"He became famous because of it, but he was also trapped by it. When I was around, he assisted me at Huang Ji, and the regulars would come for my skills, but they also wanted to try Huang Jia’s skills. But when I’m not there, without the main hand, an imitator with subpar skills isn’t enough to draw many customers, and Huang Ji’s business just can’t hold up."
"This is Huang Jia’s predicament, and it’s something that bothers him. He’s been contemplating how to break free from my shadow as his mentor, how to stop imitating and create his own dishes."
"This is actually the dilemma for most famous chefs’ apprentices. If they were ordinary apprentices, I would definitely tell them that it’s wrong to cook solely by imitation."
Qin Huai felt there was more to what Huang Shengli was saying.
"But, you’re different," Huang Shengli said, "Do you think Zheng Siyuan’s snacks are like those of Zheng Da?"
"Yes," Qin Huai confidently replied. More than just similar; one bite and you can tell they come from the same lineage, crafted by father and son.
When the father and son stood together making snacks, it was like copy-pasting; their techniques and movements were almost identical.
"Then do you think Siyuan’s snacks are imitating Zheng Da?"
Qin Huai found this question a bit tricky.
Indeed, Zheng Da’s skills were better than Zheng Siyuan’s, and their snack styles, methods, and school of thought were the same, but to say it was imitation wasn’t accurate.
Zheng Siyuan was a snack chef with a distinct personal style.
His strengths and weaknesses in making snacks were very clear, and if you ate one of the snacks he excelled at a few times, the next time you took a bite of one, you could immediately tell it was made by Zheng Siyuan.
"For ordinary chefs, imitation is a threshold that binds them. But for chefs like you and Siyuan, imitation is a way to swiftly master things."
"Such a common bottleneck simply won’t bind you two. I guess Xiao Qin, you asked me this because you didn’t imitate the Crab Dumplings well." Huang Shengli chuckled.
Qin Huai lowered his head in embarrassment; Huang Shengli was being too polite, not only had he not imitated it well, it was downright disastrous.
"Don’t fret; it’s not your problem. It’s purely because Zheng Da can’t teach." Huang Shengli glanced at Zheng Da, who was still engrossed in watching videos, "He has the heart to be a mentor, but not the ability to do it well. You haven’t even learned to walk steadily, and he wants to take you flying; it’s too much of a leap."
"Follow me to get familiar with trial dishes for a couple of days, build connections with the ingredients, then season and make Crab Dumplings. For the next two days, don’t make Crab Dumplings, just handle ingredients as an assistant."
Qin Huai certainly didn’t mind handling ingredients, as long as Huang Ji didn’t mind, he could do anything.
"Then what about the processed ingredients?" Qin Huai wondered if Huang Ji actually needed that much minced shrimp and crab meat.
"Let Zheng Da make Crab Dumplings, since he’s idle anyway. You can learn while processing and watching; after all, he wants to be a mentor, and a mentor should prepare well in advance." Huang Shengli indicated that having his junior put in some effort was fine, noting that his junior had a strong back and could make snacks.
"Just right, I haven’t had Crab Dumplings continuously for quite a few years, let him make them for a while, and I’ll enjoy some delicious food too."
Your relationship as senior and junior is truly inscrutable.
And so, Qin Huai began living as a commanding snack chef in the morning, and as an instructed prep worker in the afternoon.
Each day, he diligently sorted shrimp, sorted crab, peeled and cleaned shrimp and crab meat, and then minced the shrimp and shredded the crab. Before long, Qin Huai became a ’Crab Man,’ always smelling of crab wherever he went, so much so that the staff at Huang’s Kitchen didn’t even need to look up; they could tell Qin Huai had arrived just by the smell.
This method of training as a prep worker was indeed useful.
Listening to the theories of shrimp and crab meat a thousand times was not as useful as actually peeling shrimp and crab for four or five days.
Practice truly brings insight.
For the staff of Huang’s Kitchen, these past few days were indeed quite magical.
During the morning and lunchtime, nobody could see Zheng Da or Huang Shengli.
Zheng Da was unwilling to get up early unless necessary, and even if he did, he didn’t want to be in the kitchen before noon.
Huang Shengli could get up but didn’t want to come to the kitchen either; in the morning, he’d either be having tea or doing therapy.
These two brothers usually wouldn’t meet in Huang’s Kitchen until around 2 PM.
Then they’d start arguing as soon as they met.
Whoever won the argument would teach.
Though Huang Shengli seemed like a nice, gentle, and patient person, he truly had great argumentative skills and never lost. Every time, it ended with his sweeping victory, leaving Zheng Da utterly defeated.
Zheng Da could only first begrudgingly watch an hour of videos about teaching to learn how to be a qualified teacher, and then begrudgingly make Crab Dumplings.
The scene in the kitchen was exciting, and outside the kitchen, it was equally interesting.
Gong Liang had bought a comfortable chair, no longer sitting on a small bench, bringing it to the kitchen entrance every day to squat and watch the Crab Dumplings being made. Occasionally making a few calls to handle work-related matters, it made passersby wonder if you wealthy capitalists are really that idle?
It’s not just the overbearing CEOs in TV dramas who don’t go to work, aren’t busy with actual jobs, and just focus on falling in love. Even in real life, middle-aged powerful figures don’t go to work, aren’t busy with real jobs, and just focus on watching snacks being made.
Are Crab Dumplings really that delicious?
If you truly don’t have to work, it’s definitely worth watching them being made, as Gong Liang had a home in the nearby complex and had been staying there recently, it’s very close by.