CHAPTER 505: CHAPTER 278: SUPERIOR STOCK (PART 2)

Qin Huai presented the tea leaves, and without much examination, Zhang Chu accepted them, letting Qin Huai and Qin Luo sit on the sofa for a while as he went to brew the tea.

Before the paper cups were taken out, the sound of Cao Guixiang came from the kitchen: "Is Xiao Qin here? Xiao Qin, do you have time to come to the kitchen and help me a bit?"

"Yes!" Qin Huai quickly replied, getting up and pushing the door into the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Qin Huai was taken aback again.

The kitchen smelled even more fragrant.

But the aroma wasn’t the focus, the dishes were.

Cao Guixiang’s kitchen was slightly larger than an average person’s kitchen, but only slightly, not as extravagant as Zheng Da’s kitchen.

In the limited space, Cao Guixiang utilized the kitchen to its fullest.

There were three stoves in the kitchen, with three pots on them, each cooking a dish.

The cooking station had various prepared ingredients, all placed neatly in small bowls. Spices were on a dedicated spice rack, knives were organized on a knife rack, plates were on a storage shelf, and unprocessed vegetables were on a vegetable rack.

Just by looking at the kitchen, one would know that the person responsible for cooking in this home must be a professional chef.

Cao Guixiang was smashing garlic and gestured for Qin Huai to close the kitchen door upon entering.

"Xiao Qin, I’m making quite a lot of dishes today, and one person handling three pots is a bit too much. I’ll have you help pass things to me as needed," said Cao Guixiang, rolling up her sleeves, her hair in a bun, and wearing a red apron, looking like an ordinary housewife.

If Qin Huai hadn’t seen the still-warm broth on the cooking station, Cao Guixiang would have seemed even more ordinary.

Qin Huai couldn’t take his eyes off it, desperately wanting to rush up and taste it for saltiness.

To say something a bit unprincipled, he really wanted to borrow two bowls of chicken broth from Cao Guixiang to take home and cook Longevity Noodles, to see if he could cook them to an A-Level standard.

Cao Guixiang noticed Qin Huai staring at the broth and asked, "Xiao Qin, do you know how to make broth?"

"Not... quite... a little." Qin Huai didn’t know how to describe his broth-making skills.

To say he didn’t, in fact, Qin Huai had made broth before, when Huang Shengli was still teaching him via online classes, Qin Huai used to make broth every day.

But to say he did, compared to the broth in the kitchen now...

That might not be called broth, it’s just soup.

Cao Guixiang smiled, indicating she understood.

"The old secretary probably told you about the story between your Grandpa Zhang and me, right?" said Cao Guixiang, lifting the lid off the second pot to sniff the aroma, then closing it and turning off the heat under the third pot.

Qin Huai had no idea what dishes Cao Guixiang was making, only feeling that they all seemed very impressive, smelled wonderful, and his eyes weren’t enough to take it all in.

"Yes, he just said you and Grandpa Zhang were educated youths from Beiping who didn’t return to the city and have stayed here all these years. The old secretary also mentioned that you once worked at a very famous restaurant in Beiping, called Zhi... Zhi... Zhi..."

"Zhiwei Restaurant," said Cao Guixiang, as she took a ladle to scoop a small half-spoon from the pot containing the broth, handing the ladle to Qin Huai, "Taste this, it’s chicken broth."

Qin Huai took the ladle, feeling honored yet nervous, and carefully tasted a bit.

Fresh!

So fresh!

To the old hens in Qin Family Village, sorry for turning you into such ordinary chicken soup, your deaths this year were in vain.

"Can you taste what I’ve added to this broth?" asked Cao Guixiang.

Qin Huai licked another small sip, he had made broth before and seen Huang Shengli and Huang Jia make broth, and he knew what ingredients are usually added to standard chicken broth.

Since Cao Guixiang asked this way, there must be some unusual ingredients in this broth.

"Dried scallops, ham, mushrooms, pork bones..."

Qin Huai listed a few ingredients that could be tasted easily, could be guessed without tasting, then took another uncertain small sip, and another sip.

Finished.

There was only a small half-spoon in total.

Qin Huai was so nervous that he started to sweat a little.

"It seems like there’s also... pigeon?"

"What else?" Cao Guixiang continued to ask.

Seeing he got it right, Qin Huai felt more confident: "There should also be longan, but I don’t know what flavor longan imparts to the broth, so this is just a guess. I heard from Master Huang once that some chicken broths require longan."

"Why would you guess longan?"

