Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

"to make."

Cao Wei picked a good time, around four in the afternoon.

At this point in time, if I get busy, I can just make it in time for dinner.

He put down the cloth he had brought for his master's wife and ran to the kitchen.

As for those gossips, as long as you don’t listen to them, you don’t know them.

Sweet and sour carp is a famous Shandong dish. It is said that it can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty.

In short, it became a very famous home-cooked Shandong dish in later generations.

Even though Liu Sandao only ordered two dishes, both of them were aimed at testing Cao Wei.

Sweet and Sour Carp is a dish that requires a lot of attention to the thickness of the sauce. If the thickness is not good enough or uneven, the dish will either be too thick or even too fishy. Of course, this is a novice dish, but for a chef at a higher level, what they are looking for is not just a decent taste, but a balance.

Just like the five flavors in Mapo Tofu, how to blend the five flavors and how to taste the five flavors separately, that amazing feeling is the real test of the chef's skills.

The first step of making sweet and sour carp is to pickle the fish. Let’s start!

The fragrance filled the air and Liu Sandao sniffed.

Can't smell good or bad.

A normal person's nose cannot distinguish subtle smells.

But Liu Sandao can do it. This can be said to be his specialty. He can basically tell which apprentice's food is not good by just smelling it. And when the apprentice's food reaches a certain level, he can't smell it anymore. To describe it in the terms of the game, Liu Sandao's nose has an identification skill, which can identify dishes of level 1-10. Above this level, he can't identify it.

If something cannot be identified, it means that the dish has surpassed level 10 and is considered to have passed.

All disciples, before becoming apprentices, suffered from Liu Sandao's "identification technique".

The dish was served.

Liu Sandao took a look first, then nodded silently.

Today's dishes were neatly arranged. After so many years, Liu Sandao still remembered Cao Wei's fancy plating. When he put it out, he almost scared the shopkeeper to death. It was so luxurious that no one would believe it if it was not petty bourgeoisie. Since then, Liu Sandao would keep an eye on Cao Wei's plating every time.

He picked up the chopsticks and started with the fish, picking up a piece and putting it into his mouth.

His mouth moved slightly, and he closed his eyes, as if he was savoring something. After a while, he opened his eyes and used chopsticks to pick at the gap he had just made. The corners of his mouth curved slightly, "Not bad, I've made it to the next level."

"Really?!" Before Cao Wei could get excited, Yang Menglan also took a piece. As soon as she put it in her mouth, she nodded: "It's a lot of improvement. The thickening in the past was not at this level."

"It's not about thickening, but about good knife skills." Liu Sandao shook his head.

The basic skills of a chef are not always applied in practice. Knife skills are related to many things. Any dish that requires the use of a knife is closely related to knife skills. For example, when thickening a dish, changing the knife to make it deeper or shallower will have a significant impact on the thickening. Most people only thicken the dish by pouring the sauce on it.

But in fact, which part of the meat is thicker, which part is thinner, which part needs more seasoning, and what are the requirements of the ingredients themselves? These are all very particular.

In the past, Cao Wei had no awareness of this aspect. Not to mention that he no longer had this awareness, most chefs actually did not have this awareness because there was no need.

The human tongue is amazing, but not that amazing. If you learn a dish well, the taste may be 8 points, and if you make it more refined, the taste may be 9 points, but in fact, the difference between 8 points and 9 points is not that big when you taste it in your mouth. Only when it exceeds 9 points, it is the real ultimate deliciousness.

But most people will only hover between 8 and 9 points throughout their lives and cannot break this level.

It was the same before Cao Wei. If he had not encountered the system, had not been trained in knife skills, and had not understood the true meaning of the ingredients, then his level would have been just that. At best, he would have been a cook, not a chef.

And this skill was something Liu Sandao could not teach him.

Some things need to be figured out by yourself. If you understand, you understand. If you don’t understand, there is nothing you can do.

Liu Sandao put down his chopsticks and patted Cao Wei on the shoulder: "Not bad, you have made it this far. In the future, you need to practice diligently and don't slack off. Now that you have made the entrance, you should be positive and make progress as a man. Don't waste this talent."

Liu Sandao was satisfied with Cao Wei as his disciple.

When it comes to cooking, he has a positive attitude and always has some creative ideas. However, despite his young age, his skills have reached such a level, and he is worried that Cao Wei will become arrogant.

"Liu Sandao!" Yang Menglan slammed her chopsticks.

This gave Cao Wei a fright.

What happened? You were eating just fine, why did you slam the table?

"Master's wife, what's wrong?"

Yang Menglan did not answer Cao Wei's question, but looked at Liu Sandao: "We agreed on it."

"Menglan, this..."

"We agreed!" Yang Menglan repeated, "Don't forget what you said back then. You promised!"

“Cao Wei’s child…” Liu Sandao touched his nose awkwardly. Although the old man was strong, he couldn’t get angry with his wife. He could only persuade her softly, “This child has good talent, but he’s not at that level yet. Besides…”

"No, Master, Madam, the more you talk, the more confused I become. What's going on?" Cao Wei was a little confused, and Yang Menglan's eyes were red.

My goodness, it has been years since I last saw an old lady with red eyes.

Is it related to yourself?

Seeing his wife like this, Liu Sandao had no choice but to sigh: "Speaking of which, this is still a matter of our lineage."

"What happened to our lineage?" Cao Wei was still a little confused. What? Can there be love, hatred, and vengeance? There are enemies in the city of Sijiu. Is the enemy the young master of a big family?

Don't make me laugh, I'm just a cook, not Long Aotian...

Cao Wei's brain was very active, his curiosity suddenly stood up, and a little person in his heart was shouting, "Cao Wei came first, then Heaven"?

In fact, Cao Wei didn't know much about their lineage, which was very mysterious. Normal chefs would first talk about which lineage they came from, who their ancestors were, and what they were good at. When Cao Wei started, these things were never mentioned. Liu Sandao said that he was good at Sichuan and Shandong cuisine.

Now that it was suddenly brought up, Cao Wei became a little excited.

"Did you know...?"