Chapter 7: Power Beyond Reach (Part 2)

  The landlord heard that Wang Kuang had completed the second test in just a short while, and he couldn't help but put aside his dignity as a host. He hurried to the kitchen and saw that Wang Kuang had indeed completed the task. After listening to the cooks describe the process, he couldn't help but put away his previous disdain for Wang Kuang. He said: "Although your handling of the second test was different from what I originally expected, it's actually much better than I thought. To be honest, even if I were to hire you as a chef now, it would be sufficient. However, since this concerns the future of my inn, I must be cautious and not give others an excuse to criticize me later. Therefore, you still need to pass the third test." After finishing speaking, he looked at Wang Kuang and instructed the small second who had followed him: "Go move two large stones over here. This stove is too high for this young man's shoulders; he can't reach it." He started calling Wang Kuang "young man" now, intentionally trying to narrow the distance between them. The small second responded and went to the courtyard to move two stones over, placing them stably in front of the stove. He let Wang Kuang stand on them to try, and they were just suitable.

  "The third pass is also simple, just cook the three dishes you've prepared. The seasonings such as oil and salt are all by the stove, if there's any seasoning that's not on the stove, just let me know and I'll have someone help you find it." The master said, then stood aside, he wanted to see how Wang Kuang would cook.

  Wang Juan didn't take the initiative because he didn't know what seasonings were available, so he hadn't decided how to make these three dishes. However, Wang Juan knew that a good chef doesn't decide what to cook first and then look for ingredients, but rather uses local materials to create dishes based on what's available. After taking a look, the oil was sesame oil, the salt was coarse-grained and slightly black, which tasted like sea salt; there were also several pieces of ginger and scallions, as well as some water celery. Additionally, there were Sichuan peppercorns, cassia bark, and a string of cassia leaves, a jug of vinegar, and a jug of wine. In a tightly sealed ceramic jar, he also found yellow sugar. The only thing missing was starch (cornstarch), but after thinking about it, he realized that sweet potatoes hadn't been introduced yet, let alone potatoes, so there was no choice but to make do with what they had.

  Seeing these seasonings, Wang Kuang had a bottom in his heart and decided to make the three dishes with the simplest method. Before handling Huai Shan, he noticed that Huai Shan was a local product, which belonged to the relatively flat type, so he cut it into segments. He first asked the kitchen staff for help, steaming the Huai Shan in a pot, then boiling water in another pot, scooping out the eggplant and simmering it until soft, then scooping it out and draining off excess water, setting it aside for later use.

  Then, Wang cut some ginger shreds and stuffed them into the fish's gills and belly, with the rest placed directly on top of the fish. He poured some wine over it, followed by sesame oil. He took two green onions and flattened them with a knife, then chopped the white part of the roots finely and set aside the remaining onion shreds for later use. At this point, the Huishan was almost done steaming, so he asked the kitchen helper to take it out again and add some water to the pot. Once the water boiled, he poured half a bowl of boiling water into a large ceramic bowl and warmed up the wine that had been on the stove earlier. Then, he had the kitchen helper put the fish into the steamer basket and steam it.

  After finishing all this, I touched the bottom of the dish with the back of my hand and it was no longer hot. Then I took another plate, applied some oil to the bottom, put the yam paste in, took a spoon, and pressed the yam paste into mud in the plate. Then I evenly flattened it to about one finger thick, cut it into small pieces with a knife, and then again applied a thin layer of oil to the bottom of the original steamer plate, covered it on top of the yam paste, turned it over, so that both sides of the yam paste had a layer of oil film, not sticking to the plate. Then I evenly sprinkled some yellow sugar on top, and this yam paste was done.

  Next, it's eggplant. After washing the pot clean, the dishwasher girl who was sent by the landlord to burn fire in front of the stove burns a fierce flame. In no time, the bottom of the pot is slightly dark red. Hurriedly pour in oil, then pour in chopped garlic and scallions without stir-frying. Quickly pour in eggplant cubes and stir-fry rapidly. Then add some warm wine, salt, and continue to stir-fry for a moment. Sprinkle some water, take two pieces of bay leaves, ignite them with fire, and throw them into the pot. Cover the lid and simmer for about half a minute. Open the lid, sprinkle some warm wine, a few strands of garlic, and a spoonful of oil, stir a few times, then scoop out and serve. Another dish is done.

