The next day!
He was still in his dreams when Mom came in and pulled the curtains open, letting in the sunlight. “What time is it already? You’re still sleeping! Hurry up and get up for breakfast!”
Lin Fan opened his eyes groggily and looked at the time. “Ma, it’s only 7.30. Let me sleep a while more.”
Mom said, “Get up for breakfast quickly. If you don’t have your breakfast early in the morning, it’ll affect your stomach. Hurry up, stop dawdling.”
There was no choice, he couldn’t keep sleeping. He finished brushing his teeth and washing his face but even then, he was still groggy.
At the dining table, Mom questioned him about some things. He answered them in his daze. What was there to ask about? They had already talked about everything yesterday. However, to his Mom, even if she asked him questions over and over again, it wouldn’t be enough.
Dad just sat there without saying a single word. In this house, Mom was the boss.
At that moment, the phone rang.
It was Fraud Tian. “When are you going to be back, kid? The townsfolk are getting impatient.”
Lin Fan smiled and said, “Soon, in the next few days.”
Fraud Tian said, “Alright then. If you don’t come back for much longer, these people are going to cause trouble.”
After hanging up, Lin Fan smiled to himself. Those townsfolk were still missing his scallion pancakes. Not eating the scallion pancakes for this while has gotten them all stirred up.
After saying bye to Dad and Mom, Lin Fan left. When he reached the ground floor, he gave a call to Bai Ke.
Bai Ke answered, “Young Fan, what’s up so early in the morning?”
He sounded like he was still sleeping. If Lin Fan couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t let Bai Ke sleep either. “Get up quickly and go to the shop. Don’t you want to learn some godly skills?”
When Bai Ke heard that, he snapped out of his daze, “I’m coming, I’m coming…”
He had been thinking so much about learning those dishes that he had almost gone crazy, especially after seeing the expressions on the faces of those two tables of diners the previous night. He couldn’t even sleep soundly. He hadn’t even tried those dishes, but seeing the expressions on the diners’ faces was enough to give him an idea of its taste.
It must have been first-rate.
Bai Ke stood at the entrance waiting. When he saw Lin Fan’s silhouette, he ran forward excitedly as if he saw something incredible.
Lin Fan smiled. “Looks like you’re excited. You’ll learn the first dish today. You have to put in some effort, I’ll be going back to Shanghai in a few days.”
Bai Ke banged his chest and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be very serious. With a Master like you guiding me, I’ll definitely be ready.”
Xiao Yan was packing the things in the shop. She had bought some vegetables back too. When she saw Lin Fan, she was all smiles. She knew quite a number of Bai Ke’s friends but those that she knew were mostly fair-weather friends. Even though she had only seen them interact a little the previous night, she could tell that Lin Fan was Bai Ke’s true friend.
For Bai Ke to have a true friend, she was very happy.
In the kitchen.
Lin Fan changed his clothes and put on the apron. He washed his hands and at the same time, he cleaned the wok a little.
“The dish I’m teaching you today is last night’s Mirror Box Tofu. This dish was developed in the 20th century in the 40s by Liu Jun Ying. It’s an improvisation of the common Tofu with Minced Meat. This Mirror Box Tofu is also known as Gold Embedded White Jade Box,” said Lin Fan slowly.
Bai Ke was confused, “Young Fan, who is this Liu Jun Ying? He actually created such a delicious dish?”
Lin Fan was stunned. He didn’t know who this Liu Jun Ying was either. This was all information from the Encyclopedia. He had another question too. “Have you ever seen this dish before?”
Bai Ke shook his head. “Never seen it before. Although I’m not some great chef, I don’t think there is such a dish in Jiangsu cuisine. In fact, I did a search on the internet after going back last night and I couldn’t find this dish either.”
Until then, Lin Fan had never found out where this Encyclopedia came from. He also didn’t understand some of the information in it, like that song ‘Sky”s singer ‘Wang Fei’. He had searched for her before, but he couldn’t find such a singer. Then, that Liu Jun Ying from the Encyclopedia must not have existed either.