"Because I’ve tasted many chicken broths made by Master Huang, and the flavors differ slightly from yours. Your flavor is distinctly richer and more mellow, I thought more ingredients must have been added, so I guessed it might be longan."

Cao Guixiang nodded with a smile: "That’s right, generally correct. Xiao Qin, although your knife and fire skills aren’t too good, and your foundational knowledge isn’t broad enough, you are smart."

Qin Huai just took it as Cao Guixiang was complimenting him, whatever Master Cao said was a compliment to him.

"My master was a practitioner of Tan Family Cuisine." Cao Guixiang suddenly began to introduce herself, "Tan Family Cuisine has many major dishes that are broth-based, so learning Tan Family Cuisine first involves mastering broth making."

"Practicing broth-making is essentially practicing fire control."

"If I want to make good dishes, just having a pot of good broth is not enough. Knife skills are crucial too, knife skills aren’t just about cutting ingredients into tiny or beautiful pieces, or mincing into threads or minced meat, slicing or dicing."

"Knife skills truly make the ingredients better suited to the dish, allow the ingredients to better absorb the flavors, and be fully cooked."

"That’s why knife skills are fundamental skills, and every chef starts by practicing knife skills, you have to learn to cut before you can learn to cook."

"Whether you’re a pastry chef or a meat chef, practicing knife skills is essential. The process of refining knife skills is the process of understanding the ingredients. Know yourself and your enemy, so you’re prepared for anything; if a chef doesn’t understand the ingredients, how can they cook them well?"

Qin Huai nodded with deep understanding, he hadn’t considered knife skills to be particularly important before, especially for pastries.

But after last time when Cao Guixiang casually minced some meat to make the Four Happiness glutinous rice dumplings to an A-Level, Qin Huai realized it wasn’t that knife skills weren’t important, it was just that he hadn’t witnessed crucial knife skills.

Cao Guixiang continued: "You have a good palate. Despite not having systematic learning, good basic skills, or growing up under the guidance of a famous teacher, you can rely on your palate, experience, and guesses to accurately identify the main ingredients in the broth just now."

"If you were born forty years earlier, my teacher would surely have chased you back home to make you a closed-door disciple after catching you sneaking food from Zhiwei Restaurant like I did."

"If I were thirty years younger, I would surely shamelessly introduce myself, brag a bit about the history of our Tan Family Cuisine, then take you as a student."

"But you don’t need a master now, and I, an old lady who’s been retired for many years, don’t have the time and energy to take on apprentices."

"But at least I can help you a bit in my area of expertise."

"Your knife skills are too poor, like an apprentice who’s just entered the kitchen as a helper. An apprentice’s knife skills may even be slightly better; back in the day, many apprentices at Zhiwei Restaurant used to help with chopping at home since childhood."

"Didn’t your Master Huang and Master Zheng think of getting you to practice knife skills?"

Qin Huai felt he needed to defend Huang Shengli and Zheng Da: "Maybe it’s because I have too many things to learn, and Master Huang and Master Zheng may not have had time to teach me knife skills."

"I hear you’re now managing a community canteen over in Shan City, so I suppose there’s not much time left to practice basic skills here."

"However, you’re a mature chef now, no need to practice from scratch like an apprentice."

"Previously, your Master Huang taught you through online classes, right?"

Qin Huai nodded: "Yes, first online classes for a while, then I went to Gusu for on-site exchange and offline teaching."

"Then maybe we’ll have to do the reverse here, you’ll have to learn here in person for a few days before we move to online classes."

"I’ll have Old Zhang at home make you six chopping boards, and when you’ve worn out all six, you’ll be proficient in knife skills."

Qin Huai was dumbfounded.

Master Cao was so proactive that Xiao Qin didn’t know what to say for a moment, he just slightly opened his mouth in shock and uttered one word:

"Huh?"

Out of sight of Qin Huai, Cao Guixiang turned around, silently scolding herself for a moment.

’Cao Guixiang, Cao Guixiang, didn’t you prepare your words last night? How could you forget them all the moment you opened your mouth today, what did you just say?’

’Does Xiao Qin now think you’re an old lady whose mind isn’t quite right?’

Cao Guixiang grimaced in regret for two seconds, then came up with a brilliant way to salvage the situation.

Cao Guixiang walked to the pot that had never been uncovered, simmering since early morning, having been stewing for at least 9 hours, the braised shark fin.

She uncovered it.

The delightful aroma wafted everywhere.

With a smile, just like when her master wanted to accept her as a student back in the day, Master Guixiang smiled at Qin Huai and said the exact same words.

"Our Tan Family Cuisine is quite delicious."

"Interested in learning it?"