Chapter 38 - The First Lesson
Ch38 – The First Lesson
The two soldiers began to add water in a hurry. One of them, a round-faced soldier, immediately filled the bowl to the brim with a tremble in his hand, diluting the scrambled egg mixture into egg-y water.
“Teacher Ruan... I...” The round-faced soldier looked at him with an upset expression.
“It doesn’t matter, take your time. Change to another bowl,” He said patiently.
“Yes.” The round-faced soldier dejectedly changed to a new bowl and started to beat the eggs from the beginning.
The other one, a darker-skinned soldier, may have learned the lesson of his companion, slowed down the speed when pouring water. According to Ruan Tang’s demonstration just now, he added the water slowly while beating the mixture for about 8 minutes. He then carefully removed the froth from the egg mixture, then put it in the steamer and started steaming it.
After observing his actions, Ruan Tang nodded slightly and secretly gave him a fairly good score. Although he had made a mistake in the beginning, it was a minor one. Afterwards, he was immediately cautious. He had an eye for details and seemed to be quite good.
Soon after, it was time for the inspection. The other eight soldier brothers’ egg custards were finally out of the steamer. Before they added the seasoning, Ruan Tang quickly checked the eight bowls. There were three that were unqualified. One had too much water put in. The egg mixture broke down when it was steamed and it was not formed at all; the other two had eggs that weren’t beaten evenly. There was a large amount of egg whites. Not to mention the taste, even the appearance did not pass muster.
“You three, do it again.” As a teacher, Ruan Tang was still quite strict.
The three soldiers dejectedly joined the re-starting team, and the last five remained in the final steps.
They had learned from Ruan Tang’s demonstration before and added a spoonful of soy sauce and a little bit of chopped green onion. One of the soldiers was unclear regarding the difference between light and dark soy sauce. When he added the dark soy sauce, the egg custard suddenly turned an indescribable color.
Ruan Tang took a spoon and tasted each bowl. The one who added the dark soy sauce, actually steamed the eggs quite well. At this final stage, there was also someone who added in a bit too much salt, it made his throat dry from the saltiness. Finally, only three people’s eggs custards were qualified.
Ruan Tang opened his light brain and brought the list of names of these ten people. He marked the names of these last three.
Wang Jun was the oldest of the three, square-faced and looked particularly upright and trustworthy. At the age of 93, he has been in the military for more than 40 years. Based on the standard life expectancy of 300 years old for people in the Empire, he was actually quite young, and had a steady and careful character. Looking at his information, he held the rank of a lieutenant. He was an officer and Ruan Tang had no idea how he had wormed his way into this cooking lesson. But looking at his eagerness, he must really be interested in cooking.
Xue Rui was 65 years old. He appeared quite bookish with a very refined and gentle air. He appeared to be very smart. Wen Zeyang was the youngest, only in his early forties, baby-faced and looked very lovable but he was also very smart. Their learning ability were both quite good, and their movements during cooking were also flexible, not at all messy.
Ruan Tang was very satisfied with these three people. Later, he could teach them a stir-fried dish, if they learn it well enough, Ruan Tang could prioritize their training. As for the other two that had made mistakes in their seasoning, they would still need careful observation.
At this time, the dark-skinned soldier’s egg custard was done. Upon checking, Ruan Tang saw that the surface was smooth and level. It looked very good. So he nodded and motioned for him to continue on to the next steps.
After he added the soy sauce and chopped green onion, Ruan took a spoon and tasted it. Ruan Tang nodded with satisfaction and marked him on the list as well.
The name of this person is Zhao Guangming. He was aged 52, dark-skinned and with a nimble mind. He had pretty much understood Ruan Tang’s lesson. His minor mistake early on when cracking the eggs could be considered as nothing, so Ruan Tang believed that he could also train this one.
The round-faced soldier’s egg custard was also done. However, it could only be considered as unsatisfactory. There was too little salt and the taste was bland. Ruan Tang gave him a “pending” evaluation.
Other people who had to redo theirs were also finished, but the finished product was still not satisfactory.
“Okay, let’s learn another dish.” Ruan Tang said as he took out a tomato and two eggs. He was obviously going to make scrambled egg with tomatoes. “I will also demonstrate, pay close attention.”
Scrambled egg with tomatoes was one of the most common home-cooked dishes in his past life. It was simple to make and was delicious. It was also an entry-level dish that was very suitable for newcomers.
The first thing to be done was to wash the tomatoes and cut them into small pieces. Next, put the eggs into the bowl and add a small amount of salt and mix well. This step was similar to the previous egg custard. Heat the pan at a low temperature and pour in the appropriate amount of cooking oil. When the oil is hot, pour the egg into the pan and fry until it’s cooked. Scoop it out and set it aside. Pour in a little cooking oil again. This time stir-fry the tomatoes until its juices ooze out, then put the fried eggs back into the pan and stir fry it with the tomatoes. Finally, add the right amount of sugar and salt and it’s finished.
