Chef Hua
Chapter 324 - 186: Homestyle Flavor

Chapter 324: Chapter 186: Homestyle Flavor

The food box delivered from Zhenwei Garden was still warm to the touch. Hua Xiaomai stood by the stove and tasted each of the four dishes carefully.

The "Drunk Marrow" was made by cracking open pig bones to extract the spine marrow intact, scalding it briefly in boiling water, and then marinating it in thick Shao Wine and salt. While the ingredients were deceivingly simple, the dish had no trace of fishiness at all; it was smooth and yet had a bounce to it, almost not requiring any chewing. Once placed in the mouth, it would roll down the throat, leaving a subtly sour taste of wine and a soft aroma lingering on the tip of the tongue;

"Hundred Fruit Trotter" involved cooking a large trotter until halfway done, removing the tendons and bones while keeping its shape intact, then stuffing it with walnut kernels, pine nuts, diced ham, and bits of skin and tendon. After being securely tied with string and cooked until tender, the trotter was soaked in aged lees oil for at least half a day before being cut into small pieces to eat. The steaming and cooking process allowed the sweet aroma of various nuts to thoroughly permeate into the pork. The soaking in lees oil sealed the meat and nut aromas firmly under the skin. It might look unremarkable on the surface, but one bite revealed a richness that wasn’t greasy, filling the mouth with an indescribable beauty of flavors.

As for the "Net-fat Roll" and "Waist and Stomach Double Crispy," both dishes were equally aromatic and savory, making one’s mouth water with pleasure.

Hua Xiaomai had always considered herself a true professional in the culinary arts. In the year or so since she had come to live in Fire Knife Village, she had encountered quite a few skilled chefs, whether it was Chef Wei from Chunfeng Restaurant or Song Jingxi from Taoyuan House in the Provincial City. If one set aside their reprehensible deeds, they could indeed be considered one in a hundred great chefs, their dishes all had excellent flavor and aroma. However, Lei An’s wife’s cooking shook her to her core for the first time.

She could tell that Lei An’s wife must not have received formal chef training. As someone who had graduated from a proper Chef School, her knife skills, control of the heat, seasoning—everything was mastered with precision, able to produce two dishes that at least appeared completely identical in appearance. In contrast, the four dishes before her resembled a whole bowl of ink splashed freely on white paper. Each cooking session produced flavors that were uniquely one of a kind.

Perhaps it could be said that the food made by Hua Xiaomai allowed one to immediately recognize the hand of a master chef, yet it could never escape a strong "restaurant flavor," lacking a certain sincerity; whereas the four dishes made by Lei An’s wife, though not without their imperfections, were also filled with a warm, home-cooked feeling.

The fragrant wine and delicious dishes of restaurants and eateries were, in the end, just places for a feast, but only the smoky flavor of the home kitchen was inseparable for a lifetime!

"Is it really that delicious?" Seeing Hua Xiaomai staring blankly at the four dishes, La Mei got a bit suspicious and reached for a pair of chopsticks. "I don’t believe it. Can there really be such extraordinary dishes in this world that take the soul away from a master chef at just one bite? I must have a taste..."

Without finishing her sentence, she popped a piece of the Net-fat Roll into her mouth. Immediately, the words she was about to say were stuck, her eyebrows knitting slightly, seemingly touched.

Hua Xiaomai understood and felt no need to ask further. She just smiled at La Mei and then walked out.

...

That afternoon, after taking care of miscellaneous tasks at the small restaurant, Hua Xiaomai went to Zhenwei Garden alone.

The front courtyard was already a bustling scene. The workers carried in water to clean the seven or eight large sauce vats arrayed open-air in the middle of the yard once more. Lei An had repeatedly warned that during the making of the sauce, the biggest taboo was the vats getting dusty, which would not only spoil the flavor but could even cause the entire vat of sauce to become sour and smelly. Thus, the whole place was washed clean inside and out, with water splashing everywhere, seeping through the cracks in the blue bricks and into the ground, flowing down to the entrance.

Just as Hua Xiaomai stepped into the courtyard, Lei An and his wife came forward to greet her.

"We’ve been waiting for you," he said, a slight shyness in his smile, rubbing his hands. "When I came over from Qingping County, Master Wu told me that you have your own judgments about the taste of the sauces and instructed us to listen to everything you say, and not to make rash decisions. So I think the type of sauce and the proportion of ingredients should be decided after you’ve had a look. See—" he said, pointing toward the materials laid out by the western wall. "All the necessary ingredients have been brought back by little Hazi, would you like to take a look first?"