The shrimp at glistens, a transparent white tinged with pink, adorned with jade-green Dragon Well tea leaves, covered by a thin layer of oil. The fresh aroma of the shrimp and the delicate fragrance of tea intertwine and drift into everyone’s nose, invigorating their spirit.
The pinkish-white shrimp and verdant tea leaves complent each other, painting a picture of Jiangnan in spring, where grass grows and orioles fly.
Just the color combination alone gives a feeling full of freshness.
No matter the taste...
The color and aroma alone could score 99 points; adding one more might make Huang Tao arrogant.
"Elder Qin, General Manager Jiang, would you like to try?"
Huang Tao placed two small portions of Longjing Shrimp in front of Old Qin and Jiang Mingtao.
The two didn’t stand on ceremony, picked up their chopsticks directly, clamped a tea-scented shrimp, and sent it to their mouths.
At first, what you taste is the refreshing scent of the tea leaves, followed by the tender surface of the shrimp.
Because of the starch coating and the previous sauce containing starch, the texture of the shrimp is exceptionally smooth and, coated with egg white, brings a rich sensation.
Biting gently reveals a burst of fresh flavor, imdiately exploding in the mouth, spreading across the palate.
The fresh shrimp, crisp, tender, and juicy, with a hint of bounce, making it extraordinarily enjoyable to eat, combined with the tea fragrance, not only perfectly harmonious but also invokes a sense of being in misty Jiangnan.
The tea leaves are chewed, and the fresh, ethereal taste of top-notch green tea is fully awakened by the shrimp’s sweetness, with a more obvious aftertaste in the mouth and a faint, clean sweetness.
"Gulp~"
Ma Junwen and others couldn’t help but swallow their saliva, watching Old Qin and General Manager Jiang eat with satisfaction.
Huang Tao asked with a smile, "Elder Qin, General Manager Jiang, how is it?"
"Excellent!"
General Manager Jiang grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth, probably feeling his comnt was a bit perfunctory, contemplated briefly, and continued, "In Hang City, there is a Zhejiang chef who is a friend of mine. His skills in Zhejiang Cuisine were once praised by a National Banquet Chef. I’ve tasted his Longjing Shrimp, which was his ticulously crafted dish; from ingredients to preparation, it was top-notch, but..."
"But compared to your Longjing Shrimp, it falls slightly short."
Old Qin agreed, lightly shaking his fan, "General Manager Jiang is absolutely right; it’s indeed delicious. Boss Huang, your skill is truly remarkable, even better than the Longjing Shrimp made by the National Banquet Chef I’ve tasted."
Such high praise, indeed!
It gave Huang Tao a more objective understanding of the level of Zhejiang chefs.
After all, a recipe provided by the system, along with his increasingly refined culinary skills, achieving such heights is unsurprising.
"Boss Huang, you didn’t just prepare these two small servings, did you?" Jiang Qihang, already quite tempted, asked a bit anxiously.
Huang Tao replied with a smile, "Don’t worry, there’s more, and I’ll serve it to you all shortly."
Xuanxuan, worried she’d be forgotten by her father, raised her little hand, "Daddy, I want so too, I want so~"
"Everyone will have so, don’t worry!"
Saying this, he had Li Chengzhan and Lin Qiuyu bring the bowls of Longjing Shrimp to them.
"Perfect in color, aroma, and taste..."
"Ti to dig in!"
They picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
Xuanxuan picked up a piece of shrimp with her chopsticks, put it in her mouth, and chewed.
Then her eyes lit up, and she gave a thumbs up, "Delicious, so delicious!"
"Yes, yes, indeed it’s delicious, the best Longjing Shrimp I’ve ever had!" Ye Wen exclaid excitedly, suddenly elevating the atmosphere.
"As long as it’s delicious."
Huang Tao smiled faintly.
The feeling of being praised indeed made him feel imnsely happy!
"Such exquisite taste!"
"As expected, Boss Huang has redefined yet another dish!"
"No extra ingredients, just shrimp and Dragon Well tea, yet such flavor can be created."
"It’s unimaginable how bleak my life would be if I couldn’t eat Boss Huang’s dishes in the future!"
"Seems like I really have to move the headquarters here."
"This is my second ti having Longjing Shrimp, the first was at Louwailou, by comparison... no, there’s no comparison, Boss Huang is crushing it."
Ding Cheng chuckled bitterly, without extra words.
Such deliciousness should not appear in a street-side restaurant; it’s not its destined final ho.
Huang Tao, seeing their satisfied yet complex expressions, smiled and then brought a large plate of Longjing Shrimp to the employees: "Don’t rush, co and try!"
"Okay~"
The other employees also picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
Huang Tao also picked up a shrimp to taste carefully.
Consistently high standard as always!
A small restaurant gaining yet another morable dish, indeed noteworthy.
The wealthy second-generation guests finished first, all left wanting more.
"Just a few shrimp pieces, really not satisfying enough!"
"Yes, I didn’t even get to grasp the taste fully, and it’s all gone."
"At this mont, I’m eagerly anticipating the next two dishes."
"Boss Huang, what’s the next dish?"
Huang Tao smiled: "Boiled Cabbage."
"I know this dish!"
Ding Cheng exclaid excitedly, "It’s a famous Sichuan dish. I rember it was originally created by the master of Sichuan cuisine, Huang Jinglin, during the Qing palace chef period, later promoted by Sichuan cuisine master Luo Guorong, becoming a delicacy at National Banquets?"
"Yes."
Old Qin lightly shook his fan and nodded, saying, "It is said that Boiled Cabbage was created by the renowned Sichuan chef Huang Jinglin, who was highly appreciated by Empress Dowager Cixi, in the Qing Imperial Kitchen. When Huang Jinglin was a chef, many people disparaged Sichuan cuisine as being ’only about spiciness, coarse and plain.’ To dispel this rumor and prove otherwise, he pondered for a long ti and after nurous trials, he finally pioneered the creation of ’Boiled Cabbage,’ a supre dish that brought the complex and the simple to their utmost elegance, clearing a century of grievances against Sichuan cuisine. Later, Huang Jinglin took the thod of this dish back to Sichuan, and it beca widely popular. In 1954, Sichuan master chef Luo Guorong was transferred to Beijing, appointed as the head chef of Beijing Restaurant, in charge of national banquets. He brought the cooking technique of ’Boiled Cabbage’ to Beijing, thereby making it a delicacy on high-end banquets at Beijing Restaurant."
"And this dish, though it sounds simple, fully showcases the stellar skill in soup-making."
"Boiled water is actually crystal-clear chicken broth. This broth requires using old hens, old ducks, ham, pork ribs, and dried scallops, each separately boiled in a pot, with added cooking wine, green onions, garlic, and other seasonings, simred for at least four hours. Then the chicken breast at is minced to mush, mixed with fresh broth to form a slurry, and poured into the pot to adsorb impurities. After repeating this process two or three tis, the originally slightly turbid broth turns as clear and pure as boiling water, with a rich fragrance, not oily or greasy, and refreshingly delightful."
"And for the cabbage, those almost-ripe Chinese cabbages should be selected, using only the yellow, tender hearts, slightly blanched and then cooled in clear water..."
Old Qin evidently knew this dish very well and was explaining it to everyone in detail.
Jiang Mingtao laughed and said, "Boss Huang is picking famous dishes to cook today!"
Huang Tao smiled and began making Boiled Cabbage.
The kitchen had ready-made clear chicken broth, which was brought over from Old Street, clear and just right in flavor since yesterday.
Therefore, making Boiled Cabbage was relatively easy for Huang Tao.
Just needed to arrange the cabbage, heat the chicken broth, and pour it over.
Quite simple.
Simple enough that no seasoning was needed.
Because this superior broth was made with two chickens, two ducks, two elbows, and one Jinhua Ham.
And this Jinhua Ham contains quite a bit of salt.
So!
The saltiness is sufficient, no need to add extra salt.
Plus, the whole duck in the broth enhances the aroma, the whole chicken adds umami, the elbow makes the broth richer, and combined with the umami and saltiness from Jinhua Ham, it results in a perfectly balanced broth.
With the clear broth ready, this dish’s preparation seed simpler to Huang Tao than even making a cold dish.
Huang Tao tore off all the outer leaves of the Chinese cabbage.
He picked up the kitchen knife and trimd the cabbage root evenly, then cut the cabbage in half.
Taking the lower half of the cabbage, he placed it in boiling water sprinkled with salt, blanching it.
This action.
Was to soften the cabbage leaves, preparing them for the next step of trimming.
When the outer leaves beca almost transparent, he scooped them out of the pot and cooled them in cold water.
This way.
The cabbage retains its crisp, tender texture, making it more delicious.
If not cooled in cold water, the cabbage leaves might beco mushy due to their own heat.
Once the cabbage cooled in the basin, he took it out and placed it on the chopping board.
He used a small knife to trim the cabbage stalks into the shape of lotus petals.
Watching him wield the kitchen knife, slicing a thin piece off the cabbage surface less than three centiters, at the right mont, he skillfully retracted the knife, applying slight pressure with his fingers, changing direction, and cutting diagonally.
With two cuts.
The outer layer of the cabbage gradually peeled off, looking like a lotus petal.
The lotus petal was translucent with so water droplets on it, resembling glowing white jade, gently peeled off, smooth in texture, thin as a cicada’s wings, even showing clear veins.
With his nimble wrist movents, one lotus petal after another appeared.
The knife blade shone with a cold light, seemingly one with him.
Wherever his gaze locked, the knife blade landed precisely, without a trace of deviation.
In just a few seconds, the outer layer of lotus petals on the cabbage was carved.
Next, he used a smaller knife to carve the shape of flower stans.
The heart of the cabbage was more delicate, requiring utmost care in carving.
Huang Tao’s hand, holding the knife, was steady and experienced, with a gentle movent, carefully removing the excess, leaving only the essence.
Despite the higher carving demand for the stans, under the system’s experience, Huang Tao managed to carve the stan prototype in just a minute.
For better effect, when trimming the innermost cabbage core, he placed a red goji berry inside.
This way, when the clear broth is poured over later, with the light yellow cabbage and a sudden red goji berry in the middle, the appearance would instantly beco stunning.
The carving technique left everyone present in awe.
Jiang Mingtao couldn’t help but praise, "Tsk tsk tsk, this technique for cutting the cabbage into flower shapes is amazing!"
"Indeed!"
Old Qian humbly admitted, "Although I’ve been a head chef for over a decade, in terms of this knife technique, I still fall short of Boss Huang!"
Old Qin didn’t speak, but the admiration on his face said it all.
Of course.
Regarding this knife technique of Huang Tao’s, he could manage it too, but in terms of speed, he would undoubtedly be outmatched by Huang Tao.
Little Xuanxuan, hearing everyone praise her dad, couldn’t help but show a happy smile.
She also felt proud to have such a dad.
Ye Wen watched Huang Tao the entire ti with a face of infatuation, worshipfully admiring him to the extre!
Huang Tao wasn’t affected at all, continuing steadily and surely to make the final cut.
After preparing the entire cabbage, he placed it in a shallow white porcelain basin.
Next.
He poured the clear chicken broth brought from Old Street into the kettle, placed it on the stove to heat.
No need to boil it.
Because if the broth boils, it will turn cloudy, so heating it to eighty or ninety degrees is sufficient.
Plus, since the cabbage was already blanched, it just requires hot enough broth to spread the lotus flower open, without further need for much heating...
Reviews
All reviews (0)