Chapter 128 - Hitting The Nail
Chapter 128 Hitting The Nail
The green onions were cut and softened in the boiling water. After changing into a carving knife, the carrot was cut into the shape of a small and cute flower.
“After boiling the green onions, it will be soft enough to be used for plating. It will also remove the sticky texture and smell inside.”
The flower had a green stem as it stood tall. Just like that, a dish of sweet, soft and fragrant Snowflake Peach Paste was ready. Xu Le carried it out and placed it on the table.
Alex turned around to pick at the sweet garlic in the jar and commented, “This garlic isn’t sweet enough. Why don’t you add more sugar in it when you marinate?”
“You…”
Zhang Liang almost laughed out loud at his self-righteous attitude. He snorted and ignored him, as Alex continued eating the garlic.
When he noticed Xu Le, he quickly raised his hand and said, “We are all waiting for you to start eating. We didn’t even move our chopsticks and kept eating the side dishes. Quickly come and take a seat… Eh?”
At the end of his sentence, she finally saw the dish on the table. He was so shocked that his pitch even changed. “Snowflake peach paste? Did you make it for me?!”
“Try it and see if it tastes authentic enough.”
Alex was obviously looking forward to it, but he hugged his arms and leaned back. “I won’t blame you if the taste isn’t good enough. After all, the little Master Chef only learned to prepare this at the last minute. You…”
“Let’s eat.”
Zhang Liang interrupted him. He had a puzzled expression, just like everyone present who were doubtful. Alex loved to nitpick so much, he was practically the reincarnation of an argumentative person. How was he still able to become the editor-in-chief of a trending magazine? Furthermore, he was able to convince the production team to join him in making things difficult for Xu Le.
After Bai Xiaoming served the last batch of customers outside, he came in to wash his hands and said, “The dishes are all sold out today. Look, what’s this?”
As he spoke, he waved a thick stack of baht in front of them and said, “Tomorrow, I shall bring you out to eat.”
Zhou Huangya brought him a bowl of rice and said, “We’ll talk about tomorrow’s matter tomorrow. Here’s the stir-fried beef that you ordered, quickly try it. It’ll definitely be a good match with rice.”
Just from looking at the green coriander, one could tell that this dish was definitely delicious.
Bai Xiaoming eagerly picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks and placed it into his mouth. The beef was crisp, tender, and smooth. With a light bite, the fresh fragrance immediately overflowed. The aftertaste, along with a slight spiciness, stimulated his taste buds. He hungrily sucked in the rice and praised, “How authentic!”
Alex hadn’t seen this store manager produce any shocking dishes that day. Hearing his comment, Alex dissed habitually, “What kind of authentic are you referring to?”
Bai Xiaoming paused for a moment before saying with a smile, “The beef itself has a relatively old texture. Usually, it will be stewed until it melts in the mouth, so that it is loose and soft. Otherwise, it can be stir-fried to evaporate all the moisture, so that it tastes crispy and chewy, or it can be stir-fried in such a way that the beef is tender and fragrant. Combined with the fragrance of coriander, the taste produced will be the most authentic!”
Xu Le nodded and said, “Although stir-fried beef is a home-cooked dish, you can’t miss a single detail when marinating it or controlling the heat. Otherwise, it will be very easy for it to taste hard.”
Alex rolled his eyes indignantly and changed the topic. He pointed at the garlic chicken wing and said, “This is a dish made from black garlic? Is it edible?”
Xu Le said nonchalantly, “You’ll know once you try it. During the cooking process, the taste of the black garlic will dissipate. In the end, only the fragrance of the garlic remains.” “If you eat too much garlic, your mouth will taste bad.”
Alex started nitpicking again. His chopsticks began to move as he picked up a chicken wing and placed it in his bowl, carefully removing the garlic skin.
Xu Le said, “There’s mouthwash over there. You can go brush your teeth, but I found a way to remove the garlic taste in your mouth recently.” “Hmm?”
Bai Xiaoming leaned over, his face full of curiosity.
“The method is to hold coconut oil in your mouth for 10 minutes before rinsing your mouth. After rinsing your mouth with warm water, you can remove the greasy feeling in your mouth. This way, there won’t be any taste at all.”
“Coconut oil?” Alex raised his eyebrows. “Coconut oil is not worth anything in my local town. Yet it has such an effect? I don’t believe
it.”
No one paid any attention to him.
Zhou Huangya’s eyes were filled with the hibiscus chicken slices that she had ordered. The chicken slices on the plate were as white as jade and melted in her mouth. The taste was very light and it tasted smooth and tender. She opened her eyes wide and nodded repeatedly. “It tastes awesome. The one I ate at that five-star restaurant last time wasn’t as tender as yours!”
“Do you have any secret tips to making this dish? I feel that the steps are no different from the teachings on the Internet. But when I tried to make it at home, it just tastes like egg white stir-fried with onions and ginger.”
“Ultimately, the dishes that are served at the national banquet are mainly focused on the heat and the temperature of the oil. When I poured the gravy into the pan just now, I flipped the pan backwards. When the oil is hot enough, I just need to flip it a few times. The frying must ensure that the meat is tender enough, or it won’t taste right if it is overcooked.” “Flip backwards?” Zhou Huangya stuffed a few more mouthfuls into her mouth and thought about it carefully. Xu Le had indeed used the backward flipping method to cook just now, but it seemed to be very taxing. She casually asked, “Can’t you flip forward?”
“The back flip can prevent the gravy from splashing on your face. There’s no other reason for that.”
“Oh, I see.”
After Zhou Huangya cleared most of the food on her plate, she turned her attention to the Snowflake Peach Paste, feeling slightly embarrassed. After taking a bite, she frowned and put down her chopsticks. “Is this dessert?”
“Yeah, isn’t it delicious?”
Zhou Huangya shook her head. “Not really, I can’t describe it.”
Alex took a bite of the chicken wing. The crispy and fragrant chicken skin, the tender and juicy chicken meat, and the spicy and garlic flavor rushed into his mouth. It was an indescribable delicacy.
He didn’t mind being shamed in the face and immediately took a few more bites. After he finished chewing the bones, he said excitedly, “I didn’t expect black garlic to be so delicious. Look, your sweet garlic has completely lost to it!”
He was obviously trying to instigate a fight. Zhang Liang, who was currently lowering his head to eat the vinegar cabbage, choked. Then, he replied with a high EQ, “That’s right. That’s why I’m eating the vinegar cabbage that I made. Otherwise, if it was the only dish left, it would make me lose face.”
Xu Le frowned slightly. For the first time, he felt a little disgusted by Alex. He said, “The vinegar cabbage was cooked over perfect heat control. It’s light and not greasy, and the garlic is sufficiently marinated. It’s sweet, crispy, and not spicy. You’re not a professional food taste, so stop singing high praises for one dish and criticizing another.”
He smiled and said the second half of his sentence jokingly.
Unexpectedly, Alex seemed to have been hit in the heart. His face turned pale, and everyone looked at each other in shock.
It was halfway through the meal, and all the plates were almost empty except for the snowflake peach paste.
Bai Xiaoming was arranging the schedule for the next day, and everyone was talking excitedly about where they were going to go. Whereas Alex stood up and left quietly.
Xu Le’s unintentional comment caused a knot to form in his heart. He quietly followed Alex. Alex was sitting by the flower bed in the backyard. When he heard the footsteps, he did not look up.
“You…”