Here Comes The Lady Chef Chapter 12

The reason is that this chapter is >4,000 words, twice the length of other novel chapters. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Wen Rou washed her hands and chose two pieces of pork belly. She pa.s.sed both pieces of pork belly to chef Gao, "Chef Gao, there are two pieces of pork here. You choose the piece that you will be using to cook."

These two pieces of pork belly had similar fat and lean pork content and are highly suitable for making red braised pork belly.

Chef Gao did not even look at her. He placed his finger on the pork and pressed it. Then he sneered, "Young Lady, these two pieces of pork are not fresh -the pig was killed yesterday. The quality of this pork could be considered just borderline acceptable. Are you telling me that your Drunken Immortal Restaurant only has this type of inferior pork?"

Wen Rou did not get agitated and smile, "Elder, right now it is winter. It is easy to preserve the freshness of the pork. As long as these two pieces of pork are borderline acceptable, then we can use it. May junior suggest that we use the piece of meat in my hand? Each of us uses half of the pork? Brother s.h.i.+ Tou, cut the pork!" As soon as she said this, she placed the piece of pork on the cutting board, and Fang Das.h.i.+ immediately used the chopper and chopped down.

With a 'Sha' sound, that piece of pork had been cleanly sliced into halves, and the sizes of these two pieces of pork are identical.

This cutting of pork may look simple, but it is not simple at all.

The area between the fat and lean meat is the muscle of the pig. This part is tough and highly resistant to the knife. Most ordinary chefs would slowly cut it into pieces. There are very few chefs that could match Fang Das.h.i.+ in using one stroke of the chopper to slice apart the pork into two equal pieces. This knife work is extremely hard, and requires high precision, strength, and speed to do so. If not, the pork belly would not be so cleanly cut.

"Yi, at least you have some skills!" Looking at Fang Das.h.i.+'s knife skills, chef Gao was also surprised. He stopped looking down on them and begin to evaluate this young man.

This young man looks honest and trustworthy, about 16 years of age. His face was kindly and he was smiling, and there is no trace of the aura of an expert chef.

Once chef Gao confirmed this, he paid no further attention to Fang Das.h.i.+. He decided to focus on his dish, and ignored both Wen Rou and Fang Das.h.i.+. He picked up half of the pork belly and immediately look around for a stove.

Fang Das.h.i.+ weighed the pork belly in his hand, and did not make any further move. He just seemed to talk to himself, "Just now, that guest looks very hungry! But Master had said that 'fierce fire is good for cooking porridge, and slow fire is best for stewing pork'. But we have such a short amount of time, how could we create a red-braised pork belly that is fatty but not greasy? Aiya, this is really difficult!"

Wen Rou slapped Fang Das.h.i.+, "Stop thinking about useless stuff. Chef Gao has almost finished cooking. Quick, prepare all the ingredients!" Her voice seemed to resemble a great chef.

Fang Das.h.i.+ glanced towards chef Gao, and noticed that he had already begun to cook. He quickly grabbed some commonly used ingredients. In doing so, he finally became calm.

Wen Rou picked up the piece of pork belly and placed it in a pot of warm water that she had prepared while s.h.i.+ Tou was daydreaming. At one glance, the pork belly seemed to be in very good shape.

After the pork belly had been submerged in warm water for a while, Wen Rou added more hot water into the pot, then she used her hands to push down to the pork belly, letting all the blood and impurities seep out

After doing this several times, when the blood and impurities no longer ooze out, Wen Rou finally stopped in satisfaction.

After that, she picked out the pork belly and tossed into a big pot with some water inside to cook. She added a bowl of wine, and as she cooked, she would use a big ladle to scoop up any foams. In a short while, the pork belly slowly tightens and no longer ooze foams.

Looking at this, Fang Das.h.i.+'s eyes shone, "Sister Rou Er, when did you learn this?"

"Oh, I have seen father cooking it in this way, and I followed exactly what he did! Brother s.h.i.+ Tou, please pick up the slab of pork belly and cut them into smaller pieces!" Wen Rou tried to muddle her way through the explanation, and immediately a.s.signed s.h.i.+ Tou a task.

Fang Das.h.i.+ did not think much, and he quickly fished out the pork belly, placed it on the chopping board, used his fingers to estimate the thickness of each cut, and immediately chopped down. With just a few cuts, the pork belly has been cut into slices.

Chef Gao was much faster than Wen Rou and Fang Das.h.i.+. At this time, he had already fried the pork belly, and the aromatic smell of the roast pork effused out.

Wen Rou dare not to be slow, and immediately picked up a wok. She poured some cooking oil and added white sugar and fried it until the sugar mixture become caramelised. Then she added the slices of pork into the heated caramel, with a "Zi la la' sound, the slices of the pork belly immediately changed colour. Its colour deepens and each slice of pork belly looked like pieces of red colour wood.

"Let me do it!" Wen Rou is still young and lacked the strength to hold the heavy wok. Fang Das.h.i.+ immediately took over the stove.

