Having tofu meal is a traditional custom of funeral rites in the south. After the funeral, the family of the deceased usually would hold a banquet (which is also called "Bean Banquet") expressing their gratitude to those who attended the funeral and offered help in different forms. People who get the banquet invitation shall not refuse it, or it will be considered rude and offensive. In the past, this was generally a vegetarian feast mainly made of soy products, and then changed a little. Nowadays, the tofu meal is of various dishes, which is not inferior to the wedding banquet. And tofu thick soup is an essential dish for this meal, that's why people also call it 'tofu thick soup meal'.
There is a dining hall in Life Pass Away, in which the tofu meal banquet would usually be provided for those who attend it at the end of the funeral. These two days, the main chef of Life Pass Away happened to have something urgent and asked to leave, so Fang Tang was invited to come here for help.
"Little Fang, you are becoming our free bench, are you?" The people in the kitchen all know Fang Tang, and this is not his first time helping either. That's why they would joke with Fang Tang, when they saw him stepping in.
"Elder Ding, you know better than anyone about why would I be here, it must be your proposal. I'm the chef you can totally trust, am I right?" said Fang Tang while he was putting on his chef uniform. As he was chatting with everyone, he was putting the kitchen utensils in place.
That's his habit. Each time before he started cooking, he would put kitchen utensils, seasonings, etc. in the place he is used to and familiar with. Then he took out a piece of Walking Mushroom from his bag, cut it into pieces and put them into the broth pot.
"What did you just put in?" executive chef elder Ding asked with concerns after seeing this.
"Don't worry…it's only some mushrooms." answered Fang Tang.
"We are not making vegetable stock, why are you putting mushrooms in?" elder Ding grumbled.
"That's not ordinary mushrooms as you think. You will find out the reason why I put them in later. I'm sure you'll be surprised." Fang Tang smiled.
"Don't tell me the surprise is to screw up my broth. If so, that's really a big surprise, and I will surely kick your ass." elder Ding wield his ladle pretending to threaten him.
"Well, come here and taste it." said Fang Tang. He stirred the broth with his ladle, and scooped some to a small saucer when he felt it's cooked, then handed it to elder Ding.
With doubts, elder Ding took the saucer and had a sip.
Boom!
The flavor is like a bomb exploding in his mouth!!
He was going to say something, but his mouth was still closed. It's not because he can't open it, he is reluctant to open it. Because he is afraid this amazingly nice flavor will disappear from his mouth if he opens it.
Elder Ding put one hand over his mouth, the other one held the saucer pointing toward that broth pot and asking incoherently: "What… what is this? How could…no, that's not possible…"
"This mushroom was given by my botanist friend, he got this from Shennongjia Forestry District. So, I called it Shennong mushroom. Except the part I brought here, I also left some in my restaurant to make broth." Fang Tang explained fluently.
Actually, on the way here, Fang Tang already got himself prepared how to introduce this mushroom of another world. He thought that when he mentioned things like 'botanist friend' and 'Shennongjia Forestry District', people usually would believe him with no doubt. Because Shennongjia Forestry District is the key word means rare and mysterious.
As he expected, elder Ding stopped asking him. Maybe he wanted to ask for some more of this mushroom, but he quitted this thought after knowing that Fang Tang was going to leave it for his restaurant use. Then he got excited again. As a chef, when finding a new top-quality ingredient, he would naturally want to try it with different dishes.
Today, there is a memorial meeting being held in Life Pass Away. It's for an old professor in the journalism department of Nanshan University. Apart from his relatives and friends, most of his colleagues and students are also here for his meeting.
After the meeting, these people all moved to the cafeteria. At the dinner table, this feeling of grief among those people was relieved a little. People started to greet their acquaintances or talk with their old friends. After a few cups of wine, they were all relaxed and began to recall their past years.
"Director Min, you have a project planning meeting to attend the evening, would you like to leave now?" a young and beautiful girl whispered to the middle-aged man next to her.
"Wait a bit, I shall have some tofu thick soup before I leave. Or, it will be impolite." the middle-aged man said calmly.
"Sure, sure." the young girl responded. She was a little embarrassed by her rude proposal after hearing his answer.
She works for a TV station. Since she knew their channel director, Min Tao, was a student of her tutor's, she had been looking for every opportunity to get close to him, but he seemed to have this cold attitude all the time. Now that her tutor has passed away, she could feel that there is almost no hope for her to get help from him.
While this girl was being upset, the waiter had already taken a large pot of tofu thick soup and served it on the table. Generally, shredded pork, shredded carrots, egg slices and other ingredients are what would be put in tofu thick soup. Some more sophisticated chefs would also put in some shrimps and scallops to improve the flavor. This tofu thick soup in Life Pass Away is the simplest one that I have ever seen. There are no ingredients in it except some chopped green onion.
"Well, this soup is really made in a simple style. That's quite similar to my teacher's character." Min Tao said this with a scorn. He scooped a little bit in his small bowl, intending to just have a taste, then left. He only asked for half a day off, so he needed to go back and work.
"Uh?!" Min Tao was amazed after a sip.
"Is this food work for you, director?" this young girl asked right away, after seeing him, and paused a while.
