After lunch the next day, while everyone else was resting, Jiang Yu and Jia Dequan closed the door and hid in the pantry.
"Have you decided which culinary ’specialty’ you want to learn?"
Once inside, Jia Dequan took a kitchen knife from the rack, weighed it in his hand, and glanced at Jiang Yu with a smile,
"Don’t worry too much about it, there’s more than just you participating in the culinary performance activity, several master chefs will be there. Generally, one person performs one act, so mastering one ’specialty’ is completely enough.
For such performance-oriented programs, it’s all about how to attract people. Otherwise, why do you think those master chefs practice riding unicycles to cut noodles or doing stunts while making noodles? It’s rely to catch the eye!
Of course, those flashy tricks are not our style!"
Jiang Yu asked, "Um, then which do you think is suitable for to learn?"
"If you’re really unsure about what to learn, then just learn how to carve a fishnet out of a carrot."
Jia Dequan thought for a mont and directly made the decision for Jiang Yu, chuckling as he said,
"Actually, it’s not really a ’specialty’. As long as you grasp the technique, anyone can cut it out. But if you don’t know the technique, no matter how skilled you are with a knife, you won’t be able to do it.
As I’ve ntioned before, the culinary performance is about capturing people’s attention. The first ti soone sees a carrot cut into a fishnet, those unaware will surely be astonished!"
"Then let’s learn this one."
Jiang Yu agreed imdiately without thinking, smiling as he said,
"Actually, I’m quite curious too, how can you cut a carrot to make it look like a net with holes?"
"Then you’d better watch closely."
Jia Dequan didn’t reveal it yet but chuckled before turning to the fridge, taking out a carrot, washing it, and cutting off the ends, leaving the middle section. He then looked up and smiled at Jiang Yu, reminding him,
"I’m starting now!"
As soon as Jia Dequan started to move the knife, Jiang Yu’s eyes were fixed on him, carefully observing each of his carrot-cutting movents and details, while silently calculating in his mind.
If you divide a carrot into four sides, the upward-facing side is the A side, the downward-facing side is the C side, and the left and right are the B side and D side respectively. In this way, Jia Dequan’s seemingly chaotic carrot cutting thod becos pretty clear.
First, he made a thin cut on the A side, which needed special attention to not surpass the center of the carrot. After making this cut, the carrot was flipped 180 degrees and similarly cut thinly on the C side, without surpassing the center.
Then, he flipped it 90 degrees to cut the B side, and again flipped it 180 degrees to cut the D side.
The whole carrot was cut down in the A-C-B-D sequence, and each cut needed to be of consistent thickness without exceeding the center of the carrot.
Being a top culinary master in the country, Jia Dequan’s knife skills were naturally superb. A short carrot didn’t take much ti in his hands.
He continuously spun the carrot with one hand while the other held the knife, slicing quickly, making Jiang Yu’s eyes blur. Within just a few breaths, he finished cutting the entire carrot.
"Did you see it clearly?"
After completing the cutting, Jia Dequan looked up, smilingly glanced at Jiang Yu.
In his hands, the carrot looked intact at first glance, but it had been thoroughly sliced, resembling a cucumber cloak but actually different in thod.
When Jia Dequan asked, Jiang Yu reminisced briefly about his movents in his mind, nodding slightly and hesitantly said:
"Um, more or less."
"Oh? Did you really see it clearly?"
Jia Dequan seed a bit surprised, glanced up at Jiang Yu before smilingly saying,
"That’s good. Next, I’ll continue operating."
With that, he picked up the carrot that had been cut once, laid it flat on the cutting board, and while slowly turning, he carefully shaved a thin layer off the carrot.
This cutting thod was sowhat similar to peeling an apple, slow and cautious to ensure it doesn’t break midway, and continued slicing until reaching the core for completion.
After slicing the entire carrot, Jia Dequan reached over to scoop so salt, sprinkled it over the spread carrot, and then rolled the carrot back up, gently holding it to let the salt penetrate the carrot.
As he operated, Jia Dequan laughed and asked Jiang Yu, "Do you know the purpose of doing this?"
"To soften the carrot a bit."
Jiang Yu knew that Jia Dequan was asking about the purpose of salting, as the salt would draw out moisture from the carrot, naturally softening it.
"Yes, once the carrot softens, it’s ti to witness the miracle!"
Jia Dequan smiled at Jiang Yu, placing the carrot, which started releasing water, onto the cutting board, and slowly unfolding it along where it was rolled up before.
After the carrot was fully spread, Jia Dequan extended both hands to gently pinch the edges of the carrot, slightly pulling outward, instantly revealing a vibrant red, distinctly shed carrot "fishnet" in front of Jiang Yu.
User Comments
0 comments from readers