Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

Liu Sandao arrived faster than Cao Wei had imagined.

This afternoon, the first lesson of identifying medicinal herbs is being conducted in the yard.

Liu Sandao rushed in, followed by the shopkeeper.

Liu Sandao's eyes were a little red, as if he didn't sleep well.

Most of the cooks don't have the habit of taking a nap. After all, the working hours of cooks are at noon. Especially in the past when Fengze Garden was busy, they had to work until about 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon before they could stop and rest. And this was only the time for the master chef to stop working. Ordinary kitchen workers still had to help clean up.

Clean the stove and mop the floor. It would be good if you can finish before three o'clock.

Who didn’t start out as a laborer?

Therefore, the idea of ​​taking a nap no longer exists.

After hearing Yang Menglan's description, Liu Sandao felt more and more uncomfortable the more he thought about it.

No way. He doesn’t know the sixth taste of Cao Wei. He feels uncomfortable no matter what.

Look, he is running over here in a hurry.

"Master, why are you here?" Cao Wei was stunned for a moment.

"Why are you here? You are a bad guy, don't you know why I am here?" Liu Sandao glared.

"No, Master Liu, Master Cao is just learning his craft. It's not appropriate for you to do this." The shopkeeper stepped forward. The lunch was delicious, so he should protect it.

"I'm teaching my apprentice here..." Liu Sandao hadn't finished his words.

Old Master Yang appeared out of nowhere and glared at him: "Liu Sandao, you little brat, if you have something to say, just say it nicely. What do you want to do by puffing your beard and glaring at me? Come with me to the backyard!"

Liu Sandao: ...

What do you call this? This is called tofu dipped in brine - one thing conquers another.

No matter what else, since the old man had spoken, Liu Sandao had to do it.

He glared at Cao Wei fiercely and followed him.

"Okay, Master Cao, let's continue learning." The old friend didn't care and continued to teach Cao Wei.

The old fellow's level is quite high. He has been dealing with medicinal materials for his entire life. He knows all the medicinal materials and their characteristics very well, and he describes them in great detail.

One teaches carefully, the other listens attentively.

Before I knew it, an afternoon had passed.

When Cao Wei suddenly came to his senses, Liu Sandao was already standing beside him with a frown on his face.

There is also an old man named Yang.

"Master, hehe."

"Hehe, what are you talking about? Hurry up and do it for me." Liu Sandao couldn't help but kicked him.

Cao Wei knew he was in the wrong and hurried to the kitchen.

In fact, compared to cooking for ordinary customers, chefs are more inclined to cook for their peers or real old foodies. The better the chef, the more this is the case.

The underlying logic is that people have a need to show off.

If you spend a lot of effort to make a dish and then serve it to ordinary diners, they might exclaim, "Wow, it's delicious," and at most add something like, "It's really different from other places, and much more delicious."

But eating with gourmets or colleagues is different. They know the difference, the effort required, and the difficulty.

Looking at their astonished eyes, I can get the greatest satisfaction from pretending to be cool.

Mapo tofu, this is not like "boiled cabbage", which takes so long to prepare. Including the time for processing the ingredients, it only takes half an hour. When the bright mapo tofu was served on the table, Liu Sandao was a little impatient, but he still waited for Mr. Yang to speak.

"Well, let's get started." Grandpa Yang happily scooped a spoonful for himself and put it into his mouth.

Liu Sandao then took a spoonful, put it in his mouth and savored it slowly.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, frowned, and looked at Cao Wei: "Go and make another ordinary one."

"I knew it." Cao Wei muttered, and without saying anything else, he turned and walked towards the kitchen.

After a while, Cao Wei brought out a plate of Mapo Tofu. From the appearance, it was not much different from the previous plate. But the aroma seemed to have changed a little.

Liu Sandao scooped a spoonful and put it into his mouth.

As he savored it slowly, his frown gradually relaxed, he nodded and smiled: "Okay, you passed."

This is the rule of their lineage.

In the past, Cao Wei had done innovative things, such as the "Wensi Tofu" mentioned earlier. His method was different from that of Master Wu. For this reason, Liu Sandao explained the rules of their school to Cao Wei very seriously. Originally, it was to be explained when he was leaving the school.

They do not deny innovation, nor do they reject it. As long as you have the ability and are willing to make a dish more interesting, there is nothing wrong with that. But there is a prerequisite: if you want to improve an existing dish, then the original dish must be at least "qualified" before it will be allowed. As for what is "qualified".

Anyway, Cao Wei's previous level of thickening was not enough to make "qualified" Mapo Tofu. After a series of training with Liu Angxing in the system space, he truly achieved the level of combining the five flavors into one. This is why he dared to take out the "Magic Mapo Tofu".

When Liu Sandao tasted his "Magic Mapo Tofu", he clearly felt what was in it. In fact, with one more flavor, all aspects need to be fine-tuned, whether it is thickening or the amount of ingredients. Without adjustment, the taste will not be achieved at all. And during his tasting, he felt the amazingness of this dish.

Amazing, yes, but not perfect.

He could feel that his wife was not lying. This dish was an unfinished dish, but it was something that could be expected in the future.

The question that follows is, did Cao Wei’s “Mapo Tofu” reach a “qualified” standard?

This is also the reason why Liu Sandao asked Cao Wei to do it again.

If they fail to reach the "qualified" standard, Cao Wei will have to be taught a lesson again.

Fortunately, Cao Wei’s Mapo Tofu was indeed up to standard.

"Boy, your cooking skills have improved so fast since leaving Fengze Garden. How come? Cooking in a big pot can have such an effect?" Liu Sandao was really confused.

Cao Wei's cooking skills were also improving, but the speed of improvement was just that, belonging to the ranks of geniuses, not that outrageous. How come it has become so outrageous in just a few months since he went out?

It would be fine if they just made the Mapo Tofu properly, but they also developed a sixth flavor for it.

Who can I talk to to explain this?