  At this time, a considerable amount of time had passed. Since there was no watch to look at, Wang could only estimate the time based on his cooking speed. After waiting for a while, he estimated that the fish had been steamed for about ten minutes or so in later generations. He quickly washed the wok, scooped some water into it and brought it to a boil, then put the warm wine into the pot to heat it up. As soon as the surface of the wine started to rise with mist, the aroma of the wine wafted out, he lifted the lid of the steamer, ladled a spoonful of wine into the fish, also putting in the garlic threads, covered it and opened it again after just a few seconds. He still asked those kitchen helpers to take the fish out.

  Here is the translation:

  By this time, the three dishes were all done, and Wang Kuang was drenched in sweat, half from the heat and half from his frail body after a long illness. Moreover, that wok spoon was quite heavy, and with just a few manual movements, his ten-year-old hands were already aching, fortunately, he didn't think of showing off his wok-tossing skills, otherwise, with his strength, not to mention tossing the wok, even thinking about lifting it with one hand would be impossible. I reckon this era hasn't seen wok-tossing yet, otherwise, the pots in this kitchen shouldn't be so big, Wang Kuang thought to himself, looking at that huge pot with a diameter of almost one meter, similar to those back in his hometown: "Fortunately, I didn't make a fool of myself."

  This changed Wang's situation, and on the other side, Dongjia was watching Wang doing cooking, already with a look of astonishment. Can't blame him, it's just that Wang's cooking techniques were incomprehensible in many places, and he had never seen them before.

  Wang Jing stopped and asked: "Is this all?"

  "Ah, done! The first dish is called Sweet Potato Mash, the second is Chrysanthemum Carp, and the third is Cassia Fragrance Eggplant Block." Wang Kuang reported the names of the dishes. To be honest, Wang Kuang didn't have a talent for naming dishes, he couldn't come up with anything that sounded good. Previously at the Taoist temple, he had mentioned "Sheep Soup Jade", but then remembered Zhu Yuanzhang's "Pearl Jade White Jade Soup". He was just a beggar himself, and this was the name he came up with. For the first dish of Sweet Potato Mash, he still remembered that back in his hometown, they called sweet potatoes "Yu Zi", so calling it that now shouldn't be wrong.

  "Oh, the dish name is quite creative. Just by listening to it, you know what it is. This is great, customers will understand at a glance. Especially this Chrysanthemum Fish dish, it's really aptly named. After your processing and steaming, the fish looks just like a chrysanthemum flower, so similar, too similar!"

  After appreciating the dishes, the host began to taste each of the three dishes one by one: first the mashed potatoes, then the eggplant, and finally the fish. After finishing, he closed his eyes for a moment before speaking. "Good, good, good! I've had my fair share of food, but the way you've prepared these common dishes is something I've never seen before. The flavors are also exceptionally good. Especially this fish, it doesn't have even a hint of muddy smell, and there's another indescribable fragrance. With just a few simple seasonings, using different cooking methods can bring out such delicious flavors, it's really great!"

  At that time, the Tang people who stir-fried dishes did not know to add wine. Not only in the Tang Dynasty, but also in later generations, including Wang Kuo's time, many families who stir-fried dishes did not know that adding a little rice wine at the right time would make the dish more fragrant. The reason is that some components in rice wine react with hot oil to generate aromatic lipids, which can make the dish more fragrant. Especially when controlling the temperature, quantity, and timing of adding wine, the difference in flavor can be said to be heaven and earth apart.

  Therefore, in a certain sense, if one only masters the technique of using rice wine, they are not far from becoming a famous chef. In later generations, there was a very famous dish called "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall", which was served as a national banquet. The master chef made it very delicious, but his apprentice strictly followed the master's instructions and still couldn't make it taste the same. Later, under the master's inspiration, he discovered that the timing and temperature of adding wine were not right.

  Wang Kuo also experimented countless times in his cooking after hearing this story before grasping the key points.

