Xu Qinyu was willing to let Dongqian come to Xuji Restaurant as a helper cook, and teach him how to cook by the way, so he signed the contract directly on the same day.

Because Dongqian is not only Donglaiju's help cook, he is also the eldest son of Donglaiju's owner, with different identities, the contract will naturally restrict him from secretly handing over the dishes he learned from Xu Qinyu to Donglaiju. , but after leaving Xu Ji, the dishes he learned will naturally be up to him.

Xu Qinyu doesn't care about this, she has so many dishes, and she is confident that even if Dongqian learns from her for a few years, the dishes made with the same side dishes and seasonings will be a little inferior to hers. The greatest confidence in your cooking skills.

Others said that the disciples of the church would starve the master to death, but it was impossible for her.

After Dongqian read the deed, he readily pressed his fingerprints.

He is not an ungrateful person, not to mention that when he studied with Xu Qinyu, even if he left Xu Ji in the future, he would not directly give the recipe to Dong Laiju, even if he learned the dishes from Xu Ji, he would go to Innovative dishes, even Xu Qinyu's name will be added to the Dong family's recipes, and the dishes learned and created will be recorded one by one to show future generations.

And even if he became the owner of Donglaiju in the future, he would not keep Donglaiju and Xu Jikai in the same place.

But Dongqian knew in his heart that when his father really didn't care about things in the future, it was really hard to say who Donglaiju would be handed over to. But before that, if his father wanted the recipes he learned from Xu Ji, he would not give them.

After signing the contract, Dongqian didn't go back to live in Donglai, but stayed in Xuji Restaurant.

Although he is the assistant cook of Donglaiju, he is also the young master of Donglaiju. He didn't sign a contract with Donglaiju. When he was the assistant cook in Donglaiju, he didn't have much time to handle the spoon. There are other chefs in the restaurant. In addition, there are apprentices of the father.

After Dong Qian stayed in Xu Ji, Dong Shi planned to leave.

Watching Dongshi get into the carriage, Dongqian knocked on the door, Dongshi lifted the curtain and said with a smile, "Brother Qian, is there anything else?"

Dongqian laughed and said, "Mother, don't tell your father about these things after you go back. When I go back at night, I will tell my father in person."

He knew what his father was thinking. His father always refused to admit that his master was still young and his cooking skills were better than his, so knowing that he came to Xu Ji to learn art, he would be furious. He didn't want his mother to face his father's anger, which would affect their relationship.

Even if he stays in Xu Ji and learns from Xu Qinyu, even if Mrs. Xu confiscates him as an apprentice, in his heart, he is still a master and deserves an honorable title.

Dongshi hesitated for a while, and finally said, "Okay, then I won't tell your father when I go back."

After Dongshi left, Dongqian went to help in the kitchen.

He is Xu Ji's first assistant cook in more than a year, but because of his status, everyone can't help but be wary of him.

Dong Qian also knew in his heart that he originally thought that the master would let him help with the side dishes first.

Unexpectedly, when making evening food at night, Master asked him to watch from the side.

In summer, there are more customers ordering prawns in sauce and snail meat in sauce. Xu Qinyu explained the recipes of the two cold dishes to Dong Qian carefully, and showed him, "This is baked with several kinds of mushrooms. Dry ground into powder, can be used for seasoning. In fact, there are many things that can be used as seasoning. Some fruits can be used as seasoning, as well as spices, including this mushroom powder, and other freshness-enhancing seasonings. Shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimp according to A certain proportion can be dried and ground into powder to increase the freshness, and seaweed and scallops can also be prepared with delicious seasonings and so on.”

In fact, these are seasonings that can increase umami and can replace MSG.

In addition to what she said, there are many other recipes for this freshening seasoning, and the seasonings used are different according to the flavor and taste of the cooking.

She currently configures about five kinds of seasoning powders that increase freshness, some are dried and ground into powder, and some need to be cooked and then made after some processes, but not all dishes use these freshness-enhancing ingredients condiment.

Dongqian couldn't help thinking, could it be these seasoning powders that made Xu Ji's food so delicious?

