"However, we do use this dish as a regular practice assignment for our apprentices."
Fu Yu understood immediately.
After all, making Silver Sprout Stuffed Meat is more a test of patience than of culinary skill.
The tiny, fragile bean sprouts can easily break with the slightest pressure. A single dish requires stuffing at least a hundred sprouts, and without patience, it’s impossible to rely on skill alone.
All stuffed dishes were demonstrated once.
Liu Yunong advised, "For delicate dishes like Shrimp-Stuffed Oranges, the focus is on the filling. In some stuffed dishes, the ’stuffing’ process is where chefs showcase their skills."
Fu Yu nodded with full understanding.
Take Silver Sprout Stuffed Meat, for example; the technique really tests a chef’s skill and patience.
Liu Yunong spoke while reaching for the ingredients prepared on the rack: "For instance, now I’m going to make this Good Desire Soup."
Fu Yu was a bit surprised: "What? Good Desire Soup?"
The name of this soup seemed somewhat familiar?
Liu Yunong laughed: "What, have you heard of it before?"
Fu Yu felt he had heard the name of this soup somewhere before but couldn’t recall immediately.
Liu Yunong reminded him: "You should have read the novel, right? There’s a description about Good Desire Soup in it."
Fu Yu realized with amazement: "So this dish actually comes from a novel?"
Liu Yunong shook her head with a smile: "Not exactly. This dish was originally called Stuffed Cherries. But for a stuffed dish banquet, since it’s considered a full course, there should be both dishes and soup. So later, my father, inspired by the novel’s description, innovatively created this Good Desire Soup, which is akin yet different from the novel."
Ah, so that’s it!
Truly remarkable that Lady Liu’s descendants could innovate a new soup based on a novel’s description.
Liu Yunong sorted the ingredients while instructing Fu Yu: "For example, bamboo shoots are out of season now, so we can only buy the processed kind from the market that can be stored long-term. However, in cooking, it doesn’t really affect the texture much."
Fu Yu nodded understandingly.
At Qianlima, the bamboo shoots used this season are of the same kind. In general cooking, the difference is barely noticeable unless it’s a simple stir-fry.
"One bamboo shoot tip is enough. As for fresh flowers, choose those with unopened buds for tender petals."
"For the meat filling, use chicken wing meat for a better texture."
"Since cherries are too small for making Good Desire Soup, where the pit needs to be removed and meat filling inserted, which is too difficult, the restaurant replaces them with cherries instead."
Fu Yu looked at the row of bright red, gleaming cherries, as exquisite as garnet stones.
Even though they’re replaced with cherries, stuffing them with meat filling must still be challenging, right?
Liu Yunong introduced the ingredients needed for cooking Good Desire Soup, then handed over cleaned cherries to Fu Yu: "Here, help me remove the pits, be careful not to tear the skin."
Fu Yu carefully used a straw to remove the pits from each cherry.
Liu Yunong said softly: "Tasks like this, we have to do ourselves. Letting a minor worker do it really wastes time."
As a head chef himself, Fu Yu fully agreed.
In Qianlima’s kitchen, it’s the same; for delicate work like this, it’s better to do it ourselves rather than let a minor worker handle it.
Partly because of trust issues, and partly because it wastes time.
In the time it takes to pit a few cherries, a lot of prep work could be done.
Once used to it, pitting cherries is fairly straightforward; the hardest part is stuffing them with meat filling.
Fu Yu attempted it three times in total.
The first time, unable to control his strength, he ruined the cherry by stuffing it roughly so it lost its shape.
Liu Yunong glanced and advised: "When stuffing, use a subtle strength with your fingertip, like this, turning as you stuff."
She demonstrated, and Fu Yu watched carefully, nodding.
The second attempt was well-controlled in terms of force but the angle wasn’t right, accidentally causing a crack, and when the meat filling was inserted, the cherry split open.
Liu Yunong saw and consoled him with a smile: "Don’t rush. The hardest part of this dish is stuffing the meat. I practiced with several bowls of cherries before getting it right. You’ve just started, so... "
Before she could finish comforting him, she saw Fu Yu successfully stuffing the meat into the cherry on this third try; the meat filling was plentiful, yet the cherry remained intact and looked as fresh as new.
Liu Yunong pleasantly surprised, praised: "See, you succeeded this time! Let me tell you, making this dish really tests patience, and you’re already impressive. I wasted several bowls of cherries before barely succeeding with one, yet you’re on your third try and..."
No, it was the fourth...
While Liu Yunong spoke, Fu Yu had smoothly finished stuffing another cherry.
Soon, he completed the fifth...
The sixth...
The seventh...
...
Fu Yu, already skilled in stuffing, now gained mastery in culinary crafting.
With these two handy and practical skills, learning to cook stuffed dishes wasn’t especially challenging.
Fu Yu lacked not skill but operational experience.
However, proficiency breeds expertise.
Stuffing meat into cherries indeed is difficult, not only ensuring enough filling but also keeping the delicate cherry skin unharmed.
Initially, judging the force was truly challenging.
While stuffing meat, fingertips need to gently press the cherries to help the filling go in smoothly.
But controlling such subtle force is easier thought than done.
If careless, the tender cherry might break.
Particularly, maintaining the original shape makes it even tougher to handle.
With skills in hand, these operations weren’t such a big deal, and he became more adept and faster with practice.
Liu Yunong, astonished, watched Fu Yu get better and better at stuffing cherries.
She fell into silence.
Then she also picked up a cherry and began to fill it.
One...
Two...
An unspoken competitive spirit spread between them.
Scooping equal amounts of meat filling, using a small dumpling spatula to fill the cherries, and skillfully rotating them with fingertips to ensure the filling went in smoothly without damaging or deforming the cherries in hand.
The entire process was slow, requiring not only focus but also a steady hand with meticulous operation.
Fu Yu made stuffed cherries while periodically observing Liu Yunong’s technique.
Their speeds were quite similar, almost managing a cherry each in turns.
Initially, Fu Yu didn’t think much of it, but as time went by, he started paying more attention to Liu Yunong’s speed.
And he began unconsciously comparing their stuffed cherries.
By careful observation, Fu Yu noticed how steady Liu Yunong’s hands were!
After finishing the stuffed cherries, Liu Yunong started cooking Good Desire Soup.
First, she sautéed the chicken pieces in oil, then added water and bamboo shoots to simmer them.
Once the water boiled, she added a hint of cooking wine, then the cherries, simmering for another 10 minutes before adding lettuce and flowers.
While cooking, Liu Yunong didn’t forget to guide Fu Yu: "This soup requires a short simmer time, or the color won’t look good. The flowers should be added last since they mainly serve as a color enhancer, so they shouldn’t be boiled for too long."
Once done simmering, as they plated the dish, Liu Yunong gestured for Fu Yu to watch closely.
First lay down a few slices of chicken, then a base of bamboo shoots, followed by about 10 cherries, and finally add a few pieces of lettuce with small flowers as garnish.
Liu Yunong instructed: "Follow this sequence to bring out the red, white, and green colors for an especially vibrant presentation."
Fu Yu acknowledged with a nod: "I’ve got it."