My right hand had been hung for a long time, and it was a little uncomfortable to be suddenly freed from the restraints.
Yu Sheng walked over with trembling hands and took the knife from Huang Xiaochu's hand who was looking forward to it.
He touched it with his left hand and said, "Old Huang, this knife of yours is not good at all. It's not handy or sharp at all."
Huang Xiaochu laughed on the side, but Bai Gaoxing said angrily, "Come on, how can any cook in the world use a knife as good as yours?"
Yu Sheng had more than twenty knives in the back kitchen of the inn, each with different uses. They had been coveted by Fu Nan and Ye Zigao, so he felt that making kitchen knives was too wasteful.
"I just want to tell Lao Huang that my knife is better than his." Yu Sheng said proudly.
As he spoke, Yu Sheng got used to the kitchen knife. He weighed the tofu with his right hand and pressed it lightly on the chopping board, and the knife flew like flying with his left hand.
Although I have not passed the systematic knife skills test, my knife skills have been greatly improved through the improvement of Yu Sheng.
In Huang Xiaochu's astonishment, Yu Sheng cut out the tofu in the blink of an eye. It was square and the same size, with no damage to the tofu.
"Put the tofu into water to remove the smell of tofu." Yu Sheng ordered.
When preparing, Yu Sheng asked Huang Xiaochu to boil a pot of water over medium heat and put salt in it. It was now just right to boil slightly.
Huang Xiaochu hurriedly stepped forward and carefully put the tofu into the water. He just knew that the tofu was going to have a beany smell.
Some customers don't like Mapo tofu because it has a beany smell. They are stupid and think that tofu has this flavor.
Yu Sheng turned around and stir-fried the minced beef. The minced beef was already chopped.
When half a spoonful of oil in the pot is 60% hot, Yu Sheng puts the minced beef in and slowly stir-fries over medium heat until it turns golden brown. Take it out.
Fry the watercress until bright red, add the black bean paste and chili powder and continue to stir-fry until fragrant, then add the stock, soy sauce and salt.
"Yeah, it's really fragrant." Huang Xiaochu said next to him, and he never forgot to tell him the proportions of the seasonings when he was stir-frying.
After the soup boils, add the tofu and gently shake the pot to avoid damaging the tofu and allow the soup to absorb into the tofu.
Before starting the pot, Yu Sheng said: "This is the real secret to the deliciousness of Mapo Tofu."
He told Huang Xiaochu that the tofu should be stir-fried with three layers of gravy, "You must not gravy it just once." Yu Sheng said.
Huang Xiaochu blushed, and his mapo tofu only had a thick layer of gravy on it.
"Tofu is prone to water. If you thicken the tofu only once, not only will the tenderness of the tofu be lost, but the water will also leak out after it is served," Yu Sheng said.
"Ma Po Tofu should be in good shape but not rotten. Once the water comes out, it will turn into a mess."
As he spoke, he put the gravy prepared in advance on the tofu, "That's why the plate of tofu you just served was of poor quality."
"Yes, yes." Huang Xiaochu wrote it down carefully.
Huang Xiao remained childish for the rest of his life and entered middle age. When Bai Gaoxing saw him being respectful and respectful, he couldn't help but look at the shopkeeper with admiration.
He has just learned that there are so many details to a plate of mapo tofu, and if you are not careful, it will lose its best taste.
Yu Sheng's freshly beaten gravy is very light, and the tofu keeps bubbling while cooking.
Yu Sheng pointed at the blisters and said, "The blisters are getting bigger and bigger, which means the water is about to escape. At this time, it needs to be thickened."
After that, he made another gravy, "This gravy needs to be seasoned on the tofu. The reason why your dish was bland is because the seasoning was not put on it."
Huang Xiaochu was too surprised to agree. He just watched Yu Sheng's movements and memorized these skills in his heart.
The waiters in the kitchen also stopped what they were doing and came around to watch. The waiter outside called for porridge, but no one agreed.
When he reluctantly walked in and pulled the waiter, the waiter finally woke up.
Even so, the waiter couldn't bear to look away for the rest of his life, so much so that he beat the Bijian soup into Hezhi porridge and left half of it outside.
