“That goes without saying; I’m the same.”
They spoke in English, their voice neither high nor low. They chatted as they walked in.
One of the waiters in the lobby noticed. He walked up immediately and greeted them in fluent English. “Hello, Miss Elena and Miss Jessica, right?”
The reservation system had its advantages and disadvantages for Ming Yun Private Kitchen. The disadvantage was that anyone who wanted to try it had to make reservations two months in advance. They had to wait for a very long time to eat a meal.
However, this also came with certain advantages. For example, the number of guests who dined every day was fixed so Ming Yun Private Kitchen would never be crowded. The privacy of every guest could be guaranteed. At the same time, the waiters could prepare in advance to cater to individuals.
Lin Canrong specially arranged for a more famous simultaneous interpretation service provider in Jingzhou to receive them.
This young man was Jia Nuo. His English name was Lucas and had been doing simultaneous interpretation work for several years. He was well-known in Jingzhou but was worried about the prospects of his work. Simultaneous interpretation might be highly paid, but it was too tiring so he was considering changing careers.
Lin Canrong offered this young man 40,000 yuan a month. He only needed to come and receive foreign guests when they came in to dine. The maximum number of receptions was eight times a month, and they would pay him extra if he needed to work overtime.
This price might seem high, but it was not when compared to Jia Nuo’s original simultaneous interpretation job.
Jia Nuo’s service targets were mainly foreign companies in the past. His standard charges per day were about 8,000 yuan. However, that was calculated based on an eight-hour work system. That meant that he would quote 4,000 to 5,000 yuan if it was a four-hour meeting.
It was the year 2011 after all. These services would be more valuable a few years later.
Those who did not understand would calculate Jia Nuo’s salary based on a 22-day work month. That would mean that his salary would be 100,000 yuan a month. However, that was not the case.
Simultaneous interpretation was very tiring work; moreover, a large amount of preparatory work was required for large-scale business meetings. They might even need to prepare for a week or two prior to the meeting which consumed a lot of energy and time. That work was very detrimental to health.
Jia Nuo’s hourly salary might look high, but his annual income was only about 400,000 to 500,000 yuan.
Therefore, Jia Nuo accepted Lin Canrong’s invitation. On the one hand, he would have a stable monthly income. He would be able to obtain 40,000 yuan while lying at home if no guests were requiring him. On the other hand, he would be able to obtain extra money according to the pricing standard so he was not at a loss anyway. Moreover, Lin Canrong felt that it was necessary to have such a professional onboard. It might be a loss if there were no foreign guests, but as a waiter in Ming Yun Private Kitchen, Jia Nuo had to learn the English vocabulary for catering, recipes, and details of various meals and go through special service training-including mannerism, wording, expression management, and the like.
To Lin Canrong, paying a basic salary of 40,000 yuan a month was very cost-effective. Moreover, the quality of translation would translate into totally different standards.
Dining paid attention to color, fragrance, and taste. The naming of the food was as poetic as possible. It was two totally different concepts when one simply conveyed the meaning or to translate it faithfully and elegantly to foreign friends.
A smile immediately appeared on Jessica’s face when she heard his fluent English and saw his handsome appearance.
He could only say that this world was a sucker for looks…
Jia Nuo brought them to the largest private room. The tableware, tables, and chairs on the dining table had already been arranged for two; the decoration in the private room had been changed.
The meal had been booked in advance so there was no menu.
Most ingredients were special, and some dishes required more than a dozen steps in their preparation. That was why they could not be ordered on the spot. Elena smiled and said, “Lucas, the friend that pre-ordered for us told us that he ordered two of your most complicated and unique dishes. There are also new dishes this month. I hope that is not an exaggeration.
“In fact, my friend Jessica always had some prejudice against Chinese food. I’m looking forward to you being able to overturn that prejudice today.”
Chapter 541 - Steamed Chinese Cabbage in Supreme Soup
Jessica shrugged. “I don’t want to be biased against Chinese cuisine either, but I went to Ming House a few days before, and it didn’t meet my expectations.”
Elena was evidently frustrated. “I already told you that that’s not the best Chinese cuisine in Jingzhou.”
Jessica: “You were very disappointed as well, weren’t you?”
Jia Nuo smiled without chiming in on the ladies’ conversation. Just as planned, he served the dishes one by one according to the schedule.
The first dish was a small appetizer—the Four Seasons Cold Platter.
The Four Seasons Cold Platter contained four appetizers: pickled cucumbers, vegetarian goose meat, braised bamboo shoots, and candied plums. There was a variety of flavors in that one dish.
Immediately after that came the Lettuce-Wrapped Shrimp Floss. It was made by dicing and stir-frying fresh shrimp, onions, celery, and other ingredients; mixing them with golden, fried, and crispy dough sticks; and then wrapping them all with lettuce.
Then came the famous traditional dish-the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid.
Elena was very adept with her chopsticks while Jessica looked like she was struggling more. Still, that did not stop her from enjoying the delicacies.
Before serving the dishes, Jia Nuo introduced each of their special characteristics and other details in English. He had prepared the introductions well. They were short and sweet.
