After transmigrating into the body of a widow, I became the richest man in the capital.

Chapter 111 Soybeans Can Also Be Brewed into New Soy Sauce

As a return gift, Su Xiaoxiao returned home and began making soy sauce.

This time she was very serious. Actually, the recipe for soy sauce is quite simple, but Su Xiaoxiao went all out this time, determined to make soy sauce that could help Qian Musheng.

She was selecting soybeans, each one plump and without any missing corners. After fermentation, they became soybean koji. After drying, the moldy parts were removed, and then they were exposed to direct sunlight.

Finally, salt and water are added to make soy sauce, which also needs to be filtered; there are quite a few steps involved.

I remember when I was a child, I would take the soy sauce container from home to the corner store to buy soy sauce.

They'd buy a small bucket at a time. The soy sauce was always stored in a large, bottomless, black vat. They'd use a small teacup with a stick attached as a ladle to scoop out a spoonful each time. You've probably bought soy sauce for your family quite a bit, right? Everyone should have had that experience, but you probably don't remember if the soy sauce tasted good back then.

Anyway, they all tasted the same. Back then, there should have been packaged soy sauce, like the soy sauce sold in supermarkets now, right? But I haven't seen it much; I mostly ate loose soy sauce like this.

After Su Xiaoxiao finished making the soy sauce, she put it into a small porcelain bottle before going to Baxianlou to find Qian Musheng.

This time she was full of confidence, hoping that Qian Musheng would be able to use the soy sauce she made.

Qian Musheng took the soy sauce, opened the lid, and smelled it. It was indeed different from the soy sauce they made with meat.

"You're saying this is made with regular soybeans? No meat added?"

Su Xiaoxiao nodded, "No meat was added."

"But how can that taste good? Our Baxianlou soy sauce is exceptional, made with only the finest meat. You must know that, right?"

Su Xiaoxiao said this. Actually, she knew that she was quite confident.

Dishes made with this soy sauce are indeed very delicious. "Go to the kitchen and you'll see. Since your head chef is unwilling to try, I'll have a competition with him and make two dishes myself. Then you can see the difference, right?"

Su Xiaoxiao could tell that Qian Musheng's hesitation was mainly because the chef of Baxianlou was unwilling to use the new soy sauce that Su Xiaoxiao had provided.

This is actually quite understandable. The chef has been working at Baxianlou for so long that the recipes and cooking methods he uses have become fixed patterns. How can he easily change them?

If you suddenly change such an important seasoning as soy sauce, the taste of the dish will definitely change drastically. If the guests don't like it, wouldn't that be a loss?

There is no room for compromise on this point, which is why the chef disagreed.

Making changes is actually very difficult. Su Xiaoxiao suggested that she could have a competition with the chef. She planned to use this soy sauce to make a stir-fried bok choy. She directly added oil to sauté the bok choy and then stir-fried it. This dish looks very ordinary, but it is actually quite difficult to make it taste like your own.

After the dish was made, Su Xiaoxiao saw that Qian Musheng's eyes widened; the bok choy was a very bright color.

After Su Xiaoxiao plated the dish, a very delicious aroma wafted into everyone's noses.

Meanwhile, the head chef of the Eight Immortals Restaurant had also prepared and plated this stir-fried cabbage.

His dish was black in color and didn't look good at all. Although it smelled very fragrant, it seemed to have a burnt smell mixed in.

As the big boss, Qian Musheng was naturally a judge for this competition.

He also knew that in the past, when they cooked, adding soy sauce would create that burnt look.

He took a bite of the stir-fried bok choy by Su Xiaoxiao. It was bright green and very refreshing, which made him feel more appetized.

Then, when I ate the stir-fried cabbage cooked by my own chef, it lacked the refreshing taste of bok choy. It was a bit salty and had a burnt taste. It seems that Su Xiaoxiao was right about this. The key is that the soy sauce Su Xiaoxiao used, although she didn't add any meat to it, still had a meaty flavor, which was quite rare.

Qian Musheng's expression said it all. He couldn't stop eating Su Xiaoxiao's cooking and realized that the essence of the dish was indeed the soy sauce.

"It's pretty good, isn't it?"

Su Xiaoxiao asked Qian Musheng.

Qian Musheng could also hear the tone in Su Xiaoxiao's voice. Although it was a bit boastful and ostentatious, her soy sauce was indeed good and she should be proud of it.

Seeing the incredulous look on his chef's face, Qian Musheng told him to get another pair of chopsticks and try Su Xiaoxiao's stir-fried bok choy.

Sure enough, the chef at Baxianlou's restaurant had his eyes light up after eating there.

He was quite surprised, and only this time did he seriously look at the soy sauce that Su Xiaoxiao made.

"Did you really make this soy sauce?"

He carefully observed the color of the soy sauce, and even smelled it, looking at Su Xiaoxiao with an incredulous expression.

"Yes."

"Can you really make this using only soybeans?"

The chef still seemed quite skeptical, so Su Xiaoxiao quickly replied, "Yes, it's just soybeans."

This soy sauce not only makes stir-fries delicious, but later Su Xiaoxiao also made a cold dish using the same soy sauce, and it was just as irresistible. It seems that this is all thanks to the soy sauce.

The head chef of Baxianlou was completely convinced and even admired Su Xiaoxiao.

"Mr. Su, could you please teach us your soy sauce making techniques?"

"Sure. I'd be happy to help."

The main reason is that even though the process of making soy sauce can bring Su Xiaoxiao a lot of economic benefits, it is still very worthwhile to do this in order to help Qian Musheng and let more people taste the good flavor of the new soy sauce.

Su Xiaoxiao mainly didn't want to owe anyone a favor, so if she used the new soy sauce at Baxianlou this time, no one would object.

"But the customers didn't know the situation this time, so we changed the soy sauce for them at the last minute. Will some customers be dissatisfied?"

Indeed, if the key seasoning, soy sauce, were replaced, it would be very easy for regular customers to spot the dish.

This was actually something Qian Musheng should have considered carefully, but he made the decision without hesitation.

"We are going to use the new soy sauce, and we believe our customers will understand and be very willing to accept it."

Qian Musheng was quite confident, and he knew that by doing this, he could definitely save the restaurant a lot of money.

At least a lot of money can be saved on soy sauce. Saving costs will also make the dishes more flavorful, which will help Baxianlou's business reach new heights.

(End of this chapter)