Chapter 91

Chapter 91: This skill is far worse than Chen Ran’s...

A sightseeing train?

In the more than twenty years of Chen Ran's life, she hadn’t even had the experience of traveling.

School and learning culinary skills had almost consumed all her time.

Her journey of working and cooking alongside the system had taken her to more places than she had visited in the past twenty-plus years.

Her first overnight stay in a scenic area was when she was working for a film crew; her first visit to a haunted house also came about because of working there.

Although the small restaurant in the scenic area was very busy, she still had time to wander around the mountains while cooking!

When she worked at the haunted house, her main task was cooking, but it was during that time, trapped in a setting, that she truly felt the spine-chilling atmosphere of the haunted house.

Now, she was going to work on a sightseeing train.

Chen Ran, unusually, felt a bit excited—not just because she was unlocking new recipes at a new location, but because of the place itself!

A sightseeing train—she had never been on one before.

"How do I get there? Do I need to follow a process?"

Seeing Chen Ran’s excitement, even the usually aloof system spoke more than usual.

[Just go to the specified location to participate in the recruitment. After that, you’ll get the task on the train.]

Chen Ran nodded, pulling her suitcase, and quickly found the place to apply.

The recruitment for the sightseeing train was livelier than any other place she had applied to before.

It was a sightseeing train, after all!

The recruitment officer was wearing a neat uniform and carefully guided the applicants to fill out the forms.

"Yes, that’s right, no permanent positions. We are just hiring a few temporary workers this time."

"The pay is listed here. Although the positions are temporary, the pay and benefits are nearly the same as full-time employees."

However, most people looked disappointed when they heard that only temporary workers were being hired and quickly turned to leave.

For technical positions like chefs, frequently changing jobs isn't the best choice. Each restaurant has its own preferences for menus, and it takes time to familiarize oneself with a new place.

Moreover, working on a sightseeing train could be considered a long-term business trip, with food and accommodation on the train, leaving no opportunity to return home.

However, Chen Ran's eyes brightened!

This was exactly the kind of job she wanted—something that lasted only a month. Anything longer, and she wouldn’t want it!

"Give me a form!"

Chen Ran squeezed her way through the small crowd of people leaving and quickly rushed to the front. She took out her junior chef certificate and health certificate and handed them over for inspection.

However, when filling out the application form, Chen Ran paused for a moment.

"Isn’t this a chef position? You're hiring... a porter?"

The recruitment officer smiled gently. "Our chef positions are already filled, and now only the porter position remains."She quietly whispered to Chen Ran, “This sightseeing train only has luxury suites, so it's not very crowded. There are five porter positions for three chefs. The workload shouldn’t be too high.”

With five porters for three chefs, it should indeed be manageable.

Chen Ran had worked at the Chen family restaurant for a while, where the porters were mainly responsible for chopping vegetables and arranging dishes, as well as assisting the chefs with various tasks.

In professional terms, porters are actually called "hot dish assistants."

Thinking about working as a porter on the sightseeing train, Chen Ran was a little excited. However, before filling out the form, she still decided to ask the system.

"System, are you sure about this? Why can I only be a porter?"

[Yes.]

It had just been speaking in full sentences, and now it was back to just one word!

Chen Ran silently complained about the system, quickly filled out the form, and handed it to the recruitment officer.

"Please wait over there."

Recruiting porters wasn’t as complicated as recruiting chefs, with no need for food tastings. The recruitment process took place inside the station, and after walking around for a bit, Chen Ran received the news that she had been hired.

Time to board the train!

Although she was only a temporary worker, Chen Ran was still quite excited.

This job was different from any of the previous ones, and in comparison, it felt more official.

Not only did she get a uniform, but before the sightseeing train officially started its operation, there was also a half-day training, mainly focused on hygiene issues.

Once all the formalities were finished, Chen Ran’s first impression of boarding the train was: it’s so luxurious!

I heard the train was built with an investment of a hundred million!

The deep red carriages were adorned with golden decorations, and thick carpets were laid throughout the train. Even the dining car they were assigned to was carefully decorated, with a clean and tidy kitchen where almost all the equipment was the latest model.

However, the kitchen knife couldn’t compare to hers.

Chen Ran’s kitchen knife had ended up being left behind in the staff dorms.

She weighed the kitchen knife in the dining car, unable to help but quietly complain to another porter: "The equipment is fine, but the kitchen knife is lacking."

"The knife is okay, it's just that the other equipment is so good, it doesn't measure up."

The entire kitchen staff consisted of three vegetable cutters, five porters, and in addition, there were two cold dish chefs, two pastry chefs, three hot dish chefs, and four dishwashers who also helped out with miscellaneous tasks.