"Brother s.h.i.+ Tou, quick, turned them around, do not let them stick to the pot!" Wen Rou stood beside s.h.i.+ Tou and directed him.

Fang Das.h.i.+'s face tightened, and beads of perspiration begin to form on his forehead.

It could be seen that even though Wen Rou was standing next to him, he was clearly nervous about taking charge of the wok! Especially under the current circ.u.mstances!

At the same time, Wen Rou had washed and sliced some onions, gingers, garlic, peppers, and cinnamon etc and placed them at the bottom of a claypot.

After frying them for a short while, she immediately shouted, "Brother s.h.i.+ Tou, transfer the food!"

"Coming!" Fang Das.h.i.+ immediately transferred the pork belly slices into the claypot.

Wen Rou then quickly scatter the same ingredients into the claypot, and added some water and salt, and placed the claypot on the stove to braise the pork.

After the water is boiling, they took out several pieces of firewood and changed the fire to be smaller. Then both of them finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the meat is now cooking, Wen Rou stood up. She picked up some white rice that had already been washed, and proceeded to cook them.

"Sister Rou Er, why did you cook the rice?" Fang Das.h.i.+ could not understand this.

"Brother s.h.i.+ Tou, did you forget? White rice complements red braised pork belly and is the soul of this dis.h.!.+" Wen Rou smiled as she explained.

"Oh! That's amazing!" Fang Das.h.i.+ eyes gleamed, and he stuck out his thumb.

"Just this level of skill?" Chef Gao has observed them for some time, and he sneered, "Two little kids who are still wet behind their ears and looking for death! They are still happily playing around!"

Fang Das.h.i.+ just laughed. He did not get angry, and glanced at chef Gao side. He noticed that chef Gao was very carefully protecting a wine jar that was cooking on the stove.

Wen Rou is not one to take a scolding with retaliation, and she immediately retorts, "Elder, after a while, we still do not know who will die!"

Chef Gao was infatuated, "Young Lady, you are very arrogant!"

"Is the red braised pork belly ready? I am very hungry." The huge, burly man shouted out loud.

At this moment in time, the two dishes of red braised pork belly are now ready.

"Coming! So sorry for the wait—" Yuan Zi become a waiter and he picked up a tray. On the tray was a claypot and a jar of wine, and he ran out of the kitchen.

All the other customers in the restaurant also put down their chopsticks, and turned around and look in curiosity. They craned their neck to see the contents of that tray.

That man could not wait any longer, and use his hands to open the lids of the two dishes. Everyone could not help but swallow their saliva.

In the claypot on the left side, the slices of pork belly were dripping with juice, filled with greasiness, and the colour of the dish was like a dark red rudy. The gravy was thick and generous. A whiff of the fragrance of this dish immediately drifted towards the nostrils of the customers.

In the wine jar on the right side of the tray, the pork was a big slab. Other than the thick fragrance of the pork, there is a unique sweet smell that immediately whetted the appet.i.te and makes the dish appears very refres.h.i.+ng.

The burly, big man took a big breath and sniffed in. He slammed on the table, closed his eyes and swore, "Darn it! This is really f**king nice scent. Just smelling it made my mouth watered."

Chef Gao just folded his arms over his chest and looked very proud.

Fang Das.h.i.+ just stood at a side as usual. He was quite calm despite feeling unease.

Wen Rou confidentially stood at one side, and her calm and confident demeanour made her seemed a lot older than she really is.

Chef Gao got impatient and immediately walked forwards, and pointed that the burly man, "You, try this dish."

At this point, that man was really hungry, and immediately took a bite. He had not eaten 2 mouthfuls, when he roared, "Where is the rice? Get me a bowl of rice!"

Wen Rou just smiled, "I have already prepared it for you!" Having said that, she waved her hand, and a big bowl of piping hot white rice was served.

At this time, the burly man did not stand on ceremony. He would pick up a slice of pork belly from the left claypot and take a bite from the slab of pork on the right jar, and looked very happy as he ate with relish. The more he ate, the less he looked civilised. He discarded his spoon and pick up the claypot, and pour the gravy over his rice, and like a tiger devouring the food, he devoured everything to the last bite.

Everyone who seen this shook their head.

Manager Lee also swallowed his saliva, and softly said, "His way of eating is so uncivilised, just like that of hungry ghosts!"

Wen Rou also could not help but cover her mouth as she giggled, "Brother s.h.i.+ Tou, my father's recipe for red-braised pork belly is really tasty!"

In this short span of time, the burly man wiped his mouth, and put down his chopstick. At this time, between the bowl and the claypot, there are only minimal traces of gravy left.

The burly man loudly blurped, and his face was filled with happiness, "Apologies! This dish is f**king tasty, and I ate a little bit more."

"This is also called 'ate a little bit more'? He almost licked the entire claypot clean!" Wen Rou thought to herself.

"Which one is tastier? Which one is tastier?" Seeing that the man had finished eating, the customers in the restaurant immediately rushed up and asked.