Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

There are three standards for stir-fried beef noodles.

First, wok hei (the smoky aroma from cooking in a wok), whether the rice noodles have enough crispy edges and a caramelized flavor.

Secondly, the integrity of the rice noodles directly tests the chef's basic skills.

Because rice noodles are fragile, every extra stir-fry will cause them to break apart. However, the key to stir-fried beef rice noodles is to stir-fry over high heat quickly.

Therefore, it is a real test of a chef's basic skills in tossing the wok and stir-frying.

Finally, there's the oil. Too little oil, and the rice noodles will burn and stick to the pan; too much oil, and they won't have enough of a caramelized flavor, and they'll end up looking greasy.

The ideal state is when the pan is completely dry after frying the noodles, and the plate is completely dry after eating the noodles, without a single drop of oil.

This is why there is a saying that "the best dish to test a Lingnan chef is dry-fried beef noodles".

In particular, stir-fried beef noodles can be said to be a shared memory for everyone in the Lingnan region.

From eighty-year-olds to toddlers just starting to eat; from the most upscale restaurants to the most humble street stalls.

In Lingnan, there is no one who hasn't eaten stir-fried beef noodles, and there is no restaurant that doesn't know how to make stir-fried beef noodles.

Whether stir-fried beef noodles are good or not, in Lingnan, you can't fool any local.

At this moment, Zhou Yu also took the stir-fried beef noodles that Qi Shijie had cooked from Sun Zhigang's hand.

Zhou Yu didn't taste the dishes directly, but based on their appearance and aroma alone, he could tell that Qi Shijie's stir-fried beef noodles were indeed better than Sun Zhigang's.

First, there's the wok hei (wok aroma) from stir-frying the rice noodles; Qi Shijie's is noticeably more fragrant.

Having already received the recipe for stir-fried beef noodles as a system reward the day before, Zhou Yu could easily tell that the soy sauce ratio used by Qi Shijie was very different from that used by Sun Zhigang.

Firstly, Qi Shijie adds a higher proportion of sugar, which makes the rice noodles more fragrant and caramelized, but not too sweet.

In addition to the basic ingredients, the soy sauce contains a touch of sesame oil and a touch of fish sauce.

Regular stir-fried beef noodles rarely use sesame oil; this is clearly a family recipe.

It seems that what his follower just said about Fengminglou's stir-fried beef noodles being exceptional is indeed well-deserved.

I don't know where he got the seasonings from at the last minute.

Interestingly, Sun Zhigang, who is clearly from Chaoshan, didn't add fish sauce when stir-frying beef noodles.

......

"Looks like someone asked you to put in a good word for them."

At this point, Qi Shijie's expression grew increasingly stiff. He said to Liang Jinhong, "I can give you face and back down. But putting everything else aside, he must throw all the remaining ingredients into the swill bucket tonight!"

He had just seen Zhou Yu chatting with Liang Jinhong, and now he understood what was going on.

He then turned to Zhou Yu and said, "If you want to stand up for him, just cook for him. I already said, anyone can cook for him tonight. If they cook better than me, I'll apologize. You're not too scared, are you?"

Zhou Yu laughed and said, "There's no such thing as standing out or not. I just don't want to see people fighting on this street. After all, I also do business on this street."

Seeing that Qi Shijie still refused to give up, Zhou Yu became a little angry.

It seems that this kind of spoiled brat won't be convinced and will stop unless he really suffers a loss.

Zhou Yu continued, "However, I've also learned how to make stir-fried beef noodles for a couple of days. Since you're so good at it, I'd really like to cook one for you to try and see if there's anything wrong with it."

Sun Zhigang: "Zhou Yu, you, this..."

He was surprised that Zhou Yu would be the first to help him, and he felt both touched and ashamed.

Zhou Yu smiled and said to Sun Zhigang, "Ah Gang, right? Could you make me some of your usual soy sauce?"

