The boss cooks, and the bankrupt company opens a state banquet restaurant

Chapter 177 Busy meal preparation and serving!

Carlson, with Germanic blood flowing through his body, was born in a small town in Reyio, Northern Europe.

When he was a child, he especially liked to help his parents prepare three meals at home. As an adult, Carlson did not continue his studies.

Then he came to Faguo, a country with an ancient food culture. While working in various major restaurants, Carlson quickly highlighted his unique gastronomic talent.

While working in a one-Michelin-starred restaurant, I happened to meet a reporter from a food magazine who went to the restaurant to write a report. The steak Wellington that Carlson carefully prepared at that time was highly praised by the reporter.

The publication of the weekly magazine quickly made him famous in the local city. As Carlson continued to participate in various food programs and magazine interviews, the meals he produced were indeed very good in terms of flavor and texture.

He got a job as chef at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant when he was less than forty years old.

This time he followed Zhou Bin to the far east. In addition to giving him enough money, Carlson was also full of curiosity about the food in the East.

The reason why Carlson was like that in the kitchen just now was because the freshness of the ingredients and the storage conditions in the kitchen were completely different from his usual standards.

In his opinion, such a storage method is simply disrespectful to the ingredients!

But Carlson never thought about not cooking!
He just wanted to show off in front of the helpers who knew nothing, and when they begged him to cook, he would reluctantly cook a luxurious French dinner.

Then tell them about the real three-star Michelin, how strict the standards for dining environment and food are.

But before the helpers cried and begged him, Mr. Shang, who seemed to be groveling, actually got angry and threatened to find a restaurant to eat?

At this moment, Carlson was also sitting in this commercial vehicle heading to Jingzhou City.

He began to make calculations in his mind.

Zhou Bin is his old friend. He is a regular customer in his restaurant. Zhou Bin knows very well how well he can cook the ingredients.

Since Mr. Shang dares to boast about Haikou.

Then you should show some critical spirit when the time comes, point out the shortcomings of each dish, and then ask Zhou Bin to comment again.

'Hey hey hey! '

After Carlson figured it out, his depression disappeared and he felt relaxed all over.

The expressway from Beijing to Jingzhou is a newly built expressway in recent years, because the city of Jingzhou itself has no industry.

Therefore, after the construction of this expressway, the traffic volume is very small. In addition, there is a national highway not far below the expressway. Many people prefer to take the national highway in order to save money on tolls.

"Mr. Shang, is there any need for such a highway to exist? If it were our company, we would definitely not do this kind of money-losing project." Zhou Bin found it very amazing after understanding the situation.

It's obvious that this highway is a loser.

There are not many cars on this road, and it is impossible to maintain the maintenance costs of the road with the tolls collected.

Shang Mingke chuckled, "Mr. Zhou, this is just for now. If it is approaching the Spring Festival or holidays, one more road like this can relieve a lot of traffic pressure."

"Just for the holidays? That's not necessary!" Zhou Bin really didn't understand.

Shang Mingke turned around and said, "We will not let anyone be unable to return home during the Spring Festival."

Zhou Bin didn't answer, but he still couldn't figure it out.

If they can't go home, what does it have to do with me?
Because there was very little traffic on this highway, Shang Minke acquiesced to the driver's behavior of speeding on some sections of the road.

On a two-way eight-lane expressway like this, in fact, if there are almost no cars, driving at 167 is a normal speed.

At this rate, the original two and a half hour drive will most likely be completed in just over two hours.

At this time, Su Chen had already arrived in the kitchen on the 19th floor.

"Boss, the customers on the third floor have been complaining that they need to be compensated for opening early today. What should I do?"

"Yes, boss, I almost got beaten up just now, but I ended up going back and cooking braised pork for them before I walked away."

Zhang Heping and Lao Shiqi were called to the 19th floor by Su Chen, and Liu Abao was also there.

Shang Mingke's phone call was like a surprise attack, leaving Su Chen little time to prepare.

But fortunately, Su Chen never likes to fight an unprepared battle. All the ingredients are still perfectly stored. Su Chen has even processed some ingredients that need to be processed in advance.

"Fortunately, I didn't listen to Shang Mingke's words and ate all these things yesterday, otherwise it would be hard for a clever woman to make a meal without straw."

Su Chen handed the menu list to the hands of the three of them, "I don't have time to take care of the matters on the third floor. Just leave it to Ling Shuyu to deal with later. You three will stay here with me now and do your best to help complete today's dinner." , I must teach this foreigner a lesson no matter what!"

"Foreigner? Haha, you dare to say that the things prepared by my brother Shang are not good. I have to teach this bullshit Michelin a lesson tonight." Liu Abao was very angry when he heard about what happened in the capital.

