Chapter Eighty: The Chef
Xiang Kun invited Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, and Xia Libing to dinner the next day, which was Tuesday evening, September 3rd.
Originally, Xiang Kun's initial idea was simply to buy some beef and cook a couple of dishes according to a recipe.
But that's just his personality. No matter what it is, he starts off thinking he'll just do it casually, but as he does it, he gets caught up in it and can't help but want to do it better.
What's more, he's recently developed an interest in cooking.
In fact, the very night he agreed to treat them to dinner, Xiang Kun couldn't help but start sending WeChat to ask about their tastes while searching for suitable recipes online.
In Xiang Kun's understanding, there is no dish in the world that is absolutely delicious or has an absolutely perfect flavor.
People from different regions have different tastes and preferences, and even every individual has their own preferences.
Although a well-made dish can usually gain the unanimous approval of most people, the degree of approval varies. Some people think it is "very delicious", some think it is "very delicious", some think it is "okay", and there may even be completely opposite judgments such as a little salty, a little bland, too spicy, or not spicy enough.
Most people are not professional gourmets with a set of evaluation systems. Whether a dish is good or not is based on their first impression and purely subjective judgment, according to their taste buds.
Therefore, Xiang Kun believes that adjusting the flavor of dishes to suit different people's tastes is the most effective way to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
To achieve the ultimate level, one should call the people who want to eat into the kitchen, cook while letting them try it, and then adjust the flavor and cooking method little by little based on their feedback.
Xiang Kun also had that thought for a moment, but immediately gave up, thinking it was a bit too exaggerated.
Moreover, this process might only take an hour or two, or it might take much longer. If they find it troublesome and just make do halfway through, given Xiang Kun's personality, the feeling of not finishing something would be even more unpleasant...
On Tuesday evening at 6:30, Yang Zhen'er picked up Tang Baona and Xia Libing after getting off work and went to Xiang Kun's house.
The outer security door was ajar, and the three of them pushed it open and entered.
As soon as I entered the house, I could smell the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen, even in the entryway.
On the dining table in the living room, in addition to four sets of bowls and chopsticks, there were three large white porcelain plates, all of which were covered by stainless steel soup bowls, so you couldn't see what was inside.
Clearly, these are three dishes that have already been prepared.
After closing the door behind them, the three women headed straight for the kitchen, watching with some curiosity Xiang Kun, wearing an apron, busied himself.
"Wow, how many dishes are you planning to cook...?" Yang Zhen'er said in surprise. When Xiang Kun promised Tang Baona the day before yesterday that he would cook for them and treat them to a meal, she thought it would be at most one or two dishes he would make himself, and then order some takeout to make do. After all, Xiang Kun himself said that he had only just started learning to cook a few days ago, and they didn't have any expectations. They just wanted to force him to eat with them.
But judging from this posture, it doesn't seem like a beginner's...
Indeed, Xiang Kun's figure bustling in the kitchen was quick, efficient, and fluid, yet he showed no sign of panic. His stir-frying movements were steady and fast, and he knew exactly when to add seasonings and when to remove the food from the pan and plate it, without the slightest hesitation. Before long, he was washing the pan and preparing the next dish, looking just like a seasoned chef, not a novice who had just started learning to cook.
"Four dishes and a soup, it'll be ready in about 15 minutes. You can wait outside for a bit," Xiang Kun said without turning his head.
He bought a bunch of ingredients the day before yesterday, and then spent the whole day using them all up, modifying the recipes he found online and making targeted adjustments to the flavors and cooking process.
Last night, the dishes and recipes were decided. This morning, I went out to buy fresh ingredients and calculated the time. After Yang Zhen'er said she was leaving, I started to estimate how long it would take her to get to my apartment complex after picking up Tang Baona and Xia Libing.
Then, based on this time, schedule the time to start cooking.
There's a specific order to serving four dishes and a soup. Some dishes can be left to sit for a while without any problems, and may even taste better, while others need to be eaten as soon as possible after cooking.
Before he even started cooking, he had already planned out every step in his mind. Then, he proceeded step by step, like a pre-programmed sequence of code, running line by line. Although there were occasional errors, they were all within the calculation range. Before doing one step, the next and even the step after that had already been rehearsed in his mind.
Therefore, Xiang Kun's figure in the kitchen appeared busy but not chaotic, just like a skilled veteran.
After standing at the kitchen door for a while, Yang Zhen'er couldn't help but whisper to her friend, "Why does he actually look kind of handsome when he's cooking?"
Tang Baona glanced at her sideways and laughed, "Your dream man is a peerless chef. One day he'll come to you wearing an apron, sporting a shaved head, and serving you braised pork...?"
Yang Zhen'er pinched her. "What the hell! You're actually teasing me back? He's your blind date..."
Xiang Kun, busy in the kitchen, said without turning around, "Go to the living room, don't block the doorway!"
Tang Baona stuck out her tongue and whispered, "So fierce!" But she still went back to the living room with Yang Zhen'er.
Xia Libing didn't leave; she poked her head into the kitchen and asked, "Can I use your computer?"
"No! Go play on your phone! The Wi-Fi password is *****, dinner will be served soon!"
Xiang Kun was right; when he said 15 minutes, it was indeed about 15 minutes.
