Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 227 24 Knife Skills: Not Only Double-Edged, But Also a Mother-and-Child Blade. (First Update)
Just as Shangguan Guowei was surprised, Xia Ming had already swung the "ice blade" in his hand.

Yesterday, he spent more than an hour thinking and brainstorming, and finally simplified the [透丝剞] back to its original form.

First, make straight cuts.

As he silently recited the instructions, he used his ice skate to cut straight into the surface of the radish slice, with the blade perpendicular to the cutting board, and the blade cutting into the raw material to a depth of about 3/4 of its thickness.

The blade distance should be controlled between 0.2 and 0.3 mm, and the entire hand should move evenly.

With a flick of the wrist, a row of beautiful scratches was etched into the texture of the radish.

Its speed surprised the veteran chefs below.

They'd seen fast cuts before, but this was the first time they'd ever seen someone use a specially designed handle ice skate to slice through a crisp radish so smoothly.

Even Huang Jiexun, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but show a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Excellent knife skills. Very steady hand."

Just as Cheng Xieyun was about to reply, Xia Ming suddenly turned his knife around.

Then, based on the straight grooves, he quickly branded diagonal grooves onto them.

It was only then that Cheng Xieyun realized that although it was shaped like a banana leaf, the two sides of the knife were not exactly the same.

"Assuming the straight side of the knife is the front, the banana leaf on the back has a fixed slit."

“These gaps look like the natural gaps cut into a banana leaf when painting, but they seem to have other functions in the actual cutting process.”

Cheng Xieyun had never seen such a knife before, so she couldn't immediately understand what was going on.

Hu Zhongying, who was sitting next to Shangguan Guowei, spoke up.

"The gaps were intentionally left out; they look uneven, but when you actually cut, it's a 'roller cut' similar to slicing meat."

"With this slight rolling wrist movement, the originally irregular gaps actually become even when they fall onto the radish."

Hearing Hu Zhongying's words, Shangguan Guowei was a little puzzled.

"But why design it this way? A normal serrated blade should achieve the same effect!"

Hu Zhongying stared at Xia Ming's hand movements, thought for a while, and then shook her head.

No, they're different.

"If you're using a serrated knife, which is relatively uncommon in kitchen utensils, then in order to maintain the spacing of the grain, you can only use a vertical, straight-cut method."

"But the nature of radishes is such that if you cut them straight with a knife, the blade of the ice knife will melt very quickly, and it is very likely that it will not last until the end of the dish."

"His current technique, rather than being called cutting, is more accurately described as 'slicing'."

"He took advantage of the gaps in the ice skates to slice the radish piece by piece from the side at an angle. The gaps in the skates must have been calculated during the manufacturing process."

"If I'm not mistaken, this ice blade alone isn't enough to recreate the technique he used."

"There are unique techniques involved in using this ice skate."

After Hu Zhongying finished speaking, a strong interest flashed in her eyes.

Within the culinary association, he is an absolute knife fanatic.

Of course, it's not the kind of obsession with kitchen knives, but rather an obsession with knife skills.

Chinese chefs have passed down 24 common knife skills to this day.

Master craftsmen typically refer to it as the "24 Knife Skills".

These include 12 types of straight cuts, 6 types of flat cuts, 3 types of diagonal cuts, and 3 types of mixed cuts.

If we draw an analogy to painting, these 24 basic knife techniques can be seen as a 24-color palette.

In theory, if you master the 24 basic knife skills perfectly, you can integrate them and create at least 40 variations of the basic knife skills.

But what looks easy is actually not simple at all.

While basic knife skills are easy to learn, mastering them completely is incredibly difficult.

Many chefs practice every day for over a decade and still only master a small fraction of the skills.

After all, chefs need to eat, and even the food preparation chefs cut ingredients according to the restaurant's own menu.

To ensure the speed of serving food, most restaurants do not serve dishes that take a long time to prepare.

This leads to chefs habitually specializing in only one area of ​​expertise.
Putting aside these external factors, most chefs probably only use 8 to 12 basic knife skills.

This is certainly sufficient to meet the needs of customers who want to open a restaurant, but it is extremely difficult to reach the top.

Most chefs use the traditional model of "Wang Qingrui," which involves mastering 2 to 5 advanced knife skills while ensuring their own knife skills.

For those with limited talent, this is a very worthwhile option, since knife skills only determine part of whether a dish is delicious.

But Hu Zhongying was different. He was particularly obsessed with knife skills. When he created his own Hangzhou-derived cuisine, "Mizong," he set strict knife skill standards for his disciples.

His self-compiled "Standards for Cooking Techniques" has made "precision of knife skills" a quantitative standard.

The improved version of "Qianjiang Shredded Pork" clearly states the knife skills requirements in the book: the pork must be cut into 0.24cm × 4.7cm shreds, with a single strand error of ≤0.03cm.

He has also mastered the "knife skills" of "shredded meat on a towel".

While perfectly meeting his own standards, in an exchange match, despite the opponent pressuring him down on time, he sliced ​​1.5 jin (approximately 750 grams) of meat into thin strips in one minute, helping his team secure victory. He was hailed by the media as "Hangzhou's No. 1 Knife Skills" that year. Of course, he is now 78 years old, and his hands are no longer as steady as they were in his youth; he retired from knife work two years ago.

Now, his hotels are managed by his son, a case of him having a son late in life.