Not only that, there was one person who was very angry.

"Foreigners dare to take those little things to our country and show off their power. It's simply ridiculous!"

The one who spoke was none other than Lu Yongliang, who had never left!
During this period of time, he felt comfortable living in Meishilai. He lived on the 32nd floor every day. Su Chen didn't charge him any money anyway.

Then at meal time, I would come to the third floor to eat some home-cooked food, and from time to time I would wander to the second floor to supervise Liu Abao.

After hearing about this, Lu Yongliang immediately said that he could also help in the kitchen!

An old man in his seventies stood in the kitchen, looking as if he was getting stronger with age, and his momentum was not inferior to that of the young people.

"But we don't know much about Cantonese cuisine. Shandong cuisine and Cantonese cuisine are thousands of miles apart."

In response to Zhang Laoer's worries, Su Chen waved his hand and said, "Just do as I say. I'll let you get started. There's no need to cook."

Ling Shuyu was responsible for handling the customers who were still dining on the third floor. On the 19th floor, Zhang Li could only lead someone to simply decorate the dining area.

After arranging the preliminary work, Su Chen immediately began to lead the four chefs to prepare the dishes for the evening.

First up is the starter, crystal cold chicken.

Because this dish must be served after freezing, and it is also the first dish to be served, so it must be prepared much in advance.

"Mr. Lu, please help me with this dish."

Lu Yongliang looked at what Su Chen gave him.

It says, put a bare chicken directly into boiled water and cook it for about fifteen minutes, then take it out and let it cool down all over. Remove all the head and tail wings and keep them for later use. Remove the bones from the chicken body and cut it into one and a half inches. A block five minutes wide needs to be cut into twenty-four pieces.

"It's easy. There's no big problem. Just leave it to me." Lu Yongliang rolled up his sleeves and grabbed a chicken from the chicken coop he had just moved back. He was about to kill it.

Because of the matter of killing chickens and removing bones, Su Chen felt that it would be safer to leave it to an old comrade.

And in this preparation process, there is no seasoning involved, so it is not a big problem.

"By the way, old man, when cooking the chicken, I have to trouble you to cut twenty-four pieces of Yunnan ham of the same size."

"Okay!" Lu Yongliang's voice was very loud.

"Ah Bao, use the clear soup to cook the vegetables. Cook until everything melts and then call me."

In fact, large vegetables must be soaked in cold water for two hours before cooking, but now that time is limited, it is too late to soak them for that long.

Just cook it!

It's nothing more than a matter of time and effort.

"Okay!" Liu Abao also started working on the stove.

With these two steps, the preliminary work of this dish is basically done. Su Chen only needs to make a simple seasoning in the vegetable juice.

Cantonese cuisine pays attention to the use of ingredients. After the dish is finished, the taste of the ingredients must be highlighted. The cooking method of boiled chicken almost retains all the taste of the chicken itself.

Therefore, the selection of ingredients is particularly important. Su Chen chose Qingyuan Maji this time.

This kind of chicken has golden skin and tender meat. It is a free-range chicken in the mountains and forests. It has less subcutaneous fat and fine muscle fibers. It is refreshing and non-greasy no matter what cooking method is used. It is very suitable for this dish.

The main dish was bought by Ling Shuyu from the morning market in a small county town when he went to Guangdong Province. It was grown by an old man in the country in his home garden. This kind of natural vegetable absorbs sunlight and moisture. , its own flavor is very rich, which is very different from the vegetables in the greenhouse.

The first dish is almost done.

Next, it’s time for the second course.

According to the traditional menu of China, the second course is soup!
Although this is strange in Chinese food, especially in the north, soup is only served after the guests have finished eating.

The meal ends with a bowl of soup and a main course, but in traditional French meals the soup appears as a second course.

When it comes to soup, Cantonese cuisine really won’t convince anyone!
Now in autumn, the temperature outside seems to be rising instead of falling. In order to suit the season and highlight the characteristics of Cantonese cuisine that pays attention to the taste of the ingredients, Su Chen chose a soup that is a bit homely but also tests the chef's skills.

Sydney braised meat!
three days ago.

"Boss Fang, the best meat you have is five pounds."

Fang Chang became serious immediately after hearing the call, "Give me a day."

Apart from anything else, Fang Chang was very good at trying to figure out the meaning of Boss Su's words.

most!
Every time Boss Su uses these two words, it doesn't mean that he can just bring those high-quality meats that are 30% more expensive than those on the market in his own store.

It’s about the best of the best, absolutely the best meat!
Don’t think that only beef has a difference between a few thousand kilograms and tens of kilograms. In fact, pork also has one!

