The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

30. Shengxin Restaurant

Translator: Yang Ting, Jia Manxin

Proofread by Peter Gong

Qian Hezi stares first, then gets stunned when Xu Zhiwei puts the Tongguan black tea that has been watered twice into the pot. At first he doesn’t know what Xu Zhiwei is making black tea for, but he knows the tea can be used to remove the fishy smell. However, there is no need to remove the fishy smell from the pork chops, and Xu Zhiwei puts the soaked tea leaves directly into the pot instead of using tea water.

During the time when the tea leaves enter the pot, the aroma floats up from the pot, and then the bright pork chops are done, Qian Hezi has been dumbfounded. But when he puts the pork chops into his mouth, his eyes turn bright again. It seems that he has been stimulated and his mind and nerves begin to react quickly. As he chews slowly and tastes carefully, his expression changes a lot. The facial expression at the beginning is tangled, unbelievable, and inquiring, and then gradually relaxes in the course of enjoying the delicious port chops, and his face looks like a pork skin that slowly expands in hot oil.

The chef not only needs to be very familiar with the details of each dish, but also needs to be precise about time. Besides, he needs to have a clear thinking and memory. Xu Zhiwei makes three dishes today. Although the process is not complicated, it still shows his mastery of time.

When the pork chops are well-beaten and start to be soused, Xu Zhiwei takes the time to knead some glutinous rice flour and crush some black sesame crunchy candy. These things are always available in tea-houses for the crunchy candy itself is a snack for tea customers directly, and glutinous rice flour can make many kinds of snacks, such as sweet dumplings.

Xu Zhiwei is also going to make sweet dumplings with black sesame crunchy candy as the filling. In the past, there was an imperial chef who used specially ground black sesame seeds, crisp powder, and brown sugar to make the fillings in the Imperial Kitchen, but Xu Zhiwei’s fillings made of crushed black sesame crunchy candy are not much different from those. Although they are dry and lack the lard stearin or sesame oil, it is absolutely no problem to arouse Qian Hezi’s appetite.

He just makes four sweet dumplings, with thin wrappers and enough fillings, looking green and glittering. Yes, they look green, not white because the water added by Xu Zhiwei when kneading the glutinous rice flour is not warm water, but green tea water.

In the course of kneading the glutinous rice flour and making sweet dumplings, Xu Zhiwei always has a piece of oil dripping cloth in his mind, which calculates the time. This process takes just enough time for the pork chops to souse to the optimum level. If the time is shorter, they won’t be fully absorbed; If longer, the green onion and ginger juice and cooking wine are over-sucked, and the taste will be slightly astringent and sour.

When the pork chops are finished, Xu Zhiwei doesn’t take them to Qian Hezi and Shuixian immediately, although the rich fragrance has made their mouths water. Xu Zhiwei doesn’t mean to tantalize them because he just feels that it’s not the best time to taste.

The cooling of dishes should also be paid attention to, and not all dishes are the best to eat while hot. Hot can cause an irritating tactile sensation. Sometimes it can play a certain role in promoting the flavor when one tastes dishes. For example, Chinese Yam in Hot Toffee must be eaten hot. And so does Roast Sweet Potato, otherwise the sweetness will be lost, and there will be no burning pleasure. But that’s not the case with the black tea pork chops. It must be cooled a little first, or it will affect the acuity of the taste buds and the light fragrance of tea cannot be tasted.

When the pork chops are cooling, Xu Zhiwei puts the steamer with the sweet dumplings on a small stove nearby to steam. This is another feature of the sweet dumplings Xu Zhiwei makes today. They are not boiled in water, but steamed. Generally speaking, the sweet dumplings should be boiled quickly and then simmered slowly, so that they can be cooked thoroughly without breaking. That is especially true of large dumplings. But Xu Zhiwei’s sweet dumplings are not only too big but also thin-skinned. So steaming is the safest way.

Right after the sweet dumplings are steamed, Xu Zhiwei quickly cuts the mussels into beveled pieces. He adds the scallion and ginger into the hot pot, puts the mussels to stir-fry, and then puts wine and water to simmer them over a slow fire. Mussels are cold in nature and have a muddy smell, so they are fried with scallion and ginger in hot oil. And with a tough texture, they are simmered over a slow fire. Moreover, only adding wine and simmering can help bring out the thick delicate flavour in the mussels.

While simmering the mussels, Xu Zhiwei begins to process the vegetables. He just uses half of vegetables Zhu Shengpeng and Cai Renxin have prepared, discarding both the outermost and the innermost leaves. Because they are either too old or too tender, lacking the proper taste. He washes the vegetables and shreds them, which is different from the way mussels are usually cooked with vegetables.

