Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Top-Quality Tofu! Is this tofu edged with gold?
The opening day of Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant was truly bustling.
Outside, customers were waiting everywhere.
Nowadays, the food and beverage market is growing, and it’s common for many decent restaurants to have daily queues.
The prices for Shandong Cuisine at Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant weren’t high, and the authentic flavors attracted many guests.
Jiang Feng hoped to make this restaurant a city landmark.
For instance, when mentioning Capital City and thinking of Shandong Cuisine, everyone would think of "Fengze Garden."
In Jiang Feng’s city, however, there wasn’t yet a famous Shandong Cuisine Restaurant.
Jiangyue Terrace showed great promise.
Customers ate happily, and many food bloggers, hearing the news, also came.
There were not only locals but also people from other places.
Imperceptibly, Jiang Feng’s reputation had spread to other cities. While the impact wasn’t huge, food enthusiasts and explorers had likely heard of him.
The restaurant’s rules prohibited live streaming or obstructing pathways to shoot videos, though filming in private rooms was allowed.
This measure was to prevent internet celebrities from trying to capitalize on the restaurant’s popularity.
After all, live streaming within the restaurant might upset other customers.
Liu Bao had reserved a private room well in advance. The private room was on the first floor. It had just one round table and rather simple furnishings. The room fee was waived for consumption above 300.
He set up his phone but didn’t start a live stream, adhering to the no-live-streaming rule. He was just filming a video.
Undoubtedly, for every dish he tried, he offered effusive praise.
"This Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions is personally cooked by Executive Chef Jiang. Look at this color—so bright and fresh! Don’t think this is easy. There’s no oil around it, which shows the sauce was reduced exceptionally well to achieve this effect."
"It’s tender and springy; look, it even jiggles."
"It tastes fragrant, the flavor is especially good, the sea cucumber is very soft, slightly chewy, and the seasoning penetrates deep inside."
"It’s simply superb!"
It had to be said, his expressions, paired with his commentary, truly whetted the appetites of those watching. No wonder he was a successful food tour live streamer.
He was filled with admiration for the other dishes as well. Although not personally cooked by Jiang Feng, their taste was impeccable and very authentic.
Liu Bao spoke his honest thoughts.
Besides, a restaurant’s reputation isn’t built on one person’s words.
It’s formed bit by bit.
When people enjoy their meals at a restaurant, they naturally recommend it to others.
Slowly, this builds a brand.
"Shandong Cuisine, one of the eight major cuisines of China—some even consider it the foremost—demands extremely skilled chefs."
"Although there are many Shandong Cuisine restaurants on the market, the taste is often not quite authentic."
"Boss Jiang’s restaurant is truly good."
"Being a chef himself, he certainly has high standards for his chefs."
"I highly recommend it; everyone should come."
The restaurant was a hive of activity.
The chefs in the back kitchen were working nonstop.
The waitstaff hurried back and forth.
Meanwhile, Jiang Feng, after finishing several orders of Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions, finally had time to work on Prime Tofu.
Who would have thought that before he could even start on the Prime Tofu, many more orders for Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions would come in.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll just do one dish, or one for lunch and one for dinner. I really want to, but I just don’t have enough Staminia, Jiang Feng thought to himself.
Prime Tofu is white, fine, fresh, tender, nutritious, and very popular.
Several types of Prime Tofu are available on the market.
The simplest one involves cutting tofu into square slices, frying them until golden on both sides, then stir-frying with scallions, ginger, and garlic, and finally adding seasoning. This type of Prime Tofu is not an authentic Shandong Cuisine dish.
Authentic Shandong Cuisine Prime Tofu is a dish from the Confucius Official Cuisine tradition. The preparation involves shaping tofu into a cylinder and deep-frying it. Then, a ’lid’ is cut from the top, and a mold is used to hollow out the center. Other ingredients are added to this cavity before the lid is replaced. This tofu dish, however, was far more complex than it appeared.
On the surface, it looks like tofu, but upon eating, one discovers a variety of ingredients.
For the filling, Jiang Feng chose diced pork belly, squid, shrimp, sea cucumber, and matsutake mushrooms. These were seasoned with pepper, chicken broth, and a homemade sauce.
After stir-frying the mixture on high heat, it was stuffed into the tofu and pressed down with the lid. But the process wasn’t finished. The dish then had to be topped with abalone sauce and steamed for 20 minutes in a steamer.
No wonder this dish was considered imperial fare; even emperors loved it.
None of the ingredients used were cheap.
All were top-quality.
This was the authentic recipe for the famous Confucius Official Cuisine dish, Prime Tofu. Its main appeal was its authenticity and high-quality ingredients.
At that moment, in the main dining hall, a young couple was discussing.
"Seriously? This tofu was originally 78? Even at 50% off, it’s 39? Tofu this expensive? Is this tofu edged with gold?" the man exclaimed.
"Well, it’s made by the executive chef, so it’s bound to be pricey," the woman consoled.
"This is clearly a rip-off! A tofu dish for 78—ask anyone, isn’t that expensive?"
"Alright, let’s just try it once since it’s 50% off."