Liang Jinhong looked at Qi Shijie on the left and then at Zhou Yu on the right. He said with some concern, "You can cook too? Besides, you can't beat Fengminglou's signature dry-fried beef noodles with ordinary soy sauce."

Although Leung Kam-hung didn't like learning to cook, he was still well aware, through his exposure to the local cuisine, that Fung Ming Lou's stir-fried beef had its own unique characteristics.

Moreover, it was obvious that Sun Zhigang was inferior to Qi Shijie just now, so using the same soy sauce now would only be humiliating for him.

Although I only had a brief chat with Zhou Yu, I still have a good impression of him and naturally don't want to see him make a fool of himself.

"Don't worry, the stir-fried beef noodles I made have a cooling effect. It's hot right now, so let everyone try some to cool down."

Qi Shijie: "Okay, then let me see how you cool down the beef noodles you've cooked."

He was no longer in a hurry.

Zhou Yu continued to Liang Jinhong, "Have you forgotten? I just mentioned where the stir-fried beef noodles originated? At Erli Restaurant."

Zhou Yu grabbed a handful of rice noodles and put them in a bowl for later use.

"If we're really going to do it the best way, of course we should learn from the Shahe style in Guangzhou, using pure rice flour to make Shahe rice noodles. But the most interesting part of stir-fried beef noodles is this: in the old days, a bowl of noodles cost only two cents, where did all these fancy rules come from?"

Zhou Yu then casually grabbed a handful of mung bean sprouts and a handful of leek sprouts and put them into another bowl for later use.

"In the past, the people who ate at the Erliguan were all laborers who were focused on quick entry and exit. Even now, if the ingredients and recipes are really more important, how come there are still so many more famous stir-fried beef noodles at the food stalls?"

"The most important thing about stir-fried beef noodles is the smoky, home-style flavor."

As he spoke, Zhou Yu poured oil directly into the pot, and the oil temperature rose sharply. Without frying, he poured in the beef slices and started stir-frying them.

After sprinkling in the ginger shreds and stir-frying them briefly, Zhou Yu didn't remove the pot from the heat. Instead, he poured the rice noodles directly into the iron pot that was still frying beef.

Qi Shijie was about to mock Zhou Yu for not knowing how to cook, for not frying the beef in oil, and for not cooking the rice noodles separately.

But the next moment, Zhou Yu started flipping the wok.

Unlike ordinary chefs who toss the wok and stir-fry with a spatula while making stir-fried beef noodles, this method is different.

Although Zhou Yu also held a spatula in his hand, he did not stir-fry it even once.

He simply tosses the rice noodles in the wok, letting them rise and fall naturally.

The wok in my right hand was only used to prop up the rice noodles as they fell; it was never used for stir-frying.

Then, with the fire burning continuously, bean sprouts were added, and salt was added for flavor.

Finally, continue tossing the pan and adding the prepared soy sauce for color.

Qi Shijie was dumbfounded the whole time. He never imagined that stir-fried beef noodles could be cooked like this.

It wasn't until the heat was turned off and the pot was ready that Zhou Yu used a spatula to scoop up the rice noodles and plate them.

Surprisingly, not a single rice noodle dish was lost.

The entire process took less than three minutes.

Qi Shijie was still unwilling to give up. He picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and ate it.

Then, he gave Zhou Yu a deep look and asked, "Who are you? Who taught you to cook?"

"Me? I'm just the one selling wonton noodles next door. Besides, I'm just cooking a dish for everyone to try, hoping to make money peacefully and help everyone cool down after eating."

"Young master of Fengminglou, I wonder if my stir-fried beef noodles, made with the 'one-shot-over-the-press' technique from Erliguan, will cool you down a bit? Or would you like another cup of herbal tea?"

Zhou Yu turned to Liang Jinhong and smiled, "Stir-fried beef noodles really can't be cooked for an hour; that's too inefficient. Besides, it has to be stir-fried quickly to taste good. The best way is to stir-fry it directly, just once, to get the wok hei (wok aroma) right."