After finishing the last dish, a bowl of soup, he didn't immediately take it to the living room. Instead, he put it into two smaller plates and a soup bowl, then asked Xia Libing to open the door for him. He carried the plate in one hand and the bowl in the other and went out.
"Where is he going?" Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona followed him out curiously.
Then he saw Xiang Kun go to 706, where a chubby little girl was waiting for him with the door open, and she happily welcomed him into the house.
"What's going on? Has he opened a second battlefield?..." Yang Zhen'er blinked and looked back at her friend.
"You're asking me? Who should I ask?" Tang Baona shrugged.
Just over ten seconds later, Xiang Kun came out of room 706. The plate and the bowl were gone; instead, he came out carrying the inner pot of a rice cooker.
Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er immediately understood that they were exchanging vegetables for rice. Judging from the little girl in 706's behavior, Xiang Kun had probably already made arrangements with their family beforehand.
"Dinner's ready!" Xiang Kun said to the three women as he walked into the house carrying a pot of rice.
After bringing out one dish and one soup from the kitchen, and removing the stainless steel bowls covering the three dishes on the table, a four-dish-and-one-soup meal was presented to the three women.
Tang Baona stared blankly, muttering, "It's all meat..."
All four dishes were meat-based, and even the only soup was beef broth.
However, all four dishes were visually appealing, fragrant, and delicious, making them very appetizing.
Xiang Kun served each of them a bowl of rice, then ladled some beef broth into a soup bowl, and took out drinks from the refrigerator to distribute. Of course, he only had a glass of water in front of him—though he wouldn't drink it anyway.
Xia Libing didn't stand on ceremony; she used her chopsticks to stick a piece of crispy pork knuckle into her bowl and started eating.
Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, sweet but not greasy, it really tastes great, no worse than what you get in restaurants. But is this really something a beginner can make?
Was Xiang Kun lying when he said he had just started learning to cook?
Xia Libing looked up and glanced at Xiang Kun with some suspicion.
But she saw Xiang Kun observing her as well. When he saw her looking over, he asked, "How does it taste?"
Before she could answer, Tang Baona, who had just tasted the curry beef and stir-fried chicken, couldn't help but ask, "Xiang Kun, did you really make this yourself? Did you buy it from outside?"
Xiang Kun adjusted his glasses with his right index finger knuckle and smiled with satisfaction, "It seems I do have a talent for cooking. Maybe I won't be able to stay here any longer, so I'll go back to my hometown and open a small restaurant. I'll open it when I'm in a good mood, and when I'm not, I'll go fishing in the mountains..."
Yang Zhen'er sighed, "Xiang Kun, tell me honestly, are you really a cook from Shaolin Temple who ran away to become a programmer...? Is it really true, as they say, that a programmer who can't do kung fu isn't a good cook? Hey, what kind of meat is this? I thought it was chicken, but it doesn't taste like it..."
As she was talking, she suddenly remembered something, her eyes widened, and she looked towards the kitchen, muttering, "Xiang Kun, where's your rabbit?"
Xiang Kun pointed to the balcony. "They moved over there."
"Phew~" Yang Zhen'er breathed a sigh of relief, "Then what kind of meat is this? Duck meat?"
"Rabbit meat," Xiang Kun said, "I think killing one is enough, there are still so many vegetables. Don't worry, it was just killed today, absolutely fresh." He was somewhat moved, this was the first time he had killed a rabbit not to drink its blood. When he was processing the rabbit meat that morning, he had really struggled with his conscience and almost couldn't resist drinking its blood.
Yang Zhen'er opened her mouth again, looked at the balcony, then at the plate of dry-pot rabbit meat on the table, hesitated for several seconds, and finally said nothing.
Tang Baona, who was watching from the side, almost burst out laughing and couldn't help but ask, "Zhen'er, is rabbit meat delicious?"
Yang Zhen'er rolled her eyes at her without replying, but after thinking for a moment, she picked up another piece of the dry-pot rabbit meat from the plate in front of her—she hadn't expected rabbit meat to be so delicious. She had thought that if she knew it was rabbit meat, she would have a psychological barrier and wouldn't be able to eat it... but it seemed she had underestimated the hardness of her heart...
Watching the three of them eat so happily, Xiang Kun felt quite satisfied, like the feeling he had when he wrote a fortune-telling software in VB in junior high school and his classmates had a great time playing with it.
He slowly picked up a piece of rabbit meat and put it in his mouth, but although he seemed to be chewing, he actually just held it in his mouth and then forcibly swallowed the whole piece.
Although he made up an excuse not to eat, it did seem very strange that he didn't eat a single bite of such a large table of food.
He had previously determined through experiments that if a small pebble is swallowed beforehand, and a whole piece of solid food weighing around 200g is consumed, it will not affect the sensation of the pebble and can be used to suppress vomiting.
He had already secretly swallowed the pebble before he brought out the last two dishes.
As long as you don't drink water or soup, you can just swallow a few pieces of meat whole without any problem.
Of course, this process is still very uncomfortable and painful; it feels like your stomach is constantly fighting and being tortured.
However, if I'm going to cook for my parents when I go home in the future, I'll always need to rehearse this situation first.