Siheyuan: Started in 1950, third-level cook

"Shall we make Mapo Tofu for Maozi now?" Sha Zhu asked expectantly, standing beside Chen Jun.

Normally when Chen Jun was serving as a waiter, he didn't mind having people standing next to him, but Sha Zhu was usually busy at that time and didn't have much chance to learn from Chen Jun.

This time it’s different. This time it’s Maozi who wants to eat a bowl of Mapo Tofu, and Shazhu has the opportunity to observe and learn the whole process.

Chen Jun nodded, didn't say much, and started preparing the seasonings needed for Mapo Tofu.

Doesn’t this guy named Alexei like to eat Mapo Tofu?

Then let him eat to his heart's content!

It was said before that people in Russia can’t eat spicy food, but Chen Jun thinks there is something wrong with the way they eat it.

Don’t they like spicy food in the steel mill?

So, you have to practice to cook spicy food. With more practice, you will naturally be able to eat spicy food.

After preparing the seasonings and ingredients, Chen Jun started to boil water.

This step is to blanch the tofu cubes. Blanching can make the tofu more firm, improve the taste of the tofu, and remove some of the slightly bitter taste of the tofu itself.

While boiling water for blanching tofu, Chen Jun turned on another stove next to him to prepare the base ingredients for Mapo Tofu.

With his previous experience of selling stir-fried dishes at a stall, cooking two dishes at a time was as easy as drinking cold water. That was also why Chen Jun was very fast at serving guests, which was unmatched by ordinary chefs.

Heat the oil in a pan, and when the oil temperature is about right, Chen Jun scoops up a spoonful of bean paste and throws it into the pan.

Stir-fry for a few times and then add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chili to fully blend the flavors.

Almost in an instant, a spicy aroma wafted out from the edge of the pot.

This fragrance smells quite wrong, it's both fragrant and spicy, and the spiciness is a bit overpowering.

Sha Zhu looked at the bright red color in the pot and couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Tsk tsk, why are you eating Mapo Tofu at this time? You will suffer later.

But when the engineer named Alexei smelled this overbearing fragrance, his eyes suddenly lit up and he couldn't help but drool.

I'm coming!

What Team Leader Yuri said was indeed true. This Chen was indeed a person who liked to make friends. He just asked for mapo tofu and he immediately made it for him.

Oh, Chen is so nice!

As he was thinking about it, Alexei couldn't help but walk a few steps towards Chen Jun, sticking his head into the pot, wanting to learn something from Sha Zhu.

They came to the steel mill under the banner of exchange and learning. It didn't seem presumptuous for them to teach the steel mill technology and for the steel mill to teach them how to cook.

Seeing this, Shazhu glanced at Alexi, who was honest and simple-minded with a smile on his face, and couldn't help but sigh.

This old fool can actually laugh.

Just don’t cry later!

The seasoning base soup in the pot, which was mixed with a lot of chili peppers, had been fried into red oil by Chen Jun, and the tofu next to it had been blanched in just the right amount of water.

The tofu cubes are already 50% cooked at this point. When throwing them into the pan, be extra careful when stir-frying, otherwise the tofu will fall apart.

But you can't be too timid, otherwise you can't ensure that every piece of tofu is evenly coated with the red oil in the pot.

Chen Jun handled it just right. Not only did he not pierce any piece of tofu, he also ensured that each piece of tofu was very flavorful.

It is said that laymen see the excitement, while insiders see the door.

The skill of stir-frying Mapo Tofu alone was enough to stun Sha Zhu.

Cow!

This technique seems simple, but it is very technical.

Chen Jun continued to stir-fry for a few more times, then poured the vegetarian broth that he had prepared in advance along the edge of the pot.

Cover the pot, turn the heat to medium, and wait for the Mapo Tofu to be cooked.

Alexei looked at the lid on the wok and couldn't help frowning.

But the aroma that came out from the lid of the pot made him relax his brows again.

After doing all this, Chen Jun did not sit idle. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves, took out a few carrots and waved to Sha Zhu.

"What's this for?" Sha Zhu was a little confused. Carrots are not needed to make Mapo Tofu.

"Watch carefully from the side. This is how you cut the carrots next time. The way you cut them yesterday didn't even meet the passing standard. Have you been slacking off lately?" Chen Jun said unhappily.

Yesterday, Chen Jun gave some ingredients to the people in the kitchen to cut, and Sha Zhu also came to Liu Lan's side.

As a result, he was trying to do two things at once and cut the radish very irregularly.

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu scratched his head embarrassedly. Yesterday's carrots were indeed not very good.

"When you cut, the blade should be like this..."

While cutting, Chen Jun talked to Sha Zhu, saying that even though his knife skills had not reached the pinnacle, they were still quite impressive.

Whether it is cutting vegetables or meat, as long as the kitchen knife is held in your hand, you can cut the ingredients into the desired shape very smoothly, and the whole process of cutting vegetables looks very pleasing to the eye, just like a performance.

After a few breaths, the whole carrot turned into carrot shreds of the same width.

Almost every carrot shred was the same size and thickness. Sha Zhu tried his best to follow Chen Jun's rhythm of cutting the vegetables, but although his eyes could keep up, his brain could not.

For example, the trick to cutting vegetables that Chen Jun just mentioned is to learn to use clever strength to support the blade to ensure that it is in contact with the food.

Sha Zhu saw everything clearly, but was confused by what he heard.

He knew that the trick Chen Jun mentioned could not be learned just by watching, it required practice, a lot of practice.

In addition, Sha Zhu also felt that Chen Jun had an indescribable state that he could not compare to.

For example, when cutting vegetables, Chen Jun's concentration is very high and his eyes are so bright.

A simple demonstration of cutting radish into shreds made my scalp tingle.

hiss......

The two of them entered Fengdeng Tower almost at the same time, and my foundation was better than Chen Jun's, so how come the gap suddenly widened?

And it was so big. Sha Zhu felt that he would never be able to catch up with Chen Jun in his lifetime.

After cutting the carrots, Chen Jun wiped his hands and said, "The mapo tofu is ready. Go serve it to Alexei."

"Do you have any steamed buns left over from yesterday? Heat them up in advance. Alexei may need them."

At this time, the new steamed buns in the cafeteria had not been made yet, so Alexei could only arrange for the ones that were left overnight.

Although it was left over from overnight, Chen Jun believed that Alexei would definitely thank the kitchen staff.

Sha Zhu nodded, turned off the fire on the stove first, then raised his hand and lifted the lid of the pot.

As the lid of the pot was removed, a stream of hot air rushed straight to the top of the back kitchen, followed by a very strong and spicy smell that filled the entire kitchen.

Sha Zhu took a look into the pot and the corners of his mouth twitched noticeably.

Today's mapo tofu is a lot redder than usual.

But can the engineers from Russia really withstand this level of spiciness?