The grandson, Hu Qingyun, is currently 26 years old and is preparing to take the "Hua 5 Level" exam. He is considered by netizens to be a strong contender for advancement.

Leaving aside his grandson, let's just talk about his understanding of knives.

In addition to using ordinary knives, Hu Zhongying also particularly enjoys using "alternative blades".

These are the "Bone Knife," "Thread Knife," "Serrated Knife," and "Curved Knife." Legend has it that in the "Mysterious Sect's" lineage, there is a special knife called the "Eight Blades."

But this thing is very mysterious. Even among the inner disciples, only three people have mastered this knife, and there are no videos circulating outside of it.

Some of the new generation of chefs treat this as "urban legend" and don't take it seriously.

But Hu Zhongying himself knew that the "Eight Blades" did indeed exist.
Moreover, the "Eight Blades" is an ice blade, and because it is a disposable item, there is so little information about it.

Therefore, compared to others, he has a very deep understanding of ice skates.

Originally, he thought he was one of the few people in China who knew ice skates best, and that there was absolutely no chef under the age of 50 who knew more than him.

However, Xia Ming's use of the "Flatbread Knife" to "slice instead of slice" opened up a new way of thinking for him.

He never imagined that a skill could be so perfectly integrated with a special kind of knife.

He even doubted whether the skill or the knife came first.

Seeing Hu Zhongying's face flushed with excitement, Cheng Xieyun understood the situation.

"Old Hu, this knife, this technique, is it good enough to be included in the manual?"

Hu Zhongying reached out and touched her chin.

"I'm getting old, and I'm too far away to see clearly. If it's truly possible to recreate the 'Five-Strand Silk Inscription' using this method, then it should naturally be included in the catalogue!"

He only said half of what he meant, because he could see that this technique had a certain degree of universality.

In other words, it can be used in other dishes as well, and you don't necessarily have to be fixated on "五缠透丝剞".

However, he has not yet fully figured out what standard was used to set up that leaf-like gap.

Is it the chef's own hand spacing, personal habit, or is there some hidden secret in the so-called "slicing instead of slicing" technique?
Just as Hu Zhongying was about to stand up and get a closer look, Xia Ming's hand suddenly changed again.

More than three minutes had passed since Xia Ming started cutting the radish. Because Xia Ming's technique was too fast, the radish was covered with dense dark lines and had already formed a layer of frost.
However, the knife skills demonstration was not yet over, with about 15% of the process still unfinished.

But at this moment, the ice on both sides had already chipped, and Sui Wubai could clearly feel that the blade was no longer sharp.
"It's over, it's too late."

Sui Wubai had a bad feeling. His knife skills were not bad either, and he knew very well that if he used a rolled blade to cut the radish, it would not be so neat. If he forced the cut, he would only waste the parts he had already made.

Hu Zhongying, sitting below, also keenly sensed the change on stage and frowned nervously.

"No way, at this point, we've failed? Kid, you should at least have brought an extra knife!"

Hu Zhongying felt only regret. He had already seen the extraordinary skill in combining the knife with the ice blade, and he understood that Xia Ming had basically overcome the difficulty of restoring the "Five-Entangled Silk Cutting" all by himself.

but.
It's such a pity that this kind of mistake happened in the end.

Huang Jiexun, who was standing to the side, also snorted coldly upon seeing this.

"I thought he was a bit better than Wei Yan, but unfortunately, he's still too young!"

Cheng Xieyun gave Huang Jiexun a disgruntled look.

"Their child only received the recipe yesterday, and came up with such a solution overnight. That's truly amazing."

"One failure is nothing. Who here can say they haven't failed a few times in their life? Don't be too harsh. If you're not broad-minded, you won't live long!"

Huang Jiexun glanced at Cheng Xieyun with a hint of anger, and Cheng Xieyun returned the glance with a sharp look.

They've been like this for so many years, and Huang Jiexun couldn't do anything about it, so he could only silently look away.

But just as he was about to snort again, he saw Shangguan Guowei and Hu Zhongying stand up together.

Seeing their shocked expressions, Huang Jiexun also paused, turning his head to look.

But then, to Sui Wubai's disbelief, Xia Ming took out a wooden block that was about the size of a Rubik's Cube, smoothed out, with a gap in the middle.

After placing it on the plate, Xia Ming glanced at the radish slices in front of him, then took a deep breath and used the "Flattery Knife" in his hand to chop directly into the crack in the wooden block.

Just as the blade pierced the block of wood perfectly, Sui Wubai, who was standing nearby, clearly heard the sound of ice cracking.

"!"

Just as he was puzzled, Xia Ming released the "Flatbread Knife" which had already developed cracks, and then changed his hand shape from gripping to supporting.

Just like the gear shifter in a car, Xia Ming pushed the "Fat-Condensing Knife" from an angled shape to a straight insertion shape.

Then, after swaying left and right to make sure he was sure, he pulled the "Flatbread Knife" out again, just like pulling out the "Sword in the Stone".

The shattered, crystalline ice crystals scattered along the edge of the wooden block, revealing an ice blade that was noticeably smaller than the previous "Flattened Fat Knife."

Hu Zhongying felt as if her brain had been struck suddenly, and her mouth opened involuntarily.

"A set of blades? This ice skate isn't just double-edged, it's a mother-and-child set???"

(End of this chapter)