded with a smile:

"No problem. If you want to eat something delicious, just ask me. I know which restaurant in Beijing makes the best food!"

"Of course, so far, apart from those state banquet masters who have such skills, the one who makes the best food is the owner of this stall."

Hearing Uncle Wang's praise, Chen Xueru widened her eyes in surprise:

"Old man, you are right, right? Could it be that this boss's cooking skills can be compared with the state banquet master?"

Uncle Wang nodded affirmatively and said:

"Yes, I think this young man's cooking skills are not much different from those of a state banquet master. I was lucky enough to eat dishes made by a state banquet master before, and the taste was almost the same as that of this boss."

The more Chen Xueru listened, the more excited she became. She felt that she had gotten a great bargain by seeing Uncle Wang having this meal today.

She said with a smile on her face:

“So I’m lucky today, too, to be able to eat a dish of state banquet master quality at this stall?!”

Uncle Wang was not stingy with his praise. After hearing Chen Xueru's words, he said affirmatively:

"Yes, even though the stall owner is young, his cooking skills are better than those of chefs with decades of cooking experience!"

"Now we know that the dishes he cooked were also a bargain!"

Chen Xueru nodded thoughtfully, and then asked tentatively:

"Old man, the boss has such great skills at such a young age. Could his master be a state banquet master?"

"How else can we explain that his cooking skills are better than those of the restaurant's chef?"

Uncle Wang listened to Chen Xueru's words and thought for a while.

"I just heard him say that he added beer to his braised pork trotters, and I became a little suspicious. After all, ordinary chefs wouldn't know this cooking method..."

When he said this, Uncle Wang suddenly thought of something, clapped his hands and said excitedly:

"Got it! I remembered where I've seen this method before!"

Seeing Uncle Wang's reaction, Chen Xueru also became interested, and she quickly asked:

"Tell me quickly, where did you see it? I'm also curious about which chef this boss trained under!"

Uncle Wang shook his head first and explained:

"I don't know which chef he learned his skills from. I only know that he added beer to the braised pork trotters. I saw it in a Ming Dynasty cookbook I read before."

"That cookbook records the methods of cooking various delicacies, and they are all different from the cooking methods of today's chefs. That cookbook is specifically for recording state banquet dishes."

"The boss probably read that recipe and thought of adding beer to the braised pork trotters."

Chen Xueru nodded thoughtfully:

"But it's hard to make a dish so delicious just by looking at a recipe, right?"

"If there wasn't a great chef teaching me how to cook, how could I have mastered it so thoroughly?"

"The Ming Dynasty cookbook you mentioned records the recipes of so many dishes. Since you can see it, then the chefs of those restaurants can naturally see it too."

"But the taste of their dishes has not changed. What does this mean? It means that even if they see the recipe, they can't make the dishes taste the same as in the recipe!"

After hearing what Chen Xueru said, Uncle Wang also felt that it made sense. He nodded and said:

"Indeed, everyone can see the recipe, but the only person who can make this taste like this, besides this young man, is the chef of another state banquet."