“This dish probably didn’t get very popular, so not many people know about it. Let’s get back to making the dish.” Lin Fan could only put it that way.
Bai Ke was eager to learn, so he didn’t bother about it.
Xiao Yan had bought all the ingredients for Mirror Box Tofu and placed them at a side. At that moment, she stood next to Lin Fan with a pen and paper in her hands, recording everything that Lin Fan said.
Lin Fan took the ingredients into his hands and nodded. “Whether a dish turns out well, apart from the chef’s ability, it also depends on the freshness of the ingredients. These prawns and pork have to be chosen well. They absolutely cannot be of low-quality, otherwise, it would have a significant effect on its texture.
Bai Ke was nodding from the side. At that moment, Lin Fan was like a teacher while Bai Ke was his student, standing there and listening attentively to the teacher’s teachings.
“The pork must have alternating layers of fat and lean meat. The fat dissolves when placed in the mouth while the lean meat maintains its chewiness, giving it an improved texture.” Lin Fan’s hands kept moving. He removed the head of the prawns, then deveined the shrimp, getting all the ingredients prepared.
Bai Ke watched without looking away for a moment, fearing that he might miss an important point. To him, for Young Fan to be able to teach him this dish, he was way too fortunate.
When a disciple wants to learn a skill from a master, he has to see if the master is willing. Right then, Lin Fan was slowly teaching him, painstakingly showing him all the steps and revealing all the secrets to him.
At that moment, the wok had heated up and the oil started to boil up.
“Look closely now. This is an important step in this dish. If you don’t learn this step, the dish will basically be ruined. “Lin Fan placed a piece of tofu into the oil-filled wok.
Bai Ke watched with maximum focus.
Lin Fan pointed to the tofu in the wok. “Look, as the tofu is placed in the oil, its outer layer gradually turns golden. At this point, you need to watch its maturity closely. Don’t let the tofu get overcooked but make sure it’s not too soft either. Watch carefully as it’s outer appearance changes. Alright, remove it from the wok.”
Lin Fan taught meticulously, Bai Ke studied attentively and Xiao Yan recorded everything detailedly.
‘Ginger and scallions are added to the wok for fragrance.
Add a suitable amount of tomato sauce, then quickly stir-fry.
Add water.
A suitable amount of dark soy sauce.
Add oyster sauce, sugar, and other condiments.’
These steps appeared simple but knowing how much of each ingredient to add was a skill too.
If nobody was there to teach you, even if you stood there watching, you would never be able to produce the same kind of taste.
At that moment, Bai Ke was really grateful for Lin Fan. He completely explained in detail all the steps involved and even how much of each ingredient to use. It was the core of the dish explained.
‘On low heat, put on the lid.’
Ten minutes later.
A serving of Mirror Box Tofu emerged from the wok.
Lin Fan wiped his hands, “You guys can have a taste. Remember this taste.”
Bai Ke looked at the delicacy before him, at its exquisite appearance, its gorgeous colors, and his taste buds couldn’t resist it any longer. He took a piece of tofu and bit into it. Suddenly, his expression changed completely.
He then looked at Lin Fan in disbelief. “This is way too good…”
The expression that Bai Ke was making was similar to those that the townsfolk used to make when they ate Lin Fan’s scallion pancakes. That devilish expression really looked exaggerated.
“Wife, try it. It’s really really delicious.” Bai Ke resisted the urge to finish the piece of tofu as he placed the rest of it into Xiao Yan’s mouth.
After Xiao Yan ate it, she looked at Lin Fan with a face of astonishment.
How could it be so good?
Lin Fan said, “What I did just now, have you remembered it?”
Bai Ke nodded. “I’ve remembered it. But for me to produce this taste, I’m afraid it will be really difficult.”
Lin Fan chuckled. It isn’t just difficult. It is extremely difficult.
Lin Fan had the Encyclopedia’s knowledge, so the taste he produced was definitely the best in the world. What he was skeptic about was that there was probably some kind of effect added to his dish from the Encyclopedia. This dish already tasted great by itself but with the additional effect from the Encyclopedia, it was definitely earth shattering.
‘Encyclopedic Points +1’