With guidance from a master, Qin Huai felt his broth-making skills were improving by leaps and bounds.
Of course, he only felt this progress on the first day.
On the second day, he regressed by nine hundred miles.
But a master is still a master.
Compared to Zheng Da’s abstract teaching and his disdain for 99% of pastry chefs’ talents, Huang Shengli’s teaching method was clearly encouraging.
Perhaps years of mentoring had tempered his temperament, or maybe because his rheumatism and back issues kept him away from the front lines, allowing him to enjoy retirement and take things lightly. Even when Qin Huai made great strides and then fell back, Huang Shengli could find encouragement.
"Very good, Xiao Qin, don’t be discouraged."
"Though today’s beef broth is obviously not as good as yesterday’s, that actually elucidates a problem. Think carefully, why is it that with the exact same method, yesterday’s beef broth looked fine, but today’s is so notably worse?" Huang Shengli sat there, leisurely sipping tea, asking.
From his camera angle, you could clearly see him sitting in the corner of the kitchen by the door, cool and in control of the scene. He had a small table set up beside him with brewed tea and some snacks he loved, including a plate of fresh meat mooncakes that were obviously made by Zheng Siyuan.
The Huang Ji Restaurant that Huang Shengli owned in Gusu was very renowned. Qin Huai did a quick online search, and it was widely praised. Whether it was the review sites’ rankings or the share ratios on major apps, they were stellar, showing that it was mostly due to genuine ability, not fake reviews.
However, this year’s negative reviews were significantly more than before. Many people commented that the restaurant’s flavors weren’t as good as they used to be, not as amazing as the online hype suggested.
There were warm-hearted regulars explaining that it was because Head Chef Master Huang was getting old and in poor health. Now his main apprentice was cooking, but the acclaimed Huang Ji Restaurant was clearly on the decline this year.
When Qin Huai saw the online perceptions, he was a bit worried for Huang Shengli. After all, anyone would be unsettled if their business started to decline. He even considered whether he should avoid asking Huang Shengli too many questions to prevent bothering him.
But Qin Huai found he was wrong; Huang Shengli simply didn’t care.
Every day, he happily directed his apprentices to move a chair to the back kitchen door, sitting there guiding them on the spot with tasks, watching if they made mistakes or slacked off, while video calling Qin Huai to enthusiastically coach him on making broths.
Qin Huai even overheard one of Huang Shengli’s apprentices quietly mumbling, "Is that guy in the video Master’s closed-door disciple? Wasn’t it decided that I was the closed-door disciple?"
To this, Qin Huai could only conclude—Huang Shengli truly loved being a master.
He had been a master for years, taken in many apprentices, never growing weary or disliking them for not being particularly talented or not mastering the craft. Even in this transitional phase where he seemed to be preparing for retirement, noboy could yet step into his shoes, he wasn’t angry and cheerfully sat in the kitchen all day because he loved teaching.
If Huang Shengli weren’t a chef but a teacher, he’d probably be a famous mentor with students all over the world.
The master’s teachings continued.
Faced with Huang Shengli’s question, Qin Huai pondered seriously and replied, "I feel that today’s beef seems a bit different from yesterday’s."
"Could it be that I didn’t cut it well?"
Huang Shengli nodded, "See, I’ve said it, Xiao Qin, you actually have a talent; it’s just that before, no one taught you. Look, as soon as I ask, you realize the biggest reason your beef broth didn’t turn out well today is because you’re not familiar with the ingredient beef."
"Certainly, not having enough skill is also a big reason, but there’s always a process in improving."
"Did you notice, today’s beef is much fresher than yesterday’s. You’re right, the process of making beef broth involves washing and cutting the beef into pieces, soaking it to remove blood, then blanching it in cold water before stewing."
"But with different statuses of ingredients, you have to slightly change some handling methods."
"Just like when you knead dough, I remember you told me when you were selling breakfast at your family’s Breakfast Shop, you couldn’t get up in the morning, so you kneaded the dough the night before. But now you get up a little earlier in the morning, and the canteen’s operating hours aren’t that early, so you can knead the dough fresh in the morning."
"You certainly understand that these two different ways of preparing ingredients require slight adjustments in making the same buns. Of course, kneading the dough beforehand won’t make buns tastier than freshly made ones."
"As with our meat cooking, you can’t rigidly apply formulas, can’t just follow a method and apply it to all situations. When your skills are not mature enough, rigidly sticking to formulas will have a high chance of failure."
"I have a document that deals with how to handle various ingredients and how to deal with different situations, I’ll send it to you now."
"Take some time to study it thoroughly today, and we’ll see how tomorrow’s beef broth turns out."
Master Huang took another sip of tea with a smile while yesterday’s protégé, who served as a teaching model, discreetly peeked over with half a face.
"Master, shouldn’t you be the one to make these few Sizzling Fried Eels? It’s for an engagement banquet, specifically booked with our restaurant, I’m worried..."
Master Huang immediately put down his teacup and got up, "Oh, I’ll need to do that. Xiao Qin, I have a bit of business to attend to, I’ve sent the document, study it well yourself, and feel free to ask me anything on WeChat anytime."
"You should still practice the broth every day as usual, don’t worry and practice boldly, you have to trust yourself. Your seasoning is still excellent, and you have talent. Trust your own senses; when you don’t know what to do and there’s no one to ask, just follow your feelings. I’m very optimistic about you."
Master Huang ended the call.
Facing the already disconnected phone screen, Qin Huai nodded and started reading the document.
At table 9, Ouyang, who seriously played hooky, had beef broth in hand, feeling somewhat disdainful, yet upholding the principle of not wasting, sipped it slowly.
"Luoluo, how come your brother, who’s so good at making snacks, thought of cooking broth?" Ouyang really couldn’t understand, pointing to Qin Huai, absorbed in reading the document on his phone, ignoring the world outside, "and even taking online courses."
"These days, you can learn cooking through online courses!"
Ouyang didn’t get it; he could only take another sip of the beef broth, continuing his disdain, "And the online course isn’t teaching well, after a day, the broth tastes worse."
Qin Luo also drank the beef broth; she had insisted on coming, and she’d have to brace herself to finish it even if it didn’t taste good.
"You don’t understand, my brother said, this is about building basics." Qin Luo believed she understood.
She thought she really got it this time; the online teacher Qin Huai found explained things so clearly, she understood every word!
"Teacher Huang said, it’s good to have problems while building basics, because then you can correct them in time. If no issues arise, it’ll be hard to fix once you move on to advanced parts. It’s like me; my math grades still have room for improvement, but my English is already hard to improve."
Are you sure this is the same reasoning?
No wonder you didn’t pass the Chinese exam.
But Ouyang thought Qin Luo made some sense, just a bit unfortunate for him.
Alas, originally he thought coming over every day to taste dishes and drink soup was a pleasant thing, ended up being a chore.
Officer, if the soup tastes bad but still makes me fat, can it be considered a work injury?
Ouyang looked at Qin Huai in the kitchen with a worried face, hoping Qin Huai could quickly get his basics done so that he could enjoy some tasty broth.
Clearly, Qin Huai couldn’t hear Ouyang’s thoughts.
The document sent by Master Huang was very detailed; you could even directly search by ingredient names. After studying beef, Qin Huai felt enlightened again.
The advantage was his!
Qin Huai decided to work overtime to make another pot of beef broth.
Anyway, the broth can be cooked simultaneously, making both the stock and beef broth, practice more.
Listen to Master Huang’s advice, and also heed Master Zheng’s.
As for what constructive opinions Master Zheng offered...
Master Zheng suggested that Qin Huai listen more to Master Huang and practice a lot.