  Now that he heard the host say so, Wang Kuang understood that it was almost thanks to the wine. Because in this era there was no MSG, and ordinary families could not afford to use chicken broth to freshen up. It can be said that the dishes of the Tang Dynasty were far less fresh than those of later generations. Fortunately, Wang Kuang himself did not like to use MSG, he used various other methods to increase the freshness of the dish. In his opinion, a good chef would not stoop to using MSG, and a cook who relied on MSG was not qualified to be called a chef, but only a craftsman.

  "But I think you've had a hard time making these three dishes, and it's probably not possible for you to make a few more, right?" The master said after praising Wang Kuang.

  "The master is wise, I am still young and recently recovered from a serious illness. These three dishes are already a great effort for me, and I'm afraid I can't do more." Seeing the master say this, Wang Kuang also understood that he was hired as the head chef of this inn, and every day from dawn till night, he would have to make at least hundreds of dishes, which his current body at the age of ten or so couldn't handle. It's really a case of having the heart but not the strength."

  "But there is one thing I'd like to ask, if I may...?" The master hesitated.

  Seeing the landlord claiming to be old, Wang Kuang was delighted in his heart. This landlord looked like he was only in his early forties, yet he called himself old - it was unclear whether he wanted to rely on his age or if this was how people addressed each other in this era. Having changed jobs countless times and having met all sorts of people, Wang Kuang couldn't help but be secretly vigilant: "Please speak, landlord."

  But Wang Kuang had some misunderstanding of this master, who was considering that the cooking methods were all secrets not passed on to others. From the Jin, Sui and Tang dynasties to later generations, many great chefs were fathers passing on to sons, sons passing on to grandsons, generation after generation, with some even only passing it on to one son, single-handedly passing it down in order to keep their unique skills from spreading out. Even in the past before Wang Kuang's time, many famous dishes or cooking techniques were also secrets not passed on by great chefs, who would not easily tell others about them. Those who wanted to learn had to prepare a large gift, bow at their door, and the master would have to examine them for many years before deciding whether they liked them and were willing to pass it on. Wang Kuang in his past life was only fond of eating and cooking, and also enjoyed sharing his results with friends, even opening a personal column on a well-known portal website for a period of time, where he would write about his experiences in cooking whenever he had the chance. In fact, Wang Kuang had never really come into contact with the culinary circle, so he didn't have any thoughts about treasuring secrets. What he was thinking now was that he feared this master suspected his origins, after all, a twelve-year-old beggar who could cook delicious food was already too incredible.

  "I don't know who your master is? Please don't misunderstand, I didn't mean to pry into the secrets of your school. It's just that...". The owner thought for half a day and really didn't know how to start, so he simply said: "I've never seen anyone handle ingredients like you did before, especially when peeling potatoes in water, it was unprecedented yet effective. And the cooking method afterwards was also novel and delicious, I think even the imperial chefs can't compare. So I'm taking a chance to ask you to stay at this inn, you don't have to do anything usually, just occasionally give some pointers. Of course, if there's anything related to your master's secrets, I won't force it. What do you think?" Seeing Wang Kuang looking puzzled, he quickly added: "I also make a promise here, witnessed by Wang Shifu, Zhu Si Niangzi, Sun Zhanggui and Niu Wazi, that if one day you get bored with this inn and want to seek better opportunities, I won't say anything. If you're willing to stay, all the treatment will be the same as the head chef's."

  The people of Min are simple and honest, and this young master also traveled south and north when he was young, seeing the world. Although Wang Kuang's current situation is not good, with just one hand, he will not be a mediocre person. As the owner of a small inn in Jian'an City, it is impossible to keep Wang Kuang for long, but if Wang Kuang can stay in the inn for a few more days, the future prosperity of the inn can also be expected. He also deeply knows that rather than waiting until Wang Kuang becomes prominent and then coming to make connections, it's better to take advantage of Wang Kuang's current difficulties to show kindness, even if it's just a tiny bit. If Wang Kuang becomes prominent in the future, he will definitely not forget himself at this time, and at the very least, he won't offend Wang Kuang.