Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 57 Getting to Work with Potatoes

If you can quickly slice potatoes into thin slices or shreds, then your knife skills are basically fine.

There were nearly thirty people in the restaurant and kitchen. Even if each person ate two potatoes, that would be more than sixty. Chef Zhang gritted his teeth and kept chopping until after six o'clock in the evening. He chopped for more than three hours without going to the toilet. Xia Maosheng even fell asleep on Sister Jin's small bed.

The happiest person was the worker who usually cut potatoes for the staff meals. He was so used to cutting potatoes that he felt like throwing up every time he saw them. Now he was free and was helping Sister Jin prepare the side dishes. He was working with great energy. Then look at this bowl of potato slices. It was a disaster. Some were too thin, some were too thick, especially the ones at the bottom of the bowl. Xiao Wei himself was ashamed when he saw them.

The student cook who was preparing the staff meals came by several times, glancing at the food in the pot with a long face, then leaving in despair, repeating this process repeatedly. The worst thing in cooking is having food that is uneven in thickness and size. It's impossible to control the heat; the thinner pieces cook while the thicker ones remain raw, and vice versa. It's extremely easy to burn the food.

After Xiaowei finally finished slicing, Xuegong came over carefully and said, "Brother, you need to soak the potato slices in water after slicing them. Also, brother, could you get another bowl and separate the thick and thin slices? Try to put the thick ones in one bowl so I can cook them in two batches, otherwise they'll stick to the pan."

Sister Jin smiled and took a bowl, saying, "Let's divide it up. He'll get scolded if we put it in the pot like this. Put the thicker pieces in this bowl. It's alright. It's your first time cutting. Look at the ones at the back, they're pretty good. You'll get used to it after a few days. What's so difficult about it? Before I started out, I wasn't as good as you. I spent months cutting potato slices and scallion shreds."

Sister Jin quickly divided a bowl of potato slices into two bowls and soaked them in water, saying, "Potatoes and sweet potatoes have a lot of starch, so you have to soak them after cutting them, otherwise they'll burn in the pot. Are you tired? Do you have blisters on your hands? It's okay, you can pick them off tonight, and they'll be fine by tomorrow morning. Look at my hands, they were covered in blisters back then, but you'll get better with practice." Sister Jin showed her right hand, revealing dark scars on the web of her thumb and forefinger, as well as on her left index and middle fingers, which were cuts.

Sister Jin touched her right hand and said, "You'll get calluses eventually. It takes time. Look at those veteran chefs, their hands are all covered in calluses. Do you think handling a big ladle or spatula doesn't hurt your hands? You have to suffer a little before you start doing anything. Nobody can escape it."

Xiao Wei looked at the blisters on the web of his right hand and nodded. He thought back to when he first started farming; his hands were covered in blisters too. When he first started working on the construction site, the pain was so bad he couldn't even hold chopsticks, but he persevered and did a better job than others. What was chopping vegetables compared to that? He clenched his fist and said to Sister Jin, "Thank you, Sister Jin. I'll treat you to a meal sometime. I refuse to believe I'll be working with potatoes for the next few days."

Sister Jin smiled and said, "No need, you were going to help my family harvest rice, it's only right that I do."

Xiao Wei's face paled. He turned his head and glanced at Xia Maosheng, who was sleeping like a pig. This guy had actually been asleep for so long and hadn't woken up yet.

Sister Jin then took another piece of meat and threw it on the chopping block, saying, "Come on, try cutting some meat again, just slice it." The student next to her twitched, wanted to say something but swallowed it back, and stood to the side staring at Xiao Wei.

Sister Jin glanced at the student and said, "Zhang Wei, look how scared you scared Xiao Wang today, hahaha. Today was the hardest day to cook for the staff, hahaha. It's okay, Xiao Wang, I'll do it in a bit. I'll just add some broth and simmer it. As long as it's cooked, it's fine. Just reduce the broth. You idiot."