If they were too short, he would not be able to cover every detail hidden inside the dish. Yet, if they were too long, the customers’ enjoyment of the dish would be affected.
After all, most Chinese cuisines had to be served warm. Once too much time passed, they would not taste as good. At the same time, customers could not be expected to divide their attention and listen to complicated processes and steps while eating the food.
Trying to achieve too much often resulted in customers not being able to enjoy the taste of the food or remember details in the introduction.
Thus, Jia Nuo had revised the contents of his introduction multiple times to make sure that he had a perfect grasp of the timing. That would ensure that customers understood each dish well enough and yet managed to enjoy their taste without interruptions.
As Elena listened to Jia Nuo, she nonchalantly touched the sides of the plates. The minute details determined one’s experience of dining in high-end restaurants.
Some high-end restaurants that didn’t pay enough attention to details would not even bother to check if all water droplets had been wiped off the goblets after washing them.
If they neglected to do that, just a little bit of dust in the surroundings would cause marks to be left behind after the water droplets dried.
Of course, very few high-end restaurants committed such mistakes these days.
Another common problem was the temperature of the plates.
Cold dishes had to be served on cold plates, and warm dishes had to be served on warm plates. If waiters were slow to serve the dishes, the plates would get cold, and the dish would have to be prepared from scratch.
Elena had already lightly touched the sides of the plates for the three dishes that had been served so far. At once, she could tell that the temperature of each plate was within the acceptable range. Everything has been well taken care of.
On top of that, Elena had been taking note of the plating Matching of shapes, blending of colors, and ty
pes of cutlery… all of it was like art. The chef could give each dish emotions and a soul through his plating. The plating of the last three dishes could be called works of art, and Elena was very satisfied.
On the other hand, Jessica did not know as much. All she knew was that the Chinese cuisine that she was having today was different from anything she had had before. It looked about the same, but for some reason, it felt so mystifying that she could not find the right words to describe it. As Jessica ate, she exclaimed, “Is this Braised Pork Belly Pyramid one of the two complicated dishes that we ordered?”
Elena shook her head. “Apparently not.”
She turned to Jia Nuo. “Lucas, the first few dishes were outstanding, but I’ve had all of them at other high-end restaurants before. Take the Four Seasons Cold Platter for example – I had it in an outstanding Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley before.
“As for the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid, I had it at an elite private kitchen in Xiamen. Each has its own merits in terms of taste. You’re not lacking compared to the other restaurants, but I’m not completely won over by you either.”
Jia Nuo smiled. “Then, you must have had the next dish before as well; it’s a Western dessert called Verjus in Egg.” Elena and Jessica looked at the dishes that had just been placed in front of them.
It was… an egg.
Jessica was confused. “Did you boil this egg using Verjus drizzled in water? Lucas, I recall you saying that this is a dessert.”
Verjus was a rich and sour juice made from raw grapes. It was not common in countries outside of England, and ordinary people would not like it either. However, Jessica and Elena were obviously pleasantly surprised.
To provide a picture of how they felt, one could think of how those born and raised in Beijing would feel upon finding Beijing’s orange soda in Silicon Valley. Looking excited, Elena said, “Yes, this is a dessert. Everything on this plate can be eaten.”
Jia Nuo smiled as he began his introduction of the dish. “I guess Miss Elena is familiar with this dish. This little legg’ is a product of close to a hundred steps and over seventy ingredients.”
Elena reminded Jessica, “Jessica, you had better eat the eggshell, the egg yolk, and the egg white together. The mixture of different flavors would be perfect.”
Jessica tried a small mouthful of the dish, and her eyes immediately lit up.
“Oh, what a familiar taste! What are these egg-like things?” Jia Nuo answered, “The egg white is coconut-flavored panna cotta; the egg yolk is Verjus cooked and boiled with spices; and the eggshell is chocolate. The ‘birds nest’ at the bottom is made from honey and syrup, and the surrounding embellishments are Kabosu jelly -a type of citrus-fruit unique to East Asian islands.
“This is an extremely complicated dish. Every step is akin to a science experiment. Accuracy and precision are required in every detail, including the preparation of ingredients.
“The chef must be extremely careful with the ratio of ingredients, the temperature of ingredients, heat applied, and the like. A single misstep, such as making it one or two degrees hotter or adding one or two additional grams of ingredients, could lead to failure.”
Elena added, “Even in England, there are very few restaurants that can produce this dessert.”
The dessert had obviously surpassed Jessica’s expectations. Once again, she exclaimed, “It’s delicious! Thank you for giving us this surprise. However… this dish strengthens my support for Western cuisine all the more.”
Locals probably would not think that the dessert was that delicious. At most, they would wonder at the skills required, the dish’s complexity, and its looks.
The egg’s shell, white, and yolk looked extremely real. The shell, especially, looked no different from real eggshells—it was extremely thin.
However, the taste would not suit locals’ taste buds because Verjus was too sour. Most people would not feel accustomed to it.
Still, it tasted just like home for Jessica.
There were meant to be two complex dishes, but the first had already raised Jessica’s expectations through the roof. Elena could not help but worry if the next dish could live up to their expectations.
