Xu Le also tasted it. The crispy skin exploded in his mouth. It tasted like rice crust, but it was more fragrant and delicious than rice crust. He nodded in agreement. “It really tastes great.”
When he came in the morning, he specially counted the ingredients for that day. A lot of pork belly had been added, and they were all freshly slaughtered pork. They were very fresh and of high quality.
Hence, he said, “Lu Yuxi, add a limited dish to today’s menu, Crispy Pork Belly, and… Wensi Tofu. I made a big pot of tofu. We’ll definitely be able to cut a lot later.”
When Li Qing heard the latter half of the sentence, he reminded in shock, “Xu Le, you can’t be too arrogant.”
The tofu had to be cut as thin as a strand of hair, so it required a high standard of cutting skills. He had failed a few times, and it was already good enough for him to make a portion of it. Yet he still wanted to sell it?
Xu Le understood what he meant and smiled. “Don’t worry.”
“If you predict wrongly later, don’t be embarrassed.”
“We shall see.”
Lu Yuxi lowered her head and recoded the program. “How should we set the price?”
“A strip of pork belly is about 700 grams.”
Xu Le scratched the tip of his nose and thought to himself, “My cost price is three to four yuan cheaper than the market price, but since it’s freshly slaughtered pork, it won���t be much cheaper.”
After calculating the cost, he said, “The crispy pork belly should be priced at 55 yuan per piece. The Wensi tofu will be 68 yuan.”
“68?” Li Qing was the first to raise his doubts. He said in a mean tone, “Don’t tell me you don’t dare to set the price too high because the taste is not authentic and is too bad? You’re afraid that the customers will hit you.”
Xu Le had practiced this dish over a thousand times in the system. He was sure that he would be able to cut the thin tofu strands even with his eyes closed. Hence, he said confidently, “You will know when you taste it later.”
“Hmph.”
Lu Yuxi set the price and added it on the menu. There was a limit of ten servings per person, and there would not be any restocks.
When it was about time, Xu Le went to the kitchen to remove the lid of the pot. At this moment, chicken oil had formed on the surface of the chicken soup. He used a spoon to carefully remove it and covered the lid to continue stewing.
After three hours, Xu Le had already processed all the crispy pork belly according to the previous method. He hung it in the roaster to start grilling.
After the chicken soup was prepared, he took out the ribs and bones from the chicken and slowly placed the chicken paste that had been prepared beforehand into the pot.
The bright and rich chicken soup was mixed with chicken paste, and boiled over a small fire.
This step was the same as the Boiled Cabbage that he had made previously. It was all for the sake of making the soup more clear, rich, and pure.
40 minutes later, the chicken meat was cooked and had absorbed all the impurities in the chicken soup. The bottom of the soup also became clear. Xu Le covered it with a layer of gauze and poured the chicken soup into a bowl. He also lifted the gauze to filter out the chicken paste. Finally, he obtained a clear and bright-colored chicken soup. Other than the slightly yellowish color, the rest was as clear as fresh water. Xu Le took out the vegetables required for making Wensi Tofu, which included bamboo shoots, soaked fungus, shitake mushrooms, and a piece of Xuanwei ham.
Li Qing couldn’t help but say, “Hey, I don’t remember that ham is also added to this dish.”
“The mushrooms will enhance the flavor, the bamboo shoots will enhance the freshness, and vegetables will enhance the color of the entire soup. The ham I added can bring the freshness of the entire soup to another level.”
“Really?”
Li Qing frowned in disbelief.
Xu Le did not want to waste his breath on him. The outcome would be revealed later. All the ingredients had to be cut into thin strips.
After the mushrooms were soaked in the water, he used a flat knife to cut them. He used one hand to hold the top and used the knife to cut them into thin slices. Then, he stacked them up and cut them into thin strips. This step proved that this dish was definitely not a home-cooked dish. The Xuanwei ham was cut into slices first. Then, he used a straight knife to cut them into strips. This way, the meat flavor would be retained.
He rolled up the fungus to avoid them being cut into uneven sizes.
The bamboo shoots were fresh and small. They were the most suitable for making this soup. After cutting them, one had to ensure that every slice of the bamboo shoots were translucent.
The vegetables were relatively easy to cut. Xu Le raised his knife and cut the ingredients into thin strips that were less than a millimeter in diameter.
After all the ingredients were cut and prepared, it was time for the most important segment of cutting the tofu. The tender tofu that could be crushed with a squeeze had to be cut into equal sizes inside the mold first. Then, warm water would be added to the mold to make the tofu float on its own instead of using one’s hand to remove it. Only then could the edges and corners of the tofu be intact and not split open from the middle.
After taking out the fragile tofu by floating it with warm water, he cut across the middle of the tofu and maintained it at around 2.5cm.
While Xu Le was doing this, Lu Yuxi could not help but hold her breath. She did not dare to breathe too loudly and her face was red from holding it in. Li Qing looked at her, a non-professional, speechlessly and reminded her, “He’s not cutting you. You should breathe properly. Don’t hold your breath.”
Xu Le pressed his fingertips against the tip of the knife. To cut the tofu, he had to use the vibrating knife skill.
This step required the chef to control his breathing, strength, and even the rhythm of lowering the knife. Every cut had to be done in a straight manner.
He first cut them into slices, then in strips. It was done in one go.
Xu Le’s expression seemed relaxed. The sound of his knife cutting was fast and accurate.
Lu Yuxi watched him cut the tofu and muttered softly, “Are you turning the tofu into paste?”
As an expert, a jealous gaze formed in Li Qing’s eyes. When he had acknowledged his previous master, it was because he had been convinced by the other party’s cutting skills in making Wensi tofu. However, Xu Le was clearly more skilful than his previous master.
Chefs all had to practise to become skilled in cooking. They had to study bit by bit and accumulate their cutting skills.
When it came to Xu Le, Li Qing could feel that his hand seemed to have become one with the knife. He could control it freely, whether it was the strength or the method of cutting, the angle was exquisite, like a machine that was cutting.
Whoosh—
Xu Le put down the knife and let out a breath. He used clear water to wash away the broken strands on the edges. There were only a few of them.
Then, he placed the knife and hand into the clear water and gently shook them.
Lu Yuxi couldn’t help but take a few steps forward with her phone. She saw that the water had shaken the white piece of tofu out. Each strip of tofu was less than a millimeter in diameter. It was extremely magical.
She sighed emotionally. “This is too awesome!”
Xu Le blanched the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and fungus in a pot to remove their stench before scooping them out.
The stewed chicken soup was added to the pot. After pouring the soup into the pot, he turned on the fire to low heat. The chicken soup was fresh and bright. After filtering the soup, it was almost no different from fresh water.
After adding the four supplementary ingredients and pouring a spoonful of salt into it, he would be able to start making the gravy.
After Xu Le poured the raw flour into a bowl, he took a look at the label. It was sweet potato flour.
He immediately changed it and said, “If we use potato flour to make the gravy, the soup will be purer and more transparent. If other raw flour or sweet potato flour were used, it will be sticky.”
The potato flour was mixed with water, and then it was poured into the pot in three separate portions. After the broth became slightly thick, the tofu strips was poured into the pot..