Chapter 873 - 751: Want to Test Me_2

A middle-aged woman was supporting her elderly parent, originally planning to take the shortcut to the main street, but when she got close, she realized the shortcut was gone.

She looked around and discovered that somehow, the two buildings had been connected together.

The middle-aged woman frowned, supporting the elderly parent, while she couldn’t help but complain, "Really, when did this renovation happen? Just in the first half of the year we could still take this way..."

She nagged a few times but had no choice but to take a big detour along the side street to get to the front.

In the cold weather, the road had snow, so they needed to be extra careful while walking.

The middle-aged woman tightly supported the elderly parent, afraid of any bumps or knocks, while disdainfully nagging, "I told you not to come, you wouldn’t listen, now look? We’ve walked such a long unnecessary route."

The woman’s lips were quick, and she spoke particularly sharply, constantly nagging the elderly parent without stopping.

"At such an old age, still craving food, wanting seafood. I could buy it from West Vegetable Market and make it for you but no! You insisted on spending money to eat out, just because their food is supposedly tastier than homemade?"

"Do you know why the food from outside is tastier than homemade? Because they use harmful additives."

"Haven’t you heard? The food made by restaurants outside is all high-tech, it’s all blended. Otherwise, how could it be so tasty? It’s the same ingredients, same seasonings, how could the taste be so different? You think about it, isn’t this the reason?"

The elderly parent listened to the nagging but didn’t immediately refute, their expression was a bit sheepish.

The two walked from the side street to the main street and arrived at the entrance of Qianlima.

Finally, the elderly parent couldn’t help but say, "I know everything you’re saying... but they use real ingredients in their cooking... plus, their flavor is particularly good, if I don’t eat it for a while, I start craving it!"

The elderly woman was seventy years old. Although she dressed warmly, just looking at her exposed wrist and aged face revealed her frail figure.

Despite everything, all the way supporting the elderly parent carefully, fearing a slip or bump, the middle-aged woman was still out of breath from exhaustion.

The moment they went through the revolving door into Qianlima Restaurant, a greeter came forward enthusiastically: "Hello, please come inside, you two!"

...

Fu Yu returned to the kitchen and began taking orders to cook.

Although no one else mentioned it, in fact, the overall work atmosphere around Zhao Meng seemed to have instantly relaxed quite a bit.

Sun Mingze had been cutting blocks the entire time, and as soon as Fu Yu returned, Zhang Jinyu had him replace his task to do a round of oil over work.

Sun Mingze didn’t know what others thought, but he earnestly hoped Fu Yu could stay in the kitchen all the time.

Doing the oil over work is much easier than cutting blocks, plus staying close to the cooking station allows him to watch others cook, which is a rare learning opportunity.

Fu Yu’s return made Zhang Jinyu very cheerful as well.

He immediately passed his tasks onto others and began to stick closely beside Fu Yu to assist.

Over on Zhao Meng’s side, he quickly distributed some of the overwhelming list of orders, and Fu Yu started cooperating in cooking.

The kitchen work gradually became orderly.

Fu Yu was busy flipping the wok when the server Xiaolin came running into the kitchen.

"Chef Fu!" Xiaolin ran directly to the cooking station where Fu Yu was, still catching his breath, calling out first.

Zhang Jinyu was standing next to the serving counter when he heard the shout, turned his head, and seeing Xiaolin, was surprised: "Yo, didn’t you just deliver a dish? You came back so soon?"

Xiaolin said, "The customers in room 304 want to order more dishes."

Zhang Jinyu casually said, "For ordering more dishes, just write the order, why the need to come over specifically?"

Xiaolin explained, "The dish the customer wants isn’t on our menu."

Fu Yu plated the dish from the wok, adjusting its presentation while asking, "What dish did they order that’s not on our menu?"

Xiaolin said, "The customer originally ordered sweet and sour pork, but when it was served, the elderly diner’s teeth couldn’t handle it, but they specifically want to eat it, so they asked if the kitchen could replace the pork with another ingredient and try again."

Fu Yu frowned, "Sweet and sour pork typically requires oil over, any dish with meat coated and fried tends to be quite chewy, even if the batter is crispy, the meat inside can’t be soft."

Xiaolin offered a suggestion, "Can’t we use something other than meat? Use other ingredients?"

Fu Yu thought for a moment and said, "It’s not impossible, but to achieve the taste of sweet and sour pork and have it be easy to chew, choosing the right ingredient is a bit challenging."

Sweet and sour pork is enjoyed for its crispy, sweet, and sour taste. During cooking, the meat slices are cut very thin, the batter is applied evenly, and when deep-fried, it comes out golden, with the batter puffed and crispy, the meat inside becoming more flavorful with each chew.

If you don’t use meat, replacing it with other ingredients will first cause a significant change in taste.

Wanting something that bites with a crisp outside, easy to chew inside...

Fu Yu’s first thought for a replacement ingredient was fish meat.

Fish meat is fresh and tender, quite soft, even those with poor teeth can eat it without pressure.

However, once coated and fried, if the fish is cut too thin, the taste is too poor, if it’s cut thick, it becomes difficult to make it resemble sweet and sour pork.

Besides, fish meat is too soft, a sweet and sour fish segment can work, but the customer specifically requested sweet and sour pork...

If fish meat doesn’t work, then shrimp and crab meat are out of the question.

Fu Yu was contemplating suitable replacement ingredients while Zhang Jinyu was busy exchanging idle chat with Xiaolin.

Xiaolin was a newly confirmed server. The young lady wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, but she had excellent temperament, tall, and well-built. Before she speaks, she smiles first, and when she does, a dimple appears on her left cheek, highlighting a unique charm when closely observed.

Zhang Jinyu had no other intentions, just that Xiaolin had a nice personality, and having been around her for some time, he found her pleasing, so he liked to chit-chat to pass the time.

Seeing Fu Yu’s difficult expression, Xiaolin couldn’t help but quietly say, "If it wasn’t for considering the elderly lady particularly wanting to eat it, I really wouldn’t bother running this trip."

Zhang Jinyu hurriedly praised, "You’re kind-hearted."

Xiaolin smiled, "Room 304’s customers are a mother and daughter pair, the elderly lady looks like she’s about 70, and they said they specifically came from home just to eat our restaurant’s specialty dish."

Zhang Jinyu chuckled, "This elderly lady is quite a foodie!"

Xiaolin laughed, "It’s always like this with elderly people; you didn’t see, the daughter was scolding her like a child! Thinking about it, it’s understandable why the child tried to keep her from going out. Mainly, this winter is exceptionally cold, the snow on the ground is quite thick, if she slips and falls, the elderly wouldn’t be able to bear it!"

Zhang Jinyu nodded in agreement, "That’s true! The elderly lady is quite stubborn."

Xiaolin said, "But her daughter is still quite filial, despite being unwilling, she accommodated her. They ordered eight dishes between them, but the elderly lady just picked the sweet and sour pork, only to find she couldn’t chew it after a couple of bites."

Zhang Jinyu laughed, "Sweet and sour pork is somewhat hard, if someone has poor teeth, it can be quite tough to eat."

Xiaolin nodded and sighed, "It’s just the daughter wanting to be filial. Being here, if the elderly wants to eat, she should be allowed."

Thinking of this, Xiaolin recalled the middle-aged woman in the room; though her attitude wasn’t great, she was still very attentive toward the elderly. Seeing the elderly wanting to eat sweet and sour pork but unable to chew, she then called the server to ask the kitchen.

It’s really just about letting the elderly enjoy a meal she’s fondly craving.