In order to get these five pounds of the best meat for Su Chen.

Fang Chang deliberately ran to a small county town more than a hundred kilometers away from Jingzhou. There was a breeding farm there that many people didn't know existed.

The pigs they raise are not provided to restaurants, and they can only raise up to 180 pigs per year. Even so, those pigs have been reserved in advance every time they come out of the pen.

Not even an exaggeration.

Every time a piglet is bred, someone has already paid for it and is waiting to grow into it.

"Boss Su, this pig is our domestic pure free-range black-soil organic pig. It can no longer be measured by price. I will get one for you and we will discuss the price later."

This kind of pork is characterized by thick fat and less lean meat, so the little bit of meat on the front legs is even more precious.

You can't buy them separately. If you want to buy them, you can only buy them head on.

Fang Chang's boutique butcher shop was responsible for processing some pork that did not meet their standards for this farm. Relying on this relationship, Fang Chang managed to win one.

"The price doesn't matter, I just want the best!" This was Su Chen's answer to Fang Chang.

Take out a pound of meat, cut it into strips, and get three pears.

Su Chen used Crown pears here. This variety of pears is relatively average in terms of taste and texture.

Keep the peel of the pear and remove the core. This will make the soup less bitter.

“Cantonese cuisine is all about the selection of ingredients and highlighting the taste of the ingredients themselves.”

Su Chen was speechless.

I feel that when I cook Cantonese food, I can't highlight my advanced cooking techniques at all. Even Zhang Heping and Lao Qi are a little confused.

I thought, if this is top-notch Cantonese food, then I can eat it too!
indeed
Spread the pear cut into chunks on the bottom of the soup cup, then put a few pieces of valuable meat on top, and finally add mineralized water to it.

Cover the soup cup with sealing paper, then cover the lid of the soup cup and put it into an ordinary electric pot filled with water.

Su Chen set a 90-minute countdown, "The timer will start after SAIC. Remember to call me when the time is up."

The cooking method used for this soup is stewing over water, and only one condiment needs to be added from beginning to end: salt.

This is also the main reason why Su Chen has been reluctant to study and make Cantonese cuisine.

Whether it tastes good or not, and how it tastes depends almost entirely on the ingredients. The chef's own cooking skills are the second factor.

Of course, this does not mean that Cantonese cuisine does not require chefs to have superb skills, such as the third dish prepared by Su Chen.

In French cuisine, the third course is called a hot appetizer, which is generally fried or fried, such as smoked salmon, cocktail cups, and baked snails. These are all hot appetizers.

If you put it in Cantonese cuisine,
Su Chen's choice was a famous dish from the Guangzhou North District Canteen: fried mandarin fish rolls.

Of course, Jiang Wusheng had asked Jiang Wusheng to transport the mandarin fish back from them. At this time, they were rolling freely in the fish tank, unaware of their next fate.

"Clap!"

Su Chen fished out a mandarin fish and knocked it unconscious on the head. As a man who could handle a fish in fifteen seconds, Su Chen's method of killing the fish made several people in the kitchen look at him with suspicion.

'As expected of a man who has worked at RT-Mart. '

Lu Yongliang still has fresh memories of the steamed seabass dish that Su Chen made back then. It was this fish-killing technique that made Lu Yongliang practice hard for a long time after returning to his hometown. In the end, it was discovered that it was impossible to reach Su Chen's speed.

This one-and-a-half-pound mandarin fish only has one pound and a half of fish meat after being processed.

The whole fish was placed on the cutting board, and the kitchen knife in his hand was tilted at an angle of forty. Each cut left only the last section intact, cutting a salmon into thirty-six pieces in the shape of a double-flying butterfly.

Then cut the Yunnan ham into thirty-six slices and marinate them with soy sauce and Ajinomoto together with the fish slices.

Put the fifteen-minute alarm aside.

At this time, because there was too much preparation work to be done at once, Su Chen had to use a large number of scheduled alarm clocks. As soon as the alarm clock rang, he would immediately continue with the next step of work.

Marinate the fish and ham for fifteen minutes, then mix the eggs and dry dough and spread evenly on the surface.

A piece of ham is placed on top of the fish fillet coated with flour. The fish is on the outside and the ham is on the inside. It is made into a roll shape, and then the joint is sealed with a toothpick.

Prepare a basin with dough in advance.

"This will be posted later. Abao, please ask where Brother Shang is now."

Liu Abao washed his hands and took his mobile phone to send a message. He quickly said, "We will be at our company in one and a half hours."

Su Chen glanced at the soup and the vegetables being cooked over a high fire.