Xiao Wang blushed slightly and said, "It's not Sister Jin, it's mainly because Brother Liu has to scold people."

Sister Jin said, "It's okay, they'll be coming down for their internships soon. I guess the vegetables and meat will have to be like this for a while. Who is he yelling at? He just said I did it."

Xiao Wei licked his lips, looked at the pieces of meat on the chopping block, glanced at Sister Jin, and reached out to pick up the cleaver.

He imitated Xia Maosheng's actions that day, first examining the shape of the meat chunks, then cutting along the long side to divide the meat into several strips, and then starting to slice it. Sister Jin nodded and said, "Isn't this good? It's okay to go slowly, try to slice it as thinly as possible, cut steadily, and don't hesitate."

There weren't many customers at the moment, and the apprentices, laborers, and a few chefs didn't have much to do. They all watched Xiaowei slicing meat piece by piece, and Xiaowei felt a lot of mental pressure.

After chopping for a while, footsteps sounded at the door, and Brother Liu walked in with his head tilted back. Seeing the group of people gathered around, he said, "What are you all doing? Nothing to do?"

Everyone scattered like birds and beasts, except for a few chefs who stood there smiling and smoking without moving.

Brother Liu walked over, glanced down, and laughed, saying, "You're that Zhang Wei who's never chopped vegetables before, right? Haha, it's alright, take your time chopping, just don't slow down the work here. This thing is easy, you'll get used to it." He looked around and asked an older chef next to him, "Uncle Wang, are there not many people upstairs today?"

Master Wang glanced at his watch and said, "There aren't many people today. There's only one table in front of us. Let's finish."

Brother Liu thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we set aside a few stove holes to prepare for the feast the day after tomorrow? The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home."

Master Wang nodded, turned to assign tasks to the apprentices, and then said to Sister Jin, "Don't let him cut the ingredients for the banquet; it'll delay things. Let him chop the filling. Xiao Zhang, right? If you want to do it later, help me chop the meat filling, and I'll teach you a trick. You've never done this before, but you're energetic enough; practice more."

Sister Jin agreed and said to Xiao Wei, "Then you can finish cutting this meat slice and then chop the filling. Master Wang is a very nice person; he'll do whatever you ask." She winked at Xiao Wei, indicating that he should guide Master Wang. Xiao Wei nodded and looked at Master Wang.

Master Wang was bending over as he selected ingredients. He picked out a bowl of meat and had the handyman bring it to the chopping block, saying, "This is all. Remove the tendons and membranes and chop it into minced meat. After you're done chopping, I'll teach you how to add the other ingredients."

Xiao Wei reached out and picked up a piece of meat. It was red, and except for the cut edges, it was surrounded by white fascia. He looked at it and asked, "How do you prepare this?"

Master Wang walked over, smiling, and picked up a slicing knife. He said, "Slice along the membrane to separate the meat first, then make an incision. Like this, slice it flat against the surface. Coordinate with your left hand. See? Do you understand?" He skillfully cut the meat into several pieces along the fascia, made an incision on one piece, and then cut from the incision. With a twist of his left hand, he left a complete piece of fascia on the chopping block.

Looking at the intact fascia, Xiao Wei subconsciously said, "Amazing, Master Wang is awesome."

Master Wang smiled, put down his knife, and said, "I reckon anyone but you can do this. This is the most basic thing. Take your time. If you want to be a skilled fighter, you need a solid foundation." He then turned and went off to get busy.

Sister Jin took the piece of fascia in her hand and said, "You finish slicing the meat first, and then I'll teach you how to do it. Don't rush."

Brother Liu took a quick look around and left. The head chef's job is really easy. As long as nothing goes wrong, he can do whatever he wants. He basically doesn't do any work but earns the most.

Several chefs began to assign tasks, and soon the apprentices and laborers got busy. None of this concerned Xiaowei; he was just slicing meat piece by piece. The back of the knife hurt a little when it rubbed against the blisters, but he pressed down hard on his hands and it was fine.