Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 17: Chef 16

The newly purchased shop was very cheap, less than twenty taels of silver, practically a world of difference from the previous grocery store. However, good comes with a price, and cheap also has its downsides. The reason this shop was so cheap was precisely because of its location.

If one wasn’t extremely familiar with the local terrain, it would be almost impossible to navigate the seven or eight or nine alleys to get here. Qi, who had almost gotten lost in the alleys, was now distressed and couldn’t eat, fearing that her daughter would lose everything.

Lin Dan, while tidying the tables and chairs, comforted her: “Mother, don’t worry, there’s a reason I opened the shop here. Look around at what kind of shops are here?”

“What kind? Gambling dens, cockfighting rings, wharves, brothels, all these are the lowest class of places, and the people coming and going are also the lowest class of things. I really don’t understand why you would open a shop here. Since the Yan family can’t tolerate us, we will leave the capital. At least we can live a peaceful life. Mother doesn’t want you to compete for any family property, nor does she want you to compare with anyone, Mother just wants you to be safe and sound.” Qi said, pulling her daughter’s wrist.

Lin Dan patted her reassuringly, explaining: “The residents of the South City are all from outside, and their identities are indeed complex, but it’s still better than the North City. Don’t think the people of the South City are lowly, in reality, this place is a haven for hidden talents, and all kinds of people are here, it’s not a simple place. Doing business here is much better than in the North City. Look at those gambling dens, cockfighting rings, wharves, brothels, aren’t they bustling with people, isn’t this a natural popularity? Whether a restaurant’s business is good or not, the cooking skills come first, and then the popularity. Good cooking skills and high popularity, the business will naturally thrive. My cooking skills are here, and I’ll borrow some popularity from the surroundings, I’m not afraid of not making money. You’ll know when I open the shop.”

“The popularity around here is indeed not bad, but you don’t look at whether your shop can borrow their light. Just this alleyway alone has to make seventeen or eighteen turns, can people find their way here? Opening a restaurant is best done on the street, Mother has never seen a shop opened in a dead end.” Qi was still worried.

“Good wine needs no bush, this isn’t a big problem.” Lin Dan smiled lightly, not taking it seriously.

The hired hands she brought were very nimble, and in half a day’s work, they had cleaned up the shop, and hung a small flag at the door, and it was ready to do business.

The handsome man was delayed by something this morning, and didn’t arrive until noon. He first took care of the local ruffians, and also found the nearby constables and had them take care of Lin Dan, only then did he report to the shop. Of course, these things were done behind Lin Dan’s back, for fear that she would have any burdens in her heart.

“Why are you here again? Don’t you have anything better to do?” Seeing the man, Lin Dan looked very surprised.

“You never seemed to ask me my name?” The man asked, instead of answering.

Lin Dan paused for a moment, then chuckled, “Alright, may I ask what your honorable name is, and how old are you?”

“I’m twenty-six this year, my surname is Tang, and I’m the ninth child, you can call me Brother Tang, or just call me Ninth Brother.” The man gave a junior’s bow to Qi, then picked up an axe to chop firewood.

“Tang? That’s a good surname.” Lin Dan’s smile became even more cheerful. She was a cook, and she had a natural affinity for things that were soup-like. (Tang also means soup in Chinese)

The man thought for a moment and knew what she was laughing about, and a few strands of gentleness couldn’t help but leak from his deep eyes. Even exchanging names could be linked to dishes, Lin Dan was truly “never straying from her profession.”

The restaurant’s signboard had already been commissioned to a carpenter to make, and wouldn’t be delivered until the afternoon. Lin Dan didn’t plan to do business today, and only had the servants bring in three large pots to make the broth: one pot of clear broth, one pot of milk broth, and one pot of seasoned broth. Since the shop was very cheap, she still had a lot of silver to spend, so she made the dishes almost without regard to cost, stuffing whole chickens and ducks into the pot, and also adding pig knuckles and pork bones, and boiling them all together in water.

“The skill of making broth I learned from an old master in the north. Although he wasn’t a royal chef, his cooking skills were simply superb, and I only learned a little bit of the basics from him in three years. The clear broth needs to be simmered over low heat, the milk broth needs to be simmered over high heat. You have to pay attention when you add firewood.” Lin Dan spoke very modestly, but her broth-making method was extremely skilled, with actions like blanching, boiling, skimming, and drawing out the flavor, all flowing seamlessly.

Tang Jiu stared at the several large pots, his tone slightly worried: “With such a generous use of ingredients, can you earn back the cost?”

Lin Dan chuckled: “Don’t look at how much ingredients I’m using in these few pots of broth, it seems quite wasteful, but you have to know that these few pots of broth are enough for me to make hundreds of dishes and hundreds of bowls of noodles, and it’s not wasteful at all. My shop is hidden too deep, I have to brew some old broth to keep the customers. The so-called ‘good wine needs no bush’ in my case is ‘good broth needs no bush’, once the broth is brewed, someone will always come looking for it.”

The clear broth and the milk broth were both simmering, then Lin Dan added the spice packets to the seasoned broth, and used a high flame to bring it to a boil. After boiling for a quarter of an hour, she added pig knuckles, pork bones, streaky pork, and pig skin, and after boiling, she covered the pot, using wet towels to seal the surroundings, to prevent the steam from escaping.

“This pot of seasoned broth can be used tomorrow morning with a low flame, everyone can go rest now, just leave one person to watch the fire.” With everything prepared, Lin Dan clapped her hands and dismissed everyone. The caravan still had dried goods to run, and the few servants packed their things and left the capital immediately.