"It's just the right time!"

As long as the first three dishes can be served out without interruption, other dishes can be prepared while customers are savoring the dishes.

And as far as French food is concerned, it is normal for a dinner with a thirteen-course menu to last four or five hours.

This left Su Chen enough preparation time.

Start preparing the fourth dish.

In traditional French menus, fish is usually served as the fourth course.

Pan-fried Longli fish and French salmon are relatively common and famous French dishes.

In the practice room, Su Chen also briefly tried it several times according to the introduction in "A General History of World Food". Needless to say, it was indeed quite delicious.

Even comparable to the fish in Chinese food.

But the disadvantage is: the method of preparing fish in French cuisine is relatively simple, and the cooking techniques used are also very monotonous.

so.
"How should you respond to this stir-fried sturgeon slices?"

When a living sturgeon was brought out, the four top chefs present stopped their movements.

"This is. This sturgeon is not very old. It looks like it is only three or four years old at most?" Lu Yongliang lives in Hubei Province and knows a lot about fish.

"That's right, it's only eight pounds in total." Su Chen said.

Tsk!
Several people took a breath.

You know, this kind of fish has been artificially cultivated on a large scale in China. The meat quality of juvenile fish weighing less than five kilograms is absolutely better than the world-famous salmon!
Not to mention fried, the texture of sashimi is fresh, crispy and smooth, which is much better than most seafood.

"How do you get these fish bones in the end?"

Su Chen looked at the old man and said, "Fish bones are useless."

Lu Yongliang gave a thumbs up, "Fifth brother, you know how to cook! Give me this fish bone!"

The sturgeon is made of cartilage. Not to mention the meat, the skin, fins and liver and intestines alone can be used to cook at least thirty dishes!

These dishes are absolutely expensive in any restaurant.

No wonder Lu Yongliang's eyes slowly lit up when he heard Su Chen said that only fish meat was used.

A qualified chef will never treat himself badly!

The customer pays for the whole fish, and keeps the bones, innards and other parts for himself to eat. This kind of free prostitution and delicious pleasure can be multiplied several times!
"It works, let's see how you do it." Su Chen said happily. It seems that after today's customized dinner, everyone is in good hands again.

If he didn't study in advance in the practice room, Su Chen felt that the fish production would not be as good as the craftsmanship of Lu Yongliang, the master of state banquets.

Being able to eat dishes cooked by him is definitely a top-notch enjoyment.

The fourth dish, stir-fried sturgeon slices.

It's a pity that it usually takes more than seven years for sturgeons to have roe. This fish's belly is empty. If a lump of roe can be dug out, the kitchen will probably be boiling tonight.

The fried sturgeon slices are freshly made and eaten. Su Chen just processed the sturgeon and then stored it in the refrigerator.

Just make it when you need it.

As the preparation of one dish after another was completed, it was 8:10 at night.

Under the delicious food building, a white Buick commercial vehicle stopped.

"This restaurant looks a bit..." Zhou Bin jumped out of the car and looked at the building in front of him with some surprise.

Along the way, he had fantasized a lot about what the environment of the place he was going to eat would be like.

Um.
It may be a French restaurant with a very luxurious decoration, or it may be a Chinese restaurant with a simple style.

After all, the chef in charge of cooking is the champion of a global cooking competition.

To be honest, Zhou Bin was looking forward to this dinner, but Carlson next to him didn't think so.

Seeing the tall building in front of him, Carlson fell into deep thought.

The canteen of the Urban Construction Group is still a canteen after all.

From the outside, this building obviously looks like an office building. Do you want to eat in someone else's office?
Soon, Shang Mingke gave them the answer.

"Please."

The elevator goes straight to the 19th floor. When the door opens, what comes into view is the shining championship medal on the wall.

"Hey! The newly-baked world champion? Let me see, is this Liu Abao?"

Shang Mingke was also looking at the things on the wall behind his hands. After not seeing each other for a few days, there was a lot more content on the wall.

"Liu Abao is indeed the champion. But he is just helping the chef. There is someone else as the chef."

"What?" Zhou Bin was surprised, "The world champion is just a helper in the kitchen?"

Carlson on the side let out a strange laugh, "The champion of this World Cooking Competition only has that much gold. Often the content of their competition is not the cooking techniques and the selection of ingredients, but other things."

This is quite true.

For example, the theme of this year's finals is caring for anorexic children. After so many years of being held, this competition is more about expressing the humanistic care of food, rather than simply whether it tastes good or not.

But even so, Zhou Bin still nodded with great satisfaction, "It seems that today's chef is even better than the world champion! I'm already looking forward to it."