He didn't know that his guess was wrong until he saw that at least half of Xu Qinyu's dishes did not contain these freshening powder.

Xu Qinyu told him: "These are just for adding freshness, but not all dishes need to be freshened. Some ingredients are very delicious in themselves. What stands out is the freshness of the ingredients themselves. You don't even need to give other condiments, just give some salt. That's enough."

Xu Qinyu made another soup with bean sprouts.

The bean sprouts are hydroponics by herself, and this dish is also the signature of the store.

There are many ways to cook bean sprouts in soup. You can use no side dishes and only use high soup. This is the most test of the skill of hanging soup. The soup must be fresh. The best method is that the soup base is delicious, and the bean sprouts are crispy and tender. Even if there is freshness in the broth, it will not take away the tenderness of the bean sprouts.

In addition, you can also add Songhua egg or ham to the soup bean sprouts. The methods are different.

Now Xu Ji has two methods, one is to boil it with broth, and only add a little salt.

The other kind is to add Songhua egg, and the Songhua egg is topped with soup bean sprouts.

Ham can't be used as a side dish until it's ready to eat.

Songhua eggs are pickled and fermented by herself, and they are also new dishes that have just been released in the past two months.

Some people like it very much, and some people don't.

Just like snail powder, durian, folded ear root, coriander and other ingredients with relatively large and strong flavors, it depends on the preferences of diners.

Songhua eggs are also called preserved eggs.

Because Xu Qinyu marinated a lot of preserved eggs, the restaurant also added a preserved egg and lean meat porridge to Chao Shi.

There is an extra cold preserved egg in Mu Shi, but there is no pepper. Otherwise, the preserved egg with pepper is not only delicious, but also very delicious.

At present, there are still quite a lot of diners who can accept the taste of preserved eggs. At first, there were not many people who tried it, but it gradually increased. After getting used to the taste of preserved eggs, felt that this thing was quite delicious, a little cool and refreshing, and the taste was a bit washed out. And very fragrant.

Dong Qian studied with Xu Qin in the back kitchen for almost two hours, and was already convinced.

Master, she can use several stoves at the same time, and the food is quick, but the taste is not affected in the slightest.

Even his own father can only control two stoves at the same time, and he still has to stew meat dishes, otherwise, if you can't control the cooking and soup, the taste will not be right.

Dongqian studied very seriously.

He finally knew that Master's cooking is delicious, and it's not just about seasonings. Of course, every dish does have seasonings, but it's just ordinary ginger, green onions, sauce and vinegar, and even many dishes are just given salt. The taste is very good, master she is really superb cooking.

Xu Qinyu taught Dongqian all the dishes he cooked in the evening.

In the restaurant that night, the big guy's evening meal was made by Dong Qian.

One dish of prawns with sauce, one dish of cold half century egg, and one dish of fatty sausage fish and oily eggplant.

Xu Qinyu asked him to cook all the dishes in the restaurant to see what kind of cuisine Dongqian is more suitable for, and then he will teach him according to his aptitude.

After all, the same food can make a lot of flavors. Some chefs are talented in dishes with heavy flavors, such as Sichuan cuisine, some are good at highlighting the freshness and smoothness of ingredients, and some pay attention to knife skills and finesse, and make good use of ginger and shallots. , the dishes made are more refreshing.

In the evening, Xu Qinyu also ate the staff meal prepared by Dongqian, and it tasted good. He was worthy of being a helper who has been in charge of the kitchen for several years. He just watched her make it once and told him about the proportions of the seasonings and the heat and so on, and he could learn from it. Five or six points, the rest is to slowly control the heat and it is almost the same.

After eating the evening meal, Xu Qinyu returned.

After a while, Dong Qian also returned to Dong's house.

After returning, he first went to his father Yue Weimin's study.

Yue Weimin had also returned from the East, and when he saw Dong Qian, he frowned and asked, "Where have you been today? Brother Xi said you want to go to Xuji Restaurant to learn how to cook with that little cook? Are you here today? past?"