With this setup, even running a small restaurant outside would be more than enough.

Among the five porters, the oldest, Lao Chen, was the head porter, responsible for managing the five of them.

"Alright, the customers will be boarding soon. Let’s get moving! Looking at today’s menu, let’s start preparing ten portions!"

"Let’s get moving!"

This dining car served meals to the passengers of the entire sightseeing train, which had over ten carriages, so the stove was running all day long.

Although there was a fixed menu, the meals served to tourists on this luxury train couldn’t just be boxed meals. Instead, they offered various set meals at different price points.

The menu for the set meals changed daily, not only to cater to customers' tastes but also to match the changing scenery outside the sightseeing train's windows.This sightseeing train is a seven-day, six-night journey, and the menu will vary daily to ensure that the passengers always have an enjoyable experience.

Just like now, the additional dishes of Guobao Rou and Russian-style borscht with mashed potatoes were added to match the endless snowfields outside the window.

"Three portions of Guobao Rou!"

"Two Russian set meals!"

The entire dining car became busy. Chen Ran hadn’t experienced such an orderly kitchen in a long time and quickly got involved.

As a porter, her job was simply to assist the hot dish chefs. For example, with Guobao Rou, she was responsible for marinating the meat, assisting in the frying process, and finally, after the chef finished cooking the dish, she would help plate it.

She hadn’t done this kind of work in a long time. However, it had to be said that being a porter was definitely less tiring than being a chef.

She secretly asked the system, "Is this a vacation for me?"

The system didn’t respond.

Chen Ran didn’t continue to pay attention to the aloof system. She was assigned to Chef Liu, who had the Guobao Rou on his station.

The meat slices were already cut. Chen Ran skillfully coated them in starch and glanced at Chef Liu's expression.

"What are you staring at? Fry them!"

Chen Ran took a glance at him, as different chefs had different habits.

Some chefs preferred to prep their own ingredients, as frying required precise control over the heat. However, some chefs preferred to delegate tasks to porters, as doing everything themselves felt somewhat beneath them.

Clearly, Chef Liu belonged to the latter category.

Chen Ran glanced at him, then dropped the starch-coated meat slices one by one into the hot oil, beginning to fry them.

The ingredients prepared for this sightseeing train were really quite good. The meat slices used for Guobao Rou were authentic pork tenderloin, not the usual pork loin.

The meat was coated in starch and tossed into the hot oil. Immediately, it began to turn a golden yellow. Chen Ran took the first batch out, checked the oil temperature, and quickly started to double-fry the meat.

The first fry was to set the shape of the meat, and the second was to give it color. The stove in the dining car had a high heat output, and a single round of double-frying was enough. No need for a third round.

Chen Ran quickly removed the meat slices and placed them in a strainer to drain the excess oil. Meanwhile, someone else quickly prepared a sweet and sour sauce.

Chef Liu, who had been watching from the side, couldn't help but hum through his nose.

Among the porters, he looked down on this young girl the most. He never expected the head porter to assign her to him.

"Can’t even make the sauce for Guobao Rou? Why so little sugar? What are you doing here? Who hired you?"

Chen Ran turned to look at him.

Chef Liu, already rolling up his sleeves to yell some more, was suddenly thrown off guard by the calm and confident look in her eyes, and he hesitated, stopping his sentence midway.

The way this young girl looked at him reminded him of the time when he was still an apprentice and didn’t cook well, only to have his master stare at him in silence.

She wasn’t glaring at him or being aggressive, but there was a sense of absolute calmness and confidence in her gaze, which made him subconsciously think about what he might have done wrong.

Chef Liu instinctively stood up straighter, then shouted back, "What are you looking at! Are you saying I’m wrong? Who taught you how to make this Guobao Rou sauce?"

For a brief moment, the noise in the kitchen seemed to quiet down.

Chef Liu’s voice wasn’t loud at first, but with the constant noise of the Chinese kitchen's exhaust fans and the sizzling of stir-frying, the other chefs couldn’t hear his words.But now, with his instinctive shout, everyone in the kitchen could hear him.

"What's going on?"

The head porter quickly came over to see.

In a Chinese kitchen setup, although the head porter is technically part of the porter team, due to their familiarity with the menu, they often have a status comparable to that of the chefs.

This head porter was slightly older than Chef Liu, and quickly came over to smooth things over: "Chen Ran is still young. Besides, you’re the chef and she’s just a porter. If she didn’t do it well, just teach her. We're all colleagues here…"

Chef Liu was insistent: "Look at how she's frying the meat. Who fries Guobao Rou only twice? Shouldn’t it be fried three times? And there’s that..."