"Fine, I can accept it at 50% off. Otherwise, no way."
"Exactly, let’s taste it. It might be exceptionally delicious!"
Quite a few people shared their sentiment.
The pricing at Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant was moderate. Dishes with more expensive ingredients were around 128, meat dishes ranged from 68 to 88, and vegetable dishes were between 20 to 40.
Two people could eat well for about 200.
But Prime Tofu priced at 78 made many suspicious.
Soon, the dishes they ordered were served.
When the Prime Tofu arrived, the waiter made a point to explain:
"Hello, this is our Prime Tofu, personally cooked by the owner, Jiang Feng."
"Prime Tofu is a famous dish from Confucius Official Cuisine. It contains pork belly, squid, shrimp, sea cucumber, and matsutake mushrooms. The sauce it’s served with is abalone sauce."
"Please enjoy."
After speaking, the server left with a smile.
The young couple listened, baffled.
What?
Sea cucumber? Matsutake? Abalone sauce?
What did that have to do with tofu? Yet these ingredients were in the Prime Tofu.
The two looked at the tofu on their plate.
On the round plate sat a cylindrical, golden piece of tofu, covered with a rich sauce and garnished with a few green vegetables.
The top of the tofu was also sprinkled with chopped green onions.
It looked quite appealing.
The man picked up his chopsticks and lifted the ’lid’ of the tofu.
Instantly, a scorching, savory aroma burst forth.
Upon closer inspection, the inside was a filling made from a mixture of various delicious ingredients.
Traces of shrimp, squid, and matsutake were visible.
"Damn, so this is Prime Tofu! I thought it was just plain tofu!"
"This is way too fancy!"
The man’s earlier displeasure vanished, replaced by excitement.
He looked at the ’lid’ he had lifted.
In the process of making Prime Tofu, it needed to be steamed for the final 20 minutes.
During this time, the flavors of the stir-fried ingredients inside would surge upwards, finally concentrating in the tofu ’lid.’
So, although the ’lid’ appeared to be just tofu on the surface, its inside was already suffused with various aromas.
Noticing the darker color on the underside of the lid, the man quickly picked it up with his chopsticks and placed it on his own plate, eager to taste it.
As for his girlfriend, she had her own chopsticks and could help herself.
The man tasted a piece of the tofu ’lid.’
The texture was incredibly tender. With a slight bite, savory juices squeezed out from the tofu.
The flavor of the sauce was intensely umami and fragrant, especially when coupled with the texture of the tofu.
That single bite was incredibly satisfying!
Then, he picked up the entire tofu ’lid’ with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth.
He had never tasted tofu like this before. Sea cucumber and matsutake tofu—it sounded incredibly impressive!
The woman used her chopsticks to pick up a large piece of the filling.
The filling itself was also a highlight.
It contained chopped, springy sea cucumber, fresh squid and shrimp, flavorful pork belly, and refreshing matsutake.
As it touched her tongue, she could feel layers of flavor blossoming.
Every bite was nourishing; every bite was a pleasure.
Shandong Cuisine is known for its health benefits, meticulous preparation, and diverse techniques.
That’s why it was chosen as an imperial cuisine.
The authenticity of Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant allowed ordinary people to experience the true charm of Shandong Cuisine.
"It’s really delicious! So umami!"
"I can’t believe this is tofu!"
The woman’s face was filled with amazement.
It was truly delicious enough to make one cry!
This dish undoubtedly wowed the dining guests.
As it was a highly recommended dish, every customer who came to the restaurant could experience the magic of Prime Tofu.
Jiang Feng was still busy in the kitchen.
He was once again overwhelmed by the sheer number of customers and the seemingly endless stream of orders.
Luckily, his Staminia was sufficient, so he just kept cooking.
Orders kept pouring in.
Seeing the orders, Jiang Feng started on another batch of Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions.
He could only complete them one by one.
Executive Chef Zhang Hu was also busy in the kitchen; everyone was swamped.
During a rare break, Jiang Feng asked him:
"Old Zhang, do you know any other skilled chefs who specialize in Shandong Cuisine?"
"I feel like we don’t have enough head chefs. I want to hire another."
"Other things are manageable, but we can’t be careless about the head chef position."
Hearing Jiang Feng’s words, Zhang Hu pondered for a moment.
"Boss, let me think. I know a few people. I’ll see if anyone is suitable."
Then, he added:
"Business is indeed too good. We definitely need to hire more staff."
At this moment, Jiang Feng was busy at the stove again and said no more.
Zhang Hu looked at Jiang Feng, a sense of admiration welling up inside him.
It’s truly the first time I’ve seen a boss like him. He’s the busiest one in the kitchen, and he has the most orders. So young, yet he owns a restaurant and is its star chef. Who would believe it? I wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, Zhang Hu mused.
"Bring over some more sea cucumbers," Jiang Feng called out to a young assistant at that moment.
"Yes, Boss, right away!"
The young man was diligent and immediately hurried off to fetch the sea cucumbers. He had to be; this was the real boss, after all.
In the entire kitchen, who would dare disobey him?