Chapter 1333
Chapter 1333: Crab competition
Liu Tong had gone to pick up Yuan Zhou in the middle of the opening ceremony. Now that he was back, he naturally had to greet the customers and the media reporters.
Liu Tong also knew a little about Yuan Zhou’s character. Moreover, because of his promise, he didn’t introduce Yuan Zhou on purpose and directly blocked those people who wanted to talk to him.
10 minutes passed very quickly. When the auspicious time for the ribbon-cutting arrived, Yuan Zhou went up according to the procedures and told them to cook well. Then, he began to cut the ribbon.
Although Yuan Zhou was young, he maintained a serious look throughout the whole process. As a result, he appeared to have more of a master’s aura than those middle-aged and elderly chefs who came to congratulate.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Liu Tong said a few simple words and then led his people to the main hall, where the opening banquet was still being held.
There was only one table in the main hall, and the rest of the people were in private rooms. Those who could sit in the main hall were naturally famous chefs in the cooking circle, including Liu Tong’s senior brother, Li Minghui.
“Then please take a seat first. I’ll go and personally cook a few dishes and bring them up.” Liu Tong said with a smile.
“Go on, go on. We’ll also take the opportunity to witness Chef Liu’s Lu cuisine.”
“That’s right. I reckon he’s not much worse than Chairman Zhou.”
“That’s right. We can’t eat Chairman Zhou’s Lu cuisine, but it’s already very good to be able to eat Lu cuisine personally cooked by Chef Liu.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Chef Liu, hurry up and go.”
The people present urged him repeatedly, so Liu Tong went to the kitchen.
“Hello, boss Yuan.” As soon as Liu Tong entered the main hall, Li Minghui, who had been standing not far away from Yuan Zhou, went up to greet him after he entered the kitchen.
“Yes.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head.
“I didn’t expect that kid to invite boss Yuan out. Thank you so much, boss Yuan.” Li Minghui said with thanks.
“It won’t affect me for a short time. It’s fine.” Yuan Zhou said.
“That’s good. Otherwise, if our master knew that we have disturbed boss Yuan, he would probably get angry. ” Li Minghui said helplessly.
“I won ‘t,” Yuan Zhou shook his head affirmatively.
“Haha. I know boss Yuan’s rules. I’ll go over now.” Li Minghui was very tactful and left. At the same time, he also took away the other people who came over to say hello.
She directly said that boss Yuan didn’t like to socialize and that if he really had something to report to the chef’s Association.
Just like what Liu Tong had promised, Yuan Zhou was very quiet during the entire banquet. Apart from saying a few words of praise at the beginning of the banquet, the rest of the time was spent eating.
Liu Tong personally went to the kitchen to cook several signature dishes of Lu cuisine. Due to his boasting in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant last time, he only cooked dishes that required a lot of effort this time.
There was the nine-turn large intestine, which was created by the owner of the Jiuhua forest restaurant in Jinan during the early years of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty and was the most popular dish among scholars. There was also the sweet and sour carp from Baokou town, an important town of the Yellow River. There was also the delicious crispy chicken with wine that had spread throughout Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai, and other areas.
The last dish looked extremely simple, but in reality, it was a test of ingenuity, skill, and seasoning. It was the competition crab.
These dishes were the representatives of Lu cuisine. When they were served one by one, the fragrance overflowed and whetted one’s appetite.
“Not bad, this fragrance makes this old man drool.”
“That’s right. This nine-turn large intestine is bright in color and looks soft and fragrant. ”
“This sweet and sour carp isn’t too bad either. The fish body is intact, the shape is beautiful, and the fragrance assails the nose.”
“Smell this crab. It doesn’t have a fishy smell, but it has the deliciousness of a crab.”
As Liu Tong was Zhou Shijie’s favorite disciple and his cooking skills were not bad to begin with, plus the fact that he wanted to show off his skills in front of Yuan Zhou, he put in 120% of his effort in cooking this time.
Therefore, it was rare for these chefs, who were usually unconvinced, to open their mouths and praise.
Yuan Zhou, on the other hand, maintained the same expression from the beginning to the end, solemn and earnest. Of course, he rarely spoke.
This made Liu Tong feel a little frustrated in his heart when he looked at Yuan Zhou inadvertently. However, when he saw Yuan Zhou tasting every dish seriously after the meal started, he became a little nervous again.
However, he calmed down in an instant. He knew that Yuan Zhou didn’t know how to cook Shandong cuisine. He had only talked to his master about it not long ago.
“I’ve been following my master since I was 15 years old. In terms of communication, boss Yuan naturally doesn’t have as many as me. ” Thinking of this, Liu Tong became more confident.
“I’m not as good as you in other aspects, but I’ve never been afraid of anyone when it comes to Lu cuisine. ” Seeing Yuan Zhou eat a mouthful of the crab, Liu Tong said with certainty in his heart.
Liu Tong had obviously forgotten about his master when he said this.
Of course, Yuan Zhou didn’t know what was going on in Liu Tong’s mind. He just took a bite of each dish seriously.
As a person whose five senses were sharper than ordinary people, the moment each dish entered his mouth, the control of the ingredients and fire naturally came to mind.
However, in the banquet, Yuan Zhou didn’t comment on the quality of this dish.
Naturally, the banquet would not end as usual. Everyone still had to drink and chat during the banquet.
This was also called the Chinese drinking culture. But obviously, Yuan Zhou didn’t have the intention to drink with them.
Therefore, when the meal was almost finished and everyone started to drink, Yuan Zhou stood up and directly said goodbye to them and left.
During this period, some people asked him to stay, but they were suppressed by Li Minghui’s words.
As Zhou Shijie’s eldest disciple, Li Minghui’s words were very useful. Moreover, they didn’t really dare to stop Yuan Zhou if he wanted to leave.
After all, Yuan Zhou’s culinary skills had already been known as the best in the three Southwest provinces.
In such a case, all the chefs at the table were a little scared of Yuan Zhou.
Liu Tong personally walked Yuan Zhou to the door and then said,””Thank you so much for today, boss Yuan.”
“You’re welcome,” Yuan Zhou said.
“Do you want me to send boss Yuan back to the restaurant or somewhere else?” Liu Tong said.
“In the shop.” Yuan Zhou said.
“I’m sorry that I can’t send boss Yuan back personally. I’ll apologize to boss Yuan next time. ” Liu Tong said courteously.
“Okay, we’ll talk next time.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and said.
Liu Tong was speechless.
After taking a deep breath, Liu Tong opened the car door for Yuan Zhou personally again and then sent him into the car. After watching the car drive away, he entered the door and went to accompany the guest.
Once Yuan Zhou got into the car, he frowned slightly.
“There’s a problem with this crab. ” Yuan Zhou recalled the taste in his mouth and then simulated the cooking method of the crab in his heart.
Recently, Yuan Zhou had often used the fragrant victory crab provided by the system to practice. Therefore, he knew the taste of crabs like the back of his hand. However, the crab dish today made Yuan Zhou feel that the taste was not right.
In fact, the name of this dish was very simple and easy to understand. It was a dish made with yellow croaker from the Bohai of Shandong as the main ingredient, eggs, and all kinds of seasonings.
Because the fish meat was white like crab meat and the eggs were golden like crab roe, the fish eggs were soft, tender, and fresh like crab meat. They were not crabs, but tasted more like crabs, so they were called crab.
“It seems that Liu Tong’s Lu cuisine is still not as good as uncle Zhou ‘s. Should I tell him directly or uncle Zhou?” Yuan Zhou thought silently in the heart.
“Yes, we can do this.” After thinking for a while, Yuan Zhou had an idea.
……