After sleeping all afternoon, Zhou Bin didn't feel sleepy at all. He felt that this meal would be enough even if it lasted until midnight.

"What do these photos mean?"

Shang Mingke introduced Zhou Bin one by one, "This is Mr. Lu Yongliang, the state banquet master. He is responsible for preparing the fish for Hubei cuisine at the state banquet. This is the first time we have met with the boss here. At that time, he made a steamed fish It’s even more delicious than what this state banquet master made.”

Tsk tsk tsk!
Zhou Bin's eyes became more excited.

Master of state banquets!
"What about these pictures?"

Shang Mingke pointed to one of them, "This is the master in charge of making Shandong cuisine for the state banquet, and he is also a contestant who won the championship in the Japanese food competition. This is a group photo they took after tasting Shandong cuisine in the company. "

clap clap clap!
Zhou Bin even started to applaud involuntarily.

Shang Mingke's introduction was a bit embellished. He said that Su Chen was like a god descending to earth, as if gods would be full of praise after eating the dishes he cooked.

Zhou Bin became more and more excited, and Carlson became more and more depressed.

"Mr. Zhou, please come inside."

After walking through the door, Zhou Bin immediately stopped again, "Is this where the boss works? If it's a visit, it wouldn't be appropriate without a gift."

With that blow just now, Su Chen's image in Zhou Bin's mind was like that of a world-class top chef.

Seeing the scene in front of him, Zhou Bin only felt that Shang Mingke was bringing him to visit for tea first, and then the meal.

This is also relatively common abroad.

Sometimes when you go to someone else's house to eat, you naturally have to sit down with the host to chat and sip some sweet wine.

Shang Mingke said, "No. This is the boss's floor, and the delicacies he prepares will be eaten on this floor. You will know later."

Driven by curiosity.

Zhou Bin followed Shang Mingke through the office area and came to the cafeteria.

The moment the door is opened, two completely different styles are formed inside and outside the canteen.

Old items are still placed in their original locations.

There is still the round table in the middle. Shang Mingke had a meal at this table back then.

There is still a square small table for four next to it.

On both sides of these two tables, there is a big difference from before. In addition to the two extra private rooms, a new private room has been added.

"Mr. Shang, please come this way."

When it was almost time, Su Chen invited Zhang Jiayi to the 19th floor.

Now Zhang Jiayi. Well, Su Chen feels that he always unintentionally unearths many treasured employees.

Zhang Jiayi is proficient in seven languages ​​and even knows the dining etiquette of some big countries, so it is very appropriate for her to be here to be responsible for reception.

As a reward, Su Chen promised Zhang Jiayi to first increase his salary from one thousand eighty to two thousand.

Then there are today’s leftovers, Zhang Jiayi can choose to taste them first
Yes, come in delicious.

Even if you are proficient in seven languages, you can only get a salary increase of 200.

Shang Mingke nodded slightly and led Zhou Bin and Carlson into this new private room.

The layout is very simple, except that the dining table is in a very European style, as well as the chairs and the objects placed on the dining table. It can be seen that they are all very particular things.

It belongs to that kind of environment: it is obviously a very simple environment, but as long as you look carefully, you can feel the good intentions of the owner.

So Zhou Bin had nothing to say about such a dining environment.

But Carlson looked around and said, "This kind of dining environment is still far from the one-star standard."

Shang Mingke smiled and said, "This is a humble house, but I am virtuous. In the history and culture of China, the environment has never been the decisive factor. No matter how luxurious or high-end the dining environment is, if the dishes are just ordinary, then what? What’s the point?”

Carlson scoffed at this statement, turned his face slightly and said nothing.

"Mr. Shang, can we start eating now?" Zhang Jiayi stood at the table and leaned over slightly to ask.

Shang Mingke looked at Zhou Bin, "Mr. Zhou, do you want to start now?"

Zhou Bin was still looking at this place with some novel eyes, "Don't we need to visit the owner of this place first?"

After all, the world champion can only be a helper!
"You can visit after the meal." Zhang Jiayi spoke on behalf of Shang Mingke, "Boss Su is busy in the kitchen. If you want to meet, you need to wait until the meal is over."

Zhou Bin listened to this girl's very standard French and couldn't help but respect this company.

What kind of restaurant has a waiter who speaks such a fluent foreign language?
That is definitely no ordinary restaurant!
"Okay, let's start eating now." Zhou Bin put the pure white napkin in front of him on his lap.

Zhang Jiayi gave a very professional smile and left the private room immediately.

back kitchen.

Following the signal that Zhang Jiayi was back, Su Chen opened the refrigerator and took out three small white porcelain cups.

"Serve!"

(End of this chapter)