"Alright, you go ahead and focus on your work. I can handle things here myself."
As he spoke, Dylan concentrated all his attention on the bucket pot in front of him. Then he took out a small pot, added water, and brought it to a boil. He carefully peeled off the tender inner leaves of a Chinese cabbage, keeping them whole, and threw them all into the boiling water for a basic blanching.
Blanching the Chinese cabbage would reduce most of its raw cabbage flavor, making it less likely to affect the taste of other dishes.
After blanching, the cabbage was placed in cold water to cool. Then, he picked them up and unfolded them, forming large fan shapes, and gently laid them flat over the halibut lion's heads, pressing them tightly to act as a lid.
This was to prevent the surface of the halibut lion's heads from oxidizing and turning black upon contact with the air. Without this step, it would not only affect the taste and texture but also the appearance, making it seem like a dish served by a novice chef.
Dylan would naturally never make such a low-level mistake!
After covering with the cabbage leaves, the bucket pot was simmered over low heat for about 40 minutes. This would allow the halibut lion's heads to cook through evenly. The texture and taste would reach their optimal state when eaten!
"Let's call it a day for now. It's already past dinner time, and there won't be many more customers coming. Let's get ready to close up. You can leave the rest to me."
Turning his head and looking at Alice Nakiri, who appeared to be handling things with ease on the surface but whose body was actually nearing its limit, Dylan stepped forward and patted her shoulder.
After all, this wasn't the Dark Cooking Society. He didn't have high demands for this disciple, just emphasizing a balance between work and rest.
"Okay, we'll close up after serving this batch of customers."
Alice Nakiri said resolutely, word by word, clearly having made up her mind. Dylan looked at her extremely serious face and ultimately didn't try to dissuade her.
At this moment, Alice Nakiri had clearly turned today's business into a trial, so she wanted to do her best!
There were still twenty or thirty customers outside. Having the waiter go to the end of the line to fix the number of customers, although tiring, wouldn't be too overwhelming.
With Alice Nakiri's determined expression right now, she should be able to handle it!
"Alright, since you insist so strongly, then we'll serve all of these customers. I hope you can gain something from it."
Looking at the girl whose clothes were somewhat damp from sweat, Dylan used a warm towel to wipe away her sweat, quickly went to the cutting board, and processed all the large amount of unprocessed ingredients on it, arranging them neatly by category.
This would save Alice Nakiri a lot of effort when cooking, which was why most kitchens would have a vegetable prepping assistant.
It increased the chef's efficiency, shortened the serving time, and provided customers with a better dining experience.
Back in the day, when Liu Maoxing was learning to cook at Yangquan Restaurant, he had worked as a vegetable prepping assistant for quite a long time.
Later, after passing the special-grade chef assessment in Guangzhou and going through a series of travels, he finally truly became a chef at Yangquan Restaurant.
This was something every chef had to go through, from apprentice to chef. Alice Nakiri, being his disciple and currently the only chef in the kitchen, had directly skipped this step.
"Thank you, Master!"
Looking at Dylan, who had taken the initiative to prepare the ingredients for her, an excited expression appeared on Alice Nakiri's face. This would save her a lot of effort!
However, through this, she also completely saw the gap between herself and Dylan, not just in cooking skills but also in all aspects of the basics.
Such a large quantity of ingredients would have taken her at least half an hour to process, but Dylan had finished in less than five minutes. This processing speed far exceeded ordinary people, thanks to his astonishing understanding of the ingredients. He was truly a freak!
Alice Nakiri secretly muttered in her heart. She naturally wouldn't dare to say such things out loud. Calling her master a freak? She was probably asking for a head flick.
·
·
Time passed bit by bit. Under the orderly cooking, Alice Nakiri served thirteen dishes in 40 minutes, averaging one dish every three minutes.
Most of them were stir-fried dishes. Because the ingredients were all prepared, a dish could be served in two to three minutes, and four pots meant four dishes.
Next were slightly more troublesome pan-fried and deep-fried dishes. Because they required several steps, they took significantly longer.
The most troublesome were the elaborate dishes, like Dylan's halibut lion's head. Although delicious, these dishes required more time.
Whether or not to make such dishes mainly depended on the ingredients brought by the customers.
Only sufficiently fresh ingredients made elaborate dishes worthwhile; otherwise, it was just a waste of time.
Taking seafood as an example, the freshness of caught fish decreased every minute and second, and they had to be cooked into dishes as quickly as possible.
If the time was dragged out, a large amount of the fish's freshness would be lost. Unless special methods were used to restore the freshness, no matter how it was cooked, it wouldn't be delicious.
Looking at the "bubbling" bucket pot and smelling the faint fragrance in the air, a look of intoxication appeared on Dylan's face.
"This pot of lion's head tastes really good. Those two guys are getting a bargain."
Taking out a special bowl with a lid from the cupboard, he added an appropriate amount of seasoning inside. This was the most suitable container for the lion's head, with each bowl being just the right size to hold one lion's head.
He strained the soup through a high-mesh gauze to remove excess impurities and then poured it into the bowl, dissolving the seasoning inside.
After that, he added the halibut lion's head, covered it with the ceramic lid, locking in all the freshness, waiting for an opportunity to release it.
"I've put the lion's head on the table. Remember to try it when you're done."
"Okay, Brother Dylan!"
Three servings of lion's head. Dylan left one on the cooking counter to reward Alice and carried the remaining two out on a tray.
·
·
"You've worked hard."
Kicking Jessie, who was rambling on and on, complaining about something, with his foot, Tote gave a kind smile to Dylan, who was walking towards them carrying a tray.
He had come this time to resolve the grudges between the two and turn hostility into friendship, so he naturally wouldn't give Dylan a cold face.
Holding a grudge against a special-grade chef over such a trivial matter as buying fish? That reason seemed a bit too ridiculous no matter how he thought about it!
"Halibut lion's head, please have a try."
Without saying much, Dylan placed the two bowls in front of Tote and Jessie respectively, and then reached out to help them lift the lids.
In an instant, golden light burst out from the small bowls, directly illuminating the entire restaurant, causing Tote and Jessie to close their eyes from the brightness and attracting the attention of the surrounding customers.
"Just as I thought, the dishes in front of other people in this restaurant weren't made by this young man. I guess only this glowing dish is truly his masterpiece!"
When the golden light gradually dissipated, revealing the true appearance inside the bowls, Tote told Jessie his thoughts from just now. Then he saw Jessie's mouth wide open, a look of disbelief and shock on his face.
This made Tote somewhat puzzled.
Following his gaze, Jessie should be looking at the direction of the bowl and the lion's head!
________
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