thefictionvixens Chapter 59 The Big Flip
Chapter 59 The Big Flip
Chapter 59 The Big Flip
"That's good. It's not a big deal if you look a little older when you're young; the changes won't be as noticeable when you're really old." The head chef changed the subject: "Where did you work before?"
"I study at Ayutthaya University. I used to work in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant run by Russians, but I just quit last month."
"Oh, a student." The head chef looked down and fiddled with his tall, chimney-like chef's hat. "What do you mainly do over there?"
"I've worked on the chopping board, cooked, and worked at the stove," Li Baoqing stammered, his smile twisted by the lie. "My experience might not be particularly extensive, but my skills—I think—are alright."
"I see." The head chef paused for a moment, then nodded. "Let me explain. Summer's coming, and we have agreements with travel agencies, so we'll be seeing a significant increase in tourists. But we're short-staffed right now, so we need to find someone, mainly to prepare group meals. You know, group meals don't necessarily require extremely high skill levels, but at least a basic level of expertise and experience is necessary to ensure the quality and speed of service, right?"
"Yes, yes," Li Baoqing nodded repeatedly. Seeing his somewhat stiff expression, the head chef smiled and said, "Oh, right, I remember you said you had work experience in China before? Tell me about it."
"Yes, but it's not for work," Li Baoqing quickly replied. "I've attended a chef training course."
"Hmm, where is it?"
"Shandong." Li Baoqing had spent the entire night lying in bed making up stories, and even now he was still stammering as he said it: "Shandong has a blue sky—"
Lanxiang Vocational School, the one I attended—um—the chef training program.
"Hmm, Lanxiang Technical School, I've heard of it in China, it's quite famous, and they're really good at PUBG." The head chef pondered for a moment, seemingly hesitant, "Then—preparing some regular group meals shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"I guess so." Li Baoqing answered somewhat hesitantly. Although he could cook a few home-style dishes, he was only an amateur. Last night, he impulsively thought that applying for a chef job was a piece of cake, but now that the time had come, he had lost his confidence.
The head chef could tell he lacked confidence, so he tried asking, "Why don't you make a list first? Let's go with ten dishes and one soup, don't set the bar too high."
"Ten dishes and a soup—okay." Li Baoqing took a deep breath: "Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stewed chicken with potatoes, stir-fried pork with green peppers, hot and sour shredded potatoes, stir-fried cabbage, braised pork ribs, um—Mapo tofu, scrambled eggs with carrots, scrambled eggs with onions, stir-fried cauliflower. And add—seaweed and egg drop soup or hot and sour soup."
"Hmm." The head chef clicked his tongue noncommittally. "You can make all of these dishes?"
"Most of it—should be fine—right?" Li Baoqing didn't dare to be too certain. "I've never made Mapo Tofu before, but I can learn!"
"I understand." The head chef nodded, his expression seemingly colder than before. Li Baoqing, worried that the chef would lose interest, hurriedly broke out in a fine sweat on his forehead. "Um—um, head chef, I might not know many things, but I'm really good at cooking, really. You can let me cook one and see!"
"Really?" The head chef maintained a polite smile. "Then please tell me how to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes?"
The question "how to cook it?" definitely didn't mean asking for specific steps, but rather referring to unique tips and tricks. Li Baoqing immediately remembered what Lao Wei had once said, and hurriedly said, "Tomato and egg stir-fry is a very representative home-style dish in our country—a very representative dish, emphasizing a balance of sweet and sour, and a combination of red and yellow, making it both delicious and visually appealing."
These few sentences were utter nonsense. The head chef watched him without showing any emotion. Li Baoqing panicked slightly and stammered, "To make it taste good, it's best to use garlic for flavor. Then—fry the eggs first, then add the tomatoes. Hmm—add more eggs, because Russians don't like it too sour. More eggs—golden yellow—like a small mountain, it looks better. Tomatoes—for garnish—use sparingly, hmm."
After rambling on for a while, Li Baoqing was already sweating profusely. The head chef casually lifted his eyelids: "Anything else?"
"And—?" Li Baoqing's mind went blank. He quickly went through the cooking tips Old Wei had shared in his mind and mumbled incoherently, "And—don't add soy sauce—"
"Soy sauce?" The head chef was momentarily confused, his facial muscles twitching slightly.
A few soft laughs came from around him. Li Baoqing grinned awkwardly, his face flushed, and explained, "No, no, I mean, I mean, cough—"
"Okay, I understand." The head chef interrupted him, "There are other people coming for interviews later, you can go back and wait for news."
"Wait!" Li Baoqing said urgently, "I was a little nervous just now. Actually, I'm quite good at cooking. Please let me give it a try!"
The head chef pursed his lips impatiently, while Li Baoqing pleaded earnestly, "Please give me a chance to try. Of the dishes on the menu—except for Mapo Tofu—if you don't like even one, I'll leave immediately!"
The head chef glanced at his watch, hesitated for a moment, probably thinking that it would be difficult to find a satisfactory Chinese chef here. Although this young man was not very reliable, the salary would not be too high either. So he reluctantly nodded: "Alright, you can give it a try."
Li Baoqing was overjoyed and quickly stood up to thank him. The head chef led him to the back kitchen and pointed to the outermost stove, saying, "It'll be right there."