Before he could finish, Chen Ran stepped forward, grabbed a clean pair of chopsticks, and swiftly picked up a piece of Guobao Rou, tossing it into the oil, which was still hot.

Chef Liu’s eyes widened.

"You little girl, still not admitting you're wrong? Who are you showing attitude to?"

Chen Ran turned to look at him, her calm black eyes making him uneasy.

"See?"

She dropped a piece of Guobao Rou into the oil for a few seconds, then quickly took it out again.

Not only Chef Liu, but even the head porter was stunned: "What do you mean by that?"

Chen Ran leisurely tossed the Guobao Rou back into the oil, then took her time to adjust her apron.

She was no longer the young girl who ran away from the Chen family after being scolded. After working in so many places and being praised by so many customers, appearing on the chef rankings and in various news reports, if she hadn’t cultivated some chef’s temperament by now, all her experiences would have been for nothing.

"Why does Guobao Rou need to be fried three times?"

Chef Liu, who had been stared down by her, suddenly felt as if he had returned to his apprentice days, being questioned by his master when his cooking wasn’t up to par.

For a moment, he even stuttered.

"It... it needs to be fried three..."

Seeing that he didn’t understand the reasoning, Chen Ran didn’t even let him finish: "The first frying is to set the shape of the meat. The second frying at a high temperature is to crisp up the coating without overcooking the meat. Now tell me, what’s the purpose of the third frying?"

Chef Liu couldn’t answer, and Chen Ran didn’t expect him to.

Chen Ran paused for a moment, smiled, and explained, "The third frying is because in most kitchens, the fire in the wok is usually small, and when the meat is added, it cools the oil, which means the oil can’t maintain the high temperature needed to crisp the coating without overcooking the meat. That’s why we fry it three times."

"Now, tell me, why would I need to fry it three times with such high-quality stoves and this powerful fire on this dining car?"

"I just showed you by tossing that piece of Guobao Rou back into the oil to demonstrate. If the meat doesn't bubble or make noise when added, it means it's done. Understand?"

The entire kitchen seemed busy, but everyone was secretly watching them.

There were three head chefs on the dining car, and while they seemed equal on the surface, there was an underlying competition between them.

Chef Liu, upon seeing even a slight mistake from Chen Ran, chose to immediately lash out, shouting loudly. It was clearly an attempt to establish his dominance, hoping to assert his position on the dining car.

Unfortunately, he had chosen the wrong person to pick on.

After Chen Ran’s clear and assertive explanation, the entire kitchen fell silent.The two chefs who were frying nearby deliberately slowed down their work, just to listen closely to what was being said here.

Feeling the others' eyes on him, Chef Liu's face gradually turned red.

He couldn't just let a porter question him into silence!

"How would I know! A small thing like frying, do I, as a head chef, have to watch every step? Isn't it the porter's job to do this right? Can't you just speak properly?"

Quickly brushing aside the issue of the fried meat, Chef Liu turned his focus to another matter, trying to reassert his authority.

"And what about this sweet and sour sauce? You can't even make the sweet and sour sauce for Guobao Rou, and you're still trying to make excuses?"

He strode forward, trying to regain the face he had just lost, and held up the prepared sweet and sour sauce for the others to see.

"Look, this is how much sugar you put in, is this the correct sugar-to-vinegar ratio for Guobao Rou’s sauce? Ridiculous. You can't even handle such a basic dish, what kind of porter are you?"

He turned to the head porter: "Get me a different porter! I don’t want her anymore!"

Just as Chef Liu was filled with righteous indignation, he suddenly felt the small bowl of sweet and sour sauce he was holding being gently taken from his hand.

It was another head chef, Tang Su.

The three head chefs on the dining car were all temporary, as the sightseeing train was the latest major project, and the higher-ups hoped these chefs could be selected based on merit.

Thus, these three temporary chefs might not all stay in the end. It was precisely because of this uncertainty that Chef Liu had chosen to make such a scene.

Unfortunately...

His skill couldn’t support such a power play.

Chef Tang Su was more experienced. He gently shook the bowl of sweet and sour sauce for Guobao Rou and couldn’t help but glance at Chen Ran.

"Little girl, have you worked in a big restaurant before?"

Chen Ran thought for a moment...

Had she worked in a big restaurant? She had trained at Chen's Restaurant... Could that count?

But fortunately, Chef Tang Su didn’t really expect an answer. Instead, he gently shook the bowl of sauce in front of Chef Liu.

