Liu Yunong has many years of experience in the industry.
Having seen and handled a variety of matters in the restaurant, she quickly came up with the best solution after hearing about the situation from Fu Yu.
Fu Yu hung up the phone and hurriedly relayed the situation to Zhao Meng.
Zhao Meng felt relieved after listening.
He had just contacted Yao Shi, and the music restaurant did not have fried pigskin.
With this being the main ingredient, there are very few dishes that can be cooked with it, so few kitchens would specially prepare it.
Although the issue was resolved, Zhao Meng was still a bit concerned.
The fried pigskin is dried after frying, and it needs to be soaked before cooking.
How long does it take to soak the dry pigskin until it’s soft?
It must take several hours, right?
While they can wait, the crucial point is that the customers surely won’t have the patience.
So, Zhao Meng directly asked, "Didn’t your master tell you how to soak the fried pigskin? There’s not enough time!"
Fu Yu, having received some cooking instructions from Liu Yunong, knew what to do, and felt confident!
To make 桂花皮炸 (Osmanthus Skin Fried) pigskin, it is first fried, then dried, soaked, and cooked.
If you soak it normally, it definitely won’t absorb water in just a few hours.
However, Liu Yunong taught him a trick to quickly soak the pigskin.
Considering it takes at least half an hour to rush from Shangshi Private Kitchen to Qianlima, Liu Yunong made it clear on the phone that she would have someone start soaking the pigskin in advance and send it to Qianlima, so no time would be wasted and the final serving wouldn’t be delayed.
Thinking of this, Fu Yu repeated Liu Yunong’s words verbatim to Zhao Meng: "My master said, you can directly use cold water to soak it during the traveling time. Once it arrives, just process it a bit, and it can be cooked."
After hearing this, Zhao Meng couldn’t help but sigh, "Your master is truly attentive to you..."
The Liu Family has a big business, and notable people are always busy.
Fu Yu made a call for help, and Liu Yunong genuinely went out of her way to assist.
It shows she’s genuinely treating Fu Yu as a favored apprentice.
With Fu Yu doing well under Liu Yunong, Zhao Meng felt somewhat reassured.
Though he never said it, Zhao Meng always worried about Fu Yu’s past experiences in Shangshi Private Kitchen.
Being entrusted by Liu Yunong to oversee the branch indicates the two chefs in the back kitchen are quite skilled.
The more capable the person, the more challenging they might be to get along with.
Though Fu Yu has a good personality and is quite adept, who can guarantee that everyone loves him?
Regarding matters at Shangshi Private Kitchen, Zhao Meng refrained from asking more.
After all, it involves the secret recipe of Liu Family Cuisine.
Zhao Meng knew Fu Yu was sincere with him, so he tried even more to avoid suspicion.
He originally had no intention of secretly learning the techniques, so he avoided suspicion as much as possible.
He avoided asking what he shouldn’t know or inquiring where he shouldn’t.
Still, despite not asking, Zhao Meng was somewhat uneasy inside.
He feared that Fu Yu, habitually only reporting good news, might have suffered grievances outside but would be unwilling to say so upon returning.
Now seeing Fu Yu really getting along well with the new master, his anxious heart was finally at ease.
People often treat differently based on whom they’re dealing with. Now that Fu Yu gained Liu Yunong’s favor, it’s expected that folks at Shangshi Private Kitchen wouldn’t dare look down on him.
Even if there are some petty-minded individuals, Fu Yu has strong backing and probably doesn’t need to worry.
Feeling reassured, Zhao Meng’s speech also became slower: "That’s good. While waiting for the ingredients to arrive, let’s quickly prepare other dishes first."
Fu Yu replied affirmatively and began preparing Stewed Silver Carp Head.
That Elder Tang, with a fortunate-looking face, truly has a good taste.
His words were quite reasonable.
Using simple ingredients in refined ways, although the ingredients used in cooking aren’t particularly exquisite, it is precisely because of this that the chef puts in more effort, sparing no thought to make the ingredients uniquely delicious.
And when eating fish, the emphasis is on having the freshest meat.
This fresh meat is the most tender part of the fish, called the crescent meat.
Crescent meat is the red and white part next to the fish’s gills with a certain curvature, resembling a crescent moon, and is notably tender to eat.
Those who know how to eat fish often aim their first bite at this spot.
And Stewed Silver Carp Head is indeed a specialty dish at Qianlima.
Using silver carp head as the main ingredient, it is mainly cooked as a stew, with a salty and savory flavor.
The skin is glutinous and sticky, fish meat is tender, broth thick and flavorful, rich in nutrition.
Especially since Bei’an is by the river, the fish used for this dish are largehead carp from near the river, with large heads, abundant meat, tender and delicious.
Now it’s winter, right after the light snow, the quality of the snowflake carp is even better.
Clearly, this Elder Tang is also knowledgeable and particular about eating.
Fu Yu grabbed the prepared green onions, cutting some into sections and tying some into knots.
He washed clean the hearts of the rapeseed plants, shaping the heads into olive shapes.
He sliced the cooked ham.
Since it was to be stewed, the ham slices shouldn’t be too thin, and the thickness should be judged based on experience.
This was very easy for Fu Yu to handle.
He cleaned, cooked, and sliced the chicken meat and gizzards.
Spring bamboo shoots, ginger, and shiitake mushrooms were sliced separately.
He split the fish head into two halves, removed the gills, washed it, and placed it in a pot, submerged in water, cooking it over high heat until the fish meat separated from the bones, then took it out to remove the bones.
While the fish head was cooking, Fu Yu started preparing the ingredients for 桂花皮炸 (Osmanthus Skin Fried).