Chapter 365 - 153: Boss Su, Wanted by the Whole City

Chapter 365: Chapter 153: Boss Su, Wanted by the Whole City

He glanced at his watch. It was still a while before opening time. Su Chen said, "Old Er, make another five hundred pounds of braised pork today."

"No problem. The method you came up with is so convenient. It’s simple, and it tastes amazing. I’m just worried that if you post that video, other restaurants will steal the recipe."

Su Chen strolled through the kitchen, casually picking up a piece of meat to inspect it. "They won’t. Even if they try to copy it, they won’t understand the key parts. After you finish the braised pork, I’ll need you to do one more thing for me."

"Go ahead."

Su Chen placed a pen and paper on the workstation. "Today, I’m going to teach you one of my signature dishes. Once you’ve mastered this, you’ll be untouchable when you go back to Lu Province."

"Oh?" Zhang Heping’s eyes lit up. "Boss, if anyone else said that, I wouldn’t believe them. But coming from you, I’m going to take it as gospel!"

"And you’d be right to!"

Su Chen bent over the counter and began to write, his pen scratching across the paper. Zhang Heping was already leaning in, craning his neck eagerly to see.

"It’s... HISS! Boss, are you really going to teach me this technique?"

Su Chen nodded. "That’s right. But don’t celebrate just yet. Teaching you this comes with a price."

"Name it! If I can learn this, forget the price—from now on, you’ll be my master! Ah, no... I already have a master. Then you’ll truly be my master’s junior brother!"

Su Chen patted Old Er on the shoulder. "Alright, alright. Just focus on learning. The price is this: every day, you have to forecast the next day’s needs and prepare enough clear stock and milky stock a day in advance. I’ll let it slide if there’s an emergency, but if you run out during normal business hours, I’m docking your pay."

"No problem! You can count on me!"

With that, Zhang the Second took the sheet of paper, clutching it like a priceless treasure. He couldn’t hide the joyous look on his face.

Seeing Old Er like this, Su Chen felt a sense of satisfaction.

It was just like when he had taught Liu Ahbao. He had removed all the guesswork from skills like controlling the heat for the clear and milky stocks by quantifying everything with a kitchen thermometer.

"And you, make some extra clear stock for now. Later, use it with some pork skin to make a big pot of aspic for me. I’ve written the recipe down on the paper."

"You got it!"

’This way, Zhang Heping can handle the ’soup’ for the crab soup dumplings for me.’

’Making the filling itself isn’t that hard. As long as you fix the ratios for the ingredients and seasonings, anyone can mix it correctly.’

’The one step I have to handle myself is rendering the crab oil. Right now, no one else can get it right.’

’Unless I wanted to do it like a normal restaurant, just tossing all the crab meat and roe into a pot of lard and seasoning it with some salt.’

’But I’m not going to do that. Buns made that way would be no different from what you can buy anywhere else.’

’Aunt Fang can help with assembling the buns, and I can have Bai Xiaobo handle the dough, but I’ll still have to roll the wrappers myself.’

’A normal person can’t get the thickness of the wrappers just right.’

After planning out every step of the process, Su Chen finally breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now, he was just waiting for one more thing.

Once Bai Xiaobo brought all the ingredients and equipment he needed to the restaurant, this afternoon’s food stall venture would be all set!

「Ten in the morning, the start of the workday at Delicious.」

Bai Xiaobo arrived at the restaurant, panting as he hauled a large box. "Boss, everything you wanted is in here!"

Su Chen pointed to the kitchen. "Take it inside."

Afterward, He Shuting and Zhang Li arrived as well.

Su Chen noticed something. ’Zhang Li seems to have gained a lot of weight recently, but she doesn’t eat that much every day. It’s weird.’

"Boss, how come everyone else has work to do today, but our only job is handling the kids at lunchtime and then we’re done?" He Shuting asked, a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice.

That was the culture at Delicious now.

If everyone was busy while a few people were left idle, those few would feel terrible—exceptionally terrible!

They’d feel like they weren’t being valued by the boss!

Su Chen pointed to the chair across from him. "No. You two have a much more important mission. It’s something no one else can do—only the two of you can pull it off!" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Upon hearing this, Long-legs and Short-legs exchanged a glance. Their earlier dejection vanished, replaced by looks of pure ecstasy.

The two of them sat down, waiting for Su Chen to give them their assignment.

"Today, you’re going to learn a new skill."

"What kind of skill?"

Su Chen pulled up a video on his phone. It was a technique he’d found after a long search, one that seemed the most practical to actually perform.

"Picking crabs! See this person in the video? She’s currently the fastest crab picker in the country. It only takes her four minutes to clean a whole crab."

He Shuting and Zhang Li stared intently at the pair of hands in the video, their expressions unreadable.

"My requirement for you is that you have to be faster than her."

"How is that possible!" Zhang Li shot back immediately. "She’s the fastest there is! How could we possibly be faster than her?"

Su Chen shook his head. "She’s fast, but that’s because she has to preserve the integrity of the shell. You don’t. You just need to get all the meat and roe out. It doesn’t matter what the crab looks like when you’re done."

Hearing Su Chen’s explanation, Zhang Li finally relaxed a little.

That was because the method in the video involved taking out all the meat, roe, and paste, and then being able to reassemble the shell so it looked completely whole again!

’That’s just ridiculous!’

’But if all we have to do is get the good stuff out, we could definitely be faster.’

"So, why the need for speed? Because this afternoon, I’m taking you two to play a little game."

"Huh?" He Shuting was baffled once again.

"That’s right. I’m taking you to a competition. You’ll be competing in crab picking."