Chapter 799 - Flipping Noodles

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

“I don’t think Boss Yuan can successfully make Steamed Cold Noodles,” Fang Heng said, his tone firm.

What he said attracted the attention of all the customers. One ought to know that Fang Heng was very serious when he spoke with his brows slightly frown, his face filled with confidence.

“Doubting Boss Yuan’s cooking skills? Is this your first day here?” Jiang Changxi questioned.

“Have you gone mad?” Chen Wei said with contempt.

“When has Boss Yuan ever failed in terms of cooking?”

Even Director Da Hai couldn’t resist from turning to look at Fang Heng as he muttered inwardly, “Even we, who have never been here, know how excellent Boss Yuan is in cooking. Why are his customers the ones to doubt him now?”

As this was a sensitive topic, he immediately gestured Qiu Qiu to aim the camera at Fang Heng instead.

Fang Heng became nervous when he noticed that so many people were paying attention to him, even the camera was aimed at him. However, he still spoke seriously, “That’s not what I mean. Boss Yuan is definitely good at cooking. But I am from Guangyuan. I have never eaten any Cold Noodles outside Guangyuan that taste the same as what we have at Guangyuan.”

Perhaps it was because he was nervous, but he was speaking unnaturally yet confident at the same time. He did not look like he was lying. Everyone started wondering if there was some trick to preparing Steamed Cold Noodles, including Director Da Hai.

The filming crew started doubting Boss Yuan, but that was not the case for the other customers. Chen Wei was insisting that no matter what Fang Heng said, he was a retard.

As for Jiang Changxi, she countered, “That applies to other chefs, not Boss Yuan.” She spoke righteously, as if that was the absolute truth.

“No, no. I don’t doubt Boss Yuan’s cooking skills. But let me finish my explanation. What I mean is the geographical issue. The reason nobody outside Guangyuan could make it is due to the difference in the quality of water and soil of other geographical locations,” Fang Heng shook his head and explained seriously.

Finally, everyone understood what he was trying to say.

Fang Heng continued, “Boss Yuan will only be successful if he has imported some water and ingredients from Guangyuan.”

“How hard is that? That’s nothing. Don’t forget Boss Yuan has ingredients from all over China here,” Jiang Changxi sneered.

“But I heard that the water must be fresh. The longer it has been removed from its source, the harder it will be to make Steamed Cold Noodles of the same taste. I’m not lying. That is the truth. Although I don’t know the reason for that, I remember that to make this dish, the rice grains have to be soaked for an entire day,” Fang Heng was a liquor brewer so he still knew well about the characteristics of water.

When brewing liquor, water was extremely popular. Those popular liquors would mostly require the water from Nanchuan. Depending on the grades of the liquor being brewed, different sources of water would be required.

Fang Heng reasoned that it would be the same in cooking as well.

“You are probably over-thinking this. Think about that Wu Rice. That ingredient is not grown locally but Boss Yuan still successfully prepared that dish,” Jiang Changxi argued.

Jiang Changxi was referring to a certain herb required to prepare a certain dish of the 100 Styles of Rice Cuisine previously. This herb was not grown in Chengdu, but Yuan Zhou had still successfully prepared that dish even though fresh herbs were required.

“Yeah. Don’t forget that people have been making weird and bizarre requests to make things difficult for Boss Yuan. But none of them has ever succeeded,” Chen Wei added.

“It’s not the same. You guys will know. Just continue watching,” Fang Heng was not good at cooking, so he was out of words. But he was still unconvinced.

His reasoning was the fact that there were already restaurants importing water from Guangyuan to make Steamed Cold Noodles. The taste of these Steamed Cold Noodles had improved, but were still lacking compared to authentic Steamed Cold Noodles from Guangyuan. Fang Heng was very confident in this.

Of course, there might be other factors affecting the taste. But since Fang Heng was not a chef, he could not figure it out.