"Liu Peng, you really misunderstood this young girl. You think the ratio of this sauce is wrong, but you can’t blame her for that…"

"What are you talking about!"

Chef Liu's face turned even redder. "With so little sugar, how is this supposed to taste sweet!"

Chef Tang Su glanced at Liu Peng, feeling amused at the thought of this person trying to assert some kind of authority in the kitchen.

If he didn’t say something now, it would be even funnier if Liu Peng ended up staying.

"You think the ratio of this sauce is wrong, but that’s because the young lady made the sauce according to the ‘cooking sauce’ ratio!"

"If I’m not mistaken, the Guobao Rou you usually make is made with the ‘Wozhi’ method, right? You’ve never even tried the ‘Cengzhi’ method, have you?"

It was well-known that Guobao Rou is first fried and then stir-fried. In the stir-frying process, the sweet and sour sauce can be prepared first and then evenly mixed into the meat, which is called Wozhi.

However, like Chen Ran, who uses high heat throughout and evenly coats the meat with sauce until there’s no sauce left on the plate, that method is called Cengzhi.

The authentic Guobao Rou, of course, is made using the Cengzhi method.Because of the additional step of simmering, the sweetness of the sugar decreases, so the sweet and sour sauce for Wozhi Guobao Rou requires more sugar.

Chen Ran had just dug a hole for Liu Peng, and to her surprise, he jumped right into it.

Liu Peng’s face grew even redder, almost tinged with gray.

He had naturally heard of the Cengzhi method, but unfortunately, he really didn’t know how to do it.

That’s the thing with cooking: if you know it, you know it; if you don’t, you don’t!

Tang Su was a bit smug.

In a kitchen with three chefs, he naturally wanted to be the one to stand out. However, he didn’t expect Liu Peng to just hand over the initiative like this.

He turned to the head porter: “Although a porter assists the chefs, if the skill doesn’t match up, it’s hard to handle. Let this young lady come over and assist me instead.”

The head porter nodded obediently: “Okay, Chen Ran, you go assist Chef Tang. Xiao Wang, you go with Chef Liu!”

Xiao Wang had originally been working with Tang Su, but with this shift, he had no choice but to go with Liu Peng.

He couldn’t help but mutter, “Why does it have to be me?”

Everyone had seen what had just happened. Liu Peng had lost a lot of face in front of everyone, his culinary skills were inferior, and now even the porter had exposed his mistakes. It seemed like he wouldn’t last long on this dining car.

After Xiao Wang spoke up, Liu Peng could only glare fiercely at Tang Su, not daring to say another word.

Because Tang Su had already started using that sweet and sour sauce he didn’t understand to make the Cengzhi Guobao Rou!

Chen Ran assisted Tang Su from the side, watching as this chef who had just helped her out skillfully stir-fried the sauce, finally dividing the Guobao Rou evenly into three plates.

The three plates were decorated with purple flowers and green vegetable carvings, and paired with the golden-red Guobao Rou just out of the pan, they looked incredibly beautiful.

The Cengzhi method made the Guobao Rou appear crisp, and the red sauce at the bottom of the plate complemented the vegetable carvings perfectly.

“All right, it’s ready to serve!”

Once the dishes were prepared, a server dressed in Russian-themed attire quickly took the plates of Guobao Rou away.

"How is it, old man? The view from this train is nice, right? Oh, this Guobao Rou is pretty good! This technique, looks like Cengzhi, right?"

Huang Renshou withdrew his gaze from the endless snowfields outside and glanced at the Guobao Rou on the table, nodding slightly in acknowledgment.

"Mm, not bad."

"Tell me, how does this Guobao Rou compare to Chen Ran’s skills?"

During the banquet at the Shu family, Huang Renshou had tasted the Guobao Rou made by Chen Ran.

He frowned, "The meat slices are fried to Chef Chen’s standard, but this Cengzhi technique... it’s too poor, it lowers the overall quality of the dish."

If it were Chen Ran, there wouldn’t be a drop of sauce on the plate, every drop of the sweet and sour sauce would be precisely on the Guobao Rou!

At this moment, in the back kitchen of the dining car, after Liu Peng was knocked down, Tang Su was in a great mood, and even the sight of the porters made him feel three times happier.

He couldn’t help but promise, “How is it? Beautiful technique, right? Keep at it, and later, I’ll teach you how to make this Cengzhi Guobao Rou. It’s a rare skill, but it will earn you respect if you take it out.”

Chen Ran blinked and chose to nod, saying thank you.

After all, he had just helped her out of a tough situation. It wouldn’t be right to slap him in the face now.