If it could not, it would not help Jessica to rid herself of her prejudices against Chinese cuisine. Although it would probably be delicious, the Verjus in Egg would still leave the deepest impression in Jessica’s mind.
The waiter placed a flat bowl in the middle of the table.
Elena’s eyes widened.
Inside the flat bowl were four or five pieces of leaves, spread out in the shape of a water lily. It was… cabbage?
The stalks and leaves did not look like they had been cooked at all. In fact, they looked raw. There was also clear soup in the pot with no hint of oil or color. All they could see was smoke. It looked no different from ordinary boiled water.
At first glance, the dish looked like someone had arranged raw cabbage in the shape of a water lily in the flat bowl before pouring boiling water on top of it.
Elena became doubtful. She knew that cabbage was one of the cheapest ingredients in the market. In fact, it was so cheap that people would describe cheap items as being sold at a ‘cabbage price’.
Jia Nuo was in no hurry to introduce how the dish was prepared. Instead, he gestured at it and said, “This is Steamed Chinese Cabbage in Supreme Soup. Please try it before I introduce it to you.”
Half-suspicious, Elena picked up a Cabbage leaf and put it into her mouth.
However, it did not taste cold and raw like she expected. Instead, it felt soft and tender in her mouth. Obviously, it was fully-cooked and yet surprisingly fresh. She had never tasted cabbage as refreshing and delicious as this before!
Then, Elena scooped a spoonful of soup. A delightful and indescribable taste stimulated her taste buds and took her breath away.
Jessica’s face froze as well. Obviously, she had not expected this dish to taste so outstanding. Smiling, Jia Nuo explained, “This dish is made using cabbage that has become compact and firm all the way through, which normally happens in late autumn, when the ground starts to frost up.
“Once the cabbage becomes firm, it has to be harvested immediately. We’re not in the right season now, but we can achieve the same effect by controlling the surrounding temperature very well.“Then, we removed the two outer layers, leaving only a fist-sized portion with white leaves and tender stems. After soaking the roots of the vegetable in a prepared stock so that it becomes soft, we peeled off four or five leaves and formed a water lily on top of a flat sieve.
“We then used a silver needle to pierce the heart of the cabbage repeatedly, covering the cabbage with pores that are invisible to the naked eye.
“For the soup, we chose a chicken that was neither too fat nor too tender. It could neither be too oily nor overcooked. The fats and insides of the chicken were scraped off before it was repeatedly washed with water to get rid of the blood.
“Then, we blanched the chicken in boiling water, moved it into pure, boiling water, and then added other ingredients like abalone slices and white mushroom shreds. The soup was left to simmer for four or five hours until it was tasty enough.
“Then, we took the whole chicken out and added chicken flakes to the soup to absorb the oil. Finally, we added the meat paste formed from the chicken breast into the soup, left it to boil, and then ran it through a fine sieve.
“Combining the soup and the cabbage was the most important step. We needed two separate fires and pots. One pot was to hold the sieve with the cabbage leaves on top while the other was to hold the well-prepared soup.
“The pot with the sieve was to be kept warm over low heat. The pot with the soup was to be kept over even lower heat, so that the soup could be maintained between seventy to eighty degrees Celsius. Everything had to be precise. “After that, a large spoon was used to scoop the warm soup and pour it over the cabbage repeatedly. Once the soup was almost finished, the last bit was poured directly from the p
ot.
“Once the outermost layer of the cabbage was completely cooked and soft, it was placed inside a flat bowl, and more warm soup was slowly scooped into it. Only dishes prepared in this manner can be called Steamed Chinese Cabbage in Supreme Soup.”
Chapter 542 - Only Then Can We Fulfill Boss Pei’s Expectations of Ming Yun Private Kitchen
Jessica tried the fresh cabbage and drank the delicious soup. Feeling emotional, she said, “Alright, Elena. I changed my mind. I agree with your point of view. The prejudices that I had against Chinese cuisine were a result of my ignorance. “This dish has completely changed the way I view Chinese cuisine.”
Elena nodded subtly. “This dish surprised me, too. I know any other Chinese restaurants serve this dish, but very few of them can do it well.
“Thank you, Lucas. Your explanation of this dish has greatly enhanced its taste. Your deep understanding of delicacies has greatly inspired me as well.”
Jia Nuo smiled. “Actually, I don’t have that deep of an understanding of delicacies. I only do what I have to, based on the branch manager’s instructions and present the details of every dish to the customers.”
Obviously, that was the reason why Lin Canrong had made all the waiters explain the dishes on the menu.
Apart from the very few connoisseurs who were extremely sensitive to taste, most ordinary people would not be able to tell how much effort chefs put into creating each dish based on its taste alone.
Instead, most people could only describe delicacies in limited ways: they were either delicious, or fresh, or the like.
Waiters, who explained the details of each dish to customers at a time like that, could popularize the knowledge and create a certain type of environment and atmosphere for them. A ‘common passion’ would be formed between them.
High-end restaurants improved the taste of every dish at all costs. If they did not explain the relevant details to customers, the delicacies would not leave a deep impression in their minds.
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