Dong Qian said: "If I go back to my father, I went to Xu Ji today, and I have signed a contract with Master, and I will stay in Xu Ji to learn cooking with Master for three years."

In the past three years, he also received wages, but only 5 taels a month. He was not bad at all. In fact, after tonight, he didn't want to take 5 taels, because Master really wanted to teach him.

Yue Weimin was not angry, but asked curiously, "Would the little cook be willing to teach you? Wasn't she trying to fool you?"

Dongqian said: "Father has been worrying too much, Master she is very good, today when Master cooks evening food, he has always let me learn by the side, and he will also tell me in detail how to season it and how to control the heat. Today I will follow Master to learn. I ordered prawns in sauce, snails in sauce, fish with fat intestines, bean sprouts in soup, shredded eel in oil and some stir-fried vegetables."

Yue Weimin was a little shocked.

So what this little chef said is true?

Does she really want to leave cooking to others?

Aren't you afraid that the disciples of the church will starve the master to death? Even if he accepts apprentices himself, he will not easily teach several special dishes.

"Did she really teach you?" Yue Weimin still didn't believe it.

Dong Qian nodded, "Master made more than 20 dishes today, and I have been learning by the side."

Yue Weimin couldn't help but ask, "Then does she use some special and addictive condiments in cooking?"

Dongqian glanced at his father and said, "No, Master also has a few seasonings to enhance freshness, but like Dong's, they are made of thickened or dried ingredients, and there is nothing addictive, father. , Master's cooking skills are beyond doubt, and her talent in cooking is simply unmatched."

In fact, some big culinary families have this kind of freshness-enhancing seasoning, and they are not rumored. The same is true for Dongjia. Dongjia is made with seven or eight kinds of dried seafood stock, and then goes through a series of tedious processes. Yes, the cost is relatively high, so the dishes of Donglaiju are not cheap. Some small restaurants do not have this kind of seasoning.

Because the heads of the small restaurants are all the cooking skills learned from the master, the general master will not teach the recipe of this seasoning at all.

Just like back then, if it wasn't for Yue Weimin's marriage with his mother, they would have joined the Dong family.

Grandfather would not give the recipe for this seasoning to his father.

Dong Qian even only knew the original recipe of the 'Qixian' seasoning in the Dong family's recipe. Now the 'Qixian' seasoning used by Donglaiju was improved by his father, and he did not tell him the recipe. As for whether his father had any Tell your brother that he never knew.

Many dishes in the Dong family's recipes were improved by my father later.

Yue Weimin stopped talking. If Xu Ji also has this kind of seasoning to increase the umami, it is no wonder that Xu Ji's dishes are delicious and taste better than Donglaiju. It should be that Xu Ji's seasoning is better than his "Qixian". .

He couldn't help but ask, "Brother Qian, do you know how Xu Ji's seasoning is prepared?"

Dong Qian glanced at his father, "Probably know, Master has a total of five seasonings to enhance freshness."

This can't be hidden, my father will try to find out from his mouth, it is better to say it directly, but the seasoning is still the recipe for cooking, and he will definitely not give it to his father.

In fact, compared to Donglaiju's 'Seven Fresh', the seasoning recipes in Master's hands are really simple and powerful. There are two kinds of recipes that are very simple. Just powdered.

Yue Weimin's eyes suddenly widened, "Five kinds?"

It took him more than half his life to improve the seasoning of 'Qixian' and bring out the best flavors, thus attracting so much traffic to Donglaiju, but that little cook has five kinds in her hand. seasoning? How did she do it? Could it be that this little chef's master is a very powerful celebrity chef? Would you like to teach these recipes to a little cook?

He remembered that the little cook's family suddenly came to Yuanbao Town. Could it be that this little cook's ancestor was also a cook?

Yue Weimin thought about it, he hesitated and said to Dongqian: "Brother Qian, since you know the two recipes and the recipes of those dishes, can you tell Daddy? Don't worry, Daddy won't use these recipes. When it comes to eating at Donglaiju, I just want to study it.”