After he has prepared the vegetables, the pork chops have been cooled properly. He first takes the Braised Pork Chops to Qian Hezi. When the sweet dumplings are well steamed and removed from the steamer, they are not served to Qian Hezi immediately. Xu Zhiwei uses water, oil and sugar to boil syrup and then pours it on the sweet dumplings, making them look like jade balls. And the syrup helps to reveal faintly the black sesame crunchy candy inside, which makes it look glittering and translucent.

Before giving the sweet dumplings to Qian Hezi, Xu Zhiwei opens the stove a little. Then the steam in the steamer begins to rise, the soup begins to boil, and the mussels slowly roll in the soup.

At this time, Qian Hezi doesn’t pay attention to what Xu Zhiwei is doing. He is completely immersed in tasting the pork chops. It is not until Xu Zhiwei places the four luminous and crystal clear sweet dumplings in front of him that his attention is attracted.

Tea was also used in cooking in the past, but this practice is not widespread, especially among common people. Even with the booming catering industry nowadays, there are still very few dishes that use tea. This is because the taste of the ingredients and daily eating habits are still very different from the taste of tea, which requires very meticulous cooking methods, and the amount must be controlled properly, so dishes made with tea only appear at higher-end banquets. In addition, if ones eats a dish with tea occasionally, he may feel novel and fresh because tea taste can help highlight the flavor of the main ingredients, but if he eats that kind of dish frequently, he will feel that the taste is distorted. After all, this is not a normal way of using tea, and it will affect the original taste of most ingredients.

Xu Zhiwei’s making the first two tea-flavored dishes is both opportunistic and risky because he thinks that Qian Hezi, a teahouse owner, should prefer the taste of dishes with tea. In addition, he has always been a tea-drinker, so a sudden change will give him a sense of novelty. And Xu Zhiwei also takes advantage of Qian’s feelings. Qian Hezi runs a teahouse, and naturally he has a special liking for tea. Cooking with tea makes it easier for Xu to get his approval. But the risk is that Qian Hezi must be particularly sensitive to the taste of tea. Therefore, he will feel tea flavour in the dish more strongly, and he can distinguish more accurately the difference between the teas taste and the taste of other ingredients. In addition, he may have already been accustomed to tea taste, so the mixed flavors with other ingredients and seasonings may make him feel uncomfortable.

Taking these factors into account, Xu Zhiwei adds the black tea watered twice to the pork chops to minimize strong tea taste. And the tea used to knead glutinous rice flour is Biluochun, which only leaves a slight tea flavour and aftertaste.

But Xu Zhiwei has full confidence in the third dish, Mussels Cooked with Vegetables. Whether the first two dishes will arouse Qian Hezi’s interest or not, the deliciousness of the third dish will be highlighted by the first two dishes. Just when Qian Hezi starts to taste the green sweet dumplings, the mussel soup in the pot is boiling away. Xu Zhiwei immediately puts the shredded vegetables into the pot, stirring them with a spoon, and then adding salt.

Usually three dishes are used to test, but many chefs just pursue the form. They often use a cold dish, a fried dish and a simmered dish to show their skills in a more comprehensive way. What they choose are the dishes they think are the best and most delicious, but they don’t pay much attention to the relationship among these three dishes.

Xu Zhiwei is not the case, and he had already noticed this when he tested dishes in Huiquan Hall. Not only does he notice the taste and relationship of his dishes, but also learns something from the dishes of other chefs to highlight his taste. Today, although there are no other chefs who compete with him, and the ingredients are limited with no room for selection, Xu Zhiwei still makes the three dishes complement one another.

The pork chops are cooked with sauce and tea in pursuit of rich flavor. The mixture of multiple flavors will finally enhance the taste of the pork chops, delicious but not greasy. And the sweet dumplings are purely light and soft, and the sweetness fills one’s mouth after one tastes it. It’s not only like a contrast but also an upgrade to the taste of the previous pork chops. The tea flavour and sweet taste seem to mix, and then go their own way, leaving a long aftertaste. The mixed flavor is fragrant but not greasy, sweet but not cloying.

But the third dish, Mussels Cooked with Vegetables, is more important. Simmering mussels is not only to boil out their toughness, but also to show the delicate flavour of their meat. Cutting them into beveled pieces is also for these two purposes. The shredded vegetables only need to be boiled for a few seconds in the mussel soup. This can not only keep their green color, but also ensure the freshness of their leaves. The most ingenious thing is that the shredded vegetables can absorb the aroma of the mussel, which is difficult to achieve by sliced vegetables. The texture of green vegetables makes them difficult to absorb other flavors, but Xu Zhiwei makes up for it with shredded vegetables.