The vegetables are washed, but not chopped yet. There's a spice rack nearby; feel free to use it.
Master chefs cook differently from home cooks. They usually don't pour bottles and jars of seasonings directly into the pot. Instead, they store various commonly used seasonings in wide-mouthed containers and use a spatula to take them out while cooking. This is convenient, quick, and easy to control the amount.
Li Baoqing excitedly tidied up the stove, casually pulling a spice rack to his side. Turning to chop vegetables, he noticed four or five people scattered behind him; they were staff members who had been resting in the restaurant and had come to see what was going on. Looking at the head chef, he saw him staring indifferently at the spice rack beside him, seemingly quite dismissive.
"Head Chef, is there a problem?" Li Baoqing asked sincerely. "I don't have much experience, so please point out any mistakes I've made."
"Hey buddy, you've arranged these spice racks incorrectly." A skinny young man answered for the head chef, "Powdered ingredients should be placed on the outside, and sauces on the inside. You've put them up backwards."
Contrary to most people's instincts, professional chefs typically place sauces like soy sauce and vinegar on the side closest to them, while dry powders like salt and MSG are placed further away.
The reason for this arrangement is that commonly used powders, when sprinkled into sauces, will not affect their original flavor. However, once sauces drip into powders, they are difficult to handle, especially colorless ingredients like white vinegar, which are hard to detect in time. Wasting an entire jar of seasoning is a minor issue; if the dish's flavor is altered as a result, it can at least displease customers and, in severe cases, damage the restaurant's reputation.
Li Baoqing had seen the head chef use the spice rack before at Huanghai, but he had never noticed this detail. After hearing the young man say this, he didn't understand what the significance was. He could only obediently adjust the position of the spices as instructed, and then stood there blankly like a schoolboy who had made a mistake, stealing glances at the head chef.
The head chef raised his chin expressionlessly: "Continue." Li Baoqing breathed a sigh of relief, picked up a few tomatoes, walked to the cutting board, and decided to make a tomato and egg stir-fry to make up for the bad influence of the words "don't add soy sauce" earlier.
As he finished chopping the tomatoes, someone else had already beaten the eggs. Li Baoqing stood by the stove, calmed himself down, turned on the fire, heated the oil, scrambled the eggs, and finally poured all the tomatoes into the pan.
The tomatoes and eggs, a vibrant mix of red and yellow, looked delicious. Li Baoqing breathed a sigh of relief, feeling he'd controlled the heat quite well. The skinny young man, seemingly testing him, suddenly shouted, "Give me a big flip!"
"Okay!" Li Baoqing replied casually, his mind blank. The term "big flipper" sounded familiar to him, but he had no idea what it meant.
But this was a crucial moment, and he absolutely couldn't show any weakness. Li Baoqing hesitated for a moment, then raised the ladle and swung it vigorously, flicking his wrist slightly as if juggling, and tossed it into the air. The large ladle somersaulted a few times in the air, splashing out several drops of soup before landing steadily back in Li Baoqing's hand.
This toss was purely impromptu; Li Baoqing had never tried it before, and to his surprise, he succeeded on the first try, which made him extremely proud. Little did he know that "big flipping" is a culinary term. Chefs are accustomed to calling the round-bottomed iron wok used for stir-frying a "stir-fry ladle," so the "ladle" here does not refer to a ladle used for stir-frying, but rather to the wok itself.
"Flipping the wok" is what ordinary people call tossing the wok, and it is a basic skill that professional chefs must learn. "Big flipping the wok" is the most difficult one, which means that the chef holds the wok with one hand, throws the dish into the air, flips it 180 degrees, and then puts it back into the wok steadily. It is often used in cooking processes such as braising and stewing when the soup is thick, the ingredients need to be kept intact, and excessive stirring is not advisable.
A burst of laughter erupted behind him, and the skinny young man was so amused he could barely stand up straight, leaning on the table and panting, "Are you kidding me, bro? I told you to use a stir-fry ladle, not a vegetable ladle! You're really inventive, is this something you learned at Lanxiang Vocational School?"
Li Baoqing immediately understood the meaning of "big flip," but it was too late. Overwhelmed with shame, he quickly turned around and said, "Oh! Oh! Big flip, I know! That was just a warm-up, hehe, getting ready to move."
As he spoke, he turned his head, closed his eyes tightly, and quickly reviewed all the wok-flipping movements he had ever seen in his mind. He swiftly deduced the key points of the movements, then steeled himself, gently pushed the wok forward, and then forcefully flicked it upward, letting out a low shout: "Hey!"
Cooking is a profession that highly values experience and practice. Chefs rely on practice to master the skill, and a skillful flipping motion, which relies entirely on finesse, requires long-term practice to achieve proficiency. Li Baoqing had never even tried it before, and his casual flipping, with excessive force, resulted in predictable consequences.
With a few exclamations, most of the pot of bright yellow eggs and bright red tomatoes shot into the air like firecrackers, then scattered like petals in the soup. Even though Li Baoqing dodged in time, quite a bit of the red and yellow stuff still landed on his shoulders, scalding him so much that he jumped around and squeaked. He quickly threw down the wok and took off his shirt.