Min Tao didn't answer her. He looked at the tofu thick soup with astonishment and put another spoon into his mouth. Seeing him start eating again without any unpleasant expression, this girl believed this soup was not that bad, so she scooped a bowl for herself.
"Wow, this is really delicious!" this girl said with surprise. She didn't expect too much about this simple tofu thick soup which didn't have even a piece of meat. To her surprise, it tasted so good. The soft and freshly made tofu gives this soup a more delicate flavor. You don't need to chew it, gently press the tofu with your tongue, it will melt in your mouth and slide into your stomach together with the fresh thick soup. Under the sunlight, these small tofu dices were shining like a diamond.
She finished the soup very fast and wanted to have some more, then she found that the pot was empty. And some people are even licking the last drop in their bowl.
"Waiter, we need one more pot of tofu thick soup!" one person said.
"We too!" the man at the other table followed.
"We need two!" People are asking for more of this soup.
"Waiter, we too!" this middle-aged man also raised his hand and said.
"The ancients said: well processed tofu would taste way better than birds' nest. Indeed! It's so right. This tofu thick soup is fabulous!" Min Tao said to the girl.
"Yes, it is. I have never had such a tofu thick soup, unlike most soups that use gourmet powder, the fresh and delicate flavor is very different. And the nice flavor remains a while in your mouth after finishing the soup. Thinking of this makes me want to have another bowl of it right now." the girl answered with excitement.
Waiters put down the new orders and served other dishes. After this soup, other dishes are just plain to them.
Soon, this middle-aged man found some differences between these dishes. Most of the dishes are just normally cooked, nothing special about their color or taste. So, these are just for stuffing the stomach.
But there are several dishes that are different. Like this steamed bass, it may sound like an easy dish, actually it's not. While adding seasoning in it, you have to be very accurate about the potion. If the cooked wine, onion and ginger are less than the standard amount, its fishy smell will be too strong. However, if the seasoning is over the amount, the fish would taste bitter. The steaming time and temperature are very crucial too. If it's steamed over the best time and temperature, the fish would be a little tough, and the soft smooth taste would be gone. But if the cooking time is the best, the fish would be half cooked, and it wouldn't absorb all the seasoning flavor either.
As to what's the best time and temperature, it depends on the chef's experience. For those inexperienced chefs, they can only check the fish through lifting the lid and poking it with chopsticks. But the more often he opens the lid, the less tasty would this fish be, and the fish skin would be wrinkled and no longer shiny because of the frequent temperature change.
Only the best chefs could have accurate control so that they could open the lid at the best time, just once to finish it. The steamed bass on this table must be cooked by an excellent chef, because the fish is a very shiny color, as if it's still alive. Picking it up with chopsticks, you could also feel the meat is tender. And it's really chewy and smooth while you are chewing it.
Apart from the original nice flavor of the fish, it also contains a marvelous flavor which feels like something from the sea. Take a few more bites, you will feel like a fish swimming into a boundless ocean and suddenly being enlightened.
As a TV station leader, he has had many delicacies from different starred restaurants, hotels and famous chefs. But none of those dishes can compare with these ones. The more you eat, the better it tastes. And this flavor is what Min Tao had never tasted.
Take a glance at the table and you will know which dish is tasty. Because some dishes were finished in a few minutes after being served. Some just stay untouched since they were served. People are still hurrying the waiters to serve the tofu thick soup.
"Little Meng, isn't your channel planning for a food show? This tofu thick soup could be a very good material for you." the middle-aged man suddenly said this to the young girl.
"Ah? Oh, yes, of course! This soup is the best vegetarian dish I have had." Meng Jingyi answered him with surprise and excitement.
"But this food is from a dining hall of funeral parlor …will that affect audience rating?" she spoke out her concerns.
"You're right. That may affect a little bit, after all, people won't like to eat in a funeral parlor restaurant no matter how nice the food is." Min Tao nodded with agreement.
"You can still have this dish without coming here. Because we invited the main chef of Six Flavors Restaurant to help us today, these dishes might come from him." a man next to them interrupted.
Min Tao turned back and saw a young crewcut monk in gray robes. Because the monks who did Buddhist rituals today were sitting close to his table having a vegetarian feast.
"Six Flavors Restaurant? I seemed to hear this name before." Min Tao felt familiar to this name.
"That's a time-honored restaurant which has a nearly 50 years' history. It's quite famous in the old district." the young monk continued.
"I got the address. It's a four-star restaurant, at No.66, Nangang lane, and there are many good comments." Meng Jingyi searched on her cellphone and got the information about Six Flavors Restaurant from the website.
"Great, a time-honored restaurant in old district, that is a better place to be interviewed than this funeral parlor. Go and have a look at that restaurant tomorrow, and tell your group leader to be serious about this. This would be a popular show."
Hearing this, Meng Jingyi was thrilled. She has been working for this TV station for about one year, but she is still in the intern position. According to the station rule, whoever makes the plan shall also be responsible for that show. So, Min Tao was just giving this chance to her.
That young monk smiled after hearing their conversation, then continued to eat. As he was eating, he muttered: "Fang Tang has made major progress with his cooking skill now, and I just made a free ad for you."