"Father." Dong Qian shook his head, "If I told my father about these recipes, wouldn't I have become a perfidious person, would my father also want his apprentice to do something like this betrayal of the master? Besides, I have signed a contract with the master. Deed, even if my father takes the formula and does not use it, I betrayed my master and violated the deed, so forgive my father, I cannot tell you these formulas."

Yue Weimin was a little unhappy, "Why is Brother Qian so suspicious of me? I'm just curious and want to study it. I won't come up with the formula and make you a perfidious person."

Dong Qian sighed, "But, father, if I tell you the recipes, whether or not my father uses these recipes, I've already committed perfidy."

Yue Weimin's face sank, and he threw his sleeves and said: "Forget it, you are so suspicious of my intentions, I want to see what you can learn from that little cook, and will she really take her own housekeeping book? Let me teach you!"

Dong Qian felt a little sad, "Father, that son will go back first."

Yue Weimin waved, and Dong Qian left.

When he returned to the yard, he saw his daughter-in-law with a big belly playing with her daughter in the yard, and then a smile appeared on his face, and he went to accompany his wife and daughter.

After a while, Dongshi came to look for him, "Brother Qian, did you tell your father? Did your father teach you?"

Dong Qian told Dong Shi what happened in the study.

When Mrs. Dong heard about it, she also felt a little uncomfortable. These years, Dong Lai lived in Yuanbao Town as the only family. Now that there is Miss Xu and Xu Ji Restaurant, her husband must feel uncomfortable, and he can't turn around.

She said: "You don't need to worry about your father. I will persuade him. He is just getting into a corner for a while. He will figure it out after a while."

Dongqian also nodded. After all, he was his father, and his father loved him very much when he was a child. He often took him and his younger brother out to play, and held him and his younger brother to enjoy flowers and eat snacks in the courtyard.

...

He didn't tell Master about Dongqian's relationship with his father.

All he can do is to learn from his master, and he can guarantee that he will not teach the formula to his father, nor will he sell it to others.

In fact, there are many such things. The master teaches the apprentices, and other restaurants and restaurants buy the recipes from the apprentices. Some apprentices cannot withstand the temptation of money, so they will sell the recipes and break their promises.

Xu Qinyu knew Dongqian's identity, but she didn't guard against him. She was not as smart as her fourth brother, and she couldn't tell a person's character from his micro-expressions. What she could do, He also has a clear conscience. Since he is willing to teach cooking skills, he must be diligent and diligent.

But because Dongqian is Donglaiju's young host, Xu Qinyu gradually got to know Donglaiju a little bit.

Knowing the recipes of the Dong family, and knowing that the chef of Donglaiju is a surname in Dong's family, the eldest son and the youngest daughter took the mother's surname, and the second son took the son-in-law's surname.

Xu Qinyu's heart skipped a beat when she heard that the second son was the son-in-law who married into Dong's family.

It cannot be said that everyone is selfish, but some are very strange. In the eyes of some people, the surname is more important than the blood.

Even in later generations, there are many examples of this. Two families get married, and the children have a family with the same surname. Both parties love the child with their own surname, and each wants to leave the family business to the party with their own surname. .

This kind of situation is relatively rare in mothers, because they are all born by mothers who are pregnant in October, and mothers have mostly the same feelings for their children.

Mothers seldom struggle with surnames, but there are also some mothers who do not love their children.

In short, people's emotions are very complicated. Xu Qinyu doesn't know the situation of the Dong family, and the affairs of the Dong family actually have nothing to do with her. She just needs to teach Dong Qian how to cook well.

By midsummer, Dongqian already knew how to cook dozens of dishes at Xuji Restaurant.

Xu Qinyu found that the taste of heavy dishes he made was better, such as fatty sausage fish, pickled fish, boiled pork slices, rattan pepper chicken, etc. would taste better.

Xu Qinyu also talked to Dong Qian, telling him that he is better at cuisines that are both mellow and thick, so he can work more on these mellow and thick dishes, and in the future, all the dishes in restaurants can be entrusted to him Spoon.

Dongqian himself also felt that he performed better when cooking these heavy dishes.