Lin Dan was about to make lunch for her mother and Tang Jiu when someone suddenly ran in from outside the door, it was the shop assistant from Qiaoyuan Restaurant, his expression somewhat indignant: “I finally found you, you liar! Tell me, what kind of things did you sell to my restaurant, how could you pass off inferior goods as quality ones!”

“Don’t be anxious, little brother, let’s go back to Qiaoyuan Restaurant and talk about it.” Lin Dan was not only not angered, but also generously poured a cup of hot tea for the shop assistant.

The shop assistant was here to arrest her, and immediately went to grab her, but he was intimidated by Tang Jiu’s cold glance, and he became timid, and could only politely invite her back. The fair and handsome young chef had already been waiting in the shop, and even though he was the victim, his face was very thin, and his accusatory tone was very soft, “These ingredients you sold me might be problematic, I can’t make the taste of the top-grade ingredients. You try it, this is a dish made with the abalone you sold me, this is bought from Yan Family Restaurant, they are both the same seafood, why is the taste of mine so different from theirs?”

Lin Dan tasted the two dishes, and couldn’t help but laugh. She was worried about how to fight back against the Yan family, and this young chef had delivered the knife to her. Well then, she couldn’t compete with the Yan family head-on, but someone would do it for her.

Thinking of this, she waved her hand and said: “Go to the kitchen, let me see how you make the dishes. These dried goods of mine are all selected and accumulated from hundreds of thousands of goods, each one is top-grade, and there will definitely be no problem. Since the ingredients are not the problem, then it’s definitely your cooking methods that are the problem, let’s start from the source.”

The young chef nodded without thinking, and immediately walked towards the back kitchen, his every move was extremely well-behaved. The old shopkeeper glared at Lin Dan, as if he wanted to scold her for not knowing etiquette, but he dared not speak out because of Tang Jiu’s murderous aura. The group of people arrived at the back kitchen and started to cook.

Lin Dan stared at the young chef for a long time, shook her head and said: “Your basic skills are very solid, but you lack some experience. Making dishes with dried goods, seven parts are in the rehydration process, and three parts are in the seasoning, you haven’t practiced the skill of rehydration to perfection, so naturally, you can’t make good dishes.”

“For example, this sea cucumber, it’s not enough to just soak it in water, if you only cut it into sections and stir-fry it, you can barely use it, but if you use the whole sea cucumber in the dish, the texture will be soft in some places and hard in others, the taste will not be uniform, and it won’t be easy to absorb the flavor. I’ll teach you a secret method, it’s best to bake the sea cucumber on a hot iron plate before soaking it in water, then burn the outer skin black with a low flame, finally scrape off the black skin with a small knife, and then boil it in water. Why do you need to do this? Because the dried sea cucumber just purchased still contains some moisture, only by completely removing this moisture can its texture be even. Boil it three times, and let it cool three times, this is the true rehydration, when you pinch it with your hand you can pinch a mark, and the touch is very tender and smooth.”

She explained while processing the sea cucumber, her skillful hands flying, and stunned everyone. The young chef belatedly realized that – this Shopkeeper Lin was not only someone who sold dried goods, but also a very experienced cook. Her skill of rehydrating sea cucumbers, without three or five years of research, who could have imagined the key points? However, not only did she think of it, but she also generously taught it to others, and her character and temperament were also excellent.

In order to learn more, the young chef immediately took over the task of rehydrating the sea cucumbers.

Lin Dan wiped her hands with a towel, and continued to process the fish maw, explaining while pouring the oil: “You haven’t rehydrated this fish maw properly either, you have to use oil to rehydrate it, then the taste will be smooth and glutinous. First, soak it in five-tenths hot oil twice, after it cools, put it on the stove and fry it with a low flame, then take it out and soak it in clean water, fully absorb the water, then add alkaline water, and keep patting it with your hands, so that you can wash away the grease, and finally rinse away the astringency of the alkaline water with clean water, so that you can use it in dishes. The oil-rehydrated fish maw has a very smooth and glutinous texture, no matter how you cook it, it won’t lose its deliciousness, not to mention the top-grade fish maw, even the worst quality of flower core fish maw can be made into a delicacy.”

Speaking of cooking, Lin Dan was naturally eloquent, and the work in her hands also didn’t stop, she quickly burned a pot of oil, and put the fish maw in. The real skills of a chef are seen when they get to the cooking stage. The young chef looked at Lin Dan, his eyes getting brighter and brighter, like he had found a treasure.

While waiting for the oil temperature to cool down, Lin Dan said again: “Look, this rock fungus also hasn’t been rehydrated properly, it’s not enough to just scald it with boiling water, you also need to add a little coarse salt to soak it to soften it, and grind away the fluff on the back…”

“Yes, yes, yes, you’re absolutely right! Shopkeeper Lin, I was wrong. I misunderstood you earlier. Please, with your magnanimity, forgive me this time. My culinary skills aren’t refined enough, I beg you to teach me! Some time ago, the Yan Family Restaurant launched a new dish called Squirrel Mandarin Fish, with both appearance and taste being superb, and it has already lured away all the remaining customers from my restaurant. If I don’t improve, the signboard of my ‘Imperial Cuisine Family’ will truly be ruined in my hands!” The young chef clasped his hands together and repeatedly bowed to Lin Dan. To tell you the truth, just looking at this rehydration technique, Lin Dan is no worse than his father and grandfather, and is more than qualified to be his teacher.