In any case, he was certain that it would be very difficult to make this dish outside Guangyuan.

When the director saw that they were nearly done talking, he decided to shift the camera back at Yuan Zhou.

“Go back,” Da Hai said to the assistant director.

Everyone watched as Yuan Zhou continued cooking.

In truth, Steamed Cold Noodles was a very simple snack. One only needed to steam the rice milk on the boiler before cutting it into slices and adding some dressing on it.

This dish can be eaten both hot or cold. If one wanted to eat it hot, it would be sliced in thicker shreds and if one wanted to eat it cold, it would be sliced into thinner shreds. This was a snack that could be eaten in all seasons. Since the weather was still quite cold, Yuan Zhou was preparing it to be eaten hot.

Most snacks of Sichuan focused on either being spicy, pepper flavored, or Yuxiang flavored. Today, Yuan Zhou was preparing a spicy Steamed Cold Noodles.

And thus, while making the Steamed Cold Noodles, Yuan Zhou started making the chili oil as well. The chili oil would be added into the noodles later.

Whoosh! Yuan Zhou tossed a handful of chilies into a frying pan and started cooking them on a small flame.

As the chilies were rather tender, he needed to constantly stir-fry them. Therefore, only the crisp sound of the chilies being stir-fried could be heard in the restaurant.

Accompanying the sound was a spicy aroma that spread through the air.

“This smells so good and so spicy,” someone commented.

Despite being spicy, the aroma did not cause any discomfort to the nose. Rather, it was very appetizing.

“I wish I could eat this with a glass of liquor. The combination will definitely be excellent,” Chen Wei the liquor addict remarked.

“Unfortunately, you only have one last glass left for today,” Jiang Changxi reminded him of the cruel truth.

“Hoho,” Chen Wei couldn’t be bothered to reply.

As a Guangyuan local, Fang Heng remained in silence. For him, Steamed Cold Noodles would be a perfect match with porridge.

“This Boss Yuan is really weird. I don’t see any kitchen hood but the spicy smell is not causing any discomfort at all. Moreover, it smells so good,” Da Hai muttered when he lowered the surgical mask he had on him.

Yuan Zhou ignored everyone else and was still seriously cooking.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The chilies rolled in the pot. And when each of the chilies had already turned glossy and yellow, Yuan Zhou poured them out.

He did not grind the chilies immediately. Rather, he took the steaming bamboo steamer out.

That’s right. Before Yuan Zhou started preparing the chilies, he first steamed the rice milk with the bamboo steamers. After he was done with the chilies, the time was just perfect for him to take the bamboo steamers off.

Naturally, the steamed rice milk required slicing. But that had to wait until it was cold. Therefore, Yuan Zhou started flipping it to avoid having only one side being cold, affecting the taste of the noodles.

The steamed rice milk was very thin. It was sparkling and translucent, and was lying in the bamboo steamer. Due to how thin it was, the yellow-colored baking paper underneath could be clearly seen.

“How can he flip it when it is so thin?” Da Hai wondered.

While everyone wondered, Yuan Zhou picked up a pair of brown chopsticks. With a flick of his wrist, the sticky and thin steamed rice milk had already been flipped over, lying quietly in the bamboo steamer.

In fact, it looked like nothing had happened. Yuan Zhou had moved way too fast, making the entire thing felt like an illusion.

And it seemed so easy for Yuan Zhou.

“Just like that?” Wasn’t that supposed to be a difficult task?

“Holy shit. I thought it was supposed to be very sticky? How can it be flipped this fast?” the sound engineer exclaimed with his eyes opened wide.

After all, when filming the previous video, they could see the chef slowly pull the noodles until they became thin. But here, it felt like Yuan Zhou was performing a magic show, flipping the steamed rice milk instantly.

Not even flipping a piece of paper could be this easy. After all, the steamed rice milk had landed on the exact position on the baking paper after being flipped.

This was Yuan Zhou acting cool.