Although Xu Qinyu asked Dongqian to make this kind of dishes, but if he really wanted to master the dishes, he would have to practice for several months.

The taste of his cooking now is somewhat different from the taste of Xu Qinyu's cooking.

Even women like Yuan Shi, Lin Shi and the others who don't care about appetite can taste it.

Dongqian also practiced harder.

Cooking, apart from talent, is all about doing more and more practice, and being familiar with the control of heat and seasoning.

In the blink of an eye, a month has passed, and the wine shop has become even more busy. The grapes in the mountains are ripening in large numbers. Fortunately, Xu Qinyu doesn't have to worry about it. Mrs. Lu invited a nearby woman to help pick wild grapes on the mountain, and then cleaned them. To dry, she still took time to go there at noon every day to match the ratio of wild grapes to rock sugar, and then asked others to help seal the altar.

Tao Qi and the others also go up the mountain to pick grapes every day.

In addition to grapes, there are also hawthorns. If they encounter other sweet wild fruits, the three of them will pick them back and send them to Xu Ji.

Even if Miss Xu didn't want these wild fruits, they wanted to send them over for Miss Xu to taste.

There are still a lot of sweet wild fruits in the mountains.

Xu Qinyu saw that the sun-dried hawthorns were enough for next summer, so she asked Tao Qi and the others to pick less every day, just enough for restaurants to fry red fruits and boil hawthorn drinks.

Going to the mountains to pick wild grapes, if you are diligent, you can earn dozens of pennies every day, which is just a quick buck. In at most one month, the wild grapes in the mountains will be picked in sevens and eights.

The formula for making wine is not difficult, even very simple, and the process is extremely simple.

Therefore, many people have some ideas in their hearts.

This wine is expensive, and they have known for a long time that the wine made by Miss Xu used to cost a tael of silver a bottle, and the amount in a bottle was almost a catty. The ratio can be roughly estimated with the naked eye, so naturally feel that making wine is very simple.

In Dagu Village, two women thought about it and secretly asked their family members to go to the mountains to pick some grapes and to buy some sugar.

After cleaning and drying the grapes, they also learned how to seal the grapes and sugar in the wine jar like in the winery, because they didn't dare to try too much when doing it for the first time, but how can a wine tank It can also be several tens of catties, grapes don’t cost money, and sugar costs almost two or two taels of silver. They think that as long as wine is made, this tank of wine will be sold cheaper, and it can be sold for hundreds of pennies, so it’s worth ten or twenty Two silver coins is really too profitable.

So they waited for the wine to ferment.

Madam Lu also found out about this after two days. She didn't say much, and directly settled the wages of these days to the two of them and asked them to leave.

The two were still a little unconvinced, and asked Mrs. Lu, "Why did you send us back? We didn't work well? Or were we just being lazy?"

Mrs. Lu directly asked them if they had secretly learned how to make wine from the winery and still made wine at home.

The two women spoke eloquently, "Who stole it? Making wine is very simple. You can't stop others from making wine just because you make too much wine, right?"

"It's very simple?" Mrs. Lu smiled and didn't say much, she just said, "In that case, you can go to the mountains to pick more grapes and go back to make wine, and earn more money. Wages for money."

In the end, the two women just muttered and left.

When the two left, Madam Lu stood in the winery and said with a flat face: "The method of making wine is really simple, you can see it at a glance. If you have other thoughts, you can't look down on the dozens of pennies for picking grapes every day." , you can also go to the mountains to pick grapes by yourself, buy some sugar and go back to make wine yourself. It's three or four taels of silver, you have all thought about it clearly."

A few people are still a little tempted, in fact, the profit of this wine is too high, it is hard not to be tempted.

But most of them are very simple women. They heard the words, "Master, let's not leave, let's work hard for the master."

They are also a little shrewd, knowing that making wine looks simple, but it is definitely not as good as it looks, otherwise they would not let Xu Ji's owner make a trip every day, I am afraid that the two women will definitely have problems with wine making this time.

Seeing that no one was willing to leave, the few who were a little bit excited also rested their minds. They also wanted to wait and see how the wine made by the two women would be.