Yu Sheng looked at the blisters in the pot and pointed at Huang Xiaochu.
"Thickening depends entirely on the eyes, just like a doctor's observation, hearing, and inquiry. It doesn't necessarily have to be three ways, but four ways."
When it’s almost time, Yu Sheng will make the third gravy. “This gravy is also very important. Whether Mapo Tofu can take it to the next level depends entirely on this gravy.”
Huang Xiaochu humbly asked for advice, "Shopkeeper Yu, what's so important about this gravy?"
Yu Sheng said: "Mapo tofu needs to be spicy, fragrant and tender, and this gravy will lock in the hotness."
When Yu Sheng was cooking, Cai Ming, the young master of the Cai family, respectfully led Zhuang Zisheng into the Shangxin Tower.
"Master, please." He led Zhuang Zisheng upstairs to the private room, but Zhuang Zisheng stopped, "Why are they here?"
"Who?" Cai Ming followed Zhuang Zisheng's gaze and saw Fu Nan and Ye Zigao who were sitting bored.
Of course Cai Ming knew Ye Zigao, it was they who forced Shangxinlou to take off the signboard of "Yangzhou's No. 1 Porridge" and asked his father to give him a severe lesson.
Cai Ming was so angry that he immediately went up to drive Ye Zigao away, but was stopped by Zhuang Zisheng, "Don't ask for trouble."
Seeing that Cai Ming was not convinced, Zhuang Zi asked: "Do you know why the City Lord's Mansion bought their porridge in the first place?"
Cai Ming was quiet for a moment and looked at Zhuang Zisheng in confusion.
The Cai family no longer dealt with the porridge stall because after the Taoist priest was punished, the city lord's palace came forward to buy a bucket of porridge, which made them very afraid.
"For the rest of his life, he was the city lord's nephew." Zhuang Zisheng said, "Feng'er specifically asked me not to provoke him again."
As a big-mouthed girl with a big belly that can only accommodate food and cannot tolerate the world's affairs, Zhou Jiufeng naturally not only told Jin Yiwei.
Cai Ming suddenly turned pale, "You, you mean, I, I beat the city lord's nephew?"
Zhuang Zisheng patted him and said, "Don't be afraid. You think too highly of yourself. It was the city lord's nephew who beat you."
"That's okay." Cai Ming breathed a sigh of relief, then became worried again, "Then, what are they doing here at Shangxin Tower?"
Cai Ming thought they wouldn't come to the autumn harvest to settle accounts, right?
"Come on, let's go over and take a look." Zhuang Zisheng said and walked towards the rich and poor table.
"Hey, the dog is here." Ye Zigao met Cai Ming.
Fu Nan turned his back to them, "Are you kidding me? A dog can come here?"
As he said this, he turned around, and Cai Mingzheng walked up behind him, "My king, the dog is really here."
Cai Ming twitched the corner of his mouth, but I endured it.
Zhuang Zisheng sat down and asked, "Where is your shopkeeper?"
"I'm going to teach people how to cook later." Ye Zigao said.
Zhuangzi was stunned, "Does your shopkeeper still have this habit?"
"Isn't it because the Shangxinlou Mapo Tofu is really bad?" Ye Zigao only touched the dish with a few chopsticks.
Zhuang Zisheng remembered, "Oh, yes, your shopkeeper is about to compete with Xunweizhai's Gui Yi Dao."
He smiled and said: "How about it? Zhou Jiuzhang has caused trouble for you again. I told you not to have close friendship with them."
It was Zhou Jiuzhang's bragging about the rest of his life at the tofu banquet that prompted this competition.
"Since we can't have a close friendship with Zhou Jiuzhang, why are you still related to him?" Ye Zigao said.
Zhuang Zisheng sighed, "My parents' orders and the matchmaker's words made me accidentally board a pirate ship."
"Then I have to talk to Sister Feng later..."
"Don't, don't, Zhou Jiuzhang is actually quite a good person." Zhuang Zisheng hurriedly changed his words, Zhou Jiufeng was someone he couldn't afford to offend.