The reluctance here doesn’t an that they can’t slice it, but rather that they can’t do it effortlessly or as quickly, let alone slicing it with a thick chef’s knife.
Old Qin can slice effortlessly, but only with a slicing knife. With a thick knife like Huang Tao’s, he couldn’t guarantee his hands wouldn’t shake.
"Wow..."
Xixi exclaid in awe, her little mouth opened wide as if she could fit an egg in it, and she instinctively covered it with her delicate hands like a lady.
The other employees and the couple, Song Cailian and her husband, were also amazed by Huang Tao’s exquisite knife skills!
Huang Tao didn’t get distracted in the slightest and sliced the tofu continuously to the end, his hands steady from start to finish, maintaining perfect strength and rhythm.
He then washed the chef’s knife with clean water, and using his hands, he sprinkled so water on the sliced tofu to wash away any debris, making the texture of the tofu slices appear.
Next, he dipped the knife in water and gently tilted the tofu slices to the right, turning them over.
Once again, he dipped the knife in water and trimd off the uneven edges.
He began slicing into shreds.
The speed at which the knife rose and fell was dizzying to watch.
After he finished slicing, he poured half a basin of lukewarm water and added two teaspoons of salt, stirring a bit.
Adding salt is to eliminate the beany sll from the tofu while giving the tofu shreds so resilience, enhancing the texture.
Next, using the chef’s knife, he carefully scraped up the sliced tofu shreds and gently placed them into the basin.
Using the back of a spoon, he gently stirred the water’s surface.
In an instant,
the tofu shreds scattered like heavenly maidens scattering flowers, each piece even and delicate, resembling the blooming of a chrysanthemum.
As he stirred, the cluster of tofu shreds in the basin all unraveled, silver threads spreading throughout the water, rising and falling, srizing to behold.
Just this sight of the tofu shreds unfolding transcended cooking, reaching the realm of art.
How beautiful!
"Perfect!"
Old Qin exclaid with excitent: "When I was a chef, I was fortunate enough to witness a national master chef make Wensi Tofu live, but... he was still a bit behind Boss Huang!"
Everyone swallowed hard.
Not knowing how to describe their feelings.
"You’re too kind,"
Huang Tao humbly replied.
This unfurled tofu still needs to soak a bit longer.
Taking the opportunity,
Huang Tao sliced the other ingredients into shreds.
Tat tat tat tat tat tat...
The knife moved so fast, it was almost a blur.
Describing it as lightning-fast is not an exaggeration.
In just a few seconds,
Huang Tao had finished slicing all the ingredients, the shreds as thin as hair.
He’s very adept at slicing the ingredients, and with the aid of the Divine Level Chef’s Knife, his speed is astonishing.
"This winter bamboo shoot is different from shiitake mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms are fragile, while winter bamboo shoots are tough. However, the difficulty is no less than that of shiitake mushrooms. Especially the fibers of these bamboo shoots are very distinct. If you can’t feel the fibers accurately, even if sliced finely, they’ll scatter and break, not forming threads. To achieve this level, there’s only one possibility—Boss Huang’s familiarity with various ingredients is so deep that just by touch, he can intuitively grasp the structure and direction of the fibers, and execute it flexibly."
Old Qin looked at Huang Tao, inwardly marveling at what a master of culinary knife skills Huang Tao truly is!
"Elder Qin, you’re too kind."
Huang Tao then placed the wok on the stove, added so clean water, and prepared to blanch those ingredients.
Once the water in the pot boiled, he added a little cooking wine and stirred it evenly with a ladle.
As the water in the pot reached a boil again, he poured in the shredded ham first.
After about a minute, he took out the shredded ham.
Then he put in the cooked shredded chicken breast to blanch for a while.
He took it out after half a minute.
Then he added the shredded shiitake mushrooms and shredded bamboo shoots into the pot.
As for the pak choi, it doesn’t need blanching.
Once the Wensi Tofu is done, adding a bit of it will balance the greasiness of the dish.
After taking out the shredded mushrooms and bamboo shoots, he poured out the water in the pot, cleaned it, and placed it back on the stove.
He turned on the heat.
He dried the pot.
Poured the clear chicken broth into the pot.
And simred it over dium-low heat.
Ten minutes later,
the chicken broth in the pot was hot, with a slight foam appearing on the surface.
Huang Tao skimd off the foam one by one.
Before the water in the pot ca to a boil, he took a large fine sh strainer, placed it over an empty basin, brought the basin of soaked tofu shreds, and poured it into the strainer, filtering out the tofu shreds.
Once done, he set it aside to drain a bit.
At this point, the chicken broth in the pot was at a boil.
The distinctive fresh aroma of chicken broth instantly filled the kitchen, as if it was drilling into everyone’s nostrils.
Its enticing sll made everyone’s throats move, involuntarily swallowing a bit.
Just from slling this clear chicken broth, everyone was sure that the taste of the Wensi Tofu was guaranteed.
After skimming off the foam, Huang Tao didn’t imdiately add the tofu shreds, but first seasoned the broth.
He first added a small spoonful of salt to the pot, then half a spoonful of sugar, and so pepper, lightly stirring with the spoon.
He turned the heat to low.
Once the chicken broth in the pot stopped boiling, he added the shredded shiitake mushrooms, ham, bamboo shoots, and chicken breast to the pot, one by one.
He gently rotated the hot broth with the back of the spoon, mixing the various ingredients evenly.
Then he poured in the pre-prepared starch water.
He again gently stirred with the back of the spoon, allowing the broth and starch water to blend thoroughly.
He poured the drained tofu shreds into the pot, continuing to gently stir above the broth’s surface with the back of the spoon.
The slightly thickened chicken broth slowly unwound the tofu shreds.
Blending perfectly with the ingredients in the pot.
He continued to stir for a minute, and after the tofu shreds absorbed the flavors thoroughly, Huang Tao added the shredded pak choi into the pot, stirring to mix evenly.
This marked the completion of the Wensi Tofu, ready to be served.
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