Among the three dishes the first one is spiced, the second is sweet, and the third is fresh. Therefore, the first two dishes not only taste good, but also serve as a prelude. Because people’s gustation will be more sensitive to delicate flavour after they taste the salty and sweet dishes. This is also why the last fresh soup is always served after the desserts at a banquet. At that time, even a light soup can still taste good.

Shuixian’s taste is definitely different from Qian Hezi’s, and her understanding of tea-flavored dishes should not be as sophisticated as Qian Hezi’s. To put it simply, she is less likely to like tea-flavored dishes than Qian Hezi. But Shuixian’s reaction is quick and strong. When Qian Hezi is slowly tasting the sweet dumplings, she exaggeratedly shakes his arm and says, “It’s delicious! It’s very delicious!”

However, Qian Hezi is not so easy to be influenced by others. He patiently tastes the third dish. In fact, this is the most trivial dish to Shuixian, and there is even no need for her to taste it. Every housewife or servant in the streets can cook this Mussels Cooked with Vegetables.

However, the main reason why Qian Hezi finally decides to rent the house to Zhu Shengpeng and Cai Renxin is his appreciation of the third dish. He has never eaten such delicious Mussels Cooked with Vegetables. And if one can make an ordinary dish so delicious, let alone making other dishes. So the restaurant with this chef will definitely be booming in the future. Zhu Shengpeng and Cai Renxin’s savings are not enough, but fortunately there are many ready-made things they can use in the teahouse, such as tables and chairs. There are also bowls, chopsticks and plates. Although this is not enough to open a restaurant, it will not cost too much to add some more. The key is the kitchen. Although there are stoves and chopping boards, and they can be used with some modifications, Xu Zhiwei suggests that all these must be removed and replaced with new ones. The heating of the stove is very important, and a general small stove may be good for a small number of dishes. However, the dishes in the restaurant are distinctive with different requirements. Therefore, the range of fire control should be very flexible, which can be adjusted from a soft fire to a big fire, and the firepower can be changed at any time according to various requirements.

Zhu Shengpeng finally manages to complete the remodeling of the kitchen according to Xu Zhiwei’s requirements, and also adds some necessities. Now all their savings are almost spent with only a little circulation capital to buy ingredients and seasonings. But to be honest, even if they have spent all their money, they fail to transform this teahouse into a restaurant. It still looks a little shabby, and there is something missing.

“There is no shop sign. You haven’t named the restaurant yet.” Qian Hezi finds the problem for them. “This restaurant is very messy, so your shop sign must be beautiful, and you have to use a six-foot rosewood shop sign carved with green characters. Now it’s the only way to improve the restaurant’s ‘level’. In the past, most teahouses used wood-colored signs with green characters, so from his point of view, the restaurant looks most imposing wit that kind of sign.

“Yes, we have to come up with a name. But there is no need for such a sign. We can temporarily find a substitute and make a new one in the future after earning money.” Zhu Shengpeng says while pinching his purse.

“If you don’t have a decent sign, the shop is nothing like a restaurant. Then is it still possible for me to charge you a higher rent later?” Qian Hezi’s mouth curls up, and he looks very reluctant.

“Uncle Qian, naming a restaurant is easy, but it costs a lot of money to make such a magnificent sign. We don’t have much money left now, and we need to use it for the daily operation of the restaurant.” Cai Renxin tells the truth directly.

“Actually, it’s not bad to have a sign made of cloth first. It’s also attractive and doesn’t cost much.” Zhu Shengpeng says with an embarrassing smile. “A cloth sign? It’s too bad and looks like someone has died.” Qian Hezi has no good words. He feels that it is a waste of his house if there is no decent sign. “This… Uncle Qian, don’t say that. We want to be blessed.” Although the tone sounds a little cowardly, Cai Renxin directly expresses his dissatisfaction. Qian Hezi might also feel that he is going too far, so he coughs and touches his beard without continuing to scold Cai Renxin and Zhu Shengpeng.

“Boss Qian’s words make sense. This restaurant really needs a good sign to improve its look.” Xu Zhiwei comes over and gives Zhu Shengpeng a purse, “Since I have shares, I should also contribute some money.”

Holding the purse, Zhu Shengpeng is a little excited. Xu Zhiwei’s action means that he and the two of them are really tied together. “Mr. Xu, since you pay for the sign, why don’t you give the restaurant a name, and we all listen to you.” Zhu Shengpeng is very sincere.

“How about taking one word from each of your two names and call it Shengxin Restaurant. You are young and full of energy. With your luck and vitality, our business will be booming.” Xu Zhiwei quickly says a store name as if he has already been prepared for that name.

“Shengxin Restaurant?” “Shengxin Restaurant!” “Good! Just call it this name!”