Actually, during his past life, in order to make the tomato flavor more intense, Ruan Tang would add a little tomato sauce. However, the tomatoes that were restored and optimized by the Academy of Sciences was better than those genetically modified tomatoes from the previous Earth. Not only was the taste richer and stronger, but it was also healthier and more nutritious. Therefore, he could omit this step.
After the dish was plated, the golden yellow of the eggs and the red of the tomatoes complemented each other well. The sweet and sour aroma made peoples’ mouths water.
Ruan Tang noticed the eager eyes of these soldiers, and smiled at them and said, “Let’s try it.”
The soldiers immediately swarmed up, brandishing their chopsticks. This tomato scrambled egg was not only bright in color, but also very good in taste. The sour and sweet taste of tomato juice and the rich and smooth eggs make people unable to stop eating. After a while, a plate of tomato scrambled eggs was completely finished off.
“Okay, now you do it,” he said with a grin.
This seemingly simple dish, in fact, had several important points to evaluate. Although scrambled eggs with tomatoes was a hot pan cold oil kind of dish, the scrambled eggs needed more oil so that it would expand more and the texture would become softer and spongier. Then there was the final seasoning of sugar, it needed to be controlled well. A little sugar could neutralize the acidity of the tomatoes and at the same time elevate the taste of the eggs. But if you put in too much, it would become too sweet. In addition, the fire also needed to be controlled. It was necessary to keep stir frying, otherwise it would be very easy to burn it black.
These soldiers moved very quickly. It may be because they’ve been exposed to the use of cold weapons, but their use of the kitchen knife was quite skillful. No matter their cooking skill level, at least their cutting of the tomatoes were very neat and imposing. It seems that even if some soldiers weren’t good at cooking, they could still do the prep work.
Surprisingly, Zhao Guangming was the fastest one among these people. He had a strong learning ability. He had already cut tomatoes, beaten eggs, and had started to fry the scramble eggs. Wang Jun, Xue Rui and Wen Zeyang also performed well. They were all slow but steady, and they had grasped the details from the demonstration that he’d done.
On the other hand, the others were having problems one after the other. The round faced soldier hadn’t wiped the water from the pan before putting in the oil. After the oil had heated up, there were a constant explosions of oil. Fortunately, genetically modified people weren’t very afraid of getting burned, so he continued on without any thought. However, the oil temperature when he poured in the eggs was too hot. Not only did the eggs turn tough, but there were burned patches as well. When he hurried to get the eggs out, the eggs had already been scorched black.
Ruan Tang shook his head helplessly and gave him the important points when making scrambled eggs. He then let him try again from the beginning.
Others also had problems with controlling the oil temperature. The burned smell continued to waft about nonstop. Ruan Tang could only make them redo their dishes.
The only ones who were able to complete their dishes in one go were still Zhao Guangming, Wang Jun, Xue Rui and Wen Zeyang.
Zhao Guangming had a good memory and could basically copy every step of Ruan Tang’s demonstration. Apart from adding a bit too much sugar, there were no other major problems. Wang Jun’s character was steadier, he did thing in a neither fast nor slow manner. But he had been a bit slow in taking the scrambled eggs out of the pan and the texture of the egg became a bit tough. However, he had grasped the other details well. Among the four, his dish had the best taste. In the end, Ruan Tang couldn’t tell whether he had done a good job or not.
Xue Rui and Wen Zeyang’s performance was also very good. Whether in terms of appearance or taste both of their dishes were above average.
Ruan Tang believed that all four of them have some cooking talent, and he was ready to focus on training them. Ruan Tang had a naturally favorable impression of these soldiers who were loyal, upright and had chosen to defend their country. These were all veterans who have been enlisted for many years, and He Yun Chen had chosen them, so he needn’t worry about any apprentices having any ulterior motives.
At this moment, clear footsteps could be heard coming and a tall and straight figure then appeared in the doorway.
“Marshal!” When they saw the marshal, all the soldiers hurriedly stopped what they were doing to salute him. Their uniform movement was very powerful.
However, the round-faced soldier who was redoing his scrambled eggs, had been very tense. When he noticed the sudden appearance of the marshal, he had used too much strength in his nervous state. When he put down the pan, the scrambled eggs actually flew out and as luck would have it, was headed straight for He Yun Chen.
He Yun Chen had already walked in at this time and when he saw an unknown object flying straight to his face, he responded very quickly. He picked up a plate on the table and caught the scrambled egg.
This scene is a bit funny, and Ruan Tang couldn’t help but laugh. He looked towards He Yun Chen, smiled and said: “Marshal He is really powerful. This defensive level could land you in the World Cup!”
The tip of He Yun Chen’s ears suddenly turned hot when he heard Ruan Tang’s compliment. And then he wondered, “What cup?”