Chapter 569: Chapter 562: Locked in a Battle with Tofu
When you have something to look forward to, no matter how busy work gets, you don’t feel tired.
During the day, in the barbecue area, amidst smoke and flames, sweating profusely taking orders and grilling.
At night, after the shift change, Fu Yu hurriedly went back to change clothes and dashed to Qianlima by taxi.
He is currently a chef at three restaurants.
Qianlima is his permanent job, the music restaurant is part-time, and at Shangshi Private Kitchen, he is learning cooking while also manning the stove.
It’s a bit like a celebrity on tour...
Upon arriving at Shangshi Private Kitchen, Fu Yu first changed clothes and then went directly to the back kitchen.
As soon as he entered, he heard Liu Zhangpeng angrily scolding a young worker.
Beside him, Wang Yulong stood by the sink, running cold water over the index and middle fingers of his burned right hand.
While preparing ingredients, a young worker accidentally knocked over a jug of boiling hot oil when changing the oil. Reflexively trying to catch it with his hand, Wang Yulong, standing nearby, quickly stopped him.
But in the rush, Wang Yulong’s right index and middle fingers got splashed with hot oil.
It wasn’t too serious; his fingertips turned red from the burn, and when rinsing with cold water, there was a distinct stinging sensation. Blisters were likely to form.
It just so happened his right hand was injured, which would impact both wielding a ladle and chopping vegetables.
In the kitchen, such burns and cuts occur frequently, so Wang Yulong skillfully treated his own burn.
While rinsing, he also tried to calm the angry Liu Zhangpeng.
It was the young worker’s fault for being careless and not quick-witted. If he had reacted just a bit quicker, even if a jug of hot oil spills, people wouldn’t necessarily get hurt if they promptly dodge it.
It wasn’t really that big of a deal.
However, he panicked, and in his confusion, tried to support the hot oil jug with his hand.
If Wang Yulong hadn’t reacted quickly to save him, he would likely be waiting for an ambulance now.
After blowing off steam, Liu Zhangpeng confirmed that Wang Yulong wasn’t seriously hurt, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But then, Liu Yunong had a last-minute emergency and couldn’t make it to the restaurant, and now with Wang Yulong’s hand injured, the only one left to man the stove was Liu Zhangpeng himself.
Unfortunately, today is not a rest day, with only two semi-finished dishes on the menu of ten; the remaining eight need to be cooked on the spot.
It’s simply maddening!
Just then, a server from the front hall came to deliver a new order: "A customer has just walked in!"
Liu Zhangpeng hurriedly took the order and glanced at the dishes; not too bad, only four dishes were ordered.
The kitchen staff immediately sprang into action; except for Wang Yulong still rinsing his hand with cold water, everyone else attended to their duties and began working.
Fu Yu picked up today’s recipe and took a look.
Ten dishes, all unfamiliar.
Fortunately, since customers usually arrive late at the restaurant, when Liu Zhangpeng is taking and preparing orders, Fu Yu stands beside him, assisting and learning the cooking processes.
Maybe it was psychological, but after last night’s practical lesson, Fu Yu felt his learning ability had significantly improved.
Even with a dish he had never seen before, just by watching Liu Zhangpeng cook it once, Fu Yu could accurately remember all the cooking steps and even spot subtle mistakes in the process.
This made Fu Yu very pleasantly surprised.
So as he observed Liu Zhangpeng cooking, he became even more attentive and careful.
Because he was so focused, not only was he able to efficiently learn cooking techniques, but he could also accurately anticipate the continuity of Liu Zhangpeng’s every move.
Fu Yu threw himself wholeheartedly into learning cooking.
The person who benefited the most turned out to be Liu Zhangpeng.
Liu Zhangpeng had never cooked this smoothly before.
Having such a good assistant felt as though he had grown two more arms.
This was exactly how Liu Zhangpeng felt now.
No matter what dish he was cooking or what he was doing, as long as he reached out, he could immediately get what he wanted, almost without missing once.
This not only improved his cooking efficiency but also made it much less stressful for him.
Without needing to say even a single unnecessary word, Fu Yu could understand his thoughts with just a glance or a gesture.
This feeling was just too satisfying!
However, even with a capable assistant saving a lot of time,
but with only one chef available in the kitchen, and more and more customers starting to come into the dining area,
handling one or two orders was manageable, but as the orders began piling up, the kitchen quickly became overwhelmed.
Liu Zhangpeng had just casually taped the latest order receipt to the kitchen wall when the intercom hanging by the rotating bar counter burst into sound.
The young worker nearby quickly pressed to answer.
Zhang Conglin’s voice soon came through: "Customer order: six servings of Stuffed Tofu. Kitchen, hurry up! The customer wants the food quickly!"
When the front hall urgently reports an order like this over the intercom, it typically means it’s tricky to deal with the customer.
Sure enough, upon hearing Zhang Conglin’s words, the kitchen crew was momentarily stunned.
The customer actually ordered six servings of the same dish and wanted them quickly.
No time to complain, Liu Zhangpeng continued with his work.
He still had two pending orders that needed cooking.
Stuffed Tofu was a featured dish on today’s menu.
Because of its complex cooking method and distinctive flavor, it was considered the highlight of the menu.
If Wang Yulong could handle the stove, even without Liu Yunong, the kitchen might manage to keep up.
But now, with all orders falling solely on Liu Zhangpeng’s shoulders, it was truly overwhelming!
At Shangshi Private Kitchen, culinary practices are held to very high standards.
Not only must the food look, smell, and taste good, but every step of the process comes with unique requirements and guidelines.
For instance, in the Stuffed Tofu dish, all the tofu pieces must be uniform in size. There’s a precise demand for the weight of each piece and the amount of stuffing used.
This necessitates the chef having extensive experience to meticulously manage every step during the cooking process.
Sweat beaded on Liu Zhangpeng’s forehead.
Holding the order slips, other tables had already been served, allowing him to spare a bit of time for other orders.
But the order for one table of six servings of Stuffed Tofu was truly a headache.
Why did it have to be tofu, of all things?
To prepare just one serving of Stuffed Tofu takes half an hour.
And to ensure taste and quality, the frying pan can only handle two servings at a time.
Cooking these six servings would require an hour and a half.
Now, right at the peak dining hours when customers were flocking in.
The time taken to cook this one order could cost them the chance to take two more orders.
With sweat forming on his forehead, one hand flipping the wok, the other rapidly calculating the best course of action to handle the upcoming orders,
