Chef at the University Canteen-Chapter 340 - 239: Working for the Boss Means Good Food _3
Being a person, you can’t be too willful.
This is exactly why Jiang Yu thought about properly mentoring Du Guangning.
Of course, the reason for choosing Du Guangning is that after some time of interaction, Jiang Yu found that although he is straightforward, he is still very serious and diligent in his work, and his temperament is also quite decent.
However, teaching Du Guangning culinary skills only involves showing him how to make the dishes frequently ordered from the "recommended menu" at the No. 7 dining room.
As for the flavor formulas provided by the Gourmet System, he, of course, won’t easily hand them over to others. He will naturally prepare some of these seasonings in advance for Du Guangning to use while cooking.
"Willing, willing, I am willing!"
At this moment, Du Guangning was already so happy that he felt like he was floating. He nodded repeatedly, his face full of excitement, saying,
"Then I’ll go back and rest first, boss. I’ll be here early tomorrow morning!"
As he spoke, he feared that Jiang Yu might go back on his word, so he turned around and dashed out of the kitchen, disappearing in a few steps.
Even after a night had passed, Du Guangning still couldn’t quite believe it. He couldn’t fathom why Jiang Yu was willing to teach him how to cook.
But early in the morning when he arrived at the kitchen, Jiang Yu didn’t say much else; he just gave one instruction:
"Xiaodu, go see what cold dishes the guests in the four private rooms have ordered today and get all the main ingredients for these dishes ready.
If there’s anything you’re not clear about, don’t be shy, just come and ask me directly. Don’t just do it on your own."
"Okay, boss!"
Upon hearing this, Du Guangning quickly nodded, dispelled all distracting thoughts, and went off to busy himself.
Why the boss decided to teach him wasn’t important; what’s important is that he couldn’t let the boss’s trust down!
The two of them busied themselves in the kitchen for a while, and once all the main ingredients for today’s cold dishes were ready, Jiang Yu finally stopped, turned to look at Du Guangning, and said:
"For us cooks on the hot side, making cold dishes is usually a basic skill, but the taste of what’s made will vary.
Take, for example, the dish marinated beef with chili peppers; you certainly know how to make it, but how to make it so that the beef is tender and flavorful, spicy and aromatic, requires some effort."
Seeing that Jiang Yu didn’t give him any chance to catch his breath and started talking about how to make marinated beef with chili peppers right away, Du Guangning instantly perked up and listened attentively.
His demeanor was truly like that of a good student earnestly engaged in learning.
"Beef is actually not easy to absorb flavors; before making a cold dish, it usually needs to be marinated first."
Jiang Yu glanced at Du Guangning and said to him,
"The marinade used to marinate beef generally varies with each chef’s preference, and different marinades yield different flavors in the beef.
So, I’ve already prepared a marinade for you here, and you will use this marinade to marinate the beef when making this dish in the future."
With that, he lifted the lid on the small pot on the stove, and the rich aroma of marinated beef wafted out, making Du Guangning, standing beside him, swallow involuntarily.
Jiang Yu took out the marinated beef and set it aside to cool, then turned to ask:
"The small charcoal stove I asked you to prepare earlier, did you light the fruit wood charcoal?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
"It’s lit, and the charcoal is red hot."
Du Guangning replied, using a damp towel to protect his hand, and brought the small charcoal stove over.
"Alright then, place the cleaned green chili peppers and red braised peppers on the grill of the small charcoal stove to roast them; remember to turn them over and don’t let them burn."
Seeing Du Guangning busying himself back and forth, Jiang Yu asked again,
"You can also roast peppers in a hot pan, but do you know why I use charcoal?"
Du Guangning thought for a moment and asked, "Because it’s more fragrant?"
In Jiangzhou, they don’t generally make roasted pepper dishes, so Du Guangning wasn’t very familiar with it. When Jiang Yu asked, he could only guess.
"Yes, because using charcoal to roast peppers, although slower, allows the peppers to dry out more thoroughly due to the longer roasting time. This not only gives them a soft texture and a stronger spicy flavor, but they also get a unique smoky aroma from the charcoal grilling."
Jiang Yu nodded and explained,
"When we cook, we aim for perfection, striving to do the best in every step, so the dish tastes better."
"Got it, thank you, boss!"
Du Guangning nodded heavily, becoming more careful while charcoal grilling the peppers, frequently turning them, afraid of burning them and losing face.
This was the first cold dish he made under Jiang Yu’s guidance; if it didn’t taste good, it would be too embarrassing.
He would not allow such a situation to happen!
After some more time, Du Guangning finally roasted the peppers, each one soft and wilted, with their skins wrinkled and almost ready to peel off.
He washed the roasted peppers in water to remove the surface carbon residue, peeled off the slightly tough outer pepper skin, and tore them into strips by hand.
Then, he cut the previously marinated and cooled beef into thin slices, placed them in a bowl with the roasted peppers, and added mashed garlic, spring onions, salt, MSG, and the spicy sauce Jiang Yu had prepared in advance, mixing them well.
At this stage, the dish was essentially done, and the next step would be to plate it.
However, it was still early before noon, so there was no rush to plate the dish. After mixing the beef, Du Guangning looked expectantly at Jiang Yu, full of anticipation, and said:
