> > Strange World Little Cooking Saint – Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Smelly Tofu (3)
Welcome back, dear reader. We are glad to have you reading with us at prosperous food dot com today.
On the day of the grand opening, Xiao Qi and Lao Er returned from training in the Lin family mansion. They may have trained only for a few days, but their aura had changed. Xiao Qi becomes more excited and refreshed, while Lao Er looks very tired and poor.
The Lin family clan training regimen is brutal on the body. Lao Er is a 12-13 years old teenager and does not have any spiritual attributes. Therefore the training is a form of torture and hell for him.
Shiyu had been waiting to see if Lao Er will give up.
Because the most disheartening thing about this is not the aches and pains you experience all over your body in completing the training regime. Rather it the pain of knowing that despite all your hard work, you could not make any progress in your cultivation. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
But Lao Er did not complain about the harsh training nor was he willing to give up.
Seeing this, Shiyu decided not to say anything and see how determined Lao Er is! If she can, maybe she could find another fire seed for Lao Er.
Shiyu turned her attention towards the restaurant. The restaurant is newly opened, and she needs to have a speciality. Then what type of dish could immediately attract the customers?
The smell of wine is not scared of the length of the street. If you could increase the scent of the wine, you could fill the entire city with that scent. It is the same for a dish.
Shiyu thought of a few dishes that are very nice smelling. Her dishes may smell nice, so will her competitors. This is not unique enough.
Since nice smell is too common, then let's focus on bad smell.
There are many foul-smelling foods. But the most simple and easiest to make is still the smelly bean curd. The cost of making this is also low. This is a very good start for a newly opened restaurant.
After preparing for a few days, the restaurant "Heavenly Fragrance" was opened for business. Shiyu did not want to trouble herself in the dining area, and allowed Grandpa and her siblings to serve the guest. As for her, she would hide in the kitchen and prepare the new dish, smelly tofu.
Xiao Qi pinched her nose as she placed the tofu on the counter. Her eyes looked disgusted as she asked, "Can this really be eaten?"
Shiyu just pinched her nose, "Later I guarantee that you will find it so tasty that you would also swallow your tongue." Then she asked Xiao Wu to watch her cook so that he can learn it.
Shiyu had noticed that Xiao Wu love to eat. He had a talent for cooking as well. She was delighted and decided to teach Xiao Wu her cooking skills.
"En." Xiao Wu nodded his head.
The oil in the wok in front of them is already hot and sizzling. Shiyu cuts the tofu into small slices and slides them into the wok. As soon as the tofu enters the oil, the oil bubbles and sizzles. In a short while, the tofu becomes golden brown. At the same time, the unique scent of the tofu also explode outwards and spread.
First, the smell made the entire kitchen stinks. Then it flows out to the restaurant and onto the streets.
"What smell is this?" the people passing by this street could not help sniffing around and wondering what the smell is.
"It seemed to drift out from this restaurant." Someone exclaimed.
"Oh, I like this smell. It smells good to me…." Someone took a large sniff and wondered, "I don't know what food is this, but it smells good!"
Then under the stares and weird looks that other passersby gave him, he headed into the restaurant.
In the restaurant, Shiyu passed the plate of tofu around, and explained, "Do not judge it by its looks or smell. It tastes good."
Smelly Tofu does not require a lot of skills. The majority of the preparation involved fermenting the tofu in milk or brine shrimp mixture. This will create a chemical reaction that causes the tofu to smell bad. Then all she needs to do is to cut and fry them.
Xiao Wu looked at the tofu pieces on the plate, and did not care if it is still hot. He used his fingers to grab a piece and put it into his mouth. Then the sour and sweet taste seemed to envelop his tongue.
Once it is inside the mouth, the tofu is no longer smelly, but taste good.
"How?" Xiao Liu and Xiao Qui looked at him and asked.
"Try it for yourself and you know." Xiao Wu immediately grabbed another piece.
Just watching Xiao Wu eats mean that this is very tasty.
Shiyu stand at one side and watch them eat. Then she taught them how to pair the ingredients
Idiom:
人要衣裳马要鞍，
客人总会觉得价更值些。
Men wear clothes, horse wear saddles,
if you make your dishes look good,
The guest will feel it worth their money
At this time, Lin Fan arrived. He brought some of the chefs from the Lin Family clan. This is part of the agreement. These chefs would work in the "Heavenly Fragrance" restaurant. Shiyu could not handle the workload by herself. Therefore, these chefs will be in charge of ordinary dishes, while the specialities of this restaurant will be left to Shiyu.
"The signature dish of this restaurant will be this smelly tofu?" the chefs asked.
They looked down on this girl. She is too young and is also a woman. Women are physically weaker than man, and could not lift up the heavy wok. How could they cook? Therefore, when Lin Fan requested them to come over to work, they come here with a bad attitude, hoping to laugh at the female chef.
They want to see how long a frail girl like Shiyu could last as a chef.
"Of course not." Shiyu smiled. She had guessed their attitude, "The smelly tofu is just a small snack. Our main speciality dish is not this."
Since it is speciality dish, she had to take out something good. It is coincident that she had mastered a wide variety of dishes. From the black bean fish head, Mapo tofu, Kung Pao chicken, Fish Flavoured Pork Strips, etc.
Just one of these dishes is enough to fill the restaurant. Shiyu does not intend to display all her cards at one time.
She wanted to slowly release one dish at a time. Once Xiao Wu had mastered how to cook that dish, she will teach Xiao Wu a new recipe.
"Then can we asked what is the speciality of this restaurant?" That chef inquired.
But Shiyu did not answer this and said, "You are all chefs that Lin Fan had invited. First, show me your best dishes. If it tastes good, you may stay."
The chefs were unhappy, "3rd young master asked us to help out. Only he can decide if we stay or leave."
"Then you are telling me that I cannot decide what you do?" Shiyu frowned, "Then please leave! I do want to pay 10 taels of silver a month to keep someone in my restaurant who does not listen to me."
The chefs wanted to leave. But when they heard 10 taels of silver, they became rooted to the spot.
10 taels of silver?
Heavens! Right now, they could only earn 1 tael of silver a month. If they could work here, this is an increase of 10 times their monthly salary! Only idiots will leave.
"What you said is true?" the chefs felt that their lips are dry.
"Of course." Shiyu clapped, and Lao Er carried a tray over. The cloth was lift and the taels of silver appeared before the chefs……
Thank you for reading this chapter from prosperous food translations.
P.S. Read the recipe below if you can, it is hilarious!
DisclaimerThe works translated here are works of fans of the novels, and are not in anyway associated with the authors of the novels, Qidian and Qidian International. Readers are encouraged to support the author of the novels using the links in the novel page.
All translated works are the works of Prosperousfood.com Copyright (c) 2018 - Prosperous Food. All Rights Reserved
[Total: 0 Average: 0/5]